Engine Replacement Advice Please

Current garage are saying exactly that, he's got/had three of these recently, he ends up butting heads with engine provider and it's not his purchase. He ends up losing money as he won'tleave customers in the sh1t I can see his point.

 

Go with VW Heritage because Alex comes on here and if anything goes wrong we can follow the Trial with interest

 

I'd thought the same! My money would probably go on an all new heritage engine. Pair play to @Alex VW Heritage. He comes on here and takes all the flack!

 

Maybe on a stock 1600.

I have a 1641 on twin IDF's and a 6 rib box and it'll sit happily at 65 without breaking a sweat.....doesnt really start to sound like it needs a fifth gear until it hits around the 80 mark. My mk1 caddy on a 4 speed box sounded waaaaaaaay worse at the same kind of speeds lol

 

I would get the engine from somewhere that also fits rather than sending it to you on a pallet, who was it on here the 10 days ago who had bought an engine and was being asked to check valve clearances and all sorts ... I can remember it was a Vege engine bought from JK.

 

Lol all true, honest guv!

Im used to early waterpumper golfs on a 4 gear though so its all relative I guess lol

 

Probably has a 2l which, as we all know will outrun an F16 even with leaky pushrod seals and a duff spark plug

 

You have to do what you have to do, but please work out the true costs before making your decision.

Vw Heritage 'brand new' 1600 is £2249, plus fitting?. Total =
VW Heritage rebuilt 1600 bottom end is £1995, plus fitting?. Total =
The Engine shop silver 1600 bottom end is £800, plus fitting. Total =
The Engine Shop 1600 turn key is £2379, plus fitting. Total =

I'd chose which engine you are going for, work out true true cost and then ring an engine builder and ask what he can do for that much cash and how long it will take.

If you go the engine builder route then you may even be able to reuse some of your current 1600 bits
Engine builder cost inc fitting minus any parts that can be reused. Total =?

 

Trouble is that pulling apart and checking old parts is more time consuming than putting it back together. And that done by a professional costs money that does not buy new parts.

If I had the ready money I would have been onto VWH like a shot with a credit card and bought a lovely new 1641.

If my rebuilt engine does not last I will be raiding savings doing this.

 

Engine builder indicative quotes I've had so far are at least 3k, add to that the fiting....= 4k?

The VW engine company 1641 rebuilt bottom end £1299 INCLUDING fitting. Anyone used them??

 

That's my issue Mike, all well and good getting someone to strip and investigate but that's £££s being racked up before you start. The engine looks like it was a recon from the engine shop to begin with...Unsure whether it's worth it. I don't know how many miles it's done or how well it's been looked after before we had it....not a dig at TES just don't know provenance.

 

Fair enough that seems very cheap and has a two year unlimited mileage warranty. I think that price is plus VAT, it is still cheap though.

They will want your old engine in exchange.

I'd be tempted to stick with a 1600 rather than a 1641cc, i think it will last longer.

Good luck and don't forget to keep the thread posted with how much it ends up costing and what the engine is like

 

I'm doing the obvious and asking questions first but it does look decent price and includes fitting and as I said earlier, that at least is 'simpler' if things do go wrong.
We'll be making the decision in the next week. I'll keep posting

 

£1299 seems very cheap. 2 year unlimited mileage warranty fitted, I would check and double check the terms of their warranty. Quiz them on the terms and conditions.

 

Thanks, yes I have asked about ts and cs, will wait and see what comes back. I've also asked for detailed specifications on the build. One of our thoughts is 'for that money' and our mileage it's probably worth a shot. One or two on here have said that these warranties are all pretty useless, this borne out by our VW man not really wanting to fit anything other than a custom build by his preferred builder.
It's just we don't have 4-6k now to get custom build + fit

 

There are other mechanics with preferred good builders who will provide a good fitted engine at a fair bit less than your bottom price. To an extent it's down to trust. I know that my fav builder will not supply any sort of written garauntee, but I also know that between us we will fix it with no quibble if we've cocked it up somewhere. If you came back after 3 years and had only put 1000 miles on it, time would not come into it. If you'd thrashed the arse of it down the drag strip every weekend though, even if you knackered it in 2 months you'd be shown the door. It works both ways. Only a mad idiot would offer a no quibbles "do what you like with it" garauntee. Or a cheap mass builder who's expecting half of them to come back anyway.