Best Value Manifold - and a few other

Inertiauk

Inertiauk

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i was looking at manifolds

Are the ebay ones crap ? or worth a go ? Any other suggestions ?

The thing Is I am doing a complete engine rebuild inc hybrid turbo / injectors / rods etc. since my turbo failed (http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/124337-think-my-turbo-gave-up.html)
and my funds are running tight, but I would rather not put my brand new Hybrid onto the stock manifold where it will be restricted but I don't want to be shelling out another £400 ideally either.

also I have ordered the Rods, where is the best place (quality and value wise) to order big end bearings, and timing belt kit. Do I need to do anything else whilst doing the rods ?

I was looking on ebay for timing belt: Water Pump Audi S3 Quattro 1.8i 20v Turbo 4x4 98-03 | eBay & Audi S3 1.8T Quattro Gates Cam Belt Kit upto 2003 | eBay

Cant find big end bearings anywhere, is it a main dealer part ? rough cost ?

Thanks.
 
i bought a genuine water pump from audi (tps) wasn't much different's in price. also a quick note on water pumps, The metal impellers start leaking through the shaft after a while,

the genuine audi pumps have been updated and are now made out of composite which is very strong

The gates cambelt kit is about the best you can get and are what audi provide you with anyway

Dont no about the mani's though
 
The xs power manifold worked for Welly but it will almost certainly need modification, but shouldnt be that expensive

There is the TSR manifold but thats something like £800

And If you can wait theres always the JBS mani, but thats been 'coming out soon' since I was a lad
 
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I certainly wouldnt be refitting the pistons on the old rings.

I got all my rebuild parts from Jason at All German Parts, bar the big end bearings which i ordered from PAGParts along with the rods.

Rings and bearings were Mahle brand iirc.
 
Water pump is only £40 exchange from Audi (well I got mine at the local VW dealer). Worth it's weight in gold buying genuine there, mine started leaking through the shaft seal after about a year, so it was changed under warranty by VW (on my A3!). And when I mean changed I mean they changed it themselves and gave me a courtesy car for the day, I bought a new timing belt cover and had them pop that on too as they have to remove them anyway.
 
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Thanks everyone, the manifolds I was looking at on ebay were fro A4 / passat anyway, oops.

Looks like i will be ordering this manifold : VW / Audi KKK Turbo Manifold, Audi Turbo Manifolds, XS Power Inc. which seems really good value.

will order Timing belt kit and water pump from Audi as recommended.

Will order those big end bearings Dave mentioned Audi 1.8T Big End bearing set DLC Coated Race series | eBay

so its jsut piston rings to think about. I will get a price from Audi for OEM ones I think. unless anyone suggests differently.
 
What Dave said and the face that joins to the engine block might not be flat, all of which can be fairly easily sorted out. And one of the bolts is a pig to tighten IIRC

Why it will need to be modified is the the only thing that appears to be consistant is XS powers inconsistancy. Welly is working with them on all of the above, see here for details. http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...-sports-decat-group-buy-gauging-interest.html
 
audi upgrades
I dont buy anything like that from Audi.

Audi dont make piston rings, they dont make water pumps and they dont make timing belts.

The contitech timing belt kit i baught was made by the same folk as the original Audi parts (NTN and INA) but came at a sensible price without the Audi tax.

Same goes for everything else. Why pay a premium when you can buy the same parts for half the cost elsewhere?
 
Inertiauk said:
Thanks everyone, the manifolds I was looking at on ebay were fro A4 / passat anyway, oops.

Looks like i will be ordering this manifold : VW / Audi KKK Turbo Manifold, Audi Turbo Manifolds, XS Power Inc. which seems really good value.

will order Timing belt kit and water pump from Audi as recommended.

Will order those big end bearings Dave mentioned Audi 1.8T Big End bearing set DLC Coated Race series | eBay

so its jsut piston rings to think about. I will get a price from Audi for OEM ones I think. unless anyone suggests differently.
Click to expand...

The manifold in the link isn't for a K04 on an S3... its a K03 manifold...

<tuffty/>
 
good luck with value..

I have a couple of manifolds which are going to be tested.. for k04's..
One we know of, which is dougs, which is being modded to make it slightly better, and another, which I am being sent a sample of, which is based on my own design which Danes running, but with a couple of updates.
 
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IE rods are sold in 4's for the 1.8t... Think Bill @ Badger 5 might have a set in stock... IE always seem to be out of stock :(

<tuffty/>
 
Not if you have happy birthday put on the box I work for a U S firm and ice hockey stuff sent over all the time and I dont pay vat
 
Welly said:
If serious about it, I would review my hybrid build thread.
Click to expand...

I spent most of this tonight reading this thread (and other threads referenced on other forums), quite a roller-coaster, a lot of lessons learnt.
I know you eventually went big turbo, but did the XS manifold survive ? Would you recommend it ?

also what are the 'Studs' I will need for fitting? My mechanic will be doing the majority of the work, I will help where I can.

My main remaining concern is that somone local to me will be able to map it well. Wayne of chipwizards in Rochdale is my local Mapping specialist (he is good but he's not VAG sepcific) I hope he can handle this. Need to give him a call to discuss.
 
G60DAN said:
Not if you have happy birthday put on the box I work for a U S firm and ice hockey stuff sent over all the time and I dont pay vat
Click to expand...

Doesnt matter what you write. Gifts, be it birthday, christmas or whatever else are eligable for VAT and duty just like any other import, albeit with a slightly higher threshold. The only way you'll get them into the country without paying tax is by sticking a very low value on the customs declaration, but i would imagine you then run the risk of customs siezing or returning the items due to a fraudulent declaration if its obvious the items are worth much more, plus if you've put Value: $10, on the form you'll only be insured for that amount should the package go missing in transit.

See here: HM Revenue & Customs
 
<tuffty/> said:
IE rods are sold in 4's for the 1.8t... Think Bill @ Badger 5 might have a set in stock... IE always seem to be out of stock :(

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

nope mate. they sold last week.
IE's stocking suks on rods these past 7 months.. :(
I can get rods, but they're £330+vat
 
audi upgrades
Inertiauk said:
but did the XS manifold survive ?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it did indeedy. I used it for 5000 miles, and my god did it see some heat.

When it came off, it looked like a discoloured version of the one that went on. It was still in shape, and it had not cracked most importantly.

Inertiauk said:
Would you recommend it ?
Click to expand...

That's a hard one to give an honest answer to - and thus I try to avoid doing so. I will let you make you own mind up with a list of pros and cons.

Pros:
It worked extremely well, and was far superior performance-wise to the 034 manifold that preceded it. It has a very nice and well thought out design, and a merge collector which means it flows well. It gave very good performance gains. Over the 5000+ miles I used it, it got a thrashing and maintained shape without cracking.

Cons:
Getting one with a flat head/manifold flange seems to be a challenge (if you do get bad one, keep sending them back until you get a good one). Fitting is a bit of a mare, but not beyond the wit of man. Reliability long term is unknown, however I have heard of people having been using them for 6 months upwards.

In fairness, the manifold surpassed all my expectations, so it's not a bad bit of kit at all.

The studs I used were K03 downpipe studs x 3 and corresponding nuts with Nordlock washers to stop them vibrating loose. A 'special' spanner is also required...
 
badger5 said:
Another is being made for testing currently for me. Which is based on my design with some upgrades.
Click to expand...

Based on this (as I didn't know lol) I would hold out personally.

The main benefit being that it will fit... Properly. No buggering about.
 
aragorn said:
Doesnt matter what you write. Gifts, be it birthday, christmas or whatever else are eligable for VAT and duty just like any other import, albeit with a slightly higher threshold. The only way you'll get them into the country without paying tax is by sticking a very low value on the customs declaration, but i would imagine you then run the risk of customs siezing or returning the items due to a fraudulent declaration if its obvious the items are worth much more, plus if you've put Value: $10, on the form you'll only be insured for that amount should the package go missing in transit.

See here: HM Revenue & Customs
Click to expand...

You said this before but clearly it's worked for me and Dan.
 
Welly said:
Based on this (as I didn't know lol) I would hold out personally.

The main benefit being that it will fit... Properly. No buggering about.
Click to expand...


Time isn't on my side though, using the girlfriends car at the moment which cant carry on forever. need mine back on the road asap.

Going to order the XS one, seems good for the money.
 
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