"Ariana's going hybrid" - Now with forged engine - build thread

I'm tempted by the devils own 6-30 base kit with the 4qt tank...
 
I hadn't actually started looking Jay so my knowledge of what's currently on the market is rather limited... This kit came up on the cheap so went out on a limb and whipped it up before anyone else did. And by the looks of things, it's a good one!


They don't make them any more so information is limited but I found some interesting reading here:
http://www.aquamist.co.uk/cp/old/806-009/806-009.html

Looking forward to plumbing it in but before I can even think about that I have some more pressing issues to deal with. . . . The more I think about this loss of compression the more I can't help think it's the head.

We know the history of the engine and although she regularly gets a good thrashing she's had OCD oil changes and religious warming up/cooling down rituals for the past 80k or so... The fact the original turbo was still fine @ 160k is testament to how well she's been looked after mechanically.

The only unknown is this APY head I'm runnuing... I got it off a mate who melted a piston (for the second time) from running too much NOS, it was then removed and his mechanic put some new valves in then I ended up with it. So even tho it's low miles it's had a tough life!

As soon as I have this oil leak fixed I'll be carrying out dry and wet compression tests and hopefully that'll give me more of a clue. . . But I'm optimistic it's this head! Fingers crossed
 
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Hmmmm.

I know the engine has done some miles. But it was always strong for me making exceptional power. It's had a great service history, and changes every 5-6k since I bought it at 90k.

I'd be somewhat more wary of a head that had been run with NOS through it and 'survived' 2 melted pistons!
 
Prawn said:
When are you bringing it round? I want to sit in it again! I miss this car!!!
Click to expand...

After fixing stuff, before final mapping, somewhere around the time I need help plumbing in the water meth and again after mapping.... Ok with you? lol

To be fair tho mate I'm not even driving her at the moment until I've at least got that oil blasted leak sorted!
 
Finally got round to doing a we compression test today, the results are in but unfortunately it's not looking good... here's what we found:

Dry test:
1 - 170
2 - 175
3 - 190
4 - 185

Which is consistent with bills dry test showing that 1&2 are down on compression, here's the results after chucking a cap full of oil down the bore:

1 - 230
2 - 230
3 - 250
4 - 230

Not the result I was looking for really but none the less, pretty conclusive I'd say... Looks like it is my rings after all :(
 
I know money is very tight mate, so....

I'd say it's time to take a gamble on some maxspeeding rods with genuine bolts, and some new rings and shells.

Being a top mechanic you'll bust that out in a weekend, and for minimal cost too, then you'll be ready for the full 300bhp you deserve :)
 
Or...

Crack an egg into the spark plug holes.

Works with radiators innit?
 
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Been back at the drawing board for for a couple weeks now and I've now formulated and started putting into action a new plan.

I'm basically going to start putting together a whole new engine to eventually swap over in a few months time, maybe next year... I picked up an AGU lump for absolute peanuts on the weekend, the plan is to use the bottom end from that (so long as the bores are in good health) with new rods, rings and shells. I also have a bare AUM head here that I'm going to start rebuilding with new valve stem seals and lifters and the AGU head will be sold to help fund everything.

Just in case anyone was wondering you can JUST about fit a 1.8t in the back of an A4 saloon:


Cheers Alfred, forever proving your self a a trusty work horse :icon thumright:

I'm also starting to question whether or not I have a oil seal issue with the turbo... The other week I noticed a lot of oil in the charge pipes which concerned me a little. On Saturday I fired her up and let her idle up for a minute, after about 30/60 secs there was quite a lot of blue smoke from the exhaust which eventually died down after another 30 or so seconds, which suggests to me oil leaking into the turbine housing?

I spoke to Dan (of BBT) in fair depth about it yesterday, when I next get the chance I'm going to whip the TIP off to check the spindle and then take it from there... I would be doing that this weekend but I'm going drifting instead :arco: so long as I don't injure my self too badly doing that I will be back to report shortly after that!
 
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VAG-Slag said:
Just in case anyone was wondering you can JUST about fit a 1.8t in the back of an A4 saloon:
!
Click to expand...
try a Renault clio! Yes, it fits.

regarding the smoke, i remember once upon a time in a forum graced by a man called welly, who said that blue smoke on start up that clears when warm can be valve guides.
 
I'm hoping that's the case, although I'm sure I put new valve stem seals on the exhaust valves when I swapped the head over earlier this year and the guides looked fine... Couldn't be 100% though, memory like a gold fish over here!

Never smoked like that before fitting this turbo though.
 
Fakin dramas Lewis!

I admire your perseverance, I'd have sold it ages ago.

I'll come see you soon for some moral support, good on you lad :)
 
16Klappe said:
Fakin dramas Lewis!

I admire your perseverance, I'd have sold it ages ago.

I'll come see you soon for some moral support, good on you lad :)
Click to expand...

Cheers J-rod... I often wonder why the hell I bother my self, especially considering my current financial situation :sadlike: However there's NO chance I'm leaving this as a half done job! . . And it is always good for motivation knowing yourself and Prawn are behind me :icon thumright: (not physicllay, that would be rather unsettling!)

Tonight I finally got round to wrestling this AGU lump out of the old boy and onto an engine stand... Ta-daaaa!


Jobs a goodun, ready for stripping... Happy days! . . Right?


WROOOOONG! :banghead:


Massive ****** crack in the block! . . Unbelievable :mad: I can't really argue to be fair, it was so cheap I'll still be able to make money just from selling the head. And I genuinely don't think the guy I bought it off knew about the crack.

Hopefully I'll still be able to use the pistons/crank etc... Just need to find another bare block to use!?
 
Small update... Since the last cracked block saga I've flogged the head from that and scrapped the rest, about all it was good for!

I managed to source another AGU lump which I have since stripped and appears to be in great condition. Just needs a good cleaning up, a light honing and she'll be good. . . I also treated my self to a little early Christmas present:


Merry Christmas to meeee, forged rods for the A333333333!!!! :arco:


In other news: I quit my job and I'm flying to **** tomorrow for 5 weeks.... That's the best thing to do half way through an engine build, right? :uhm:
 
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The engine will still be there when you get back! A trip like that is a once in a lifetime. Just make sure you crack on with it when your back ;)
 
Nice hybrid build. Unlucky on poor compression. Sod's law. This is a bit random mate but can you remember snapping a Brass nipple off the bottom of your inlet mani? I've got same problem, not to sure how to fix it, after searching forum your name popped up a lot, so thought your prob best person to ask about solving the issue.
 
Jay A3 said:
A trip like that is a once in a lifetime.
Click to expand...

You say that Jay but this is about the fourth time I've done this. . . ha ha!

Alex, yes... Oil groove in the little end and an oil hole in the top :icon thumright:

S3HGV said:
Nice hybrid build. Unlucky on poor compression. Sod's law. This is a bit random mate but can you remember snapping a Brass nipple off the bottom of your inlet mani? I've got same problem, not to sure how to fix it, after searching forum your name popped up a lot, so thought your prob best person to ask about solving the issue.
Click to expand...

Will PM you mate....
 
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I'm back! . . And like the polar opposite of a squirrel I've been foraging for parts all winter and I'm gonna spend all summer hibernated away in my garage doing awesome things with them!

First up, came across some AP's on the cheap which were only a couple months old and also just happen to go with my colour scheme. First off removed the old weitec's with it's leaky weepy damper, here they are looking pretty sorry for them selves:


Then quickly got to work fitting the new APs along with a little something else I picked up over the winter:



I set the camber as far back as it would go and then using a bit of cardboard made sure they were both angled the same.

Been for a spin and alignment feels great, the difference is absolutely unreal! . . Really feels like you could quite easily induce some lift off over steer now, I'm not sure if it's the camber plates or the new suspension (or both) but I'm really surprised quite how much it's made the back end come alive as well as making the front really dig in. Chuffed to bits!

Still having a mare with blocks/bottom ends though, believe it or not I'm on my fourth now and it's looking like that's gonna be no good now as well! . . Which is worrying as I've optimistically booked mapping in with Bill for June 12th o_O wish me luck!

Stay tuned as tomorrow me and my "special guest" attempt to install water meth! . . WhoooooOOOOooo :biggrin new:

Also lots more foraged bits to be unearthed SOON!

>watch this space<
 
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Do APs really work that well? I'm looking at shocks and springs as I don't care for going low, just wanted superior handling.
 
I have APs and they are a fantastic improvement over stock, plus they are very reasonably priced. Be prepared to lose some ride comport though
 
I'm not sure how much comfort I'm willing to sacrifice though, I'll have to think about it.
 
APs are by far the most comfortable coilovers I've come across and a perfect balance for road use... This is the second set I've had over the years (among many others) and I really wouldn't say the ride is much harsher than my mums TT

Other firmer coilovers are likely to give you more superior handling on track or perfect roads, but the real world just aint like that...
 
VAG-Slag said:
APs are by far the most comfortable coilovers I've come across and a perfect balance for road use... This is the second set I've had over the years (among many others) and I really wouldn't say the ride is much harsher than my mums TT

Other firmer coilovers are likely to give you more superior handling on track or perfect roads, but the real world just aint like that...
Click to expand...

It's funny you say that. I would say my ride is quite a lot harder than before I fitted coilovers. Maybe I have my car lower than yours? My rears are as low as they will go without removing the adjuster and then the fronts are adjusted to match the rear.
 
VAG-Slag said:
Still having a mare with blocks/bottom ends though, believe it or not I'm on my fourth now and it's looking like that's gonna be no good now as well! . . Which is worrying as I've optimistically booked mapping in with Bill for June 12th o_O wish me luck!

S

>watch this space<
Click to expand...

Your compression is only 10% out, new engines are 189-190psi on all four.

Can't you just take your head off, drop your sump and hone your block, swap rods and new piston rings yourself in a weekend?
 
antwan64og said:
Your compression is only 10% out, new engines are 189-190psi on all four.

Can't you just take your head off, drop your sump and hone your block, swap rods and new piston rings yourself in a weekend?
Click to expand...

10% under normal conditions indeed antwan, but when you're trying to cram 20psi + of boost in there and then advance timing it just isn't strong enough to contain it all...

yea, I probably could do that but I'd rather start fresh and do thing properly... The current block is bodged (with a diesel geek block fix kit) from when the mounting lug at the back sheered off, I put another head on it at the same time as I'd bent some valves and looks like the valve stems are shot on that, also I wouldn't imagine the bores are in great condition after 160k...
 
Made some slow but steady progress this week... Me and my "special" guest (jarrod) had a go a fitting WMI last weekend, everything was plumbed in and in place so we retreated for beers and left the finer details for me to sort out in the week.

All was not good though, had a bit of a wiring issue which was eventually resolved by running one of those wires to the ECU side of things... But the pump was still doing NOTHING!

Had a few late nights fiddling, took the pump apart a million times, check relays, tried all manors of combinations of swapping stuff about but still nothing... Then my attention turns to Jarrods wiring he "helped" me out with, so I chased all that and eventually found this:


Which was supposed to be going to a switch ignition feed... Thanks buddy! Anyway, sorted that all out and the pump fired up straight away. Happy days!

Here's all the stuff... Pump and tank (can just about see the check valve as well):


Pressure switch:


High speed valve/solenoid thing and jet into map sensor pipe just before TB:


Ignore the state of the wiring for the moment, got a few more things going in so will neaten it all up once everything's in!

Apart from that I also found time to mount my gauges in the flap at the bottom of the centre console:


Which as this post suggests, I'm proper chuffed with!

In other news I've moved my mapping date back to July the 10th to give me a bit more time to sort the engine out... And yes, I am still looking for a good block so if anyone knows of one floating about please do let me know!
 
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Bit more progress of recent, I made up some brackets for the gauge panel:


Friday night sorted out all the wiring in the engine bay as well as everything for the gauges inside the car and finally mounted them in the dash:


Again, pretty pleased... It's not 100% straight if I'm honest, maybe I'll try iron that out another day. And they are a bit out the way but hey, least it gives my passenger something to look at!

The following morning I was up early to go see my mate for MOT time!


She obviously passed :whistle2: no more questions please... This was however my first opportunity to drive the car since fitting WMI. Although it's only running on water at the moment AIT's are noticeably more stable on boost, and it definitely feels stronger on boost at lower/mid revs.

A few more parts I've foraged over the winter include an relentless manifold which I just got back from a friend after he welded a bung for the EGT probe in it:


Welds are super neat but he obviously had rub away the ceramic "coating"/spray for him to be able to weld it, I might touch it up with some ceramic spray before it goes on. I also splashed out on an OBX LSD from the states, knowing they have their gremlins I got in touch with a very helpful fella on the club-gti forum. It has since been modified with genuine quaife bits inside as well as a bit of tweaking here and there


The guy rekons it'll now be about 25% tighter than a Quaife unit, and still cost half the price! . . On Sunday I also picked up a cheap 02J gearbox, I'm gonna send that off with the diff so it can all but built up. Will probably chuck a few bearings and syncros' at the box while it's there. The idea being I'll be able to do the whole engine/box swap in one weekend!

Still plenty more to come, most importantly, need to build a ****** engine! . . There could be some movement there very soon though
 
So as per standard pro, been mental busy trying to sort stuff out here and just living life in general... A couple weeks ago I picked up an engine off fellow ASN member @Samuealle, after I got the engine home I got to work stripping it down and pretty quickly started to notice a few slightly abnormal things.

To cut a long story short - It tuns our (unknown to Sam) that the engine had been re manufactured by Ivor Searle back in 2009 with over sized pistons, the lot! Bores still looked good and straight, ring gap was well within tolerance, so i decided to just chuck the new bits into that.

I'm not so good at the "here's what I did" step by step thing so I'm just going to let the pictures do most the talking:

Once stripped down the block was a bit of a state...


Quick degrease and pressure wash:


I then went at it with a wire wheel on a grinder to try get a bit more of the surface rust off:


But I still wasn't happy to paint over that, so I sent it to my mate for soda blasting:


Which finally gave me a surface just about good enough for painting:


While all that was going on, my friend came back from america with some goodies for me:


IE rifle drilled rods and pinion brace to stop the pinion coming through the bell housing! (again)

I also got to work polishing up bits of my cam cover:


Sprayed it with blue wrinkle paint to match everything else in my engine bay and then bunged it in the oven to cure:


Unfortunately, being the dyslexic pleb I am, I misread the instructions and baked it for an hour at 200c instead of 200f which seems to have turned the paint a strange turquoise colour:


Still, the over all finish is still pretty good:


The rest of that weekend was spent getting the engine in one piece finally doing the finishing touched at about 5am yesterday morning... Bottom end built up:




And then finally with the head, polished inlet and relentless manifold:



I'm off to Glastonbury tomorrow so planning to swap the engines out the following weekend by which time I should have mentally and emotionally stabled a little... The box is with my gearbox guy as we speak so i should also have that back in time for the engine swap, then it's mapping at Bills the following Friday!!!

It's a ****** tight schedule, I know... Just hoping to hell that there's no major problems or set backs. . . Wish me luck!!!
 
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Just had a read through all of this on my lunch break. Great thread dude, and glad to see things are moving forward nicely after your issues with numerous blocks. Should be a whole load of fun once it's all in the car!
 
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***LATE UPDATE***

So the week leading up to my mapping day was hectic as ever x 10 and draining in every way imaginable... It started off Saturday morning (T-minus 6 days) with one final parts foraging trip. Picked up my gearbox, a second hand alternator, a new radiator and an engine crane. What then followed was so hectic there wasn't much time for photo opportunities.

Finally at about 1pm I got to work taking the old engine out, slogged away on my own all day and eventually got the engine out later that evening. . . Just in time for beers!


Sunday morning I woke up to a garage that was starting to resemble a scrap yard, and a hell of a lot of work a head of me!


So i quickly got to work swapping everything over to the new engine, and MY GOD is that relentless manifold a c*** to fit! Even on an engine stand!? . . My hat goes off and my heart goes out to anyone that's fitted one in situ. Legend has it there are a few...

That took up quite a bit of time and I had to go out to buy a blow torch so I could bend a spanner! lol
I also ****** about fitting a S3 steering rack... By which time it was practically evening!

I also fitted the CTS turbo pinion brace to my gearbox, which needed a bit of modifying as the design hadn't accounted for the weird little knotch on the top left of the bearing cup as you can see.


I also don't have a huge amount of faith that this will actually help anything as it doesn't sit flush around the circumference of the bearing cup and it could still pass through there quite easily if it came away...

The rest was put together, gearbox bolted and I started to wrestle the lump back into to place... Still on my own!!! I finally got the lump bolted in, in the most basic sense of the word, at about 9pm Sunday night. (note low sun)


At which point, needless to say... I was F*CKED!!!

So that's where I was, and that's how she stayed until Monday evening (Mapping t-minus 4 days)

To be continued.....

(although a lot of you probably already know the outcome, I'll fill in the finer details of what happened later this week!)
 
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