Front arches now painted

PaintedArch1.jpg


PaintedArch2.jpg


Next up to remove front bumper...
 
so the work goes on despite the cold, I have been wanting to remove the front bumper for ages, and finally got round to it tonight

Bumper off

cuprabumperoff.jpg


cuprabumperoff1.jpg


You can't see it that well in this pic, but the samco is definitely kinked

Kinkedpipe.jpg


Then I found this. Now the front bumper had a crack in it, but I thought that was the only damage...obviously not, and it was hiding this surprise for me

BentFMICpipe.jpg


either tempted to take off the FMIC and get it rolled out, OR get a hammer and see if I can bang it out, but the risk of cracked the weld. I can fit the samco over the bent part, as past this dent the end tank goes back to being round...so does it cause that much of a problem, but being me, this will really bother me

I knew there was oil in the pipes, but there was quite a lot which spilled out. Another key reason why I wanted to pull this all apart to remove the oil

FMICOilspill.jpg


I wanted the bumper off, to be able to replace these with some proper tbolt clamps, as these have seen better days (cheap and nasty also)

Seenbetterdays-1.jpg


Finally, now these are all off, the other phase is to cut the inside of the bumper back as its rubbing on the pipes. Pro Alloy also fitted some pretty shitty hoses which are very soft, so these will be replaced with some decent blue forge ones

rubbedpipe.jpg


By this point its about -3 outside, so I called it a night
 
thank god for this mild weather, so much easier to work on the car with

So now with the bumper off, I could separate the FMIC and the crash bar, ready for painting (just awaiting the paint to turn up....hopefully it will be here tomorrow)

FMIC During cleaning

cleaningintercoolerpics.jpg


Cleaned...about the best its going to get, but 99% of the dirt was off it, and its going to be sprayed black anyhow with special radiator paint

CleanedFMIC.jpg


Dirty Crash bar

CrashBar.jpg


Clean Crash bar (debating whether to paint or seal this)

CleanedCrashBar.jpg


Decided to clean the front end also

BareFront.jpg


Clean

BareCleanFrontEnd.jpg


These turned up today (apologies for the crap phone picture)

SamcoHoses.jpg


and I came across a very old pic of her

OldCupra.jpg


oh and essential fuel for working on the car

Fuel.jpg
 
SO.....the paint arrived today, and so did my Forge actuator (despite being told it would take 2 weeks to arrive, it was delivered in a couple of days)

Special radiator paint, which does not clog the fins on the radiator like generic paint, so perfect for the FMIC. Got some more crinkle paint to finish off the mani, battery cover and charge pipe.

Also in the pic I got a small clamp, to clamp the fuel filter at some point.

PAINT.jpg


Forge Actuator

ForgeActuator.jpg


Now for the FMIC

Before

FMIC.jpg


First coat (patchy)

FirstCoatFMIC.jpg


All that is left now is to buy some new nuts and bolts on the bumper to replace the rusty ones and then put it back together for springfest, tax and MOT...sounds simple (famous last words!!)
 
got round to doing another little job tonight, cutting the bumper some more to stop it rubbing against the FMIC pipework

BumperCutting.jpg


Cut (and sanded it back since)

BumperCutting2.jpg


I then noticed a crap load of oil still in the FMIC

FMICOil.jpg


So to try and get the last out of it, I have just turned it on its side and left it to drain, hopefully some might come out

DrainingFMIC.jpg


Ordered the last parts from Seat today as well, so hopefully now all the parts are sprayed and ready for the engine bay, I can start putting it back together
 
Looks like it was worth sitting the FMIC on its side to drain it

DrainedFMICjpg.jpg


leaving it to drain some more tonight as well
 
And ordered two smaller t bolt clamps for my TIP as my other ones were too big.

Clamp1.jpg


Ordered my 19mm T piece today as well for the catch can, and picking up the bumper bolts off Seat tomorrow morning

so...to solve this issue

BentFMICpipe.jpg


I bought this today - £16 from Germany

pipeexpander.jpg


Pipe expander 34-64mm

I could have just heated it up and hammered it back out, but I would have never of got a round finish to the end tank, and as this is where a hose is going to be connected, it needs to be in a decent round shape, so the hose grips properly and there are no leaks
 
Last edited:
so with the pipe shaper arriving, I got round to reforming the FMIC end tank

During

BentFMICEnd.jpg


After - The end of it is not perfectly round, but it is a lot more round. You can't see it in the picture, but the centre of the pipe has now been properly reformed, and not at a sharp angle

BentFMICEnd2.jpg


While I was looking to get the oil filter off (which I couldn't do in the end...so thats another thing to do) I noticed this pipe had a massive dent in it, so as well as the previous owner denting the end tank on the FMIC, he managed to do this

MoreDents.jpg


Before

MoreDents1.jpg


After - end is not perfect, but the centre has now been properly reformed as it was almost squashed in half

MoreDents2.jpg


I then got round to mounting the FMIC and crash bar back on

Before:

cuprabumperoff1.jpg


After:

BlackFMIC.jpg
 
Engine bay junk has now been binned. Engine bay looks so much tidier already with the SAI pump all removed, and the mass of old pipes underneath the manifold have been removed as well (major cause for boost leaks)

OilyEngineBayJunk.jpg


EngineBayJunk.jpg


Now need to get a plate for this (Forge goodness on this way)

SAIPlate.jpg


I'm not a strong or experienced mechanic so all of this is a learning curve for me and the first time I have ever done stuff like this
 
So I thought I would get the FMIC pipework back on, and the bumper. I also got one arch liner back on, but need to get the arch liner clips from Seat to secure the lining

Also got the inlet mani back on the other night (it aint pretty, but its functional and black looking)

InletManion.jpg


Fresh clean pipework
FMICBackon.jpg


FMICPipework.jpg


BumperBackon.jpg
 
got round to doing a few bits tonight

dropped the car back on its wheels tonight for the first time in months

Backonwheels.jpg


installed the catch can....although then released its sitting too high so I will have to remount this

CatchCanInstalled.jpg


Then installed the turbo, but Seat have given me the wrong sodding gasket from the turbo to mani

anyway, initially installed it for now, but not fully tightened

TurboBackOn.jpg
 
So a few bits that arrived over the past few days <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->

Crackle effect Forge DV

CrackleBlackForgeDV.jpg


Alu 19mm bung for the TIP

19mmAluBung.jpg


Billet Bitz M6 screws and blue tabs (these screw into the brackets which hold the head lights on)

BilletBitz.jpg


Forge SAI blanking plate

ForgeSAIplate.jpg


And a cheeky shot of the bay coming back together (needs a clean!)

Engineonitsway.jpg
 
as all the piping from underneath the manni has been removed, the brake booster line needed to either be blocked or tidied up, so I bought some 12mm piping to make it look neater with just a single line onto the inlet mani

Tidiedinletmani.jpg


final caps arrived for the 8mm pipe under the inlet mani, so this is now capped off

turbo, downpipe, and TIP are now all properly screwed in. Not far to go now
 
So I started her up last night and she was running like a dog. Fuel was pissing out, and I found one of the braided fuel lines had been crushed, probably from when I was removing and reinstalling the inlet manifold some how. Replaced this and it was still running rough...I think this was due to air pockets some where, so I called it a night

I then tried restarting her today, and she started up fine, and ticked over nicely. Bit smoky initially, due to the new tubby, but this is going slowly.

So after 6 months, working on it through the bloody snow and freezing cold, she is finally alive. Unfortunately I had to jump start her from my Diesel so the sound of this drowns it out a bit, but still she is alive, and initial revving around 20 seconds on in the video

SERIOUSLY CHUFFED



MOT and Tax next week
 
so got round to cleaning the interior tonight and cleaning off all the mould!

Used autoglym interior cleaner, really good stuff

MouldyInterior.jpg


Then took out the plastic centre that surrounded the handbrake. Unfortunately my knob was so mouldy I had to pull it off

NoGearstick.jpg


Front seats back in finally

FrontSeatsIn.jpg


The front looking a lot cleaner

FrontSeats.jpg



I may extend the gear stick touring car style and fit a short shifter.....

All thats left now is to fit one pipe onto the catch can, but awaiting the fitting to arrive for the rocker cover, then its MOT time
 
Got round to ripping the final bits out of the back, the plastic lining near the rear pillars, plastic covering around the boot, and removed the rear door cards and speakers

RippedOut-1.jpg


RippedOut1.jpg


I bought one of these also. A proper extinguisher. I'm not taking any chances

Extinguisher.jpg
 
So bit of a nightmare at the moment. Had a right mare with the gear linkages, and they are still not right, but better than before slightly, although I don't have to push down to select reverse anymore, so will have to keep on trying with it

Then the part I had ordered for the AN fitting to the rocker cover was the wrong size so I could not finish off my catch can piping....at this point I thought sod it, and called it a night.

Not much progress again tonight, more measuring things up, and fitted a few resistors.

Current bodged piping for the catch can just to get it through it's MOT

bodgedcatchcanpiping.jpg


The DV is too tight and sits right up against the metal pipe, and it is also kinking the silicon hose onto it, so I am going to run a 45 degree metal joiner and move the DV away from the TIP, so the silicon is not kinked

DVTight.jpg


Split OEM pipe has finally had its day, but it got me through the MOT (probably explain why the engine management light came on)

Splitbreatherhose.jpg


Missing grill....old one has had it so bought a badgeless grill. Also ordered a new bonnet catch as the current one is screwed and it wont lock the bonnet properly

Missinggrill.jpg


and finally the money shot

MoneyShot.jpg
 
so, finally finished off the catch can tonight. I orginally ordered an AN12 finisher, but it was a straight one and I then realised because of the stiff piping, it was kinking which was my fault and I didn't think about this

so I then had to buy another AN12 connector but with a 45 degree bend, fitted nice and tight

AN12Connector.jpg


catchcansetup.jpg


The catch can is venting to air, and I found a perfect place to lay the pipe which sits between the engine mount and the battery block

CatchCanVenting.jpg


I bought some engine bay cleaner earlier today and gave the engine a quick once over. Lots to do still and things to tidy up but this is how it stands at the moment

EngineBay-1.jpg


While cleaning, I then found this...

splitfilter.jpg


fecking wank filter. Got to contact them now, as filters can take a while to arrive I find, and its not far off the 8th June. Worst case scenario I have a crap filter that came on the car when I bought it back

Think I will just fork out the money and buy a green or proper Jetex filter off Bill