Yup, it's a "maturity" thing, i've noticed the exact same thing about myself recently. Guess my dad was right (again!) and it will still be there tomorrow... Cracking job on the rocker cover. I'll give you two mars bars and a chip butty if you manage to make yourself a custom inlet monifold with your name on it too. (Which come to think of it aint a bad plan, the stock 8v inlet is shockingly bad iirc)
Hmmm, well Im not that old, but If it keeps getting better then! I will be making 2 inlet manifolds, but not for this 8v. Ive started the layout on the slide throttle manifold for the 85mm bore 8v, and the 16v(my head) will also have a created manifold. Ill be getting straight back to the proper 8v build once I get this engine in, and the car nct'd Got a nice bit done this eve, head all back together and painted, Intake painted, and started painting the cam cover too. Had to drill/tap it in a few places for that to happen so thats all done too. Im not going to dwell much on the painting end of things, mainly because I hate talking about painting having painted so many kitchen doors. Its basic anyway, etch primer, then base, grey metallic, then 3 lacquers. Im not one for painting engines up all nice, but it had to be done since the design of the rocker has polished ribs/font, and I want them sealed, as I haven't time for autosoling stuff every Sunday. I want something robust, done and done once, no back/polishing. Im not a polish type of guy. Pictures to follow later. Photobucket A ok now, they told me to reset the wireless router/modem/flashing led box thing, and its now uploading a treat. Some things Ill never understand so I wont even try figure why that cured it. BG
I think Ill do it once a month from now on just for good measure, you'd never know what else it may fix! A couple of non-interesting photos from this evenings fumblings, Mainly of paint, Some pictures just have dust coats on, but you'll get the idea, buckets were worn, so I fitted new ones, to mind the cam more than anything The drillings/tappings, Bucket wear... New ones.. Caps on, Some more paint, And gave them another coat after that. Tomorrow, Ill be sanding paint off all important surfaces, as well as the rocker cover font/top, and hitting them all with clearcoat. I can them button them all together and start fitting the thing. I have the breather designed for the cover so Ill have to pattern/cast that and also cast a breather blockoff plate for the block. Which will also have a tapped boss in it. The weekend should have it all well shook
Me neither, i'm only 30! Ooh, yeh, I'd forgotten about the slide throttle thingymajig (technical term)
Yes indeed, cant forget about that Got the cover done this eve Few pictures, nothing major, first is sanding off the paint of the raised areas, the rest is after topcoats Im happy out, its exactly how I had pictured in my head. I can now crack on since the intake and head is fully painted now too BG
That my friend is a work of art, seriously... It's the kind of thing you would expect to see on show car!! (except obviously yours is made of aluminium to exacting specifcations rather than mass produced out of plastiscene for the masses)!!
Truly excellent work! Where did you learn to cast like that? I one day hope to possess the skill set needed to fabricate on that level. Until then, I will live vicariously through others.
Funky, Thanks, I feel its a good functional part with a few things that the oem one does not have, a place to bolt on a clip for the clutch cable for a start doing away with the isv hose clip. A breather that can be removed(you'll see later) and turned either to the throttle body, or off to the right to a can. And the tapping for any other possible breather line in the front. Bergcup, I didnt really learn, more so lots of testing, practice, and looking at cast parts studying how they are made. After that its all down to making the pattern, which is easy too if you actually study how its made. Its just like one big kids toy model really Geordie, I have to try make it to an Irish show first as Ive never been to any, either in person, or with a car
Bolting up the engine later, so a few last pictures just for fun before its gets tacked on there, Im being very arty with the carbon fibre Ive run out of ''nice'' pieces of timber to leave stuff on! I wonder will the oem oilcap look ok on there, shame if it doesn't
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audi-R8-oil-c...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5642c88a7d I think something similar to this would sit nicely on there.
You'd be very right, but that costs money. The goal of this entire thread is to spend the bare minimum I might make something up, Ive had a design in my head that I haven't seen for 50yrs. (Im not 70 but you know what I mean)
I may or may not go with it, Im getting carried away making stuff that doesn't make the car go faster. Im also getting carried away with repainting stuff, Ive decided that Im not painting anymore stuff after this batch that I did this eve ,its just taking over But, I guess itll save me doing it again. I did the mounts, the arb, the twin front crossmembers, the fan cowling, and some other small bits and pieces. Basically, the hard bits to remove again. Ill scrub the bay and see how it looks, if its poor, Ill prob convince myself to oakgreen her up again just to have it right We shall see. I also got the head and a few bits on the engine. I erased the picture of the front of it by mistake, but Ill have more later. Im refitting my helix clutch to it as I find it pretty good. The gear linkage bushes are a mess so Ill have to remake/do them too I suppose while they are all there in front of me. Its all covered in oil anyway from the engine. Im going to try use new bolts on everything going back where I can. Ill have to anyway since 30% of the bolts that should be there, were not Id hope to have her all back and running by Wednesday, but I might be a day longer. I can then get the car tested, and relax a bit, and get back to the proper engines for this yoke BG
Have not seen that done before on a 'thread' and did not think I would see anyone doing it DIY either!
I guess theres a first time for everything Got a bit done lastnight, nothing much, Spotted that the front engine mount was gone as the centre pulled out, I had suspected this but put it down to the Isv valve being dead and causing slight engine bucking, but The mount was dead too, possibly from the isv being gone, and possibly from my right foot too, So, Because it was the weekend, and because ordering would take 4 days to have one here in my hand, I made one up, mainly by using an opel mount I had here for an age. And, where theres a will theres a way! Cut off old mount, Cut opel mount open, its of the hydro design, so lots of oil...the rubber bit is all I needed, Welding to old base, Welded, keep as as cool as I could, the outer skin burnt a bit, but thats ok, the main vulcanised bond is on the inner mount surface, not the outside. From a vibration point of view the mount was all I needed at this point, and would work fine, but, in the event of the rubber breaking, or if I was to crash, the rubber would break free, and god knows where the engine may end up, so I added a metal safety cage just over it. This will hold engine should anything happen, and It does not interfere with the isolation properties of the rubber, On and painted, problem solved, Cleaned up bay, I wont be painting, its grand, Its dried out a bit here and looks dirty again, but thats just surface dust/dirt that has dried again, the heavy gunge is gone I may wax here up to keep any possible rust at bay, although there is no rust as it is. Crossmember/subframe in, Clutch on, More later, BG
Figured out what alternator Im using, the one on the Gti engine had the top bit broken off, so that was junk(may feature as a different part in another life). I then looked at the abf arrangement but hadn't got an abf alternator, even though I have about 6 brackets. I then looked at a 16v mk2 unit and the bearings/pulley were shot missing, I finally settled on a Porsche alternator I had here, its perfect, albeit it rotten dirty and having the wrong offset pulley. Cleaned it down, stripped it out, checked tested/replaced brushes etc. Its actually a ''nice'' looking alternator in that it hasn't a million vents to gather dust/dirt. It also has a diecast alloy fan, very ''cool'', and I love alloy dont forget.... For the bracket I had a problem. I used the 2e tin rear timing tin guard. This guard has not got a hole for the long 6mm allen bolt as the 1.8 has. It also does not have the recess needed for the bit of the bracket that wraps around the end of the block. I didnt mind cutting the wrap around bit off the bracket, but that would then mean there was just one 13mm bolt on the front holding it on there, no good. So, Into the parts bin again, this time I won, I found an Audi 80 6a 2.0L 16v alternator bracket with no less than 6 securing holes. 2 of which are in the wrap around bit of bracket. I cut off this wrap around bit and I then had 3 securing holes into the front of the block. Perfect. If your confused with all that then you are normal. I painted the alternator as the core band around the centre had surface rust on it. I cannot build an engine unless every aspect of it is mint regardless how the rest of the car looks so the spraygun had to come out again. The fan disc had loads of alloy ''fur'' on it, so a quick spin in the lathe removed all that. Shot it with more dolomite grey(which looks ace on engine parts Ive discovered). Top coated with clear to make cleaning the engine easy in future, and making sure it will always look well as well as go well. This engine will be in storage for whiles at a time while the other engines are fitted remember. The alternator also has a neat cowl fitted to the rear that I may use if it fits(you can just see it behind alt above). Its purpose in the Porker was to direct cool air to it as the alt sat right under the exhaust branch. I might throw it in the bin too if its not easy fit but I painted it just to be safe. It would in fairness protect the rear of the alternator as this one is a bit more exposed in that area than others. The bracket fitting, I also have to make up a breather plate and frost plug the hole(40mm on the 2e). I hate the oem plastic box breather as it always leaks where the hose joins it sooner or later. I have the pattern made for the for a long time so that will be fast. I had a look again at stuff in the engine bay and spotted the bain of my life worn again. Id say in all my Gtis I must have replaced/re-bushed these damn things 50 times. Guess what part it is... Because I now prefer just changing parts that are pretty boring just once, Im going to design a new one, from scratch. I say that like its a big deal, its not really, but there is miles of room to improve it. The problem as we know is the bushings, The problem also is that no matter what bushings you fit in there, is that they will always wear. All kits, incl the very dear ones fall down on this simple problem. Its not the bush material, its the road grit and heat that wears these out. Standing in traffic, the heat collects around exhaust and roasts them. Going down a wet road covers them in grime. Remember these are always moving due to engine movement, its not just when your changing gear. Always wearing away.... To combat this problem I decided that two sealed for life splash proof stainless steel bearings would work nicely there to support the shaft. Nicely as in, Ill never have to think about them again. For the selector tube under car, Im going to fit a phosphor bronze cage, c/with stainless ball. I intend to fit a rubber gaiter both sides but I need to see how I am for room tomorrow before making up my mind. I fear that the gaiter nearest the front of the car may not have enough room to bunch up with the lever is moved to 2nd or 4th but Ill see. Ill protect it some other way if I cant. Its the dirt that kills all these bushings. Why nobody has not used bearings on the vertical shaft before this I do not know. So a quick pattern is needed, Its pretty self explanatory but a few pictures all the same. The heavy round bosses will be drilled out to fit said bearings once the part is poured. For ease of mouldup Im making it in two parts and bolting a small alloy angle to the rear with three hex bolts. The scoop out of the bottom is to lighten that area. Thats where I left it for today, Ill pour tomorrow eve along with a few other bits and then cut the counterbores, and fit the bearings. That will be the end of that parts problems then for good, and I can focus on other more Important items. BG
awesome.. looking forward to this. You not tempted to put something like a snakes head on some of your less visible pieces? So when it comes to MOT (or equivalent) time the tester and you are the only one's that know they're there....
