Engine hunting

[sarahandthebear]

Hello all we have decided we want to refurbish our engine rather then buying one already done. We want to buy one as cheap as we can and then referb it with all new parts ect. We are going to keep our engine in the van and continue using it until we finish the rebuild and then swap them over. A few questions though we have a 1984 early 1.9 dg watercooled and we're looking for one online but did wonder is it woth upgrading to a 2.0 fuel enjected engine instead. We do really like the 1.9 and the carb but wonders if the fuel injected were any better with miles per gallon ect. Next thing is where do we look and what price should we expect to pay. I have looked on eBay and a few other sights with no luck and to be honest have no idea what a good price would be to pay.

[multisi]

If you want to upgrade to fuel injection a 2 ltr Subaru conversion is worth thinking about, refurbing a vw wbx for a novice could be complicated and very time consuming and not cheap to do it properly.

[slowcoach]

Maybe when you say 2.0, you mean the vw 2.1 wasserboxer? (DJ) very similar in regards to your 1.9, but yes has injection. Though pretty old tech injection, it'll certainly have more go go than your present dg.

[sarahandthebear]

Maybe when you say 2.0, you mean the vw 2.1 wasserboxer? (DJ) very similar in regards to your 1.9, but yes has injection. Though pretty old tech injection, it'll certainly have more go go than your present dg.

2.1 dj yeah that's the one

[sarahandthebear]

If you want to upgrade to fuel injection a 2 ltr Subaru conversion is worth thinking about, refurbing a vw wbx for a novice could be complicated and very time consuming and not cheap to do it properly.

We were planing on taking our time as our engine at the moment touch wood is still good. We really want to keep with the old VW engines just out of preference really. It will be hard and a big learning curve but something we would be very interested in doing.

[sarahandthebear]

We're thinking of sticking with the dg engine as the speed were not that fussed about we just were wondering if the 2.1 was more robust and longer lasting then our dg but to be Honest the old dg seems to be holding up well

[phinw]

Spare DG coming up: http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=165392 (bottom of page)

[bigherb]

just were wondering if the 2.1 was more robust and longer lasting then our dg

No,1.9 DG is more robust. Fuel injection nearly always wins for economy but carbs could produce more power at the expense of wasting fuel.

[davidoft1]

I will have a turnkey 2.1 for rebuild for sale shortly, still runs

[sarahandthebear]

Looks like it's going to be the dg then to be honest we really like the dg anyway

[sarahandthebear]

Spare DG coming up: http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=165392 (bottom of page)

Thank you fo sharing This definitely will be looking into this later

[multisi]

If you are going to get another vw dg it would be best to get an early dg like the one you have.

[phinw]

If you are going to get another vw dg it would be best to get an early dg like the one you have.

I thought, bar a few small things, it was only the cooling system that was different, so were interchangeable?

[silverbullet]

Having been there years ago, I fully rebuilt a DG, just about got it run in with new cam only to let it go to a mate who had just blown his up (head stud rotted and the nut popped on the motorway...)
So I put all my DG bits on an unknown DJ and what a revelation! The torque of the thing was ehat I had been searching for, right up until a big end let go
Then the same bits went onto an SS (basically an MV, the low compression 2.1) and whilst it was ok and pretty good on fuel, it lacked the "punch" of the DJ
Had I put it on EFI I dont doubt that I would have been even more impressed.
Food for thought, but just bear in mind that a FULL wbx rebuild will eat up about £2800 in parts alone, assuming all goes well...

Sent from my S60 using Tapatalk

[sarahandthebear]

Thanks for all the replies and we have 3 options baring in mind money is very tight for us.

Option one would be to buy a recon engine online from a company there about £2500 just going on just kampers prices but we won't use them. Downsides are we have no idea how well they have been built or to what standerd

Option two buy an old engine and spend the year fixing it up slowly buying parts and fitting them ourselves. Down side to this is we have basic mechanics knowledge but can learn. And hopefully our engine in the van at the moment will hold out.

Option 3 is we have a very good mechanic in kenilworth called Bob he is excellent, we could let him rebuild our engine for us and have the van off the road whilst he dose it. Downside to this is that all that work is going to coast big mo ey which unless we save we just don't have.