Frankenwagen build thread AKA TD Corrado

[Thezorn]

Okay awsome, I think Ill im going to go with stainless braided line as long as it isnt too exspencive, Which im sure it will be.
Have you heard anything about a "break-in" process for the vw diesels? I know my friend just build a chevy 350 and as soon as he turned it on he was told to rev it at 2000 for 20 mins. Although, that is a gas engine, and im sure diesels are different. But there has to be something along those lines.

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I assembled the piston rings in dry.
Figure that your going to prime/turn over the engine more than once tring to start it and priming the pump.
By the time it fire up, they are good and lubed.
Many may say different but to each his own.

[81 vw pu]

[quote I know my friend just build a chevy 350 and as soon as he turned it on he was told to rev it at 2000 for 20 mins.][/quote]

This procedure is used when you install a new cam and lifters. It allows splash oil to keep the cam lubed during break-in.

[RadoTD]

I was assembling the engine in my carport and not running it right away, so I coated the cylinder walls with 2 stroke oil during assembly.
As far as break in goes, I'll do the typical lots of varying loads/rpm's. Boost will be at 20psi, but fueling won't be high enough to burn all of that air. I'm not planning on going nuts on the engine, mostly moderate driving avoiding excessive idling. WOT redline runs would make me very nervous on a newly rebuilt engine. There are claims that if you don't go HARD on the engine right away, the rings will never seat properly, but at some point, each of our engines rolled brand new off the lot in the hands of someone who had no clue how to break an engine in. Every one of those rings seated just fine, so I won't be too anal about the break in.
I've got a block heater now and particularly for the first few days, I'll try to plug it in for as long as possible before starting it so I don't have to idle it up to temp

From what I've heard, staying at a constant rpm, particularly with little load is a bad way of breaking it in, so that I will definitely avoid.

[theman53]

I think to get it going and down the road as soon as it starts is key. I thought I burnt some oil on mine, but now see it was just a leak. I never really used more than 8oz of oil this entire 10,000 miles. I primed the oil system, filled the coolant, ran 2 full block heater cycles and did final torque on the head all before the engine cranked over. I let it idle long enough to build oil pressure and went down the road with a guy following just in case. For the first 100 miles I didn't let the RPMs stay constant. At stop lights I would put it in N and slowly rev the engine just so it wouldn't stay in one spot. Driving down the road I would stay mainly in 3rd and go from about 20mph to 60mph. I let people pass as I bet it would be annoying to get to 60 let off and let the rings pull on decel then get to 20 and steady pull to 60 and do it over again. When I got to the bottom I would cycle between 20 and 30 to let them pass.
After the first 100 I did the same only in 4th and only about 45 to 60. Changed the filter after 20min engine running. Did full oil changes after 100 and 1,000 and 4,000 total miles.
Yep it is a lot, but I have no internal engine problems and my car sat unplugged for a weekend in 0F weather and still started no problem. I haven't done compression checks, but I would guess my rings are seated. I would do it again if I do another, it is a lot easier than tearing one down and honing/rering if the rings don't seat

[RadoTD]

Got a TOP for the day and drove it. I don't have the fuel turned up very high so I don't go nuts while it's breaking in, but even so it builds boost FAST! I was at 15psi at around 1800rpm and EGT's only 800*F. With more fuel, I could probably hit 20psi at 1800rpm. Coasting at 3k rpm, it's sitting at about 4psi which is actually higher than with just my old K14. I went from 4psi to 20psi about as fast as I put my foot to the floor from 3000rpm. Loud too... the big turbo almost sounds like a blow off valve as it coasts back down...

Unfortunately my turbo drain is leaking, along with my oil pan gasket and somehow my steering rack was loose! As in not bolted tight to the subframe kind of loose. I'm going away for a few days after tomorrow, but Wed is my next day at work after that and I'll be driving the Corrado by then

[RabbitJockey]

I assembled the piston rings in dry.
Figure that your going to prime/turn over the engine more than once tring to start it and priming the pump.
By the time it fire up, they are good and lubed.
Many may say different but to each his own.

actually blake told me top fuelers assemble dry as well, and he recommended i use total seals's quick seat, its some powder u rub on the cylinder walls after u clean them spotless, looks like graphite powder to me.  but really like you are saying, by the time the engine actually starts for the first time, theres going to be oil all over place.

[RadoTD]

I'm not surprised the top fuel guys assemble them dry or even with graphite powder... those engines only live a few runs, so they want to break them in as quickly as possible.

Took a short video this morning of the engine's second start! I had it plugged into the block heater for about 2hrs before that, but otherwise the engine was cold, with the gasser starter and the key had been turned long enough that the glow plugs weren't even hot anymore. Still below 0*C at that point as well

I can definitely drop the compression ratio further!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35403828@N04/5408826391/

[theman53]

so nice a quiet. Spins slower than what my diesel starter does. I don't know what it would do on mine, but great deal getting it going.

[RadoTD]

My engine has always seemed to be quieter at idle than most IDI's I've heard... makes itself known under load though!
I'm not really sure why, although idling it at 550rpm probably helps. I've never timed it with a dial indicator, so maybe I just run it fairly retarded

That's weird that your starter spins slower than mine... a 1.7kW starter should spin it up pretty quickly

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Whats with the oil light blinking on the dash. Do you have a bad sensor?

[RadoTD]

I'm not actually sure why that oil light is blinking. Particularly without the buzzer going off. That gauge I had sitting on my valve cover was for oil pressure and my oil pressure is good. The wire from the sensor on the head and the wire from the sensor on the filter housing are both connected to the sensor on the filter housing, so that might have something to do with it, although that doesn't make complete sense.

Either way, I know my oil pressure is good and will soon be installing a permanent gauge to keep my eye on it. I pulled the wires off the filter sensor and the buzzer went off right away, so I know that circuit still works fine

[sdwarf36]

wow! Theres no snow on the ground! I wanna be there! 

 What we do for the cylinders on a rebuild at the machine shop I'm at: I spread a few drops of oil around the top of the cylinder-and also squirt a couple of drops on the skirts. Dry rings are a nice thought-but you still need some oil for them to seal on-and  dry-scuffed piston skirts on start up suck--and CAN happen.

 Our tests with the Total Seal's "magic dust"  haven't been good. A motor we're in quite often (a 519 Ford drag motor-1000hp before the 3 stages of nitrous  ) been thru it 3 times-twice I did the powder on the walls-and both times it smoked like a *** on the dyno-once it cleared up fairly quick-the other didn't clear till after a bunch of pulls. It didnt smoke the other time-nor do we have engines normal smoke.

[RadoTD]

I got it through Air Care (our smog testing in BC).. wasn't all that low.. 20% opacity, max allowable is 30. Probably because my piston rings haven't seated.

I'm so nervous driving it around though... every little noise I hear makes me paranoid! It was fine at first, but my downpipe seems to have moved somehow and is now hitting my steering rack at idle. Once I'm off idle, it's fine which is a bit odd. Also if I hit a bump in the road or hard shift etc, it hits the steering rack. Well, I'm 95% sure that's what that noise is. That 5% of doubt is driving me nuts though

I am having one significant problem that I'm hoping to get some insight to.
If I turn my steering wheel hard, it will basically have 60-80deg of play in it. It doesn't happen if I'm turning the steering wheel softly, only if I jolt it or dive in to take a corner hard. At first I thought my steering rack was loose on the subframe, but that's not actually it. If I put the car on jack stands, I can turn the wheels left and right a bit and feel what almost seems like slipping on a very worn out rack and pinion.
I replaced my steering column right down to where it bolts into the steering rack, so one possibility is that it's actually slipping where the steering column bolts onto the rack, although I've got that very tight and can't see how it could be slipping. the only other alternative I see is that something is happening inside the steering rack.
Does this sound like a bad rack? It's a ZF rack with unknown history. Not the original one from the car, because it was added when stepping up to the "plus" suspension for G60 Corrado's.

[RadoTD]

Got about 1000km on the engine now, everything feels good!

Two problems I've got right now though
My boost gauge decided it didn't want to work anymore, so I drove without one for a while. I plumbed in a temporary mechanical gauge (that will be used to keep an eye on the intermediate charge pipe pressure, make sure the wastegates are working properly.
I don't think I'm making boost as quickly now as I was before. Also, when I pull my intake tube off, everything's coated with oil in there. My PCV isn't connected to the intake, so it's not coming from there.
Someone I talked to today at a small car meet said that my K14 pulling a vacuum before the K24 spools up will wreck a seal in it, but that doesn't make any sense to me. Has anyone ever heard of such a problem? I would more expect it to be just a bad oil seal in the K24, and I'd need to rebuild that. I'm consuming very little oil; I can't tell a difference in the last 500km, so it's not burning all that much, but the inside of my intake and compressor housings are well lubricated!


Second problem is that my oil pressure gauge has decided to start leaking.. or more specifically where the thin hose goes into the fitting on the back.
I used one of the little plastic tubing kits from Lordco as I couldn't find any fitting that would thread onto my gauge. Is there any better solution? I might take the gauge off temporarily, but don't want to go too long without an oil pressure gauge...