My Red Mk1 LCR

[Leon1600s]

Thought it was about time I made a thread for my car!

Previously I had a blue 1.6 Mk1. It's been with our family for about 12 years now. Been very reliable and besides coil packs, door seals and an EGR valve going, it's had no issues! Knowing that it was never going to be quick I kept it pretty standard, Changed the HU, aero wipers, LEDs etc.

After a lot of searching for a good example I finally bought a Mk1 LCR (and returned the 1.6 to my Dad). The car was standard except for a scorpion cat back and a K&N cone filter (now replaced with an original air box and OEM panel filter for the time being)

Here's the two together the day I got the LCR home.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Within a week I'd made my first mod to it.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Replaced the badge on my key and added a new keyring.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

And swapped over my HU with my iPod in the glovebox.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Next up was a bit of maintenance, changed the pollen filter and the CTS and thermostat as one of the two were faulty.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Fitted HIDs (5K if I remember correctly) and LED sidelights.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Managed to pick up an OEM armrest, actually from an A3 but it is identical to the original leon armrest.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Replaced the wipers with an aero set from an R32.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Needed new tyres all round and after much consideration I went for a set of vredestein ultrac sessanta's. I've had them 6 months now and rate them highly. They do seem to wear quite quickly but then I don't think my driving helps much
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Then I got something I've wanted in all my cars and found for the right price.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Carnage while fitting.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

And the finished product! Opted for an all singing all dancing Alpine unit. I loved my single din Alpine unit and this one seems to have everything i needed.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

I then had a common issue with my armrest with it getting stuck in the 'up' position. SCN to the rescue again with a guide to fix it. Previously someone had already fixed it once and now the other side had broken. But now it's fixed hopefully there'll be no more issues with it!
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Most recently I've fitted LED footwell lights the come on and fade off with the interior lights.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

And changed the fuel filter. All the black stuff is what had come out of the filter. Shows you that it is there for a reason and is probably worth changing if it hasn't been done recently!
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Also removed my injectors and cleaned them in a hydrosonic cleaner. Was planning on changing all the seals at the same time but was sent 4 of the wrong size! So I'll have to get the correct size and change the bottom seals at some point. I'll also change the injector seats and clean the FPR at the same time.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

I changed the oil, oil filter and oil pickup in the sump. No pics unfortunately. Wasn't a difficult job, just don't make my mistake and spend an hour wondering why the sump won't come off only to find you've missed a bolt... The pickup didn't have much crap in it at all but it's nice to know it's not going to be an issue for a while at least.
Fitted a Fabia rear wiper which you can just about see below, don't have a better picture unfortunately. And that's us up to date. Just been keeping it clean and enjoying it!
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

What's next?

I need to change a outer CV boot on the near side, Also looking to put the gear box shim in (assuming I have a suitable gearbox). Wheels need a refurb and disks and pads will be needed all round before long. I want to lower it for sure and a remap but that won't be anytime soon. I want a B5 TIP, I think that is probably next on the shopping list!

Thanks for looking! Any comments/questions are more than welcome! Oh and excuse the camera phone pictures!

 

[Matty589]

Looking good mate I do like a red cupra r

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Andy_1]

Having a red cupra tdi myself I have to say I am presently foaming at the mouth

 

[LCR33]

Hey bud good progress nice motor. What year r32 are the wipers from? Do they fit and work ok ?
Thanks mate

 

[Method]

Car looks awesome mate. just a couple of questions

Was it hard to put in your single din head unit? I've never done it before but i want to upgrade so i can listen to my iPod instead of a CD

Do you also have the part numbers needed for the front wiper conversion?

 

[Leon1600s]

Looking good mate I do like a red cupra r

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Having a red cupra tdi myself I have to say I am presently foaming at the mouth

Cheers guys!

Hey bud good progress nice motor. What year r32 are the wipers from? Do they fit and work ok ?
Thanks mate

Thanks! Not sure on the exact year but they are from a Mk4. Fitting is a straight swap but you do need a puller to take the original wipers off. Only slight issue is the original passenger wiper is 18" and all the blades I could find were 19". All I did was pop the cap off the end of the blade, cut an inch off and glue the cap back on. I have seen it where people have shortened the wiper by an inch so you don't need to cut the blades each time. In regards to part numbers I believe they are available in the Mk1 section on here but I just searched ebay for 'Mk4 R32 Aero Wipers' or similar. Seem to remember paying £40 for a used set but as always there are sets that go for £100+ for no real reason!

Car looks awesome mate. just a couple of questions

Was it hard to put in your single din head unit? I've never done it before but i want to upgrade so i can listen to my iPod instead of a CD

Do you also have the part numbers needed for the front wiper conversion?

Thanks mate! Wipers as above. As for the Single din it is really simple. Just need a facia and a signal booster for the ariel if you still want the option of radio. Most aftermarket head units come with the required wiring harness. Putting the USB socket in the glove box takes a little more work but is still very straight forwards.

 

[gaz700]

love a red R

 

[LCR33]

Tar bud

 

[potter88]

How easy was it to route the ipod cable to glovebox?

Did you have to remove much of the interior to get it there?

 

[Leon1600s]

How easy was it to route the ipod cable to glovebox?

Did you have to remove much of the interior to get it there?

Really simple. With the HU already out it's just a case of removing the insert from the glove box then passing a usb cable behind. To remove the insert you just pull the front cover off and that exposes 2 torx screws.

Adding the usb socket was easy too. cut the right sized hole for the body, drill two holes for the screws and attach with self tappers. You just have to be careful where you place the usb socket as there isn't enough clearance in some places.

 

[Leon1600s]

Made a nice little addition today. I'd had a set of illuminated S3 air vents for far too long and hadn't got round to fitting them but today was the day!

Started off by making up a loom and putting new connectors on the vents. Checked it all with a multimeter and all was good!
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

It took me longer than expected and had to remove a lot more than I was originally planning on. Due to the cage for the double din I had to unbolt the centre console to give me access to wire the centre vents in. Also had a bit of trouble with the connector on the centre vents, my wiring wasn't quite as good as I thought But a bit of prodding and poking and all was good.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

And here they are in the dark.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

I think they look much better, a nice touch in the dark and they're dim enough that you can't see them lit up in daylight. The silver tabs on the front add a bit more class as well. Also while I had everything apart I put some connectors in so I have the option of removing the footwell lights. Should have done that when I installed them really.

Once again, excuse the shoddy camera phone pictures and thanks for looking!

 

[Leon1600s]

So I've been having some issues with my driver's side headlight. It flickers a lot and sometimes goes out completely. I thought this was a bulb on the way out so bought a replacement. First thing I noticed while fitting the new bulb was it's slightly different to my existing bulb. Both bulbs are H7R HID bulbs but as you can see below the grey strip running up the side of the bulb is on the opposite side. Now one must be right and the other wrong, if anyone knows which please share. I'd guess the new bulb is wrong because I've never been flashed etc but who knows!
(New bulb on the left)
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Anyway fitted the new bulb and there was no difference. Still flickering and going out. Guessing that means the ballast is the culprit so I've ordered a new one and hopefully all will be sorted!

 

[joshy514]

Pretty similar mods and plans to me by the sounds of it. Double din is one of the best mods I think, it looks so good with a touch screen unit in too! How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking? I've just got two vreds waiting to be fitted, and have ordered a stat and oil pick up to change next week. What sump sealant did you use? Genuine or something similar? Regarding the injectors, I looked into a hydrostatic cleaner, but after a little reading I didn't bother because most people said that to clean them properly you have to have a loom made to open and close the injectors to clean them properly...? Final thing, where did you wire the footwell LEDs into and how hard was the fuel filter to change? Nice car too, really similar to mine regarding non performance mods!

 

[Leon1600s]

Pretty similar mods and plans to me by the sounds of it. Double din is one of the best mods I think, it looks so good with a touch screen unit in too! How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking? I've just got two vreds waiting to be fitted, and have ordered a stat and oil pick up to change next week. What sump sealant did you use? Genuine or something similar? Regarding the injectors, I looked into a hydrostatic cleaner, but after a little reading I didn't bother because most people said that to clean them properly you have to have a loom made to open and close the injectors to clean them properly...? Final thing, where did you wire the footwell LEDs into and how hard was the fuel filter to change? Nice car too, really similar to mine regarding non performance mods!

Cheers mate! I'm trying to get it looking the best I can then I'll move on to increasing the performance (because it's so slow as it is... ) The double din console it's self was from a breakers, about £90 if I remember correctly. It's not in the best condition really, been a bit hacked up on the inside and I had to make some brackets to mount the climate control unit as they were broken. Wasn't very impressed really and if they weren't so expensive and rare, it would have been going back. Luckily on the outside it's pretty much fine, could just do with a new facia and I think it would look spot on. Pretty poor for a breakers which specialises in VAG parts, they didn't send everything I paid for and when questioned said the part had been missed my mistake and would be posted the following day. Did they ever show up? Did they ! Certainly will be avoiding them in the future! Good choice with the vreds in my eyes, think I'll be sticking with them when I need a new set. Changing the stat is really tight but quite straight forward. Be careful when you put the new one in, I managed to nip the O-ring so it wouldn't seal and had to get another one. Oil pickup is dead easy, I just used some silicone sealant, equivalent of the genuine stuff. Think it was about £5 or so. With the injectors it's most likely right that it's not really cleaned them out internally but I had them out to change the seals so though I might as well stick them through the cleaner. Wasn't going to do any harm and cleaned the outsides up nicely. Fuel filter is easy to change, there's a good guide on here. Two things i will mention though, quite a lot of fuel will come out of it and the lines when you disconnect them so make sure you have a fuel safe container/tray ready to catch it and I snapped the hose clamp when trying to undo it. It's about 300mm long and nowhere local did one big enough so I had to order a new one from online. I'd get one to replace the old one anyway just to be safe. As a temporary measure I attached two shorter hose clamps together but there wasn't much room to get it done up. Footwell lights are wired to the interior light. The wires go up the passenger side A pillar so you can pull the cover off and get access to the wires you need. The way I have done them means they come on/off with the interior light when you open/unlock the car. The switches on the light have no effect on them so you can't stop them from doing this without unplugging them completely.

Geez, that tuned into a bit of an essay! Hope it helps though!

On a side note, I've ordered some vacuum hose to do the N249 bypass. Hopefully it will arrive early next week and I can give this a go! I'll let you all know how I get on

 

[joshy514]

I wish I had got mine looking good before I did performance mods, mine is ready for stage 2 now but due to the biggest purchase of my life she won't be getting mapped until mid next year! I have now however, spent lots of pennies to correct my paint, I need to get the wheels done too, but they can wait. That's a good price for a double din console, even if it is a little worn. I've seen them sell for £250 on eBay and yes they are certainly rare. I don't think the fascias hurt the wallet too much, for some reason I think £20...? I got mine for £160 off a guy on here, he is a SEAT parts manager, I couldn't moan in any way about the condition as it's mint and the heater sensor thing was already mounted for me with the wires crimped. I can't wait to try out the vreds! I've got to drive 220 miles to Cornwall and back next week so I'll leave the p zero rosso's on for that and get them changed after. Cheers for the heads up on the o ring, and the sealant. I put a shallow sump on my tdi, and used genuine sealant but that was like £15! I think my fuel filter needs doing, might look I to it next week too but I've got so much to do to it! That's the same way I want to wire mine up, I've got welcome lights wired to the puddle lights but obviously they only work when the door is open.

It is an essay but it's appreciated, the n249 bypass isn't hard to do at all really. The trickiest bit is routing the vacuum pipe under the inlet mani and securing that. You'll have to let me know where you hide that valve too, mine is cable tied to a pipe over the cylinder head cover. You can just see it here.

 

[Leon1600s]

Yeah the facia is a reasonable price, just one of those things i need to get round to at some point! I was thinking about fitting a baffled sump but I couldn't afford it at the time. Thinking about it now, it does't take that long to change so if I do go for one, I'll fit it when the oil is due a change and then it's just £5 worth of sealant! The fuel filter is really easy mate and takes literally 15 mins all in. Filled up the car today and I'd say my MPG is definitely better after changing the filter and cleaning the injectors.

My hose for the N249 bypass came today but I had to nip out and the engine too hot when I got home. Hopefully I'll have time later in the week.

Months ago I bought some LED bulbs for my fog lights. Bought the correct size (H3) but when I came to fit them they were too big! Quite annoyed at this point I just put the original bulbs back in and left it like that. Today I thought I would try and make them fit. The issue was the diameter of the metal housing was too big so I had a go at turning one down on a lathe. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough metal and I ended up destroying the bulb, but it was worthless to me anyway so no real loss!
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

I've measured the size of the hole in the fog light housing and the narrowest point is about 13.5mm so I'm now in search of some LED bulbs that will fit!

Also today saw my best mod to date. Took minutes to do, cost next to nothing and gave me at least 5bhp, maybe more...
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
It's a nice touch and quite discreet. (Excuse the filth )

 

[Leon1600s]

N249 Update

So my vacuum hose arrived on monday so I tried to bypass the N249 yesterday. Some of you may have seen the in MK1 section that this didn't go very smoothly. While removing one of the hoses off of the inlet manifold, muggins here managed to snap one of the nipples off the under side. Needing to sort this I removed the inlet manifold with the throttle body attached. This was actually much easier than expected, I can do I guide if people desire it.

So here is the damage...
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Feeling a bit defeated, I ordered a second hand manifold off of ebay. I also posted in the MK1 section to see if anyone had any ideas to salvage my manifold. Big thanks to nd-photo.nl, The Swede and Gavin.Ganer.12, they suggested blocking off the broken nipple and using a T piece to allow both the FPR and DV to be connected to the remaining port. Now being a bit annoyed still and thinking I didn't have a T piece I left it for a while. Now after a few hours and calming down, I thought I'd be able to use the T piece from the existing N249 plumbing.

So I set about plugging the broken nipple. Firstly I drilled out the broken part. Used a pillar drill for accuracy and to ensure it was square. I then tapped the hole (M6 for those interested) and put a bolt in.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

I then attempted to remove the T piece but the existing hoses where stuck on and I felt I was going to break it trying to remove them. So at this point I left it as is and search for a T piece. Unfortunately, time had got away from me and no where was open! Shouldn't have had that few hours break! Anyway left it is this condition for the night.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Today was much more straight forward thankfully. Got a T piece for £1.59 and put it all back together. Took it out for a spin to make sure everything is sound, no issues! Seems a bit smoother too so happy days.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

For now I have left the grey valve/box attached and just wrapped it up in the heat wrapping for now. I think I'm going to look into getting a resistor to replace it with.
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

 

[chrissyp83]

Really nice MK1, some nice inspiration for my wife and I

 

[Leon1600s]

Really nice MK1, some nice inspiration for my wife and I

Cheers mate, appreciate it!

No much been happening recently but I have changed my discs and pads all round. The front discs were long over due but the pads had a bit of life left in them. Opted for a set of DS2500 pads for the front. Rear pads had barely any wear but disc were a little low. But for the price of OEM parts I thought I might as well change them too. Used Bill's guide in his B5 section on here for bedding in the DS2500s. me they're good! Really glad I went for them! Anyway, here some piccys

Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr
Untitled by Andrew Richardson2014, on Flickr

Still need to change my NS outer CV boot, hopefully find time to get this done next weekend! Also the top mounting my OS headlight has snapped. Can't recall hitting anything myself so I suspect it was probably some .... in a car park. Paint work is all ok though so I'm not sure. So I'll have to see if I can fix that or I'll have to get a new headlight!

Hopefully I'll have a more exciting update next time, cheers for looking!

 

[Coffeelio]

Very nice car indeed! I love it in red it's my favourite colour.