VW Pickup: engine

Having agreed to contribute to a VW-themed group build on one of the model car FacePage groups by mid-January, I figured I should get started.The project started out with C1 Model's excellent resin VW pickup transkit and the equally excellent Revell Rabbit, both 1/24. A bit of a shame, in fact, to be trashing a Rabbit, but the ends justify the means, as the saying goes.

To this I added Recaro seats and a turbo 16V engine from Clearly Scale (sadly no longer in business, as far as I can see) and fat little Street Blister tires and wheels. The GTI grille and air dam will likely not make the final cut. 

First step was to evaluate the lowest possible stance without major cutting, although wider fender lips may be needed. Looks good so far. 

 

The engine went together well, for a resin engine. I particularly like the soft metal rod, easily bent, for piping the turbo to the intercooler (another bit from the parts bin) and on to the manifold, as well as the turbo intake horn which looks to be a brass grommet from the sewing aisle at Walmart. 

The intercooler will breathe through a hole in the stock roll pan, as seen in the trial fit below, although note that at this point the cooler isn't hooked up to the turbo or inlet manifold.

 

 

 

The front suspension has also been lowered and it may be time to decide on bodywork, mainly flares, before going too much further. 

The only possible snag at this point is the inlet manifold may not clear the hood, but we'll cross that one when we get there. A mesh opening in the hood to supply the inlet trumpet will also be a nice addition. 

Stay tuned! We'll be going cruising shortly.