Welsh hybrid build - Like a phoenix?

Having had my S3 for nearly a year now, I have read with interest the build treads that Tuffty, Prawn, Westy, Welly and so many others have been posting. I only began posting a few weeks ago (I have been a fervent lurker for quite a while, learning soooo much from the helpful info and tips that you guys post) and as I have got so much help from this forum recently I felt I should start posting myself so that others can maybe benefit. After all, we've all got to start somewhere......


This was the car the day I bought it. The drive from Gloucestershire back to Cardiff was unbelievable. After driving a 105bhp VW Touran for 2 years, It felt like the fastest car on the M4 that day!



It had 125,00 miles on the clock and a massive folder of service history, receipts, etc. Although she has had quite a lot of owners in her 15 years, I think most of them looked after her quite well IMO. The interior and paintwork were very good nick, asides from the “normal” rusting along the roof rails. There was a receipt from a main dealer for repairs carried out to the roof under warranty but I guess the quality of workmanship wasn't all that. She was completely standard apart from H&R springs, a stage 1 remap (I think it's a generic map, judging by the receipts), DV, 18” replica alloys and R8 style aftermarket headlights (which, for the record I hate with a passion).

I was working in Birmingham for a couple of months so I used the car to travel there. It never missed a beat but I just couldn't hack the really harsh ride that the 19” wheels gave me on the M50 so I started looking for some AVUS' on fleabay. The inside edges of my rear tyres were very worn due to the H&R lowering springs that are fitted so I needed to find a set ASAP to stay legal. A set of AVUS' turned up just down the road from me, complete with brand new tyres but in the wrong width and profile (The previous owner had them fitted to a Skoda Fabia – 205/40 ZR17).

I bought them for a good price even though they looked lost in the wheel arches.



Although the wheel/tyre combo was a lot better than the 18's, the car was now much too low. It would grind out getting on or off the drive and on the countless speed bumps around Cardiff. A few friends were running Federal RS595s on their track day cars and I managed to get a set of 4 for a decent price online.



I had the wheels acid dipped and repainted in white by a local wheel refinishers. I'm very pleased with the result, even though the colour has taken a while to get used to.



I took the car off the road to fit a Badger5 80mm TIP and try and sort out the reason for one of the most oily looking engine bays I have ever seen. I had a week in my diary with no work commitments and figured that a few days would get everything sorted.......Wrong!



As most of you will know, hoses on a 14 year old car will be rotten. How this car was running was nothing short of a miracle – every hose was totally perished and must have been leaking like a sieve. As soon as you started to move anything it would just crumble and fall apart in your hand. After reading the stickies (Yes, I have read them Tuffty!) I decided to do a 249 Bypass, SAI and PCV delete.

Fleabay became my favourite website for a couple of weeks, buying copious amounts of silicon hose and connectors in a variety of sizes. I bought a catch can then decided to vent it to atmosphere, so bought a mini filter and a plug for the TIP. Oh, I bought a cone filter and heatshield too. And handfuls of JCS pipe clips.....

Through Fleabay, I managed to pick up a set of brand new 2.0FSI coil packs from Germany. I ended up getting them for a tenner each.I ordered the OEM adaptors from the main dealer as per Tuffty's thread. Nice mod for less that a tenner!



Trying to work on a car on your drive in the winter is not fun, but I eventually got everything replaced. I cleaned a lot of the oil from under the inlet manifold and around block, and after an oil and filter change and a new dayglo orange dipstick holder she was up and running again with no leaks. In true Ghetto style, I drove her around the surrounding streets without the front bumper fitted, checking all the hoses were okay. AOK and the extra noise coming from the TIP and the filter was unreal!



At his point I had an MOT test done. Quite surprisingly, she passed with no advisories. I think the guys in the garage were quite impressed by the car, judging by their comments! Even though they were hardcore Jap car drifters, they were very interested in what I wanted to achieve over the next year, mod wise.

All was good for a week or so. I took every opportunity to drive the car, taking it on a shopping trip to Sainsburys on Christmas Eve.



I wanted to make sure she was running okay before starting on the next install – Never change too many things at once! I had bought a FMIC some time ago and I was itching to get it on the car.

I had bought the biggest sized 63mm inlet/outlet intercooler I could find on fleabay but I didn't quite realise how big it would look on the car. The plan was to use 63mm solid pipework from the charge pipe, all the way to the inlet manifold, using the absolute minimum of silicone.

Fabricating a top bracket out of aluminium angle in what seems to be the time-honoured ASN fashion, along with 2 lower mounts that I fashioned out of some roof truss brackets that I had laying around, I bolted it on the front of the car.



To make fitting the hard intercooler pipework easier, I relocated the battery to the boot. I bought a battery cradle from a motorsports supplier on Fleabay, along with superflex 50mm2 welding cable, a killswitch and an assortment of connectors and crimps. Tuffy's detailed write-up on this is excellent, and much better that I can muster. I have shamelessly copied what he had done previously.

In December, someone on the VAG Facebook forum posted that they were breaking an 8L that had had a lot of engine work done to it. I was in the right place at the right time and jumped on a BBT Hybrid K04 and a Relentless V4 manifold. They have been sitting on my desk as expensive paperweights ever since.





Just after Christmas, the intercooler pipework was fitted. The inlet and outlet sides were custom fitted to the car, replacing the map sensor tube in its original position behind the headlight. The input side of the intercooler (from the charge pipe) is made in one sold piece and the output side is made in 2 pieces with a small sliver of silicone connector. I might look at getting rid of the joint at some stage as I think I may be able to make it 1 large pipe but still be able to get in on and off if needed. It seemed too much hassle to do it at the time, but perhaps I'll revisit it.

Disaster struck one morning a couple of weeks ago. A machine-gun type misfire followed by what sounded like a bag of spanners under the valve cover. Not good. Thinking it was maybe a coilpack, I went home and picked up the original set I had removed when I swapped over to the FSI packs. I swapped them out on the side of the road but the noise/misfire was still there. Really not good at all. A mate of mine towed me back to the house and I set about trying to diagnose the problem.

I had bought a copy of VCDS and a dongle a few days before (funny coincidence, that!) so my forst port of call was to break out the laptop. No fault code to be seen. Eh?

Under the bonnet. Spark plugs out. No1 cylinder comes out and it looks like this



The ceramic was totally missing, obviously smashed up with whatever was now ratting around in the cylinder bores. I think this is most defintely causing the misfire the problem.....

Cylinder No 2 spark plug - Oily but okay. Cylinder No 3 plug – Ceramic missing also. Cylinder No 4 plug – Okay. So, the next stage is to take the head off and see what has caused the damage.

Now - I live in Wales. It rains a lot in Wales and in early January it is cold. Very cold. I started stripping the head in between the heavy rain and hail showers, battling the 60MPH wind that was whistling down the side of my house. Have I mentioned that I don't have a garage big enough to get the car in so I'll be building this project on the drive? This was not the greatest moment of my life. Cold, wet, dirty and not feeling in the best of moods, this is what I found....




The head hadn't fared much better. A bit of valve damage means a rebuild at the very least.

Now, seeing that I was going to max out my rods when I fitted the hybrid, I had 2 options. Spend a lot of money rebuilding my exisiting engine or buy one that was already that spec from someone here on ASN (Hello, Gops!). A deal was done so that I get a forged engine and replacement head when Gops has his new motor installed by Bill next month. Result!

Here are the 63mm solid pipes that I am using instead of silicone



I forgot that I also bought and fitted a Trackslag charge pipe when I was replacing all the vaccum pipework.



So all the pipework is now 63mm, with the minimum of silicon joints. I hope all the effort is going to be worth it in the longrun.

Update for today - the weld-in boss for my WMI nozzle arrived this morning in the post.

After reading many, many posts about WMI installs, I was planning to put it where the "X" is marked. It is a couple of inches from the outlet of the IC, facing straight downward towards the floor (the pipe is in exactly the same orientation in the photo as it is mounted on the car) . Does that look right?

I seem to remember someone saying (I can't remember who though, sorry) that it would get it a better chance of atomisation (and therefore cooling) the further away it was away from the inlet manifold? If so, is this the right place to put it?



I still haven't decided on whether to get a Devils Own or an AEM kit yet. It's on the shopping list but need so many other things first.

Thanks guys.

Postie delivered these today:



Collected the new stretch bolts from main dealer. I also collected all the OEM gaskets, washers and nuts/studs that I need to fit the turbo and manifold.

My favourite courier also knocked the door - I bought this from the classifieds section a few days ago - a much needed coil pack loom. Mine is shot.



I'd better be getting on with actually fitting stuff now - my office is starting to be over-run with car parts.

Update for today......

Went to fit the dogbone mount bushes this afternoon. One of the bolts holding it into the subframe sheared it's head off straight away and the mount is now stuck fast so a little persuasion with heat/hammer will be in order tomorrow. Seems to be a common theme on this b#$*#rd car......

To calm down I went to my local Machine Mart and ended up walking out with a benchtop parts washer. I thought it would be handy for cleaning up all the parts I have stripped off my broken engine in preparation for the transplant. Very pleased with it - its a great little thing. The cam cover, inlet mani, fuel rail and dump valve are all now looking like new. Amazing!

The car is now looking very sorry for itself, sat on axle stands with no front end and half the engine missing. When I took the slam panel off earlier today I was amazed at the level of corrosion on the PAS oil cooler pipework - REALLY really bad. So bad that the brackets that held the cooler pipework onto the IC pipe were no longer attached. Completely rusted away! Some ghetto engineering will be required to remedy this - I already have a plan!

Cars always need something doing to them - Its just you don't notice so much in the summer!

Have you got the BBT with the TFSI internals too? I can't wait to get it back up and running!!

I've had lots of Mk2's in various forms (lots of 8 valvers, a GTI Engineering RE1900, a couple of 16valvers, a 2.0 16v on Dellortos, 2 Rallyes but my G60 Limited was undoubtedly the best. Wish I still had it as it was factory mint with low mileage. It's worth a fortune now!

Never mind - I've got a 15 year old non-running Audi on the drive in bits instead.......

rallye_turbo said:

Wow.... A G60 Limited!!! Incredible.

I know! It only had 68000 KMs on the clock too!

Also have a Rallye with R32 in the garage

I love a rallye!

Yes - it's the latest one with all the TFSI gubbins! I also am very excited about what it's going to deliver as I have all the usual bits and 8.5/1 Wiseco pistons - a little over 1800cc and a nicely ported small port head. Also uprated rods, so can really push boost past 300lb/ft. Hoping north of 350bhp with Bill working his magic.

Click to expand...

That sounds very familiar! I'm sticking with stock displacement/ small port / K04 body just to see what can be acheived....

Sadly not Franko180......I'm still waiting for delivery of the replacement engine.

I've been spending my time stripping down my old engine , cleaning everything in my parts washer, followed by paint.

I've also amassed a massive amount of stuff for the rebuild - Water, Oil and Boost Hoses, O clips, JCS clamps, stretch bolts, gaskets, o-rings and seals. Add to that a Bosch 044 inline pump, 550cc injectors, filters and new AIT and MAF sensors and my office is looking more like a garage than a garage....

I've also ordered an EGT weld-in boss, probe and gauge although it hasn't turned up yet. Some downpipe modification will be on the cards soon.

It won't be long now, I hope......

It would be nice.......but I've already got a Pro 4 mani sat on my desk as a paperweight!

It would be interesting to see what a BBT K418T would push out when paired up with it though. I'll have to speak to Bill when I go to pick up my engine.

It'll probably have to go on the "want" list for a while. I've got to get the thing running again yet!

Miguel_S# said:

good setup almost like mine
you have a really nice paperweight

Click to expand...

Hi Miguel

What spec are you running then?

Update for this week -

Coil pack loom replaced. I had to cut all the way back to the plastic clip on the gearbox as the insulation was brittle and cracked. An easy and worthwhile job to do though if you have the required kit/skills.

Aircon system drained. It's not going to be recomissioned so I have removed the compressor and all the pipework.

Even more rubber pipework/clips delivered to replace old, knackered stuff. Mainly coolant pipes.

Polytek 85 shore ordered for the engine mounts.

A set of long stardrive bits (for removing the driveshafts) arrived yesterday as I have lost mine somewhere along the line. This is the last job to do before the engine comes out.

Minor update : Picking up the replacement engine tomorrow from Badger5. Whoop!

First update in a while.......

Engine collected from B5, block cleaned and painted. Pro 4 manifold fitted (what a sh*t!)
All ancillary parts cleaned in my trusty Clarke parts washer or stripped and rebuilt.
Just waiting for the long 6mm hex key to arrive so that I can take the transfer box off the gearbox before getting it steam cleaned.
Engine bay/subframe steam cleaned while the engine is out.

Parts ready to go on next:
Luk DMF/OEM clutch kit
Sachs paddle (need to collect from Bill)
OEM CV boot kit

Job for the weekend:
Use my ghetto engineering skills to fabricate a flywheel locking tool. Any ideas welcome....

At long last! It's back up and running!!

After spending 9 months working on my driveway in all weathers, I finally got the engine running last week. I live in Cardiff and work in Winchester, so finding time to do anything on the car is limited to an hour here and there (when the missus isn't looking).

There was no exhaust attached to the 3" downpipe, so it was a bit loud but it started first time (well, sort of. I forgot to attach the wire for the starter solenoid. Doh!). Needless to say, the whole of North Cardiff knew it was up and running again, missus included

As far as I could see, the only leak I had was the hard water pipe at the back of the block. I nipped it up easily as the car was still up on breezeblocks and I could get my arm underneath with an Allen key. I left it running to get everything flowing and up to temp once the thermostats opened. Everything got up to temp and sat there perfectly stable. Even the extra oil cooler didn't leak! An unexpected result!

I booked the car in this weekend to get local legend Charlie to fit a full 3" stainless exhaust. He had already "adjusted" the Relentless downpipe as it was touching both the prop and the subframe when I fitted the engine and box a few weeks ago. He also welded in a boss for the EGT gauge I bought on Fleabay. Top man.

As the car has been SORN'd since it blew up, I had no way of getting it the 15 minute journey across Cardiff legally. I arranged for a car transporter to deliver it and I was on tenterhooks all day while it was being fitted. I couldn't have been happier when went to collect it - no cat, twin 3" tailpipes and custom centre and rear silencers. It has a discreet burble and isn't too loud.

There's no front bumper fitted at the moment (it was too low to get on the flatbed when I took it down to Pro-Speed Exhausts) so I haven't had a chance to test drive it yet. I did give it a quick blast up the road (I couldn't resist!) and it does go quite well but I'm reluctant to go and thrash it until I get the map looked at - The reason I had to rebuild it was No1 and 3 cylinders had eaten their plugs (see photos above) probably caused by excessive boost and a lean "pikey" map. I can see a trip to @badger5 coming soon......

I've got a few things left to fit - Bosch 044 inline (I already relocated the filter to the engine bay) and front panel. Oh, and both my headlights have snapped off their mountings, so I've ordered new ones from ECP.

I'll try and get some photos uploaded to fill in the backstory.

Happy days!

Hey Gops. I just wanted to get it up and running as it's been in bits for so long on my drive.

I'm planning to get it settled in and road legal then get the head ported and rebuilt it with the new exhaust valves and springs you gave me.

Once back together, send her off to Bill to work his magic....

There's lots of variables in there - mainly time, money and availability! It's taken me 9 months to get where I am now!

Gearbox after a steamclean and paint.

Gops' old motor, cleaned and painted. Turbo lines, DMF, Manifold, turbo and downpipe fitted at this stage. Miggz' copper turbo gasket is just about visible - Thanks mate!

I had a problem finding an adaptor for the EGT thermocouple I had bought - It was the wrong size and no-such adaptor was available (quite a few people over the Audi RS forum were in the same predicament). I got around this by buying an NPTweld-in boss (1/8" from memory) and welding it in the downpipe.

The problem I had then is a hole where the OEM probe is supposed to be. I got round this by fitting a flywheel bolt from a Honda Civic, thus blanking the port. Job done.

So this is where I'm at the moment, complete with tie-wrapped in headlights and "Easy Access" to the oil coolers and FMIC.

The replacement headlights I ordered from ECP have just arrived, so will fit them on the weekend. I'll try and get the bumper back on too.

Ho, ho, ho! Who's that knocking on the door? It must be the postman!

Does anyone know where I can get the 4 pin connectors to the back of the headlights? Either new or used if someone is breaking an 8L?

Please PM me if you can help. Thanks in advance.

Okay, This is very overdue as I've been juggling so many things over the past few months.

Today I went to get the black nail remapped at Bills. It has been along time coming!


The calm before the storm..........

Glowy.....

Happy days. It feels like a different car now!

Unfortunately, the belt tensioner has now started rumbling, so that's on my list for this weekend.

scotty_24 said:

Nice results! Standard KO4 or Hybrid?

Click to expand...

It's a BBT K418T @scotty_24. It's always a lottery when you build a car and it's a dangerous thing to chase numbers, so I'll take those numbers - they're solid!

It's only done a couple of hundred miles since the rebuild so it's time to enjoy it on the road/track until the inevitable raft of changes.

I've ordered a new belt tensioner and still got an annoying vibration on deceleration at 2500rpm to sort out. Could be prop alignment/engine mounts?

I've already Polytek'd the mounts and I've got a black Powerflex dog bone fitted too - the engine doesn't move at all!

I can deal with the 'normal' vibration, but the one at 2500rpm is really bad. Looking at it yesterday, I think the engine is tilted backwards ever so slightly, misaligning the prop doughnut. It's the only think I can think of...