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MG MGF Technical - VVC CONVERSION - HGF


My 1997 1.8 MGF has recently become one of the many HGF statistics. Whilst making enquiries about repairs etc I have been offered the chance to convert my current engine to a VVC, including the head, wiring and ECU etc.

Has anyone done this successfully??

I believe there are differences in the gearbox and rev counter etc but are these factors that stop the conversion working??

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Darren
D Parr

I think most of the techies are on their hols this week so you might have to wait for a reply. there might be something in the archive, although I can't recall it.

From memory, I think most people have been put off by the sheer number of peripherals that have to be changed, (you didn't mention ignition coils and no distributor, possibly because it was obvious?).

Most of the differences are not car-stoppers, but you should notice the change, for example the mpi gearbox has slightly shorter ratios than the vvc, so after the change, you should get better acceleration at the expense of top speed.

This is no reason not to do it, just make sure the technician is above the usual MG standard and they are prepared to offer a guarantee.

Chris
Chris

There is quite a lot of work involved in changing all the bits over - possibly a better solution would be to take the VVC head and get Dave Andrews to make it solid cams and mild port. The labour cost would prolly be less and you would definatly not hit any gotchas.
Will Munns

Totally agree with Will. There are two things you want from the VVC
1) the head as it has bigger valves
2) the VVC mechanisme which is dropped by some serious tuners and more important which really needs the VVC capable MEMS.
I would go for the VVC head, solid cams, Emerald nicely setup and hey presto, you've got a nicely tuned car without too much poblems. However I expect that this isn't an option as the garage probably want your MPi, otherwise they wouldn't suggest a swap.
Erik

you can get most of the way to early vvc power by just fitting a TF135 head, mildly fettling your manifolds - just removing moulding/joining flash in the inlet, and cleaning up the welds in the exhaust.. There's a bit of fiddling involved with the distributor drive and the cam tensioner, but less than that involved with a conversion to vvc i'd have thought..

and i'm sure it would be a lot cheaper!!

Rob Bell has just done it, and has doubtless minuted it somewhere:-)

mike
mike

Chris, the costs of my 'conversion' breaks down roughly as follows:
1. head gasket repair, new cam belt etc etc £570
2. TF135 head complete with cams etc £150 (IIRC - could be completely wrong there - purchased some while ago!)
3. DVA quick and dirty port £300 + £40 for a couple of extra odds and ends, including getting the head tapped for a manual tensioner.


Darren, regarding your specific plans of swapping a VVC head for a 1.8 MPi item:

>>My 1997 1.8 MGF has recently become one of the many HGF statistics. Whilst making enquiries about repairs etc I have been offered the chance to convert my current engine to a VVC, including the head, wiring and ECU etc.

Has anyone done this successfully?? <<

Yes, I believe that this has been done on a number of occasions. If you have the head, the engine wiring harness (of equivalent age to your car), MEMS2J, inlet plenum etc etc, then you've got all the necessary parts to complete the job successfully.

>> I believe there are differences in the gearbox and rev counter etc but are these factors that stop the conversion working?? <<

The gearbox final drive ratio is different between the VVC and MPi - on a cost/benefit perspective, unless you can source the VVC box cheaply, it isn't worth worring about.

The VVC rev counter has a higher red line - but this is just paint at the end of the day, and there is no reason not to re-use the existing rev counter.

It all depends on how 'authentic' you want your engine conversion to be - but essentially, only the MEMS and the wiring loom are critical to the success of this conversion plan.

How much are you being quoted for the conversion? As Mike says, there are other ways to skin a cat, but the VVC head offers by far the most potential.
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 24/08/2005 and 28/08/2005

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