fiestaturbo.com

[Excursion]

The Golf weighs an absolute ton, and I don't like the way it looks

[jayrs]

i hear you on the looks mate

[MK3-MATT]

wow just been looking at this thread. Amazing work on a huge scale! What's next?

[Excursion]

02/09/2009 | 8P0 S3 Lower Arms
I have discovered the 8P0 S3 also uses forged lower arms. I wish I'd discovered that before I commissioned a bespoke set. I must obtain a copy of the VAG parts catalogue system. The difference between the Forged arms and the Golf arms is phenomenal. I'm surprised something as heavy as the cast iron arms are fitted to anything 'sporty' built this side of the year 2000.
18/08/2009 | 1K0 R32 vs 8P0 S3 hubs
I have discovered that the 8P0 S3 uses forged Aluminium front hubs. I am going to locate a set of these and perform some weight analysis, but I suspect a potential 2Kg static weight saving per side from the hubs alone.
This is great news and these will complement the 2008> R32 rear hubs I have, which are also Forged Aluminium. I commissioned a set of Aluminium lower arms 2 months ago, and I'm still waiting for these...All in, I hope for a static weight saving of at least 5Kg per front corner on standard brakes, which is considerable.
R32




S3




01/06/2009 | R32 Shell sectioned
The shell is finally prepared after hours of measuring and careful but unpleasant cutting! I've cut the floor pan in two as the Fiesta wheelbase is 150mm shorter than the Golf. The reduction will come just after the handbrake. I will use <a href="http://www.reco-prop.com/">www.reco-prop.com</a> for prop shaft shortening, as they always seem to get good write-ups.
I took chance to briefly lay out and inspect out the wiring loom which I received with the engine, and noticed it doesn't have a CD changer fitted, and the door wiring has one less set of speaker wires than the loom that was in the damaged R32 I bought. I will need to investigate loom differences more thoroughly at some point, as I wish to retain the 10 speaker system and fit an iPod interface in place of the CD changer.








25-05-2009 | R32 Engine package acquired
2008 with only 1500 miles; everything is like new. I picked up the engine & box with all hoses and ancillaries, a complete wiring loom with ECU, ABS/ESP unit, various sensors, accelerator pedal and the air box and MAF. The loom is a credit to the person who removed it; there isn't a single cut wire!










17-05-2009 | R32 Shell cut down
After an hour spent measuring and carefully marking the shell, I continued with the rest of the dissection. The sills, scuttle, rear quarters and A pillars are now removed and yet again I was amazed by the significant weight of all the panels. Of particular note were the sills, which were just about on the limit of what I would comfortably lift.



I noticed that the majority of box sections were plugged with a plastic profile and foam in order to reduce noise in the cabin, which can be amplified in box sections. Nice touch.

I'm now left with everything I need from the R32 shell, and the relevant sections have been trimmed to a width of 1550mm to slot in between the Fiesta sills and A Pillars. The rear end will need some additional trimming once I'm ready to mount the floor pan in the Fiesta.



16-05-2009 | R32 Shell cut begins
I have taken many measurements of both the R32 and Fiesta shells, and the Golf shell will fit snugly between the Fiesta inner wings. I have started to carefully reduce the Golf shell to the areas I will use in the Fiesta.
The inner section of the Golf inner wing will remain, as will the bulkhead, but the A pillars and scuttle will be removed. I managed to make a start on the A pillars and inner wings, and this was slow progress due to the thickness of metal, which is incredible compared to the Fiesta. This is not surprising given the weight of components on the Golf; 1 door weighs more than 2 complete Fiesta doors!


The Golf uses a different construction method to the Fiesta; its main strength appears to be within the sills, which contain multiple channels and thicknesses. The floor chassis sections in comparison are weak. This is in contrast to the Fiesta which has significant chassis members under the floor. With this in mind I have designed 2 extra box sections to run along the Fiesta shell once the Golf floor is in place.


04-05-2009 | Remove dash board and wiring loom
The wiring loom passes through the bulkhead and is sealed in along with the bulkhead by RTV sealant. I found the best way to remove this was with a blow torch. A bolt in bulkhead panel reduces cost when manufacturing LHD/RHD variants of the shell.


The dashboard is now also removed, and after a quick measure of it and the Fiesta shell, it will just fit in after removal of 10mm from each side. The whole dashboard will be covered in black Alanctara once the car is finished.


03-05-2009 | More parts removed
I removed a few more parts from the shell, including the wiper linkage which will be shortened to suit the Fiesta's windscreen.




19-04-2009 | Taking delivery of the damaged R32
I purchased the remains of a damaged 2006 R32.







I sold the drive train from it as I already had 2 and this one looked like it had done a lot more miles. I'm only really interested in the bottom half of the shell, the fuel tank and some miscellaneous fixings.




As I noted with the drive train, every single component I remove seems to weigh a considerable amount. It's a surprise the R32 has the performance it has and it makes me question the need for such engineering; our desire for ever more refined and well engineered cars is producing a colossal amount of waste!
<a href="/images/2092/" title="Fiesta Quattro - 2009" rel="lightbox"><img class="thumb floatleft" images/2093/[/img]
<p class="clearfix">The dashboard is mounted in a typical VAG fashion; alloy cross brace mounting to each A pillar, and a further brace to the tunnel.
<a href="/images/2082/" title="Fiesta Quattro - 2009" rel="lightbox"><img class="thumb floatleft " images/2083/[/img]
<p class="clearfix">I have most items I need from the engine bay, and cabling routing and layout in here is superb.
02-02-2009 | 2nd R32 Drivetrain obtained
A 2nd complete drive train was obtained from a breaker in Manchester, this time with brakes and exhaust. This was from a 2006 car but had been stood for a couple of years and is as-new. As this is a 2006 it has the alloy sub frame and cast iron hubs. I will check dimensions of the 2008 rear end but plan to mix the alloy sub frame with the late alloy hubs.
<table>
<tr><th>Component</th><th>2006 – 2008</th><th>2008 ></th></tr>
<tr><td>Rear hubs</td><td>Cast Iron</td><td>Forged Alloy</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rear sub frame</td><td>Pressed Alloy</td><td>Pressed Steel</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rear ARB links</td><td>Steel</td><td>Alloy</td></tr>
</table>
One thing I did notice with the late sub frame is that the stronger steel construction negates the need for an under slung bracket. No doubt this make servicing the diff easier and so perhaps makes VAG more money…
Initial observations are shock at the weight of the components; manufacturing a drive train that suits something the size of a Passat and then fitting to a car the size of a Golf must bring with it some serious compromises. These components are seriously heavy duty! I have some work ahead to make weight savings where I can and produce a finely balanced and responsive car.








31-01-2009 | R32 Rear Drivetrain obtained
I was lucky to find a late rear drive train which had covered only 1500 miles. The rear sub frame is steel and the hubs are forged alloy; this seems to be the case for all post 2008 setups. I suspect this is a low-cost optimization exercise by VAG; save money by using a pressed sub frame and spend it on reducing unsprung weight.

[dangerousdave]

looks cool buddy but we want updates here! lol

[jimmyesh]

This is the mother of all projects! Amazing amount of quality work going on here, can't wait to see this finished.

[FezzR]

good to see this project isn't dead!

do you have a source for ETKA? i have one but is too out of date for the gear your using, but give me a pm if you don't know where to get it and ill check if i can get a new copy

[Turboboy67]

Your completely bonkers

Awesome fella, I for one would never ever have enough patience to do what your doing,

Good luck with it all

[Xr_Dub]

thank god ur still going vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Excursion]

Cheers chaps, progress has been slooooow since I bought a house

[dangerousdave]

its going to be one hell of a fiesta with all the refinements of a modern german car!!

[Ruishy1]

very nice mate, its some amount of evolution since you began the project

[jonboisescort]

great project and cant wait to see it finished

[PaulC]

Mark! I havent been around here for a while, and I remember you starting this! But, you're still as mad and I wish I had the money and space to do something like this... keep going and get it done

[Excursion]

Cheers boys

[Excursion]

The front end and floor pan is in.

It took me a day of measuring, I'm sure it could have been done in less time, however I wanted everything to be perfect.


The Golf floor pan sits 13mm above the bottom of the sill lip, exactly where the Fiesta pan did.

Detail at base of A pillar. This is absolutely crucial for rigidity and safety. There are a further 3 seams behind this fillet, and each has been painstakingly joined to a reinforcement panel I added to the Fiesta sill/A pillar base. (Ingore the 'blobby' welding on the rusty metal - that is a temporary support post which will be removed)

The Fiesta outer wings have to be notched to sit around the Golf turrets. The bottom of the Fiesta bonnet also required a little modification to sit flush.



There's a fair bit of work ahead around the front inner wings, and infill pieces on the bulkhead.

[Sphinx]

So all the work you did getting the mk5 front in is now redundant
You are insane in the membrane but in the best possible way

[Excursion]

So all the work you did getting the mk5 front in is now redundant

Yeah For anyone who's been thinking about it; it's possible

You are insane in the membrane but in the best possible way

Thanks babe

[~nomad~]

good god.

[leeny]

absolutely nuts mate...lukin gud keep it up

[Ruishy1]

im glad project is all moving forward again, but to think of all the wasted work you put into it. good god man

but loving the latest incarnation

[Excursion]

im glad project is all moving forward again, but to think of all the wasted work you put into it. good god man

It wasn't wasted work, it was all good experience

I have used Mk5 Fiesta wheelarch infill panels to bridge the gap between the Mk3 A Pillar and the Golf wheelarch. The curvature of the Golf wheel arch is reasonably close to that of the Fiesta in the area I need to fill, so these panels work well.

[Sphinx]

Did ya get my text?

[allinking]

Still love this car will be a great Fiesta when done

[muz]

Excelent progress Mark. I really thought this car was just not going to make it. Glad to see its still progressing.

[Ruishy1]

yuo better not change your mind again, or me and the rest of FT are coming to your door with lit torches and pitch forks

looking good though, its not the usual flung together rubbish thats out there

[Excursion]

Distractions, distractions. I have another Mk3; a 1.4 Mk3.5 Ghia with 29k on the clock and Full Ford Service History - 14 stamps!

A freshen up has turned into a complete pain in the arse, as ever, with old cars, remove one thing and you end up replacing everything else connected to it! Updates to follow soon.

[Ruishy1]

jesus man !!!
you need to get your priorities in order !

this first, silly run about second

[dangerousdave]

agreed, we wanna see this at FITP 2010!!

[Dave G fsi]

This is an absolutely awesome project mate, just looked right through it.

Hats off to you, your doing a brilliant job, keep up the good work

[Smo]

Mark, you really do do some amazing work

Get some pics up of the Ghia too, or even do a thread!

[Sphinx]

jesus man !!!
you need to get your priorities in order !

this first, silly run about second

That silly runabout will be having my old engine so I say his priorities are bang on

Love ya Mark, sorry about the affectionate txts the other night

[Smo]

jesus man !!!
you need to get your priorities in order !

this first, silly run about second

That silly runabout will be having my old engine so I say his priorities are bang on

Love ya Mark, sorry about the affectionate txts the other night

Is that where my texts went?

[Sphinx]

You know I love you Simon, you're just never about for me to express my love

[~nomad~]

I've got a distraction for you Mark*




























*clue, its my winky