Louis19's Build Thread

[louis19]

Today the battery on the POG got changed. After having it tested a couple weeks ago, I knew it was on its way out so I replaced it before it died on me. Went with a Deka ETX14 (same as Sean's Red Devil runs). They're pretty reasonably priced and seem to be a reliable choice for the polo.

Took a few pics of the two side by side to show the size difference. I made up a bracket using flat bar alloy to hold it down then used two pieces of 90 degree alloy bar to prevent it moving side to side

[Blue9N3]

Love the liberal use of electrical tape on the intake pipe!


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[louis19]

Love the liberal use of electrical tape on the intake pipe!


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Cosmetically it ain't the prettiest but it does the job until I make a solid pipe

[Blue9N3]

Only commented because I did the exact same thing. Electrical tape over duct tape because of the colour.


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[louis19]

Few shots from this mornings happy laps. Thanks again to Gav for organising the event and the ALE Renda Photography for the pics. It was a good chance to feel the difference with the Pod in a box and the Forge Style TIP. The two combined with the cooler air temps made the car feel a little more lively and the top end felt a good chunk better. Coming off the track after the session the intake manifold was also very cool, could hold your hand on it indefinitely

[louis19]

Bit of an update, all phase 3 parts have been ordered except the turbo but should be organised tonight due to Lee from FTG being away. Injectors, fuel pump, gaskets, bolts and a few other bits and pieces are all on their away and should be here this week. The fuel pump actually arrived today after only leaving the U.S. on Friday. I had tonight free so I decided I may aswell get that in to save time when the rest of the gear needs to go in.

All went pretty smoothly until I had to get the whole unit to sit back into the chassis. The o-ring just didn't want to sit correctly until Gav suggested a light film of oil on it and 2 minutes later it was sorted

Ive lined up an ECU swap with Altec on here for next week then the rest of the gear will be going in with helping hand from Sean and then it'll be time for the tune with Gav

[seangti]

Good form. You're in for quite a treat, mine goes like the clappers and more linear than the previous turbo.

[louis19]

Good form. You're in for quite a treat, mine goes like the clappers and more linear than the previous turbo.

Thanks mate, can't wait to get it all together. Turbo was ordered tonight, fingers crossed it arrives before next weekend so we can do the swap

Injectors arrived today, so did the gaskets and silicone hoses needed. Also organised new bolts for the swap. Slowly ticking off the check list...

[louis19]

Fitted my boost gauge (long overdue I know) earlier this week. On the way driving home it started to sputter badly coming onto boost, sounded like a wrx hitting redline. First thoughts were maybe I had knocked one of the vac or boost lines in the process of installing it. Long story short it was one of the coilpacks, just so happened it crapped itself the night I installed the gauge Luckily Gav was near by today and brought me down a spare S3 coilpack to test out each pack 1 by 1. Got to #3 and found the culprit.

Will be calling VW next week to see if the recall was ever done, we assume it hasn't been seeing as the std packs with the dates are in there and there's no recall sticker to be seen. If it hasn't been done hopefully they will cover a set, if not I'll grab a couple newies.

Fingers crossed the new turbo arrives this week and we can get stuck into swapping that over next weekend

[Paazuzu]

Boost gauge looks great!

Great to see you jumping in with both feet mate! I'll be watching your progress and learnings to apply to mine sometime in the next 12-18 months (getting coilovers sorted first - not to mention the timing belt and a few other serviceable items).

I recall Gav saying something about getting the rods replaced as part of his turbo upgrade - is that something you'll have to consider as well? I can't remember what sort of mileage your engine is running, or if that's even related. I think Gav was running 30psi of boost when it blew up

My only other question is will the standard clutch be up to the challenge? I guess it's not a significant power increase from stage 2 (about ~10-20kw atw from memory?) so it will probably be fine.

If you're willing it would be good to know what the final damage is in terms of cost too (mainly for anyone else considering the upgrade in the future).

Again...good on you Louis for getting stuck into the mods mate! Make sure you get some pics of the upgrade

[louis19]

Boost gauge looks great!

Great to see you jumping in with both feet mate! I'll be watching your progress and learnings to apply to mine sometime in the next 12-18 months (getting coilovers sorted first - not to mention the timing belt and a few other serviceable items).

I recall Gav saying something about getting the rods replaced as part of his turbo upgrade - is that something you'll have to consider as well? I can't remember what sort of mileage your engine is running, or if that's even related. I think Gav was running 30psi of boost when it blew up

My only other question is will the standard clutch be up to the challenge? I guess it's not a significant power increase from stage 2 (about ~10-20kw atw from memory?) so it will probably be fine.

If you're willing it would be good to know what the final damage is in terms of cost too (mainly for anyone else considering the upgrade in the future).

Again...good on you Louis for getting stuck into the mods mate! Make sure you get some pics of the upgrade

Thanks Dan! Rods are something I may consider down the road, but not anytime soon. Would rather put that money into coilovers, bigger brakes and a few other bits and pieces. I believe Gav just did the rods because he had it apart and like you say was only really apart due to running to much boost. If I were in the same boat would have changed them too but figure Ill leave them as is for now until/if they become an issue.

As for the clutch, Troy runs the std clutch still and hasn't had any issues. In saying that I think he looks after it well (changes slowly, doesn't launch it etc) and mine has done a good chunk more milage then his has so I've got my eye on a new clutch in preparation because it will be a matter of "when" it dies, not "if" it dies. Even if it wasn't going Stage 3 I think it's had a good life so far.

Once I get pen to paper Ill figure out what I've spent, off the top of my head I can remember. It depends on where your car is situated mods wise before hand as well to determine how much you'll need to buy. I'll keep you posted in regards to a total price though.

The turbo and a few last bits and pieces arrived this week so I'll we're going to get stuck into that tomorrow. Injectors, MAF and tune next week. Big thanks to Sean in advance for giving a helping hand, both physically and with answering queries. Greatly appreciated

[louis19]

Successful weekend has passed. First of all a huge thanks to Sean for the helping hands and giving up time to assist me, and to Gavin for the moral support throughout the whole process. Without these two guys, getting the car to where it is after this weekend wouldn't have been possible.

Yesterday I started working on disassembling bits and pieces that needed to come off. Once Sean arrived we took off the last few bits and pieces then the turbo was ready to come out. We got 90% of the way through the swap by the end of yesterday and today was just double checking everything was right, and reassembling the last few things before starting it up. Overall the process wasn't that bad, a few cuts, bit of blood loss and only a handful of curse words, but most went pretty smoothly I thought. In saying that I take my hat off to anyone who was done it all by themselves, as theres a few things along the way that with an extra set of hands, made it a lot easier.

The Polo is now in a position that its ready for the new injectors, MAF and retune next weekend

[Necrolust]

nice

[louis19]

Been a while since I updated my thread, mainly because I was waiting to have the car completed and running, as it should before writing anything up. I can’t believe how quickly time gets away from you, its been 8 weeks since my last update which was the weekend Sean was generous enough to help me do the turbo swap.

To cut a long story short, after the new turbo was on, we ran into a few issues with the boost fluctuating and the ECU pulling loads of timing out even when running low boost or logging with the n75 disconnected. This was all over a 6-7 week period after the turbo had been installed and left Sean, Gav and myself scratching our heads with what was causing the issues. It was a matter of trail and error for most of it, try one thing, log it, if no improvement, then try the next suspected issue.

We found a few simple issues that make a huge impact on the way the car performs, the main ones being the waste gate actuator, a setting in unisetting that we unseen throughout the ECU swap process and the orientation of my intake. I won’t go on too much, as it would take me hours to write it all out.

The whole process was painful at times but I’ve learnt more about the car in the past couple months then I did in the 2 years of ownership prior. I’m glad I stuck with it, as there were moments you want to bin the whole thing. It’s rewarding when you finally find the issues and things fall into place.

A HUGE thanks to Sean and Gav for their time and effort with helping me getting the car sorted. Can honestly say it wouldn’t have happened without these two gentlemen. The car is now running well, comes on to boost hard and holds it very well in the mid to top end. Overall very happy with the way it’s performing. Unfortunately didn’t get many photos for you guys, but here’s one of the new intake completed.

[seangti]

Welcome to club Phase 3. I think we all learned a few things with yours, painful at the time but a great outcome now.