My minor modding thread

[A3-Lee]

That's mental well done for oemness

 

[Andrew@A.L.D]

header tank still looks dirty

 

[Scullies]

So in 7 years, it seems you only changed your intake manifold and nearly tripled your HP. Something doesn't add up here

 

[Gops]

No change that I can see officer hehe

 

[S3Alex]

I love it...

It's even neater than OEM,and it's got that bit more grunt.
If only mine looked as good...or even half as good.

 

[Dubster5]

564bhp, I thought I saw somewhere that you were over 600 with the new cams or am I imagining that?

 

[<tuffty/>]

564bhp, I thought I saw somewhere that you were over 600 with the new cams or am I imagining that?

564hp on no change to map... boost has been tweaked up a tad since but not been on the dyno as yet... the expectation is that it should get into the 600hp region...

<tuffty/>

 

[badger5]

564bhp, I thought I saw somewhere that you were over 600 with the new cams or am I imagining that?

badger cams added 113bhp bolt in no adjustments is what it did

 

[superkarl]

badger cams added 113bhp bolt in no adjustments is what it did

That's insane

 

[Nick Clarke]

Just finished reading this thread, took me about 5 days!! Loving the car and your oem approach and attention to detail. You have inspired me to up my efforts as I am sure 1000's of others have!

How much longer do you intend to keep her? And what do you think she's worth?

Also, anything to update us on??

 

[Prawn]

Pretty insane when you look at it like that!

I can confirm it feels every bit as bonkers as the figures would suggest!

 

[jojo]

Pretty insane when you look at it like that!

I can confirm it feels every bit as bonkers as the figures would suggest!

I'm one of a handful of forum members who've had a passenger ride in both this car and Prawn's track car, and both are masterpieces, that do what they we're intended for!

 

[<tuffty/>]

Just finished reading this thread, took me about 5 days!! Loving the car and your oem approach and attention to detail. You have inspired me to up my efforts as I am sure 1000's of others have!

How much longer do you intend to keep her? And what do you think she's worth?

Also, anything to update us on??

Thanks

I have no reason to sell her at the moment... there is only one car I would fancy as an alternative (Aston Martin V8 Vantage) but I can't afford to buy one or justify the difference between what I would realistically get for the S3 and what it would cost me to replace her with a Vantage...

That said... if someone offered enough money I would consider selling her but that figure would be based on what it would take for me to sell vs what would be a more realistic market value...

Nothing much to update at the moment as tbh she just does what she does... in the new year I have a drive train refurb to undertake so gearbox rebuild, haldex refurb etc...

I also ran the car at a recent dyno day held at Bill's for Club GTI... here are the results

<tuffty/>

 

[jojo]

Thanks

I have no reason to sell her at the moment... there is only one car I would fancy as an alternative (Aston Martin V8 Vantage) but I can't afford to buy one or justify the difference between what I would realistically get for the S3 and what it would cost me to replace her with a Vantage...

That said... if someone offered enough money I would consider selling her but that figure would be based on what it would take for me to sell vs what would be a more realistic market value...

Nothing much to update at the moment as tbh she just does what she does... in the new year I have a drive train refurb to undertake so gearbox rebuild, haldex refurb etc...

I also ran the car at a recent dyno day held at Bill's for Club GTI... here are the results

View attachment 74236

<tuffty/>

Showing the attendee's how it should be done! lol

 

[badger5]

Thanks

I have no reason to sell her at the moment... there is only one car I would fancy as an alternative (Aston Martin V8 Vantage) but I can't afford to buy one or justify the difference between what I would realistically get for the S3 and what it would cost me to replace her with a Vantage...

That said... if someone offered enough money I would consider selling her but that figure would be based on what it would take for me to sell vs what would be a more realistic market value...

Nothing much to update at the moment as tbh she just does what she does... in the new year I have a drive train refurb to undertake so gearbox rebuild, haldex refurb etc...

I also ran the car at a recent dyno day held at Bill's for Club GTI... here are the results

View attachment 74236

<tuffty/>

just look at he torque.. and thats badger torques too.........

 

[Pasteurised]

462whp! That is crazy, I'd be too scared to drive that haha, awesome car man!

 

[sparrow]

Looked and sounded awesome on Sunday.

 

[Gops]

That torque is crazy!! Defo gonna buy the new manifold. Would love to see if it would make a difference!

 

[<tuffty/>]

So as is the way of these things.... no updates for ages followed by a random update saying nothing much to update with and then my fans stop working so here is an update

This has happened before and I managed to clean it up ok but its a common issue and really all I did was give it a stay of execution...

Removed the offending fuse...

...was a bit of a mess...

Bit beyond saving this time so did a work around instead

With that done and the fans working again I turned to the catch can which hasn't been off since I fitted it nearly two years ago... my can doesn't have a drain and tbh is a bit of a pain in the a*se to remove being bolted on the way it is...

I could just undo the clip but experience suggests all the paint will come with it too so I replaced the nuts with rivnuts

...which will make it a bit easer to remove next time...

Not that it seems I really need too as bearing in mind I have not touched it since fitting all that was in the can was water... brown water granted but no oil and only about 1/4 of the tank...

The pipework was a bit smeggy though...

Cleaned them out, fitted it all back together and jobs a good un

<tuffty/>

 

[Pasteurised]

Can i ask why the car is put in 5th on the dyno?
Is that the closest to a 1:1 ratio you can get on these cars?
Cheers

 

[A3-Lee]

So as is the way of these things.... no updates for ages followed by a random update saying nothing much to update with and then my fans stop working so here is an update

This has happened before and I managed to clean it up ok but its a common issue and really all I did was give it a stay of execution...

Removed the offending fuse...

...was a bit of a mess...

Bit beyond saving this time so did a work around instead

With that done and the fans working again I turned to the catch can which hasn't been off since I fitted it nearly two years ago... my can doesn't have a drain and tbh is a bit of a pain in the a*se to remove being bolted on the way it is...

I could just undo the clip but experience suggests all the paint will come with it too so I replaced the nuts with rivnuts

...which will make it a bit easer to remove next time...

Not that it seems I really need too as bearing in mind I have not touched it since fitting all that was in the can was water... brown water granted but no oil and only about 1/4 of the tank...

The pipework was a bit smeggy though...

Cleaned them out, fitted it all back together and jobs a good un

<tuffty/>

Least oem mod ever

 

[<tuffty/>]

There are times when OEM just can't cut it and you have to give in to practicalities

<tuffty/>

 

[<tuffty/>]

Can i ask why the car is put in 5th on the dyno?
Is that the closest to a 1:1 ratio you can get on these cars?
Cheers

Without looking a the gearbox specs I couldn't say but Bill runs 6 speed cars in 5th and 5 speed cars in 4th generally... the runs are long enough to get decent data from logging and running in these gears help prevent wheel spin on the rollers...

Pretty impossible to run my car in any gear other than 5th on Bills dyno as it would just spin up in 4th and top speed of the rollers is 150mph which the high power stuff exceeds in 5th as it is when revving beyond 7.5k rpm...

Its entirely plausible that the peak figure of mine is higher as my redline is currently 7.8k but the dyno software cuts off at around 7.5k

<tuffty/>

 

[badger5]

Can i ask why the car is put in 5th on the dyno?
Is that the closest to a 1:1 ratio you can get on these cars?
Cheers

traction, gearing, rev limit and roller speed max
all criteria influencing gear choice

what do you ask?

 

[Pasteurised]

Was just curious as mine was run in 4th gear, but I guess it's up to the dyno operator.

 

[mrsingh2u]

Just read this thread from start to finish - almost took 2 weeks! Tufty, you sir, are a legend! The car looks absolutely amazing! The thread has got me itching to do mods on my own one now!

 

[S3 OKR]

New sub arrived so set to work swapping it out...

Well theres ya praaaablam!!...

The new driver was quite a bit different...

Massive magnet and impressive cone/suspension... fitted fine into the AMSS box (utmost respect to the late Andy Mac)

Back in its hidey hole...

...and all stealthy again

Did a quick check to see if the rest of the audio gear would fit where I hoped to put it...

Job for the better weather

<tuffty/>

Where can i get a andy mac sub from?

 

[<tuffty/>]

Where can i get a andy mac sub from?

EBay or from the asn classifieds are the most likely places as sadly Andy is no longer with us

<tuffty/>

 

[jojo]

Where can i get a andy mac sub from?

The last time I saw one for sale was on FB, and they sell FAST! Like within 30 minutes.

 

[Jenno007]

Hey tuffty - just got my car running again and boy does it get hot under the engine bay.

Just wondering if you have done any mods to help air flow through there a little better? I'm thinking of removing the rubber seal that goes along the back of the engine to seal the scuttle panel and bonnet. Can you advise anything else worthwhile doing? Or if that is a bad idea

 

[<tuffty/>]

Hey tuffty - just got my car running again and boy does it get hot under the engine bay.

Just wondering if you have done any mods to help air flow through there a little better? I'm thinking of removing the rubber seal that goes along the back of the engine to seal the scuttle panel and bonnet. Can you advise anything else worthwhile doing? Or if that is a bad idea

I haven't done anything physically to the engine bay as obviously that would detract from the OEM look but I have wrapped the exhaust manifold and downpipe to reduce under bonnet temps...

Removing the rubber seal might help but generally all it does is allow rain water to get into the engine bay and I have seen corrosion of stuff as a result...

Heat is nature of the beast with turbo cars... more power generates more heat... general rule of thumb is prevent heat from radiating out, shield everything to prevent radiated heat from heating things that shouldn't be heated, try not to trap heat in...

As you can see... everything is in place...

<tuffty/>

 

[Jenno007]

I haven't done anything physically to the engine bay as obviously that would detract from the OEM look but I have wrapped the exhaust manifold and downpipe to reduce under bonnet temps...

Removing the rubber seal might help but generally all it does is allow rain water to get into the engine bay and I have seen corrosion of stuff as a result...

Heat is nature of the beast with turbo cars... more power generates more heat... general rule of thumb is prevent heat from radiating out, shield everything to prevent radiated heat from heating things that shouldn't be heated, try not to trap heat in...

As you can see... everything is in place...

<tuffty/>

Cheers dude. I will try remove the rubber strip and see how that goes.

One last question - what is your opinion on rpm limits for these motors. With supertech valves, retainers, springs + cams on a brand new head. I was thinking of starting with a 7500 rpm limit and maybe going closer to 8k later on. Or is this a bit too high?

 

[<tuffty/>]

mines set at 7.8k... hydros will cope to potentially 8.5k but tbh unless you are still making power beyond 8k (which I suspect you may not) I'd stick to 7.8k and save excessive valvetrain wear

<tuffty/>

 

[Jenno007]

mines set at 7.8k... hydros will cope to potentially 8.5k but tbh unless you are still making power beyond 8k (which I suspect you may not) I'd stick to 7.8k and save excessive valvetrain wear

<tuffty/>

Awesome cheers for that - I'll follow your lead and go with 7800. Will be interesting to see where it makes power and when it starts dropping off.

It's going to be a boring 1000km

 

[<tuffty/>]

Went to start the car last week only to find she was running on three cylinders so switched off and took the A2 instead....

Managed to get a look later in the week and found that the unspacer on injector one had pitched over. and was leaking fuel..

I do run up to 6bar of fuel pressure under boost and looks like the o-rings have relaxed a bit... you can't use clips with them either so decided its time for an upgrade... Bill had a couple of Integrated Engineering fuel rails in so I offered one up to see if it would fit ok... I was concerned I wouldn't be able to fit the cover lol...

Does look the biz and shouldn't be an issue supporting the fuelling I need...

Fitted the cover to see what clearance would be like...

Result...

I then checked the injector installed height to make sure they sat in OK as AEB runners tend to need to be spaced... using the clips on the rail they just about reached but not enough for me to feel happy about...

So means I need to mod the rail a little... to get the injector in far enough that I am happy it won't leak under high boost...

The normal feed adaptor sticks out a little too so may have to mod that or find a 45/90 degree version...

I sorted the OE rail to prevent the unspacer pitching so I could drive the car home at least and moved on to the next issue...

I managed to catch a low curb with the underside of the car...

....so I pulled out the plug which looks like its hot glued in and beat the floor pan out from the top through the carpet...

Cleaned all the old 'glue' off and straightened the hole as best I could without having to resort to pulling up the carpet and using dollys etc ...

Copious amounts of sealant and jobs a good un...

Used stone guard to help seal it all up..

Next job was to replace the front drop links... these were cheapies (relatively) from GSF that I bought for the inaugural MOT after the build some two years and 7000 miles ago... not really the longest time in the world so I went for a set of Meyle ones this time.. the joints were ok on the old ones but the rubber covers were shot on all the joints both sides...

With those done I moved onto the next job... my rather yellow expansion bottle... this was bought new when I did my GT30 conversion but clearly doesn't take long for them to go an off colour..

When I removed the trim to get at it, I found this....

Not really what you want to see with a high pressure fuel line thats seeing 4 to 6 bar of fuel pressure!... heat clearly has deteriorated the rubber and the expansion from pressure did the rest...

So the plan now is to get the IE fuel rail sorted and run a complete new line from the inline pump to the rail... the OE plastic line is quite a small ID so will upsize the lines to cope and make it all a little more robust with headroom on fuel flow...

I had some spare normal fuel line so used that to repair the dodgy bit... checked the rest of the lines in case they were compromised and they looked in a better state but will get replaced anyway when the time comes... and also fitted the new expansion bottle of course...

All back together ....

To finish off the day I modded my pano head so I can do multi level pano's a bit more easily...

Just waiting on some decent clear nights now... which is quite frustrating with this changeable weather we are having at the moment

<tuffty/>

 

[Miguel_S#]

Hi great car, its a learning thread.
In your gt35 470hp dyno, do you have the NA cams or stock cams?

 

[<tuffty/>]

Hi great car, its a learning thread.
In your gt35 470hp dyno, do you have the NA cams or stock cams?

Stock cams

<tuffty/>

 

[Jenno007]

Have you considered a retune after the 600bhp Bill managed to get on a build similar to yours?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[<tuffty/>]

Have you considered a retune after the 600bhp Bill managed to get on a build similar to yours?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The car does need a few tweaks but its finding the time to do it... I want to double check the cam timing and see if there is anything to be gained from swinging it back or forth... I believe that will be the key to extracting more from the setup...

I don't really want to change too much more tbh as the car drives fine and while its not making headline figures its more than enough for what I need... I would rather keep the wave of torque it has than lose it for getting a willy waving figure...

Bare in mind my turbo is a boggo GT3582r... the cars like Gops etc have fancy billet wheels... it will be interesting to see how Gops car performs on the new 1.5" NB mani and CNC head as that may drive me to consider a rebuild on my turbo to that spec with the aim of keeping my boost sensible (like it kinda is now) but get a little more top end power... not really looking to squeeze the last ounce of power out of mine but if there can be a little more had without much change then its all good..

Fuelling is the next thing on the list for me though...

<tuffty/>

 

[S3Alex]

The car does need a few tweaks but its finding the time to do it... I want to double check the cam timing and see if there is anything to be gained from swinging it back or forth... I believe that will be the key to extracting more from the setup...

I don't really want to change too much more tbh as the car drives fine and while its not making headline figures its more than enough for what I need... I would rather keep the wave of torque it has than lose it for getting a willy waving figure...

Bare in mind my turbo is a boggo GT3582r... the cars like Gops etc have fancy billet wheels... it will be interesting to see how Gops car performs on the new 1.5" NB mani and CNC head as that may drive me to consider a rebuild on my turbo to that spec with the aim of keeping my boost sensible (like it kinda is now) but get a little more top end power... not really looking to squeeze the last ounce of power out of mine but if there can be a little more had without much change then its all good..

Fuelling is the next thing on the list for me though...

<tuffty/>

I think when cars get to the level of yours,Gops,Goubo1s and others,the gains get smaller and more incremental,and more reliant on absolutely everything working just right.

You're absolutely right saying that the torque is the thing to have over peak bhp any day,and few of us ever have the chance to wring the last few rpm out of the car anyway.

I also think that VAG got a lot of things right on these engines and on the TFSi,to be able to run that sort of power on stock cams.

Yours still has to have the prize for OEM+.