My S3 Addiction
- Thread starter S3 Hilife
- Start date
Had a very busy weekend, Saturday was Modified Nationals which was awesome as usual, shame there’s no ASN club stand that would have been good to be a part of 
saw quite a few nice 8L’s along with some other modded Audi’s
Sunday I gave Sam @Grundy a hand getting his engine ready to pull out
it’s now ready to lift out and put on the stand ready for it’s transformation, also spotted a nasty crack on the transfer case. lucky escape there I think, it no doubt would have ended up like Tuffty’s before not too long
saw quite a few nice 8L’s along with some other modded Audi’sSunday I gave Sam @Grundy a hand getting his engine ready to pull out
it’s now ready to lift out and put on the stand ready for it’s transformation, also spotted a nasty crack on the transfer case. lucky escape there I think, it no doubt would have ended up like Tuffty’s before not too long
Replaced my engine mounts today with some Vibratechnics fast road mounts which was a surprisingly easy job 
took me around 1.5 hrs, not rushing and taking pics along the way
I started by removing the strut brace, air filter/MAF and cable trunking lid. Then on the other side I removed the plastic cover, charge pipe and removed the bolts for the expansion tank and Power steering reservoir so they can be moved out the way.
I started on the gearbox side and placed a jack under the gearbox to support it. Then removed the two 16mm bolts to chassis and the 13mm smaller bolt at the top. Then removed the two 18mm mount to gearbox bolts and dropped the gearbox down slightly to allow the old mount to pull free.
Then fitted the new VT mount in place and used the two 17mm bolts with a little threadlock to mount to chassis hand tight. Next I put the in the two new 18mm bolts with some copper grease around the sleeve and a little threadlock on the threads. Jacked the gearbox back in place and torqued the chassis bolts to 40nm plus 90 degree and the gearbox bolts to 100nm.
Refitted the trunking cover and air filter. That side’s now done.
Drivers side is basically the same with the exception of a small bracket which needs removing first and swapping over to the new mount. I moved the jack to the engine side but I didn’t need to lower the engine this side to get the mount out, just move the expansion tank and PS reservoir out the way and it came straight out.
took me around 1.5 hrs, not rushing and taking pics along the wayI started by removing the strut brace, air filter/MAF and cable trunking lid. Then on the other side I removed the plastic cover, charge pipe and removed the bolts for the expansion tank and Power steering reservoir so they can be moved out the way.
I started on the gearbox side and placed a jack under the gearbox to support it. Then removed the two 16mm bolts to chassis and the 13mm smaller bolt at the top. Then removed the two 18mm mount to gearbox bolts and dropped the gearbox down slightly to allow the old mount to pull free.
Then fitted the new VT mount in place and used the two 17mm bolts with a little threadlock to mount to chassis hand tight. Next I put the in the two new 18mm bolts with some copper grease around the sleeve and a little threadlock on the threads. Jacked the gearbox back in place and torqued the chassis bolts to 40nm plus 90 degree and the gearbox bolts to 100nm.
Refitted the trunking cover and air filter. That side’s now done.
Drivers side is basically the same with the exception of a small bracket which needs removing first and swapping over to the new mount. I moved the jack to the engine side but I didn’t need to lower the engine this side to get the mount out, just move the expansion tank and PS reservoir out the way and it came straight out.
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Bracket swapped over
Once torqued up, refit the 13mm top bolt on the bracket then bolt back the PS reservoir and expansion tank. Refit the charge pipe and covers and that’s it
I was a little nervous on first start hoping there would be no vibration, and,,,,,,,,, Success nice and quiet
next job road testBolts:
18mm mount to mount 100Nm, part number: N10209603
16mm mount to chassis part number: N10516701 (17mm VT bolts provided) 40Nm + 90 degrees
(N10516701 bolts are not needed when fitting VT mounts as they supply the correct size bolts)
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Next little job on the list, albeit a bit of a boaring one. I had the 4 beeps of death on the alarm siren literally as soon as I’d finished fitting the engine mounts last week lol. Ain’t it strange how that happens, you get one job done and guarantee something else pops up straight after, haha.
Anyway I couldn’t order the replacement batteries from Maplin now that they’ve closed their website so after a bit of looking round I went with a replacement from a seller on ebay. For anyone in the same position they’re Kinetic MH170B3AL3, NI-MH 3.6v 170mAh battery (x2)
I started digging around in the boot compartment expecting the alarm module to be in an obvious position lol, hell no that thing is buried deep. Even after removing the CD changer and sub it took me a while to find it, haha
Thankfully ASN has some good guides
the batteries I bought didn’t quite fit inside so after opening it up and soldering new wires on the terminals I mounted the batteries on the outside.
Some pics of the process:
The mess inside
Old prongs cut off, cleaned up and new wires soldered on
Soldered the two batteries together in series with a short piece of wire
Soldered the +ve and -ve from the PCB
Hot glued the batteries together and the terminals for protection
Hot glued the alarm case back together and wrapped it with rubber self amalgamating tape along with the battery and mountd the battery to top
Then put it all back together with the exception of the sub and CD changer as I’ll be replacing the whole audio system soon
Loads of room in there now
Now waiting for the next job
Steve
Anyway I couldn’t order the replacement batteries from Maplin now that they’ve closed their website so after a bit of looking round I went with a replacement from a seller on ebay. For anyone in the same position they’re Kinetic MH170B3AL3, NI-MH 3.6v 170mAh battery (x2)
I started digging around in the boot compartment expecting the alarm module to be in an obvious position lol, hell no that thing is buried deep. Even after removing the CD changer and sub it took me a while to find it, haha
Thankfully ASN has some good guides
the batteries I bought didn’t quite fit inside so after opening it up and soldering new wires on the terminals I mounted the batteries on the outside. Some pics of the process:
The mess inside
Old prongs cut off, cleaned up and new wires soldered on
Soldered the two batteries together in series with a short piece of wire
Soldered the +ve and -ve from the PCB
Hot glued the batteries together and the terminals for protection
Hot glued the alarm case back together and wrapped it with rubber self amalgamating tape along with the battery and mountd the battery to top
Then put it all back together with the exception of the sub and CD changer as I’ll be replacing the whole audio system soon
Loads of room in there now
Now waiting for the next job
Steve
I had a delivery last week which I’ve been looking forward to fitting
I’ve been wanting to buy one of these HPA controllers since they were released a few years back but never had the opportunity until now so I’m chuffed
I hope I’ve fitted it correctly as it doesn’t come with any installation instructions lol, it’s pretty straight forward really, plug and play. I also bought a 9” battery earth cable just in case the Haldex earth strap was broken, I’m glad I had now as the one on the car was indeed broken
New one fitted:
I cleared the boot and removed the grommet which the Haldex electrical cable runs through. There’s two 8mm bolts at the rear of the Haldex unit securing the electrical plugs which needs separating so the new loom can be connected in.
Once connected I gave the connectors a few wraps with rubber self amalgamating tape for extra protection from moisture and routed the cable through the grommet into the boot.
I decided to mount the control unit in the drivers side compartment so it’s hidden out of the way and taped the cable to the boot floor.
Now time to fit the tablet unfortunately due to it’s size there’s nowhere practical to mount it other than on the windscreen mount it comes with (or stick it in the glove box) A while ago I’d fitted a 12v 3 way extension under the dash on an ignition live which I have my dash cam and speed camera detector plugged in to so it just needed plugging in there and the cable routing up to the center of the dash.
All fitted and communicating as it should so just need to get out now and have a good play
I also added an alloy dipstick finisher to neaten up the engine bay
I’ve got a long list of jobs I wanted to get through today but tbh I cba and just want to go for a drive instead lol
Steve
I’ve been wanting to buy one of these HPA controllers since they were released a few years back but never had the opportunity until now so I’m chuffed
I hope I’ve fitted it correctly as it doesn’t come with any installation instructions lol, it’s pretty straight forward really, plug and play. I also bought a 9” battery earth cable just in case the Haldex earth strap was broken, I’m glad I had now as the one on the car was indeed broken
New one fitted:
I cleared the boot and removed the grommet which the Haldex electrical cable runs through. There’s two 8mm bolts at the rear of the Haldex unit securing the electrical plugs which needs separating so the new loom can be connected in.
Once connected I gave the connectors a few wraps with rubber self amalgamating tape for extra protection from moisture and routed the cable through the grommet into the boot.
I decided to mount the control unit in the drivers side compartment so it’s hidden out of the way and taped the cable to the boot floor.
Now time to fit the tablet
unfortunately due to it’s size there’s nowhere practical to mount it other than on the windscreen mount it comes with (or stick it in the glove box) A while ago I’d fitted a 12v 3 way extension under the dash on an ignition live which I have my dash cam and speed camera detector plugged in to so it just needed plugging in there and the cable routing up to the center of the dash.All fitted and communicating as it should so just need to get out now and have a good play
I also added an alloy dipstick finisher to neaten up the engine bay
I’ve got a long list of jobs I wanted to get through today but tbh I cba and just want to go for a drive instead lol
Steve
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Unfortunately my fun drive was not as fun as I’d hoped I’m pretty sure there is indeed a fault with the Haldex system somewhere. For the last few weeks I’ve been loosing traction on boost. I know my Haldex has been engaging or at least up until very recently because I could feel the back of the car recently started to twitch/fishtail a little when it engaged (I started a thread on here a few weeks ago) but after making some alignment adjustments as suggested it seemed to have been behaving (no fishtailing) although I was still loosing traction on boost. I’ve had no fault codes relating to the Haldex. I’d just assumed all four wheels had been spinning as the power delivery is quite aggressive and comes in early, although it had never done this before I suspect something on the Haldex system (probably the pump) had been starting to fail causing those issues and gradually getting worse to the point it’s now not working at all
Is there a way of testing the pre charge pump and factory Haldex controller with VCDS?
If the pump or controller failed would it not throw a code?
Steve
I’m pretty sure there is indeed a fault with the Haldex system somewhere. For the last few weeks I’ve been loosing traction on boost. I know my Haldex has been engaging or at least up until very recently because I could feel the back of the car recently started to twitch/fishtail a little when it engaged (I started a thread on here a few weeks ago) but after making some alignment adjustments as suggested it seemed to have been behaving (no fishtailing) although I was still loosing traction on boost. I’ve had no fault codes relating to the Haldex. I’d just assumed all four wheels had been spinning as the power delivery is quite aggressive and comes in early, although it had never done this before I suspect something on the Haldex system (probably the pump) had been starting to fail causing those issues and gradually getting worse to the point it’s now not working at allIs there a way of testing the pre charge pump and factory Haldex controller with VCDS?
If the pump or controller failed would it not throw a code?
Steve
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When mine went I got the garage to lift mine on the lift a put in 1st only the fronts span fitted new haldex and all four were spinning
Thanks Karl I’ll have a play around today
I’ll see how the pump tests go. Did the clutch pack go in yours TJ? I suspect I’ll end up having to replace it too
Na I don’t think so Stuart
I tried explaining BCD’s test to the garage but in the end just had to tell them to do it that way I just swapped the controller on mine, if yours was faulty anyway maybe the hpa just finished it off
I’ve done the output test on VCDS, the first time it worked but the pump sounded quite ropey to me, not a smooth consistent humming. I tried to connect again but kept getting “No Communication With Controller” error. After closing VCDS and switching the ignition off and back on again I tried again and it did connect this time
What do you guys think? To me that pump sounds a bit dodgy and it looks like the controller is playing up if it doesn’t always communicate
Steve
What do you guys think? To me that pump sounds a bit dodgy and it looks like the controller is playing up if it doesn’t always communicate
Steve
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I fitted one too but dont know how to test it? I am concerned I used washers or bolts which are not good conductors? also did I remove enough paint etc?
https://physics.stackexchange.com/q...ainless-steel-a-poor-conductor-of-electricity
suppose a continuity test from the post to the haldex casing away from the cable is the test. but remember that the first TT / S3 haldex units didn't have an earth strap at all?
is it possible the connector is damaged / corroded? I want to check mine on my TT, it looks accessible.
https://physics.stackexchange.com/q...ainless-steel-a-poor-conductor-of-electricity
suppose a continuity test from the post to the haldex casing away from the cable is the test. but remember that the first TT / S3 haldex units didn't have an earth strap at all?
is it possible the connector is damaged / corroded? I want to check mine on my TT, it looks accessible.
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Deffo doesn’t sound right.
Given the no comms error that might be the issue. Open, clean and close all the connections. Consider an oil and filter change. Before your last resort, a new controller
Given the no comms error that might be the issue. Open, clean and close all the connections. Consider an oil and filter change. Before your last resort, a new controller
Thanks SK
I have bought a working replacement controller and pre charge pump (just in case) along with new gasket, oil and filter etc. Think it was last done around 20k miles ago so it’s not going to hurt. I’ll get it off and check or replace everything next weekend now and hopefully get it working properly again 
This little lot is going to keep me busy this weekend
I bought a used Haldex charge pump and Haldex controller to replace my faulty ones. They were still pretty manky looking and I wanted to make sure they were all good inside so I stripped them down and gave them a good clean including all the pieces to the fluid regulating valve, then reassembled with a splash of paint. It surprised me how filthy the mechanical parts get inside and definitely benefited from a thorough cleaning. Now they look like new inside and out
I did do quite an in depth write up (with plenty of images) of how I stripped and cleaned both the controller internals and pump, if it’s of any interest to anyone I’ll make a post when I get a few minutes
I bought a used Haldex charge pump and Haldex controller to replace my faulty ones. They were still pretty manky looking and I wanted to make sure they were all good inside so I stripped them down and gave them a good clean including all the pieces to the fluid regulating valve, then reassembled with a splash of paint. It surprised me how filthy the mechanical parts get inside and definitely benefited from a thorough cleaning. Now they look like new inside and out
I did do quite an in depth write up (with plenty of images) of how I stripped and cleaned both the controller internals and pump, if it’s of any interest to anyone I’ll make a post when I get a few minutes
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It was MOT day yesterday so I thought I’d go early and try to get a couple of scenic pictures in King’s Lynn town before it got too busy. I took my Nikon D3400 as well as the Iphone 7, the difference in image quality is quite obvious, even after reducing image size to upload on here
King’s Lynn docks
Arrived at the test center
Passed with no faults or adviseries
and It was nice to hear that my 16 year old car is in better shape and better maintained than most newer cars
The haldex has been working great too since the remedial work which I’m relieved about so no more front wheels spinning when boost kicks in. I’ve not put it through it’s paces yet to test the new HPA controller as I wanted to make sure everything was working as it should first.
King’s Lynn docks
Arrived at the test center
Passed with no faults or adviseries
and It was nice to hear that my 16 year old car is in better shape and better maintained than most newer cars The haldex has been working great too since the remedial work which I’m relieved about so no more front wheels spinning when boost kicks in. I’ve not put it through it’s paces yet to test the new HPA controller as I wanted to make sure everything was working as it should first.
I believe they were from this seller
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263039250149
Unfortunately I can’t confirm that from the mobile app because they were purchased some time ago. They do require spigot rings to reduce from 73.1mm to 57.1mm and ideally need “Tuner” style taper bolts as the bolt holes are very narrow (M14 x 1.5 x 28mm without spacers or M14 x 1.5 x 40mm with 10mm spacers)
Just be aware that this flat Bronze is not a factory colour so if you do happen to need any touch up you will need to have it matched. I messaged the supplier who really didn't want to help identifying the actual colour
Steve
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Fancied a change so swapped out the black Audi rings on the front grill for a nice new chrome one, the old chrome one was looking a little tatty. It’s amazing how different the car looks just by changing the colour of the rings. Not sure which I prefer tbh but I do like the all black grill look personally
There’s one thing that’s been bugging me
since I fitted the Zinram cat back. The only thing I think let’s it down is the tail pipes look a bit lost in the bumper recess. From a distance it doesn’t look like there’s an exhaust fitted lol
See what I mean
I dropped the tail pipe off at the fabrication shop I use along with a pair of 3” polished stainless trims that I’d cut down to size and had them welded on
I think it looks much better now and you can actually tell there’s something in the recess
I need to put the chrome rings back on the tailgate aswell now as it looks a bit odd lol
Steve
There’s one thing that’s been bugging me
since I fitted the Zinram cat back. The only thing I think let’s it down is the tail pipes look a bit lost in the bumper recess. From a distance it doesn’t look like there’s an exhaust fitted lol
See what I mean
I dropped the tail pipe off at the fabrication shop I use along with a pair of 3” polished stainless trims that I’d cut down to size and had them welded on
I think it looks much better now and you can actually tell there’s something in the recess
I need to put the chrome rings back on the tailgate aswell now as it looks a bit odd lol
Steve
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Hi Steve, really liking the exhaust tail tips. I’ve just bought the same Zinram system as you. Now seeing what you’ve done, I’m tempted to follow suit! Did you notice any change in exhaust note now the tips are rolled in, instead of straight cut?
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Hi Ash, I haven’t been out for a drive yet mate. I just put it back in place last night before all the bad weather rolled in so I’ll let you know later
Hi Ash, I haven’t been out for a drive yet mate. I just put it back in place last night before all the bad weather rolled in so I’ll let you know later
Nice one cheers mate! Was some serious rain huh! I’m only just south of you.
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Yeah it was crazy, we had hail the size of marbles lol
There’s no difference in sound that I can tell with the rolled tips
Awesome, I was concerned that it’d make it sound deeper. I’m picking my Zinram exhaust up tomorrow
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Ah, sorry mateHi Steve
I saw your car at AITP today and it looks great
I would have liked to have had a look under the bonnet but every time i came back to your car you weren't around
I disappeared a few times to look around. Too many nice cars to see. Where were you parked up? I saw a few other 8L’s around
Sorry, a bit of a long post so I’ll do it two parts It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I spent most of last weekend flatting and polishing the paintwork in preparation for AITP. It’s still not perfect and could have done with another day on it really but the sun half killed me
Looks great in the sun though
Then spent the evenings last week sealing and waxing, I mainly like to use the EZ Car Care products. Started with Fusion to seal, then a coat of Granite, followed by Lucid ceramic wax. Once that’s cured gave it a coat of EZ Glaze. Even employed an extra labourer to help out
Time to sort some annoying niggles so off with the front bumper and out with the Araldite epoxy These end trims are a little damaged and are a nightmare to fix if they get much worse
Gave both sides a good clean and then ran a small bead down each side and clamped in place for around 8hrs until cured. Good as new
The other little niggle needed the intercooler removing to give it a few coats of satin black. I think it looks much stealthier now and even prefer not having the fogs in too
I’ve been hunting for a boost leak/fault for weeks, it’s literally doing my head head in now. I’ve smoke tested it with a crude homemade smoke tester, traced and fixed one leak but couldn’t find anything else, Agrrr also replaced the N75 and carried out several tests to no avail. Can’t get more than 0.8bar boost
Sunday was Audis In The Park, love this event. This year I went on the S3 UK Owners group stand with some great people and amazing cars. Despite the short downpour of rain it was a great day
These two pics were taken by @ToughlilT
before leaving I thought I’d found the source of my boost problem
As you can see the vac line to the wastegate had split and dropped away due to heat from the manifold so we carried out a temporary fix, put it back together thinking this was the cause of the problem but still no boost, Nooooooooo In fact now there’s only 0.5bar of boost since that was fixed. How is this possible? So still no fun
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I spent most of last weekend flatting and polishing the paintwork in preparation for AITP. It’s still not perfect and could have done with another day on it really but the sun half killed meLooks great in the sun though
Then spent the evenings last week sealing and waxing, I mainly like to use the EZ Car Care products. Started with Fusion to seal, then a coat of Granite, followed by Lucid ceramic wax. Once that’s cured gave it a coat of EZ Glaze. Even employed an extra labourer to help out
Time to sort some annoying niggles so off with the front bumper and out with the Araldite epoxy
These end trims are a little damaged and are a nightmare to fix if they get much worseGave both sides a good clean and then ran a small bead down each side and clamped in place for around 8hrs until cured. Good as new
The other little niggle needed the intercooler removing to give it a few coats of satin black. I think it looks much stealthier now and even prefer not having the fogs in too
I’ve been hunting for a boost leak/fault for weeks, it’s literally doing my head head in now. I’ve smoke tested it with a crude homemade smoke tester, traced and fixed one leak but couldn’t find anything else, Agrrr also replaced the N75 and carried out several tests to no avail. Can’t get more than 0.8bar boost
Sunday was Audis In The Park, love this event. This year I went on the S3 UK Owners group stand with some great people and amazing cars. Despite the short downpour of rain it was a great day
These two pics were taken by @ToughlilT
before leaving I thought I’d found the source of my boost problem
As you can see the vac line to the wastegate had split and dropped away due to heat from the manifold so we carried out a temporary fix, put it back together thinking this was the cause of the problem but still no boost, Nooooooooo
In fact now there’s only 0.5bar of boost since that was fixed. How is this possible? So still no fun
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Now determined to find the actual cause I removed the TIP yesterday and swapped the vac port on the wastegate from the front to the back away from the manifold.
I wanted to inspect the internals of the WG in to see if I could see anything obvious but I could not get the cap off without my Turbosmart spanner which went missing when it was fitted, so back to step one again Personally I think the WG could be faulty but I’m gunna get a smoke test done first to prove there’s no other leaks. Does anybody have any other suggestions?
Whilst the TIP was out of the way it seemed a good time to swap the crappy plastic coolant flange, distribution pipe and thermostat housing for the cast ally type which I shouldn’t have to worry about anymore
Topped up with G13 and bled the system. Unable to take the car out for a test drive now as I found the crankcase breather elbow broken (again) when fitting the thermostat housing lucky I did it really. Part now on order lol
Steve
I wanted to inspect the internals of the WG in to see if I could see anything obvious but I could not get the cap off without my Turbosmart spanner which went missing when it was fitted, so back to step one again
Personally I think the WG could be faulty but I’m gunna get a smoke test done first to prove there’s no other leaks. Does anybody have any other suggestions?Whilst the TIP was out of the way it seemed a good time to swap the crappy plastic coolant flange, distribution pipe and thermostat housing for the cast ally type which I shouldn’t have to worry about anymore
Topped up with G13 and bled the system. Unable to take the car out for a test drive now as I found the crankcase breather elbow broken (again) when fitting the thermostat housing
lucky I did it really. Part now on order lolSteve
Really good work on the bodywork Steve! Very shinny... sucks about the vacuum leak. I’m sure you’ll sort it out ASAP. I saw those alloy coolant flanges and distributors the other night on AwesomeGTi, think I might be buying a set and swapping out my thermostat at the same time. Going to the effort of changing all the coolant hoses for silicones, may as well swap out the plastic rubbish to.
Thanks mate, I’ve got a couple of weeks off work now so I’ll get it sorted. It’s worth doing the plastic bits for piece of mind. I’ve had two coolant flanges crack in the past so should be good now
I wish I’d ordered some nice new silicone hoses now but it’s definitely on the “To do” list
Yeah I had one of the flanges go on me when then car was on the road nearly 2 years ago now?! God time flies, be glad to get it back on the road. I snapped a couple when I was fitting the silicone hoses recently, bought replacements from TPS. But If I knew about these alloy replacements by ECS I would have gotten them. I need a holiday, two weeks to work on the car would be ideal.... but there misses wants to go to Spain, I’m sure we can work out a compromise haha
I’ve been helping @Grundy build his engine ready for a bit of power We’ve got the crank in place fitted new oil squirters, thrust washers, ACL Race main bearings and ARP studs. Checked all the clearance’s are within spec with the plastigauge and checked for crank end play. Then gapped the piston rings, well most of them anyway as we messed up a top and a middle ring being a bit too heavy handed with the ring grinder, haha. It’s surprisingly easy to go too big with the ring gap when you’re talking 10ths and hundredths of a mm lol
(Bare block with studs, bearings, thrust washers and oil squirters in place)
Crank torqued down with plastigauge inserted
Checking clearances on main bearings
Checking end play
Measuring the ring gaps
Grinding the piston rings down
For some reason we had a set of ACL Race mains and a set of Calico coated rod bearings so Sam ordered a set of ACL rod bearings to keep them matching which we’re waiting on before we put the pistons in, oh and now we need another set of rings too haha. We’ve assembled the pistons and rods with tool steel wrist pins so should be plenty strong enough
Before calling it a day we thought we’d get the rear main seal fitted which needed the block taking off the engine stand briefly to fit.
We’re happy with the progress so far although there’s still lots to do. It’s a very time consuming part of the build but also extremely enjoyable so I’m looking forward to the next step now plans have changed a little for this build after a deal came up for a v banded tubular top mount manifold with 1.5” runners, external WG and downpipe so should be interesting just a choice to make on the turbo and oil and water lines to purchase.
With that done we headed out for a bit of fun and try to get some pictures, unfortunately it was pi$$ing down so pics were terrible
Why not
Some pics from the last couple of days
Steve
We’ve got the crank in place fitted new oil squirters, thrust washers, ACL Race main bearings and ARP studs. Checked all the clearance’s are within spec with the plastigauge and checked for crank end play. Then gapped the piston rings, well most of them anyway as we messed up a top and a middle ring being a bit too heavy handed with the ring grinder, haha. It’s surprisingly easy to go too big with the ring gap when you’re talking 10ths and hundredths of a mm lol(Bare block with studs, bearings, thrust washers and oil squirters in place)
Crank torqued down with plastigauge inserted
Checking clearances on main bearings
Checking end play
Measuring the ring gaps
Grinding the piston rings down
For some reason we had a set of ACL Race mains and a set of Calico coated rod bearings so Sam ordered a set of ACL rod bearings to keep them matching which we’re waiting on before we put the pistons in, oh and now we need another set of rings too haha. We’ve assembled the pistons and rods with tool steel wrist pins so should be plenty strong enough
Before calling it a day we thought we’d get the rear main seal fitted which needed the block taking off the engine stand briefly to fit.
We’re happy with the progress so far although there’s still lots to do. It’s a very time consuming part of the build but also extremely enjoyable so I’m looking forward to the next step now
plans have changed a little for this build after a deal came up for a v banded tubular top mount manifold with 1.5” runners, external WG and downpipe so should be interesting just a choice to make on the turbo and oil and water lines to purchase.With that done we headed out for a bit of fun and try to get some pictures, unfortunately it was pi$$ing down so pics were terrible
Why not
Some pics from the last couple of days
Steve
