Prawn and BigAls A3 Track Car

[s3dave]

T T T

 

[bigal 1]

I ve known companies in the past (and prob the future as well) to do things that will cause or give them more business in the future by not doing things properly. I wonder. Or in the case of a well know BMW dealership to spike things so that the car Had to go back shortly. I overheard this quote from the manager to a new mechanic. "If this f-----g car aint back in three months, you are for the chop". They didn't know I was there and there was a lot more.

 

[s3dave]

Thats what mine was doing Dan, it would open but air escaped through the rod hole so i launched mine...

A few month earlier it was air tight....

God knows what my CR turbo is made up off then .... it will be straight to you Dan for inspection once i take the piece of **** off!!

 

[beachbuggy]

I just LOVE professionals. Give me a good amateur any time. BB not included in that quote.

not sure I class myself as a professional I have a full time job away from all this, I just have a huge passion ( and acciqured knowledge )
I honestly think , with the mistakes made on this they through it together to keep the customer happy. I don't think they even thought someone might dissect it, either that or it's complete incompetence. Either way you have to ask what they're up to make such basic mistakes, and hope its a one off! Otherwise there's a few others out there!

 

[badger5]

its inconsistence which is a reoccuring theme with them

 

[bigal 1]

The comment was in general towards the big boys and not to anyone we know on this forum. Dont forget we have two BBs We have all been ripped off from the Specialist Garage. Some of the Audi dealers spring to mind.

 

[Prawn]

Argh. What a ******, had no idea it was leaking Dan! Thanks for all your work

so, I guess I need a new actuator! Does anyone have any idea what length the rod is for me to find a Replacement?

Any suggestions for a good actuator capable of holding shut on the hybrid? I'd rather not be spending forge money if possible, the ****** spend never ends!!!!

 

[s3dave]

I got mine off Dan mate...they need a little modification

 

[Prawn]

Is it an uprated one of sorts Dave? Might drop Dan a text in the morning

 

[s3dave]

Yes it is mate, 10 psi i think,,, ideal for your setup...

 

[bigal 1]

I just LOVE professionals. Give me a good amateur any time. BB not included in that quote.

I ve just read this again and it seems to ambiguous. I was being sarcastic when I said I love professionals What I meant was, people who portray they are professionals and quite often do a job like the one on our turbo.

 

[Prawn]

we knew what you meant Big Bad Dad

 

[MIGGZ]

iv just gone thru every post in this thread, its taken me 3 solid days, but all i can say is wow! iv got my dad and my chick interested in this build now lol
awsome work prawn really inspired!

 

[Prawn]

Cheers Miggz, I've just read your PM too

Makes it all worth it when people enjoy reading it.

Hoping to have a decent update by Monday night!

 

[Westy]

This must be the longest you've had the car off the road since you bought it!?

 

[MIGGZ]

dude im now on ebay looking for an lsd lol but they a lil pricey. and since i saw your cage i now want half a cage to. my car is my daily at the moment and i do about 800km a week so it still needs to have a function

 

[MIGGZ]

Cheers Miggz, I've just read your PM too

Makes it all worth it when people enjoy reading it.

Hoping to have a decent update by Monday night!

had the same setup on my previous A3 and my VR6 takes some getting used to but well worth it

 

[Prawn]

This must be the longest you've had the car off the road since you bought it!?

Pretty much since I started the project mate, it was off the road for 6 months when I first stopped using it as a daily and bought the other one, but since becoming a track car the longest it's been down before is 3 weeks in Jan this year whilst doing all the turbo stuff and new gearbox.

To make things worse though, in the past I always had the 220bhp daily or the mini to keep me entertained, I've now sold the daily A3, Mini isn't MOT'd this year, and all I've got is a soot chucker megane to get my automotive fix!

Needless to say, I'm going absolutely mental not being able to go for a drive!

Fingers crossed for Monday maiden voyage.

had the same setup on my previous A3 and my VR6 takes some getting used to but well worth it

That's good to hear mate, I've run the standard VR6 clutches for years without ever having issues, and recently fitted the exedy uprated pressure plate when I fitted the hybrid, but the last thing I want with my gearbox history is to fit a whole new engine with some fancy parts, and take it to the dyno for mapping, only to find the clutch isn't up to the added power and have to pull it all out again!

This plate is from the southbend DXD 'DRAG' spec clutch, which they rate to 500bhp/500lbft when used with their pressure plate. I'm using my exedy 40% uprated one, so I wouldn't imagine it being hugely different.

 

[slappy_dunbar]

What flywheel?

 

[Prawn]

Lightened 6kg ABF single mass flywheel Doug, being a 5 speed setup it's a 228mm setup rather than the 240myou guys are probably used to

picking up the engine crane tonight, and if all goes well fitting the engine tomorrow

 

[StaceyS3]

Glad southbend have managed to sort you out, can't wait to get mine in but am a bit wairy of how it's going to feel?

I suspect yours will possibly be a little more grabby than mine as yours is a 4 puck and mines a 6 with bit more surface area?

You'll have to let me know what it's like

 

[Prawn]

Right, this is it. Prawns big weekend. (Hopefully)

I'll keep this updated over the weekend when I fancy a break from getting oily

Got home late last night, after sitting on the M25 carpark for what felt like forever:

Picked up the engine crane this morning:

And also went round to check out my new garage, its rather, erm, garage like:

And now it's time for a manly breakfast to keep me going through the day:

Then to work!

 

[nightroamer]

Can't wait for the updates as I'm sat at work bored to death for 12 hours.

You'll love that garage it looks like mine, cramped cold and with no lights/power!!

Good luck today

 

[Prawn]

I have my own garage for lights and power, next to my house.

This one is just to store all my other crap in that I don't need regularly!

It'll be mainly filled with bits of dead audi I don't want to throw away yet.

 

[nightroamer]

Good call. I have spent more time stuffing holes with expanding foam to stop the rain coming in than I have working on the car/engine!!

 

[Prawn]

Nice. doesn't sound like fun!

Breakfast is finished now, so no more forums for me

Back later folks! Wish me luck

 

[superkarl]

Good luck.

 

[Westy]

DO WORK SON!

 

[Munch]

Good luck fella!!! Can't wait to see the result

 

[StaceyS3]

Good luck mate can't wait to see what she'll be like unleashed

 

[Prawn]

Turbo on, all oil/water lines on. Just fitting clutch, and realised of forgotten to get a new release bearing! D'OH!

on my way to GSF now.

Also can't find my second inlet gasket to fit the phenolic spacer. Grrrr!

 

[Westy]

Turbo on, all oil/water lines on. Just fitting clutch, and realised of forgotten to get a new release bearing! D'OH!

on my way to GSF now.

Also can't find my second inlet gasket to fit the phenolic spacer. Grrrr!

Sort it out! You should be an expert by now lol

 

[Prawn]

Sorted. New release bearing, clutch all flywheel all done. Quick stop for a drink, then fit the box and hoist it in

 

[Paradox1]

I got one spare if you need it.?can drop it to you later if you still need it

 

[Prawn]

Whatcha got Marty? Large port inlet gasket or Release bearing?

I've got a release bearing now, and one inlet gasket, but I can't find the other for the life of me!

If it's an inlet gasket you've got matey, drop me a text

Turbo bolted on with actuator spaced by Dan to get it working squarely:

Oil and water lines back on:

Clutch plates, new vs old:

Old plate after 4k miles:

New ceramic plate:

Clearly the old hadn't worn much at all!

Cleaned up the flywheel, Don't even remember seeing this engraving when JP sent it to me:

Clutch plate in with make shift centering tool:

And the Exedy cover on and bolted up:

That's my tea finished. Back to work!

 

[nightroamer]

Very exciting update, love to see it all coming together.

What was the old clutch plate mate?

 

[Paradox1]

Ahh shoot,just realised I got a small port and you need a large.sorry

 

[Prawn]

Day 1 complete, I did everything I planned to today, so I think I deserve a beer

Before putting the engine back in, I removed the offending driveshaft that has been the entire reason behind this build, you can see how the flange has torn as it's done it's damage:

Brand new OEM shaft to go on there tomorrow.

I decided I couldn't ****** around forever, so it was time to start moving things.

I got the engine up nearer the car, and ready to fit the gearbox:

New release bearing to go:

I've got so many of these lying around, all of which have done less than 5k miles, but for the sake of £8 it's got to be changed.

Box bolted up:

And she's all ready to go home to the engine bay!

I put towels down and walked it into the engine bay on the ground as far as I could until the Diff hit the subframe:

Almost there!

And it's IN!!!!

Finally, in the engine bay, on it's mounts, things are looking up

I went to look for the clutch slave to refit that, and could only find 2 old ones. Not knowing if they would leak or not, and with such an expensive clutch plate in there, I decided not to risk it, so went back to GSF and bought a new slave cylinder.

Then on the way home, Jardo's Dad rang me up and asked if I wanted my slave cylinder back any time soon.

D'OH! I'd forgotten it was on the old box when I took it to him. Oh well, can never be too safe

With the new slave fitted, I refitted the gear cable bracket and set up the gear linkage with the TT short shifter. I noticed one of the rod ends is slightly bent, but it doesn't seem to be effecting the shift action at all, which feels perfect straight away

I've connected up all the wires I can so far, coilpacks, power steering, knock sensors, crank sensor etc etc....

This is how I left it this evening:

Tomorrow I'll connect the shafts and dog bone mount, then the rest and hopefully fire it up!

 

[Westy]

Great fast work there mate. Can't wait to see it alive again tomorrow

 

[<tuffty/>]

Good work dude... nice engine you have there... ;P

I have been building engines today too

<tuffty/>