Sharkie's Up! Project

[Sharkie]

As per the other intro thread, we acquired a little Tornado Red Up! for a runaround but mostly as a project car .... :eek: This thread will document what happens to Little Red.

Stock standard Up! with only the little touch screen as an option
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Little Red, joined a family of VAG cars :facepalm:
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And the build commenced with new wheels ....
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Looks pretty good :dance_red_smilie:
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While we were at it, the brake calipers (and drums) got painted
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Little Red now willing to take on big brother Big Red
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I call it mean and meaner :P

Custom Intake made and fitted
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H&R suspension fitted
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LED Running Lights
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[Sharkie]

Steering Wheel UPgrade.

Pre
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Post
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Exhaust UPgrade

Pre
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Post
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[Sharkie]

Keeping open space for more stuff

[FckBullerScott]

Are those King Reloads? If so, I've got them as well! They don't look too bad (got them as my winter wheels, but now gonna keep em on the rear of my Pog, different wheels going on the front for that dirty look).

[Sharkie]

Are those King Reloads? If so, I've got them as well! They don't look too bad (got them as my winter wheels, but now gonna keep em on the rear of my Pog, different wheels going on the front for that dirty look).

Yup, King Reloads. Pretty awesome looking wheel for the money :) Really lightweight too which is a bonus.

It sure made a massive difference to the way the little beastie drives too. Like a go-kart, just with no power :mad:

[FckBullerScott]

Yeah they're not a bad wheel for the price, for sure. TOTALLY transformed the way my POG drives, having come off heavy heavy 17in Audi wheels.

This Up is gonna be mad fun at low speeds (ain't nothin' wrong with that!)

[Sharkie]

The wheels have made a massive difference to the grip of Little Red .... but still a lot of body roll through corners at speed though. Luckily, these HR lowering springs arrived for the Up! last week so started the fitment process over the weekend (Xmas parties got in the way though so only had time to do the rears).

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Rears in.
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Fronts will have to wait a week (at least) till I get the time and the special wrench required to do the nut on the top of the front struts :facepalm:

EDIT: acknowledge it does look a bit weird now while the back is lowered 30mm and the front is not :rolleyes:

[Lucas_R]

The rears are so basic to install compared to the fronts aren't they Sharkie - almost too easy in comparison.

[Sharkie]

The rears are so basic to install compared to the fronts aren't they Sharkie - almost too easy in comparison.

Yes, like chalk and cheese ... LOL

[Sharkie]

So made and fitted an intake to the Up! this weekend.

I studied the only 2 commercially available intakes for NA Up!s that I could find and figured I could do it far cheaper myself.
Up / Citigo / Mii 1.0L Short Ram air intake system - Volkswagen (https://www.injen-europe.com/volkswagen/up-citigo-mii-1-0l-short-ram-air-intake-system) 234 Euro!!

So, stock intake layout
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Custom intake test fitted after fabrication
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End result (some awesome growling now at revs)
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[Lucas_R]

Your links to the photos don't work Sharkie.

[Sharkie]

Your links to the photos don't work Sharkie.

Thanks, that was weird, did exactly the same again and now it seems to have worked :confused:

[Sharkie]

Thanks, that was weird, did exactly the same again and now it seems to have worked :confused:


BTW .... Any Up! owners out there wanting an intake for their Up! similar to this, PM me. Can do exactly the same again in either red, blue or black, all tubing, silicone, filter, bracket clamps etc included for about $150 shipped anywhere in Aus.

[Sharkie]

Last upgrade before the Xmas ... I hated the stock running lights and went looking for a LED replacement. Brilliant white and no error codes, looks awesome.

Before
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After
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Also, new front struts and tools arrived to complete the lowered suspension job. Will be done over the holidays :cool:

[Sharkie]

Suspension upgrade complete. About 30mm drop in the rear and 25mm in the front :cool:

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EDIT: It has settled in the front now to a 30mm drop too.

Took the opportunity to do the front struts too with new Zachs units.
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[tigger73]

Looking good!!!


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[Sharkie]

Something that's not really well known (in Australia) or enabled on most Aussie Up!s is that there is an auto lock (and unlock feature). We take this for granted in most other VW's but it is disabled by default in Australia. I found the details online from the UK, so decided to try it on my Up!.

Pre-change the necessary bits in 09-Central Electrics are unchecked.
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Made the changes :cool: - Note: bits 3 and 4 needs to be checked.
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And works like a dream. Auto locks over 15km/h and unlocks when you turn the car off and remove the key from the ignition.

Call it a win.

[Sharkie]

Also, I wanted to replace the vinyl/plastic/rubber steering wheel with the upspec edition's leather wheel and had to source 1 from Japan.

Easy job to fit and makes a great upgrade.

From:
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To:
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:banana:

[Sharkie]

Did the exhaust yesterday, this was a BIG job for such a little car ....

This is a Milltek Exhaust made for the Up! GTI in the UK. Special import for me and the only 1 in Australia. Even HP was dubious about whether it would work.

Pre
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Fitted up perfectly, needed a reducer to match the 2" (50mm) Milltek to the 40mm stock little pipe
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This where the stock Up! bumper needs some cutting
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and prepping
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And painting
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And done!
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Sounds awesome

[tigger73]

Nice work! Was that just plasti-dip or did you go with something more permanent?


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[Sharkie]

Nice work! Was that just plasti-dip or did you go with something more permanent?

Just Plasti-Dip. It gives it an OEM look and feel (mat black plastic). I found that if prepped OK, Plasti-dip can last for a long time and if it comes off too quickly, I'll look at a permanent black coat.

[Sharkie]

Couple more mods incoming, not performance related but usability improvements. Might start a pure non-performance enhancement thread just to showcase how you can make a stock Up! better without turning it into "performance" car :rofl5:

Had to make a trip today to get a spare key cut, mixed highway and town driving .... 4.6l/100km and this little thing is super smooth at the speed limit (100) and has no trouble staying at that speed in 5th hill up or down.

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BTW, the range is 560km with 110 done already on the tank .... from a 35l tank :P and I have only ever put 32l in it.

[Sharkie]

Fitted Auto headlight switch to the Up! this weekend.
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[TSOTSI]

no ways, just bought an UP! aswell i will post some pics with the Amarok LOL, birds of a feather UP and Amarok together. plus my Tiggie

[Sharkie]

no ways, just bought an UP! aswell i will post some pics with the Amarok LOL, birds of a feather UP and Amarok together. plus my Tiggie

Keep an eye on this thread (and the modernization thread) lots more to come .....

This arrived yesterday from the UK ... 1.0TSI turbo direct bolt on to the Up!
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I have a CarPlay radio and RVC ready to go to, plus rear parking sensors, just need enough time to fit and configure.

The turbo will need the following to fit:
- Downpipe (I have it on order)
- Turbo Intake pipe (I have it on order)
- Turbo water and oil connections (TBD what is required)
- some custom piping - turbo to intake manifold (which I will make)
- removal of electronic wastegate and replacement with manual external wastegate (already arrived)
- Boost gauge and Air fuel ratio gauge (to order)
- Fueling (TBD what is required) after all is installed and run at lowest possible boost

Gearbox and clutch overhauls once the above is all in.

For some inspiration .... The Reds
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[Sharkie]

Manually adjustable wastegate
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[kimbapkid]

Great to see someone having a crack at turbocharging one of these. How will you go about tuning it? And what are you going to do about the gearbox as I've heard they aren't rated for much torque.

[Sharkie]

Great to see someone having a crack at turbocharging one of these. How will you go about tuning it? And what are you going to do about the gearbox as I've heard they aren't rated for much torque.

Thanks, I'm excited about it still. Waiting on the downpipe (from Miltek in the UK) to arrive before doing anything else.

On the gearbox side, I know the std box isn't rated high, which is interesting as the 5spd box in the AW Polo is a direct fit (looks and bolts on the same according to Erwin)and it is rated at 160NM+. If I break this 1, I will replace it with the Polo box.

Tuning wise I am looking at a programmable fueler for additional fuel as necessary. Old school extra injector stuff. At low boost the stock ECU should cope well with timing and fueling I'm expecting.

Long term, a full AW Polo engine and gearbox (including the ECU etc) transplant is on the cards.

[Sharkie]

Big box containing the downpipe arrived from the UK yesterday :cool:. Now just waiting on the oil feed piping I ordered to arrive (also from the UK) ....

[Timmy35851]

Just came across this thread - well done so far!
Not sure if you have seen, but check out Eurospec Automotion Facebook page which is here in Perth. Phil (shop owner) has a crazy Up!

[Sharkie]

Just came across this thread - well done so far!
Not sure if you have seen, but check out Eurospec Automotion Facebook page which is here in Perth. Phil (shop owner) has a crazy Up!

Wow that is a crazy Up! :cool:

Looks like a 1.8T 20V from a Mk4 Golf/Polo GTI. I have heard that these will fit into the very limited space available. Might have to have a chat to him at some point.

At the moment, I'll stick with the 1.0 with the turbo. Will slowly ramp that up as I discover the limits on the drivetrain.

BUT ... would love to do that. Planted a seed .... :facepalm:

[Sharkie]

Some progress on the turbo today ....

The stock 1.0TSI turbo which we have confirmed will bolt up like OEM to the Up! engine, have an electronic wastegate which will not work for this conversion (since an Australian Up!'s ECU cannot control that wastegate).

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So, an aftermarket adjustable MAMBA wastegate was sourced and we fabricated a bracket to fit it to the little turbo. This wastegate will control what boost the little Up! will be subject to. Also fitted a TIP from Racingline.

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[The_Hawk]

Looking good. Even though it's small, I reckon the Up! really needs a turbo to be good.

[Sharkie]

Since this is to be more an "old-school" type turbo conversion, where crucial real-time information is required, such as boost, AFR and oil-pressure, I wanted to fit a bank of gauges. Was thinking something similar to what a MK1 Golf GTI had ....

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Tried a generic cheapie bracket off eBay 1st, did not like how it looked.

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Then decided to fabricate something almost exactly like the MK1 in this bit of wasted space :cool:

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It was a bit of a process going back and forth to get it fitting correctly ...

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And painted (still want to carbonwrap this) with the correct gauges

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[Lucas_R]

Have you seen the new MightyCarMods project car?


https://youtu.be/AyFCiQSIdvo

[Sharkie]

Have you seen the new MightyCarMods project car?


https://youtu.be/AyFCiQSIdvo

That is pretty cool, I'll need to check in on it periodically to see their progress. I'm a little further down the road than them, but really good to see some of my decisions validated.

[Sharkie]

Finished off the gauges this weekend, decided on SaaS for all of them in the end as I like how they looked. Did the basic (no-functional) wiring too to get them turning on and fed the sensor wires/tubes to the front. Need to complete that off the next few weekends.

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[Sharkie]

Between other things happening, had a tiny bit of time to start planning the actual turbo fitment.

I bought an entire spare engine and gearbox to make this easier .... plus it means I have spares in case we blow something up :emo_baghead:

Simple vacuum tap (common from aftermarket diverter valves) fitted to provide the wastegate and the piggyback ECU with manifold pressure.

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Simple piping from the turbo to the throttlebody for the 1st few PSI of boost. Not going to run an intercooler immediately (already have 1 ready), I just want to run it at low boost for a bit to settle everything including the piggyback.

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And playing with the oil and water feed piping routing with the turbo attached.

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Need to modify the OEM feed pipes on the oil feed side, but looks OK.

And finally need to make a bracket to fix the downpipe to the block but that will happen soon. Looks like lot of work to go, but as there things go, near the end a lot can come together very quickly if you planned it all out .... I hope :eek:

[amunra]

looks fun. if u ever have trouble getting that plastidip off the rims which can happen espeically on the difficult parts of the rim... u gotta soak the plastidip with a turps* and a rag.. pretty heavily and itll start to melt / wipe off with some elbow grease

Correction*... U need kerosene not Turps.. got mixed up

[kristianvanek]

hi sharkie.

where did you get the auto headlight set up from?

just did a quick google and cant find it.

hows it sound running the miltek system on it?

[Sharkie]

hi sharkie.

where did you get the auto headlight set up from?

just did a quick google and cant find it.

hows it sound running the miltek system on it?

The headlight switch is the same as a MK4 Golf, I just got it off Ebay.
For VW Golf Mk4 Passat B5 Polo Lavida AUTO Headlight Switch Light Sensor Module | eBay (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/302194021237?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649)

Miltek sounds awesome, I really should take video of it.

[kristianvanek]

Have you had much head way with the cruise control upgrade?

I am currently upgrading the stereo and doing some sound deadening in mine and want to do the cruise control retrofit. I can only find eurocar upgrades that have a kit but it's only the combo stick and the bcm.

[greyhamism]

Have you had much head way with the cruise control upgrade?

I am currently upgrading the stereo and doing some sound deadening in mine and want to do the cruise control retrofit. I can only find eurocar upgrades that have a kit but it's only the combo stick and the bcm.

If you’ve got a VW Scanning tool (VCDS, OBD11), you can check the version of you BCM.

Mines a 1S0937090D which means it supports cruise control already.

Have yet to hear back from Eurocar Upgrades on wether they do a stalk only option, otherwise kufatec do one :
Cruise control retrofit for VW up! (https://www.kufatec.com/en/search?sSearch=43185)

[kristianvanek]

If you’ve got a VW Scanning tool (VCDS, OBD11), you can check the version of you BCM.

Mines a 1S0937090D which means it supports cruise control already.

Have yet to hear back from Eurocar Upgrades on wether they do a stalk only option, otherwise kufatec do one :
Cruise control retrofit for VW up! (https://www.kufatec.com/en/search?sSearch=43185)

Just posted on your other post. Yeah you are luck with the bcm. I had to do a swap and ran in to a few issues with the retrofit but in the end with sharkies help to code I have it in my up and working.

Your best to grab the kufatec kit if you do it as it also give you the multifunction dash information to and the wiring is already pre done to install you only need to extend 1 wire to the ecu. The information for making the wiring is hard to find online these days cause all the guys in the UK have moved on from these to the up gti.

[Sharkie]

As preparation for the turbo (which needs an oil feed), I needed to source an oil feed and decided to double that up with an oil cooler to keep the turbo and engine cooler. Finally had an open weekend and got going with that :cool:

Front with the bumper off

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Turns out there is no space for a FMIC, but there is a bit of space for an oil cooler; relatively easy to make brackets and fit.

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The stock bumper has blackouts in spaces where I need airflow through, so opened them up.

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And sandwich for the feeds installed and pipework completed.

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Oil change done and no leaks (detected so far) after running the engine for a bit.