MK1 Jetta 'Berg Cup' Fabrication Work
Project undertaken 2nd August 2011 and completed 23rd September 2011
Dan has already undertaken a good amount of fabrication & preparation work on his Jetta, but due to a lack of time he has entrusted us to carry on the metalwork.
Firstly we tackle some corrosion issues on the offiside sill, and also add box-section jacking points to each corner of the sill. We also add a single jacking point in the centre allowing the car to be jacked up at one side from a single point. This piece is tied into the inner sill around the seat mount which sits above it.
Moving to the front of the car, the chassis rails are seam-welded, and reinforcement added to the lower arm mounts. Modifications are carried out on the chassis rails to allow more clearance for the driveshafts.
The turrets are refabricated 40mm higher to allow decent suspension travel at a lower ride-height.
The front floor 'double-skin' section is removed, and a cross-piece added to the cage which is tied into the subframe mounts.
Next the front panel and crossmember are removed. reinforcment plates are added to the chassis rails that sit on the top and wrap around to the inside edges forming mounting plates for the tubular crossmember we are going to make. Before removing the crossmember we tacked in some metalwork to maintain the location of the front engine mount - this will later be removed.
The lower section of the new crossmember is bent up in 38mm tube and incorporates the engine mount and lower mounts for the intercooler and radiator.
Next an upper tube is bent to shape to neatly sweep up, around the intercooler inlet/outlets, then forward, infront of the radiator and just above the intercooler. This will give the crossmember a lot of strength, whilst also providing a very stong mounting for the radiator and intercooler without any attachment to the front panel (for reasons which will become clear in the next paragraph).
The original upper front panel is carefully sperated from the lower, and reattached to a brand new lower panel. Rivnuts are fitted to the original mounting flanges on the inner wings making the whole front panel a 'bolt-on' piece, which can be removed leaving the rad and intercooler in situ. The front crossmember can then seperately be removed allowing totally clear access to the engine bay.
To complete the front end cage work we fit reinforcement plates to the turrets, and tie them into the chassis rail plates we welded in previously with a pair of diagonal tubes.
The final jobs up front are to de-seam the holes which the steering arms pass through to allow more clearance, brace the rack mounts with a small box section, and tie the cage into the bulkhead area.
Moving back inside the car, we need to address the large hole where the rear seat area has been removed to add the extra 'X' into the cage. A panel is formed on the Pullmax and a battery box fabricated and TIG welded into it. This is then welded into place, before Aluminium closing plates are made to sit snugly around the cage tubes and then bonded in place.
The flat section of panel next to the battery box will house the silencer, mounted transversely under the car and exiting infront of the rear wheel. We cut out a section of sill and let in a rolled piece of steel to allow the exhaust to pass through.
The next item to tackle is the wide arch bodywork. We make the arches by first calculating and developing a correctly sized steel cone section to form the tapered 'flare' we are after. the outer edge is then 'tipped' in the pullmax, and then progressively shrunk and tipped until we have a 90 degree 'lip'. the arch is then trimmed to match the profile of the car and welded in place. A seperate tapered section will complete the transition to the sill at the front of the rear arches.
With the rest of the arches, and transition sections complete we take the car out for a few photos... We're very happy with it :)
Next we fabricate a new boot floor, incorporating a diffuser, and on top, a box to house fuel tank, pump, filters etc. The car is then stripped down, and the 'shell blasted and given a good coat of Zinc Phosphate Primer.
