mk3 ibiza cupra......ko3 to ko3s to BT now HYBRID ko3

hi all

been on here for quite a while now and am now starting on my BT conversion so thought i should get a readers ride started.

i bought the car nearly 2 years ago now with a standard ko3turbo with stage 1 map, coilovers, mk2 ibiza gti alloys (black), universal fmic, peco backbox, split r dv, rear tinted windows, forge tip, k&n air filter and a few other bits and pieces. had it rolling roaded at 189bhp and 198ft lbs torque.

taken a few days after i bought it








about a week after owning it, i pulled out of a juction onto a main road and the clutch pedal snapped so was stuck in the middle of the road. RAC soon bodged it together and i was on my way. all fixed the next day. haven't really had much problems with it apart from that and the odd coilpack

my boost levels soon started to drop under load and this was diagnosed as a worn turbo so i decided to go for the ko3s setup. went out and got a ko3s for quite cheap off a mate from another forum and got all the gaskets needed. took me a while to change the turbo but all went ok. got it mapped by badger5 a couple of days after and was very happy of the result. then changed the air filter for a jetex filter and got a full straight through 2.5" custom exhaust fitted by infinity exhausts. then got it rolling roaded again and saw 232bhp and 242ft lbs torque. very happy clutch soon started slipping so decided to upgrade to a g60 flywheel and vr6 clutch

over a few months did a bit more modifying such as front and rear arbs, uprated discs and pads (brembo max discs and ds2500 pads), standard mk3 cupra alloys, tinted rear lights, front and rear bumpers smoothed and colour coded, black roof, black bonnet (but then changed back to red), lcr splitter, b&m quickshift top mounted, air con removed and a few other bits. then my inner cv joint snapped so got that replaced.

this is how it stands at the moment

its now off the road for a full engine rebuild and BT conversion. i've started getting the parts together such as: bigger fmic, IE rods, calico big end bearings, 630cc injectors, walbro external fuel pump, oil catch tank, egt gauge, battery cage for relocation to boot, forge unos mbc, AGU largeport head and inlet manifold, BDM big turbo base kit excluding turbo. just saving up for more parts

havent bought a turbo yet as still undecided on which turbo to go for...........thinking of the GT2871r .64 hotside. wanting to see at least 350bhp without too much lag. i do quite a few track days at castle combe aswell so the turbo needs to be good for both road and track use!

opinions welcome

my daily drive now

cheers mate. yeah they are the weak point of the 1.8t's. should be a good winter project. going to take my time on it and do it all properly. hope to have it finished for the summer

just read your build thread. looking good mate. hope it all goes well

just take your time and ask lots of questions if u get stuck or unsure about something

cheers for the comments guys started taking the front end off this morning. so far the bumper, intercooler + pipework, headlights, crash bar, strut brace are all off. started to label up the wiring aswell to help me put it all back together. had to fit some brakes to a family members car so stopped work on the cupra for an hour so will get back out there in a bit. a few bloody bolts that hold the headlights on snapped off! so will have to drill them out at some point. other than that its going ok

well i've just finished for today. got quite a bit done front end is all off, all boost pipework is off, most of the wiring labelled up, downpipe disconnected, got some axle stands under the front. started to get dark so thought i would call it a day as im doing all this on my drive with no cover! removed the forge tip and found oil inside the turbo inlet with slight play in the shaft, and also cream gunk (oil and water mixture) in the boost pipe near the intercooler! also found the end of the rocker cover leaking oil and the back of the head gasket seems to be leaking oil aswell didnt take many pics but here's what i got......



oil in turbo


cream gunk in boost pipe


how it stands now


as always.....comments welcome

cheers guys. coilovers is jamex i believe. wound right down on about 20mm bumpstops on the front and on about 40 or 50mm bumpstops on the rear to make it solid!

didnt get a chance to work on it today as my little girl is ill so spent the day with her instead