I'm going to get an old school Mini Cooper, like a '77-'98 model, and am thinking about a VW 1.9 for the new engine to replace the weak little 1L or 1.3 that came in it. I'll also build a new suspension that actually makes sense. My questions are: How electronics intensive is the VW 1.9? How much power can be gotten out of the 1.9L for minimal costs?

 

Check out the conversion forums at the tdiclub.com . There's a couple guys there in the midst of such a swap. One of them is into a wagon.