My minor modding thread

Well i wasnt expecting this, maybe less concentrating on making the car look and go generally amazing and more on the gear changes......this coming from the person who broke bumbles gearbox on the way home from her recent local rr heath check after the rebuild haha you've got to laugh about these things or cry :)
 
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:)

<tuffty/>
 
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audi upgrades
Managed to sneak the car in while Bill wasn't looking LOL... (not actually true btw...)

Still waiting on the collets but cracked on with head removal...
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Some spare bits.... :)
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Little bit of coolant down the heatshielding from the leak I had from the heater pipes so need to clean that up to see if it is legacy of that or a new leak... also noticed the wastegate clamps had relaxed a bit which is to be expected...
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So... inspecting the engine confirmed what I saw on the bore scope...
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...the head looked perfect in fairness...
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So bunged it on the stands ready to strip...
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As the valves aren't obviously bent and no other damage appears present I believe the piston contact was from the inertia of valve float rather than being driven into the crowns by the cam which is why the engine still seems to be working as expected but I'll know a little more once I have stripped the head and inspected a little closer...

<tuffty/>
 
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If the valves are bent the strength of the spring will bend them back when shut but will go back to bent when open. Eventually the heads will weaken on the seam. Always good to see if they are bent. Check the guides too as they could get damaged.
 
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we will spin them up in the lathe to check run out.. they're retired anyhow but casual interest will be inspected anyhows.

the "join" on the inconel valves is up the stem below the groove(s), not by the head for ref..
 
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Sooooooooooo.... took the head apart...

Springs look ok, collets look ok, inlets look ok (no impact marks on the pistons inlet side)..
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..the exhausts however...
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...and just to be sure (like I wasn't already)


Going to check the exhaust guides and see what the are like shortly...

One thing that did annoy me though was the state of the exhaust followers... considering these were brand new and have done maybe 1000 or so miles I did not expect the following...

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Its possible the over rev caused some of this but the odd wear in the first pic I don't know... so... I have dug my old ones out as these were new when I did the first supertech and I only changed them 'because' so will use those... disappointing :/

<tuffty/>
 
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Aren't you supposed to use solid lifters if you going higher than 9k rpm :laugh:

My new inlet lifters were the ones that fell apart inside my engine, was shocked to find them like that. Maybe new lifters need some time to bed in before they get abused :shrug:
 
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Just checked the guides... not good... all the exhausts are pretty worn which is annoying as it was a refurbed head when I got it... ah well... off to the head bloke on Monday

<tuffty/>
 
Parts arrival time!!... :)

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The tensioner looks interesting....
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Head has been sorted and I have a long weekend booked off work to see if I can nail the old girl back together :)

<tuffty/>
 
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I must say WoW what a build,I take it your a mechanic as everything you do is like a walk in the park
Hope you get it sorted out :)
 
Drue1 said:
I must say WoW what a build,I take it your a mechanic as everything you do is like a walk in the park
Hope you get it sorted out :)
Click to expand...

Thanks mate and no, I am not a mechanic lol... I work in IT as a trade... this is a more of a hobby really :)

<tuffty/>
 
Thanks mate and no, I am not a mechanic lol... I work in IT as a trade... this is a more of a hobby really :)

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...
I used to think you worked at badger5 until not long ago haha.

How did you get to learn so much about cars?
 
Jenno007 said:
I used to think you worked at badger5 until not long ago haha.

How did you get to learn so much about cars?
Click to expand...

I have always messed about with cars since I could drive although I had a period of non modding sensibleness while my kids where young lol...

Ironically I knew nothing about these particular cars until I bought my S3... never had a turbo car before this... I pick things up easily which is quite lucky as I forget things just as quick these days LOL

<tuffty/>
 
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I have always messed about with cars since I could drive although I had a period of non modding sensibleness while my kids where young lol...

Ironically I knew nothing about these particular cars until I bought my S3... never had a turbo car before this... I pick things up easily which is quite lucky as I forget things just as quick these days LOL

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...
That's amazing that you picked up everything yourself.

Was there a sudden jump where you went from basic bolt on mods like intakes, exhaust, etc to opening up a motor for rods, pistons and other more complicated work?

I've currently fitted a fmic, TIP and a few other small things but I can't imagine opening up an engine at this stage.
 
Jenno007 said:
That's amazing that you picked up everything yourself.

Was there a sudden jump where you went from basic bolt on mods like intakes, exhaust, etc to opening up a motor for rods, pistons and other more complicated work?

I've currently fitted a fmic, TIP and a few other small things but I can't imagine opening up an engine at this stage.
Click to expand...

I think I leap frogged what people know as 'basic bolt on mods' these days... when I was younger a bolt on mod was dropping a 2ltr pinto engine into Mk2 Escort 1100 popular plus :)

<tuffty/>
 
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I think I leap frogged what people know as 'basic bolt on mods' these days... when I was younger a bolt on mod was dropping a 2ltr pinto engine into Mk2 Escort 1100 popular plus :)

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...
Hmm... Would I be right in thinking that would be a little harder than fitting a pod filter?
 
A little yeah... here are a few pics of my first Mk2 Escort... was a basic model with an 1100cc engine and drum brakes all round

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Fitted a 1660cc Kent engine on twin 40 Webbers... not sure of the power tbh its was quick though

<tuffty/>
 
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That's amazing. How old were you when you did that?
I'm currently weighing up going the next level with my AGU a3 (k03s or k04 with all the supporting mods needed) or to sell it and buy a s3 so all the hard stuff is done for me.
 
Jenno007 said:
That's amazing. How old were you when you did that?
I'm currently weighing up going the next level with my AGU a3 (k03s or k04 with all the supporting mods needed) or to sell it and buy a s3 so all the hard stuff is done for me.
Click to expand...

I was 19 when I started on my first Escort...

Buying an S3 is only the start of all the hard stuff LOL ;P

<tuffty/>
 
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<tuffty/> said:
I was 19 when I started on my first Escort...

Buying an S3 is only the start of all the hard stuff LOL ;P

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

Not to take over your thread, but if I was to buy an S3, is there one engine code in particular you would recommend?

If I was to get one I would want to get as much power as possible out of it without changing the turbo, opening the engine (aside from injectors if you would count that as opening the engine) or anything else that costs a lot.
 
Jenno007 said:
Not to take over your thread, but if I was to buy an S3, is there one engine code in particular you would recommend?

If I was to get one I would want to get as much power as possible out of it without changing the turbo, opening the engine (aside from injectors if you would count that as opening the engine) or anything else that costs a lot.
Click to expand...

A facelift AMK/BAM with a good engine... these have wideband ECU's and are easier to tune generally

Making sure the engine is in good condition is key tbh... most of the power variences I see are down to engine condition, worn rings and turbo's being the main issues...

<tuffty/>
 
<tuffty/> said:
A facelift AMK/BAM with a good engine... these have wideband ECU's and are easier to tune generally

Making sure the engine is in good condition is key tbh... most of the power variences I see are down to engine condition, worn rings and turbo's being the main issues...

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

Great thanks for that. The only 8L S3 available in my state has 167,000 KMS (roughly 100,000 miles) with a BAM engine. It is tempting haha.
 
<tuffty/> said:
Thanks mate and no, I am not a mechanic lol... I work in IT as a trade... this is a more of a hobby really :)

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

Arrr ok must be a lot easier having the use of all the tools there
My evo shell is going on Tuesday so I'm going to crack on with building up my new workshop so I have a proper place to rebuild the car and engine.Dont get me wrong I did a lot of work on the old sprint car but left the engine build to my tuner.......Worse mistake as he cocked a lot of things on my car so I found another and there was so much wrong with it that I had break it and get the car out of my life and start off fresh and here I am :) Starting off fresh but my own build
 
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Another long weekend... gonna be the last I think as its looking like a busy couple of months coming up at work :/

Picked up the head from our head guy... new guides and all valves lapped in... while I could have done this myself I wasn't sure what state the exhaust seats were in after the wobbly exhaust valves had had a go at them...

New valves, springs and replacement exhaust followers fitted...
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Then decided to look into the crappy cam cap bolt thread as some of you may remember that teh thread was pretty much gone and I used a longer bolt the last time... this really didn't sit well with me so decided to bite the bullet and helicoil it... this could of course scrap the head too!! eeep!
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To save the thread this time around I re-used one of the cam cover studs rather than a bolt... I have removed the studs as the position of the turbo means its next to impossible to remove the cam cover without first undoing the turbo..
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Put the cams and VVT tensioner back in then ****** me another fecking bolt snapped!... this time on the VVT and when done at 10nm!
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***!!... thankfully it span out real easily so found another bolt and finally got the head all back together... phew... I had used new bolts for the cam caps but not replaced the VVT ones... lesson learnt there I think..
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Happy with that being done I painted something :D
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The lacquer on the cam cover had gone yellow from the heat in a few places so I decided to have another go with some different stuff that 'says' its non yellowing... we shall see I guess...

Should be sorting the bolt thats backed out behind the flywheel on Sunday all being well with the aim to have the car up an d running Monday (ish).. yay!

<tuffty/>
 
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Early start this morning (well... was 9ish...)... unenviable task of dropping the gearbox to sort the rubbing noise out...

Subframe off as I don't want to be fighting the box...
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Transfer box off as it is a pain in the **** to wrestle the box off with it on...
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...and after a small amount of faffing... viola!...
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Clutch and flywheel off reveals no loose bolts which at least puts my mind at rest over my engine building abilities lol... but you can see a witness mark on the lip of the sump...
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...the back of the DMF was in a sorry state...
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...compared to my spare...
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On closer inspection of the crank I noticed there were odd bits of metal left on there... this was not normal...
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What I believe to have happened here is that the thin metal piece on the back of the DMF became distorted from seeing over 10,000 rpm during the 'incident' and this is what was the source of the rubbing... the subsequent rubbing caused the thin metal to over heat and some of it fused to the end of the crank... you can see here on the back of the metal piece where its gone blue from the friction..
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So.. cleaned up the end of the crank and fitted a new seal as the 'old' one looked 'used'...
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Removed the metal piece from the spare DMF...
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...and fitted it all back in... I would imagine the metal acts as a sort of shim to increase friction between the DMF and the crank but SMF's typically fit with no 'shim' so meh... will give it a go...

Clutch plate and cover looked fine...
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Wrestled the box back on then bolted it all back together...

Next job was to get a new cam belt in ready... usually a thankless task due to the mount you have to remove to get to the belt but the head was off making it easier...
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All went well... a surprisingly painless task... well... I say painless... I had been at Bills for best part of twelve hours and it was starting to tell... especially when I slipped doing up a bolt on the belt idler
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Doh!!!... looks worse than it actually is... always nice to get a little love bite from the old girl lol...

Has enough and went home... tomorrow I need to clean up the contact marks on the pistons...
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...fit the head and start fitting everything back in.... and sort out the inlet that Bill kindly welded for me today...
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Very achy and tired but the old girl should be running again in the next few days :D

<tuffty/>
 
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Bit more done today... seems to take longer putting her back together than stripping her lol...

First job was to mask up the pistons for smoothing out
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With a little light dremeling and scotch bright the pistons look much better...
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That done I cleaned the blocks deck an blew out the head bolt holes to stop hydraulicing and moved the head over ready to plonk on...
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New tensioner was interesting... definitely did this the hard way by leaving the ****** mount on... if you get one of these I'd advise leaving the mount off to set it up... (the mount needs to be removed to get the belt in anyway)
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Then basically started fitting everything back in...
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All was going pretty well... had got everything sorted out underneath and bolted the cam cover down... I have removed the studs as the turbo's position makes it impossible to remove the cover without loosening the turbo first... started bolting it down and got the last one, the rear fixing nearest the cam belt and the thread pulled!!... ***!... soooo that would explain the oil weep I had from that corner if its coming loose due to poor threads...

So tomorrow after work I will drop in to Bills and see if I can helicoil it :(

Plan to try and do a couple of hours after work through the week to get the car drivable and out of Bills hair... can get her home and get her sorted for AITP then... :)

<tuffty/>
 
Ah man, you're having some luck with those threads!

Possibly some miss use of your head in a pervious life? I've never known anyone have so much bad luck with similar threads!
 
Prob me being a little heavy handed...

Shizzle happens, at least its fixable... was happy that I did the cam cap so this will be no different...

In other news... I am not happy with the finish on the cam cover... lacquer went on ok but I think I was on the last of the tin for the silver and seems to have shot out a load of metal flake making the surface rough...

I will try and get the inlet painted and looking presentable for AITP but after that I am going to get the lot powder coated... while I know I can get the finish right myself I am a little cheesed off that the cam cover went yellow from the heat and powder coating doesn't/shouldn't do that..

Will get that done for ADI :)

<tuffty/>
 
Stopped off at Bill's after work to get some more done...

First job was to helicoil the iffy cam cover fixing.. the offending fixing... (in the most awkward place!!)
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....and the offending thread that came out with the bolt!
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So covered everything to prevent swarf getting where it shouldn't and drilled the hole ready for the tap
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Wanged in a helicoil...
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...and then proceeded to put the engine bay back together :)
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Tomorrow I need to sort out the inlet manifold so I can paint it and refit it

After that I need to spanner check the car, bleed the clutch, fill with oil and coolant then top up the gearbox oil

Happy days :D

<tuffty/>
 
It must be a common thing. The bolt on mine in that spot never wanted to tighten and I suspect I'll find a oily patch when I remove the engine.
 
Finally!! :D

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Started her up... all good... fluid levels topped up and then check fault codes.... ******!
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Would appear I have made the rooky mistake and allowed the cam pulley to slip back... good job I don't have a silly damper to reset lol

So I put the covers back on and said good night lol
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...reeeeeeeeeeeeeally not happy with the inlet though...
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Will see what it looks like in the daylight but once she is back home I think I might take it off again and redo it...

<tuffty/>
 
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Its simply awesome.
Soooo oem!
Shame the inlets not perfect, problem is the rest looks so good you will never be happy unless you sort it.
Great work!!!
 
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