Tanz Build Thread

[Tanzimur]

Well my time has come to begin a mild re-build of my beloved A4. I've been lurking on audizine quite awhile an have done most of every other "daily 1.8t problems'' and recently cars been running excellent for about a month after installing a new pick up tube and such pulling strong an one night me an my buddy decided to do a compression test on it and i said what the hell why not cylinder 1 & 2 came out a whopping 80psi on a hot/ normal temp cycle, then we put some oil in the spark plug hole for a wet test and the numbers for both went up to about 130... number 3 & 4 were at 150 not bad for 138k but i wasn't too concerned about the low compression thought i would get college started and worry about it later after December.

A week later slow at work (i work at o'reilly auto parts) i decided to check out what the best engine restorer crap we had on the wall for and i was recommended the brand Engine Restorer, Engine Restore by my manager that has built many cars back then an he's used the stuff quite awhile even on his sons turbo talon that burned a quart a week and it helped out a lot, so i said what the hell why not give it a go. Driving to work a week and a half later cars got a very nice smooth idle no problems or flashing lights and out of nowhere after passing a civic in boost came to a complete stop and CEL flashing cars idling like shit, so i decided to shut it off to see if it helped and try to start it back up once the light turned green and nope just cranked and kept turning over so i pulled it off to the side got it towed home later on and pulled spark plugs number 1 & 2 but mostly 1 was just soaked in oil car would start but CEL would flash and same effect on the car as sitting in traffic.

So thought why not just get a fresh build/ first build going since i plan on keeping the beloved A4 till death. I've got the general knowledge to on how to gap rings, hones cylinder walls, and what not im just a little iffy on bearing clearances and all, but that's what i got you guys for.

So particularly for now on a budget i plan on buying rods and pistons that can handle a stage two setup and later on a BT setup, so nothing to costly but good quality will do for a 97 AEB block with a AWM head it would be great to see suggestions on what to get exactly. Had the last few days off work so i been tearing away at getting it apart so far i have the whole exhaust side apart and all the necessary pulleys off and power steering pump all off along with the inter cooler, hopefully tomorrow ill have the intake side and vac lines off and loosen the bolts from the block to the tranny. And wait for my buddy to get a cherry picker to pull it and asses the damage and do what i gotta do from there.

I know you guys like pictures so heres my adventure with the A4! Only had her for 8 months now...

All started here...










































Got Pretty Far tonight... 10/26/2013






Thats my timeline from when i got her, to my first accident ever, first time going into service mode, installed lowering springs, de-greased entire bay/ car, to getting my fat fives and the way she sits now... Will update as i go thanks!!!

[nynoah]

I want to read that opening but the lack of paragraphs hurt my brain.

[Tanzimur]

Lol sorry about that i tryed hard to cram every detail in without having a 5 page essay still missing half my other fixes on the car, fixed now :)

[Tanzimur]

Well got a lot further all i have left is the power steering line to the rack and coolant pipe to heater hose. And after removing the intake mani this is what i found only in cylinder 2, Im pretty sure i dropped a valve and for sure will need another cylinder head, fingers crossed hopefully not waiting on my 6 spline socket to come in to remove the head...

Cylinder 2 Spark plug...

[redline380]

you're going to see shittyness when you take the head off. i imagine it ill be like mine...

[Tanzimur]

Ye im preparred lol ive seen urs an man did that suck, but how screwed do u think my block will be? I really dont care about the head its an awm once replaced b4 i got it an they didnt even throw a intake spacer on the drive by wire plenum...

[Tanzimur]

Well had some time tonight to remove the heater core hoses and lossen up the 3 bolts unmderneath that hook to the trans... now im ready to pull the engine i have the motor mounts and all that off but how many bolts and exactly where are they that hold the engine to the trans??? i searched and came up with after removing the starter theres one back in there???

[Cactus Avant]

I believe there are 11 engine to tranny bolts (I could be mistaken). Two of which are bolts that hold the starter in place as well. The starter is held on by 3 bolts. Two big ones from the tranny, and a little one for the mount to the engine block. After the starter is out, there are no hidden bolts of anything back there. When I pulled my engine, I pulled the tranny with it so I can't be of too much help, but some bolts are hard to access because its so tight down there

[Tanzimur]

alrite that helped out alot gave me an idea of where ive seen most bolts, thanks alot man!

[Tanzimur]

Alrite just a quick question and to go a more cost efficient way, could i use the stock forged pistons to get up to 350whp since the block will hold up to 400chp because i was just shopping around and seen that rods and pistons combo go up to about 2k but i would just need meaty rods to hold up to the brute force, correct me if im wrong...

[Believer]

Alrite just a quick question and to go a more cost efficient way, could i use the stock forged pistons to get up to 350whp since the block will hold up to 400chp because i was just shopping around and seen that rods and pistons combo go up to about 2k but i would just need meaty rods to hold up to the brute force, correct me if im wrong...

that's correct, your pistons will be just fine for your goals. Now whether or not you will need to replace a piston depends on how fubar it is from your current debacle. From the looks of that picture above it may need replacing.

Look into Eagle or Scat rods for your AEB.

[Tanzimur]

alright cool makes me happy less downtime, less money pit... and ye im getting close to having the engine out all i have to remove is the p/s line and heater core hoses, and starter also ill have to wait for the 6 spline head bolt tool to come in thanks for the reply believer! how much is a short block going for now a day??? start a build on the side with that after the aeb all done

[Seerlah]

Simple drop in rods make your car 600chp capable. Capability is all in the supporting mods. I have a 530hp turbo on my car running at 22 psi currently with just drop in rods (tuning for 27 psi on pump on the next revision). Not sure how much power I am putting down to the wheels. But many have achieved 350 whp with just drop in rods and a decent sized turbo.

When I built my motor, I just went at it. Didn't know how many bolts till back there. If you see it, remove it. Did not even place them all back in. I did not place the bell housing to tranny bolts back in. All others went back. Good luck! And as Lucas (redline380) said, I too am awaiting carnage after the head is pulled. It won't look good, so just be prepared.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

I think I have 5 or 6 of my tranny (other than starter bolts) bolts back in. I want to say M-hood only runs that many on his drag car.

[Tanzimur]

Perfect, glad to hear my favorite people are on board with me! still waiting on walky lol but ye removing the head will come soon enough ill have something to do when winter hits but stay tuned fellas thanks for the help!!!

[Tanzimur]

Finally had some time to myself and got to work today and got the pretty little 058 AEB pulled came out pretty simple other then a few ground wires and miscellaneous electrical wires holding it back, any ways plan on getting the head off tomorrow and assessing the damage and plan the build from there. Some pics...

Proud me! With a retarded Facial expression don't mind me...



Beautiful A4 and My buddys 2000 323ci


















Waitn on Cheezit to let me borrow his engine stand...

[rage385]

Keep it up man! I got a compression test done on my 2000 1.8T and my cylinder #2 is barely at 100. The others are at 150. so putting oil in the cylinder really worked?

[Believer]

Looking good!

[cheezit53]

Keep it up man! I got a compression test done on my 2000 1.8T and my cylinder #2 is barely at 100. The others are at 150. so putting oil in the cylinder really worked?

Putting oil in the cylinder during a compression test only confirms if its a ring problem or not.

[Tanzimur]

Thanks guys! tryn my best to work around work but ye 100 sounds pretty bad is that at a hot or cold test?

[rage385]

Putting oil in the cylinder during a compression test only confirms if its a ring problem or not.

Cool man. Thanks for the info.

[Tanzimur]

Had time today to put together the K03, decided to paint the comp. housing along with the engine bay color scheme black and gold, and got the pressure plate and clutch off the flywheel had to pry it off not too bad but i noticed after you remove the 6 Allen bolts connecting the pressure plate to the flywheel there are the 3 pins that still hold it on when i was prying it apart two of the three pins came off with the pressure plate is that a bad thing or what? will the new clutch kit come with a new set? And i noticed this block off plate on my AWM head next to the rear coolant flange, the block is a 058 AEB block it blew a timing belt before i owned it just wondering what went there. Thanks IA!





Went to the junkyard found me a good working n75 valve for free if ya know what i mean :)



That little block off plate to the right...



Good looking K03 right herrr...



That 2in ride height gain lol



Clean work area, happy work area :)

[cheezit53]

Get this man a dictionary

[Tanzimur]

Get this man a dictionary

Shut your whore mouth!

[Tanzimur]

Bump!

[Tanzimur]

Al rite, last night i was trying to remove the head bolts, on my AEB block with an AWM head and to me it seems like the head bolts are T50 cause i stuck a T55 down there and it seem to kind of grab but no dice. I've searched trying to see what type of bolts you would use if one was to swap heads and such came up with the Aeb originally head 10mm head bolts??? and the AWM had the special 6 spline tool which i think im going to have to buy now. Just trying to make sure so i don't waste any more time or money thanks!

[redline380]

first off, they didn't use torx head on either aeb or awm. aeb and atw are 10mm triple square heads, and awm are #6(?) polydrive. also, head bolts are block specific, not head specific. if you are using an aeb block, use aeb bolts regardless of head

[Tanzimur]

Al rite cool so i indeed have an AEB block with AWM Swap head, so your saying i do have the 6 spline bolts and ill need to order the special tool?

[redline380]

no, i'm saying you "should" have triple square head bolts. why don't you just look?

[Tanzimur]

Al rite cleaned the oil out of the head bolts so i can see clearly and i have the poly drive head bolts so time to order that special tool thanks for the help redline!

[Tanzimur]

Well got the head off and it looks like the previous owner did indeed snap a timing belt cause there are pretty nasty marks on the pistons which they did not swap out and they sourced this current head i have now, which seems to me they replaced all the valves on cylinder 2 with cheap ones and one of the intake valves snapped off an lodged into the piston head but other then that ill be needing a new head, and as far as all the cylinder walls shape they seem like a glass finish but little scoring on the cylinder 2 as far as getting the walls looking and running wise whatcha guys think will i need to get it bored out a few thousandths or try giving it an in depth hone??? What numbers should i be withing while mic-ing the walls circumference???

[redline380]

Is that a hole in the piston? Never seen that before. Kinda cool. Either way, that cylinder looks like a hone won't cut it. You'll be looking at putting .50mm over pistons in. Not too mention it looks way out of clearance anyways

And BTW, heads are worth about $15 in scrap.

[Tanzimur]

Alright so hang with me here, knowing that you know your stuff this is my first rebuild ever so what i am asking is how much would i have to get it bored out? just .50mm?

[redline380]

well that depends. how deep is the damage? more than .5 mm? you'll have to go deeper than. odds are you could hone and run stock. try catching a finger nail on the scratches. if you can feel them, it needs to be bored. if you can't feel them, odds are you could try just honing if you know what you're doing.

keep in mind, 81mm is stock, and some people go up to 83.5mm bore. it will be the same exact price for machine work and parts going from 81mm to 81.5mm and from 81mm to 83.5mm (except for the price of a big head gasket). boring won't cost all that much. its usually 20 bucks a hole, with a nice hone. that's what I paid anyways. pistons can be found for $400 or so, maybe cheaper. You should have about $500 into getting the bore and piston combo going again

[Seerlah]

If it passes the fingernail test, first try out a hone. Scoring is one thing, scratches is another. You said you had scoring. Use a bore gauge to see where you are afterwards in case you end up taking off too much material to get the scoring out. This is assuming the standard honing procedure does not get it and you have to hone more. Use this time to check for any ovalation of the cylinder also.

[redline380]

i'm mostly concerned about this

[Tanzimur]

Alright thanks for all the info, i tryed the fingernail test and ye i can feel some scratches along the cylinder walls. And redline are you concerned about the gap? And as far as these pictures show 81.5mm bore would help with getting rid of the scratches cause its not even a half a fingernail deep scratch, but ill see how bad it is after i try and hone it out like seerlah mentioned!

[Seerlah]

Piston just isn't seated right. It's kind of f*cked. Underside (wristpin) is most likely fubered also, causing the piston to sit like that. But a bore gauge is a def plus if just wanting to confirm. I used that on the my first engine before even going to work on it (not going to work on a warped block). Ended up scratching the wall on a dumb goof, but still checked before none the less. Not on the replacement block because I knew it to be true (bought from thenj3).

Alright thanks for all the info, i tryed the fingernail test and ye i can feel some scratches along the cylinder walls. And redline are you concerned about the gap? And as far as these pictures show 81.5mm bore would help with getting rid of the scratches cause its not even a half a fingernail deep scratch...

Bring the block to a competent machinist and he will tell you how much of an overbore you would require. They should be able to just look at it and tell you. Should not be charged for this. Be sure to dismantle it first.

[Tanzimur]

Right as i supposed the rod might be bent and what not so ill grab a hold of a bore gauge soon, and im not too worried about the head, pistons or rods, because i already have bought a DD 5 spd focus 2.0 duratec lol and just wanna build this to the blocks potential.

[Seerlah]

Don't bother with the bore gauge yet. Bring the block to a machinist and see what he says. If it needs an overbore, no need to use a bore gauge on it. If he says it can be honed out, then pick one up for your build. A decent bore gauge is not cheap ($100+), so don't pick one up if you don't need to.