szrdave

Useful info for me too. Definitely want a set of standard wheels for mine, but I reckon a set of 14s with a bit more sidewall would also look great!

Head is done: Rest of the parts will be ordered this weekend. Onwards!

Hi Wolfgang! Good to see you on here Don't worry, the Lupo will be ready for another 176k (at least) soon! Back to the cylinder head, I contacted the local VW garage to source some valve guides. A few back-and-forwards emails with the parts guy and he tells me the guides are not available as separate parts from VW and only come with a complete head. I wasn't about to argue the point, so asked around at work if anyone had a contact for cylinder head rebuilds. One of the guys has a friend who races a VW, and they put me in touch with the guy who rebuilds his cylinder heads. Lovely cha

Heaviest deposits are on the valves, but the whole head needs a good clean. Will check the compression again once it's back together and see how much it's lost! Nice trick using the motor to undo the bolt, although the €50 tool made it an easy job and I'll be able to torque it up correctly on reassembly too. Contacted my local VW garage for price and availability on OE guides, will see what they say before deciding which way to go with the head rebuild. Thanks! Garage is also a work in progress, floor needs epoxying and the electrics finishing off, but it's a nice

Managed to get some quality time in the garage today. Got the new (correct) tool to hold the crank pulley and removed the bolt, can't give the Ryobi too hard a time for not undoing it, it was bloody tight! Cams locked and belts off, followed by the cam housing and head: I'd already wiped the worst of the oil and carbon of the piston crowns at this point, all the bores look in good shape for the 170k km on this motor so the pistons and bottom end can stay as they are. With the head off I pulled the valves, saw this one and thought it had been contacting the piston at first glanc

Bit of an update, I did a compression test last weekend and got between 14 and 15 bar on all cylinders. I went for a short drive beforehand to warm the engine up and clear the oil out of the cylinders, but any oil left in the bores could have helped out with the results a bit. Still, nice and even across the 4 cylinders so I'm hopeful the bores are in good condition. Pulled the Lupo into the garage and started the stripdown: I was expecting the exhaust header nuts to put up a bit of a fight, luckily they span straight off. I can't get the heatshield off (poor access to the lower bol

That must be fighting talk in here!

And...it's now mine Will stick a post in the 'new owners' section when I get a minute, here's a photo as it stands for the meantime: The car is currently filthy and it's too cold to clean it, as per the plates I'm living in Austria and it gets a bit nippy here over the winter. First things first, I'd like to download elsawin to gain access to the Lupo GTI workshop instructions. Can anyone recommend a trustworthy site to buy it from?

Useful info, thanks! I've seen the how-tos for all the standard stuff. Wings and doors are alloy still, it's just the bonnet that's been changed. It's currently on 14" steelies, which are for when it's sitting parked up over winter.

I went to have a look at the car yesterday, it seems like an interesting project to learn a bit about working on cars (I've rebuilt a few motorcycles so have half an idea which end of a spanner is which) and a good opportunity to save a Lupo from being broken! Positive points: Interior is in very good condition for the mileage (110k) The car hasn't been used in winter (by this owner at least), so the underside is very clean Recent discs and pads all round Seems to have been well looked after Negative points: Smokes like a trooper! Patch of rust on one of the roo

Thanks for the replies guys! Nice to see there's a bit of life in this forum too. Will report back after I've had a look at it

Hi all, First post here as a prospective Lupo GTI owner. I've been keeping an eye out for one locally in decent condition, and although not exactly what I was looking for a project car with very heavy oil consumption (1.5L per 600 miles) turned up recently. I'm going to have a look at it on Friday, the price seems ok as long as the rest of the car is solid. I assume it's either valve stem seals or rings gummed up/broken, so head off to check. I've rebuild a couple of motorcycle engines but never a car, so if someone could give me a rough idea of what I'm getting myself into it would