81 cabriolet ran with no water

ok well i want to use a hoist cause i dont have a way to drop it out of the bottom.Is it really that difficult to take it out from the top so confused.Also i am going to spray inside firewall before i drop new motor i heard that a high temp paint is good im thinking a jet blck high gloss.I am so excited about this project of course because im a girl my friends are like im crazy my girlfriends the guys dig it LOL. I am really confused on the motor sitution though the 81 motor i found is in great shape with only 90,000 miles on it for 500 but someone said a audi and i can find one for 200.But when i spoke with a guy he said that motor was not interchangable it was born in feb of 81 from west germany

Reply to
shellyatkins79
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It seems to be just at the side of the oil-filter housing : a metal plate (cover) held in place by two screws, covering probably an opening, but I don't know the purpose of it. It might have happened that the screws, just too rusted let the plate go. A replacement cover might be not difficult to find; as for putting new screws in, that might be not easy if parts of the old ones are left in the block... As for a block, refering to a manual or automatic transmission, it certainly would be important to know, as they are different : e.g the starter being at the front of the block for the manual trans., and at the back for the automatic trans... different mounting supports should also be checked carefully. al.

Reply to
al

I mentioned the Audi engine. If you want to keep it simple and easy then put in exactly what came out! If you are looking for more power then I would have suggested a nice easy install of a 2.0l engine. Not as simple though but it can open up different options. ;-)

If dropping it out of the bottom then a floor jack and some heavy duty jack stands are required. You also may have to remove the front exhaust pipe from the cat. If pulling out of the top you probably will need the above and the hoist. You probably need to remove the accessories along with the crank pulleys. I am not sure how far you need to shift the engine to the passenger side if you have a manual transmission. When I pulled mine out of the top it was an 88 Cabriolet automatic so it did not have to shift over as far.

I guess pulling/dropping along with the transmission might be easy for you.

BTW I have been running an '83 Rabbit GTi engine in my '83 Audi 4000S since

1991.
Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Well I might certainly be wrong on the starter mount question. I never had a VW with an automatic.

The Audi 2L I put in my GTI had an oil passage of some sort to the left of the oil filter. I had to get a plug of some sort when I planted the 2L in my 84 GTI. I also got a knock sensor kit. That cost about as much as the engine. A straight engine swap is much easier and cheaper. If you really dig the car then you could try a bigger motor when you have some money to blow.

Reply to
Jim Behning

Engines will be the same, the trans will determine where the starter goes, at least on this '81 Rabbit Convertible.

hmmm I have not seen one of these Audi 2.0l engines in awhile but I am not familiar with that oil passage unless it was on the oil filter housing itself. You did good improving the engine management for more power and economy. How did you like that engine?

Yeah a straight swap is waaaaay easier but not as much fun! lol

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

I bought the GTI from a junkyard stripped with no hood or gas cap. It was a slow bleed of repairs. Injectors, struts, interior, paint, axles, brakes, gaskets and all. I was never impressed with the performance of the 1.8 even with a fresh head, G grind, a little port cleanup, Techtonics downpipe. When I had the head off a few of the cylinders had some pitting which may have been from the lack of hood or missing gas cap. I suspect that my leakdown numbers were not as good as they should have been.

A few years later I got the Audi block. Same head. I cleaned it up exteriour. Changed the pan and oil pump, fixed the oil fill hole which was covered by a cpr adapter, and fussed about the cylinder wear. The cylnders had a ridge but not as bad as the ridges I saw on Chevys back in Ohio when I was a kid. I cannot recall what I guess measured the ridge at but it might have been at least .010. I did not have a bore guage but I used some feeler guages to guestimate. It was huge compared to my two Toyotas and my other Rabbit. In short it was again not as tight a cylinder as I would like. That engine had a good bit more torque and delivered 30-33 mpg when driving conservatively. The last tank I had went real fast as I drove it like I stole it. Maybe 20 mpg. I think I would have really liked it with tight cylinders but even worn it ran pretty strong. It was good on oil. Maybe as fast a

1985 GTI. I recall riding in a newer (1985-86) GTI at an autocross run. It was much faster than my 1984 with the 1.8. Once again my 1.8 was not in perfect shape. The 2L is a worthwile upgrade if you can get a good Audi block. Good just means that the person changed the oil properly so the cylinders are not worn excessively.
Reply to
Jim Behning

Yeah I think the hot set up for my '83 Audi 4000s back in the late 80s was to install the Audi 80 2.0l block and use an Audi Fox dual downpipe exhaust manifold. Also to remove the restriction in the exhaust with maybe the '84 Audi 4000S intake and an Audi 5000 throttle body. I did not go that route! Too cheap! lol I only installed the '83 GTi engine, upgraded to the '84 Audi 4000s exhaust and installed '87 GLi injectors. I have been running this vehicle like this since 1991. It is my favorite vehicle and it has about 240K miles on both engine and body. But rust is getting to it so I found a '97 Audi A4 quattro with the 1.8t engine to replace it. Engine is knocking due to a bad #1 journal after a major oil leak on former owner. Now I need to decide whether I want to go throught this entire engine or just repair what is bad. The head looks like it was recently rebuilt and the engine runs smooth with no oil burning but I took it out and have peaked at the #1 journal and the #2 main. This 1.8t might even fit in the '81 Cabriolet! lol

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

i would like to put a 2.0 or a1.8 but for right now have to go cheap way im gonna actually work from the ground up.Yeah i know it's kinda backwards but its my project car so i have time i will definetly yake before pics and pics in progress and after ones to.I might need a little guidance you guys have been great i cant wait i pick car up monday its my first vw

Reply to
shellyatkins79

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