This is a slideshow summary and video shorts of a challenge that was 35 years in the making. I consider it to be a masterpiece and I thought it worthy of my first attempt at a "real" video.
When the AWD Golf Rallye Synchro came out in the 80's, I was just out of high school and I drove a listless 1975 Scirocco. I longed to transform it into a boosted AWD monster and for whatever reason, that dream persisted throughout life. Over the years the planets fell into alignment and in 2020 I finally had enough confidence to make an attempt.
I tried to maintain a logical approach: my main goal was a mk1 Scirocco with enough traction to seamlessly deliver a lot of power. I also wanted the car to look relatively normal, depend on a minimum of custom hardware, be easily maintained with standard VAG parts and procedures, and be utterly reliable.
In order to avoid a project that languished, I considered what approach would yield a completed car in a reasonable timeframe and within an acceptable budget. It was still a huge undertaking: it took 2 years, plus $13000 for the donors and all of the specialized tools/supplies. I cannot put a number to the generosity I received and the patience my family extended to me: it took an entire community from as far as Australia to get this done.
The car consists of a Scirocco shell with an Audi TT 225 quattro's floor-pan, firewall and front frame rails grafted in. The front end is a removable "veneer" which discreetly leaves full airflow to the radiator/intercoolers and I can remove the entire drivetrain as a single unit without a lift. I installed the 225's 1.8t, Haldex AWD, ABS and ESP hardware, pared-down TT electrical system, with carpet and seats also from the Audi. I scratch-built the dash and center console to fit the TT's instrument cluster and the center tunnel.
The car has a Forge 008 diverter valve and an APR stage 1 tune running the 100 Octane program, supposedly good for 277hp. Initial weight was 2623 lbs and I've since whittled that down to 2568. I wish it were another 300 pounds lighter, and the rocker panels are bulkier than I'd like.
At 11:10 is about one second of full boost in 5th at 60mph.
I posted a driving video with a "spirited" bit here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3v5kJu9Va0
0:00 Introduction
0:33 Preparing the Donors
0:58 Metal Work
3:06 Body and Finish Work
5:03 Building the Dash and Center Console
5:31 Building the Interior
5:50 Installing the Glass
6:03 Installing the Interior
6:31 Electrical System
6:45 Preparing the Running Gear
7:50 Final Assembly
8:58 Exhaust
9:08 Initial Testing
11:21 Conclusion