Nynoahs Build thread

[nynoah]

Just about finished up with mounting my new Morimoto Mini H1 replacements for my burnt out OEM xenons. The bowls on my stock units had some nice scorch marks on them. Hopefully these will be much brighter. I am also looking forward to the face that they are dual high beam low beam xenon units. I had to dremel out the frames on them. That was kinda a pain. Mainly because they were not labeled right. I think the guy got the Depo and the Veleo mixed up. But I made it work so what ever. I am glad that he posted them so I would have even a clue it was possible. So enjoy the pictures.





Thanks for the comments too. I enjoy reading the replies. I dropped off the pistons to the shop today. Hopefully they will be done soon.

[nynoah]

So pretty much I am just beyond frustrated and beyond, beyond, to the point of empty. This crap has gone on for so long that I can't take it anymore. I have been nice, annoying, but nice. I can't tell if 3zero3 motor sport just does not give a crap about me because I am small potatoes compared to the rich guys that come through that shop or if I am just ignored because I annoyed Scott too much. I personally like Scott as a person, but I just can't do it any longer. So I called up his shop today at about 8PM and left a message sounding about like what I typed before. Not angry, just more that I reached my limit. I started this journey of getting my motor work done in the last week of sept. Its 3 days before Xmas, I have no car, through the grace of god, my friend just lent me a car that he made non-op due to an accident (which the doors do not even close right anymore and the lights are busted out, its that bad). But before this point I was riding my motorcycle for months in the freezing cold and randomly borrowing cars from nice friends when I could. I have never lived this long without a car. Heck I had a car when I was 15 which was 1 year before I could drive.

I just told them to stop all work and I want everything back. I am getting ready to spend way too much money on this and I can not emotionally stomach spending that much on a shop that just does not seem to care when I get it done. Perhaps they will do good work, I really don't know. But my trust bridge is burned down.

I would rather try myself and fail than spend over 1500 for the shop to do it. Which is on top of money I already gave them.

I realize they are busy, but I'm done...

I wanted to enjoy building my car, but this whole foot dragging process has turned it into a burden on my soul.

[Seerlah]

We said from before to just do it yourself. Ask around for your local "reputable" machine shop and do it yourself. It really isn't that difficult. All you need is for the machine shop to bore the cylinders "with a torque plate" and they must have the pistons in hand before they do this. Have them do whatever else you want to the block (ie hot tank and deck), and balance out your rotating assembly. Go home, and put sh*t together yourself. Coming from a newb to this stuff (engine building) I did goof on my first block. But that was a rookie mistake while trying to do it all with the engine in the car (will proably build this block to 2 liter if Andrew can't get a hold of it). Second mistake was cheaping out on bearings and assembly lube on the second block. Learned from these mistakes, and my engine is fine (so far, minus the bent valves from a f*cking piece of plastic issue. pardon my anger).

-Don't cheap out on bearings. I suggest Glyco or Calico coated.
-Use Amsoil engine assembly lube over the standard Advanced Auto shelf stocked Permatex stuff
-Advanced Auto also has Plasti-Gauge (just ask them for it, as they are kept behind the counter)
-Quality torque wrench
-blah blah blah
-DON'T CHEAP OUT...it costs you in the long run (ask me how I know)

[nynoah]

I have Calico bearings for everything. I am going to search for a new machine shop provided that 3zero3 did not send the stuff off to them yet. Which I don't know, I dropped all the last parts off on Monday, I was told I would get a call back on Tuesday with a plan. I finally called in on Friday day time and asked for a return call. I hate to even talk about this stuff on the net. But between the stresses of my new job and the fact that I am letting someone else control when my car gets finished is just too much. I am the type of guy who has not let anyone cut my own hair since age 18. Because I hate to pay someone to mess it up. Took me a few bad haircuts to learn how to free hand with two mirrors and a pair of clippers, but when I tell people that I do it myself they are astounded. Sadly my bottom end engine build is turning out to be the same hair cut lesson. Do I think they will mess it up? Probably not, but my faith that they give a crap when I get it back, is spent.

My only reason to pay a shop to build the bottom end was elevate personal worry. But, what good is that in the end if I can never get it done or when I do, I am just pissed regardless of outcome due to the extreme foot dragging time frame. Granted, I know not every thing is their fault I had to wait 3-4 weeks for my coated pistons to come in. Mike Hood was very patient with my pestering about when those would be done. (Thanks Mike). But I dropped the engine off the last week in Sept, perhaps 1st week in Oct, I finally found out midway through November that the bore hone was too far out to use stock. It took over 8 weeks to figure that out? Really???????? I forgave all parties involved (machine shop too). Because anger usually gets nothing accomplished. But then again, I am sure that 3zero3 is use to rich guys with anger problems and I am not acting like them, so that might have moved me to the way back burner.

Here too was also I sign of things to come or why they went to a black hole in the first place: I had a spare bottom end and, with that came with an oil pan (passat) without the window sensor. I sent that pan to the machine shop that 3zero3 was using with my stuff. I tasked them to bore the hole out to use that sensor, I brought in my bad old pan with cracks and JB Weld all over it (works great for minor cracks :D) to show them the hole so they could take measurements. I also gave them the sensor too. Heres what happened... When they tapped out the holes for the bolts, they drilled right through them. The factory one had closed ends. The shop drilled right through. I asked them about it and they said to use JB Weld inside the pan to block the holes out... In retrospect, I should not have paid them a dime but I did not want to argue gave them the 40 bucks they charged and walked out the door. I was going to use the JB weld like they said but the voice in the back of my head said F no for long term solution. SO... thankfully I found another pan from a guy on Vortex for 50 shipped.

So right now I am spent on dealing with both of these shops. I am sure others will get better results than I. I am sure many great builds have happened there and will in the future. I am just not sure that a person with a B5 A4 and limited funds seems to matter.

So back to my general life lesson, you want it done right; learn how to do it yourself and ask your friends for help when needed.

[Seerlah]

Yeah, JB weld "inside" the oil pan is just asking for trouble. What gets me is why that shop could not have just welded the open ends shut . Yeah, don't mess with that shop anymore. If you were local, I would send you to my machinist asap.

[nynoah]

Yeah, JB weld "inside" the oil pan is just asking for trouble. What gets me is why that shop could not have just welded the open ends shut . Yeah, don't mess with that shop anymore. If you were local, I would send you to my machinist asap.

If they had done it right, there would be no holes to weld. Because all that was needed was to take the holes that were already in the casting, and just tap them for thread.

I feel like I am living in a bad B movie about a calamity of cluster F#$Ks that conspire to keep the hero from achieving his goal.

[Seerlah]

Don't feel bad, I have not driven my car for so long. When I got my engine running, I was damn happy boosting in joy. Blew my coil harness, and am going through the downward spiral right now. Little piece of f*cking plastic is going to cost me roughly $600 all said and done. And school does not leave me time to get this fixed. Then add on winter season settling in. So glad I can work on my own car, but it is times like this I wish I stayed stage 1 with bolt ons. But when behind the wheel of the GT2871R (not even that big of a turbo), reminds me of why I did what I did. I still have a long time to enjoy my car (unless I die, crash, or become disabled), so I don't fret about it much.

[nynoah]

when you said that some plastic messed up your valves, you are going to have to tell me that story or point to where you explained it more.

[Seerlah]

Chewed up plastic found by the crank gear (in front of front seal housing), 2 teeth had a gap between them completely filled with plastic, and that is how the story goes. Made my timing skip teeth and now I have no compression on all 4 cylinders after I corrected timing and placed on new belt (cleaned up the area well of course, as well as checking all other gears like the cam and water pump for plastic). Only logical explanation is valves are bent. And now, that is why I need your cylinder head. Head gasket and head bolts are already here. Borrowing a 3m roloc wheel from a forum member (like the 3rd time I had to borrow it from him ) and waiting for the head I purchased from you to arrive. I'll inspect the top of the pistons when I take the head off, but they should have some nicks at most. No biggie. But with the weather, school and Nissan Maxima in my garage I need to put back together (whole other incident where I hit a deer), I need to squeeze time in to get this done...outside...in the harsh NE Tri-State weather. It's 33* outside right now. Freezing! Can't tell you how much I miss driving my car.

On the plus side, I'll make a little DIY write up for HG removal and placing on new cylinder head.

[nynoah]

Dude its freezing out here in Denver and my car is up on blocks in the driveway waiting on my engine. No way was this whole thing supposed to last till Dec. I pray there is not a snowstorm in the future that keeps me from putting the engine back in. So I feel your pain on the cold.

[Seerlah]

I stayed out in Denver before. Also stayed in Boulder for a few weeks. It is really weird that dead in the middle of winter I can be in Boulder in t-shirt weather (literally wearing a t-shirt and jeans), travel to Denver and have it freezing cold. We are talking in the same day and maybe a 4 hour time span.

As much as it may pain you to hear this, you may need to place this project on the back burner till spring time. If you have the means, pick up a cheap beater for a couple hundred bucks. That is what got me around while I worked on my car. The family beater is a 97 Saturn SL2 and does not even have reverse. But it drives.

I was also using my sister's Maxima till I hit a damn deer on my birthday in it. On my way to college party town, hit a deer on the way. Well, turned my *** right around, went home, and did sh*t for my birthday. That's life, though. And now, fixing the Maxima on the cheap. Insurance already cut us a check, and I will fix it for less that 25% of the money they gave us. My sister lives out of the country like 11 months out of the year, so no biggie. She may not even come home next year. But dealing with school also does not give me much time to fix this. I'm on vacation now, so started getting into it. Got the front end apart (bumper, bumper support, etc), all the damn spot welds off for the radiator support (these things are annoying) for the front. Now need to drive the car onto ramps and get the last couple on the bottom spot welds. After that, swapping the replacement parts in should be a breeze. But the damn spot welds are a major PIA. Have all parts minus replacement hood and passenger side headlight. Nice Christmas break from school, huh?

[nynoah]

My hope for the weather in Denver is to get a good warm window. But out here, if its warm, like nice, in the winter, that means hella snowstorm is coming in no time. We can get 50/60 deg shifts in one day.

That sucks about the maxima, one thing I like about Audi is how we don't have to deal with front ends like that.

[nynoah]

So the latest chapter of my epic saga. Do I use ARP main studs or new stock bottom end bolts? It will cost me an addition 350 to use ARP main studs because they have to be line bored. Is it worth it? At what level do you NEED to use ARP main studs and at that level do you need to have a girdle anyways? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[Seerlah]

What are your goals? I personally feel the stock main bolts will be fine on the block for 400whp. And I plan on it. Your call, though. I do plan on ARP head bolts with a Cometic gasket, though. That is when my car is at that level, though.

[M-Hood]

So the latest chapter of my epic saga. Do I use ARP main studs or new stock bottom end bolts? It will cost me an addition 350 to use ARP main studs because they have to be line bored. Is it worth it? At what level do you NEED to use ARP main studs and at that level do you need to have a girdle anyways? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Girdle isn't really needed at any power level, it is a good option if you plan on using the car for racing on a road course.

[csosnowski]

Why does the block need line boring to use ARP main studs?

[nynoah]

Alright got it back, its on like Donkey Kong. I also ironed out my issues with 3zero3. So I still had them build my bottom end.

[M-Hood]

Good to hear you got things worked out.

[Seerlah]

That looks pretty. But if the block was decked, why does it still have that residue left over from the head gasket? I made mine cleaner than that with the 3m Roloc wheel.

[morzechowski]

That looks pretty. But if the block was decked, why does it still have that residue left over from the head gasket? I made mine cleaner than that with the 3m Roloc wheel.

You are right, that block looked barely decked at all. Almost like they charged you for a deck but just ran a 3m wheel over it quick.

Did you have it fluxed as well?

[nynoah]

I did not have the block decked. Hopefully, that will not be an issue, but I hate to take off metal unless there is a reason to take it off. Here is what I was up to today. I got most of the stuff mounted on the engine. I am going to stay up late and mount all the rest including the tranny to the engine and then drop it in early tomorrow. There is snow coming on Tuesday so I want to try to get it in and done tomorrow. Most likely will not happen, but I am going to try. Sadly the car is outside so I have to work during windows of good weather. I have a garage, but did not want to tie that up. This project was supposed to be done months ago before the snow. But... we all know how that goes.

Let me tell you, that Franken Turbo Mani is a pain in the butt to get mounted up. Thankfully I had some of the 10mm manifold nuts from 034 motorsport. I don't know how anyone can mount a stock mount high flow mani with the 12mm heads. Its impossible. Even with the 10mm, I had to grind down a set of crows feet to get in there. In addition to using a set of swivel tip 3/8 extensions from sears. Not the jointed ones, but the wobble version.

Here are some pictures of where it stands now.

[nynoah]

You are right, that block looked barely decked at all. Almost like they charged you for a deck but just ran a 3m wheel over it quick.

Did you have it fluxed as well?

Also Morzechowski, your head had an issue I am not sure if you were aware of. One of the holes for the head bolt was tight. Hopefully that is something that has always been there and not an issue from when you blew your motor. But I drilled it out just a little and the ARP headbolts spun freely. It was around between the first and the second piston from the front.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

I did not have the block decked. Hopefully, that will not be an issue, but I hate to take off metal unless there is a reason to take it off. Here is what I was up to today. I got most of the stuff mounted on the engine. I am going to stay up late and mount all the rest including the tranny to the engine and then drop it in early tomorrow. There is snow coming on Tuesday so I want to try to get it in and done tomorrow. Most likely will not happen, but I am going to try. Sadly the car is outside so I have to work during windows of good weather. I have a garage, but did not want to tie that up. This project was supposed to be done months ago before the snow. But... we all know how that goes.

Let me tell you, that Franken Turbo Mani is a pain in the butt to get mounted up. Thankfully I had some of the 10mm manifold nuts from 034 motorsport. I don't know how anyone can mount a stock mount high flow mani with the 12mm heads. Its impossible. Even with the 10mm, I had to grind down a set of crows feet to get in there. In addition to using a set of swivel tip 3/8 extensions from sears. Not the joined ones, but the wobble version.

Here are some pictures of where it stands now.

lovein the color and in the spring I have about the same setup going in. GTRS CM ect, I am waiting out the cold my stock clutch is slipping.

Are you going to be using a High flow fuel pump ? I have one that was given to me and want to know if its needed on a GTRS setup?

looks great good work!

[nynoah]

Ok so has anyone ever run into this? I think the bolts that I have to mate the transmission to the block are a different pitch between the Audi A4 AWM block and the VW passat AWM block. WTF? I am trying to put the trany on the block and its not going. It really feels like the pitch is off.

Thoughts?

[nynoah]

Also, where the heck inside of ETKA are the bolts to connect the transmission to the block. I can't find it.

[redline380]

Ok so has anyone ever run into this? I think the bolts that I have to mate the transmission to the block are a different pitch between the Audi A4 AWM block and the VW passat AWM block. WTF? I am trying to put the trany on the block and its not going. It really feels like the pitch is off.

Thoughts?

as far as i know vw awm and audi awm are the EXACT same. my block is a vw AUG (same as AWM) and it bolted right up

edit- i'd like to mention i used my audi AWM bellhousing bolts to avoid confusion. did you make sure the dowels didnt fall out?

[nynoah]

the pitch is different on this block, its courser

[redline380]

note my edit^^ do you have both sets of bolts? if you do just use the ones that thread in. i forgot the bolt size exactly, but im pretty sure its either m14x1.25 or 1.5

[Seerlah]

m14x1.75

I remember because these are the bolts I needed to pick up for my engine stand after trial and error. I also feel that block surface should have been cleaned better before you placed the head on. And as far as I know, the AWM blocks are exactly the same block. Hence, it is an AWM block and not a different code. And when I placed my head on before, one of the bolt head bolts was not wanting to go in. Just one. I make sure all bolts are in before torquing or threading down at all, so I took all the bolts out and tried to figure what was wrong. Even though the HG was seated in the dowels properly, it was off just enough for one head bolt to not be able to slide right in. It was getting caught up on the gasket. Lifted the head up, re-seated the HG and all bolts went in just fine.

[nynoah]

No I am talking the bolts to mate the transmission to the block.

[QuattroGinger]

looks good^^^ how you gonna pickup off ground now? lol

[nynoah]

I have an engine hoist. Its picked off the ground right now with the hoist. I am building the engine to near completion including mating up the trany to the engine and dropping the whole thing in the car as a unit. WAY easier to do than trying to get all those dumb bolts on the block with the tranny in the car.

[Seerlah]

No I am talking the bolts to mate the transmission to the block.

Yeah, the 4 bell housing to block bolts. Not sure if all of them are the same, but I used m14x1.75 bolts to mount the block to my engine stand by the bell housing thread holes.

[TheKid84]

Nice build man :] Check your fan belt pulley for any wear as i found out the hard way after putting every thing back and started the car with a winning noise, had to take the whole water pump alternator holder off to press that bearing out and put a new one in. Just saying :] But really a great effort on your part :] nicely done :]

[viceprp]

Love the color scheme. If it werent for Mike and your car, I would be doing same colors. Keep it up, can't wait for you to have it running.

[nynoah]

Alright I figured out the problem. I was trying to use the left over bolts from my suspension as the engine to tranny bolts. I got to two confused. Stupid me... I guess I was just really tired after wroking from sun up to sun down yesterday. Well next adventure. Find the missing bolts for the tranny to the engine. Time to rip apart the garage again. Sigh...

[JB5]

color looks amazing. love the combo.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

sorry if I missed it but are you going to run a catch can ?

[nynoah]

No catch can for now. I am just going to be using the regular pancake valve setup with the GTRS. In the future, I might get a single inlet catch can from IE. I will keep all the other breather stuff because I upgraded to the 034 version with the billet catch valve.

http://www.intengineering.com/integr...llet-catch-can

[GOODBYNAAIR]

yeah I dont have that, I plan on going with catch can, just been looking around what people use/ recommend/ suggest ?