-1.9L..more likely to find a good engine..much more off boost torque, better low/midrange power, keep the small turbo to augment this characteristic..very heavy internals, poor ports, especially exhaust. NOT a revver...nice to have a serpentine belt system for alternator & /a/c...Prone to total engine failure due to poorly designed crank sprocket keyway. Sprocket loosens and the bolt can sheer...Some engines didn't come with LDA on pump. (extra fueling with boost)-1.6L..more difficult to find a decent condition engine..low end power pretty soft, distinct turbo lag compared to tiny turbo'd 1.9L..can be revved quite high..better port design...rat's nest of belts if using p/s & a/c. Alternator belt needs tightening frequently...pretty well bulletproof engine. No common failures noted.
Difficult to find a 1.6?I've never even seen a 1.9 IDI. Were they even sold in US?Edit: Oh, your in Jersey. So your scarfin up those canadian 1.9's???
Which engine is better to extract performance out of it??1.6 or the 1.9??Engine taking more beating n all?!
Well, I spoke with Dave this morning, and he had pulled the head after the alternator bracket broke and knocked out the water pump, the motor got kinda hot, so he pulled the head just to be safe.The head was flat, and all rods and pistons were in good shape, and there were NO BENT RODS!! It looks like one of the valves has made contact with the piston, it was checked over was straight no damage to the piston or the valve, so it was put back in and the valve spring was checked over. Now if you have been following the franken motor thread you will know that the big limiting factor to this point was that the turbo was surging above 26psi so Dave custom machined an anti-surge compressor housing for it and now can run 35psi, however above 32psi it just flutters now as the external gate spring is to soft, so Dave is going to get a harder spring, and attempt to re-dyno it this weekend. Both with the stock injector's and then with some 1.9 dual springs with some merc nozzles. It still needs an equal length exhaust manifold, and a cam, but it is getting there. :wink: .
No bent rod, but there was valve to piston contact.