It really depends on what you want from the van ?

St170 on Itb’s is a great engine in a light weight car. They are great in a kitcar.

Itb‘s,You will I’ll need a stand alone engine management that will control the vvt. It will need mapping and the costs soon add up. Off the shelf you won’t see much change from £2.5k add the engine, descent exhaust manifold decent clutch and you would soon have £3.5k in a trany van. You could look at more diy options like home made ecu’s and programming it your self along with itb’s from a 600cc+ sports bike.

Depending on the age of the van ? the dash maybe controlled by a bus network. Ie the engine ecu gives the dash the info it needs and the only sensor is the fuel level sensor in the tank. Your after market ecu will not do this.

If the van needs an mot then you will need a cat. This will not help the free breathing itb's.

it really depends on what you want from it, but I would be much more impressed teaching the apprentices some good solid auto electrical skills and not just how to plug a lap top in.

The st170 ecu is cheap as chips and all the wiring info is online. They would get much more from learning on a £20 ecu than a plug n play £700 after market item. You could have the hole thing in for £350 still with 160 and a bit bhp. They still sound good.

want to be differant ?

St220’s are now breaking for very little and the same applies.

so to sum up, what do you want from it when it’s done ?