I've learned a lot about the distributor swap and I think I have everything I need to do figured out. With that in mind I pulled the ABA distributor off the block and replaced it with the BBM "Dizzy Gizzy". It's definitely a nice part which makes this process very simple, though expensive:
There are various posts out there explaining how to modify the 16v distributor to make it work with ABA engine management, but basically there are two differences between the guts of each. The 16v has a four window drum and spins counter clockwise. The 8v has a single window drum and spins clockwise. I need to move the single window drum to the guts of the 16v, and realign the window relative to the rotor thing such that it reaches the sensor in the same sequence as it would have in the ABA given it will be spinning the opposite direction on the 16v head. The way I looked at it, I calculated how many degrees of rotation the window would have to turn following the rotor to hit the sensor, and then applied that same logic if the rotor went the opposite direction. Essentially, you just need to mirror the position. I marked up the drum with some marker before I pulled the drum out of the distributor:
I'm having trouble pulling the drums off their shafts without damaging them but I've received a few pointers from VwVortex members so I'll give it another try.
I've been working on how to incorporate the ABA Idle stabilizer valve (ISV) onto the 16v head and think I have it figured out relatively well. I just bent the bracket for the old valve a bit and the 8v plumbing worked reasonably well on the manifold. I'll have to rig up some new plumbing for the intake:
I've already swapped the intermediate shaft gear so the only one left to do will be the timing gear. Now that I'm working on the actual timing gears I'm no longer very worried about timing the engine. Removing the distributor from the intermediate shaft means I should pretty much only have to time the crank gear and the camshaft gear. The crank bolt from German Auto Parts has arrived so I can replace that now and put the actual belt on soon. I tried to pull the crank bolt off last night - I put the car in 5th gear and stuck a 2x4 between the seat and brake pedal to hold the drive shafts in place, but that bolt isn't going to move with my muscle force. The other crappy thing is that its an odd size - 19mm 12 point bolt. I have the appropriate wrench but no socket. Even if I did have the socket, I doubt my 18v Makita Impact Driver would have enough torque to pull it off. I'm now faced with a predicament - I could try some of the ghetto methods I've read about from other people, where they jam a wrench to the floor and kick the starter, but it just seems sketchy to me, and I don't want to have to turn the key, since I'd have to do something to stop the fuel pump from turning on, put the battery back in place, etc. The alternative is tempting - I've always wanted air tools - and searching on Kijiji I can find decent impact wrenches for $100 bucks or so. If a 500 ft lbs impact wrench can't take the bolt off I must be doing something wrong:
Since I was frustrated with the crank bolt I decided to put the head in place. It's amazing how everything lines up relatively perfectly! One exception is the coolant flange off the front of the block is hitting the serpentine belt tensioner - I was a bit surprised about this - when I look at pictures of other 16v motors the flange appears to be pointing the opposite direction. The solution should be relatively simple - I'll trim a bit off the bottom of the flange so it clears the tensioner. The coolant hose is going to need to be extended anyway. It's a bit of a sketchy solution but it won't cost me anything.
Here is the head on the block for the first time. You can see the front coolant flange snuggling up against the tensioner:
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