Rob + Kelz Black Mk1 Leon Cupra 4WD Quattro Project

[Rob Kelz]

I ordered some more parts during the week that I'll need for the rear setup, not very much all little bits and pieces but as they say they all add up!

The order was for the following items

2 rear bump stops (lower ones)

8 bolts that hold the front of the rear arms to the chassis/body of the car

2 brackets that hold the rear anti-roll bar to the rear subframe + the bolts

2 spacer shims - these go between the rear arms and the rear bump stops but I don't think these are needed so will be getting returned I think

and 4 rear bushes for the rear trailing arms(2 per trailing arm) they used to be a rose style joint but were replaced with these ones now

That's pretty much it for parts, I have ordered new rear hubs and bearings, also some powerflex bushes for the front of the trailing arms that attach to the plate that goes to the body of the car


I managed to move the rear floor to the workshop today also but didn't get time to do anything to the car - I'll be going over tomorrow and I'll be doing some work on it then which will involve removing the last of side rails and cleaning up the areas ready for welding the new floor in, and of course cleaning the last of the floor up

Hopefully tomorrow I can start to get it positioned into place with the hope of the welding to start next weekend!

I believe I have everything I need to reassemble all of the rear now, so once the floor is welded into place it will be a case of putting it all back together

Also I managed to get a £1 bargain! A box full of tools and a mains powered halogen light/lamp. The bulb in the light was blown so I replaced it and it works a treat so it will be great for inside the car of an evening when it gets a little dark in the workshop and under the car for welding etc

Will post more progress tomorrow!

 

[Rob Kelz]

I went on over to the workshop today to work on the car and wanted to get as much as possible done today as I didn't get chance to go over and do any actual work yesterday

So the first thing I done was crack on with the rear floor and cleaning all that up prepping it ready for the car

The next step was to start cutting towards the side rails....

Then finally I got to the rails and started cutting them and getting them ready with the floor, still a little more to cut off this side yet but just getting the idea and cleaning it up

I started cutting the drivers side and getting that ready but ran out of cutting discs and Screwfix had just shut so that knackered me for the rest of the day!

So I then decided to give the workshop a little bit of a tidy up

Most of the parts removed from the car, I think the seats will get thrown and I'll put some leather seats in or something for now

Nice and tidy

The misses is picking up some discs for me tomorrow so I'll head on over there after work tomorrow evening and crack on with the drivers side rail and get that all ready and prept.

On Tuesday I will be picking up the rear trailing arms and diff support bracket so I'll be happy to start putting the rest of that together

 

[Rob Kelz]

Not much going on at the minute. I was hoping to go over the workshop yesterday but plans changed due to work so I will try to get over there tomorrow or Thursday (Probably be Thursday).

I have had a few items turn up, I called the powdercoaters but unfortunately the rear arms are still not ready yet due to them falling behind as a machine went down but said it will be done this week so I think I'll just pick them up early Saturday morning.

I have the rear hubs turn up

And I also had the Powerflex bushes turn up for the front of the rear arms along with some metal clamps for when it comes to welding up!

So the parts ready for putting on the rear arms when they come back

I already have the brake shields, bump stops and other bushes and bits and pieces so just need to wait for the arms to come back so I can assemble them!

Now I just need to wait for the bearings to turn up and that's everything I need for the rear apart from the brake lines/flexys but I'll deal with those when it comes to it

 

[Rob Kelz]

Had some news I'm not quite happy with today

I sent an email off over to DfT (Department for Transport) with a query to find out what needs to be done to keep my vehice on the road.

The answer I received was not what I was hoping for, they have classed the sa being "radically altered" therefore I need to complete a a new vehicle registration form along with a built up inspection form along with the registration documents, receipts for parts used and photographs of the vehicle

Looking at their system for radically altered vehicles you need to score atleast 8 points with 5 being made up of using the chassis/body being original, new or unmodified to which if the 8 points cannot be met then th vehicle is most likely to be assigned with a Q plated registration

 

[cupra.al]

Had some news I'm not quite happy with today

I sent an email off over to DfT (Department for Transport) with a query to find out what needs to be done to keep my vehice on the road.

The answer I received was not what I was hoping for, they have classed the sa being "radically altered" therefore I need to complete a a new vehicle registration form along with a built up inspection form along with the registration documents, receipts for parts used and photographs of the vehicle

Looking at their system for radically altered vehicles you need to score atleast 8 points with 5 being made up of using the chassis/body being original, new or unmodified to which if the 8 points cannot be met then th vehicle is most likely to be assigned with a Q plated registration

you would be able to get a private plate though surely.

 

[Rob Kelz]

Unfortunately not. According to the DVLA website you cannot assign a private plate to a Q plated car, once a Q plate always a Q plate

 

[Richy Cupra]

That's bad news mate, but least you'll be the first Q plated SEAT on here! But I'm sure it wont put you off the project!

 

[Rob Kelz]

That's bad news mate, but least you'll be the first Q plated SEAT on here! But I'm sure it wont put you off the project!

It's bugged me more than anything as I had seen a registration id of liked for it when its finished and back on the road. The issue is insurance as a lot of companies won't touch Q plated cars so that could be a huge pain

But I'll still see the 4wd through to get the car back drivable and being 4wd!

The 4wd build will continue and I'll do what's needed to ensure the car stays road legal I'll be glad when the 4wd parts are finished so I can start building the engine up for it

 

[grahams81]

Well that sucks, really can't be arsed with all the testing.... May just have to keep mine for a track car or ditch the shell and put everything onto a s3 or tt.

 

[Rob Kelz]

Well that sucks, really can't be arsed with all the testing.... May just have to keep mine for a track car or ditch the shell and put everything onto a s3 or tt.

Yeah definately sucks dude! I'm going to atleast finish my build and maybe just use it for track days, I'll decide what to do with the car once it's finished and built! I've come this far I'm not going to just leave it and give up I will finish the conversion at the minimum!

So I decided today I would clean the theads up on the rear subframe seeing as they got pretty filled when I had the frame powdercoated

Then got the ARB brackets bolted on

I also managed to pick up the rear arms from the powdercoaters too! Unfortunately not the rear diff support bracket as this reacted when they coated it so they had to strip it and treat it before redoing it which will not be ready until Monday or Tuesday.

The first step again was to clean the threads up so they were nice and clean and easy for the new bolts

After the threads were cleaned up it was time to start fitting the wheel bearings, hub, disc shield and tie bushes etc

Wheel bearing all fitted

Cleaned the area up to fit the top and bottom tie arm bushes

Fitted the new lower bump stop

Also fitted the powerflex bushes to the front of the arm

Drivers side arm now complete apart from the ABS sensor and brake caliper

And then repeated all the above for the passenger side arm now both all complete ready to fit once the floor is in

 

[Rob Kelz]

So this weekend I wanted to crack on with getting the floor into the car, although it was a 4 day weekend with good Friday and bank holiday Monday it was Easter yesterday so had a good day with the other half and the kids going out and visiting etc

I went over to the workshop on Thursday after work to get the last of the original floor and side rails out etc

Once the rails were done I got the floor under the car and then started to get it in place

I then used some straps to take the weight of the rear of the floor and lifted the front onto the rails to start getting it lined up in place

The back panel on the car was then stopping the floor from going up any higher so that was cut off and then allowed the floor to come up level with the arches

The floor was then in place ready to start welding into place, I was happy at this point as I felt some progress was going well!

So todays work was to get some of the floor tacked into place and then we started welding the far rear of the floor and then along the front panel joining the front to the rear

Passenger side arch started and cleaned some of the welds too

Drivers side arch started but not yet cleaned up, still lots more to do so the tidying and cleaning up will be done once all the floor is completely welded into place

And the front panel welded back into the spot weld areas

So that's all that was done today but I'm happy with what has been done over this weekend. More of the floor to be welded yet and underneath is yet to be done but it's getting there

 

[grahams81]

Nice work Rob, good progress.

 

[Rob Kelz]

Nice work Rob, good progress.

Thanks Graham, getting there slowly but surely

Floor was a pain to be fair lol it was like 80% lined up but the rest just did not want to! So some ratchet straps pulling it different angles it got there in the end lol hopefully next weekend it will be fully welded and ready for me to seam seal it and start undersealing

 

[cocadave]

Love it how things start to take shape, I have had my Leon 9 years now and want to go the 4wd way but wont be for another couple of years yet, just curious but are all the original spot weld positions in the same position on both shells?

 

[Rob Kelz]

Love it how things start to take shape, I have had my Leon 9 years now and want to go the 4wd way but wont be for another couple of years yet, just curious but are all the original spot weld positions in the same position on both shells?

Wow 9 years! I don't think I've even been driving that long

I can't be too sure on the spot welds to be honest a few are very close to where I drilled out but it may be that I missed the spotweld a little when I drilled it out or something, and once the welds were out I cleaned all the areas up so you didn't really see the original spotwelds on the Leon and if you did they were very faint and minimal

The arches did line up very well though and the front lip of the floor is at it's very edge

 

[cupra.al]

Nice update dude, It seems crazy that cars are held together with a load of spot welds like that but i guess its to encourage crumple zones etc.

 

[Rob Kelz]

Not much of an update but done a little more to the car regarding welding.

Drivers side is all complete now, I've cleaned some of the welds up along where the floor sections meet.

Passenger side to finish off and the inner side rails to do, hopefully get this done at the weekend

Once welding is complete I can then clean all the welds up and seam seal it, give it a lick of paint and then underseal it

Then just a case of reassembling

Will post some updates up over the weekend hopefully

 

[Rob Kelz]

Been a while since my last update I know!

Well seeing as I wanted to hurry up and get the car home to work on it with the better evenings now being here, I done what welding was needed ASAP and then got the rear arms, subframe and tie bars etc all bolted up so the vehicle was movable.

The car is now on the driveway so the last little bit of welding can be finished off and can then be seam sealed and undersealed

Pics so far, hopefully lots more to follow very soon!!

 

[Rob Kelz]

Trial fitting bumper

 

[grahams81]

Nice Work Rob, nice feeling to get it back on all 4 feet !!!

One note - you may need to replace your when bearings again !! you need to install the driveshafts and tightening the pinch nut before you put the weight on the wheels..... this is due to the way the wheel bearing has a split inner race it needs to be pinched between the hub and driveshaft.
By putting the weight of the car on it apparently the bearing can be damaged.

There are loads of warnings on ETKA about this issue ..... same goes for the fronts.

Keep pushing on mate