Has anyone tried a VW 1700 as an alternative engine? Its rated for nearly twice the HP and Torque of the 1600. Would it bolt straight to a 1600 transmission? I tried searching the forums for a thread on this but it told me the captcha was down.

1700cc engines were usually Type 4 engines, with the lineal fan shroud rather than the upright. They typically were not twice the horsepower but were a little more with torque. They were used in transporters and later, the Porsche 914 with different internals.



Will they bolt up to a T1 transaxle? Yes, with the appropriate clutch/pressure plate combination (assuming your transaxle is post 1966).



I had a T4 in my car before I sold it. Now, I had it built by a reputable builder but had nothing but problems from it so I couldn't say for sure if it was an improvement in performance over the 1600 mill I had in there previously or not (other than the OE engine ran and ran well... and I should have left it alone and saved $7K). You'll need to figure out a fan shroud else you'll wind up cutting the rear valance for clearance (ask how I know). There are kits out there that require you to weld up to do that, so do your research.



T4's can be built pretty stout, check out ShopTalkForums and their Type4 section for builds. Keep in mind though that the engine itself is about 80 to 120#'s heavier than a comparable type 1, so cornering performance will be affected.