I have just changen the engine in my 343dl (82) from a 1.4 to a 2l using the head, bell housing cluch and flywheel, electronic ignition, wiring loom etc from a f reg 1.7 car and the 2l block from a 460. the blocks look identical apart from the 2l being a slightly taller engine. it all bolted up fine, i didnt realise i'd need the front cross member but soon had that sorted. The problem is the starter isnt engaging with the fly wheel, it sounds as though it is spinning but not moving out in to the teeth, ive checked it of the car and it works fine, ive also tried both the 1.7 and 2l starters both have the same problem. the bell housing flywheel clutch and starter are all of the same car so i'm a bit confused. Any ideas would be useful as they might save me lifting the engine back out to investigate.
One thing i wasnt sure about is timing marks for this engine, i dont have a manual so i set it up using common sense, tdc on number 1 and rocking the valves on no.1. ive turned it over 40 or so times and there is no valve piston contact but i cant do a compesion test till i get the starter working, where are the marks?
does anyone know if i can use my 1.4 twin choke webber if i get it rejetted, think this'll be easier to do than getting the 1.7s solex done, has anyone done this engine swap befor? did they get much power out of it? is there a rev limiter in the electronic ignition or does it need a seperate one? what sort of red line do they have? this is the first time ive played with anything other than a vw engine so i dont really have a clue about them.
I'm hopefully going to use this for a couple of track days at the start of the summer cos my track cars been messed up and delaied so any recomendations for performance enhancing things, engine, handeling and brakes would be very usfull, Cheap of course so far ive only spent £600 including tax mot and insurance.
thanks

The 1.7 starter will not work on a 2ltr engine. The 2ltr one is slim and clears the block as where the 1.7 one fouls and will not bolt up correctly.

i dont know why you changed the cross member

ive had no problems with mine etc bolts straight in

I had to change the cross member because the original front engine mounts on the 1.4 went down virticaly into the cross member and the ones on the 1.7/2l engine go out on roughly a 45 degree angle also the cross member bends forwards so the engine sits about an inch further forward the bell housing of the bigger engine does the same kind of thing at the back. have you done this swap? do you know where the marks are for the timming belt? i'm still a bit worried if i finally get the starter working that i'll have that set wrong. thanks.

mine was a 1.4 originally, and theres no problems, you dont have to change the crossmember.


their is two cam timing marks on the rocker cover they look like V and they line up with a dot stamped in each cam.

the crank has a timing mark on the end of the pulley/cog gear and also the flywheel has a mark on it.

also when its at TDC the crank should be able to lock with the hole in the side of the block.

@kaos read the posts properly your telling the guy how to time up a 16v motor and hes talking about an 8v......
Adam

So i am, lol.

still front cross member doesnt need to be changed

yes you do have to swap out the crossmember for a 343, early models have a different front suspension + vertical engine mounts. the new style front suspension has a different crossmember, in wich the engine mounts are positioned at an angle.

1700 crossmember is different than late-style 1400 because the 1700 crossmember has 2 extra mounts for the chassis;)

@ kaos.

burned.

its possible ive got an 89 after all,

Yeah its right about the cross members, i work in a scrapyard at the weekends so i went and looked at all the 300s today the newer ones the engine would bolt straight in but the old ones like mine do have a different cross member, i had to change the anti roll bar to. I sorted my starter problem, befor when i turned it over by hand i could here a scraping noise, thought it must of been the flywheel on the bell housing, so i slackened all the bolts of gave the engine a good push side to side, turned it over by hand again and there was no noise. tightened everything back up and it works fine, must of only been a couple of mil out but it stopped the starter from coming out.
With the starter working i got to check the compression, it high on 2 cylinders and low on the other 2, so i must be a tooth or two out with the belt, had a really good look but i cant see any obvious timming marks so if anyone can help? it is only an 8v. Thanks.
I was looking at the calender section, If i can get my car sorted, should be, i'll be taking it to the PPC show on the 23rd of may. Ive got track time booked, so if you see an Y reg blue 343 getting over taken by everything maybe you can tell me how to get a bit more power from the car

2 high and 2 low on compressions, generaly normal unless there is a lot of difference, thats not timming at all that'll be piston ring wear etc.

there is a timing mark in the crankshaft pulley;

best way is to remove the distributor case, spray a can of industrial quality degreaser allover the place than put the crankshaft pulley back on and you'll see the marks when it's properly degrased:) don't forget to put an extra amount of oil on the chain before refitting the distributionchain case

it's a load of work. you could also try to leak a bit of oil into the combustion chamber and try again, if the compression improves the piston rings are worn. by the way, how big is the difference in compression, and what are the compression ratings at the moment?

@ kaos; as an additional info the vertical engine mount crossmember; it is used on all 340's before the mk3 version. with the vertical mount crossmember, comes the differently shaped anti rollbar

thanks for the advice, got the car running now, bit of a rattle but i'll get the valve clearences set and hopefully that'll be it sorted still a bit lost what you meant by timming chain and distribution case? mabye belt and cover? anyway its sorted, just wish this computer was asn easy to fix

ouch, i'm sorry mate, i thought you still had a 1.4 in your car, got confused when you said 8v i'm sorry for the confusion