Berg Cup GTI, R32 Widebody and RS4/RS6 - Garage Projects - Eurotuner Magazine

Berg Cup GTI
Matt Halley, Service Manager at Black Forest Industries, found this ’84 VW GTI on craigslist for $400. Unfortunately, he had to fix it before he could even drive it away. “It was a circus to drive.” Matt said. “At red lights I had to hold the handbrake and keep the revs up to stop it dying. The steering would make an awful noise when you turned left and shook the whole car.”

At BFI he started by replacing the suspension with JOM coilovers. Then Matt gutted the interior and removed 50 lb by deleting the A/C.

Wanting a Berg Cup kit, one became available when he didn’t have spare cash. But a friend loaned him the dough because they come up so rarely.

Matt then swapped the front fenders and removed the front-end of the car including rad support, headlight buckets and grille. He then welded a single round core support in place. He finally fiberglassed the flares into the body before sending it to the bodyshop for paint.

In the meantime, they removed the padding from the dash and sanded it smooth, adding flock to reduce glare on the windshield. Once the car returned, they installed an ABA crate motor with dual Dell’Orto carbs, although adjustments had to be made to radiator and coolant lines to clear them.

When we last saw the project it was a few weekends away from being finished. Matt plans to add period-specific stickers and possibly a carbon rear diffuser before he’s finally done.

R32 Widebody
Adam Vandenbos was itching for more power from his ’04 VW R32 he’d entrusted to GMP Performance in Charlotte, NC. The VR6 was yanked and gone through, adding HPA’s Black Jack Extreme turbo kit that included a GT30 snail, water/meth injection, variable valve timing software and a host of features capable of delivering up to 550hp.

The team was easily able to achieve 430hp at 16psi but even with limited-slip diffs, the power couldn’t effectively be transferred to the pavement. Discovering that larger wheel and tire combinations were limited by both the external reservoirs on his KW Cup suspension and by fender space, Adam decided a widebody was the solution.

So the conversion started with metal E46 flares molded into the body. And to ensure the bumpers were aligned, they blended pieces from an R-Line bumper to keep it looking OEM.

Leaving nothing untouched, they trimmed the interior in suede. Wrapping everything including the steering wheel, dash and headliner, the Recaro Sportster CS seats were covered in leather and suede with yellow diamond stitching to match the monoblock Brembo calipers.

A work in progress, they hope to send the Mk4 to paint soon, and possibly give it a clear wrap for track protection.

RS4/RS6
HT-Motorsports’ crazy ongoing RS6 engine swap into a B7 Audi RS4 has seen its share of fabricated parts. For example, the turbo manifolds received 20 hours of TIG welding, while the new intake manifolds hold 16 injectors, and a CAD-designed dry sump seals the block.

After installing a 10-gallon fuel cell in the trunk, the team must plan the route for the fuel system components. They can then feed the heads that are currently undergoing final tweaks at the machine shop and should be ready for installation along with the engine later this month.

Pushing on, the frame horns, core supports and turbo shields are now stainless steel, and are supporting a test block to check clearance. This paid off following the arrival of one of the two Borg Warner turbos, which allowed the crew to start fabricating the exhaust.

The entire team is working to dial-in the project before the Northeastern winter sets in, and are aiming to have the engine dynoed before there’s snow on the ground.