Dom's 2007 Audi S3 8P

Dom Leydon · May 26, 2015

Good evening Audi-Sport!

I often found myself scrolling through this website for guides and whatever, but decided to sign up this time as i'm in need of an engine!

Anyway, I only usually find myself on the Saxperience forum, I started playing with Saxo's to start off with, but I sold that heap of **** after a year, and ended up with a bigger heap of ****, a 106 GTi. The first one of the bunch was plagued by problems. After that imploded I ended up with another, but this one was where the projects originally started. I turned a standard Silver 106 GTi into this, in 6 months.

Fitted with a 30k mileage JP4 engine, Yellow and Black leather interior, a real head turner back in 2012 anyway. Unfortunately that was written off by a bus on a Tuesday night, and completely ruined by a ****** up bitch in a Nissan Micra two days after.

I split all the parts and end up buying a BMW 320d..

That ended up going through court cases with the common cracked alloys, luckily enough I won. I sold that on, and went on to an Astra VXR (don't ask me why I did this, what a shocking choice). I ended up taking Evans Halshaw Vauxhall to court with that, with them paying up weeks before the day as they didn't have a leg to stand on with that shitter. Thus finally ending up with an Audi S3..

The first priority was cleaning it up. Looked like the polish had an excellent time cleaning it for the past 7 years!

As you can see, the paintwork needed help when a light is beamed onto it.

The exhaust hadn't seen any cleaning products since it was put on the car too.

A bit of elbow grease later and it came up quite well, needs more but not bad for a 10 minute attempt.

Ross got to work on the polishing

Not a bad result of the first stage of polishing to be honest.

Engine bay came up well too!

Dom Leydon · May 26, 2015

Luckily enough, 3 evenings work, takeaways and gay movie nights has brought the paint up quite well.

The next step was to refurb the alloys, they were bad, typical female previous owner :whistle2:

Centre caps were a painstaking task, I had to mask up the chrome. The choice was to leave them alone, spray the whole centre cap or do what we have done to them. I chose this option and if it ****** me off, to mask up just the Audi badge and spray again;

A close up too;

The next thing on the agenda was the number plate lights, Ross got me a present after ripping off ze polish.

And LED's;

Finally a close up of the Alloys and brakes, awaiting the S3 stickers;

And yet more machine polishing took place, the results were pretty awesome.

Had to take a day off work for this, the original idea was to roll around Ross's house at 9am, start the car cleaning and get onto polishing the car in his garage, finishing at 5pm so I could do my police application and head to the gym.

How it really happened, I took a day off work, woke up at 12.30pm, drove over to Ross's in a hurry, spun the **** out of the S3 still half asleep, sat and played Call of Duty for a couple of hours before getting to work on the car, and even then we watched the Hangover 3.

Lets start.. Washed car.

Easy enough. Then Hoovered, cleaned windows, exhaust tips metal polished. Took the wheels off, please bear in mind the wheels were only cleaned an hour before, road ****, brake dust and all other crap was still sticking to them! Ross pulled out the acid and we set to work.

Before & After..

Cleaned the brakes too, they were terrible.

Both Alloys and brakes came up well!

& finito.

During this whole time the car was mechanically failing badly, multiple engine problems causing it to run on three cylinders, service items couldn't fix it (Coils, sparks etc), and it was booked in at MRC Tuning, so I left them to sort it. The plan was to go straight to stage 2, and to get some new rear tyres as the budgets put on the rear really didn't grip at all, it would give everything, and then nothing without warning.

Dom Leydon · May 26, 2015

You can see from the graphs it was quite unwell before, but MRC worked their magic and it was storming quick

On Xmas day, whilst ******, Ross messaged me about an RNSE for an S3 on ebay. Due to my state, I paid a heavy wack but in the end it was worth it.

Brings the car up to date a little, installed an AUX to go with it until we get around to installing AppleTV to replace the AUX and use AirPlay instead.

Then we finally got around to the painstaking task of cleaning the car and attaching the MRC badges. Laser level out and bammmmmm;

Job done.

The car was going to make its first track day appearance at Cadwell on the 7th, unfortunately it was called off the day before much to my annoyance, but I think it was a saving grace in the end, the rear tyres were supposed to be changed, but I couldn't get hold of the Eagle F1's for love nor money on the Friday. That evening without any notice the back end stepped out coming onto a dual carriageway, I wasn't driving but it was a heavy wake up call that running budgets will be the death of the car.

The clutch was booked in for April, the first trip to the nurburgring for this car, and I didn't want it to finally give up across the English channel. 110k miles on a standard clutch and extra power was a big ask.

I've was given a long time off work, and with long times off work I get bored as ****. So, I cracked on getting this car into a respectable standard. As usual I headed over Ross's to crack on.

Started with the usual clean and polish. Over the past 6-7 months it needed it badly.

It did come up well, only the roof to go.

Anyway, as you can see, Ross was busy cleaning up my headlights, and after bricking it for at least an hour that we had ruined a headlight, they did clean up very well, no more shadowing on the exterior.

The MRC badges were fitted at some point previously, don't know if I have posted them in an earlier update. As you can see my new plates are on too.

They cleaned the car up well. I couldn't possibly leave the front grill in that grey colour though. So off the front bumper came;

Resprayed the Front Grill;

Cleaned up the badges and Ross Autosol'd the Audi Rings, and put back together;

Looks 100x better, offered up to show what it looks like. I've got to take a picture now its done but its pretty ******* epic. Nails now.

Dom Leydon · May 26, 2015

started on the engine covers next. We ordered wrinkle paint for that added effect, pleased with the results.

The makeshift oven;

Then the painful drying stage, eased up by watching South Park movie, that takes me back 10+ years!

Anyway, the almost final product that I will be left with is this;

Once clipped back in, it'll look a lot better. I need to clean up the Red dribbles that are on the black part of the cover, in the end it came up better but not 100%. I'm in need of a new cover at some point as this ones a let down.

This was the last of the S3, I put brand new Goodyear Eagle F1's, put a new Clutch and DMF in and an MOT. It then left the UK heading for Germany, and died whilst out there. The car came back to the UK after a couple of weeks and the diagnosis is that the engine is too ****** to repair.

The final product.

saq85 · May 26, 2015

This was a great read, good luck finding your engine. What was the actual cause of death?

Dom Leydon · May 26, 2015

Hey Saq85, it suffered from a clogged Oil pick up pipe, suffered low oil pressure and seized. Joys eh!

s3_trev · May 27, 2015

So in other words the previous owner(s) didnt look after it properly!! Pity you had to be the one to suffer mate! Enjoyed reading through that. You're a brave man taking a pressure washer to an engine bay!

S3Alex · May 27, 2015

Previous owner must have cleaned it with sandpaper....good work on saving the paintwork.

There are engines to be had,just be careful choosing the right one.

Sayam · May 27, 2015

Maybe the seized engine is God's way of telling you to strip it and fit uprated internals and go after some big power, much like our big power guru @S3Alex ?

Smirky · May 27, 2015

Is there a way you can check your oil pick up pipe??

s3_trev · May 27, 2015

I had mine replaced at my last service as a preventative measure. They cleaned out my sump as well.

Tom5190 · May 27, 2015

Dom!

Nightmare about the pick up my mates TT had the same problem last year. Sucks

Smirky · May 27, 2015

s3_trev said:
I had mine replaced at my last service as a preventative measure. They cleaned out my sump as well.

Is it an expensive part?With the tfsi being so tapperty I'm paranoid !!

s3_trev · May 27, 2015

Naw mate like 34/40 quid or something I think. A fraction of the price of an engine..

Compkiler · May 27, 2015

Great read mate and you seem like a good character which has a good sense of humor lol...
Shame about the outcome but the Ring does kill a lot of cars :-(
Hope you get it back on the road but with uprated internals and a bigger turbo ;-)

S3Alex · May 27, 2015

Compkiler said:
Hope you get it back on the road but with uprated internals and a bigger turbo ;-)

This.......is the cure for all ailments,whether related to the car or not.....trust me.

Dom Leydon · May 27, 2015

s3_trev said:
So in other words the previous owner(s) didnt look after it properly!! Pity you had to be the one to suffer mate! Enjoyed reading through that. You're a brave man taking a pressure washer to an engine bay!

Thank you, Its a shame but what you said is exactly what Doug at MRC said, poor Oil previous to my ownership put in. Live and learn though eh!

S3Alex said:
Previous owner must have cleaned it with sandpaper....good work on saving the paintwork.

There are engines to be had,just be careful choosing the right one.

Thanks! I'm still looking, haven't seen one on ebay in over a month though

Sayam said:
Maybe the seized engine is God's way of telling you to strip it and fit uprated internals and go after some big power, much like our big power guru @S3Alex ?

S3Alex said:
This.......is the cure for all ailments,whether related to the car or not.....trust me.

Haha, nope, never. I'll be happy with it around the 380-410bhp mark once its back. I'm not going to throw life changing amounts of cash at a 8 year old Audi, yes its fun and everything, but I made that mistake before with the Yellow 106GTi, if it gets wrote off, its worth nothing apart from in parts.

This thread won't be a thread packed with chasing the high figures

not yet anyway.

Smirky said:
Is there a way you can check your oil pick up pipe??

s3_trev said:
I had mine replaced at my last service as a preventative measure. They cleaned out my sump as well.

Smirky said:
Is it an expensive part?With the tfsi being so tapperty I'm paranoid !!

s3_trev said:
Naw mate like 34/40 quid or something I think. A fraction of the price of an engine..

Absolutely correct, I should have done mine but it was a job for another week (for many months).

Tom5190 said:
Dom!

Nightmare about the pick up my mates TT had the same problem last year. Sucks

Hey Tom! How's your S3 running? Thought i'd see you floating around the site somewhere haha

Compkiler said:
Great read mate and you seem like a good character which has a good sense of humor lol...
Shame about the outcome but the Ring does kill a lot of cars :-(
Hope you get it back on the road but with uprated internals and a bigger turbo ;-)

I edited a lot of these posts from my SaxP progress thread incase I offended anyone with pictures of my testicles as a reflection, to say I have a weird sense of humour is an understatement haha. The 'ring didn't technically kill this car

It'll be back soon.

Anyway guys, thanks for the warm welcome, and i'll update when I can

Thanks for reading!

Smirky · May 27, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
started on the engine covers next. We ordered wrinkle paint for that added effect, pleased with the results.

The makeshift oven;

Then the painful drying stage, eased up by watching South Park movie, that takes me back 10+ years!

Anyway, the almost final product that I will be left with is this;

Once clipped back in, it'll look a lot better. I need to clean up the Red dribbles that are on the black part of the cover, in the end it came up better but not 100%. I'm in need of a new cover at some point as this ones a let down.

This was the last of the S3, I put brand new Goodyear Eagle F1's, put a new Clutch and DMF in and an MOT. It then left the UK heading for Germany, and died whilst out there. The car came back to the UK after a couple of weeks and the diagnosis is that the engine is too ****** to repair.

The final product.

Lovely job on the engine cover just a shame it will be off the car when you put an induction kit on it unless you go for the forge twin take

Dom Leydon · May 27, 2015

Smirky said:
Lovely job on the engine cover just a shame it will be off the car when you put an induction kit on it unless you go for the forge twin take

Thanks, honestly it was a pretty **** job in the end, the wrinkle paint looked epic as ****, but a broken part of it ruined it, and a pot of brake cleaner that spilt that caused the red wrinkle paint to go onto the black. Its coming off either way

Smirky · May 27, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
Thanks, honestly it was a pretty **** job in the end, the wrinkle paint looked epic as ****, but a broken part of it ruined it, and a pot of brake cleaner that spilt that caused the red wrinkle paint to go onto the black. Its coming off either way

Haha looked decent !

Dom Leydon · May 29, 2015

Someone who knows, I need advice..

What are the differences between the CDL and BHZ engine? If I went to put a CDL engine into my S3, firstly would it all just bolt back together? or am I entering into a **** load of hassle in trying to get Turbo's to fit and exhausts on etc?

s3_trev · May 29, 2015

Good question. Im CDLA.

Star2k8 · May 29, 2015

Great thread... nice to see a very tired Audi brought back to life.

Dom Leydon · Jun 1, 2015

I've gone and bought myself a CDL Engine with 28k on it, I know its different from the BHZ in some aspects but i'm going to try it out. Nobody has an answer to if they'll fit or not but I thought i'd bite the bullet and trial it out.

I have also been in contact with someone about my Turbo, a new trial turbo that's just been tested in South Africa on the 2.0TFSI and produced 430bhp at 5000ft altitude, the developer is keen to see what Doug at MRC will do with it, and for the cheap cost of £600 (It's just a revitalised K04) its expecting to make 440bhp. Too much for standard internals IMO, but I will come across that bridge next month when I would have thought it would be back together, as I mentioned before, I would like it sitting at 410bhp to have the best of many worlds, power, throttle response without the lag, handling the corners flat out without worrying about boosting into a hedge.

S3Alex · Jun 1, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
I've gone and bought myself a CDL Engine with 28k on it, I know its different from the BHZ in some aspects but i'm going to try it out. Nobody has an answer to if they'll fit or not but I thought i'd bite the bullet and trial it out.

I have also been in contact with someone about my Turbo, a new trial turbo that's just been tested in South Africa on the 2.0TFSI and produced 430bhp at 5000ft altitude, the developer is keen to see what Doug at MRC will do with it, and for the cheap cost of £600 (It's just a revitalised K04) its expecting to make 440bhp. Too much for standard internals IMO, but I will come across that bridge next month when I would have thought it would be back together, as I mentioned before, I would like it sitting at 410bhp to have the best of many worlds, power, throttle response without the lag, handling the corners flat out without worrying about boosting into a hedge.

It's not power,but torque you need to think about.

The stock internals are good for 440lbs on a long term reliable basis.

Dom Leydon · Jul 2, 2015

This is where all projects turn south and expensive.

S3Alex · Jul 3, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
This is where all projects turn south and expensive.

Good man.

This is where your previous post about not chucking life-changing amounts of cash at it begins to go south....!

You'll love it.

Dom Leydon · Jul 4, 2015

S3Alex said:
Good man.

This is where your previous post about not chucking life-changing amounts of cash at it begins to go south....!

You'll love it.

Thanks! What clutch are you using out of interest? I've seen the Sach's is rated to 550nm, which isn't much at all. I'm running 497nm on a standard at the moment and all is okay even on hard launches.

S3Alex · Jul 5, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
Thanks! What clutch are you using out of interest? I've seen the Sach's is rated to 550nm, which isn't much at all. I'm running 497nm on a standard at the moment and all is okay even on hard launches.

The Sachs is usually good for around 400lbs and a bit more.
I used one until it gave in at 440lbs but they don't do drag launches.

I've now got a Spec Stg3+ which is good for 570lbs or nearly 800Nm

rossdagley · Jul 21, 2015

Bumping for updates.

Dom Leydon · Aug 9, 2015

The slow progress.

The new engine is almost ready to go in. I have a slight issue with a Stem Seal on the head, its only a minor problem but it means stripping the head apart to fix. I need to pull my finger out and get it over to the Engine specialists at some point this week :y: I don't know at this moment how much I can say in regards to the engine, but it'll be certainly different to the standard from here on in.

Unfortunately I need to find a new mechanic to put this all together, short of Ross and myself tackling it over a weekend, I would rather pay someone else a **** tonne to do it, I pulled the car out of MRC a few weeks ago. The car came back home for the first time in a few months, I'm pleased to see it back, and just needing to buy its new shiny Turbo, and then we're on for a winner.

Today saw the purchase of this little bit of kit, it wipes the Air Intake system off my shopping list, picked it up at an okay price.

Parts on the shopping list in the meantime;
Custom Intercooler and Rad set up
K04 Hybrid Turbo
TTRS LPFP
RS4 Injectors

Any other bits and pieces that i'll need to get this up to 430bhp?

I want this to see the road before September, I would love a late trip back to the ring to finish what I started.

Comments, criticism and advice welcome as always

S3Alex · Aug 9, 2015

Which hybrid are you looking after?
The TTE?

You may or may not need some of the fuelling items such as injectors and pump depending on power levels as the S3 gear generally runs out around 440bhp but this will depend on which hybrid and how much boost etc.

Dom Leydon · Aug 9, 2015

Yeah I think it's the TTE420, not read too much into it as the engines been the main concern for quite some time.

I wouldn't even mind if the car only made 400bhp before September, it'll still be a weapon at that.

I've looked closely into the injectors, and RS4's are what people seem to go for on a budget. Any other options from your experience?

S3Alex · Aug 10, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
Yeah I think it's the TTE420, not read too much into it as the engines been the main concern for quite some time.

I wouldn't even mind if the car only made 400bhp before September, it'll still be a weapon at that.

I've looked closely into the injectors, and RS4's are what people seem to go for on a budget. Any other options from your experience?

Speak to Simon @ TTE first of all re power,boost etc and their results from Europe and the UK.

The biggest problem with RS4 injectors is the spray pattern,which is not optimised for the S3 engine,and leads invariably to smoking under load,and less than ideal mixtures.
I know,as I'd run RS4s on my car for a considerable period.

There are higher flow S3 injectors,but I haven't tried any of these and I have a completely different solution now.

The LPFP on the S3 runs out of flow at around 440bhp or thereabouts,and there are two solutions.
The first is an auxiliary boost triggered pump made by USP Motorsports,that I use,and the second more elegant solution is the TTRS pump,which a few people have had problems integrating with the stock ECU.

You would need to be sure your tuner has done this before and knows what they're doing.

If you haven't already got it,I'd strongly recommend a WMI system.

rossdagley · Sep 14, 2015

bump for updates because I know there are some...

grchmason · Sep 15, 2015

Looking forward to updates going to be mega!!! Can I ask why you did not let MRC fit it if it was there mate ?

Great build

Dom Leydon · Sep 15, 2015

We're almost there!

Its been a very busy few weeks. The engine is built, some may have seen on my facebook, but for those who haven't, its whore engine cleaning porn. Thanks to an Aquablaster, it all came up well.

The first decision to make on this build was to scrap all plans and start again from the beginning but with an engine that hasn't imploded before. The decision was to get it built right first time, and to stop cutting corners to try and get the car running.

The second stage of the build was to work out exactly how the last one failed. The penny then dropped, my map didn't have a rev limiter that was friendly. The balance shaft in these engines run twice the RPM of the engine, with a maximum RPM of 14000, thus meaning 7000rpm on the engine. Thinking back to when it all started to go wrong, I was revving very high and my map allowed me to do it.

Ross introduced me to the person who built his massively high spec TU5J4/JP4 engines, who funnily enough is a highly regarded VAG specialist. Winner. So JP took away the engine, and worked wonders on it. Brilliant advice and kept me posted throughout the build.

First problem then, the balance shaft, get it out. JP has done 'something', the reason I say something is because I don't have a clue what he has done, or how he has done it. Using the standard OEM Oil Pump, he's cut out all of the parts for the balance shaft, yet left the OEM Oil pump, welded bits up, and yeah... That's all I know, and all I can see.. But hey ho, it works, meaning I can run without a balance shaft and not having to install the 1.8T Oil Pump set up. Lovely.

Second was the head, stripped completely and sorted the Stem seal issues, and found the reason for the stem seals to fail, the Valve's were cheap ECP valves which didn't sit as well as Genuine Audi parts, the top of the valves were rounded instead of straight cut. So a matching set of valves were gathered.

A tiny bit of polishing on the ports just to tidy it up a touch.

& Finally its altogether. Race spec bearings, Wossner pistons, Pec rods, new rings and fancy headbolts all that **** that goes along with it. It's a good base to start with.

Now that's all done, we've ordered my Turbo. Ross got on to Craig of TDi Turbo's, Craig has come back with something which is quite simple, I want something with very little lag, yet something that'll scare the **** out of me. Very little information has been given to me other than "Craig is building a 'Take no prisoners' spec".

Based on a K04, Billet Wheel, uprated thrust and .71 coldside. All mine for a very very very cheap price. We shall see when it arrives on Thursday. Even better when the cars up and running by the end of this week. According to Craig, it'll handle 450bhp in its sleep. I will post up a review of the kit once its running.

Next, I've booked the car in at TTS Roadsport, they're local to me as well as they know JP (the engine builder) and know his work, I like it when **** like that ties in together. :y: I'm sure they'll be good, and pull it out the bag. So I've also asked them to fit a Sach's Clutch, Loba HPFP, RS4 FPR Valve and a Forge Intercooler. I am hoping I can take this car to 440bhp, but I'm now restricted by other components but they can be replaced at a later date.

Massive thanks to JP @ JNL Racing, very high standard of work, brilliant results. The only downside, when my engine was being wheeled out, another 2.0TFSI was being wheeled in. I asked what did that customer want building, the response was simple...

"He's got massive nuts and pushing for 600bhp".

Feck.

S3Alex · Sep 15, 2015

Dom Leydon said:
We're almost there!
..........

Massive thanks to JP @ JNL Racing, very high standard of work, brilliant results. The only downside, when my engine was being wheeled out, another 2.0TFSI was being wheeled in. I asked what did that customer want building, the response was simple...

"He's got massive nuts and pushing for 600bhp".

Feck.

Been there,got the 600...LOL

Seriously though,good result.

Mine has PEC rods and Wossner pistons,plus Ferrea valves,and the end result is strong and reliable....your guys have chosen something you will be able to depend on,and add to if you want more later.

Don't you just hate it when something cheap sneaks up and fails like that.....from now that should be well in the past.

leshkin · Sep 15, 2015

For some reason only expletives are entering my head right now. Just..... wow!

Thanks for keeping us posted! I can't wait to see this rip up the road now

Dom Leydon · Sep 15, 2015

grchmason said:
Looking forward to updates going to be mega!!! Can I ask why you did not let MRC fit it if it was there mate ?

Great build

Thanks.
To answer your question about MRC, in the interest of fairness to Doug at MRC, it was just a breakdown in communication that led to a few simple errors. I certainly couldn't afford the £6k repair bill either, I am getting it done piece by piece myself and still under half of MRC's quote.

S3Alex said:
Been there,got the 600...LOL

Seriously though,good result.

Mine has PEC rods and Wossner pistons,plus Ferrea valves,and the end result is strong and reliable....your guys have chosen something you will be able to depend on,and add to if you want more later.

Don't you just hate it when something cheap sneaks up and fails like that.....from now that should be well in the past.

Jesus Alex, that thing could eat small children. Are you also running a JP Built engine?

Dom's 2007 Audi S3 8P

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Northern Ireland

Rarely neutral

Well-Known Member

Registered User

Northern Ireland

Registered User

Registered User

Northern Ireland

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Northern Ireland

Registered User

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Registered User

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Hold my beer...

Registered User

Similar threads