alaincopter's brasil-style AP turbo fox build

[Road Boss]

I love this thread!

[Henrique-RS]

Really cool thread!
You are doing a great job with your fox "voyage" dude.

Once "APzeiro", for ever "APzeiro"!

Cheers!

[alaincopter]

So, yesterday not only did the little Gol GTi 1:43 die cast miniatures come in the mail,





But I also got something I've been waiting for a while; samples of the cloth used in the Recaro seats for the '89 Gti:





I'll be trying to come close to the interior shown below. Keeping my carpet black, though.









The plan is to find a set of recaros from another VW when I'm back in Canada, and then re-upholster them with the cloth I order, along with the back seat and door cards.

The cloth is purchased by the meter, not original recaro cloth but close enough. The width of the rolls is 1,40m and for each length of a meter they are charging about $15 + shipping. How many meters do you guys think I'll need? I am thinking of ordering 7 meters of the solid and 4 meters of the striped one.

[themagellan]

Those seats are beautiful... Let me know how much fabric it takes so I can copy

[alaincopter]

They are! I'll ask the company that sells it but just rough guessing, I believe that for making a full interior (door cards, front seats including their back, rear seats, rear side cards) it would take something like 7 meters of the solid cloth and 4 of the blue striped. I'll probably get an extra meter of each just in case actually, you never know when you're gonna mess something up and may take a looong tiime to get a hold of of this fabric again

[Mcswagen.]

Woooow man, loooove the powerplant! Ive never even thought of turning out little fox into a racecar but youve blown my mind, is that a built 1.8 or 20v? What's the fuel distributor out of? ive never laid eyes on one quite like it and... you can get direct fit coils for a fox?

[reddfoxx]

I'm pretty happy with my interior for now, so I'm more excited about the Gols! I want one... 2, actually, so I can save one and open another

[alaincopter]

Mcswagen - That's still a 1.8 8V stock Fox engine, just a fancy valve cover! The turbo came from Brazil and the fuel distributor is from an '89 Mercedes V8 (450 SEL, if I recall correctly). These turbo setups are quite common in Brazil and the BX-platform cars are by far the most used in drag racing here, though Brazil never got CIS - most people there are using carburetors or aftermarket programmable EFI setups. I used to run with a 5-cyl Audi fuel distributor before switching to the MB and both work well. But the downdraft design of the MB unit saves up a lot of space under the hood and it allows me to run 8 injectors in the future And yes, you can get direct fit coils for a Fox

reddfoxx - I have six of these left! There's a sale thread about them here and luckily it costs the same to ship two diecast models as it does to ship one you can IM me for details.

[Mcswagen.]

carbs are win for me, im trying to locate a late 70's early 80's plymouth horizon they came with a holley two barrel carb and a 1.7 vw engine. I want to see how hard it would be... Im planning on building a fox within the next two years to be a reliable but sporty daily driver, as i got an amazing deal on a vr6 mk2 coupe that im cleaning up at the moment and wouldnt mind flipping to build a wagon

[alaincopter]

Carbs are win for me too, though where I am it would not pass emissions (answer would be to have an '87 Fox, but anyway). Gotta love the CIS-E though. So simple and yet so complex all at the same time. So capable and yet so limited in different ways. So expensive to produce and sell new, but so cheap to source used. So common and yet obscure

I find CIS and its derivates to be a charm and personally love to work with the system - plus making horsepower with it sets you apart from 99% of the crowd in North America, and apart from 100% of the crowd in Brazil.

It's funny - so many people in North America who look at my Fox will ask if it's rear-wheel drive. The same amount of people who see my fuel injection setup in Brazil will ask if it's a diesel

Interesting info on the Plymouth Horizon though, never knew that! That's some interesting and handy info right there!

[alaincopter]

Cloth arrived







I'm wowed!

[themagellan]

that looks amazing!

[alaincopter]

It does!

Almost time to come home!

Purchased a few last parts and I'm all set to return.

Front upper strut bar, and 3-gauge panel for the cubby hole:





Short shifter kit:



Time to pack up and go

[themagellan]

motivating haha

[doppelfaust]

I love this thread, now get some proper suspension on there!

[alaincopter]

Thanks, and you're right - I need suspension BAD! But I want to wait and get something really good - thinking brand new coilovers from Brazil. Unfortunately can't be this time around. But soon, hopefully.

[alaincopter]

Finally some updates! Recently got back to Canada and towed the Fox from Ontario to near Montreal where I've been working on it inside a garage again finally. Both cars and all the parts from Brazil made the long voyage just fine







Worked on it for a couple of days and got to do a few things:

- Test fitted the GTi side trim panels on the driver's side - they required some triming, still need a bit more)
- Installed iMohr front upper strut bar
- Installed iMohr three gauge panel in the cubby hole along with the afr and boost gauges - still need to order the third gauge (oil pressure), for now I put in my old broken boost gauge to fill in the third hole
- Replaced shifter bushings, put in short shifter rod (shifts amazing)
- Wired in radio, ipod hookup and inside windshield mounted antenna so later I can delete the fender antenna
- Replaced the interior light with the GL one that has a reading light

I'm loving the shifter feel, tight and firm, and the steering responsiveness since the strut bar is quite nice. Didn't get the chance to test it around speedy turns yet, but so far it does seem to have stiffened things up in the front end

I still haven't washed it or cleaned it inside at all, so everything has over a year of dust over it. Will take some better pictures later when it's clean but for now these will have to do:



Still have to align it a little bit better





Excuse the dust









Going to replace the gauge on the right with an oil pressure one, for now that one fills in the hole



More to come soon

[doppelfaust]

I love the Ipod dock, that's a nice touch.

Great to see progress on this again, I love this car.

[alaincopter]

Thanks for the comment, the best part was that I was able to wire the dock in using the radio's own power antenna/remote wire - I adapted that dock for my old Wagon orginally but back then it was hooked to switched power, so when you turned the ignition off the radio would stay on but the dock would power off, giving a loud radio interference noise that would piss me off every time. Now both stay on until you turn the radio off

[efritsch]

Good to see you made it up there A-Ok. I have to admit that I hate you, just a little bit, for all the Brazillian bits you have.

Maybe when you're back here in Onterrible, you can help with my heap of misery.

[Abel Turanskiy]

I just read this entire thread!
GREAT work man! sooo much work, but GREAT work!
Keep it up my friend!

Are you going to keep it the color Fox? or change that?
I as well love the pop out windows! i've been dreaming of those!

[alaincopter]

Thanks Eric - hey man, no need to hate, just plan a trip and join the club seriously though, I wouldn't mind wrenching on that V6 wagon sometime!

Abel Turanskiy - Thank you! The work never ends! I'll actually be painting this car blue; dark blue almost similar to yours, actually. I really love the copper color but the monaco blue/silver trim has been a dream of mine for a long time, I have to go for it!

Got to install the passenger-side trim a couple of days ago (still need to align it a bit better too)







Since these pics were taken I've replaced the grill, front trim pieces and corner lenses with new/freshened up ones, but no pics yet. Also been working here and there, new ground strap, replaced a tail light, put the rear license plate support back on, etc. New pictures soon

[reddfoxx]

Looking good. Glad you're getting a lot done

[Difus]

I have the same strut bar and it bended after a while. Steering response still great and the strut towers still in normal position, but that thing just bended and I don't know why.








About CIS and the diesel idea, c'mon, you thought the same thing the first time you saw it.

[alaincopter]

Thanks for showing that, Difus have you talked to iMohr about it and seen if they will replace it under warranty?

When I got my bar, it did seem a little lighter than I thought it would be - but that made me happy I chose to ge tthe bar from a race-bred company rather than the cheap generic chromed bars that are popular in Brazil. I believe the iMohr bar takes the damage so that your unibody doesn't have to. A stronger bar could maybe ruin your strut towers over time.

But then, I am also beginning to wonder if your strut bar mishap would have anything to do with your car being salvaged from a roll over accident? Either way, time will tell if my bar will stay straight.

Lol about the CIS looking like a diesel setup for us brazilians: I was actually a huge Back to the Future/Delorean fan as a kid. I knew what a fuel distributor was before I learned they equipped Foxes

[vwturbofox]

I have the same strut bar and it bended after a while. Steering response still great and the strut towers still in normal position, but that thing just bended and I don't know why.








About CIS and the diesel idea, c'mon, you thought the same thing the first time you saw it.

on my fox i built a custom strut tower brace it isn't solid like yourse mine has swivle mounts but still can take a corner at 90mph

[Abel Turanskiy]

on my fox i built a custom strut tower brace it isn't solid like yourse mine has swivle mounts but still can take a corner at 90mph

Where can I get one? What do I do to find one? How much am I looking to spend for one of these?

[Difus]

Never talked with iMohr about that, just 'cause the bar worked fine for me. The car had a crack above the tunnel, in the vin number, and after put the bar that crack "get together" and stop growning. In the same way, the bend stopped growning too.
I don't think the rollover incident have some connection with that, only the tunnel trying get wider.

And the bar still works well after some "different" use:

[vwturbofox]

Where can I get one? What do I do to find one? How much am I looking to spend for one of these?

if you can find someone that makes them for foxes ask alain were he got his.
i built mine for five bucks got the center bar at a garage sale for 2 dollars it was suposed to go on a subaru but i made it fit whith some thick sheet metal[IMG][/IMG]

ok back to topic alain love the build and love to see another turbo fox on here glad im not the only one

[alaincopter]

Thanks nick, looking good

I've been working hard on the Fox, doing body work, getting it ready for paint. Sanded through pretty much all of the copper paint back onto either the original white, original primer, or bare metal, since the top coat clear was peeling in lots of places and you could tell it had been a cheap colour change to begin with. Had to fill in a few areas to get rid of dings and low spots and such, which took way too long.

Since the bottom half of the car will be covered by the bumpers and the Gol GTi cladding, I will keep it in rocker guard painted black, in order to keep costs down and protect from our dear rust. The blue colour will only go above it, but you won't be able to tell easily with everything on.

After a few weeks of prep, finally got to spray the two-part epoxy primer today. So satisfying!

Anyways, the pictures















Soon the doors and hood will come off, the door jambs will be sanded and primed, a little more body work here and there, more primer, then everything will get painted.

I'll also be replacing the engine, mine just happened to be burning oil, and it did have 350,000 km. It's a shame after all this work, but it's gotta be done. Recently brought home an engine (thanks myboxyfox and Rob) which is getting cleaned up, seals replaced, my parts swapped onto it, then swapped. But after paint. It is a small valve head engine which is a downgrade from mine but I really just need to enjoy this car, so I'll drop that in and later down the road rebuild my big valve head and swap it back in, maybe along with forged pistons if money allows. But I really just need to be able to DRIVE this car this summer or I'll go nuts!

[voxwagen88]

I really just need to be able to DRIVE this car this summer or I'll go nuts!

I think you are really going to enjoy driving the car after all this work.
Good Stuff!

[NRCircle357]

The Fox is coming along great I guess I missed the short shifter before you left Brazil, but how much did it run you? Is it possible to get more?

[QuantumSyncro]

Did you have any concerns about the extra weight of the turbo on that side of the engine? It would seem to add quite a bit of weight to the motor mount on that side.

steve a

[alaincopter]

Thanks, fellas

The short shifter is cheap, about $40 for one like mine I think, but I can't get parts from Brazil right now. I may be going back there late September though, so if I do, parts season will be opened again!

Steve, I have no concerns at all about the added weight of the turbo on the motor mount. I was concerned at first about the added torque going through all the mounts, but when I did the engine bay in 2010 I closely inspected them (that was after 2 years of a lot of road abuse with the turbo in) and they were still fine. I do plan on replacing them with bmw E30 ones at some point, but I'll never diss the stock Fox motor mounts. They may not be the stiffest, but they do take a lot of abuse and they last - they are over engineered like a lot of stuff on the car

[KRAMMIT]

WOW...! You've done an AMAZING amount of work on this car since I saw it for the FIRST time LIVE at the beginning of April, Alain...! TRULY IMPRESSIVE...! ....AND as previously mentioned with viewers' accolades....VERY INSPIRATIONAL...and MOTIVATING...!!

HERE'S to to you enjoying the FRUITS of you LABOUR this summer...!! CHEERS!!