[chiarov]

I remember your sequential build thread and it's still one of my favorites of all time. You're clearly a very talented mechanic / machinist / electrician! But I have two questions:

#1 - Why? What inspired you? Just not being satisfied with the sequential?

#2 - How'd you learn to do all this? I consider myself an average DIY mechanic but could never imagine tackling anything this insane!

 

[da40flyer]

I remember your sequential build thread and it's still one of my favorites of all time. You're clearly a very talented mechanic / machinist / electrician! But I have two questions:

#1 - Why? What inspired you? Just not being satisfied with the sequential?

#2 - How'd you learn to do all this? I consider myself an average DIY mechanic but could never imagine tackling anything this insane!

Thanks

I have always appreciated the engineering behind the dual clutch transmissions, and having been an Audi owner I knew of their silky smooth bulletproof motors. Last summer I spun a rod bearing in my 2ZZ, and since I'd have to pull everything out anyway, I decided to see if I could make the VW/DSG work. And again, the DSG would make the car more street friendly.

I have been tinkering on cars for 35 years. I am an engineer, but most of what I have learned was by just jumping in with both feet and trying it. There is a quote written somewhere by someone that says something like, "I have never failed at anything I have tried, I simply learned of new ways how not to do it". And since I never get discouraged, I just continue on until I figure out how to do it... whatever "IT" happens to be.

It may sound corny, but I honestly get up every morning excited to tackle the next challenge. I have such a passion for being a "Maker". This combined with my passion for cars meld together perfectly. And I am a true believer that "It's All About The Tools". With the right tools, you can make anything...

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[chiarov]

Great advice all around! I'm also an Audi owner and love the DSG in my S4. It makes such a cool "burp" sound on full throttle upshifts.

It looks like you definitely have all of the right tools and a good garage space for big projects like this. But still impressive that you have a day job and are just tackling this on the nights and weekends.

Keep up the great work, we'll all be waiting for updates!

 

[Nessal]

I remember your sequential build thread and it's still one of my favorites of all time. You're clearly a very talented mechanic / machinist / electrician! But I have two questions:

#1 - Why? What inspired you? Just not being satisfied with the sequential?

#2 - How'd you learn to do all this? I consider myself an average DIY mechanic but could never imagine tackling anything this insane!

Thanks

I have always appreciated the engineering behind the dual clutch transmissions, and having been an Audi owner I knew of their silky smooth bulletproof motors. Last summer I spun a rod bearing in my 2ZZ, and since I'd have to pull everything out anyway, I decided to see if I could make the VW/DSG work. And again, the DSG would make the car more street friendly.

I have been tinkering on cars for 35 years. I am an engineer, but most of what I have learned was by just jumping in with both feet and trying it. There is a quote written somewhere by someone that says something like, "I have never failed at anything I have tried, I simply learned of new ways how not to do it". And since I never get discouraged, I just continue on until I figure out how to do it... whatever "IT" happens to be.

It may sound corny, but I honestly get up every morning excited to tackle the next challenge. I have such a passion for being a "Maker". This combined with my passion for cars meld together perfectly. And I am a true believer that "It's All About The Tools". With the right tools, you can make anything...

.
.

That's freaking awesome and really shows what determination can do. Contrast that with millennials in my age group that can't do something as simple as getting to work on time...ever. Much respect.

 

[Knowledgeispower]

awesome build so far! great work and good luck on the finished product

 

[da40flyer]

Finished 3D printing the dash mounting bracket and facia trim and attached it to the stock bracket. Still some fine tuning to be done...


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[lobuzz311]

The speed at which you get things done might be the most impressive part of this build. So cool. Can't wait to see the finished (beastly) product!

 

[da40flyer]

I learned to sew when I was young and always enjoyed it. I've made bench cushions and such in the past.

I decided to pick up a walking foot sewing machine to try my hand at doing the leather interior pieces.
The center console sides weren't too difficult. The dash binnacle is certainly proving to be more challenging...

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[Ob917]

It's really awesome seeing each new post in this thread. Looks like it's going to be bad ass!

 

[da40flyer]

...

 

[rb26dett]

Incredible build! This hits close to home for me because I own both an Exige and a 2016 Golf R with the motor you're using. My R is stage 2 APR tuned and it's already insane. I can't imagine stage 3 in an Exige chassis. Bravo and good luck.

 

[rb26dett]

This is pure awesome!
Of course I probably think that because I have an Exige and daily drive a Golf R....or maybe it is just pure awesome.

We have the same taste. Are you on Vortex?

 

[da40flyer]

Covered sill plate....

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[livethedream]

I'm not over on vortex much and when I am it usually for info not posting. My local dealer was trying to get me to buy a '16 Rwith a Stage 1. It was grey and a DSG so not much interest there.

 

[phaphaphooey]

This is incredible. I have a MK7 GTI DSG with the Gen 3 EA888 2.0 litre engine very similar to the one that you are using. The engine is such a peach and the DSG makes it an excellent commuter car that can get down when you need to. As you know, these engines are so stout and can handle so much boost it is insane. That, combined with the transmission, will make your Exige nuts. Enjoy and keep on updating us.

 

[mic_crispy]

We have the same taste. Are you on Vortex?

I've had a few GTi's, an R32 and a MK7 Golf R... love those things!
I plan on moving closer to the mountains this summer and might pick one up again.



@OP, great build and the leatherwork looks good.

 

[HondaCRX]

This is amazing!

As a DIYer myself (swapped a K24A2 into a Noble in my garage), I would love to see more of the intricate details and issues you ran into.
Such as wiring hurdles -- was the wiring as simple as supplying the ignition, starter, and fuel pump signals to make work? Or was it more complex?
I'm guessing you're using the OEM VAG ecu? I have a '09 GTI that has a pretty invasive stability/traction control -- how is that being managed with the ECU?
You mentioned the DSG is self contained, in terms of controlling it. I'm guessing the shift selector is cable driven, and likely a single cable?
What struggles were there with connecting the TSI's coolant pipework to the Lotus?

So many questions, I know... but I'm curious of the engineering behind it!

 

[da40flyer]

The Wiring: I basically had to go through each individual system, understand from the schematics how they worked and what they communicated with to then determine how to integrate it with the Lotus, or if I could remove it without cause. Since a lot of the systems communicate via the canbus, and since there are modules which monitor the health of every sensor and switch in the donor vehicle, deciphering what was and was not needed was complicated. Hence the crazy prototype electronics board I ended up with. With all of the immobilizer features of the donor vehicle, it took a while to track them all down and bypass them so that I would not need to use the donor vehicle's wireless key fob or dash. I also had to have the ECU specially coded since I was bypassing the immobilizer items. As I mentioned earlier, the schematic diagrams manual for the VW was over 1000 pages. But it was well documented and I could track everything down I needed. The Lotus wiring is very simple comparatively.


The DSG: It indeed has all of the sensors it needs to operate, within. It uses items like the ABS as backup sensors should one fail in the transmission. The DSG communicates with the engine ecu via the drivetrain canbus. The shift selector does have a single physical cable, but it is solely a parking brake. When a DSG transmission is in Park, both clutches are disengaged, basically putting the transmission in Neutral, which would allow the vehicle to roll. The parking brake is internal to the DSG via cogs on the differential. When you move the shift selector to Park, that cable simply engages a pawl which interacts with the cogs to keep the vehicle from rolling. All information from the shift selector to tell the transmission which gear to be in (P, R, N, D, etc) is all done via the canbus. That is why I am able to remove the donor vehicle’s gear selector all together. I retrofitted the parking cable to work with the stock Lotus parking brake lever and am working with a guy from Lithuania (a canbus guru!) to code a microcontroller so I can select the gears via buttons on my console. This part has also been quite the science project in itself. Using a canbus sniffer, I put the DSG through its gears while logging all of the can messages and then decoded them. These messages will then get coded into the microcontroller for broadcast, when requested.

I did not integrate the stability/traction control from the donor. I always had it turned off on my Exige anyway.

The coolant lines were very straight forward. Simply plumbed into the stock radiator lines. I already had a 2nd front radiator which I had connected to my rev400, which is now connected to an air/water intercooler for the turbo.

A lot of this project has been spent just educating myself on how the VW systems work. Fortunately I was already very familiar with the Lotus.
It was simply a puzzle to solve putting them together. Lots of testing and debugging. Fortunately I love problem solving :smile2:

 

[da40flyer]

While waiting for parts, I decided to take a crack at recovering the headliner, since mine was sagging so badly...

I ended up with a few small wrinkles on the edges, but hopefully the interior trim pieces will cover them all once installed in the vehicle.

I really enjoyed doing this... it does take great patience and special skills to get those compound curves covered perfectly. Hopefully I will one day obtain those skills... :scratchhead:
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[JWA]

You do upholstery too? Amazing.