Go CIS to EFI?..... or swap to a 1.8t? Nevermind, she's dead

[mpyatov]

So now that 034 has discontinued the CIS to EFI conversion kits for the good 'ole 2.2 20v, what would you do to accomplish that endgame? I haven't really found any promising leads on any other kits except all the ones for the various Porsches. The only feasible idea I have is to source all the necessary fuel related parts from an 07k, a programmable ecu, various sensors (vw, gm, doesn't matter most ecus are adaptable to that sort of thing) and figure out how to adapt the injectors to the ports but that still leaves the problem of the distributor, or finding one that's compatible. Anyone have any ideas on how to go about creating another EFI conversion kit? Or is all of this not even worth it and should I just swap in a 1.8t with a programmable ecu and call it a day?

I want to keep the integrity of the 5+5 alive but everything has it's limit. It's worth noting that mine isn't running poorly or anything as I just replaced the pump, filter, lines, accumulator, fuel distributor and injectors about 1.5 years ago. So everything is actually quite nice, even thought I'm on my 3rd intake boot. I'm just terrified of the system going out again because all the gasoline around me seems to be tainted with CIS hatred that plagues my Audi and my Merc. I also really want the ease of laptop tuning and diagnostics instead of no diagnostics and relying on head scratching and trial and error part replacement to figure out what's up. Thoughts?

[DE80q]

A fuel rail is not hard to make. They sell the material and drill to do so. The injector adaptors, assuming it's a hydrolic lifter head, can be sourced from a number of different vender. Just look them up for a Mk2 GTI 8v. As for the computer, you can get a number of different systems to run it. My original setup was a MegaSquirt2 running a NG ignition dizzy. It worked quite well for my MC1 swap, but I upgraded to MS3 for coil per plug accuracy.

Hope that helps.

[mpyatov]

Looks like I spoke too soon about everything working properly. On my way to a friend's place after I exited a traffic circle she started to misfire like crazy before struggling to keep itself alive on 1 cylinder. Then it wouldn't start until I had towed it back to my house where it started up, still misfiring badly but not as badly as it was initially. At first I wasn't getting any spark coming from the plugs so I checked everything and the spark came back. Replaced the dizzy cap, rotor and ignition coil, still misfiring horribly. Like I mentioned, I replaced practically the whole fuel system about 18 months ago so it's unlikely to be that, especially because it's smoking like crazy and most certainly getting fuel. I have a feeling it may be the ignition control module, which I'll replace tomorrow. I'm also going to do a compression test just in case things really are THAT bad.

In the event that the engine is shot, I do have another one hanging out in a couple pieces (head is on my work bench, block is in my yard.) But the real question is, is it worth the effort to put it in? I yanked this engine out of a car that sat for 14 years so I'd want a machine shop to go through everything just to make sure there's nothing keeping it from functioning properly, but that in and of itself would probably run me at least $500 not to mention that if something wasn't okay, I just lost a considerable amount of money. Even if I had to combine working parts of both engines to make one function one, I'd still spend a considerable amount of money and time on just the prepwork. Meanwhile I still wouldn't have a car. So if I did all of that and put it back together with a clean, ready to go powerplant, it still has a 30 year old CIS system that's a bitch to tune properly and getting harder to find parts for. EFI swap was the first idea to help out with that problem but even with that, the bang for your buck seems super low. In my situation it seems unreasonable to keep this set up going if I'm going to have to put more money into it.

So instead of spending $2500-3000 to MAYBE get it to ideal drivability. Why not just throw in a 1.8t? They're a dime a dozen and there seems to be no shortage of donor cars near me both FWD and quattro for less than $1000. I've heard people say that it can bolt straight up to the 093 FWD trans (which is what's in my coupe,) but even if it doesn't, I could do the trans swap too. Add a Megasquirt plug and play kit to make life esy. Then just weld different mounts for the engine (and potentially trans,) plug it in and go to town. It just seems easier to maintain, it's definitely easier to extract power from, there way more parts availible, the tunability is incomparable to the CIS and its more compact meaning my cramped engine bay would get a little breathing room. That option will run about $2000 to $2500 and just seems smarter...... What do you guys think? is the KX worth reviving? or should I join the wave of the future, while looking like I'm stuck in the past?....

[DE80q]

The problem with the 1.8t is that you would still need to spend the money and rebuild the engine. Most of the doner cars I've seen come up in our area(I'm just across the boarder in York PA) have a ton of miles, and have been beaten on for the past almost 20 years. As it would mean more power for you, it would also mean more expense with the labor to put it back in tip top shape. I don't know much about the KX, but a 20vt, or even 20vt swap would be more fitting for this car, at least in my opinion.

[alxdgr8]

A 4 cylinder won't bolt up to your trans. All pre 01A/01E trannies are single pattern, in other words specific to the engine that came in the car. To put a 4cyl in, you need to use a 4cyl trans from a fwd 4000. If the car came with a 5cyl, only the 5 will bolt up.

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[alxdgr8]

And I'm super happy with my 7A swap in my Coupe GT. Not slow and lots of fun.

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[mpyatov]

A 4 cylinder won't bolt up to your trans. All pre 01A/01E trannies are single pattern, in other words specific to the engine that came in the car. To put a 4cyl in, you need to use a 4cyl trans from a fwd 4000. If the car came with a 5cyl, only the 5 will bolt up.

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Well there goes that, but I could do the trans swap too, just another mount to weld.

The problem with the 1.8t is that you would still need to spend the money and rebuild the engine. Most of the doner cars I've seen come up in our area(I'm just across the boarder in York PA) have a ton of miles, and have been beaten on for the past almost 20 years. As it would mean more power for you, it would also mean more expense with the labor to put it back in tip top shape. I don't know much about the KX, but a 20vt, or even 20vt swap would be more fitting for this car, at least in my opinion.

I would love to do an AAN or NG but the problem again is availability. I can find and actually build up a 1.8 with a trans for about the same as buying just used AAN or NG. The only reason i may have to pay labor would be for my friends at a custom shop to take a look at how well I welded the mounting points and possibly having them reweld them if they don't check out (I'm a good machinist, but a mediocre welder.) The other reason the swap would work out well has less to do with the swap and more with the donor car. Money's pretty tight for me, and being obsessed with German cars doesn't really help, but If I had a donor car, I could part out everything I don't use and at least make some of my money back to help keep the costs down. I'd love to do the same to a 4k or 5k, but they're really hard to find around me.

If anyone has an AAN or NG, or even a 4kt or 5kt hat they'd want to let go off cheap then that option may be back on the table, but it doesn't seem likely.

[alxdgr8]

You might run into tunnel clearance issues with a B5 fwd trans in the B2 tunnel. The B5 fwd trannies are basically awd without the rear output so they have the shifter on the side. The B2 fwd trans have the shifter coming out the tail.

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[mpyatov]

You might run into tunnel clearance issues with a B5 fwd trans in the B2 tunnel. The B5 fwd trannies are basically awd without the rear output so they have the shifter on the side. The B2 fwd trans have the shifter coming out the tail.

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Good point, I can take some measurements from my other CGT (it doesn't have a trans so that won't be an issue), and I'm sure one of my buddies has an extra b5 fwd trans somewhere that I can measure. I wouldn't mind cutting the tunnel out, assuming it's not so much that it would ruin the structural integrity of the chassis and welding in a cover plate. I don't keep a passenger seat in the car and I'm redoing the carpeting anyway in a few months so it wouldn't bother me to redesign that bit of the interior and it wouldn't get in the way.

[mpyatov]

Well boys. The KX is dead.