WRX RA powered VW 1303 beetle cabrio with a bit of Porsche

WRX RA powered VW 1303 beetle cabrio with a bit of Porsche

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Discussion

Waugh-terfall

18,488 posts

199 months

Sunday 19th June 2011
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ricola said:
Yes, unfortunately I lost oil pressure as the engine lost power, looks like an engine rebuild judging by the noise it's making now.. frown
Oh no. frown

Mangel

29 posts

245 months

Tuesday 21st June 2011
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Oh arse!!

well if you need any bits and bobs I know a man whose local to you!!

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Tuesday 21st June 2011
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I've been researching using a new 2.5 bottom end but the associated costs mount up rapidly so I'll probably just source another 2l longblock and swap them over...

Mangel

29 posts

245 months

Tuesday 21st June 2011
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Almost deffo know a man!! will pm you his number!!

knight

5,205 posts

278 months

Tuesday 21st June 2011
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I know it's probably like teaching your granny how to suck eggs, but a mate of mine is a Scooby nut and could possibly give you some info if you need it.

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Monday 11th July 2011
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Well I've got another engine (secondhand wiht about 50k miles) and am currently stripping it down to a longblock for a clean up ready to take my modified intake manifold and other bits.



Looking over the engine block it seemed remarkably similar to my RA closed deck block and after a quick search it seems some very early WRXs came with them too! Looks like I lucked out on this engine! I'll be able to confirm tomorrow when I've taken the rear cambelt covers off to check for some typical hatching marks above the oil/water heat exchanger...

Should be back on the road in a couple of weeks smile

While it was all out I also got the flywheel skimmed as the surface finish was too course and causing clutch slip on boost, API did a good job and I didn't realise they were so local to me..

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
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The replacement engine is now in and working well! The only issue I have is hitting the fuel cut with overboosting but this should be relatively easy to sort out and is an indication that my exhaust porting and downpipe are working better.

I'm doing some fine tuning of the set-up and found that the air dam was definitely a necessity, rather than put all my time into something untested I cleaned it up with a bit of paint and got it on the car and I'm pleased with how it looks and works.



I wanted the rear seat to look stock over the transmission tunnel so modified the seat framework to clear it.


All in and no evidence of what's underneath!


Xenocide

4,286 posts

207 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
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Top man. You look a lot younger than I imagined too!

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2011
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Time to finish off the dash... Some wooden strips were used as a guide to keep a constant thickness of the binnacle over the instruments


I then filled in the gaps frm underneath with some fibreglass matting


Cavity builders expanding foam was then used to build up the volume without adding too much weight, it is very easy to sculpt to about the right shape too


Then skimmed with filler. I just need to radius off all the edges and do some final finishing now..


95 fiesta si

1,600 posts

151 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2011
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love it, big fan of the old beetles, heres one that i love which also has a scooby engine


ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2011
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Seen that one. Nice engine but the engine sticks out of the back, cooling ability looks highly questionable and it's still on a VW swing axle rear end!

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Saturday 6th August 2011
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I really wasn't keen on the Porsche 'nipple' lenses so after carefully picking the surrounds off I was able to remove the lenses and make up some new flat ones from polycarbonate sheet. While they were apart I sandblasted and repainted the rims and they look brand new now.


All back in the car I'm happy with how it's all looking. I painted the dash binnacle as a temporary measure until it's re-trimmed in leather.


I also re-fitted the running board chrome trim and I think it finishes them off nicely.


I also made up a strut brace. Coming off it are a brake reservoir bracket and also a cover to protect the fuel pump and fuel level sender.


Next big job will be the heater but I have to figure out what matrix to use, I need one that is about 100x200mm, any ideas?

mwstewart

7,554 posts

187 months

Saturday 6th August 2011
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Amazing build, great work!

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Wednesday 17th August 2011
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I've cut into the wiper box cover to build a housing for the heater matrix. The corner piece had to be clearanced for the wiper mechanism and the tube connects straight up to the stock air ducting so all the stock dash controls can still be used.


Fiat cinquecento heater matrix in place, note the neat positions of the connections down the side of the car.


I initially planned to fit the stock fresh air blower fan roughly in the position shown but when connecting it up to a spare battery it was more a breeze than a decent flow.


This is the polo heater blower which gave much better flow and will also be easier to mount up to the matrix.


The Nur

9,168 posts

184 months

Thursday 18th August 2011
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The work going into this car is fantastic. What do you do in your day job?

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Thursday 18th August 2011
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At the moment I'm a module leader for brakes systems at Jaguar Land Rover. More project management than getting involved in design like I used to unfortunately..

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
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Just to confirm the flow would be sufficient before finally plumping with the polo blower fan.


Here's the back face of the reworked bulkhead panel, the silicone pipe fits straight over the stock interface for the old fresh air blower motor. It was all given a good coat of epoxy mastic 121 as it will be very exposed to the elements...


All in and works very well! I fitted a short section of Rover 100 heater pipe as it has a neat moulded in bleed screw.


Under-bonnet parts all done now. I had to modify the windscreen.headlight washer tank to fit over the radiator cover. I will probably also make some finishing panels before carpeting this area.


A functional solution for how to fit the VW t25 heater switch to the dash. It has tiny features to try to make up some sort of retaining bracket and even those wouldn't clear properly, the rear end of it was also extremely close to the heater control cables so using some fibreglass filler was an acceptable solution for me. I was able to use the stock VW plug on the back of it and the wire colour coding matched the blower so all good... (the original switch was only a 2 speed which is why I changed it)


I also did some work on the 996:
As autumn is making an early appearance I thought I'd better get on and fit mesh to the front bumper intakes. These are very problematic on watercoled 911s and boxsters as they act as leaf funnels/traps and rot out the radiator and A/C matrix.


the front bumper comes off very easily, I took the opportuynity to give it all a really god cleanout. What you see on the floor literally just fell out from between the condensor and radiator, I also jet-washed out a lot of rotting matter from the cores which is sure to help cooling.


Nothing too complicated, a few 3mm holes and 2.5mm tie wraps hold on some mesh that I cut from a sheet.


The other thing I did was to re 'black' all the plastics of the intake as they seem to suffer quite badly from fading. I use Gtechniq C4 which is very easy to use and apparently gives a good couple of years of colour.


I finally got hold of a pair of facelift rear lights. Bought separately off ebay worked out much cheaper than buying a pair together.. While I was at it, I also removed/sand-blasted/painted all 3 wiper arms as they seem to have suffered more than the rest of the car for some reason..

ricola

Original Poster:

468 posts

276 months

Saturday 8th October 2011
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I finally had enough of the restricted steering, tyre rubbing and compromised steering geometry so found a set of wider front wings in conjunction with some concentric wheel spacers. I also plan to rebuild the steering rack with adjustable end stops to maximise the lock available. The wings will also need modifying to provide a better mounting surface for the air damn. From a quick drive around it is significantly better.. The front bumper brackets will need to be extended slightly to give a bit more space to the wings too but I think it will end up looking better with more flowing lines.


yorkieboy

1,845 posts

174 months

Saturday 8th October 2011
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Love reading this thread,Keep up the good work beer

Jamirecluse

465 posts

150 months

Saturday 8th October 2011
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You have a smart trio of cars.That Beetle looks great especially.