# Engine rebuild and trackday project log



## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

So my engine is a little tired as discussed here https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1989017 and I wondered what do to with the car but couldnt think of anything else I'd want to replace it with so I bought a 2nd hand engine off ebay which I plan to rebuild.

This thread will be a log of that rebuild.
I found a "90k" APX engine complete with most of its ancillaries on ebay with pallet delivery.








Stripping down








Clutch has had a life life but is original.








Two of the turbo to manifold bolts came out relatively nicely however the 3rd got royally screwed up so I had to drill the head off. Being inexperienced at this I quickly learned that stainless steel work hardens and what kind of pressure I had to put on the drill but some cold chisels and perseverance won in the end.
















Looks like the exhaust valve stems have been leaking oil








Mounted on the stand.








Cracked exhaust manifold as usual








Pushed it outside and hosed it down today








Haven't set in stone what kind of build im going to do but I'm inclined to go standard and with a maximum of a stage 1 map so I can thrash it around on track all day with some degree of reliability. With any luck I will have it finished by spring and fitted for summer.

Edit: This thread now includes my general car progress.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

are you going to check the turbo hotside for cracks and if okay (it wont be - well I will be really surprised if it is) change the CHRA?


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

StuartDB said:


> are you going to check the turbo hotside for cracks and if okay (it wont be - well I will be really surprised if it is) change the CHRA?


Funny you should ask that... the hot side is absolutely screwed so I need to decide on what turbo/manifold I will replace it with. Can you still buy brand new ones or is it recon only? Check out these cracks.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

it depends what you want to do and spend I suppose?

it'll be like this inside










I am surprised it is not as bad as this from my S3.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Well I'm still considering a standard turbo so I'll ring around some of the rebuilders and see if I can get a new hotside and CHRA.

Got the cylinder head off today and all looks good. Weird headbolts though, not M10 ribe nor torx but a torx socket did it.


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## LesRSV (Jul 5, 2017)

The head bolts should be M10 ribe, or polydrive as some call them.I have this "kit"of two which does genuine bolts and aftermarket bolts, but they look identical to me and both fit. :?

https://www.lasertools.co.uk/product/5092


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

I think the best online deals for good quality are the hotside from turbo-rebuilds, they also do CHRA built and balanced I their UK premises or if you want an original CHRA maybe from Badger5, if you buy a CHRA it doesn't need balancing and you just need a little puller to split the compressor housing from the CHRA. you dont need to pay someone to photo where the hotside is clocked with the CHRA and put sealant on a compressor housing.

If you go down the Chinese route to get a cheap turbo split off the hotside and open up the top, the one I bought for the hotside was made from a pattern with the gasket upside down (DOH) and the wastegate holes are always too small - as you can clearly sort it out, some people complain that the wastegate arm bends under pressure / heat?

just to note even the expensive AET hybrid turbos do not have inserts for the bolts, so dont be surprised if a replacement doesn't have them. it would be interesting to see if my AET Hybrid has any cracks - I have gone up to > 35psi (crappy 1 bar actuator) with that- but the IATs are rarely over 30 degrees even in the summer, and EGTs 850 degrees

I have to say the best upgrade for maintenance is getting the chinafold, the stock manifold with those horrible e14 bolts are always too tight to undo and the one you drilled off is the one most people have to drill off. with the chinafold I just have a 17mm socket on a flat surface to undo


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Small update, the sump is off and I inspected a main bearing and rod bearing.








The main looks good, I think, with only a sight sign of polishing on one side.








Crank surface smooth and shiney.








The rod bearing looked worse with a corse surface and scratch mark.








StuartDB - Looks like turbo-rebuilds do the exhaust housing and a couple of different CHRA so it's likely I will send mine to them for reconditioning.

I also contacted a cast iron repair specialist this week for a quote to repair the exhaust manifold and it was over double the price of a chinafold...

Having trouble with the cam chain tensioner this weekend, I've already broken two of those crappy plastic tools :x so I'm going to see if I can find a metal one.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

why do you need a cam chain tensioner? you are removing the cams aren't you ? just remember to undo them evenly so they are not "bent" etc


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Yeah I was having a blonde moment ! Cams and tensioner out now and I've bought a cheap valve spring compressor so perhaps by the weekend I shall know the state of the valve guides and seats.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

you will need a good led bendy light too and a box to put all the bits in the right pigeon holes and a tiny strong extender magnetic and if you wear glasses maybe a sweat band   otherwise sweat drips down into you eyes and your glasses steam up.. 

and also some strong grease and a plastic tool to collect and position the collets.

there is also a tool super long nose pliers to remove and a tool to push on the stem seals.

also double check all your springs when refitting to make sure they are not hung-up on a ledge otherwise it will snap your valves.

if the head is being sent off, then remember to collect the exhaust valve shims


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## BenOfTheNorth (Sep 14, 2020)

I find this thread super fascinating - while everything is clearly very precisely engineered, it always amazes me how simple the concept of the engine really is still, and how they don't melt into a solid lump in seconds.


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## Andre-77 (Jan 27, 2018)

I'm pretty sure that you'll know that but i give you an advice! when you'll remove the old idraulic lifters replace them!! don't mount again the same lifters because it cause the failure of the first exhaust valve of the first cilinder [smiley=bomb.gif] .
I give you this advice because i've an APX too and when i rebuilded mine engine i've done this error:














































That's happens because the oil stored into the lifters doesn't "exit enought" and it means that there'isnt the stock condition (sorry for my bad english :lol: ) and, if you didn't replace them, there'isnt the stock conditions and it cause the failure during the first start.

after that failure i'd replaced all of the springs and retainers and, obviously, the hydraulic lifters.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Thank you for the hints and tips. I have some egg boxes for the parts at the present but I will likely make up a special container so nothing gets mixed up.

Did you know the lifters can be dissassembled Andre ? This is the first time I've done a 1.8t head but this video seems to suggest they are reusable. 




I had some spare time this evening so I removed two exhaust valves, the £8.49 spring compressor works well.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

It is a calming evening job, nice and methodical and a bit of care especially when re-fitting the colets.

@andre77 pretty sure the spring wasn't seated properly the same thing happened to me i lucky turned it over a couple of times on a bench first. And tweaked the top of the valve or did the bottom of your break?

http://badger-5.com/bin/5v-installation ... ertech.pdf

And mine when I checked after..










In ask honesty daryl why don't you upgrade your engine as its all apart?

You're going to have to change the bearings and rings any way, so why not drop in some forged rods and supertech inconel valves. You can put whatever looney map you want on after especially if you are keeping the stock turbo to start with? Everything else are just on the out side of the engine.


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## Andre-77 (Jan 27, 2018)

> @andre77 pretty sure the spring wasn't seated properly the same thing happened to me i lucky turned it over a couple of times on a bench first. And tweaked the top of the valve or did the bottom of your break?


yeah Stuart i was enought sure to placed the spring correctly :? i read your pdf and are similar to this one, but not the same:

View attachment INFO VW_ROTTURA VALVOLE.pdf


Sorry i've only the Italian version of this document but it's the official WV advise, gave it to every italian engine rebuilder, because the problem i've listed above interessing not all 1.8t but only "few" engine codes. Infact you read it there'isnt (for example) the BAM units, because Audi/WV fixed this problem.
The worst part of this failure is that you can't see it during the engine rebuild but it's happen during the first km of the new engine.



> Did you know the lifters can be dissassembled Andre ? This is the first time I've done a 1.8t head but this video seems to suggest they are reusable.


Choose what you think are better @darylw357 obviously, but IMO the idraulic lifter are a vital components into an engine, and fortunately are not so expensive so why didn't replace it and be sure to do a right work?


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

@StuartDB - I have considered going for forged rods and stronger exhaust valves but this does increase the cost significantly. I was unsure too if the supertech valves for example need new springs and retainers etc?

@Andre-77 - Thanks for the document I shall ask a friend if he can give me a translation. It's certainly possible this is just an APX issue that was fixed for the BAM.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

It will make the engine alone worth more than the rest of the car for an extra 700 quid, especially if you are only running stock power for a while afterwards - I think Bill @ Badger5 used to do a drive in / drive out service to fit rods, change the head gasket, cam belt and water pump and new rings and big end bearings. 
But to do what you are doing would probably cost over 3K at a specialist shop.

you dont need supertech springs and removing the shims with the supertech Inconel valves (the thing is people replace them when fitting a big turbo but most big turbo fitments use less boost and have less back pressure so why need the heavier springs?) - stock valves are sodium filled and that dissipates over the years, they are really expensive to replace as OEM.

I just made sure I got the correct top Inconel valves and reused the collects.

I also got a spare set of erling stem seals - they come with a head gasket kit, but unless you have done it before you'll break some as there is no click to know it is in place you sort of hit the tool and too hard breaks the spring the you spend ages trying to fish the spring out the bottom of the head  

You have to make your own mind up, but I promise you these cars are addictive - I was never interested in modifying cars until I got my S3 a few years ago and I am 50 next year and started driving when I was 17.

A stock 225 TT is a little cumbersome, but once you start making changes it will go -

1. Map
2. Filter and B5 TIP 
3. Map
4. 3 inch downpipe and Powerflex Dogbone mount
5. Map
6. FMIC (Airtec / Forge / Welly / AHF)
7. 550 Injectors 
8. DW65V Fuel Pump
9. Map
10. PTFE Intake Gasket
11. 3 Inch Catback
12. Hybrid Turbo and Chinafold Manifold
13. Map
14. WMI
15. Big Turbo, Fabricated Downpipe, New Manifold
16. Map

Maybe at some point in the middle of that you will go for an Ignitron plug and play ECU - with stock internals you will not bother past 11.. the biggest win is stage 1 then after that every BHP more costs a mint.


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## Andre-77 (Jan 27, 2018)

> @Andre-77 - Thanks for the document I shall ask a friend if he can give me a translation. It's certainly possible this is just an APX issue that was fixed for the BAM.


You're welcome @darylw357, if you need some help for traslating the document, set free to ask me!
I've just rebuilded my APX engine few months ago, so if you'll have some questions i can help you to answer it 

@Stuart i'm agree with your point because i've done the same! :lol:


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Just a small update now the engine is completely stripped down. Noticed some cracking/wear on the cambelt-crank pulley key which is concerning but I suppose thats why people drill and dowel them.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

remember if you are not upgrading the rods you still need to change the rod bolts as they have already stretched and they will snap if reused.


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

The crank pulleys are only made from sintered metal. So basically powdered metal compressed into a die and heated. They are pretty soft and the key is really only there for location purposes. The 16mm very tight crank bolt is what really provides the security. A missed gear change and over revving the engine can cause the pulley to slip. 
On the 2.0 TFSI engines they run a diamond friction washer and this is what I use on my 500bhp 1.8T. The very thin nickel washer is only 0.1mm thick and coated in diamond dust that acts like hundreds of small pins that increases the locking force by upto 3 times at the interface. Cheap enough to buy from the dealers and just fit when rebuilding the engine. 
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/100 ... -shims.pdf 
The part number is 06C105193B and can be picked up from pretty much any VAG parts dept for around £12-£13. I get a lot of parts from my local Skoda dealer.
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/shop/home/5 ... asher.html

I run a stock Febi crank pulley.They are cheap enough and are worth replacing when rebuilding an engine.Especially if there is any sign of issues.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Oh I'm glad there is a cheap alternative for the bottom pulley. Do you know of any similar weakness with the exhaust cam pulley? I would have thought it was under similar strain.

Tried removing the paint from the block today but the paint stripper did bugger all. Wire wheel and a dremel it is then :roll:


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

No particualr issues with the exhaust cam pulley.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Short block and crank back from the engineering firm, they inspected + honed the bores and polished the crank.

Next task is to clean and paint the block.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Well much has been going on since I started this log.

I cleaned and painted the block then oiled it for storage.








Bought a 2nd hand set of H&R loweirng springs.








Fitted them to Monroe OESpectrum shock absorbers.








Old ones were certainly past their best with little to no rebound.








Finally replaced the electric water pump in preparation for....








A sunny trackday at Bedford!








I'm now hooked and have signed up for a couple more in July/August so have to decide what I'm going or not going to do with the car before then. I'm considering getting the clutch done and putting off the engine rebuild until the winter but not sure how much my original engine can take.


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

I like Bedford, Just waiting on getting my DSG gearbox remapped so I can use the full 500bhp from the engine and will be out on the tracks again. I have modified my exhaust to include a nice big centre silencer and it's a good bit quieter so should be able to go flat out all around the track rather than creeping past some of the noise measuring points.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

What is a big centre silencer... ? Is it wide or long...?


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Yes I really enjoyed Bedford, its reassuring that there is little to hit, as a novice, if you take the corner wrong. Mine is a standard exhaust so well under the limit but did see a few get pulled in throughout the day for noise.


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

StuartDB said:


> What is a big centre silencer... ? Is it wide or long...?


I will add some details to my build thread.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Big update today 

New clutch, flywheel etc and front ARB.








At the garage with a shiney new DMF.









Old friction plate, down to the rivets and breaking up.








Pressure plate has seen some heat








Old DMF too although it is not as worn as I expected.

Now the front ARB has needed new bushes for ages now and I knew the plastic collars were damaged so I was hoping to use undersized bushes and locking collars but unfortunately the ARB was in far worse condition than expected.








The pitting was deep and the bar at the mounting points no longer a uniform width so by the time id file it down it would be half the diameter. A new standard size ARB Audi was fitted with superpro bushes.









So how does it drive now ? The pedal is incredibly light, this is what a hydraulic clutch should be, it's as if I'm not pushing anything at all and the biting point is much lower. 8)

Yes it cost more than the car but the original lasted 20 years and 151k so even if I get 10 years out of this one I'll be happy. I'd certainly recomend having it done if yours is slipping or heavy as hell.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

I got a bit lost did you take the engine apart and then put it back together without any real changes apart from the engine block being worked on? Or have I missed a page of modifications, and rebuilds? And you drove the car at Bedford then decided to change the clutch? Even though it had already been removed?

Arhhh... ignore me.. you are running an engine rebuild project whilst leaving the current car in the road... Will you transfer the clutch in the winter to your rebuilt engine, or buy another clutch?


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

StuartDB said:


> I got a bit lost did you take the engine apart and then put it back together without any real changes apart from the engine block being worked on? Or have I missed a page of modifications, and rebuilds? And you drove the car at Bedford then decided to change the clutch? Even though it had already been removed?
> 
> Arhhh... ignore me.. you are running an engine rebuild project whilst leaving the current car in the road... Will you transfer the clutch in the winter to your rebuilt engine, or buy another clutch?


Oh woops yeah I guess it seems a bit disjointed.

I've got a spare engine which I'm rebuilding, was going to fit that this summer but if I leave it until the winter then I can save a bit more and get the rods, valves etc. Current engine seems to be handling track days OK but the clutch started to slip when I remapped it to BFV/QS boost levels and was awfully heavy before that so I decided to get it done and buy me some more time. Yes I will just transfer this clutch over to the new engine when it's ready although I will inspect it thoroughly first.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Another great day out in Bedford 8)

Managed to make some rail adaptors and get a bucket seat fitted last week which made a big difference on track, not clinging on to the steering wheel.








The car performed well and water temperatures not too crazy at 105C but towards the end of the day when I came in I could hear a hissing under the bonet and some water got dumped which I think was the from the expansion tank being slightly overfilled.

Playing it safe I decided to call it quits then and do another 160 miles heading home, this was also fine but at some point the HVAC controls died, the oil level sensor warning appeared and I lost wing mirror adjustment so I can only hope it's a couple of fuses.

Looking forward to the next one!


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

Expensive but the CSF radiator will banish all your cooling issues. Works great on my 500bhp car. Coolant temps rarely exceed 97- 98 degrees even on the hottest days.
https://badger5.co.uk/intercooling/csf- ... 4-platform

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323855981378?


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Discovered some rarther large patches of oil on the street where I usually park which required futher investigation. Last time I had the sump off I reused the oil return gasket and it turned out to be leaking from there.
So I ordered a new one from Audi and went to fit it last weekend only to find the real reason it was leaking was because the bottom bolt had stripped the thread in the sump :roll: 
Fortunately I had a spare (but dirty) sump from the engine I'm rebuilding so I cleaned that up and fitted it in the rain.

Also took the opportunity to fit a sump plug drilled for a temperature thermocouple.









I'm at Castle Combe tomorrow so i'll note maximum oil temperatures.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Well what a day!

Rear brake pads melted down to metal at about 11am so I decided to drive home and perform a brake pad chance that would shame an F1 team it was so fast then got back out on track for 3pm. Not much fun driving home with metal on metal however.








Got a couple more sessions in then the pedal went soft so I assumed it was heat fade and headed to the pit. Upon pulling in a lot of smoke came out of my interior air vents when I pushed the pedal, a bad sign but I was excited for an opportunity to use my new fire extinguisher.

Sadly it was terminal, upon inspection I could see a puddle of brake fluid begin to form under the car and had to have it recovered home  








Now the fault is interesting, the turbo coolant feed pipe from the aux water pump has been rubbing right on the bend of the front brake pipe comming out of the master cylinder. If you push the pedal, it sprays out like a water pistol.

Looks like I'm not the first person to experience this 
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2&t=574617
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... &t=2012245
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1084379

I've started to strip the back of the engine bay out so I can make a new peice of pipe to splice in but I'm concerned about the routing of this water pipe to stop it happening again. As it's a partially metal pipe I'm not sure how much room I have to move or reroute it ?

Oil temps not excessive, typically saw 118C which I think is well within the range of a good synthetic?

Good day out otherwise, Castle Combe was fun and the instructor very knowledgable 8)


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## Delta4 (Jun 19, 2015)

A crap situation but the brake fluid did'nt ignite so thank your lucky stars for that, moving the offending pipe is easy to do


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Pipe is out but ive had to remove far more than I wanted inc disconnecting the clutch pipe from the master cylinder.








And this is the offending pipe.








I strongly recomend everyone check their pipes especially if the engine mounts are tired as this is a serious failure that could lead to a crash on the road.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

To add on to the previous post here is the new bit of pipe I spliced in.








Not my best work but its difficult to get the 90 degree bends as tight as the factory, I think when the engine is out I shall replace the whole piece with genuine.

Now for the exciting bits 8) 
















New vs old valves.








B5 Hurricane rods, Inconel exhaust valves, KS bearings, Goetze rings, oil pump, water pump, belt kit and lots of gaskets n bolts.

I've decoked the cylinder head and dropped that off for machining, it's having a full set of valve guides and light skim unfortunately it needs some welding around the coolant passages due to corrosion but appparently this isn't uncommon.








Chinafold on the way so I'll have that to port and I think I'll go for the uprated bearings K04 and new hotside from TurboRebuilds once somebody picks up the phone.

This weekend I'm going to measure the rings in the bore and see if they need much filing to fit.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

very nice... if you have all those internals can't you go for a better turbo ?

Turbo rebuilds do a Hybrid CHRA which fits the stock compressor housing and hotside - and you could open up the china fold and stock hotside for a bit more gas. you'll be comfortably over 330 ft/lb torque at peak 3500-4500 with that setup _you can get 330ft/lb from a stock turbo if you run it flat out_ - it'll just run out of energy at 5500rpm

I had that setup running for a bit before getting my AET VT262-C


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

StuartDB said:


> very nice... if you have all those internals can't you go for a better turbo ?
> 
> Turbo rebuilds do a Hybrid CHRA which fits the stock compressor housing and hotside - and you could open up the china fold and stock hotside for a bit more gas. you'll be comfortably over 330 ft/lb torque at peak 3500-4500 with that setup _you can get 330ft/lb from a stock turbo if you run it flat out_ - it'll just run out of energy at 5500rpm
> 
> I had that setup running for a bit before getting my AET VT262-C


I have considered a hybrid but for now I'm aiming for a solid stage 1 kind of power level that I can thrash all day on track. Perhaps in a couple of years time I will look at a spicy turbo? It's difficult avoiding 'feature creep' when modifying cars, I didn't particularly want the exhaust valves but the engineering firm I use were concerned about regrinding those pitted valves.


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## davebowk (Aug 16, 2019)

I have just fitted the uprated bearing CHRA and hotside from Turbo rebuilds.
They answer email or their website messaging the next day at the latest. They will chat on the Messaging if not busy.

One thing about the hotside was i had to fit a 3mm spacer on the EGT thermocouple as the securing collar bottomed out and the probe was still loose. It's all working fine and i did inform them and they were checking their other stock.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

davebowk said:


> I have just fitted the uprated bearing CHRA and hotside from Turbo rebuilds.
> They answer email or their website messaging the next day at the latest. They will chat on the Messaging if not busy.
> 
> One thing about the hotside was i had to fit a 3mm spacer on the EGT thermocouple as the securing collar bottomed out and the probe was still loose. It's all working fine and i did inform them and they were checking their other stock.


Good shout on the email, I've had a prompt reply so need to sort out sending my turbo. Mine is an APX so no EGT probe.

Chinafold turned up this week much quicker than expected. Will get a friend with a die grinder to open the ports up and then run the mill across the turbo flange face.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Lots of progress over the last couple of weeks.

Crank bearing clearance measured and installed.















Piston rings sized.








Conrods fitted.
















Piston installed and big end bearing clearance checked.









Cylinder head is taking a while as there is corrosion in the water ways and so they are welding it up before skimming it back. Should have that and 20 new valve guides + cutting.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Turbo parts have turned up. This is turborebuilds 'uprated' chra with better bearings etc but standard dimensions and their aftermarket hotside. The casting looks good and the wastegate port size matches the original. I gave my compressor housing a quick wire brushing and degreasing but if you wanted it to look new then perhaps vapour blasting it would work.


































Taking these photos I noticed the coolant? passage bung is in the wrong hole but I think that just swaps over. Assembly should be the revese of disassembly but I forgot to mark the housing for 'clocking' so it may take some adjustment once it's fitted to the manifold and engine.


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## davebowk (Aug 16, 2019)

I matched my new turbo rebuilds hotside to the gasket, needed about 2mm removing all round


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## davebowk (Aug 16, 2019)

As for getting it clocked correctly, use the oil feed pipe bracket to set it before fitting.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

The compressor housing only has one place to fit to the chra (well maybe 1mm) and look at photos for the hotside to the chra, it's a bit obvious sort of central for the oil drain and the turbo support bracket bolt hole.

*You will not be able to adjust it once its on the manifold as you won't reach all the 10mm bolts*

don't over apply the sealant when fitting the compressor housing to the CHRA you don't want that flying round the charge circuit and in out the engine


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

It's all happening this week.

















Ported chinafold, no wonder B5 stopped doing them, it's taken a lot of grinding.
















Prorace baffled sump, the old standard sump was cracked so went for an upgrade.









I've got a week off work to try and get this lot all together and in fitted in the car....


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

Bill didn't port them a CNC did... I think there's more to it than the effort.. i expect its things like them changing the downpipe angle and being gasket-less, and needing extra grinding on the outside to fit the head and being so close to the compressor housing.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

It's out !!


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Noticed when I remove the clutch slave there was a small amount of gear oil on the back so I replaced the input shaft main seal.









The chinafold.... despite excellent porting, it does not allow the turbo to fit correctly.

















Looks like the same or similar issue IanW was having with his Exhaust manifold to turbo not fitting

I'm working against the clock so have decided to abandon it and use a spare, but cracked, standard manifold but it has less cracks than my original so it will have to do. Will look at ovalising the bolt holes etc when I have more time and can match it against my old engine so I _know_ it will fit.

Disapointing that this is still the best option for the K04....


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

Weak.... (edit.... I take back this comment, I didn't see the turbo support bracket not lining up)

You only need to grind off the bits of manifold interfering with bits of the head... it's the top edges of the stud holes...

Did you get the smooth topped gen 2 or the ridged topped gen 1..


You have a 20 year old car in a million pieces and want everything to be perfect.. now is the time to get it all perfect, you'll resent doing it on a driveway with bits of cr*p falling into your eyes

You shouldn't read too much into Ian's issues..... he got a lot done very quickly..

There's a lot more to worry about than 30 minutes carefully fitting the best exhaust manifold for a 1.8t K04... if its a gen1 you might need to think about a flange... something a bit like...











You spent all that time porting it... now get it over the line... make sure the turbo fully fits without interfering with the oil feed pipe, head or manifold... the first turbo I fitted was tough to get on... but was so tight against the side of the manifold it damaged the CHRA under heavy boost.. as the compressor housing was pushed out by 0.5mm ..


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## Delta4 (Jun 19, 2015)

The brace can be modifified, make a plate that bolts to the block and the brace, i'd rather try that than putting a cracked manifold on.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

Oh I see what you mean now... it looks like it's all the way over? To the left I thought Ian only had issues with it getting flat against the head...

If its really that far over that'll affect the downpipe position. The support bracket is a bit springy, but I cannot imagine it'll be easy to remove and return the turbo with a one inch offset... I would contact the seller and ask for your money back, and get a gen2 version.. 

I take back the weak comment... that was only related to shaving a bit off the top.... where the bolt holes are...


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Yes it's the ribbed top which is gen 1? I thought it was the other way around but ho hum. 

The manifold flange clears the head no problem so I didn't need to chamfer it like yours.

It's as if the 3 turbo flange bolts need to rotate around as if it's trying to twist the turbo and throw that support bar out. 

I could make an adapator for the brace but then what else is going to be out of alignment e.g oil and water lines. With more time I'll be able to get the turbo flange machined flat too as it's not great.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

Is that your new or old hot side...?


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

It's one of the originals. The new aftermarket one fits just the same.


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## tadope (Oct 20, 2020)

Cooool. What kinda power r u after? Looks like a ko4 hybrid?? 
I'm chasing 3××bhp with my normal ko4. No rods yet so thats probably the limit. But there's lots of potential in these turbos. 

Skys the limit w built internals


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

tadope said:


> Cooool. What kinda power r u after? Looks like a ko4 hybrid??
> I'm chasing 3××bhp with my normal ko4. No rods yet so thats probably the limit. But there's lots of potential in these turbos.
> 
> Skys the limit w built internals


Standard power for now then a stage 1 ish map in the summer perhaps, the build is for reliability on track rather than all out power. The turbo is standard-ish just uprated bearings.









Lots has been going on since the last update! I smashed my phone so limited pictures but the new engine is fitted and I started it up on Saturday night.

First thoughts ? It's fantastic ! The engine is quieter, smoother and faster compared to the old and the vibratechnics engine mounts are incredible compared to the old worn out ones.

I made some mistakes and there are certainly things I would do differently when it comes to reassembly but overall it's gone well... I think.

Now for the issues.... Major power steering leak, looks like I nicked one of the rubber low pressure lines when taking the engine out or putting it in but there was enough slack to trim it back. Sadly all the lines and cooler looks pretty rough so I may be looking at this again in the spring.

It's overboosting according to the preliminary logging I've done, nothing crazy, a few psi more but it overshoots then trends towards the desired boost pressure. Think I might have a slight leak too as the maximum vaccum at idle has changed.

Changed the oil today at 50 miles and I'll do it again at 300-500 perhaps depending how it looks, I'm hoping to cover quite a few miles over Christmas.


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## fire88 (Jul 15, 2021)

Good job mate
Just finished mine, it's a lot of work. 
But it's lot of fun. 

Sent from my GM1900 using Tapatalk


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

It's about time for an update. The new engine is going well and I'm approaching 2000 miles now. There have been a couple of teething issues, the crank aux pulley tried to escape but threadlock and doing them up FT has sorted that.

I had a trackday a month ago at Llandow, it's relatively local to me and cheap so a great location for a shakedown. The car had no issues and engine ran great all day 










I've finally fitted the serviced injectors and I can highly recomend Injectortune - Ultrasonic fuel injector cleaning by Post. who cleaned, flow tested and fitted new o-rings & filters. Whilst doing this I was disapointed to find the petrol hose I replaced under two years ago has badly cracked, from the heat of the charge pipe I assume, so had to fit some new peices and I've wrapped it with sheilding the best I can.










I wanted to fit tow strap but didn't want to drill and mount it to a chassis leg or something so I had a spare towing eye modified at work. 









It fits well although I dont think its ideal to have the forces at 90 degrees so might just end up for show.

Off to B5 in a couple of weeks for mapping, finally going to take advantage of all this work


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

Good to see it's coming on. My crank pulley/ damper decided it had enough of being attached to the car on the last trackday I did. Threw off the belt for the PAS and alternator half way around a lap, only found out when I went to turn into a 90 degree corner and the steering was so heavy I ended up on the grass. Only one bolt left in the pulley, one had sheared off and two had come undone.
It must have been rattling around for a while but I never heard a thing. Fortunately got two bolts off the engine that fitted OK and drove it back home 90 miles with 3 bolts in. 
Upgrading to a TFSI Fluidampr pulley.


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

darylw357 said:


> I wanted to fit tow strap but didn't want to drill and mount it to a chassis leg or something so I had a spare towing eye modified at work.
> View attachment 483638
> 
> 
> It fits well although I dont think its ideal to have the forces at 90 degrees so might just end up for show.


Hope you get it all working well at B5 , Bill really is a Whizz with these engines.
I use the tow hooks from later cars for mine, not as flashy looking as a strap or quite as light but you could probably hang the car from the tow hook.








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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

desertstorm said:


> Good to see it's coming on. My crank pulley/ damper decided it had enough of being attached to the car on the last trackday I did. Threw off the belt for the PAS and alternator half way around a lap, only found out when I went to turn into a 90 degree corner and the steering was so heavy I ended up on the grass. Only one bolt left in the pulley, one had sheared off and two had come undone.
> It must have been rattling around for a while but I never heard a thing. Fortunately got two bolts off the engine that fitted OK and drove it back home 90 miles with 3 bolts in.
> Upgrading to a TFSI Fluidampr pulley.
> View attachment 483694



Jesus..... its that literally too much energy? And I assume stronger bolts are not the answer, as something else will fail like the tensioner.. Is this unrelated to fitting the semi auto gearbox, 

I think Bill sold something to combat that? It's almost like it needs viscous pulley, like the old BMW front radiator fan assemblies - although that might cause PS pump issues, or at least like a DMF. Didn't you change the alternator to try and compensate so me of this recently.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

I was lucky that mine just got louder until I inspected it rather than such a catastrophic failure like yours. I think stronger bolts and nordlock washers are the usual 'upgrade' ?


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

StuartDB said:


> Jesus..... its that literally too much energy? And I assume stronger bolts are not the answer, as something else will fail like the tensioner.. Is this unrelated to fitting the semi auto gearbox,
> I think Bill sold something to combat that? It's almost like it needs viscous pulley, like the old BMW front radiator fan assemblies - although that might cause PS pump issues, or at least like a DMF. Didn't you change the alternator to try and compensate so me of this recently.


Most of the failure due to me not thread locking the bolts and the extended amount of time the engine spends above 7K on track. Most decent Big Turbo high power/ RPM builds use a Fluidampr flywheel. I didn't as they are not cheap. So pushed the boat out, but not bought a Fluidampr for the 1.8T as I need to change the crank sprocket gone for a 2L TFSI item. This has a 6 bolt fixing and also other advantages. Using 12.9 20mm cap bolts with Nord Lock washers and the bolts will be thread locked. Hopefully fitted to the car soon.


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

Will this move the stress point onto the crank sprocket? I bet that's hard work to get off...


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Well the results are in and I'm blown away  Green curves are the new but unmapped engine and red is after Bill worked his magic.









This took two visits, the 1st time my crank sensor died on arival and the original fuel pump was weak and then 2nd time was after I fitted a new Sytec fuel pump.









Not a bad job to do although you will want the windows and boot open as the petrol gets a little overpowering in the back.

Next plans? Fit an oil-to-air cooler and I'm wondering if I can get another track day out of the front pads as the inners are down to 4.5mm.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

With the mild weather at the weekend I took the opportunity to remove the rear balast weight and clean behind the bumper. 








Fitted new rear anti roll bar links too as they had been sat in the packet for ages.








Like it's been left at the bottom of the ocean....


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

A nice long weekend so I took my time in fitting an oil cooler kit. Comes with all the main parts but you have to knock together some kind of bracket or mount.

Here is the thermostatic takeoff plate.








And the cooler which sits just behind the 4 circles badge.








It's a little low but if I fit anti-vibration mounts that will raise it back up. I took it for a test drive and it gets hot so I'm going to assume its working until I can get the temperature probe back in the sump.


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## desertstorm (Apr 25, 2017)

Looks good. The oil cooler will help loads on a track day. cooling the oil takes heat away from the areas coolant doesn't get too. Also keeps the oil at a reasonable viscosity so the pump can generate some pressure. If the oil gets too hot and thin the pump finds it more difficult to generate pressure and the oil finds it's way out of the bearings a lot easier.


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Had a great day out last week at Cadwell Park, really interesting track just quite some distance away from me, did about 600 miles over two days :O

















The car performed well until about lunchtime when I developed a misfire, swapping coils around isolated it so I had to drive to the nearest ECP branch on 3 cylinders and buy a new coil pack.








This solved the problem and I got back out on track for the rest of the afternoon.

The oil cooler did an excellent job of keeping the engine cool, I couldn't verify with my sump probe but the water temps didn't budge from 87C on track. I would say this is a crucial mod for anyone taking their cars on track if you want to keep the engine healthy.

I want to start thinking about brake upgrades next as the yellowstuff pads are getting thin and have never felt great, I see there is lots of choices out there but no 'try before you buy' service


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## davebowk (Aug 16, 2019)

It's a good track, done it a few times on my bikes. I would imagine it would be hard on the TT brakes especially down the gooseneck


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## darylw357 (May 21, 2019)

Brake Upgrade Time -
With the brake pads getting thin I started to consider upgrades. No matter what kits and parts I looked at, to uprade to a type of Brembo or similar 4 pot calipers, would cost approximately £1000 to do it right with refurbished calipers etc.

So I decided to do a partial upgrade with refurbished standard calipers as mine were 20+ years old with original hardened seals, EBC's next level of brake pad the Bluestuff NDX and an interesting American product, the TyrolSport caliper stiffening kit .https://www.tyrolsport.com/braking/tyrolsport-brake-caliper-stiffening-kit-for-vw/audi/

Spare calipers with new piston and seal kit.








Fitted this lot on Saturday.
















We salute the Yellowstuff pads, they may have felt wooden but they survived a bunch of trackdays and daily driving.









So how does it all feel ? Better ! The Bluestuff pads have more initial bite and the stiffening kit makes it feel more like a fixed caliper, you can feel much more through the pedal under heavy braking.

I'm at Castle Combe on the 1st August so hopefully by then the pads will be bedded to the old discs and I can get them hot and really test them.


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