Motoring Discussion > How much to completely change an engine? Miscellaneous
Thread Author: tyro Replies: 26
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:03 
 How much to completely change an engine? - tyro
I've been daydreaming.

I was reading in the Backroom about a Mark I Ford Escort 1.1 that had a powerful engine put into it. And then there was the old 1950s American car in Cuba which had just had a new Japanese engine put it in.

And this got me thinking that if I was very, very rich, and had money to burn, I would be sorely tempted by the prospect of a Berlingo which was moderately rapid. It sounds so much more interesting than just getting a conventional fast car.

Suppose, for example, I had a diesel Berlingo, and got my hands on a VAG 1.9 TDI 130 engine. How much would it cost to have it put in?

What about a 3 litre V6 in a petrol Berlingo?

(Yes, I know I'm daft - though not daft enough to actually do it.)

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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:05 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bellboy
road legal
or strip only
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:17 
 How much to completely change an engine? - tyro
road legal.

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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:19 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bellboy
skies the limit then isnt it
how helpful was that :-0
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:24 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Zero
your supposed to suck air in through your teeth and shake your head before writing a large number on a piece of paper and handing it over.

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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:30 
 How much to completely change an engine? - tyro
Well, this is a fantasy thread.

So my second question would be "How much difference between road legal and strip only?"
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:33 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bellboy
if you fitted most of the drive train and ecu loom from the donor vehicle you could have it up and running in a week ish
road legal would take weeks and weeks
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:34 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Zero
well for strip only, you basically build a chasis with what any monster power plant in it you want, then clip a fibreglass replica body on it.

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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:37 
 How much to completely change an engine? - -
The costs would be astronomical, it isn't getting the thing to fit it's getting the incompatible engine managements to work, i'd estimate a bag o sand to fit the engine and transmission of 2 FWD similar sized vehicles and 5 bags to get the electrickeries sorted.

Oh and 3 bags to insure it...;)

Incidentally earlier Berlies with the 2 litre Diesel would be a rapid motor with some simple remapping, i wonder if anyone's done it.
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 12:41 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bellboy
ive got some bagsosand at work here so when can you start
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 13:07 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Fenlander
My first flat was above a yard where a Maltese guy worked from in the late 1970s. He was a genius in engine swaps... or the ultimate bodger depending on your view.

He had a Mk V Jaguar with engine problems and one day I noticed him with a tape measure under the bonnet of a Triumph 2000. By the end of the week the Jaguar was cruising about (a daily use car) with the Triumph engine and gearbox. Similarly he swapped a Ford engine into a Mazda RX-3 in place of the rotary and a 7lit Oldsmobile gained a much smaller engine at some point.

These swaps were achieved in tin roofed sheds or on a dusty yard with no more than a tape measure, welder, a few worn tools and bags of confidence.
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 13:14 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bellboy
there used to be a jag near me with 4103 perkins in it you heard it long before you saw it
many years ago a trader bought a yank station wagon with a 4 pot d series in it (now that was loud)
someone i knew put a 2.0 litre petrol engine (ford pinto) in a bedford cf van,it was so wicked he used more rear tyres than fronts
chevette with a 1600 kent was nice
i liked escort mk1"s with 1600 cortina gt engines fitted
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 13:15 
 How much to completely change an engine? - tyro
"a bag o sand to fit the engine and transmission of 2 FWD similar sized vehicles and 5 bags to get the electrickeries sorted.

Oh and 3 bags to insure it...;)"

Yes, I reckoned the insurance would be pretty steep.

So are you saying that it could be done road legal for under £10K? If one is thinking of lottery win type fantasy, that is not huge money.

Incidentally earlier Berlies with the 2 litre Diesel would be a rapid motor with some simple remapping, i wonder if anyone's done it.

I have read elsewhere on the internet about someone who has done it. To be honest, if I wasn't married, I'd be sorely tempted myself. Alas, my wife would take a very dim view of that sort of thing.

:-)
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 13:47 
 How much to completely change an engine? - ....
No idea how expensive but if you know what you're doing anything is possible.

There are V8 FIAT 126's running around.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-kB69a2PFw
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 14:39 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bagpuss
Years ago a mate of mine put a Rover V8 in a Mazda MX5. The underbonnet structure of the car required some precision redesigning with a hammer, but he used it for several years as his daily commute. He did most of the work himself in his garage.
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 15:37 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Old Navy
I knew a guy who put a Ford V6 into a HB Viva. It looked totally standard apart from slightly wider wheels.
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 15:46 
 How much to completely change an engine? - crocks
If there isn't enough room at the front for a larger engine then you can always put it at the back.

Like the Peugeot 205 T16 or the DFV V8 engined Transit vans.
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 17:27 
 How much to completely change an engine? - RattleandSmoke
I know somebody that put a straight six perkins diesel from a fawk lift truck into a classic 1970 Range Rover. It was a huge 6 litre monster. Apparantly it did about 10mpg and kept breaking down all the time.

The amazing thing was that it worked with the original gearbox.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sat 6 Mar 10 at 17:28
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 18:20 
 How much to completely change an engine? - henry k
This must be one of the very best !
It starts with the original launch PR stuff !!!l
www.dailymotion.com/video/x7gu5x_sinclair-c5-jet-car_auto

with of course, one minute + in, the famous view of the 49th worst place to live
Hinchley Wood !
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A1316396
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New Sat 6 Mar 10 23:38 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Dave_
There are a couple of videos of Minis on Youtube with rear-installed V8 engines. Also a FIAT cinquecento with a Vauxhall Calibra 2.0 turbo motor. Both road legal.

I remember the tale back in 1995 ish of a (then new) Corsa 1.4Si with an engine transplant from an (also new) Cavalier 2.5 V6, by a Hatfield company IIRC. The Corsa ended up very nose-heavy but the remarkable fact about it was that the V6 generated more torque at idle than the previous 1.4 had at the peak of its curve...

I'd like to do something similar as a lottery-winner dream project, like the numerous Escort Combi vans (estate car minus windows) in the late 80s with RS turbo or Cosworth running gear. Something drawn from one marque, like a Citroen C3 Pluriel with the C6 V6 HDi or a Fiesta RS );-)

Of course I'd want it to look as bog-standard as possible, like the Belgian Transit Connect van with Focus RS power but minus the body graphics.

EDIT: I tried to quickly find a YouTube link, but they're all littered with extreme swearing. They are out there though ;-)
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Sat 6 Mar 10 at 23:43
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New Sun 7 Mar 10 09:56 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bagpuss
Here's some pictures from a german website documenting a VW Bus getting a Porsche 996 engine and tiptronic gearbox transplanted.

tinyurl.com/ycp56yh

There are also a significant number of Beetles running round with Subaru flat sixes in their backsides.
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New Sun 7 Mar 10 10:27 
 How much to completely change an engine? - -

>> I remember the tale back in 1995 ish of a (then new) Corsa 1.4Si with
>> an engine transplant from an (also new) Cavalier 2.5 V6

My lad lived in Scotland for a couple of years when he still had his 2 litre Hyundai coupe, he booted it from a set of lights on one of the long main road dualled straights and lost the Corsa that was beside him, wondering where it had gone he soon found out as the driver of it had been playing with him and sitting by his right shoulder all the time, he just left my lad for dust...a small V6 badge being the only giveaway.

I too would like a quiet unimaginable Q car, maybe a Yaris or similar with the Corolla supercharged motor nestling under the bonnet.

I once came across an Escort full size van that i couldn't shake off with my trusty 827 Rover which was quick in its day, the turbo dump valve sounding off gave the game away.
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New Sun 7 Mar 10 10:46 
 How much to completely change an engine? - ....
The secret to this I think is finding a car with a suitable bodyshell.

It's OK sticking big engines in, uprating the chassis and brakes but the shell still gives the game away.
Pug 205 1.9 GTi anyone ? Look at the top of the B pillar on any hard driven one and you will see the cracks. That only had 130bhp.
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New Sun 7 Mar 10 12:06 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Bellboy
easy enough to brace a shell last time i had a go i spent weeks cross bracing everything so as the shell kept its rigidity
a better example of weak car shells would have been the early corsa b these all cracked on the b post and were subject to a recall to be brazed up if cracked
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New Sun 7 Mar 10 13:31 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Dave_
>> a quiet unimaginable Q car

I've just remembered another one from many moons ago. Late one night on the A505 between Baldock and Royston (pre-cameras) the teenage DTD was hammering along in my Cavalier when I moved out to overtake a shabby old Beetle, which had every panel a different colour and most of them in matt too. When it sped up to 80-odd I noticed the engine cover was slightly open at the top. When it kept accelerating, hard, I guessed it had something a little more than an air-cooled 1.3 in there! My Cavalier soon ran out of puff and the Beetle carried on pulling away into the distance. I'd loved to have known what engine was in there...
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Sun 7 Mar 10 at 13:31
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New Sun 7 Mar 10 21:54 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Dieselboy
A mate of mine has a 1966 Beetle with a 2100cc aircooled engine.

Rapid is an understatement.
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New Mon 8 Mar 10 10:27 
 How much to completely change an engine? - Boxsterboy
The front of a Berlingo can't be too different from a quick Pug 207, can it? Surely that's the best way forward, or maybe put the Pug V6 petrol from a wrecked 406 coupe in? The 150 bhp 2.0 (light pressure) turbo petrol from Xantias used to be a popular swap into 205s, too.
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