NP's 20VT MK1 Cabby Build Thread

[nightphotographer]

Interesting project, nice to see a cabby (and a LA5Y Helios Blue one at that!) getting some love.

Interested to see what you do with the seats, we commute in the cabby and I am sick of the mk1 seats. They are better than many modern cars seats, but I'm a big bloke and they twist and creak with cornering forces. Be nice to have something a bit sturdier and more modern.

If all goes to plan it won't be staying Blue for too long

[Goon]

Interested to see how you go converting the seats! I'm kinda in the same boat myself here..

Car looks decent man, what made you decide to go the AUG over AEB engine?

Cheers

[nightphotographer]

Interested to see how you go converting the seats! I'm kinda in the same boat myself here..

Car looks decent man, what made you decide to go the AUG over AEB engine?

Cheers

All the original info is a little out of date now. Dad was going to buy a MK4 Donor car, but at the same time Foff was selling a AWT engine for a decent price, so I went with that. It's essentially an AEB but with small ports. I would love an AEB, but the effort in trying to get one to Albury wouldn't be worth it. Foff came and dropped his engine off for me

I've just been reading some threads about some guy in the UK getting 270whp from his S3 Turbo'd AWT without changing internals so I would be very happy with about 240-250

[gldgti]

I dont want to dampen your enthusiasm (at all!) but even 200hp is a ****load of hp to manage in a mk1 chassis. Just get it running, then see what you think

The mk1 is not built to handle big torques - the design of the powertrain and the front suspension is from the 70's remember. I have heaps of trouble with our TD. Yes, you can get around it by modernising the whole car, but its a lot of work to go down that rout to make the car actually work properly with an engine that produces big hp - just take a look at any of the serious mk1 projects around - particularly the turbo petrol ones - and you'll see what I mean.

IMO, without doing major upgrades to the body at the front (stiffening), engine mounts, and changing to a late model gearbox, you can pretty much set a 200hp practical limit for a mk1 - and the less torque there is to deal with, the better. have been fighting the other end of that scale for the last 2 years with our cabby, since it only makes about 100hp but makes more torque than a standard 1.8T by a long way - and it does a good job of making the chassis suffer.

I only say this in the friendliest of tones you understand - perhaps you are willing to do major things to this cabriolet to get it to handle a big power engine - I don't know. But I reckon a stock standard AWT in a mk1 chassis would be a beautiful thing as a daily driver.

***FYI - about to change the turbo in the TD cabby from the GT-15 to a T3 - the GT-15 spools up from about 1200rpm and starts to be quite restrictive above 3500rpm. I am so tired of the strain on everything, the ridiculous wheelspin in the wet, etc, that I am changing to the much larger T3 which doesn't spool properly until after 2500rpm and lets the engine rev much more freely - just so it will be less punishing on the rest of the car.

[nightphotographer]

IMO, without doing major upgrades to the body at the front (stiffening), engine mounts, and changing to a late model gearbox, you can pretty much set a 200hp practical limit for a mk1

Yep - already planning on doing all of that And the entire suspension system is going to be changed...I guess it's a matter of wait and see. Anything could happen.

But thanks for the info - Jarred had already warned me when I mentioned the 1.8T swap - he suggested I just stuck with the K-JET, but I'm not living without a turbo!

[gldgti]

I'm not living without a turbo!

I know what you mean

[nightphotographer]

Bit of an update on progress to date regarding stripping and sourcing parts:

Here's how she's looking at the moment - only a few more things left to remove before I can start working on painting the bay.



I've managed to sell pretty much everything I'm not using which is great - only really left with the block, pistons etc from the 8V - everything has sold really well both here and in the UK so it's helped me fund the rest of the build for sure. I pretty much paid off the cost of buying the car with a handful of parts.

Here's a few things I've sourced since I last updated:

Audi TTRS intercooler - got it for a steal of a price in the UK, might be too thick to fit now I've test fitted it, but I couldn't resist the OEM+ of having one! Brought it back in the suitcase just a few weeks ago!

CTN MK3 TDI 02A Gearbox - from what I've read and researched over the past 18 months it's one of the best boxes to use in this build, the ratios are spot on - so I managed to source a good condition one from a 96 in the UK - will be shipping it over soon to be mated to the 20V.

[nightphotographer]

More parts arriving - probably some of the most significant parts in terms of the conversion! 1.8T engine mounts and 02A gearbox mounts straight from crazy quiffs!

[defie]

Cool build! very interesting, can't wait to see more progress if you need any paint questions answered do ask(I'm a spray painter)


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[nightphotographer]

Nothing much to update - just more parts arriving for eventual fitment:

Poly bushes all round (including front engine bush if needed and steering rack too)
16V Scirroco K Bar
Girling 2 Pot Brakes
Eibach Anti Roll Bars (Sway Bars in Australian English)

Oh and I'm buying a different 1.8T engine too - I'm definitely not going to bother trying to covert the AWT to transverse, so I'll update when the new engine arrives!