Nugget's Felicia 1.8t Project

[nu99et18]

Ok so instead of clogging up Tom's 1.8t thread i thought i make my own.

So the car started life as a completely standard 1.6 8v GLXI which was my first car back in 2008 when i was 17. Since then the car has been modified in many ways, to list a few-

Coilovers all around

Rear disc conversion

300mm front brake upgrade

23.8mm audi master cylinder and adjustable bias valve

22mm front ARB

Custom 27mm ARB

Pre facelift conversion

Rear spoiler, smooth boot, rear door handles while it was resrayed in 2010/11 i think

Previously fitted a 1.6 AFH hybrid

Etc etc

Any how i decided i was bored of the 1.6 AFH hybrid so thought i'd take the car off the road and fit a 1.8t AGU.

 

First off started by getting the engine inplace and making Mk4 Golf engine mounts fit the Felicia Chassis legs

Then i had to think of a way to mount the rear of the engine, so thought i'd make the Mk4 Golf dogbone fit, so welded a mount to the Felicia subframe

 

Next i thought i'd see how my selected driveshafts fitted, B4 Passat 688mm o/s and Mk2 Golf Syncro rear 404mm n/s (since changed to a slighlty modded Polo shaft) both fitted nicely using 100mm inner cv's and Polo outer which fits into Felicia hubs with the addition of a m24 washer with a slight counter machined into it.

But again since then i have had my hubs machined to accept the cv's, coilovers, m12 brake carrier brackets and the hub to 61mm to accept the Renault brake discs so from now of everything is bolt on.

Next i moved onto intercooler piping, in a Felicia there's not many options of routing so i decided to hole saw the cross member and weld the tubes inplace (plus further strengthening)

Tried the intercooler, perfect fit, not shown in the photo but the crash bar still fits.

Next i fitted some Audi TT shifter cables inside the car

Then i got a free Westfield aluminium radiator (since changed to a Mk2 Golf 8v radiator) and had my G60 solid flywheel lightened to 5.5kg

Then took the engine back out and took the gearbox off which i sent off to have rebuilt along with a Quaife Lsd, a lower ratio 5th gear and Audi TT short shifter fitted.

So whilst my gearbox and flywheel was being done i thought it was a good time to convert to hydraulic clutch and spray the engine bay. (Since changed from a 0.750 master cylinder to a 0.625 to get a lighter clutch pedal) Also prior to paint i seam welded the bay, round the turrets etc and plated up the areas that had been chopped out.

Then it was a case of putting the engine back in and plumbing everything up, swirl pot, boost pipes, water hoses, fitting my custom wiring loom, tweeking the Felicia PAS pipes fit the Mk4 pump, catch can install, bumper etc

Once it was all done this is how the engine bay looked, now this is with  K04 turbo fitted

Now with the car out the garage i could actually get under it to make an exhaust system, for some reason i can only find two photos of it! Decided to make a full 3" system with fake cat, since these photos it's finished with new hangers and heavy duty rubbers and i decided it was too loud and added a rear silencer.

So with that done i thought i'd fit my wheels, they're RH cups fronts are 16×7.5 and rears are 16×9 with a massive dish! I think they really suit the car.

 

So i thought at this stage i would get it MOT'd and run the car about for a while to find and fix and teething issues. It passed its MOT with ease and there weren't really any teething issues. Then i needed to get the car remapped to scale the injectors etc but then i made the decision i wanted more power so took the K04 turbo off and sold it, replaced it with Garrett GT2860RS ball bearing turbo.

 

 

 

[nu99et18]

Here's the turbo in question

So after getting the GT28 turbo i needed a new manifold so i opted for a AKS tuning top mount cast manifold

Now with the turbo top mounted i was wary of clearance issues and when i came to trial fit there was one, the turbo fouled the heater matrix unit. So i cut out the plastic until it cleared. (Since bought a new heater matrix unit and modified it to clear)

With the new turbo i needed to make a new intake and a new downpipe. 

So i went for a 80mm intake with the necessary outlets. Not got round the the downpipe yet but it will be 3" again.

I have since measured up and order the oil and coolant lines for the turbo and modified the actuator bracket.

With turbo being higher up it means the downpipe will be closer to where the fuel lines and pump were originally fitted so o decided to re-route the fuel lines above/behind the heater matrix and move the pump to the inner wing.

Also added some strength to the slam panel by bending some rod to follow the shape and welding it inplace.

This is how the engine bay currently looks, annoyingly the turbo has gone rusty!

I have since mocked up a downpipe and it's currently with my mate to be tig welded.

With this turbo power should be anywhere between 350-400bhp. So now i need to upgrade to connecting rods, i bought rifle drilled I.E rods with bearings to match, also bought new head gasket kit and timing belt kit.

So with this being a time consuming job i'm having to wait for a weekend when both me and my mate are free to get it done. So in the mean time i've been getting other jobs out of the way.

 

First of all being a 27mm rear ARB, basically it's from a Mitsubishi L200 and i chose it because of its thickness and shape, it fits the rear beam nicely. All i needed to do was chop about 3" off each end, make some brackets up with a 10mm hole in for the suspension bolt to go through and weld them on. Mikalor strap the ARB to the beam with so 27mm poly bushes, longer suspension bolts, tighten everything and job done.

 

Next i decided to completely strip the car out so that all was left is the dash, front door cards and front seats which i changed to Recaro ones. Also fitted a smaller Momo steering wheel.

 

The last thing that i have done to the car is fitted braided hoses all round. The fronts i had custom made and the rears are Mk3 Golf, needed some brackets adding to keep them secure. Pretty happy with the outcome.

 

That's all for now, hopefully get the downpipe back soon then one of the weekends i'll get round to the job of changing the rods, headgasket etc

 

 

[retro]

Very impressive work you have done to your Felicia!

 

Keep the updates coming please.

[DirtyDerv]

Wow, what a weapon! 

Can you give us a bit more detail/pictures of the driveshafts? I'm looking to do a 1.9tdi conversion complete with mk4 golf gearbox, so I will need to do the same regarding driveshafts.

What Polo shaft did you use? Did you bore the hubs to accept Polo CV's instead of the M24 washer?

 

Thanks, Richard. 

[nu99et18]

I changed to the Polo shaft as i sheared the end off the repro Mk2 golf Syncro driveshaft 404mm i used originally. (Found out after they couldn't guarentee it over 200bhp!) 

 

Anyway the Polo shaft is from a 6n and is 420mm overall in length. But i had to put it in the lathe to take about 2mm off the shoulder so i could get the circlip on the end. (Inner cv end)  Still not 100% happy with the length i think it's a tad too long but it will do for now!

Drivers side i used a b3/b4 passat driveshaft 688mm.

I did originally bore the hubs out to accept the cv's but decided it may have weakend them too much so gone back the M24 washer method and my old hubs.

[nu99et18]

Right then so on the bank holiday weekend me and my mate got cracking on the engine and managed to fit the forged rods, new headgasket and new timing belt kit with waterpump etc.

 

Once back together it awas just a case of assembling everything. I got my 3" downpipe back from my mate, not the neatest tig welding but didn't cost me anything so can't complain.

Before fitting it i thought i'd best make a heatshield to keep the heat off the clutch master cylinder

Fitted to the car and it has about 20mm clearance on the subframe and driveshaft, used V Band flange at the top and just a normal flange and gasket at the bottom.

 

Next up was a quick little mod, fitted a 3" cold air feed 

 

Next i thought with the car being so low the wishbones and steering arms were at pretty poor angles so decided to flip the track rods which meant machining the hole out and fitting some tapered inserts then some 50mm ball joint extenders. Very happy with the results wishbones and arms are now sitting level.

 

With the potential power i thought it best to get some decent discs and pads so went for some drilled and grooved vented 300mm discs and EBC Yellow stuff pads.

Last modification i have done is fit a VR6 throttle body. As you can see from the photo's it's much bigger than the 1.8t one. The VR6(obd2) throttle body is actually plug and play with AGU loom/ecu but it does not fit the manifold.

So i bought some aluminium rod and threaded it to m6, inserted them into the original holes. Then i used the VR6 throttle body gasket as a template to drill and tap new holes and port match.

 

With that is was a case of plumbing the last things back up, fitting my custom turbo lines. Making sure everthing was tightened up and nothing was catching/fouling anything.

This is how the engine bay currently looks

 

 

Now it's just a case of putting some miles on the engine and fix any possible teething problems before looking into remapping.

One problem with being so low and the drivers side driveshaft being a thick hollow type is that it's very close to the chassis leg so will need either a chassis notch or a thin solid shaft like the passenger side (can't bloody find one!)

Other than that i've had no problems as of yet and i've already done 110miles since doing all the above.

Edited 9 May, 2017 by nu99et18

[S27VEJ]

Ive had a few felicias in my time, and this is a cracker!

 

Doesn't the sump sit a bit low?

 

 

[nu99et18]

On Tue May 23 2017 at 10:07, S27VEJ said:

Ive had a few felicias in my time, and this is a cracker!

 

Doesn't the sump sit a bit low?

 

 

Yeah it did sit pretty low to the floor so i decided to fit some 15mm engine raisers and now clearance is acceptable. I could always get more clearance by fitting the shallow hybrid aluminium/steel sump.

[nu99et18]

Not really much to update on as i've mainly just been driving the car putting miles on it to find any issues. I have now done over 750 miles and so far had no issues at all really! I suppose the only thing is it runs a little hot in traffic and the top suspension mounts are pretty worn. 

But i'm tempted to add vents to the bonnet or raise the rear of it to let some heat out the engine bay.

 

Anyhow i have done a few  little things. 

I decided to add a turbo blanket again to help with bay temperature.

Next i made a heat sheild as i was a little paranoid of things getting hot, the swirl pot, throttle cable and some wiring loom, this should offer them some decent protection.

I decided to upgrade to vibra technics engine mounts, the standard ones were ok but i don't think they would last long once it's remapped. Whilst fitting these i also moved the engine back in the bay about 15mm ish.

I've also got some polybushes for the lower dogbone mount but haven't got round to fitting those yet.

 

Getting back to those worn top mounts i think even when new they are poor so i've decided i'm going to convert to Ford Sierra top mounts. Reason i chose Sierra is i run Mk1 Focus coilovers and they are a direct fit to Sierra top mounts and there are a good selection of polybush top mounts, solid mounts and adjustable mounts for Sierra. 

For now i've opted for some of the polybush ones and i'm going to weld the Sierra "top cups" to the Felicia turrets.

I can also raise them slightly so this way i can stay low but still have some suspension travel.

 

That's all for now!

Edited 21 June, 2017 by nu99et18

[nu99et18]

Little update

On the weekend me and my mate did the Suspension turrets, basically the standard Felicia ones are rubbish so needed a solution. So had some top cups cut from a scrap Ford Sierra which are then welded to the Skoda turrets which then enables me to use Sierra top mounts with my Mk1 Focus coilovers.

 

First we measured both turrets and cut a hole in the top.

Then we put the cup up in position from below (as we thought it would be stronger than just welding the cup on top) and welded inplace once happy with its position. 

Credit to my mate for some nice welding!

Then we gave it some paint and at some point it will get some Tiger Seal.

Then finally assembly with the Sierra polybush top mounts.

Have to say it is a massive improvement, no more sketchy movement when driving, well worth the effort.

Unfortunately now the original strut brace no longer fits because it won't fit over the Sierra top plates!

 

So next things i want to do is get a front strut brace from something else and make it fit and also fit a rear strut brace which i've already bought.

 

Also i've covered approx 1200 miles.  That's all for now.

 

 

Edited 11 July, 2017 by nu99et18
Spelling mistakes!

[nu99et18]

Been a while since an update, annoyingly Photobucket images don't work anymore so I'll have to try add all the pictures again but it won't let me edit!?!

Anyway i haven't had to do much to the car at all; done over 2500miles and it's always started first time, never overheats and everything works as it should. 

The car is nearly ready for remapping however before this i need to uprate the clutch so I've bought a 6 paddle vr6 clutch rated to 440flb and a pinion brace to prevent the gearbox case cracking (common problem on high power 02j gearbox)

My friend may be buying the Gt2860rs turbo from me meaning i can upgrade, thinking a gtx2867r or gtx3067r which will both do near 500bhp but i won't be going that high, probably aim for somewhere between 420-450bhp.

Onto a couple of jobs i got done on the car, the mk2 golf 8v radiator i originally fitted was a used rad and it started leaking so i bought a mk2 Scirocco aluminium radiator, along with this i bought a aluminium shroud with twin 10" fans and made it fit the Aluminium radiator. 

Quite a tight fit with a twin core radiator and twin fans.

I thought i may aswell change the rear suspension top mounts too to polybushes and at the same time fitted a OMP rear strut brace. Welded brackets to rear turrets and bolted strut in place.

Next i had a 80mm aluminium MAF housing made, was using a 3" Vr6 MAF but internally it's only 2.75" so the 80mm should help things flow better.

Lastly i bought a strut brace for a mk2 Golf and made it fit the Felicia,cut the brackets supplied in half and welded them to the front turrets, shortened the bar and bolted it on.

Looks the part also this is how the engine bay currently looks (not fitted the aluminium MAF yet)

 

Edited 21 October, 2017 by nu99et18

[KenONeill]

@nu99et18 - Everyone's ability to edit posts is removed after a few hours to stop them going back and editing a statement that someone else takes issue with after issue has been taken.

 

Oh and kill the photobucket ransomers with fire!!

[satchellm]

that under bonnet shot is pure filth!