Robbie C's Ibiza Cupra

[Robbie C]

Day 14

Another evening of bumper trimming tonight, mostly using a small sanding air tool to help get the job done. After several mock ups on the car against the cooler we've decided we're going to have to take the centre bars back to a 40mm thickness if I want to leave enough room to re-fit some aftermarket-mesh behind. Again, nearly all of this clearance issue comes from the driver's side end tank where it's just so close to the condenser but I obviously want an even line all the way across which is taking time but will be worth it when it looks good I feel.

Here you can see how much we're going to have to take off of the side vent by the entry pipe:

If you look very closely in some pics you can make out the black line we measured and marked out as guidance when trimming this all back.

Before any major trimming (now sits at 40mm):

Top bar:

Bottom bar:

These still require a lot of tidying up but here's just some of what we've taken off so far:

To be continued....

 

[Robbie C]

I like seeing progress pictures

Can you not just bore the holes in the manifold out a bit?

That's exactly what we're now doing. Why we have to do this on a manifold that retails at over £500 and advertised as OE fitment is really beyond a joke to me.

 

[jamiebennett81]

Robbie, seriously, just send that ****ing pile of **** manifold back to JBS

thats what happened to me, it cracked, they repaired it, it had then warped and did not line up at all, no matter how tight it was done up, it still leaked, hence I got a full refund

now I have fitted the INA high flow manifold, £200, spot on and fits perfectly too

I bet you £500 that you get that mani fitted and it further warps, cracks or just falls apart. **** design, hence I binned mine

 

[lm_gauci]

The joys of bumper trimming, lol. Looking good though, liking the brakes.

 

[Ibiza125]

That's exactly what we're now doing. Why we have to do this on a manifold that retails at over £500 and advertised as OE fitment is really beyond a joke to me.

As you say it is a bit of a joke!

I am going to have to do the same as your doing to your intercooler. Mine sits too far to the right, but fits (just) behind the mesh. Did you say you moved your radiator back? Was that much of a hassle to do?

 

[Robbie C]

Robbie, seriously, just send that ****ing pile of **** manifold back to JBS

thats what happened to me, it cracked, they repaired it, it had then warped and did not line up at all, no matter how tight it was done up, it still leaked, hence I got a full refund

now I have fitted the INA high flow manifold, £200, spot on and fits perfectly too

I bet you £500 that you get that mani fitted and it further warps, cracks or just falls apart. **** design, hence I binned mine

Jamie, I hope you don't prove me right but my gut feeling really isn't good. For all the effort it has taken just to get this manifold on the car I will just about give up if it gives me any hassle once it's finally up and running. Did you try the high-temp studs, K-lock nuts and Nordlock washers when you had yours fitted?

To say I am completely and utterly unimpressed with this "manifold" is an understatement. I shall be going to INA myself if this gives me any trouble as enough is enough. My friend who's doing most of the work is in utter disbelief at the fitment issues.

The sad thing is it's made me fall out of love with the car and I just hope my faith and passion for doing all this is rejuvenated once it's all done.

 

[jamiebennett81]

Jamie, I hope you don't prove me right but my gut feeling really isn't good. For all the effort it has taken just to get this manifold on the car I will just about give up if it gives me any hassle once it's finally up and running. Did you try the high-temp studs, K-lock nuts and Nordlock washers when you had yours fitted?

To say I am completely and utterly unimpressed with this "manifold" is an understatement. I shall be going to INA myself if this gives me any trouble as enough is enough. My friend who's doing most of the work is in utter disbelief at the fitment issues.

The sad thing is it's made me fall out of love with the car and I just hope my faith and passion for doing all this is rejuvenated once it's all done.

trust me, it wont work, bin it now. Everything happening to you now regarding this manifold are all the issues I had.

in the pictures where it does not line up, I had the "exact" same issue with mine. The manifold was warped and even with a thick gasket, it was still not air tight, and leaked, causing the car to pop and bang all the time which was bloody annoying, and an issue with the performance of the car as well

also the bolt holes did not line up either, again due to the manifold being warped

and off it came and sent back. It is a very poor and weak design, prone to cracking and warping, which even JBS have admitted themselves

as much as I hate to say it, and I admire your determination mate, your flogging a dead horse

save the pain now and get the INA one

 

[DaNnY_LaD]

Awesome as always Robbie....

Tis a good satifaction when you do it your self

 

[__B3NNY__]

Nice to see its back on track mate. i was starting to wonder if you had given up as i hadnt seen any updates, total unnecessary work where the manifold is concerned i just hope it holds up for you once all up and running if its any consulation my new Kinetic has cracked again so its time for a wled up job now i think!

Glad to see you got the pump fitted, i didnt realise about the thread on the cap as mine seemed to go stright on.

Im sure you`ll be back in love with it once its all up and running, what you got left to do?

 

[Robbie C]

As you say it is a bit of a joke!

I am going to have to do the same as your doing to your intercooler. Mine sits too far to the right, but fits (just) behind the mesh. Did you say you moved your radiator back? Was that much of a hassle to do?

Yeah I moved my radiator back using some brackets I bought from Alex at Backdraft which he uses on his Pro Alloy FMIC. They were a bit of a pain to fit but it has moved it all back a fair bit so it was worth doing. Some people have just moved it back by redrilling new holes I think but not sure of the relative gains here. There's pics here

 

[Robbie C]

Nice to see its back on track mate. i was starting to wonder if you had given up as i hadnt seen any updates, total unnecessary work where the manifold is concerned i just hope it holds up for you once all up and running if its any consulation my new Kinetic has cracked again so its time for a wled up job now i think!

Glad to see you got the pump fitted, i didnt realise about the thread on the cap as mine seemed to go stright on.

Im sure you`ll be back in love with it once its all up and running, what you got left to do?

Thanks Benny - I've been close to giving up at times but just got to hang in there

Why is it that of all the tuning companies out there it seems no one can make a manifold that just works, without fitment issues or cracking. Hopefully the INA one is a different story.

Yeah the pump was an interesting one - one of those things that just needed revisiting with fresh eyes I think but all sorted now at least.

As for what's left:

Intercooler and custom ali pipework
Fit turbo and manifold
Make up custom TIP and fit to 3" MAF and Jetex filter

Then onto some electrical goodies:

HIDs
AFR Wideband (and weld new boss in downpipe for sensor)
Oil temp & pressure gauge
New boost gauge

Then off to Bill for some mapping and a splash of water/meth

 

[Robbie C]

After much deliberation I've made a decision to take Jamie's advice and ditch my JBS manifold for an INA one. The main reason being that if I fit the JBS one now and find it warps even further and blows another gasket I'll have to strip the car right back down again in a few weeks time - whereas at the moment it's stripped and ready so it's no inconvenience to change. It means I have to wait a couple more weeks for an INA manifold to arrive but I'd rather only have to do this job once.

I only wish I'd paid more attention to these sooner - my only reservation being Bill's comments in http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=179656&page=6 from fitting Jamie's manifold on his LC as it seems they need some modification to fit completely flush.

If I go ahead and fit an INA manifold I can keep hold of my JBS tubular manifold and trade it in for one of their new cast designs once they go on sale in ~6 weeks time, as agreed with Mike. I'm assuming I can't go ahead and get a straight refund when I bought the manifold from Chris Curzon, although I was led to believe they came with a lifetime warranty so not sure where I stand here?

 

[DaNnY_LaD]

I told you this from the Very beginning But NOOOOO you wouldnt listen!!!!

 

[cupra-neil]

Ive still got no mesh in mine now with a pro 50mm core, trimmed my bumper so much to get to fit right, even cut away so i could get the hoses so they werent rubbing, such a tight fit but its on even got a forge crash bar over it now.

What size brakes have you got robbie, ive been looking at the hi spec kits but not sure what size to get to keep standard cupra alloys or get 17's so i can get bigger disc's? Ive been told i can change my tubular mani over for the new one when its out hence why ive held off fitting it.

 

[Robbie C]

I told you this from the Very beginning But NOOOOO you wouldnt listen!!!!

Shut up you tart

Ive still got no mesh in mine now with a pro 50mm core, trimmed my bumper so much to get to fit right, even cut away so i could get the hoses so they werent rubbing, such a tight fit but its on even got a forge crash bar over it now.

What size brakes have you got robbie, ive been looking at the hi spec kits but not sure what size to get to keep standard cupra alloys or get 17's so i can get bigger disc's? Ive been told i can change my tubular mani over for the new one when its out hence why ive held off fitting it.

Hi Neil,

I was hoping to get my cooler to fit with the standard mesh like you managed on the AM core by just sanding some of it back but I'm not sure yours could have been sat completely central to achieve this? I'm amazed at just how little room there is behind there with the condenser in the way but I'd like to keep my air con.

My brakes are 310x28mm two-piece discs, 4 pot calipers (R114-4). HiSpec supplied this as a kit for a MK2 Golf GTI so I had to get some different bolts and longer braided hoses to fit the Ibiza but other than that they went straight on and fit nicely behind standard alloys too which is a bonus.

 

[DaNnY_LaD]

Just suppose its one of them things were uve gotta learn for ur self..

 

[cupra-neil]

Wouldnt have thought 310mm discs went behind standard alloys nice to know they do though! I really cant remember how my old a&m cooller sat from some old pics it looked ok but alot was taken off the grill probably only 1mm in places but the end tank design was probably different to yours, im just going to get some black mesh to go in front of my pro one just to protect it really and so its not so much in your face.

 

[Robbie C]

Just suppose its one of them things were uve gotta learn for ur self..

To be fair I only started hearing about the issues with these manifolds over a month after I'd already bought it But hey that's life, no point pondering on it now I guess - just want to make sure I don't run into the same issues as everyone else.

Wouldnt have thought 310mm discs went behind standard alloys nice to know they do though! I really cant remember how my old a&m cooller sat from some old pics it looked ok but alot was taken off the grill probably only 1mm in places but the end tank design was probably different to yours, im just going to get some black mesh to go in front of my pro one just to protect it really and so its not so much in your face.

Yeah I think it's the end tanks that are causing the issue as I only have clearance issues in the bottom corners. I've been trying to find some black mesh that looks OE (peferably ABS plastic) but struggling to find any at the moment. Halfords used to sell some but it doesn't look like they do it anymore - http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=114146&page=2

If you want more details about the HiSpec kit just let me know - it's a nice alternative to the Wilwoods but admitedly not the cheapest kit out there.

 

[cupramillo]

Been watching this thread from the start, great work Robbie! Im going down this route myself. I got a quote from INA this week about a manifold and its just under 200quid delivered to the UK!! Amazing value there, time to take advantage of the weak dollar! I'll be getting one later in the month.

Good luck with the rest of the car, cant wait till its finished!

 

[DaNnY_LaD]

To be fair I only started hearing about the issues with these manifolds over a month after I'd already bought it But hey that's life, no point pondering on it now I guess - just want to make sure I don't run into the same issues as everyone else.



Yeah I think it's the end tanks that are causing the issue as I only have clearance issues in the bottom corners. I've been trying to find some black mesh that looks OE (peferably ABS plastic) but struggling to find any at the moment. Halfords used to sell some but it doesn't look like they do it anymore - http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=114146&page=2

If you want more details about the HiSpec kit just let me know - it's a nice alternative to the Wilwoods but admitedly not the cheapest kit out there.

Yeah Good point that....

Im Down your end of the woods next week with my mate picking up a T5 Hybrid Turbo....Il give you a shout if you aint doing Owt..