1.6 maintenance upgrades
 

I’m going through my turbo 1.6 and doing a bunch of maintenance since history is unknown.

what timing belt, tensioners and water pump are recommended.

I’ll be replacing the oil pump and am wondering if an upgraded billet gear pump is needed or if OEM is fine for a street driven 250whpish 1.6 is fine.

A little outta my budget currently but something that’s on my mind is an ATI damper or similar being worth it or not.

also if there is anything else worth upgrading while I’m in there please comment and let me know.

thanks

Install a BP first...:rofl:

​​​​​then just a basic timing belt and (gates) water pump kit from FM/fab9/moss is all you really need. Front crank, cam seals and valve cover gaskets are the usual weepy-woos.
Oil pump/damper seems like overkill, stock would be fine but if you have the cash and want the extra insurance I'd say worth it.

I assumed this would be the general answer but it’s just not the direction I want to go. I can hit all my goals for this car with the 1.6. My only reason for going to a 1.8 would just be for better parts availability or if this 1.6 blows up on me.

You have to pull the engine or drop the front sub frame to do the oil pump. Is there an issue with your current pump? Wear on an oil pump isn't usually a problem.

engine and trans are coming out anyway to do a clutch, rear main seal, oil pan seal and engine mounts. I already have the timing belt and everything torn down as well so if there is ever a time to do it it’s now. As far as it showing any signs of wear or anything I’d have to lean towards no but I have no real idea of the miles on it or anything like that. I figure it’s just safe insurance to do it now and know it’s done VS finding out later it needs to be replaced.

Just basic stuff. Gates/gmb (gbm? Whatever it is) and good quality seals and gaskets. Been running at 200rwhp for 3 years and 15k miles with nary a peep out of anything engine related. I wanna swap the diff before I turn it up anymore.

I’d look closely at your head gasket. I’ve seen a lot of 1.6 composite gaskets leak oil or coolant externally. You can use MLS, but make sure to get a thick one (.030”?), or you may end up touching pistons to head at high RPM. I’ve only done this once, as most people don’t stick with 1.6s, but it’s enough
for me to recommend it.

gates/continental are great options for the belt/pulleys, I like OE Mazda for crank/cam/pan seals. I think you can reseal the 1.6 pump and rear main bracket with RTV like the 1.8s too if I’m not mistaken.

that’s good to know actually. The PO did replace the headgasket and put ARP studs in it which is a relief.