It started off as a cheap car for my son to get him more interested in driving. His friend had a Lupo Sport that failed it's MOT on emissions despite having a new cat fitted. We offered what the scrap man had and I told my son I'd get it sorted for him...
Turns out the engine was burning oil and clapped out. Suspect previous owner had let it run very low on oil. Not going to be a quick fix and I don't have much spare time. Anyhoo, I bought a second hand engine and lined someone up to carry out the exchange. In the meantime a local girl was selling her Lupo 1.0E with a bit of test on it for £200. It was called Henry. In the end Henry needed a heater resistor, EGR valve, window winders, a service, and was put on the road. He even passed another MOT after having a new exhaust. This meant that the other Lupo was neglected as we had one on the road.
Eventually, a friend put me in touch with a VW trained mechanic that would swap the engine for us in the Lupo Sport. The work started in October with the old engine coming out. This is where it all goes wrong... While the engine was out I took the opportunity to replace the power steering pipes that were badly corroded and had been picked up on the last MOT. I also cleaned the engine bay and treated the subframe to stop rusting.
The brake discs were shot - so were the callipers, pads, and the brake hoses.. and the shock absorbers..and springs...Oh, and while the engine was out it made sense to do the water pump, belts, tensioner, and clutch.
I was in so far now I decided to continue to revive the car. My son and his friends decided that as Henry was soon to be retired (and moved on to a new owner I'm pleased to say) and the new improved Lupo re-born, they decided to call the car "King Henry" as it was to be a bigger and better version of the original.
Earlier this month King Henry passed an MOT and is on the road. Although it is for my son, I enjoy driving it and it reminds me of a Mini Cooper!
Unfortunately, due to some bug going round, his test has been postponed so looks like I'll get to play with it a while longer...
I attach a pic of King Henry, and the original Henry. KH is going in for a respray next week and a black roof to reflect the Henry vacuum cleaner! I will also attach the list of parts fitted and there is a competition to see what you think the total comes to for a "cheap" car !!
Project Lupo
VW Lupo 1.4 S
No
Item
1
Purchase
2
Set of power steering pipes
3
Engine
4
Brake Hoses
5
Plugs
6
Drive belt
7
Wheels
8
Powder coating and tyres
9
Wheel Bearings (front)
10
Nut Covers
11
Parcel shelf
12
Suspension Kit springs shocks
13
CV joint
14
Brake kit - All parts F+R
15
Clutch
16
Door lock kit
17
MOT
18
Water pump, belt and tensioner kit
19
Callipers (new)
20
Door Straps
21
Labour
22
Respray
To be fair I have found parts prices not too bad, and a lot of availability. Funny how there are certain items on the model that are pretty crap on all small VWs. I'm thinking window winders, door locks, door check straps, bonnet release handle and EGR valves.
I'll update after the respray.
Scotty2.
