WRX/Porsche Karmann cabrio 1303
 

this is my long term project that I initially bought about 5 years ago like this:

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/cab_1.JPG

It was never going to stay standard, the original plan was to buy a solid car and stick a subaru engine in with some uprated brakes and suspension, staying with an uprated VW transmission to keep things simple...

First up, some decent adjustable struts for the front

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...her_fitted.JPG

and some 996 brakes all round

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...fit_brakes.JPG

I then started having a poke around and what I thought was solid turned out to be an incredibly rusty car, these things rust from the inside out!

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/CAB_RUST_1.JPG
inside the sill! http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/cab_channel_2.JPG
front end: http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/front_channel.jpg

So I decided to do the job properly and take the body off the chassis

New heater channels and cabrio strengthening panels underneath:
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...ock_front2.jpg

rear crossmembers:
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...embers_fit.jpg

front bulkhead:
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/bulkhead_out.jpg

Inner wings: http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...er_repair3.jpg I think you get the idea, lots of other repairs too!

As the body was off I thought I may as well go the whole way with it and upgrade it completely to take the power of the scooby lump (starting at about 300bhp). I also decided to go the whole hog with upgrading everything to be futureproof should I upgrade even more. This is all based around a Porsche 911 trans (G50, like the Ultimas use).

As you can see, it wasn't going to just bolt in..
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/trans_under2.jpg

So I started cutting!
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...centre_cut.jpg
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/g50_in.jpg

There was too much removed from the framehorns for my liking so I started scheming up new stronger ones http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...rn_concept.jpg

which ended up as this:
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...orn_weld_5.jpg

I planned to cut out the sheet floors and build a perimeter frame for new ones which will be substantially stronger
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/floor_frame_2.jpg

I did not want a roll bar of any kind, I like to keep a stock-ish look
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/floor_frame_4.jpg

front end of the chassis looking rusty too so that came out!
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...head_rust2.jpg
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...tom_repair.jpg

I also needed to make provision for a hydraulic clutch so went with a fully adjustable pedalbox, I lowered the front section of the floor to keep things tidy
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...ed_floor_2.jpg

ended up like this: http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/chassis_3.jpg

Made up supports for the 996 turbo sports seats:
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...r_position.jpg


and sorted the 911 shifter
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri..._extension.jpg

engine in to sort out mounts
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri..._chassis_3.jpg

bought myself a beadroller and made up some new floors
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/floors_5.jpg

painted!
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...is_paint_2.jpg

body needed modifying to squeeze the trans under the back seat
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...s_tunnel_4.jpg

inner body cut away for engine room/access using a vw bus engien access panel that I chopped down
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...ss_panel_5.jpg

here some may notice the engine has been moved forwards and up in the chassis to give more sump ground clearance and to make sure the big quad cam heads fit under the bodywork
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/rear_frame_3.jpg
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri..._body_mock.jpg

I then found some wheels I couldn't say no to, 19" Porsche carrera sports in Cayman fitment, 8,5J front and 10J rears
they needed the rear wings modifying to fit
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...ing_wide_2.jpg by 45mm

front wings were massaged to fit as well as pulling the front suspension in a bit

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...port_fit_5.jpg
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...port_fit_7.jpg

I also added an air intake for an enclosed cold air feed for the engine
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/wing_intake_4.jpg

to go with all this, I modified the dash to take Porsche 944 VDO gauges, it will be covered in leather to look OEM
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...nel_weld_1.jpg

stainless exhaust system made up
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/exhaust_2.jpg
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/exhaust_4.jpg

Coolant lines made up to run under the chassis
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/coolant_pipes.jpg
which feed a cosworth Pace radiator and chargecooler up front
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...2Bcharge_2.JPG

That's most of the story so far! I keep my website up to date so if you want to see more details have a look at www.ricola.co.uk

It should end up looking more or less like this:

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...rrerasport.jpg

Comments and ideas welcome! Not finished yet, I plan to do the paintwork this summer when the weather warms up a bit... It's staying the same colour!

Rich

Perfect!!! That's a great recap. Top notch all the way.

Jason

Nice build. Love the pan work.

I'm very curious to see the final result...keep going Rich!!

is it going to be much heavier than before with all that metal work?

Wow I didn't know you had all that rust repair :eek: you've come along way! Looking good!

Well the chassis tube is about 25kg, I'd say the rear end body mods probably balance out, then add the extra weight from the G50, subaru engine and cooling system... Not sure what it will end up as but shouldn't be too bad. The main thing I wanted was not to loose too much ground clearance and keep the chassis work hidden, while adding considerable strength.

One other main mod I will do is to add a shortened Kamei as everybody seems to rave about them so much! However, I don't like how they look so 'bolted on' normally, so I will cut it down and mount it to the body, keeping all the front valance panel and wings visible with the slightly shortened kamei below that in black, so visibly it should be fairly subtle. It should actually improve cooling to the radiator as well...

Right, time to start finishing off the body...

Filter frame now welded into the body
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri..._intake_11.jpg

Hooks up to the wing pipe nicely
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri..._intake_10.jpg

Inner wing finished off, note angle along bottom edge for strength, I will make a brace off this down to the bumper mount on each side to strengthen the back end
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/wing_intake_8.jpg

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/wing_intake_9.jpg

I've half done the other side, it will be the same apart from having the 'filter' area as a removable panel for maintenance.

Filter looks nice. What are you doing about water getting in?(or out rather)

:eek::eek::eek: that is some nice work

This Vw addict is crazy:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Jak Rizzo said he doesn't have any problems with water in his similar intake and his is a daily driver. If I do, I will put a small drain tube on the wing side of the filter box...

Been following your work on your website. Amazing job you done there and I love it. Good to see the body back on a pan and love the rear wing air scoop, very nice detail.

Cheers for the comments!

Body is on pan for probably the final mock up, just getting all the fixings sorted, I'll put the trans and engine back in soon for mounting of tanks etc, then it will come off for final bodywork sorting and paint and running the hydraulic lines on/in/under the chassis...

Finished the other inner wing tonight, nothing exciting, will put up a pic when I've made the cover panel for it

I thought someone said something about it before, but couldn't remember :o

Build is looking good!!

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/protechs.jpg
Pair of pro-tech dampers for the rear end (15" open, 10" closed), they only have 125lb/inch springs as I still have the 'short' torsion bars which will be stiffer than the original IRS longer bars, together they should be about right for the heavier engine and trans.

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/protechs_3.jpg
I went for the biggest bushes pro-tech had and didn't need any spacers at the top mounting, small ones either side at the lower end.

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/protechs_2.jpg
I held a G50 911 axle in position and luckily it looks like there will be enough clearance to the spring. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but with the trans moved forwards it was something I needed to check...

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/protechs_4.jpg

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...ead_panels.jpg
Paneling part way through, just section by air filter to do now and some general tidying up...

Unbelievable work Rich, that's just crazy.
Are you a metal worker by profession ? That's some amazing work!

Lol, not a metalworker or even close, this is my first attempt at this sort of thing! I'm a mechanical design engineer, designing electric power steering stuff mostly...

I put the engine/trans back in today to sort a few brackets etc out...

that's some Crazy Fab work... Looks great :)
can't wait to see this done.

Chris.

Sorry for the offtopic, but do you by any chance have, or can source the internal schematics for the electric power steering pump used in the vw fox, lupo, polo, the Seat cordoba, ibiza, and Skoda fabia?
It's the pump that I'm trying to use in my setup, but normally it had this sensor on the steering column, that gave the signal to the pump to start only when the steering wheel was manually turned or something like that. I'd like to override that somehow.
This is what it looks like, and all I could find was that schematic, in that quality and language :))

looking good - its really coming along now! how much did the coil overs set you back if you dont mind me asking.

Sorry Xellex, that's not one of our (TRW) systems...

Dampers are £80+VAT each, bargain compared to other stuff out there IMO..

Done some more bits and pieces. Put the engine/trans back in to finalise placement of a lot of ancillaries..

Paneling now done, might add another few fixings depending on how it they are with a foam seal in place
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...d_panels_2.jpg

MAF side of the air filter assembly done, MAF bolts on to the side of the housing, reducing elbow connects to original Subaru turbo intake pipe.
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...lter_box_1.jpghttp://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...lter_box_2.jpghttp://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...lter_box_3.jpg

Awesome work...:notworthy::notworthy:

WOW! That is looking great!

fantastic build!

Very impressive sight of the rear end with the wheels on!

Very good metalwork and trust me I know a lot about metal works.

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/rear_frame_5.jpg

Additional brace to support the rear bumper mount. It is now strong enough that I can lift the body off the chassis with no flexing but still unbolts to aid engine removal.

Engine location
 

Hi, this picture is a very good picture for me to as a question. I believe I mentioned some time ago, I would love to try the 6 cylinder. Here goes my question.
1. by moding the tunnel and using the coilover shocks, do you believe the 6 cylinder will fit using a 915 trans?

Bear in mind that I have also raised the engine and transmission for better ground clearance. I don't think an EG series would work, but am fairly sure a newer EZ would as long as the torsion bar housing centre was removed...

Very nice cabrio!

The rear view with the big wheels is a very nice view! Keep it up! ;)

Hi, is this considered the EZ series?
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k9...1.jpg~original

Also has any one else seen this engine in person, or have this engine in a vehicle from Subaru?

If your condidaring that, why not use something like a 3,4ltr engine from the early 996's? They go for not to much and probably have much more hp...?

I doubt they will be longer as Porsche also uses them in the back, so length was always a consideration as well I suppose.

Google Perrin, they did a nice twin turbo conversion in an impreza with the EZ

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/rear_bumper.jpg
Rear bumper mounts needed to be extended by 35mm to clear wider wings

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/kamei_trial.jpg
Now everything is at ride height and, a quick mock-up of the kamei spoiler to my set ground clearance. I will trim this back to the bottom of the valance/wings and flush mount it, this will make it much more subtle and less 'plasticy' and keep the radiator intake clear.

Some more progress:

Decided to make up my own spherical top strut mounts.

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/top_mount_1.jpg

Mocked up to check the positioning

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/top_mount_4.jpg

All welded up

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/top_mount_3.jpg

Suspension arm narrowed 15mm to help pull the big front wheels under stock wings (I'll add some more bracing to the join later on)

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/shortened_arm.jpg

Another mock-up of spoiler showing better how the wing intake looks

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...ke_overall.jpg

Spoiler now trimmed to fit and roughly clamped to bottom of body panels. This gives me 120mm of ground clearance which is about level with my lowest chasssis point. I'm happy with this as a final ride height too.

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/kamei_trial_2.jpg

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/kamei_trial_3.jpg

It tucks back much more than it would as standard (which is bolted to the underside of the bumper) and looks much less like it's doing an impression of a snow-plough!

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/kamei_trial_4.jpg

I really like the spoiler mount! Well done!

Also the top strut mounts are nicely done, but I would have given them some extra caster for a bit of extra straight line stability ;)

I've already added the extra caster in the chassis by pushing the anti-roll bar mounts forwards 20mm ;)

Nice work Rich. just one point though - the standard height of kerbs in the UK are 125mm high! ;) That of course doesn't account for those set higher for some particular reason but that you can usually spot.

How do I know? I spec kerb heights as part of my job and I am currently p****d of with the number of times I scrape my front spoiler on the top of the kerbs.

Clive