Rob + Kelz Black Mk1 Leon Cupra 4WD Quattro Project

[Rob Kelz]

Ahhhh! ill be all over that! is it universal for 1.8t or just universal completely?

Sorry for the delay - it was a completely universal kit, did you find one?

A little update on this for everyone on the up side I now have the workshop sorted and will be moving eveything over there this weekend coming so that I can get set up and start removing the rear axle, fuel tank etc from the Leon and start getting the floor cut out!!

 

[Rob Kelz]

Bit of an update and a positive one too!

I've now got the keys to my workshop, woohoooo nothing special but just what I need!

So firstly I moved the car over to its new home yesterday evening

Today I had a bit of free time so decided to make some progress I got it up on axle stands and removed the rear wheels, rear shocks, springs and the backbox

Also whilst I was there I removed the bonnet, as it needs a replacement anyway and it will make it easier for me to pull the engine when I've finished with the rear of the car

Also put the powerflex pushes into the rear tie bar arms

So next up is to remove the rear brakes so I can drop the rear axle, then I can remove the fuel tank and start cutting the original floor out, mixed emotions for that part lol

If I get chance in the week I'll pop over there and start removing the brakes and axle etc, so I can start cutting at the weekend... If not it'll be Saturday removing the parts and Sunday to start cutting

 

[cupra.al]

thats a well spooky picture.
sounds like your be making some progress now best of luck with the upcoming events.

 

[Rob Kelz]

thats a well spooky picture.
sounds like your be making some progress now best of luck with the upcoming events.

How so? Lol

Yeah hoping to have the rear axle and fuel tank dropped off between now and Saturday so I can hopefully start cutting the floor out on Sunday

 

[cupra.al]

just a very dark photo and the silhouette maybe ive been watching too many films lol.

 

[Rob Kelz]

Unfortunately I didn't get chance to go do any work on the car during the week, with christmas creeping up on us I spent most the time after work sorting christmas presents out.

So after a busy weekend I managed to get a bit more progress achieved today! Removed the centre section of the exhaust and cross plate, disconnected the brake lines, removed rear heat shields and dropped the fuel tank

Rear beam/axle and exhaust + cross plate all removed

Fuel tank dropped off

Parts all removed

Everything out the boot

Under the car

Say hello to my friend

Just a little tease, first cut into the car!

Hoping to go over either tomorrow or mid week to do some cutting and getting things ready for the new floor, then I'll get the floor taken to the workshop all cleaned up and position into place ready to start the welding!

 

[Rob Kelz]

So some more pictures for you all, it's getting a little serious now lol

I stripped out the plastic side trims and removed the front seats and handle brake centre console trim to give myself some room

What I'll be doing is cutting before the spot welds so that I leave the lip on and then I'll be going along and grinding off all the excess so that I leave plenty of metal to weld the new floor to

So first pic with the spare wheel well out to make access a bit easier

As I said I would do, I've cut along the top just above the spot welds so once it's all out I'll tidy it up and grind towards the area that the new floor will mate to

The inside stripped to give room for the cutting

The cut along the top from the inside

And a flintstones version hole to drive from lol

Lots of parts removed from the car

So as you can see still lots of cutting to do, I've got to get some cutting and grinding discs and some small discs too and then crack on. Only had a few hours spare this morning which was the progress above, if I get chance I'll do some more tomorrow but it's getting there

 

[Rob Kelz]

So the last of my parts for the rear 4wd system will be going away tomorrow which are the two rear arms, will be getting powdercoated and then I can start building them back up with the new hub, bearings bushes etc all ready for when then the floor is welded into place

Slowly progressing but getting there!

 

[cupra.al]

any more progress on this?

 

[Rob Kelz]

Hi buddy,

There has been some progress but not huge amounts, I will try to post some pictures up over the next few days. I have been putting the subframe back together etc and had the rear arms powdercoated to match the frame.

I have been very busy with work lately and haven't had as much time as I'd like to have.

The old floor is out but the new floor is still yet to go in, hopefully this will be done soon also then I can start reassembling everything.

Pictures soon to come

 

[Rob Kelz]

Ok all I have abandoned this project the last 2-3 months due to moving house and decorating and troubles with my daily car, just not having time to get to my workshop and work on the car basically!

But I have done a few bits and pieces in betwee, so here are some more pictures of the original floor being removed, sorry but I have been dragging this out to make sure I have been cutting the right places and not too much

The latest update was removing the rear of the chassis rails and the centre support, some more of the arches etc. I needed to drill the seat supports out and couldn't find my spot weld drill bit so I was kind of stuck at this point however when I got home it was in the other halfs car! So I may pop over to the workshop tomorrow and get a bit more done and do some cleaning up ready for measuring the new floor pan up

Pictures as always...

Hopefully tomorrow I can get over there to get the seat supports removed and cut the remainder out and give all the areas a good clean up, I've arranged to get the new floor pan taken to my workshop next weekend so I can give that a good clean up and hopefully get it into position for welding in

So things seem to be going a bit smoother now so I thought I best start getting the rear diff etc built back up so I started by fitting the tie arms back on to the subframe/diff carrier

I will be dropping the arms off during the week along with the diff support bracket so they can be powdercoated the same as the tie bar arms and the rear subframe, then they can be reassembled also!

That's all for now I'm afraid, I will hopefully get some more pictures up tomorrow as I'm going to put the bushes into the rear subframe etc and hoping to get the rest of the car cut out etc but as this is mostly all weekend work that I do, it may be next weekend for the next update!

Thanks for reading and I'll be back with more updates soon

 

[Rob Kelz]

Small update, I did manage to get over to my workshop yesterday but as I needed to get some more cutting discs etc I had to wait until 10am for anywhere to open!

So I went and got myself some more cutting discs and pieces then headed on over to my workshop.

I didn't get to do as much as I'd like to have done, ideally I would like to have gotten all of the floor out ready for the new one to go in but due to not having a van or truck I need to get somebody to move the floor pan for me that will be going in the car.

I've spoken to a friend who will be doing that one day during this week or at the weekend.

I managed so start cleaning and cutting out the excess areas of the old floor but as you can see there wasn't a great deal done.

Started removing the edge that was bonded and spot welded around the drivers rear

Cleaned the stone chip stuff off the inside line where the car body joins the flooring etc, I used a wire brush twist end on a 9" grinder to clean this stuff off as it's horrible to remove!

And the drivers side, you can see where I cut just before the edge to which I'll drill out and remove next time I'm over so I can split the two apart

The floor inside, I drilled out the welds for the chassis rails I know they are going to be nasty as hell to separate etc, this is just before it joints to the front section of the car

This is the drivers side where I started to split apart the boot floor area and the body of the car

And I pressed the 4 main bushes into the subframe where the bolts go through into the chassis of the car

I'm going to try and get a few hours in at the workshop in the evenings now after work as I want to crack on with this and get the new floor in now as it's just bugging me!

My plan is that this coming weekend I will be measuring up the new floor and getting it into place ready for welding! So fingers crossed and wish me luck

 

[Rob Kelz]

So I'm kind of annoyed at the moment!

I was going through working out what items I need to continue and the front bushes for the rear arm is something I need, and the rose style joint that goes on the arms, also the bearings and hubs etc so I was going to get these on order ready for when the trailing arms are back from the powdercoaters

I went on the Powerflex website to find the part numbers I need only to find out they now do the 4 main subframe bushes! And the diff bushes!!!!

Now when I ordered the bushes for the subframe and diff I did check to see if Powerflex ones existed, to which they didn't at the time but now they do

So I'm now in two minds to rip the 4 bushes back out the subframe and replace with the Powerflex ones, or to leave the 4 main bushes and just do the diff bushes with the Powerflex ones.

Wish they had these in the first place

Parts needed to complete the rear setup are..

Front bushes for rear arms
2 Rose style joints/bushes on the rear arms (2 on each)
Rear wheel bearings
Rear wheel hubs
Bolts to hold the fron trailing arm bracket to the body/chassis of the car

I think this is everything, so I'll be ordering those shortly so that I have everything ready and I can start assembling everything

 

[Rob Kelz]

Also I'm wanting to give the diff a fresh coat of silver paint so if anyone has any they recommend that would be great!

I'm guessing I need some kind of zinc primer or something too so that it sticks to the aluminum casing?

 

[Rob Kelz]

Another small update from today, I wasn't able to get over to my workshop today to do some work on the car but I will be going over to the car tomorrow morning to get some more progress done!

However this doesn't mean I haven't made any progress! I did manage to start cleaning some of the floor pan up

I also managed to get the pins out of the arms after fighting with them, stubborn fcukers!

They will be getting dropped off during the week to the powdercoaters, I was hoping to drop them off first thing this morning but I had only just got the middle pins out of them today so I'll drop them off during the week and then hopefully be able to pick them up early Saturday next week


I also started giving the rear diff a clean up, debating to give it a fresh coat of silver with the driveshaft ends in black

More progress again tomorrow!

 

[m0rk]

Looking good

when does reassembly start?

 

[Rob Kelz]

Thanks m0rk

I'm hoping tomorrow will be the last of the cutting to the Leon as it's just very minor bits left to get out

Then the floor is going over to my workshop either during the week or next weekend, hoping next weekend is when I can get it all lined up and start welding it all in.

So within the next couple of weeks will be reassembling time I have a few last parts to pick up which are mostly bolts and little bits but I should have everything needed next weekend.

I am also trying to find out what checks or test it needs to go for to keep it road legal without having any issues with insurances etc, I sent off an email to VOSA who told me I need to get in touch with DfT(Deparment for Transport) who is in charge of deciding wether cars are suitable for the road in the UK.

All in all I want the car back on the road for the summer with valid MOT

As soon as the 4wd area is complete I'll then start building the engine as I can do that from home in the shed

 

[Rob Kelz]

Morning all,

I did manage to get over to do some more work on the car yesterday, however I didn't get it all cut out ready for the new floor like I had hoped!

I did get all the big areas out the way though, so the wheel arches etc are all out the way now

So I'm now left with the area where the front and rear floor section meet, that needs to be cleaned up ready for spot welding and also the side rails

I haven't yet got the floor over to my workshop, that was supposed to be last week or the weekend unfortunately not everything goes to plan and both myself and the guy who was going to be moving the floor for me had other stuff on so it was agreed to do it this week or weekend.

So the last parts I need to do are the side rails as I said, I'm not 100% sure where abouts to cut here so I need to look at the floor and the side rails to work out what will be going where etc so I don't cut too much of the rail etc

And of course the brackets for the seats, these need the excess metal removed and cleaned up ready to go back in the car

The car itself is looking a little sad! But it will get some much needed TLC as soon as the rear is reassembled

So now it's all about getting the rear floor positioned ready to weld it in place! Getting kind of excited for this part now and I'll be sooo glad when I start reassembling!!!

 

[Roohul]

 

[Rob Kelz]

Erm... Thanks, I think lol!

I had an early finish from work today so I popped over to the powdercoaters that I use to drop the two rear arms off and the supporting rear diff bracket as they are the last bits to be done now for the rear setup

Unfortunately as I turned up it was manic and they were rushing all over the place as one of their machines had gone down and they had fallen right behind

I was hoping to drop the parts off today ready to collect Saturday morning but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Said should be ready around Tuesday next week so I'll just make sure that I get everything else that I need and get it all ready.

This weekend I will concentrate on getting the floor positioned into place and start spot welding it, then I'll seam seal it all and underseal the underbody etc

As soon as I pick the rear trailing arms back up I shall start putting those back together with the new bearings hubs brake shields etc and get them ready to go on the car