Fitting a VVC engine into a STD 1.8

[BiggestNizzy]

Hi, I am looking for some advice my engine is just about to go to that big agrage in the sky and If I am getting a new engine I might as well get a faster one, I am led to beeive that a VVC is not as tuneable but I use the car everyday so that is not my consern, I can get my hands on a 160Ps engine from a rover with the engine loom/ECU/ALarm (plan to chuck alarm as I have Cobra fitted) I have changed engines before so I like to think I'm not that bad. electrics are not my thing Is their anything I should know before doing it ?

[robin]

The 160PS is an EU3 engine - is the recipient car an S1 (EU2) or S2 (EU3)?

Cheers,
Robin

[BiggestNizzy]

Its a 1998 S1 Elise, does this pose a problem ?

[woody]

Welcome. Every day elise in killie? The only two i know of are the flip coloured 111s, and that's not you, and the light blue private plated S2 near Dean park? I was in killie till 6 months ago at howard park.

Electrics aren't my thing either, the top man's already answered

ETA too slow, that'll not be you either then.

[BiggestNizzy]

There are a few in Kilmarnock
The Flip paint Job belongs to Albi (methinks)
there is a black S2 and a red S2 with white stripe at the top of the town.(same street)
A silver S1 in stewarton as well as a red exige (S2)
Mine in Azure Blue (only thing of note is my electic boot switch (own design) and a Yellow S2 met the bloke is Asda Carpark he was on way to Cinema

[woody]

I know the yellow S2 - had a look at buying it - and have seen it at the odeon. know the owner of the flip one to speak to - we were both doing up homes at the same time and kept meeting at B&Q.

Black S2 could be Pete from on here, the red S2 could be the sports racer i ofetn see on the 77 and the red S2 exige in stewarton is ExigeKen i'd presume.

Mine's a titanium S1 sport 160, like i said, till a few months ago it was parked in the town center in McLelland drive, most folk in town seemed to have spotted it.

You had a look up at allerdices for engines?

[Rich H]

If you manage to break the VVC then get a blanking kit....

Shug has done something similar but put DTHTBs and an emerald on too...

[robin]

OK, well that's just about the hardest route I haven't tried doing that, so not exactly sure what challenges you'll face - here are some ramblings to consider:

One problem you will face is that it's not just the engine loom that is different - it's the whole car loom. If your engine is from a MGF then they used a different ECU (Lotus didn't take the Rover ECU for the EU3 engines) and while the Rover ECU can be made to work you will need to do a hell of a lot of work to get it there. Basically, in the Lotus at least, the ECU plug is on the main loom (goes from the ECU panel all the way to the dash and battery), and the main loom has several EHC plugs to pick up the engine harness; the engine harness itself consists of several more loomlets, some of which route direct to the EHCs and some route via another plug under the intake manifold.

You won't have mating connectors for any of these. So you'll need to cut and splice your existing EHC backsides to the EU3 front sides as it were. You will also need to add in any extra wires (sequential injection, wasted spark ignition, cam position sensor, oil temperature/pressure sensor, VVC solenoid control) - not an easy job! Then you'll need to cut off the ECU plug and splice it to the new ECU plug (or plugs, EU3 and VVC ECUs have two plugs).

If this VVC engine is very cheap, you can remove the cylinder head, replace it with a standard cylinder head (I have several 135 heads available if you're stuck for one) and then sell the VVC head+gubbins on ebay. The resulting engine can easily be fitted to your existing engine using all your existing looms and sensors.

Alternately keep the VVC head, throw away the EU3 engine loom and injectors, strip the loom and injectors off your old engine, buy an Emerald or DTA ECU and wire that in instead. The only extra wires you'll need to add then are the VVC control, cam position sensor and the wasted spark ignition system.

Not a project to undertake lightly! Let us know which route you choose and how you get on.

Cheers,
Robin

[robin]

BTW, it will be easier if the new ECU uses the 36-way MEMS connector as these are available to buy, so you can (a) reuse the one on your car, just relocating some of the signals and (b) add in a second one, moving some of the signals over from the other plug, as required, and wire in new ones, as required. This way you'll have good connections that are weather proof and will last. If you just hacksaw off the old loom and then use butt plugs to splice the new connectors on then at least one of them is bound not to work and it will be a pain in the ar$e to trace the fault.

The emerald M3DK uses the same plug that's already on your loom, with just a few extra signals added in to control the extra gubbins, so you would make your life easier if you were to use an emerald rather than the donor ECU.

Cheers,
Robin

[Dominic]

If you manage to break the VVC then get a blanking kit....

Shug has done something similar but put DTHTBs and an emerald on too...

There is a very detailed and illustrated thread from Shug see:

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... 57&start=0

[Shug]

Not strictly the same, as I was fitting the earlier VVC engine and plonking an Emerald in - looms were pretty compatible (althoguh still caused problems). As Robin says, whacking in an EU3 engine would be a whole different kettle of stoats - totally different loom.

[Dominic]

Not strictly the same, as I was fitting the earlier VVC engine and plonking an Emerald in - looms were pretty compatible (althoguh still caused problems). As Robin says, whacking in an EU3 engine would be a whole different kettle of stoats - totally different loom.

[Rich H]

How hard can it be

[Shug]

How hard can it be

That was easy

[Rich H]

Thats still fitted like that in your car isn't it?