Modified 2002 Reflex Silver 1.4 16v S

[1272_el_ex]

I have for sale a 2002 (52 plate) Lupo 1.4 16v S in Reflex Silver. Current mileage is 56,400 and this will increase slightly as I am still using it. The MOT is valid until July the 30^th 2016 and the tax whilst not transferable is a modest £12.60 a month.

The car has three registered keepers, the second being my brother in law who in turn sold it on to a very good friend of mine.

I took this car as a non-runner in exchange for a MK4 Golf Turbo that I had for sale about four months ago. The Lupo developed a slight misfire around two years ago when owned by my brother in law. The car was taken to two independent VW specialists, neither of whom could diagnose the issue. The second specialist suspected that a ring had gone as compression was down on cylinder no 1. They proceeded to remove the head only to find that there wasn’t an issue with any of the rings/pistons. The labour bill started to mount up so the decision was made to recover the car back to his parents and there it sat in the garage for the best part of two years.

Fast forward to early 2015 and the inlaws decided that they wanted their garage back so the car had to go. Along came my friend who decided that he wanted to have a project, a deal was struck and the car was moved to its new home. Before the issue of the non-running engine was addressed he proceeded to drop the car on brand new FK AK Streets and treated it to a set of 7x15 BBS RZ with new 165 50 Bridgestones added up front. Since owning it I have also put a pair of matching 165 50 Bridgestones on the rear as the 195 45’s were scuffed where contact had been made with the rear arches.

With the knowledge that the compression was low on cylinder 1 I decided to strip the head down and rebuild it, this was done over the course of a few evenings. The valves were all cleaned up and relapped in. I spent the following few weekends putting everything back together with new gaskets all round - the resulting compression test showed 13.8 on cylinders 1 and 2, 14 on 3 and 4 – happy days. The engine was finally fired up but was still suffering from a slight misfire. Plenty more head-scratching was done, everything that could be cleaned out was cleaned out, throttle body reset, injector cleaning etc etc. Still the slight misfire remained. I was just about to give up on the thing when said friend came round and suggested that we go round everything once again just to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything. Two cans of carb cleaner later and the fault was found, injector seals in no’s 3 and 4 were not seating properly and were letting air in. With a full set of new injector seals fitted the engine was finally running as it should be bar the tappets. These are still noisy at certain revs due to not being replaced in the correct order. I am hoping that in time these will quieten down although a replacement set is around £70.

The car was put straight in for an MOT and it flew through (55,856), the emissions were spot on even after doing only 7 miles since the rebuild. The brakes were a little unresponsive to start with as the car had been sat for such a long time - these were stripped down, cleaned and regreased and are now working as they should.

Before the car was taken off of the road it had new discs and pads fitted. The pedal box was repaired as it suffered from the usual issue that these cars suffer with. The cam-belt and all tensioners / water pump were also replaced. I have since added another new cambelt for peace of mind.

Since rebuilding the engine I have covered 550 miles to ensure that everything is working correctly - I would not feel comfortable selling a car with known issues that were not disclosed. In those 600 miles the only thing to fail was the oil pressure switch which decided to cover the gearbox with a nice non-rust coating, this has since been cleaned up and the switch replaced.

The car is in stunning condition for its age, suffering from only one minor pin dent on the offside front wing and a small scuff to the front bumper as can be seen.

The car is offered for sale in various forms. As shown with either the 16” Steels and virtually new 165 40s with hubcentric rear spacers or the BBS RZ with new 165 50 Bridgestones the price is £1,395.

You can also have the car with a set of standard BBS RMs for £1,495 but these will need rebuilding so you will have to bring your own wheels to get the car home.

The car is also available on original suspension and wheels, two of which have brand new hankooks for £1,100

Whilst the car still suffers from noisy tappets I believe that the prices shown are fair for the age, condition and spec of the car.

Any inspection welcome. - Location, Bognor Regis - West Sussex - 07786 317952 (please text before calling as I don't answer unknown numbers)

and with 195 45s on the back, which have now been replaced.

[1272_el_ex]

Now on the RZ with Matching 165 50 Bridgestones