VW 1.8t powered FB
 

Figured i'd start a fresh thread for this swap. My FB has sat motorless for three years and i've been itching to get it back on the road. Some of you may remember my FB as the "slammed FB from canada"

Well i'd originally started to put a small block in the car but its too tall of a setup with a carb. the oil pan hung too low and the carb hat wouldn't clear the hood since i had a vortec carb intake. i then started thinking what other common reliable engines are there. i then decided to buy a 99 passat with a 1.8t. and i had an sr20 transmission kicking around too.

here is the car 4-5 years ago.

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i started mocking up the engine and trans. since i didn't feel like welding old oil saturated aluminum to make a rear sump pan i made a new subframe to clear the front sump pan.


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The engine now sits nicely under the hood. i also measured up the bell housing on the sr20 trans and bell housing flange on the 1.8t and started designing the adapter kit. as well as the spacing required for the flywheel


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cleaned up the engine and got it ready to assemble and put in the car.


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Needed to find a decent rad that would fit the FB’s small frame as well as had the inlet and outlet on the drivers side. got an old rad off a friend that fit almost perfect. i modded the stock rad shroud to fit. painted it and it looks stock again


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mocked up my intercooler piping and welded it up.

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i also converted my fuel tank to an in-tank pump. my driveshaft is in as well. just no pictures of these.

Awesome build!

Unique project, but I am curious about the adapter. I can only see 4 bolts on the left side holding it to the engine, would that potentially cause a bit of flex?

Was there a reason you didn't incorporate the oil pan mounting threads for the trans as well?

It most likely will be just fine for the power output and the car in general, but I'm glad to see an FB with something new under the hood.

if you see the three threaded holes on the lower right, the inner one actually bolts from the backside mounting the plate to the engine block. there are 5 M12 fasteners holding the plate to the block which is the main amount that VW used. the sr trans had way more.

OK, I just did not see that. I just hoped it wasn't an oversight. I wasn't trying to be critical. I think this build is awesome and I know from experience that the 1.8t is a peppy little engine.

no problem! it was a valid concern. yeah this 1.8 is completely stock. a friend used an acme adapter kit and swapped a 1.8t into an e30 but his has a ko4. makes a big difference in power

If you look at the compressor maps of the ko3 and the ko4 side by side, there is no comparison.

The ko4 flows so much more air and much more efficiently.

This is an overlay of both, ko3 on the left red line and ko4 on the right. Amazing difference for effectively the same externally sized turbo.




https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1f67a8b6f6.jpg

yeah the ko4 is definitely superior. it'll stay stock right now but a ko4 would be the upgrade

Got my wheels! they were back ordered almost a month. car seems to be driving pretty well. the last pic has a friends cb750 that i built into a cafe for him.

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Very slick. how does it drive with the new drivetrain? Still nimble? I would assume it's rather fast since the engine makes about 180-200hp

no issue driving. its not terribly fast. a k04 would put it around 200hp. the stock k03 as it sits now is around 150hp apparently. spools very low and runs out of boost in the high end. still a fun car to drive. k04 would liven it up though

150 is still more than a stock 12a, so that's good and all. Plus I'm sure the fuel economy is loads better

Looks nicely done.

I always hated the 1.8t for the laggy turbo and choking top end. The newer 2.0 turbo vw engines fixed almost everything I hated about the 1.8t.

lagy? the k03 spools not far off idle. super small hot side. the k04 spools later.

Nice job man, what wheels did you get? they kinda look like Crager 5 spoke steelies?

us wheel makes them

check out ecstuning and look into their 1.8t flash software it really wakes those motors up

yeah i'm familiar with the apr and malone tunes for them. definitely does give them life. 250ftlbs around 3500rpm!

Made an account just to tell you how much I love this. I was debating this swap earlier today and just happened to stumble across this.

Definitely, definitely get a tune, but avoid APR like the plague. Their tunes are too conservative and their customer service...well they have a reputation. Malone is okay, but theyre more focused on diesel. Your best bet would be United Motorsports, Unitronic, or Revo. GIAC is pretty decent too.

The k04 is an okay turbo, but if youre upgrading it honestly makes a lot more sense to go with something like a Frankenturbo or a hybrid K04. Cant remember who, exactly, but a company is just starting to release to the public a k04 hybrid that spools like a stock one but has made ~350awhp.

Im honestly never going through with this swap, so please ask me anything and everything about this motor so I can live vicariously through you. Ive got a ~480hp 1.8t swap in a MKII GTI, and Ive built a few other pretty balls 1.8ts.

Engine Mounts
 

I'm assuming that you used the passat engine mounts but I couldn' tell from the pictures in the thread. Could you please elaborate on that portion?

I really like the stance! what size, and offset are the wheels. just installed the T3 front and rear suspension on my FB and want it similar to your ride.

The original poster hasn't visited back to this forum since 2017.