Seat Leon CupraR Project (2003/53)
Discussion
Morning all, thought I'd just start a project thread here as there's quite a few bits I intend on doing over the next few months.
It's been a long time since I've had anything I consider to be more of a fun car as I'm now in my 30's this is taking me back to the old days of Renault 5 Turbo's and other hot hatches I was really into.
The car I sold to buy this was a 2001 BMW 330i Touring, nice and all but a bit dull and due to a change in the nature of my work I actually didn't need an Estate car so thought I'd go for something that was still cheaper to run but more interesting.
A CupraR is a car I've always loved, ever since I was chased down the road by one in my EvoVI at the time (Around 2004) I couldn't believe this little black Seat was still all over me when I just gave it a bit of a tickle on a B road to work. I quickly realised there was more to it and basically kept an eye on them ever since. Over the years with a house purchase, trying to run sensible cars and then the addition of two lovely Children our circumstances just never quite allowed me to have one but luckily things have changed and I was finally able to convince the Mrs that it was a good option.
The Car is a 2003 (53) Platinum 210bhp R with 54k miles, 2 prev owners and also has a Revo Remap - all receipts to prove which was nice to see. There's also a rather loud chav valve that will be going soon.... Oh and a Pipercross panel filter I spotted when having a poke around.
Here's a few pics from the advert.
I've got a fairly lengthy list of jobs to get done, in order of importance:
[LIST]
[*]Cambelt & Waterpump change
[*]Full service with new plugs, filters, oil, coolant, brake fluid etc.
[*]4 Wheel laser alignment and adjust
[*]Sort out the faded calipers and paint the hubs, disc edges
[*]Get a new centre cap for one of the wheels
[*]Polish out a stain in the windscreen where some dirty water was dripping on it in a car park for 2-3 weeks.
[*]Wet sand a re-polish a few areas on the car that have some hazing, possible small smart repair.
[*]Get a the Dent guy out to sort out numerous small dings down both sides
[*]Proper 3 day ultimate detail covering the exterior, interior & engine bay finishing with Cquartz Finest paint sealant (Authorised detailers only) with 2 year warranty
[*]New badges all round
[*]Wheel refurb
[*]Lowering by 20-30mm, probably Eibach sportline (I had these on a Mk2 Octavia VRS and they were fantastic).
[/LIST]
Little jobs I'd like to do over time
LED Lighting interior just to brighten up from the Yellow look
Xenon / HID Headlight upgrade of some sort (no idea what the options are yet)
After market headunit to remove the old looking tape deck
That's about it so far, loads to get on and do but I'm really looking forward to getting it looking factory fresh (but a tad better).
UPDATE
Been a busy few weeks here!! I'll get some pics up soon but so far the car has had:
Mods / upgrades
Pipercross Induction Kit
S2000 Aerial fitted
LED Interior lights, Number plate bulbs
LED sidelights
Mechanically it's had the following changed (All genuine VW items)
Cambelt, Aux belt and Water pump
Pollen Filter
Fuel Filter
Spark Plugs
Oil & Filter
New ESP Switch
Wiper blades
Now have the full Caliper rebuild kit too so want to strip them down and clean them up, re paint and lacquer with new decals, new bolts.
Goodridge hoses now with me ready to be fitted when we do the calipers and put new fluid in.
Also next thing on the list is to redo all the Vacuum hosing as a mate spotted a few errors in the way it's been set-up and just generally needs tidying. I bought 5M of 3mm RamAir Vac hosing and a load of new connectors and stuff so that will be good.
Pics of the work being done
Just a few VW parts
A few during pics
(Don't worry, Calipers are high on the list to sort)
Fuel Filter
Old water pump with a couple of missing blades!
Belt off
Old belt condition, not massively bad but definitely needed changing
Tensioner
Nice spanking new Cambelt all in place
[/QUOTE]
It's been a long time since I've had anything I consider to be more of a fun car as I'm now in my 30's this is taking me back to the old days of Renault 5 Turbo's and other hot hatches I was really into.
The car I sold to buy this was a 2001 BMW 330i Touring, nice and all but a bit dull and due to a change in the nature of my work I actually didn't need an Estate car so thought I'd go for something that was still cheaper to run but more interesting.
A CupraR is a car I've always loved, ever since I was chased down the road by one in my EvoVI at the time (Around 2004) I couldn't believe this little black Seat was still all over me when I just gave it a bit of a tickle on a B road to work. I quickly realised there was more to it and basically kept an eye on them ever since. Over the years with a house purchase, trying to run sensible cars and then the addition of two lovely Children our circumstances just never quite allowed me to have one but luckily things have changed and I was finally able to convince the Mrs that it was a good option.
The Car is a 2003 (53) Platinum 210bhp R with 54k miles, 2 prev owners and also has a Revo Remap - all receipts to prove which was nice to see. There's also a rather loud chav valve that will be going soon.... Oh and a Pipercross panel filter I spotted when having a poke around.
Here's a few pics from the advert.
I've got a fairly lengthy list of jobs to get done, in order of importance:
[LIST]
[*]Cambelt & Waterpump change
[*]Full service with new plugs, filters, oil, coolant, brake fluid etc.
[*]4 Wheel laser alignment and adjust
[*]Sort out the faded calipers and paint the hubs, disc edges
[*]Get a new centre cap for one of the wheels
[*]Polish out a stain in the windscreen where some dirty water was dripping on it in a car park for 2-3 weeks.
[*]Wet sand a re-polish a few areas on the car that have some hazing, possible small smart repair.
[*]Get a the Dent guy out to sort out numerous small dings down both sides
[*]Proper 3 day ultimate detail covering the exterior, interior & engine bay finishing with Cquartz Finest paint sealant (Authorised detailers only) with 2 year warranty
[*]New badges all round
[*]Wheel refurb
[*]Lowering by 20-30mm, probably Eibach sportline (I had these on a Mk2 Octavia VRS and they were fantastic).
[/LIST]
Little jobs I'd like to do over time
LED Lighting interior just to brighten up from the Yellow look
Xenon / HID Headlight upgrade of some sort (no idea what the options are yet)
After market headunit to remove the old looking tape deck
That's about it so far, loads to get on and do but I'm really looking forward to getting it looking factory fresh (but a tad better).
UPDATE
Been a busy few weeks here!! I'll get some pics up soon but so far the car has had:
Mods / upgrades
Pipercross Induction Kit
S2000 Aerial fitted
LED Interior lights, Number plate bulbs
LED sidelights
Mechanically it's had the following changed (All genuine VW items)
Cambelt, Aux belt and Water pump
Pollen Filter
Fuel Filter
Spark Plugs
Oil & Filter
New ESP Switch
Wiper blades
Now have the full Caliper rebuild kit too so want to strip them down and clean them up, re paint and lacquer with new decals, new bolts.
Goodridge hoses now with me ready to be fitted when we do the calipers and put new fluid in.
Also next thing on the list is to redo all the Vacuum hosing as a mate spotted a few errors in the way it's been set-up and just generally needs tidying. I bought 5M of 3mm RamAir Vac hosing and a load of new connectors and stuff so that will be good.
Pics of the work being done
Just a few VW parts
A few during pics
(Don't worry, Calipers are high on the list to sort)
Fuel Filter
Old water pump with a couple of missing blades!
Belt off
Old belt condition, not massively bad but definitely needed changing
Tensioner
Nice spanking new Cambelt all in place
[/QUOTE]magnum555 said:
Nice car OP. Cant understand why you think the 330i was dull and also why you've bought a car that is even more dull? 
Really?? Did I mention it was an Auto! The power felt like it took forever to turn up and even then it would do 20mpg if I was lucky and never really got going.It was a more sensible car and in my opinion certainly dull compared to a hot hatch with 250+ bhp with things like Brembo brakes fitted as standard.
Nice, glad to see another one of these on here 
Good progress so far and fair play for getting stuck in yourself. I did see your thread on SCN but I don't post on there very often these days. I've still got my red one of these, even though I bought a new car recently I can't bear to part with my LCR.
Looking forward to seeing more progress. I'd suggest that folk who say these cars are dull have probably never driven one...
Good progress so far and fair play for getting stuck in yourself. I did see your thread on SCN but I don't post on there very often these days. I've still got my red one of these, even though I bought a new car recently I can't bear to part with my LCR.Looking forward to seeing more progress. I'd suggest that folk who say these cars are dull have probably never driven one...
8bit said:
Nice, glad to see another one of these on here Good progress so far and fair play for getting stuck in yourself. I did see your thread on SCN but I don't post on there very often these days. I've still got my red one of these, even though I bought a new car recently I can't bear to part with my LCR.
Looking forward to seeing more progress. I'd suggest that folk who say these cars are dull have probably never driven one...
Thanks mate, funnily enough I was just reading through your thread :-) Nice to see you obviously still have a big soft spot for it if you can't move it on! Good progress so far and fair play for getting stuck in yourself. I did see your thread on SCN but I don't post on there very often these days. I've still got my red one of these, even though I bought a new car recently I can't bear to part with my LCR.Looking forward to seeing more progress. I'd suggest that folk who say these cars are dull have probably never driven one...
It's just one of those cars I knew I would own at some stage but I wanted to make sure it wasn't when they were too old and thrashed around with high mileage that the good ones hold silly prices so I hope I've timed it about right... It's good to get all the service items changed, I have to admit it's not me getting my hands dirty though - A good friend is a VAG specialist so did me a good deal - I'll do the bits I can but I'm better at polishing then mechanical stuff haha.
If you have any suggestions for must-have's I'm all ears! Handling wise I haven't decided what to do but may have a re-read of your thread later for some inspiration :-)
Thanks again
nickg123 said:
Thanks mate, funnily enough I was just reading through your thread :-) Nice to see you obviously still have a big soft spot for it if you can't move it on!
It's just one of those cars I knew I would own at some stage but I wanted to make sure it wasn't when they were too old and thrashed around with high mileage that the good ones hold silly prices so I hope I've timed it about right... It's good to get all the service items changed, I have to admit it's not me getting my hands dirty though - A good friend is a VAG specialist so did me a good deal - I'll do the bits I can but I'm better at polishing then mechanical stuff haha.
If you have any suggestions for must-have's I'm all ears! Handling wise I haven't decided what to do but may have a re-read of your thread later for some inspiration :-)
Thanks again
I had mine on track for the first time last week, it was great. Even the instructor (it was a tuition day) had a go and said it was a great car for track days. He's a pro racing driver so I was pretty chuffed with that It's just one of those cars I knew I would own at some stage but I wanted to make sure it wasn't when they were too old and thrashed around with high mileage that the good ones hold silly prices so I hope I've timed it about right... It's good to get all the service items changed, I have to admit it's not me getting my hands dirty though - A good friend is a VAG specialist so did me a good deal - I'll do the bits I can but I'm better at polishing then mechanical stuff haha.
If you have any suggestions for must-have's I'm all ears! Handling wise I haven't decided what to do but may have a re-read of your thread later for some inspiration :-)
Thanks again
Handling-wise, I haven't done a lot tbh. Anti-roll bars are a good start, the Mk4 Golf R32 one is a straight swap and fairly cheap - the 23mm version is about £120 including bushes and bolts from any VW dealer. For the rear, Whiteline do a 24mm adjustable one, think mine was about £170 from DPM Performance. Pretty easy to fit too. I fitted Weitec springs and shocks kit earlier this year which gave about a 20mm drop and the ride quality is actually better than stock, despite being lower.
I was amazed how well it clung on round the track. To be honest though the biggest difference will come from tyres. I'm on my second set of Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas, I love them. They're awesome in the dry, almost as good in the wet and I ran them over two winters with heavy snow and had no problems at all on normal roads, only got stuck out in the country once.
Just my tuppence worth on handling. If you haven't already then consider doing the "dogbone" engine mount, the lower one that connects to the subframe. I got an ECS one (get it from Awesome GTI) which, after the remap, is probably my favourite mod. Makes a big difference to the power delivery, even before I got the remap. Because the engine doesn't twist around as much in the bay the power gets through to the wheels and the road better, reducing wheel hop and improving throttle response feel.
great looking car and some good mods.
I have a 04 cupra and was looking at the S2000 aerial swap. Do you still have the original head unit installed? If so have you noticed any drop in radio signal since the new aerial?
I have a feeling the signal becomes worse when you change the head unit as the booster is in there ( i think ). Mines still the original but I added a Parrot Asteroid Mini to help bring it up to date, so if theres a loss in signal I'll just leave it standard I think.
I have a 04 cupra and was looking at the S2000 aerial swap. Do you still have the original head unit installed? If so have you noticed any drop in radio signal since the new aerial?
I have a feeling the signal becomes worse when you change the head unit as the booster is in there ( i think ). Mines still the original but I added a Parrot Asteroid Mini to help bring it up to date, so if theres a loss in signal I'll just leave it standard I think.
Great cars, and I do look back fondly on mine but I wouldn't have another, been there and done that and all that, but they are a great and overlooked hot hatch. Imo, they are the best looking 5 door hot hatch ever made, the only 5 door hot hatch that doesn't suffer aesthetically from not being a 3 door imo.
Mine had a few mods. It was a 225 model, with a Milltek exhaust, Forge dump valve, Forge turbo intake pipe, Jetex induction kit, AutoDials boost and oil gauge (a useful diagnostic tool, as well as looking nice when you were hoofing it on boost) that were built into the A pillar, a very nice install, I've got a picture below). I also had coilovers all round, the car was low the splitter was removed. It was also too low to get into multistory car parks, though it was good in the corners for a VAG hatch. Topped the lot off with a Revo remap to about 280bhp.
Mine had a few mods. It was a 225 model, with a Milltek exhaust, Forge dump valve, Forge turbo intake pipe, Jetex induction kit, AutoDials boost and oil gauge (a useful diagnostic tool, as well as looking nice when you were hoofing it on boost) that were built into the A pillar, a very nice install, I've got a picture below). I also had coilovers all round, the car was low the splitter was removed. It was also too low to get into multistory car parks, though it was good in the corners for a VAG hatch. Topped the lot off with a Revo remap to about 280bhp.
Small update, with some (a lot) of help from my mate Robbie we have now got Red brakes again!!
Started off:
Face on
Wheels off
Old brake lines
Other side
Cleaning up with Meguiars De-Greaser and APC
Cleaned up and rubbing down
Painted black to start with mainly for the hubs
Goodridge Lines to go on at the same time
These were a pain as they don't fit in the original brackets so it had to be drilled out by quite a bit too
(Don't you just love after market parts and their inability to EVER fit as they should)!
Masked up for painting Red
Back in the unit so not such clear pics without flash on but looking much better
New Brembo stickers to go on yet then we'll probably give them a coat of Lacquer or 2 to help maintain the look.
New Brake fluid in too
Getting there slowly...
Started off:
Face on
Wheels off
Old brake lines
Other side
Cleaning up with Meguiars De-Greaser and APC
Cleaned up and rubbing down
Painted black to start with mainly for the hubs
Goodridge Lines to go on at the same time
These were a pain as they don't fit in the original brackets so it had to be drilled out by quite a bit too
(Don't you just love after market parts and their inability to EVER fit as they should)!
Masked up for painting Red
Back in the unit so not such clear pics without flash on but looking much better
New Brembo stickers to go on yet then we'll probably give them a coat of Lacquer or 2 to help maintain the look.
New Brake fluid in too
Getting there slowly...
Lee540 said:
I was expecting the calipers to stay black.. look good in black
I was tempted but I want to try and get the car looking more Factory fresh - it would have been good had I gone down the stealth sort of look but I just want it to look more like a really great condition Cupra R with a few subtle changes / performance enhancements.aka_kerrly said:
Are my eyes playing tricks on me as it looks like you have painted your discs black
Another a Cupra R fan here, look good, 5door,big boot, goes/stops well, relatively under the radar.
Not playing tricks on you, got a light dusting on there from painting the disc bells but don't panic, a couple of dabs of the brakes cleans them up instantly :-) Another a Cupra R fan here, look good, 5door,big boot, goes/stops well, relatively under the radar.
The Rear badges have now been removed - One letter was loose and the Cupra & R Badge were both looking very tired and dated.
I have actually got new "R" Badges to go on all round but will do that once I've had a chance to get polishing the car! The new badges have had a few coats of lacquer put on so should help keep them nice for a while to come.
Today I had a local guy come out and remove my Dents, and what a fantastic job he did! I was in a rush as he finished so didn't get any shots but I promise they've all gone!
It's not easy to photograph these things outdoors with an iPhone but I did my best!
Here's the before shots
Front Wing - Obvious dent seen in the reflection of the foliage
Rear door - see the reflection of the van's bumper looking all bent
During
Getting the worst one out the wing
This was all finished by 9am so I'm really pleased to get those done, I can't help but spot them everytime I walk up to the car so this may give me a bit more incentive to get on with cleaning it properly now!
I have actually got new "R" Badges to go on all round but will do that once I've had a chance to get polishing the car! The new badges have had a few coats of lacquer put on so should help keep them nice for a while to come.
Today I had a local guy come out and remove my Dents, and what a fantastic job he did! I was in a rush as he finished so didn't get any shots but I promise they've all gone!
It's not easy to photograph these things outdoors with an iPhone but I did my best!
Here's the before shots
Front Wing - Obvious dent seen in the reflection of the foliage
Rear door - see the reflection of the van's bumper looking all bent
During
Getting the worst one out the wing
This was all finished by 9am so I'm really pleased to get those done, I can't help but spot them everytime I walk up to the car so this may give me a bit more incentive to get on with cleaning it properly now!
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