Conor's mk3 Ibiza Cupra R

[conorc]

Hey,

I've finally got my 15 posts so now its time to create a project
thread which contains pics

I picked up my 2002 ibiza Cupra R around Christmas, after test driving
a yellow one pushing about 250bhp it was an itch I had to scratch! I
would have bought that one a good few months back but it was just too
rough around the edges.. badly faded and rusty paintwork etc.

So I found this little beauty and jumped at it! 88k and really good
condition for its age, granted a little rust on the arch lips and a
few electrical issues to solve but so far so good!

I've never had a turbo'd car so I'm loving boost at the moment!

Here's my previous car Ford Fiesta ST for those who are interested:

The day I picked it up:

And a few from the other day:

And one of my new boost gauge:

Mods include:

17" OZ Alloys (due a refurb - possibly anthracite)
FK coilovers
Cat back exhaust ( need to find out make)
BMC CDA just fitted a few days ago
forge dump valve
Boost gauge
Front Mount IC - Again brand to be found!
Bought myself some nice Cupra R mats for the inside too

I think thats it! I'm sure more to be added to the list soon, but for
now I'm just looking to clean it up a little. A few areas of the
paintwork need attention, and a full service required which I will
sort myself. Brembo's need a refurb as they're looking a little pink, so i'll sort those soon and give the arches a good clean too.

I plan to get the timing belt & waterpump changed asap, as there is no
history of it being done. Also an annoying rattle to fix which I think
is the exhaust.

C&C welcome

 

[Chambers_CUPRA]

Looks very tidy mate

Need some spacers for the back defo lol

 

[Ginge81990]

very nice. agree with chambers you need spacers but it looks like it is sitting really low so may scrub if you put some on. FMIC looks like a toyo sports one or similar of ebay. Better than the overpriced forge ones .

Will be intresting to see your future plans.

Has it had a remap?

 

[conorc]

Thanks for the comments guys, apparently it has been mapped to approx 220bhp but I have no evidence of that so who knows, considering getting it dyno'd at some stage, but want to get all the issues sorted and servicing done first. As for spacing, the rear is crying out for it, but yea it would rub. I have an arch roller in the house but rolling rusty lips may not be a good plan! Going to buy a forge tip and cupra splitter soon too once I get a full spec list up, some advice on future mods would be helpful!

 

[JonnyH10]

Looks great! Would love one of these as a bit of a project/weekend car. Must be good fun to drive with that power, my Golfs only the 150bhp 1.8T and it feels pretty quick to me lol.

Nice ST too, like them in that colour.

 

[conorc]

Haven't updated this in a while. Had a turn of events in feb and decided to get myself away to Australia. I had the car up for sale for a good while but very little interest surprisingly, mostly people from across England and Scotland. I eventually thought I had a buyer shortly before I left for oz, he put a deposit on it and said he'd come and collect it within a few weeks. The weeks dragged on and eventually he changed his mind. To be honest I think its for the best as I never really wanted to sell.
I'm still In Australia, but how long ill stay depends if I can find decent work or not. The cupra is currently sitting at home covered up, here's a pic of it jus before I left:

I can't wait to start ordering more bits and pieces for it

 

[mick710]

Looks good mate!

 

[conorc]

Bit of a revival, the cupra is still sitting covered up back home, I'm due back for 6 weeks at Christmas so I've started purchasing bits and pieces for the car already. Obviously the main plan is get it through the mot immediately, then hopefully build the spec up a bit for a trip to the nurbergring at some stage next year.

So far I've bought:
Front and rear strut braces
Forge strut covers
Forge dump valve relocation kit
Rear bumper in red as mine has a crack In it
Audi s3 inlet manifold trim

Hopefully before Christmas ill have:
Nomad single pillar guage holder
New coilovers
New disks and pads all round
Goodridge braided hoses
Bigger down pipe and sports Cat
New wheels of some sort, trying to decide between standard cupra r oz 16s or maybe speedline turinis
Bolt down coil packs

Also all being well I'd like to get a k03s and supporting mods too
Ill use this to keep track of what I've bought... Any suggestions for parts I may have missed would be great!

 

[N700JJS]

good plans mate, and car looks nice too!

definately go for the Turinis! Love them wheels!

 

[conorc]

Haven't updated this in quite a while, basically got back from Australia for a few weeks over christmas, so could finally begin working on the car and fitting the mountain of parts waiting for me!

picked these up at a reasonable price - should be arriving in the next week or so...
BBS CH replicas 17", not sure about black so I'll see how they look but may go back to silver!

So I finally got my car back on the road, before the mot I fitted weitec coilovers, front and rear polybush top mounts, new disks and pads and serviced. It failed on a few minor issues so replaced both tie rod ends and a few other bits and passed a few days later. I've since fitted rear strut brace, custom carbon inlet manifold trim.
I've been working on the car plenty, not too many pictures but here's what I'm working on at the moment
before:

in primer:


Also working on a few carbon parts:
Nomad Boost gauge pillar pod

And finally a carbon skinned strut brace..



More pics to come.. C&c welcome

 

[conorc]

So I've been very busy with the car lately, heres a list of what I've done:
Carbon coated mirror caps
Carbon front upper strut brace
Carbon nomad pillar gauge
carbon S3 inlet manifold trim
Stainless rear strut brace
fitted forge Turbo intake pipe (what a b***h of a job)
new red silicone elbow for BMC CDA
retrimmed all interior pillars and headlining in medium grey suede
Finished painting the BBS wheels and got those fitted
Adjusted the ride height and lowered it a bit more
fited my new internal drive black wheel bolts
Fitted 20mm rear spacers today & painted the central part of my rear disks black as they weren't looking very nice!
got my wheels aligned

Unfortunately not many pics of the progress, simply because the weather has been terrible and I've been trying to get finished as quickly as possible, though I will give the car a good clean tomorrow and hopefully get some snaps.

engine bay before:


engine bay after:


Carbon strut brace close up (really pleased with how it turned out)



inlet manifold trim close up


boost gauge pillar pod in carbon and retrim



spacers and central areas of the brake disks painted and fitted




and the rear wheels spaced, sorry for the dark photo!


loads still to do, tidy the engine bay and remove the carbon cannister & SAI
fit dump valve coldside relocation kit
re-route intercooler pipework from the inlet manifold to the intercooler as some standard pipework is still being used
Skin some more carbon bits - the speedo surround and a few other parts
Change various engine bay pipes to red silicone hoses
fit engine & gearbox mounts
fit my new rear bumper
fit custom sports cat and downpipe
and finally give it a top to bottom detail!

C&C welcome!

 

[Stuieuieuieo]

wow that looks nice! you've really just done it all in one go haha wish i could afford to just get it all! need to start spending some money on mine :/ where'd you get the splitter?

 

[conorc]

Thanks mate yea its been a busy few weeks with the car! Got the splitter off eBay but I'm pretty sure a local seat dealer sells them slightly cheaper!
Here's the link to where I bought mine:
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/221123751852

 

[R4cup]

Nice car mate