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Lupo GTI trouble
The Volkswagen Lupo first came to the UK market back in 1999 and had a relatively short sevenyear production run. This tiny city car was made a little bit more special for the GTI version which included a 123bhp 1.6 twin-cam engine mated to a six-speed gearbox, sporty interior, unique alloy wheels and all-aluminium bonnet, doors and wings to reduce weight to around 950kg. Seven years ago, I picked up one of these early models for £2000 as a fun run-about, but on a trip to Aberdeen one winter’s evening I crossed a flooded road that turned out to be deeper than anticipated.
Role change
I didn’t realise just how much water the little Lupo took in through the doors and crevasses until I got back home. Pulling out the drenched seats and carpets I was able to drain the collected water by removing all the floor bungs. While the interior was drying in the garage, I bolted back the driver’s seat and went for a drive. With so much weight removed the Lupo became a darty little go-kart and from that point on it was destined to be my new stripped-out track car project!
Modifications
Over the following years I had improved the Lupo’s suspension with KW Coilovers and upgraded all bushes to track-focussed ones courtesy of Powerflex. With handling improved, my next task was to tweak the engine. With it being normally-aspirated a simple remap would have had little effect, so I sourced some ‘fast road’ camshafts from Cat Cams. Additionally, I wanted the cylinder-head to be ported increasing airflow further. Rather than use the original head from the Lupo which would have to be removed anyway, I stumbled across a genuine ‘new old stock’ unit being sold on eBay by a VW Heritage company. Before purchasing I rang up my trusty parts department at Volkswagen Bathgate to confirm part numbers. Speaking with the parts manager, I found that a few years ago Volkswagen sold off many of its remaining old stock to third parties in large clear-outs, with the intention of stocking common parts for vehicles around seven-years-old or younger (not much luck for my 22-year-old Lupo then!). With the part number confirmed however I placed the order online and began dismantling the engine.
► Brand new head clearly indicated the VW part number which was supposedly a perfect match for the Lupo GTI.
▼ Left image shows the original (correct) headvs new (incorrect) head on right. Arrows indicate the absent/ extra oilway passages.
Oil pressure problem
With the old head removed, the top of the iron block was cleaned up carefully with a brass brush and confirmed straight with a machinist’s edge and feeler
