Hey guys, Introducing myself in the Mk1 forum since I never really did before. I've been posting in the Scirocco forum since I bought the car but never really made updates or a thread. And since that forum is filled with weirdos who generally dislike anything thats not stock I'd rather post here for feedback and tips.
I own a 1981 Scirocco S in Mars Red. I bought the car about 2 years ago as a mostly stock, well kept and maintained car. It wasn't 100% original as the previous owner had done some light restoring and replacement as the car sat for a long time and was subject to some questionable work.
Summary of when I bought it:
1.8L 8v HT
4-1 Header (unknown)
Neuspeed Sport springs w/ Bilstein Sports
ATE rotors and Mintex pads
Euro H1/H4 headlights
Zender Rear spoiler
Momo Monte Carlo wheel
Recovered stock interior
For the first 3 months I just drove the car as is. It was such a great driving car and I still wasn't sure what my goals were so I held off on buying parts.
But eventually the mod bug set in and I purchased a set of Ground Control coilover sleeves for a bit more low and stiffer spring setup. This also gave me a chance to fix the current strut mounts which were not sitting correctly.
A friend let me test fit a set of Equip reps so we could get an idea of what kind of fitment I wanted.
Then I picked up a pretty cool NOS piece. A genuine Abarth exhaust from about 30 years ago built for Mk1's. It was a full catback exhaust (midpipe not pictured)
Then I scored a set of 15x7 4x100 Borbet Type A's off craigslist.
They were a little bit faded and the stock silver was a bit boring so I decide to strip em down and refinish to polished lips with white centers. And I fitted some meat summer tires. 195/50 BFG Sport Comp 2's.
With the addition of the exhaust, wheels and various suspension pieces I finally felt like the car was becoming my own months into ownership.
Found a set of center caps for the borbets to complete them and took the car to a small local show where I ended up placing first in the limbo and the show somehow.
Then that pretty much held me off for a little bit.
Tried some more wheels.
Then I had a change of location for a bit over a year and moved to LA for work.
Got to drive the legendary Mulholland Road
Got tired of the Borbets so I sold them and bought a set of 15x8 steelies
And I bought some Ultralows because the ground controls were just too harsh and not low enough.
And found a set of Maserati Biturbo wheels to wobble on.
Which basically where I'm at now.
What's in store?
This fully rebuilt 0 mile 2.0 16v.
Going to do cam's and mild work to bump up the power as well as use the new 4-1 header I bought and my Techtonics Borla exhaust which has replaced the Abarth as of 6 months ago. I'll be running CIS to keep it simple initially but long term is convert to ITB's and Megasquirt. But the main problem is California smog, so I'm looking for ways to bypass that mumbo jumbo.
I'm a little sad to get rid of the 8v as it's been such a super reliable engine surprisingly and it's actually pretty quick compared to my friends cars. But the 16v swap is something I've wanted since I bought the car.
I've also got a rear disc beam conversion and Girling 54 calipers that will all be freshly rebuilt with new parts to accompany the engine.
Essentially the whole drivetrain is going to be new and awesome.
This thread probably won't have much progress for a little bit as I'm still looking for a replacement daily. Hoping to start it all the around end of this month.
If anyone has any advice for the swap I'm all ears.
Thanks for reading!
I own a 1981 Scirocco S in Mars Red. I bought the car about 2 years ago as a mostly stock, well kept and maintained car. It wasn't 100% original as the previous owner had done some light restoring and replacement as the car sat for a long time and was subject to some questionable work.
Summary of when I bought it:
1.8L 8v HT
4-1 Header (unknown)
Neuspeed Sport springs w/ Bilstein Sports
ATE rotors and Mintex pads
Euro H1/H4 headlights
Zender Rear spoiler
Momo Monte Carlo wheel
Recovered stock interior
For the first 3 months I just drove the car as is. It was such a great driving car and I still wasn't sure what my goals were so I held off on buying parts.
But eventually the mod bug set in and I purchased a set of Ground Control coilover sleeves for a bit more low and stiffer spring setup. This also gave me a chance to fix the current strut mounts which were not sitting correctly.
A friend let me test fit a set of Equip reps so we could get an idea of what kind of fitment I wanted.
Then I picked up a pretty cool NOS piece. A genuine Abarth exhaust from about 30 years ago built for Mk1's. It was a full catback exhaust (midpipe not pictured)
Then I scored a set of 15x7 4x100 Borbet Type A's off craigslist.
They were a little bit faded and the stock silver was a bit boring so I decide to strip em down and refinish to polished lips with white centers. And I fitted some meat summer tires. 195/50 BFG Sport Comp 2's.
With the addition of the exhaust, wheels and various suspension pieces I finally felt like the car was becoming my own months into ownership.
Found a set of center caps for the borbets to complete them and took the car to a small local show where I ended up placing first in the limbo and the show somehow.
Then that pretty much held me off for a little bit.
Tried some more wheels.
Then I had a change of location for a bit over a year and moved to LA for work.
Got to drive the legendary Mulholland Road
Got tired of the Borbets so I sold them and bought a set of 15x8 steelies
And I bought some Ultralows because the ground controls were just too harsh and not low enough.
And found a set of Maserati Biturbo wheels to wobble on.
Which basically where I'm at now.
What's in store?
This fully rebuilt 0 mile 2.0 16v.
Going to do cam's and mild work to bump up the power as well as use the new 4-1 header I bought and my Techtonics Borla exhaust which has replaced the Abarth as of 6 months ago. I'll be running CIS to keep it simple initially but long term is convert to ITB's and Megasquirt. But the main problem is California smog, so I'm looking for ways to bypass that mumbo jumbo.
I'm a little sad to get rid of the 8v as it's been such a super reliable engine surprisingly and it's actually pretty quick compared to my friends cars. But the 16v swap is something I've wanted since I bought the car.
I've also got a rear disc beam conversion and Girling 54 calipers that will all be freshly rebuilt with new parts to accompany the engine.
Essentially the whole drivetrain is going to be new and awesome.
This thread probably won't have much progress for a little bit as I'm still looking for a replacement daily. Hoping to start it all the around end of this month.
If anyone has any advice for the swap I'm all ears.
Thanks for reading!