2.0 Fuel Injection Questions

[Tidybuoy]

I just got a 2.0 engine. Supposedly in good shape as the owner of the parts car that I bought tells me it has rebuilt heads.

My plan is to take it apart and have the bottom end looked at and possible have any needed work done to get this up to newly rebuilt standards and I was going to get new Euro pistons. I believe the PO on the heads since they look brand new on the outside and with the valve covers off - they look new in there too.

My questions:

The wiring harness is in fair shape with a few splices here & there. Can I replace with a 1.7 wire harness (I have one that is perfect)?

The brain is probably ok but the harness plug is terrible and falling apart (hence the reason I want to replace the harness). When looking at the pelican site, I see that there are "versions" of the 2.0 brain (i.e., '73, '74, '75-76). If I were to replace the brain, which one is the best? and are all of the harnesses interchangeable?

Any advice would be great................................Vern

[jamcleod]

i would say, go to the "panders" site that dave d always refers to and get a "matched set" of FI components. i get the impression that '74 FI components would be easier to gather in one place if one had to.

[bowlsby]

Try the 1.7L harness onto the 2.0 engine. If it fits, it will work...electrically they are the same. I think the harness will not fit very well if at all, but try it. The 75-76 harness is definitely different than the previous harnesses, but the others are all wired the same...just the branches are different lengths and in different places.. Tell us what you discover Vern.

If the 2.0 harness is in pretty good shape, someone I know repairs these things economically...

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

"Repair"?? You call 99% of the thing being brand-spanking new, and the result being better than the factory built, "repaired"???

(Hint, if you need it--click the third link in Bowlsby's signature up there.)

--DD

[Tidybuoy]

I'm really just getting into the project. I bought a parts car and I dropped the engine last weekend. I'm getting all the tin powdercoated as well as the manifold, manifold pipes, and fan shrowd + or - a few other car parts. (that's next weeks project).

This weekend, I'm going thru my own car's engine compartment and cleaning up the battery tray area - some rust but not too, too bad. I'm going to POR-15 it as well as the rear trailing arms and possibly a few other parts.

I'm also sending the flywheel in for re-surfacing which will be getting a new clutch when it gets back. Since I now have a 2.0, I have to re-learn how to tune the car since my original engine was a 1.8.

I'm still debating with myself if I should just install this engine as is, or go thru it. The previous owner had this car as a project but never finished but the guy had the finances to do things right so I'm somewhat comfortable that he did things right. Unfortunately, I didn't ask a single question about the engine because I only got the car for trim pieces and E-bay sales.

The guy told my friend that the engine had either new or rebuilt heads (my friend is not a mechanic so he didn't know what the guy was talking about and so he may have relayed the message to me wrong). And, I don't have a way to talk to the prior owner to confirm. However, looking at the heads, they look brand new from the outside and under the valve covers is spotless & looks new.

The only issues with the engine that I know of is that the FI harness had some splices and the plug to the brain was crappy. The ignition is a crane and has wires going everywhere.

Also, the engine had an external oil cooler installed (in addition to the stock cooler). Hmmm, is this a sign that the car was running hot or that the engine was raced or driven hard? And, even though the heads look new, the engine case was filthy - so, what can I conclude here?

Decisions, decisions. This will give me something to do for the next few months.

Vern