1988 VW Caddy with McLaren 650S engine
Discussion
Hi all,
New to the forum here. Someone suggested I start a topic about this car over on this site!
My brother and I have been slowly working on a project for the past couple years, built almost entirely from outrageous ebay purchases.
We've built a few custom cars in that past but both fancied something turbo and mid engine so we started with a mk1 VW Caddy and then started the hunt for something unusual to put in the back.
We came across a badly fire damaged M838T from a 2015 650S and against our better judgement figured it was worth a go...
It required a lot of new parts (it had a lot of melted plastic on it) but many months of ebay searches and asking around some motorsport contacts we had a pretty good looking engine again.
We still didn't have any kind of wiring or engine management but after lots of research I ended up going with Haltech - their Nexus R5 unit suits us really well - dual DBW control and full PDM for engine and chassis. We've gone with their IC7 display and 15-button CAN keypad for all the display and control needs. They folks at Haltech are absolutely brilliant with support too.
We initially thought we could use an Audi A4 transaxle but when we considered the ~700hp we'll be putting out of the motor we started looking for more substantial options.
eBay to the rescue again - and another fire damaged car being broken for parts. This time an R8, the 6-speed manual from an early V8 model. The same transaxle from the Gallardo. Only minor damage from the fire (couple sensors melted and the oil cooler pipes - nothing too serious).
We sourced a clutch and flywheel from a Gallardo (weird trigger tooth pattern which was a bit of a headache later on) and designed a bellhousing adapter, and matching flywheel adapter to bolt it together.
We now had an engine and box mated and looked pretty good!
Next was what we do for mounting it, and the rear suspension.
One more donor sportscar was needed.... a 996. We used the rear suspension carriers and narrowed them slightly (not much was possible when the R8 transaxle is sat between them).
My brother then set about designing and building a 'subframe' to which it all mounts.
We needed to strengthen the chassis too and decided to build a cage. We've never built one before but bought a mandrel bender and a load of CDS tube and set about having a go. End result isn't too bad although there are bits we might do slightly different if we were to do it again. We wanted to keep the cage to within the confines of the outline of the bodyline at the rear - so no diagonal up from rear suspension, which is obviously sub optimal as far as cage design but we've taken it as high as we can and hopefully triangulated it sufficiently to give it enough strength. We added tubes through the sills too so it's almost a 'semi-spaceframe' built into the chassis.
The front end is where we're mounting the radiators, battery and fuel system (tank and pumps). For now the suspension is still mk1 Golf - albeit with Cupra discs and Porsche calipers but we think we might ultimately swap the front end out for mk4 platform parts which bring a few advantages (wider track, bigger brake options, power steering and relocated rack to allow pedals in cockpit to be extended further forwards).
We actually fired it up back in August (with the wiring harness roughed out, no coolant, no exhaust and no turbo plumbing!) just to prove out that it would actually work. The wiring was then removed and properly terminated and sleeved and is out of the car while we continue with the fabrication stuff
All my pictures are on my phone so will try and upload them to here somehow but I've actually just started an Instagram account which has a few pics on for now.
A few people have suggested doing some YouTube videos following the progress which I like the idea of trying, but I'm not much good in front of a camera. Or behind a camera. Or anywhere near a camera really... so might need a bit of practice first.
Thanks all
New to the forum here. Someone suggested I start a topic about this car over on this site!
My brother and I have been slowly working on a project for the past couple years, built almost entirely from outrageous ebay purchases.
We've built a few custom cars in that past but both fancied something turbo and mid engine so we started with a mk1 VW Caddy and then started the hunt for something unusual to put in the back.
We came across a badly fire damaged M838T from a 2015 650S and against our better judgement figured it was worth a go...
It required a lot of new parts (it had a lot of melted plastic on it) but many months of ebay searches and asking around some motorsport contacts we had a pretty good looking engine again.
We still didn't have any kind of wiring or engine management but after lots of research I ended up going with Haltech - their Nexus R5 unit suits us really well - dual DBW control and full PDM for engine and chassis. We've gone with their IC7 display and 15-button CAN keypad for all the display and control needs. They folks at Haltech are absolutely brilliant with support too.
We initially thought we could use an Audi A4 transaxle but when we considered the ~700hp we'll be putting out of the motor we started looking for more substantial options.
eBay to the rescue again - and another fire damaged car being broken for parts. This time an R8, the 6-speed manual from an early V8 model. The same transaxle from the Gallardo. Only minor damage from the fire (couple sensors melted and the oil cooler pipes - nothing too serious).
We sourced a clutch and flywheel from a Gallardo (weird trigger tooth pattern which was a bit of a headache later on) and designed a bellhousing adapter, and matching flywheel adapter to bolt it together.
We now had an engine and box mated and looked pretty good!
Next was what we do for mounting it, and the rear suspension.
One more donor sportscar was needed.... a 996. We used the rear suspension carriers and narrowed them slightly (not much was possible when the R8 transaxle is sat between them).
My brother then set about designing and building a 'subframe' to which it all mounts.
We needed to strengthen the chassis too and decided to build a cage. We've never built one before but bought a mandrel bender and a load of CDS tube and set about having a go. End result isn't too bad although there are bits we might do slightly different if we were to do it again. We wanted to keep the cage to within the confines of the outline of the bodyline at the rear - so no diagonal up from rear suspension, which is obviously sub optimal as far as cage design but we've taken it as high as we can and hopefully triangulated it sufficiently to give it enough strength. We added tubes through the sills too so it's almost a 'semi-spaceframe' built into the chassis.
The front end is where we're mounting the radiators, battery and fuel system (tank and pumps). For now the suspension is still mk1 Golf - albeit with Cupra discs and Porsche calipers but we think we might ultimately swap the front end out for mk4 platform parts which bring a few advantages (wider track, bigger brake options, power steering and relocated rack to allow pedals in cockpit to be extended further forwards).
We actually fired it up back in August (with the wiring harness roughed out, no coolant, no exhaust and no turbo plumbing!) just to prove out that it would actually work. The wiring was then removed and properly terminated and sleeved and is out of the car while we continue with the fabrication stuff
All my pictures are on my phone so will try and upload them to here somehow but I've actually just started an Instagram account which has a few pics on for now.
A few people have suggested doing some YouTube videos following the progress which I like the idea of trying, but I'm not much good in front of a camera. Or behind a camera. Or anywhere near a camera really... so might need a bit of practice first.
Thanks all
Edited by McL.VW on Sunday 25th December 13:51
Moderator edit: no social media links please
McL.VW said:
after lots of research I ended up going with Haltech - their Nexus R5 unit suits us really well - dual DBW control and full PDM for engine and chassis. We've gone with their IC7 display and 15-button CAN keypad for all the display and control needs. They folks at Haltech are absolutely brilliant with support too.
Firstly may I say this looks brilliant Secondly may I ask a vulgar question about money - but first the reason why. I've got a couple of oldish Porsches and have been toying with the idea of fitting more modern engines and maybe even gearboxes into these. So all just pie in the sky at the moment. But anyway this leads me round to engine management systems. These oldish Porsche cars can't really deal with the more modern engines and flappy paddle boxes.
So that got me to thinking about completely new 3rd party management systems. In my tiny brain it should be simple enough to buy a modern system from a 3rd party designed for such things. So a management system which can handle modern engines in cars maybe not initially designed for such things.
So if I was thinking about a new management system from a 3rd party like this what kind of money would I need in my piggy bank?
ATM said:
Firstly may I say this looks brilliant
Secondly may I ask a vulgar question about money - but first the reason why. I've got a couple of oldish Porsches and have been toying with the idea of fitting more modern engines and maybe even gearboxes into these. So all just pie in the sky at the moment. But anyway this leads me round to engine management systems. These oldish Porsche cars can't really deal with the more modern engines and flappy paddle boxes.
So that got me to thinking about completely new 3rd party management systems. In my tiny brain it should be simple enough to buy a modern system from a 3rd party designed for such things. So a management system which can handle modern engines in cars maybe not initially designed for such things.
So if I was thinking about a new management system from a 3rd party like this what kind of money would I need in my piggy bank?
Hi - thank you!Secondly may I ask a vulgar question about money - but first the reason why. I've got a couple of oldish Porsches and have been toying with the idea of fitting more modern engines and maybe even gearboxes into these. So all just pie in the sky at the moment. But anyway this leads me round to engine management systems. These oldish Porsche cars can't really deal with the more modern engines and flappy paddle boxes.
So that got me to thinking about completely new 3rd party management systems. In my tiny brain it should be simple enough to buy a modern system from a 3rd party designed for such things. So a management system which can handle modern engines in cars maybe not initially designed for such things.
So if I was thinking about a new management system from a 3rd party like this what kind of money would I need in my piggy bank?
A 3rd party ECU would certainly solve the 'problem' you would be faced with.
There are a plethora of options out there now (which is great news for people wanting to build mad things) and how much you need to spend really depends on what you need to control and what features you want.
In my case, I was somewhat limited by the requirement for it to control 2x DBW throttles - not something that many aftermarket units can offer at this time (nut no doubt more and more will in the future). I also wanted something which had good customer support and was user friendly and hence choosing Haltech. This is their top of the line model which retails at about £3500 (plus wiring harness) but their base model comes in at £1000.
The Nexus is full PDM too - so I won't have any fuses or relays. Something you probably wouldn't need for a 'normal' engine swap scenario but since I'm essentially building from scratch it is really helpful.
Trevor555 said:
Brilliant
This is proper pistonheads stuff
Thanks for sharing
But where are you going to put the shopping?
Thanks!This is proper pistonheads stuff
Thanks for sharing
But where are you going to put the shopping?
Edited by Trevor555 on Sunday 25th December 15:59
I can probably make a little bit of room in the front end.... it might get a bit warm in there with the radiator directly in front though...
It’s like you saw the Aston build thread and said “hold my beer”. It’s so ridiculous it’s brilliant! Welcome to PH 
Eta add the link I referenced as I realise you probably haven’t seen it -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Eta add the link I referenced as I realise you probably haven’t seen it -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
McL.VW said:
Trevor555 said:
Brilliant
This is proper pistonheads stuff
Thanks for sharing
But where are you going to put the shopping?
Thanks!This is proper pistonheads stuff
Thanks for sharing
But where are you going to put the shopping?
Edited by Trevor555 on Sunday 25th December 15:59
I can probably make a little bit of room in the front end.... it might get a bit warm in there with the radiator directly in front though...
Had a font one once and always worried about having an accident.
Mini fuel tank & oxygen wouldnt be a great outcome.
Polo, so similar to the Caddy
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