[HOW TO] 16 valve Conversion (with Pictures)

[djrem]

General rule is:

same year. it will fit regardless.

References:
VTS PARTS PDF

16V CONVERSION FORUMS

Use this rule for Engine, Looms, Driveshafts

I've used Colins how to guide as a skeleton:
http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84099


Tools you will need:

Engine crane
A LARGE selection of tools
A ball joint splitter
Electrical tools (just in case)
Trolley jack
Axle stands
A mechanical-ish brain!


A 16v will fit straight in most Saxo/106s no problems. Just get the 16v engine from the same year as your car and same ECU. There are 2 main types of ECU, a Single Plug and a 3 Plug.

I.E 1998 single plug 16v into a 1998 single plug VTR/1.1/1.4

BEFORE REMOVING YOUR ORIGINAL ENGINE

Immobiliser, just simply start your engine and then pull your immobiliser out from under the fuse box and this unlocks the ECU and lets you use the 16v one which will need unlocking. I recommend Blue Hawk Electronics in Nottingham for unlocking the 16v ECU. Then shut your engine off, and then restart it to see if it’s worked! But if you have an after market immobiliser instead, then I believe this is not necessary, BUT do it anyway!

Didnt do that?
Then for £93 (85+POSTAGE) Blue Hawk Electronics will unlock your ECU to work with any key.

Details here:
http://www.bluehawkelectronics.co.uk/

I did my conversion over the span of a month. When you have your VTS/GTi engine, now is the best time to change and clean alot of the parts.





The conversion is really easy. You will need:

Engine
Gearbox
Unlocked ECU
Wiring Loom
VTS Lower rear engine mount
VTS transmission engine mount
NON-VTS/VTR Drivers side mount
VTS throttle cable
VTS exhaust manifold

Ideally you would also need:

VTS Radiator
Top Radiator hose (lower VTR hose you can cut to length)
VTS fan setup

Also:

New engine oil
New gearbox oil
Coolant

And also get anything else to perform a complete service.

First step is to remove your original engine.
Remove front bumper
Remove slam panel


Using an engine hoist, lift the car shell up via the rings at the front as shown below:


Undo the lower engine mount located next to the exhausts connection of the center section and the manifold.

Now the way i took my 1.1 out was then undoing the drivers side mount then supporting the transmission and undoing the passenger mount (under the battery).

As you undo that mount, the transmission will drop so bear that in mind.

Having the car on axle stands, lower the engine down with your hoist onto a wooden board.
(we let it drop and then skipped our lump)

let the engine sit on the floor.
Hoist the car back up, and drag your engine on the board out from beneath the car.

The VTS/GTi Lump
Now is the best time to upgrade your clutch regardless of its current condition as you'll see how much easier a clutch change out of the car is than in for the sake of £70 for a clutch.

Heres the one we took out and the new one:


Clutch changes are simple enough.

Clutch Change Overview

First remove all wiring around the Starter motor and transmission
(Get a picture so you know how YOUR wiring sits)

Now at this stage, I also painted my engine block and transmission black.

Remove your starter motor
-Two bolts on the block side
-one bolt from the transmission side

Remove Transmission
-4 bolts iirc on the transmission side
-1 bolt from just below the starter motor side

Dont pull it off just yet

there is a little metal plate with a small bolt holding it in place at the bottom of the flywheel from the block side at the front of the engine.

Remove that and it will drop out.

Pull out the transmission.

Un-do the six hex bolts to your clutch.
remove old clutch and pressure plate

Your engine will look something like this:


Clean up your transmission and re-fit:

Clutch and pressure plate in one piece with a clutch alignment tool to the flywheel.

Replace the bearing in your transmission side with new one in your clutch kit.

Re-fit transmission in reversal of removal taking care not to move the clutch lever as you fit it.


back to the VTS/GTi fitment

put straps around the engine and postition it next to the car:



You need to do some customising now.

Get your drivers side mount off of your 1.1 engine and remove the top drivers side mount from the VTS/GTi lump.

When its fitted it will look like thisL
(The mount in the picture to the right is the one we removed from the 16v engine)



You make the non 16v mount fit by removing the bolts from the 16v mount and cutting them down to size.

Cut them with a nut already on them so when you have them to size, undoing the nut, cleans the thread and checks it will fit correctly.

Bolt this to the engine ready to go in.



Make sure your car is all ready for you.

Fit the drivers side mount (non 16v one)
Fit the passenger side one too.
Leave the lower bottom mount on the 16v engine




Using the engine hoist, lift the car in the air like before.

Use axle stands to support the car incase anything gives.

having the engine on a board (we used an upturned pallet), drag the engine under the car when you have enough clearence.

lower the car onto axle stands.

use the engine hoist to drag the engine into position.

lift the engine up and onto the drivers side mount.
next jack up the engine into the passengers mount

Tighten nuts

your drivers side will now look like this:
(other than flat arches, another way to tell if your car wasnt an original 16valver)


Now that you have 2 of the 3 mounts in,

jack up the rear of the engine behind the sump.

You need to fit this baby:
(bolt to the right)



this fiddly bastard goes in with a wiggle of everything and a hammer.


There you go. fitted.

Now plug it all back in and you are ready to roll.

Back to colin:

The car runs very hot with the VTR cooling setup so I would advise getting the VTS cooling setup.

For the fuel return, you can simply plug the hole with a screw and thread lock.
But ideally you want to run a fuel return from the fuel rail back to the tank. And also use all the correct pipes and fuel pressure regulators. VTRs have an FPR on the tank. Simply do away with that FPR and plumb a line back to the tank/pump.

There are different types of fuel tanks for the Saxo. Some already have a return facility plumbed in. Your best off finding out which one you have before you tackle the fuel return. It’s a simple job but very frustrating! And you have to think about it.

Some Saxos run OK without a return, but from personal experience, mine does not run very well. So I plumbed in the return.

Wiring is dead easy. Plug the main harness in that’s behind the nearside headlight and plug in all the other necessary items in like fuel pipes, gear linkages etc.

All driveshafts from a VTR will definitely fit the VTS gearbox, although some have different splines than others and maybe ABS. But if you get the engine from the same year as your car, then there should not be any problems.

Hope this helps people that were in the same situation as me.

Regards

Rem

[steviet]

nice guide mate. its decent with pictures aswell

[frankie]

rem......thank you.

[Wayne]

top guide rem

[Strikevts]

Rep your way rem for the time and pic's on this guide. Good job mate

[stevenet15]

good guide rem should help stop some of the questions normally asked on here. there was a indepth step by step guide to 16v conversions on the rally register with wiring diagrams

[djrem]

Originally Posted by stevenet15

good guide rem should help stop some of the questions normally asked on here. there was a indepth step by step guide to 16v conversions on the rally register with wiring diagrams

Im not a member there

may be good to keep this thread updated with as much related info as possible

[MaRiO89]

Great guide!

[smearsvtr]

great guide mate spot on

[yerdusk]

Nice work there matey, im sure this will come in handy for many people!

[teebag]

should be made into a sticky or posted in the how to guides section. great guide.

[pubert]

cheers

btw, does anybody know how much a garage would charge to swap the engine, if you had all the parts?

cheers

[djrem]

Originally Posted by pubert

cheers

btw, does anybody know how much a garage would charge to swap the engine, if you had all the parts?

cheers

£1500 normally.

Wont be a normal garage as when you get a price for an engine conversion, they rebuild the engine

[OLLYVTS]

Great guide rem,this should help a few people out on here.

[williamsvts]

why did you take the front end of the car off?? no need to, you only need to use the 1 vts engine mount aswell, just the upper engine mount.

[Japman]

well done rem

good effort

[djrem]

Originally Posted by williamsvts

why did you take the front end of the car off?? no need to, you only need to use the 1 vts engine mount aswell, just the upper engine mount.

when you buy an engine it will come with the mounts already attached unless otherwise stated from a breakers.

The mounts are exactly the same on the 1.1 and vts models other than the drivers side upper mount.

the front end of the car came off to allow access to minimise any damage.

Working on a car utilises Murphys Law : If it can go wrong, it probably will.


Plus with the bumpers off, its easier to get photos of how to do it.

[williamsvts]

The mounts are exactly the same on the 1.1 and vts models other than the drivers side upper mount

thats why i asked why you said to use lower engine and gearbox mounts.

i've never took the front end off in the conversions i've done. only takes me 12 hours aswell.

[AdamH]

someones showing off now great guide tho

[djrem]

Originally Posted by williamsvts

The mounts are exactly the same on the 1.1 and vts models other than the drivers side upper mount

thats why i asked why you said to use lower engine and gearbox mounts.

i've never took the front end off in the conversions i've done. only takes me 12 hours aswell.

thats great.

im sure someone like you pretty much doesnt need this guide then.

If the 1.1 mounts worked before, best using them than the ones attched to an engine thats turned up on a pallet like mine did that could be suspect