Toms ‘99 Lupo and maybe got lucky with another ‘99 Lupo

Really enjoying the Lupo content - always a car I thought was cool!

So, we’d got it to run after the immobiliser confusion. There is a twisted pair of orange and orange/black wires that is the data/handshake or whatever it is between the 2 modules. It’s not canbus, but it’s something like that in my head and so when the 2 modules talked and didn’t get the correct info it wouldn’t start.
You can’t recode it with vcds, there is a different bit of software that you can download, but that won’t work with the vcds (Ross tech) lead. Tried it with a cheap eBay lead but that didn’t work either. So that’s something else to try and work out.

Next we needed to wrap the loom before fitting the cooling and the front end back together.



We got the cooling system back on and then we could start it properly and check it over.

There were a couple of issues now, when we connected up the gearshift linkages we had some gears but then it seemed to get stuck in one gear.
It was up on stands, so we ignored that temporarily as we could just put a foot on the clutch.

But it wasn’t running very well, the throttle body would work sometimes and then stop, and would sometimes let us do an adaptation using vcds and then wouldn’t
It kept surging and so we continuity tested the wiring to the throttle body and injectors etc, as it got darker it became obvious it was overfuelling,



So we put the 1ltr throttle body on to prove it wasn’t a wiring problem



The 1ltr has a 45mm and the sport a 52mm throttle body, but it worked ok, and all of the weird issues disappeared.
We opened up the sport throttle body, which looked like a pattern part anyway and the carbon had been worn off of the tracks which was the cause of the fault

Lupo's, epic cars. shocking out the factory due to the awful suspension, amazing when fettled.

Like you, i made my 1.0 a 1.4 16v, albeit without a donor car so i didn't get the good floor pan (i did put an arosa front on it however)



Absolutely put a 1.6 GTI inlet on it, with the steel gasket as they don't have rubber rings in the plenums to seal. Makes a HUGE difference and sounds incredible. 

Also, just to add on, Sport and 1.0 boxes are the same, best bet is putting a 1.4 75bhp 5th on your original 1.0 box, flys up to 90, then has a mega long 5th for cruising. I was getting 400 miles to a tank without fail!

Cracking work so far though mate, if you need any pointers on lupo's drop me a message as i have spent far too much of my life filling my head with info on them hahahaha

Just a quick read John
Yep 👍I’m liking them too , it’s good to rebuild/save this kind of stuff before they disappear, I’m Currently playing with a 2003 merc coupe bought for £500 it’s just a great hobby cheaper cars ain’t it??

Whilst that was going on, I got offered the green lupo, it was cheap, had nearly 2 months MOT and a completely flat battery, how he thought he was going to sell it for decent money with a flat battery and with grass cuttings all over it I don’t know
Got it to run, paid the bloke and collected the next day.



It’s a 14 16v S, so it has 75hp, has about 105k the gearbox is a little whiny

Exhaust was blowing, there was a click from n/s cv at full lock and the tyres are a bit old, one was an advisory last year along with the exhaust and the cv joint.

Plan was to get an MOT before spending anything on it (obviously it needs a few bits to get the MOT) so a Polish cat back system for £70 delivered turned up eventually (probably from the same place as Dez, with similar delivery) a driveshaft from J&R was £35, we pinched Rhys’s spare wheel, and we found a weeping shock so nicked one off of the black one









And MOT is tomorrow!

This is Tom’s race car for 2022. He is now a member of VWDRC, and when he turns 16 can get a race licence and compete in Sportman class.

But until the MOT we aren’t going to do anything to it, so Tom has had a few drives off road



I used it when I forgot to MOT the van, as someone said they feel huge and spacious in the front… but are small in the back



Other than that Tom has washed it



And washed it



And washed it



Oh, and washed it



And he’s re-painted the badges





Once it’s MOTed we’ve got
Some JOMs (not great, but free and lower)



And a set of sport wheels



And he wants to fit a fog light grill, and sport rear discs, a sport beam (with the arb), there’s a bigger arb to go on the front etc etc

And we also weighed the scrap in



And turned it into this



Well more or less…..

We’ve got joms for free, so they’ll go on first, then maybe something nicer when they leak
Got some go-pro footage from Santa Pod and the front lifts like a boat off of the line

I was looking at Arosas, particularly the mk1, I think I’ve read your build thread somewhere else….. maybe when I build mine with a 1.8T I’ll put a arosa nose on it

I conker, obviously

Back in August we went to the VWDRC private testing day,

Rhys took his 1ltr, we took the Fug









His best run was a 21.29 @61mph

We went back in October with some friends, but took the green Lupo to give it a shakedown and see what it’d do.





In the last run the green Lupo was beaten by Ian’s transit…. Not sure if I should be impressed or upset (I’m impressed I’m a commercial lover )

Though I’m sure we’ve all heard great things about Setula Rotalla tyres, they won’t be staying as we have the alloys to go on. So through the day I took the opportunity to warm them thoroughly for maximum grip (and not for the insta photo glory )













Possibly because of the enthusiastic tyre warming, but more probably because of the short 1st and double the power in Rhys’s, I beat him off the line pretty much every time, and was quicker to the 330’, at the 1/8th we were about equal though and from there he would come past. Think I won 1 run of the 6 runs against Rhys.
Rhys’s final run, I was racing Ian in the van, I could see him warming his tyres ‘properly’ and he managed a 17.6 @76 mph

So should be able to get a 16 out of that next season



















The green one ran a 18.2 @73mph, and was pretty consistent, I seemed to find the sweet spot between wheel spin and bogging and most runs kept it there.

The front lifts ridiculously





But this is going to be Tom’s learner car in ‘23 so we have no real plans to do anything to the engine, only the usual aesthetic and handling mods

And I’ll update the story a bit more whilst here….

Since we were going drag racing and there was potential to break them, I decided that as I have a a-frame for towing the Fug, I’d have a go at modifying it to work with Lupos.

The ones used with motorhomes have a bracket with the eye bolts mounted lower, so they come through the under bumper grille.
Since we’d need to remove the bumper anyway to fit the bracket, we could then leave the bumper off, so this just bolts in place of the crash bar behind the bumper



And to keep it legal, there is a bolt hole with a plastic throttle stop in the floor.
This gave us somewhere to bolt a bracket to pull the brakes, a cable through the clutch cable bung and to the a-frame





And a cheap vac generator (this one is a copy of a diesel Volvo one)



Which operated with the brake lights to generate vacuum to the servo. I’ll make a box and run the pump from the lupo battery through a relay off of the brakes next, possibly with a timer relay to keep the pump running a bit longer after using the brakes) but it works, as a way of testing the a-frame Rhys selflessly bought another lupo from miles away because it was cheap, so we tested it on that



This one was bought with an immobiliser fault, and wouldn’t run, it was cheap enough that we didn’t care. So we dragged it back from miles and miles away.



Yep, that’s another Sport. Got a chavvy pipe, but a custom system, so should be fixable with a more discrete tip
It’s pretty rough too, the drivers side rear quarter has had some damage, on the door too… and when we went to fit the towing frame, the crash bar was smashed, so we’ll need to check the front chassis rail horns too

But it came with two keys, the one that the owner used to show it didn’t start, he’d had a locksmith come out, he’d sorted a key and got it started, but the po couldn’t get it to run from then on. In the end he’d had enough and wanted it off the drive

The other key however, worked and started the car!!







And it drove round the yard alright. So need to look at the accident damage before making any decisions