engine question
 

who was the chap that put a 1.8T vw engine in his 180, iirc it was running 300bhp??????

im thinking of doing the same thing, miss my old mg zs's loads! but 180bhp is no where near enough for me.

Was Dave, the conversion was done by reyland although it did have some teething problems and it has since gone very quite as it was sold back to reyland. Id contact them and see if they still have it!!

Good to hear your wanting to get back in a zed :)

was thinking of buying a t series turbo engine, forged everything then fitting it to a zs, i have a mate who is a fantastic engine builder so it wouldnt cost huge amounts to build.

am i correct in saying im better of buying a 1.8 model over a 2.5 as the wiring is easier to adapt to the t series loom???

The wiring isn't a lot more complex in the 180 over the 120, it is much worse in the mk2 over the mk1.

I personally would go for a 180 over a 120 as it has better brakes and suspension is beefed up at the front.

You also have to consider which T16 lump to go for.............

Just T16 it, will be a lot cheaper as it bolts straight in with the correct mounts :)

Forged pistons (rods debatable, but if you can afford deffo go forged), steel caged box, big 'old turbo, after market management, 2.5" or 3" exhaust and other bits and bobs (uprated ARP head bolts, steel caged box etc) and 300bhp done!

The car in question did a few trackdays and blew up

i wud steer clear of that option and just get a T Series you can get the same power as that and still have change from 7k
HTH

Bob

pretty sure reyland still runs it with his 1.8t audi powered zr, was an expensve conversion but well done, think about 7grand, AA autosport are doing t16 conversions for the zs for ?850 odds you just supply the engine ect, or buy a 420gsi and most the bits are there you need just rebuild the engine and get turbo and downpipe made

what turbo is best for the t series, i would run 350 bhp minimum, is this forget on a t series turbo, as anything less soon becomes boring. garrett gt28 or perhaps a t5??

are there any t 16 zs owners on here? what spec are you running? power, qtr mile, 0-60 times etc will be great if you have any info like that

as far as im aware the ZS conversion blew its headgasket into a zillion peices after only a handfull of hard trackdays

Dunno About the ZR though

Have a read through these Adam should just about clear up any questions :)

T16 Zs Conversion guide ---- http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=14472
Dans Conversion threads----- http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=9535
http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=14745

http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthre...t=14745&page=4
Thats the final finished object dude, that spec is half way there and probably good for around 300ish bhp for now once the fuel pressure reg is on.
Once the aftermarket management, bigger turbo (gt3071, 490bhp capable), nitrous and a few other little tricks get fitted and mapped... should be smashing 450bhp+ with the gas on, who knows, even more perhaps! i'm sure i'll let people know once its been done.

The highest of heard of was in a T16 maestro built by Andy Nicholes, it was pushing 600bhp which he felt was the limit, IIRC it had been bored out to about 2.1L, had forged, toughened, lightened, modified bits every where and I think he was running a T55, when I saw the car I remeber wondering what power station he'd nicked the turbine from, it was massive.

It was the quickest front wheel drive car in the UK at the time.

He has since moved to a MGZR running 640bhp at the hubs and doing 10.2 138mph quater miles and out doing jap cars on handling circuits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYrDv_Fa7YA

Reading further apparently he did 10.23 @ 138mph in 2007

his website is http://www.an-racing.co.uk/

hi mate it was my car and theres a thread on here somewhere about it...
here you go theres some pics...
http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=7048

Just to dispel all the myths about it ....i had a problem with it at cadwell park which was its seventh trackday, but tbh mileage was nothing to do with the problem it could have happened anytime, anywhere.
I was out on track hammering it round when the car suddenly was noticeably down on power and then i noticed it was overheating...trouble was i didnt notice and realise soon enough.
Water pump had failed, plastic impeller had broken and so of course being out on track flat out it got very hot very quick, under normal driving conditions you would have seen it getting hot and it wouldnt have been a problem.
Anyway i got pump swapped and it drove perfect , i wasnt even sure if it had another problem, seems it needed a new head gasket but i didnt know for sure at the time and it certainly didnt blow up, when i swapped the water pump it drove like normal...no mayo in the oil and no oil in the coolant or anything drastic like that.
Water pumps fail common on those engines and the usual upgrade is a pump with a metal impeller, that was the only issue, nothing to do with anything else, these engines run way more power on standard internals than mine was making with uprated internals.
Tbh i had decided i was selling before i even went to cadwell, so i didnt sell it because it was broken, martin said he would check it out and repair it if needed anyway so it was no issue.
Running expense was the issue, im a builder and we all know what the climate has been like in the uk last year...simple as that. Every trackday would be costing 450 -500 quid and that soon adds up when you have little work coming in.

Anyway about the conversion...Its the best bar none, can easily make the most power when its fitted but fitting costs....as does anything worthwile !
it looks o.e under the bonnet and runs like o.e and its one of the best blown 4 pot ever made, its what the zs needed all along.