Hi Guys,

I'm Adam and new here at Briskoda just wanted to say a big HELLO!

Ok well I owned a Felicia 1.6 until it died on me at 155000k last month :-( (my flis went to heaven)

That a side... im now looking into funding a project with a new felicia and i want to go all the way!

I should have my hands on a nice White Felicia 1.6 in the next month or so.

I have had a good read through the 1.8T conversion post (weldone tom) also a few other posts about tuning the felicia engines, however i agree that the best option would be an engine swap.

Firstly I'm comfortable with the 1.8T 20v engine as my partner has the VW Beetle 1.8T and we completed a project on the car last summer for the VAG shows. so maintanence tuning ect i have some knowledge on the motor.

I was also enquiring about the 1.6 16v GTI engine.. i know alot of forums have mentioned that the 1.4 16v (100ps) engine is a fairy straight forward swap in the felicia so i just wondered how the 1.6 16V GTI engine compares? (is it easier then messing around with a 1.8T)

i wont consider putting the 1.4 Engine in as for the sake of the 25+ HP standard i know for a fact that i will regret it later and wish i went for something larger.

Also i wondered how the V5 (170ps) compares to to the 1.8T in terms of installation and cost, has anyone V5'd their felicia?

Funding is available for the project so i also wondered firstly if anyone could recommend a garage or person who would undertake the work and roughly how much we would be talking over all cost

for a donor engine and parts included for a 1.8T, 1.6 16V, and V5 conversion.

Well i appriciate any help and advice anyone can offer,

(I hope to start the project in the new year maybe March/April time.)

Thanks Guys

What is the weight of each engine exactly?

My views are not gospel, but I do have a fair bit of experience in this area....

option 1 is to just spend a couple of hundred quid and throw a 1.4 16v engine in there, a weekends work and job done.... This would be my favourite choice without a shadow of a doubt, all the engineered parts are ready made for you from oem parts except for a few little bits..

option 2 for something with a bit more grunt, I would use a black top 2.0 ford zetec engine from an early focus and use an emerald ecu and some throttle bodies from a motorcycle on a home made intake manifold... ford stuff is cheap and you'll find at least 20 of those engines in every breakers yard in the country!! Ford stuff has been used to death by every kit car builder or street racer on earth as well so performance parts and kits are readily available too.

Forget the vag stuff it will be a major ball ache.

yeah i see what your saying, i will have a good think about what you have said,

in regards to the 1.4 16v engine, If i was to put this motor in the felicia at a cheap cost... how does the 1.4 tune? say i was to add a turbo/supercharger , remap all the works, would it be cheaper to just do a 1.8T transplant in the end?

How far can the 1.4 16v engine be pushed power wise? (roughly)

thanks Tom

How do you get on with insurance, as they may require uprated braking system or such things ?

Was so tempted to do the 1.4 16v AFH conversion on my favorit cos looks so simple! When i was looking into 1.6 16v AVY option though, i read that rather than using the AVY block with AFH head you can use the AFH block and head with the AVY crank and rods. However, you'll prob need a mapable ecu to run it rather than standard ecu with 1.4 but you'll see around 130bhp before tuning...

Have u read up on teflontom's 1.4/1.6 16v engine conversion thread??

I like the zetec engine idea though, has that been done before?

How do you get on with insurance, as they may require uprated braking system or such things ?

http://www.skyinsurance.co.uk/engine-swap-insurance.html

Jim (Felicia16v) put a vauxhall 2.0 16v with gearbox into his Felicia rally car, he knows many of the pitfalls - I think getting driveshafts and/or hubs sorted on FWD conversions is the biggest problem, particularly getting the angles so the shafts have a decent lifetime - one of the reason's Tom's AFH conversion is such a great idea as it means nothing in that department has changed, and as long as you take it easy on the synchros on the Felicia box they will last a decent time.

Jim (Felicia16v) put a vauxhall 2.0 16v with gearbox into his Felicia rally car, he knows many of the pitfalls - I think getting driveshafts and/or hubs sorted on FWD conversions is the biggest problem, particularly getting the angles so the shafts have a decent lifetime

yes, i reckon a redtop engine would also be a good choice but sadly they are getting rare now, when they do pop up they get snapped up so they are only going up in price now.. 10 years ago you couldn't even give away a scrap cavalier but now you dont really see them even in breakers yards.

the angles are quite tricky in a felicia becuase of the shape of the subframe, the lugs that hold the track control arms intersect with the centreline of the driveshaft which is even a problem on a standard engined one, having spent a lot of time and money on this subject i would always advise anybody to use the factory original hubs/uprights..

i did look quite closely at using a volvo t4 engine in mine before i went down the 1.8T route, i did have a volvo lump handy at the time and it does fit the engine bay very well indeed.. but if im honest if would do a project like this again i would go for a naturally aspirated engine, the intercooler and ductwork associated with a turbocharged engine was quite a major ball ache to sort and it was expensive too.

another favourite choice of mine for another project would be the 2.0 alfa t-spark engine.

I remember a couple of VR6 Felicias being built years back, how hard a conversion is it? I do like the idea of fitting engines from other manufactures in (I built a mini with a Vaux 2.0 8v in it a few years back ) and one of the lads I know has fitted a 1.6 vtec lump in his mk1 caddy

For cheap power, I'd be looking at a Saab 2.3 turbo, they can make silly power

Edited 19 December, 201213 yr by craig 1010cc

Done the 1.4 then 1.6 hybrid in the fun, but the tuned mtdi in the mk2 pickup laughs at them.

hey i have a 1.6 octavia manual gearbox but i have a 1.8 turbo engine but its from a automatic car i want to do a conversion but i i want to stay manual gearbox has anyone tried this conversion

Edited 3 April, 201313 yr by skoda.tech

is it hard to do the swapÉ

yeah i see what your saying, i will have a good think about what you have said,

in regards to the 1.4 16v engine, If i was to put this motor in the felicia at a cheap cost... how does the 1.4 tune? say i was to add a turbo/supercharger , remap all the works, would it be cheaper to just do a 1.8T transplant in the end?

How far can the 1.4 16v engine be pushed power wise? (roughly)

thanks Tom

i think the 1.8t transplant might be a better bet

how bout a 1.6 octavia an u put a 1.8 t into it

Thought my ears were burning!!

I think a Ford motor would be easier than the xe I fitted as some ford shafts have the same outer splines in the hub so maybe possible to mix and match.

beware tho the felicia shell will not handle too much power without serious mods, I had the front subframe/xmember keep coming loose on mine as the torque kept pulling it forwards and the braking kept pushing it back no matter what torque I did the bolts to.

Also the chassis rails cracked on mine where the wishbone attached also the bulkhead cracking where it meets the inner wings.

I have a pair of front hubs here converted to take a XE big shaft and 285mm disks with subaru 2 piston calipers if any use to anyone (some fords share the same splines I think?? they also have huge 14mm studs fitted for wheel location.

swings and roundabouts really and mine had very hard rally use so a road car may not suffer as badly

jim, ref to the ford splines, that was my exact thoughts too, also some of the mk4 escort gearboxes would interface directly with the skoda gear linkage too if you put the box in the right place.... I think it's all kind of perfunctory anyway, these questions get asked by enthusiasts all the time, and as you well know if you have to ask then you shouldn't be asking if you know what i mean.. Personally I'd love to see somebody on here step up to the plate and tackle an out of the ordinary engine transplant on one of these cars, but sadly they aren't worth a bean any more so it's unlikely to happen.. Besides spend a hour on eBay and you can buy yourself an Audi a3 1.8t for under £800 so why would anybody in thier right mind spend thousands converting a car that is virtually impossible to insure legitimately?

still rocking the ford zetec idea though, I don't think I would want to do another big transplant any time soon though, it's skinted me..