WRX RA powered VW 1303 beetle cabrio with a bit of Porsche
Discussion
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
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..
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
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..
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!
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!
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..
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..
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?
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?
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.
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.
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..
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..
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.
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