1977 VW Rabbit Fuel Injection

I am ignorant in the ways of Volkswagen. My 1977 1.6 SOHC rocks the ancient K Jetronic and it is of suspect condition.

I grow weary of this, yearning for greater fuel economy and greater power. Meditating on this conundrum, I have deemed it wise that I should upgrade to a 2.0 8v from something like a 92 Golf. Is this foolhardy? Should I embrace my inner Luddite and use a carburetor? Should I reform, taking on a life of modesty, and learning to live with the stock 54 hp?

I beg, my lords, that you sprinkle me benevolently with your wisdom.

I love the cis basic system in those early rabbits. There is no way you are gonna get more power and better economy from a carb.

I just sold my last "poor Richards rabbit book" it has the easiest to understand and perform with simple homemade tools tests for that system.

But also. Go ahead and Chuck an ABA with its efi in there and get all of everything.

Ahem: the VW 1.7L Holley Carb'd version used in the early Omni/Horizon made more power than the CIS equipped version of the same engine in the Rabbit.

The CIS flapper does restrict the airflow slightly.

Yes- the 1.7 Omni motor, not the Solex equipped VW 1.6. The Holley was a huge upgrade. A clean K-jet always worked better.

There isn't a whole lot of hope for a vw 1.6. I built strong one in the very early nineties with a modified big valve jh head and aggressive cam but it wasn't much compared to a whole jh motor in a gti. The pistons in those things are heavy slugs and it is a lot of mass to move.

Plus the CIS components are getting hard to find and expensive. Last I checked a warm up regulator was around 300 and they all seem to need one at this point. A full obd1 aba swap just makes good sense.

Were it my car I would be looking for a 2 liter 16v out of a b3 passat and hit it with the megasquirt stick. I hit nearly 40mpg and made 153 @ the wheels in my rabbit pickup with that setup. Loved that thing.

I'm still scared in general of CIS but so far the 1.8 8v in my 84 GTI has been doing good. Once I get it out of the garage again on it's own power I'm considering taking it to a friend who owns a VW repair/performance shop and have him perform a "CIS health check up" for me. The only problem I have currently though is a little bit of a cold start issue.

I wouldn't blame you if you didn't stick to the 1.6 either. Go pull a 2.0 from one of the THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of MKIIIs populating junkyards and eliminate all the headaches. I'm only keeping my 8V because the car is so original and I want to keep it within SCCA rules. If I determine that it just won't be competitive in STS or FSP then I'm going to say the hell with it and swap in a 16v at some point.

turboswede wrote: Ahem: the VW 1.7L Holley Carb'd version used in the early Omni/Horizon made more power than the CIS equipped version of the same engine in the Rabbit. The CIS flapper does restrict the airflow slightly.

I have a complete 1.7 H sitting in my barn waiting for the right car to come along. They handle boost well also.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Yes- the 1.7 Omni motor, not the Solex equipped VW 1.6. The Holley was a huge upgrade. A clean K-jet always worked better.

Yeah, its weird. The Holley used on those early Chrysler's were poorly made copies of a Weber 2-bbl and were terrible after several years of abuse, they got worse as they added more computer doodads on them to try and meet emissions standards. Swapping the warped Holley out for a real Weber solved those problems and made a little more power since the throats were larger (32/36 versus 26/28 iirc).

Yet the CIS system used in the Rabbits was pretty reliable and robust. Oddly the CIS system used in the 924, similarly used on other Porsche, Audi, VW, Volvo, BMW, etc. at the time, is pretty unreliable it seems.

Either way, CIS is a bit odd and scary to look at. If you do some research you'll learn that its fairly simple in concept and with a proper CIS pressure testing setup you can keep it working well for quite a while. Basically: Keep the fuel system clean, the electrical connections clean and tight and remove any and all intake tract leaks.

That said, if I were looking for a stupid project to do with that 1.6-equipped bunny, I'd probably build a turbo setup for it and convert it to MegaSquirt. Boost until it pops and throw a 1.8T at it and continue to make tire smoke until I stop giggling.

CIS is )#($& fantastic unless it's fooled with or gunked up with debris/varnish. Get a pressure gauge set and check everything vs Bentley. Adjust as necessary. I would even consider upgrading to the later 83/84 GTI injection with O2 as well as the later electronic ignition.

If you are considering EFI by the time you get 94-99 EFI in there you could have put a Microsquirt in there. If you go this route just grab a full 2L motor for all the wiring and sensors and run standalone.

Since I'm not married to the 1.6, it looks like a 2.0 8V from the 90s is the way to go. Thanks everybody.

Thought you had a Hyundai?

I hear a 1.8T fits nicely in that bay.Or maybe a VR6 if you want some sweet EFI music. :)

16v and a MS2

Dusterbd13 wrote: Thought you had a Hyundai?

I do. Helping a friend with his project. :)

Lots of options out there for you from mild to wild. The 2.0 conversion is the cheapest/simplest major change in hp. If you move everything you suddenly have a very modern setup with good ponies. I did the JH conversion on my FSP Rabbit and have been pretty happy with the CIS after much tinkering to deal with the increased compression.