Cooper_GTI

Foget the airbags. Just put a new steering wheel cover on and take the warning bulb out of the dash. 2 new seatbelts with 'non deployed' pre-tensioners should work fine.

Some of you may be aware that i'm undertaking a Bam conversion into my GTI... One concern i have is handling! The current AP coilovers really dont cut it, even with a lightweight 130bhp engine, let alone with a heavy old turbo lump with over double the power! I've heard of people running mk2 front struts on Lupo's and just wondered if there is any truth in this? The weight of my front end will be similar (give or take 50kg) to a standard mk2 16v, therefore the mk2 struts should work relatively well, or at least better than any specific GTI units! Not to mention there's a lot more variety and they're cheaper! Is it only mk2 coilovers that fit, or could i use an aftermarket spring/damper kit from a mk2? Anyone shed any light on this?

They'll be BBS RM's or something along those line (waiting to get shot down by BBS police). You won't get much, if any change from £1000. If that's the look you're going for, you may aswell buy one that's had it all done and save money and hassle, cus the majority of 'show' Lupo's all look the same anyway. Stupidly low on BBS splits with a coloured centre, polished rim and smoothed body work. I'm not saying it's a bad look, but it has been done to death.

How did you manage that? I'd be very suprised if you've managed to increase your power by 50%, unless you've got mega cams/bodies/headowrk etc.

It gets 256mm front brakes, which are very easily uprated to 280mm, which i don't think any other model gets? Brembo calipers bolt straight on, which come off an Ibiza Cupra R and use a 305mm disc, but expect in excess of £500 for these. It has discs on the rear, it sits lower than any other model as standard and comes with a larger front ARB than other models. There is a rear A.r.b. available from Whiteline which transforms the handling, as it doesn't come with a rear A.r.b as standard! I bought a set of Bonrath polybushes which really tighten it up and make it a lot more responsive, but don't fit big wheels or cheap coilovers if handling is your thing. Bilstein B12's are the way forward.

How do mate! Mine had the following; Piper cams Ashley 4 branch manifold with decat Lightened flywheel Panel Filter with ducting Billet aluminium alt/crank pulleys As standard it made 123bhp, then with everything bar cams it made 142bhp and i never RR'd it with the cams, though without a map, it must have been knocking on the door of 150bhp, with torque to match. I'd imagine that with a map it'd be close to 155-160. It was a little weapon to be honest and on several occassions it worried Cooper S's. It ran a 14.9 quarter mile at 89mph to give you an idea of speed, then i stripped it and it was quicker! ...then it blew up!

You can have the standard manifold, downpipe and cat off my gti for £30 if you like? I work in Milton Keynes too, so i can bring it to work and meet you somewhere.

I'm going to use Polo GTI 9N2 mounts for my conversion. With regards to loom, i'm using the standard management and just modding the T14a loom to fit the Lupo. if you're not confident in wiring it yourself, try Qpeng or RubJonny off 'ClubGti'

The AGU is amongst the weaker of the bunch, however, the head can flow more than any other model. The BAM has forged conrods, where others don't, but is still only capable of 350bhp, and at this power, it is still the rods that are the weakpoint. An AGU is safe to roughly 250bhp. Either way, if the rods fit your little 1400, then any of the 20VT items will be far superior to the standard items!

I'm using an 02a from a mk3 TDI. It's a CTN code and has a lot longer ratio's than a CDA/DPA 02a. The 16v 02a will top out around 130mph, which equates to relatively high rpm motorway cruising. I worked out that i'll be doing 1800rpm at 80 and if i could pull it to the redline i'll be doing 180mph! haha!

That doesn't sound like a 'computer system', unless the engine itself wasn't running properly, but there is no mention of difficulty starting or an engine management light? I'd be checking for a sticking handbrake mechanism, or a caliper piston stuck on.

The standard exhaust, as far as i can rememeber, only splits after the second cat. I put a 4 branch manifold on mine and decatted it, then took out the centre box, so it's straight through into the standard back box. It's pretty raspy and gives out plenty of pops and bangs, but it's by no means loud! I love it! Lol

I don't know of any golf that came with twin 'twin choke' webers as standard. I thought tkey were all just a standard 34mm DMTL downdraft carb, which probably won't yield any more power. You want something like these... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-Weber-Italian-made-40DCOM-carbs-NEW-ANY-JETTING-Alfa-Ford-Fiat-Peugeot-/290700341432?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43af1730b8 Not this... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weber-32-34-DMTL-Carburettor-VW-Conversion-Manual-Choke-/140788556293?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20c7a6e205 Emissions may/will be a problem, unless you know an MOT tester. You could try running a cat at MOT time, but it won't last long! A sraight through exhaust would be great, but you need a manifold with a larger bore. Check out to see if the ebay polo raceland one fits?

They'd be no point in replacing single point injection with a single choke carb. You want a pair of twin choke 40's or bike carbs, so you have one choke per cyliner, as you get with throttle bodies. Any 4 branch manifold which will fit would do the job as it will be better than the standard one. Maybe a GTI manifold with gutted cats if it fits, though it's still very restrictive.

Go for it mate, although i think i'd rather go for webers over bike carbs, provided you can get a manifold. I suppose the big plus for using bike carbs is that you can often chop the standard inlet manifold and put some short silicone hoses to the carbs, which keeps things cheap, but jetting is a lot more difficult with bike carbs and will cost more to jet than webers. Make sure you fit a 4 branch too, cus the standard manifold would cripple it. Its definitely worth decatting it, not only for the extra power, but due to the fact that all the unburnt going through the pipe would kill it anyway! A cheap reground cam would be a good idea. You want one as lairy as you can put up with and as lairy as the standard hydraulic lifters will cope with. See 'Autosprint' for cheap cams. You'll be as quick as a standard GTI i'd have thought if they're well set up and it should have a very smooth power delivery. Just don't expect to see more than 20mpg however you drive it! But it's a cheap way to get 'at least' a 25% power increase.

Just a quickie... Is it a 'front end off' jobbie to get to the ballast, or can i just remove the headlight? Any pics would be great!

Bonrath ones on ebay are £49 for a set, which includes wishbone bushes and rear beam mount bushes, as well as steel inserts.

Mine with 16" RXII's.

It's not a case of being able to simply flash the ecu (at least not on a GTI anyway). The standard chip cannot be re-written. It needs a new chip soldering in, which can be written on. But with regards to swapping maps on other cars, i don't know...

For SQ you really don't need rear speakers. Especially in such a small car. Having rear speakers drags the sound stage back and also lowers it. The only real place you'll see rear speakers used in SQ builds, is to add some midrage rear fill. Rears are often set to delay by a few hundred miliseconds, to act like the rear wall of a concert hall, reflecting the sound towards the back of our head. After-all, we're trying to replicate the sound you hear at a gig, so if you enjoy putting your back to the stage, then you will benefit from rear speakers. If, like me, you listen to the music facing the stage, then rear speakers aren't needed.

It doesn't seem that cheap to me...? The paintwork looks fine to me. I see where patroddy is coming from, looking at the door and rear quarter, but i don't think it's due to crash damage, or even a respray. More likely just the light.

The Lupo ashley manifold was designed for use in the GTCC (german touring car championship) on the 1400, which happens to share the same head port spacing as the GTI. This is the only manifold that Ashley make and it makes great power on a GTI. The only problem you'll find is that they don't have post cat lambda sensors, so you have to either weld on a boss (like i did), or just tie up the lambda in a sleeve and keep it out of harms way. Mine made 139.9bhp @ the flywheel, with a manifold, decat, L&B flywheel, uprated panel filter.

Yes, i forgot, she's working that corner again, where she infact ****s off other men for money. Or maybe other members of your incestuous family just pay her for a ride instead? That's what Derby folk do, isn't it...?

I think you'll find that my comments were just and correct. Yours were just offensive.

Piers, do us all a favour and go w*nk your mum off before i do.