UK to Romania - epic road trip for engine / gearbox swap ! (plus many other things)

[LHD_Kid]

So, the day is nearly upon me... new engine awaits a couple of thousand km away. 2 old gearboxes in the boot... pair of new wings in the roof box...

What's going on here then I hear you ask....?

Well, I'll post some pics and description of my plans soon, but in a nutshell:

New engine, forged internals, balanced, Albert turbo, ABY ECU swap and separate coils

Rebuilt 5 speed box

Vacuum brake conversion

Replacement RS2 steering rack

New front wings - painting front/rear bumpers, front wings and bonnet

Heated front screen fitting

Heated rear seats fitting

Lots and lots and lots of other stuff, then.... drive it back to blighty and hope it was built well enough to get me there!

Then change injectors and remap...

More to come...

Sounds like the best summer holiday ever...!

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Spot on about the holiday,sounds good! Who's doing the work? Emile's gang?

[Dift]

Your roadtrip beats mine and I thought I was mad!

I simply upgraded to RS2 spec and drove off into the sunset... Yours has Roadkill written all over it ... Hopefully with less mishaps however.

Please keep us updated!!!

[LHD_Kid]

Spot on about the holiday,sounds good! Who's doing the work? Emile's gang?

No, all the work.is being done by me and a forum friend. ..

I plan to do all the painting and heating wiring etc, major mechanicals are mainly my friend, some will be jointly with me - being simply the gopher

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Even cheaper then .. .. Nice!! Myself personally,i think Romania would be a great place for a Holiday and if people are not handy with the spanners/painting etc everything labour wise/cost wise is so much cheaper than UK.

[LHD_Kid]

True, but sometimes the available materials aren't all that... I'm taking my own paint and stuff with me. .

Just took delivery of a 6m x 3m wedding marquee spray booth

Gonna be such a laugh...

[pasbogdan]

True, but sometimes the available materials aren't all that... I'm taking my own paint and stuff with me. .

Spare yourself of paint,laquers,thiners,primers,hardners,degreasers flowing out of the cans in your car.You will find here all you need: PPG,Glasurit,Standox,Max Meyer,Dupont etc etc etc.Also all you need from 3M,Sata,Devilbiss,Rupes etc etc etc.
What you can not find is the por 15
For painting tech,booth cleanness,air filters and driers,loan a booth and do not waste materials by getting water,oil,and dust in your paint job.

Have a nice trip!!

[LHD_Kid]

Spare yourself of paint,laquers,thiners,primers,hardners,degreasers flowing out of the cans in your car.You will find here all you need: PPG,Glasurit,Standox,Max Meyer,Dupont etc etc etc.Also all you need from 3M,Sata,Devilbiss,Rupes etc etc etc.
What you can not find is the por 15
For painting tech,booth cleanness,air filters and driers,loan a booth and do not waste materials by getting water,oil,and dust in your paint job.

Have a nice trip!!

Interesting, I tried to find somewhete there to get 2K and couldn't - I already have all the stuff so just need to be super careful how I pack it - all brand new unopened so shouldn't leak. Will make one hell of a mess if I have an accident - it's red so might look quite scary!!!

[rxl]

go to bart ant he will paint your car for 2k euro.. and if your doing it right you will save lots of money... believe me...

[LHD_Kid]

go to bart ant he will paint your car for 2k euro.. and if your doing it right you will save lots of money... believe me...

by 2K, I mean the type of paint.

Looking forward to doing it myself - not doing the whole thing, it's not worth it... trade price on all the gear around 300 EUR - then just a bit of my time....

[rxl]

Well quality is one thing.. Anyway do lots of pictures I want to go to Romania to paint my rs2 at barts place.. So want to know what's awaiting

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9505 mit Tapatalk

[LHD_Kid]

So, I'm wondering if I should actually do a proper project thread.... been threatening to do it for ages...
Anyway, bad pictures, but you get the idea...

Car leaving 4.30 am Saturday morning:

[IMG][/IMG]

Likes a drink! Fuel stop (averaged almost 9.8 L/100 Km, pretty good fully loaded, roof box, etc...)

[IMG][/IMG]

Returning 3 weeks later, as below:

[IMG][/IMG]

The astute ones may have noticed different wheels... this is because my winter Boleros I used for the journey are not very generous when it comes to space behind the spokes, the new brake calipers fouled (would have needed something like 40mm spacers...)

Borrowed a set of these just for the run home...

[LHD_Kid]

Almost forgot... trip there (taking it slow and steady) took 26 hours. I stopped only 4 times in total, each one to feed and water both car and driver....

Trip back just under 40 hours...yes... 40 hours !!!
Border crossings from Romania to Hungary, Hungary to Austria and Austria to Germany were just a complete nightmare... couple this to German roads where - although there is no speed limit - so much is under repair that you can't go past 100 Kmh at the best of times......

Suffering from back ache today, 40 hours of sitting in the drivers seat of a loaded S2, without the possibility to slide back or recline the seat really does take it's toll!!

Engine ran perfectly, faultless...

I had a little issue with a weepy rad hose, but this was easily fixed at a fuel stop.

[gavs20v]

That's fantastic new chris. Sounds like a great road trip . ( good to see the brakes fitted )
I hope you've got more pics to share !!

Gav

[pasbogdan]

How did you found the borders with the immigrants passing some states?