I've been working on the designs for this project for a while now, so I figure it might be time to release some info. The car is an 81 Forest Green Metallic (non-S) that originally had beige interior. I swapped in a black interior, 16V, quaiffe diff, koni yellows, megasquirt, and eventually ITBs. Some may remember the car from the engine change it received in the parking lot at waterfest a few years ago.
Anyways, I've been only slightly in the VW world for the last few years due to the my management of a formula SAE team at the university. Learned lots and ended up designing a wicked 500lbs 4wd(mit Haldex) GSXR600 powered single seater. 0-60 in about 3.1 seconds.
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but after a run with that, I missed my scirocco. having toasted the 16V, i thought about turbo 16V, or even better would be a 1.8T. But they all lack the fun factor when front wheels start spinning. Lo and behold, a VR6 pops into the equation. Having studied vehicle dynamics, I know that it certainly does not belong in the front of a mk1. However, with most of the weight ahead of the axle line, it could make for a nice mid engine car. Of course, the bias will be to the rear, but not as severe.
So this is the car:
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And this is the engine:
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The transmission:
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This is where it will go:
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I am currently working at the university now, so I have access to lots of software and tools. I've been modelling parts in UGS NX4.0 either directly or by taking CMM measurements into Rhinocerous3D and importing the wireframe. I'm using SuspProg3D to design the suspension kinematics.
The engine is a VR6 from a 93 passat. I tore it down, except for the pistons and crank, and removed the ring ridge. It was an automatic and would likely have shifted at a low rpm and the ridge was pretty bad. I'm planning on a proper rebuild over the winter, so the head won't see any work either. Aquired the following parts:
- complete timing chain kit
- metal head gasket
- all new seals
- new head bolts
- new crack pipe
- lightened the flywheel
- unorthodox pulley clones (crank and alt pulley)
- 268 Cat cams
The exhaust will be a proper dual setup with an x-pipe muffer. Not much lenthwise, but something sideways under the rear floorpan should work.
The transmission is an ACN with a 5th gear conversion. It was pulled apart when I got it, and I'm waiting for the peloquin diff I've ordered to arrive before I start reassembling it. It should be here today or tomorrow. It was on back-order for the last month!
The plan is to use the Passat VR6 subframe front and rear. The front subframe ends up fairly close to the rear trailing arm mounts, which should be good for rigidity. I'm putting alot of work in the design phase to reduce the amount of rear floor pan I have to cut out to maintain chassis stiffness. I'll add a roll bar and braces as well which makes a convenient location to mount the firewall.
For the back hubs/brakes I'll use
assat 16V spindles, diesel passat 10.1 solid rotors, Wilwood Dynalite Calipers, Hawk pads. I'll have to make an adapter for the spindle to mount an upper ball joint to a custom upper A-arm. The lower a-arm will be Passat VR6 but sectioned to the right length for now. In the future i'll probably upgrade to the H2Sports spherical bearing in a custom lower A-arm. The axles will be Scirocco 16V, which will add 1.2" to the rear track. My wheels were tucked under too far anyways, since I have the Zender wheel flares.
Shifting is another issue, and I may resort to some of the pneumatic components we used on the FSAE car to make a flappy-paddle gearbox.
Here are some pics of the design process:
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Anyways, I've been only slightly in the VW world for the last few years due to the my management of a formula SAE team at the university. Learned lots and ended up designing a wicked 500lbs 4wd(mit Haldex) GSXR600 powered single seater. 0-60 in about 3.1 seconds.
but after a run with that, I missed my scirocco. having toasted the 16V, i thought about turbo 16V, or even better would be a 1.8T. But they all lack the fun factor when front wheels start spinning. Lo and behold, a VR6 pops into the equation. Having studied vehicle dynamics, I know that it certainly does not belong in the front of a mk1. However, with most of the weight ahead of the axle line, it could make for a nice mid engine car. Of course, the bias will be to the rear, but not as severe.
So this is the car:
And this is the engine:
The transmission:
This is where it will go:
I am currently working at the university now, so I have access to lots of software and tools. I've been modelling parts in UGS NX4.0 either directly or by taking CMM measurements into Rhinocerous3D and importing the wireframe. I'm using SuspProg3D to design the suspension kinematics.
The engine is a VR6 from a 93 passat. I tore it down, except for the pistons and crank, and removed the ring ridge. It was an automatic and would likely have shifted at a low rpm and the ridge was pretty bad. I'm planning on a proper rebuild over the winter, so the head won't see any work either. Aquired the following parts:
- complete timing chain kit
- metal head gasket
- all new seals
- new head bolts
- new crack pipe
- lightened the flywheel
- unorthodox pulley clones (crank and alt pulley)
- 268 Cat cams
The exhaust will be a proper dual setup with an x-pipe muffer. Not much lenthwise, but something sideways under the rear floorpan should work.
The transmission is an ACN with a 5th gear conversion. It was pulled apart when I got it, and I'm waiting for the peloquin diff I've ordered to arrive before I start reassembling it. It should be here today or tomorrow. It was on back-order for the last month!
The plan is to use the Passat VR6 subframe front and rear. The front subframe ends up fairly close to the rear trailing arm mounts, which should be good for rigidity. I'm putting alot of work in the design phase to reduce the amount of rear floor pan I have to cut out to maintain chassis stiffness. I'll add a roll bar and braces as well which makes a convenient location to mount the firewall.
For the back hubs/brakes I'll use
assat 16V spindles, diesel passat 10.1 solid rotors, Wilwood Dynalite Calipers, Hawk pads. I'll have to make an adapter for the spindle to mount an upper ball joint to a custom upper A-arm. The lower a-arm will be Passat VR6 but sectioned to the right length for now. In the future i'll probably upgrade to the H2Sports spherical bearing in a custom lower A-arm. The axles will be Scirocco 16V, which will add 1.2" to the rear track. My wheels were tucked under too far anyways, since I have the Zender wheel flares.Shifting is another issue, and I may resort to some of the pneumatic components we used on the FSAE car to make a flappy-paddle gearbox.
Here are some pics of the design process:
