Well well Ive just had some fun reading all that, i love the big Vs small block banter it's just ace!
Right first off i will through in my own thoughts on things...
Baxter if you want a nice easy swap with good power gains then do the C20XE, i had this dilemma years back with my old car, I'm sure there's a post about it back then, so i set about asking the longest running members of (old) PNG and NovaLoad, such as Jim,CP,Dan,Karl Rowntree Andy Bishop,on this topic and there opinions
A) Keep my 1600 8v and tune it using T40/cam set up,or turbo possibly?
B) C20XE it...blah blah blah!
They also came back with all these pro's and cons for both options,EG how easy is it to swap the engine, against how much money it coast to tune a less powered one etc..
Then some one also mentioned the fact that the old 20NE, or 20SEH 2.0 8v engine's might be worth thinking about, but i opted for the C20XE in the end.
So the car got the engine and i had some Koni adjustable's(they were shocking) with 1600 springs, when i first drove the car i was shocked how heavy the front end felt, it was no long my same little nova,it was a totally different car all together lol
So over time i realized i needed to sort the suspension as there was way to much understeer, this was when i bought your old Spax coilovers, i had a track day booked at donny so i fitted the rears as i didn't have time to do the fronts,and i could feel the benefits on the rear,but yet still the front was sliding into the bends full of understeer! the front were added but not kept for long.
So when i has some money i popped to Dave Marshalls and bought his old Avo coilovers of him,and his SBD TB set up (first met Lee at Dave's) and this totally changed the car again into something els, i then added the solid top mounts to them,and again saw the added turn in they gave to the cars characteristics.
So i did all these step one at a time,OK it was money down the drain each time i was replacing items, but i learned how they changed the car as i went etc.. Hench how i know what i was going to do on my present car as id already lent from my previous experience's..
Anyway back to the topic...lol
I've already said if you want the quick fix, go XE, or if your happy to be patient and spend some time getting an engine to where you want it then use Adams........
OR there is this option to, you could find a nice old 20NE, 20SEH and custom construct a Turbo conversion on it, as i think not only would you benefit from the less weight,but there is also more standard form power then a pre turbo'd 1600 8v, i know that 1600 8v's can be super fast car's, i passengerd in Dan's and i was smiling for ages, my mate Mike's turbo one is way more powerful then my XE (although less control,due to turbo lag) And then there is Oli Dankers, and CP's there amazing small block cars, it's all about time,money,set up's and trial and error etc.
What ever you choose mate, good luck to you:thumb:
Scott
