Grahams81-Leon 4wd, Big Turbo - Back in the saddle :-)

p9ve

Guest
Love this mate, always wondered why no one did these to SEATs, the VW do it, like rwd mk1 golfs etc

Also it wasn't a W12 in the Passat, wasn't it a W8 engine? :S

Great work, can't wait for this to be finished :)
Keep it up mate

you got the idea mate its the vodka from last night :(:( i was thinking of the 6.0lt phaeton
that has the w12, either way both engines would be nice:p
 
Oct 21, 2006
1,226
1
Norfolk
Graham,

I can't wait to see the outcome either. Many have said in the past that anyone thinking of doing this should just buy a 4-motion LC and use that as a base but.... I think many, including myself, have thought about doing this (me=dreaming) but I could never see myself using anything other than my LCR... a bit too attached I think...

I really admire you for having the drive to, at the very least, try and achieve this. I wish you all the luck; I really hope it works out and maybe, for us mear-mortals, it might be possible for us in the future!

I look forward to hearing more mate!

James :)
 

grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
Thanks for all the supportive comments from everyone, its really encouraging, can't wait to get really cracking...
Motor wise i'm waiting on the billet main caps from the US then i'll get them honed and build the engine.

Next week im going to strip the leather interior out prior to cutting the arse out the car for the 4wd system.
There's also a rollcage available for £300 so although i wasn't planning it this early in the project i might have to buy it as there normally double that.

PM me if your after a full leather interior in very good condition, i'll take some more pics tomorrow.
 

grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
Sorry about not updating the thread for a while,

Well my Billet Main caps arrived from 034 Motorsports a while back, i took the block down to a local Machine shop and they tried a file on the main caps then fell about laughing !!

They refused to attempt to machine them as they said there too hard and the tool would deflect and just machine the block and therefore wreck it :cry:

So after phoning what felt like everyone in the county i eventually got a quote for £200.

I wasn't expecting this much so i decided to ditch the ebay block and remove the cars original engine and just have it bored out to 83mm for another £80.

So yesterday i got the engine stripped and found the problem with the "low compression" -

DSC00573.jpg


Shot of the sump -

DSC00568.jpg


So after wasting a couple of weekends taking the engine out and stripping it i'm now back to plan a - machine billet caps and use ebay block :doh:

Anyhow the place that agreed to machine them are Quasar Engineering - i'm gonna take the block in on friday. I am going to get them to lighten and balance the crank while i'm on.

Since my last post i have bought some Super Tech Valve Springs & Titanium Retainers, just so when i drop some Lumpy cams in i don't have the worry of spring bind.
Also bought a new metal impellar Water pump, new cam / oil pump chains tensioners etc.

I also nearly wrecked the wifes dishwasher by putting in my cylinder head in. I took me longer to clean the dishwasher than it would have to clean the head !!!!!

Before -

DSC00511.jpg


After -

DSC00516.jpg


Finish Dishwasher tablets did a cracking job...

I started to port and polish the head - just to remove the rough-ass casting marks and smooth out the area behind the seats. I haven't finished yet but here's how its going -

Before -

DSC00540.jpg


After -

DSC00542.jpg


Still got to do a bit more work and polish the exhaust ports, gonna leave the inlet side rough to aid atomisation.

Anyhow gotta crack on so i will update again later,

Cheers for reading,
Graham.
 

Willie

LCR Track car
Aug 6, 2004
8,939
1
Sunny Scotland
Great to see someone actually track this instead of the usual 3 month long posts about doing it then silence.
You seen like the man for the job.
Great plan, great idea and good luck with this.
 

t0m

LCR 225
Apr 29, 2007
8,133
7
Kent
Good effort mate! Fingers crossed this project works out for you. I'll keep an eye on it from time to time :)

Lol at the dishwasher clean up.... Can't beat em!
 

grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
Thought i better update the thread, gonna apologise again for the delay in updates i've been really busy with work - i work away from home so only chance i get to work on the car is the weekend...

Anyhow, finished porting and polishing the cylinder head on sunday so decided to install the new supertech valve guides.
I warmed the head up and dug the new valve guides out of the freezer (contracts them nicely so they fit easier into the head) and knocked them in using a 6mm facom punch with an old guide slid up the shaft and taped at the top.
I measured how much was sticking up into the stem seal side and set them slightly lower so theres no fouling of the valve collets / stem seal when i get my big lumpy cams from Integrated Engineering !

Also just dropped my block / tdi crank / head off at quasar engineering in Stockport, i was really impressed with the guy there - really clued up and canny.

So i'm getting him to skim the head - its not warped had it on the surface plate but there are some little marks on it from storage / were i got a bit eager knocking out the guides and twat'd the face !!
And line bore / hone the billet main bearing caps, and take a skim off the deck height to raise the compression a smidge.

I've also asked him to try and remove a good amount of weight from the crankshaft (the tdi crank is forged and just under 2kg heavier than the original 1.8 one) he said it'll probably be around a kilo or less.
I will run a lightened flywheel to recover the rest of the weight.

There gonna balance the JE pistons & IE rods end for end...

Can't wait to get the engine bits back and get this bad boy assembled !

So long for now, and ps pics will come when i get the bits back and do a proper photo build.
Cheers,
Graham.
 

grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
Grahams81 - Cupra 2.1T..Supercopa Wings pics

Well its been a while since i updated the thread, loads of problems with those billet main caps etc.... was getting really down on the project thought i was never gonna get going but but had a bit of progress today so thought i would update the thread.

Unfortunately Quasar engineering couldn't machine my billet main bearing caps so i have ditched that block and bought another one from a VW breakers in Newcastle.

I did get the cylinder head back from Quasar with a nice shiney finish -

DSC00584.jpg


Here's a close up of the exhaust ports -

DSC00585.jpg


Here's a pic of the lightened and race balanced TDI crank (also done by Quasar) -

DSC00589.jpg


I've checked the new block over and had to file the side edges of the main caps as the alignment of the caps wasn't perfect.
I have put in the Calico main bearings and used some "Micrometer Engineers Marking Blue" on the crank to show any missalignment in the main caps, i had to adjust a couple of caps by filing the outside edge of the cap but its perfect now, the marking or high spot Blue is contacting equally around the bearings now.

I've also checked the main bearing clearance using plastigauge, the clearance is between 0.08mm and 0.05mm so 2 & 3 thousands of an inch.
I think thats a bit on the large side (haynes manual sayes new bearings between 0.01-0.04mm & wear limit is 0.15) so im a bit unsure at the moment whether or not to have the crank reground and buy some oversize main bearing - Does anybody have any opinions i.e larger clearances better for high performance engines etc :confused:

Oh and i fiited my Supercopa Front wings - I'm really happy with them but i'd love to know what you guys think.

DSC00592.jpg


You can see the back arches i was planning on using - after seeing them on im a bit undecided - if i use them i will cut the down at the back bumper so theres a joint at the bumper and gradually blend them up rather than a big arch all the way round. -

DSC00597.jpg

DSC00599.jpg

DSC00600.jpg


Thanks for any comments,
Graham.
 
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