Building AAZ motor; meet Harley

[RabbitJockey]

did not get to see this car this weekend :^( 

[CRSMP5]

The jokes on you... He switched cars after you left.... He towed it down due to break in...   

[CrazyAndy]

Instead of sourcing a new, better designed rear transmission mount, I decided instead to modify the current mount to reach the rubber mount at the right distance and angle.  For this I needed some 3/16" bar stock, and the help of my friend Travis and his welder.  We also had to modify the bottom mount a bit for the HD rubber mount by widening the locator pin hole so that the pin wold fit through as it was farther out from the lower securing stud than stock.  After that, we cut the lower mounting plate off the upper mount and assembled the mount with the plate bolted to it so we could see how much bar stock we would need to lengthen the mount and where we would need to put it.  With that measured, we took a 2 1/2" length of the bar stock, put it on the back of the mount with it still assembled, and tack welded it in place; that way when we took the mount out, we could weld a piece of 2 1/8" bar stock on the other corner of the mount and have it hold everything together while we removed the piece we tack welded and redid it so that the welds were better.  Each metal join received big weld beads on each side, ensuring the pieces we added were strongly secured and would not break off.  It was the first time I had ever welded, so the welds weren't very good looking but functional; a theme for the car so far.  After laying on thick wet coats of some white primer and paint we had around the work space, we let it dry to a tack and mounted it on the car.  It works perfectly!  The mount is correctly oriented and isn't pulled around to an unusual position by either mount plate.  The job took 3.5 hours total, but the result was a perfectly functional and strong (if more than a bit ugly) rear transmission mount.  Thank you very much, Travis, for your help and knowledge with welding, and teaching me a thing or two about it in the process.  it's always great to learn a new skill, if only as an amateur.

[Gizmoman]

I do applaud your efforts to "fab" your own mount. Are you sure you want to hold all that nice new motor up with those welds?
Not trying to be mean - but I've been watching all this work and if that mount fails, things could get expensive.

[CrazyAndy]

I do applaud your efforts to "fab" your own mount. Are you sure you want to hold all that nice new motor up with those welds?
Not trying to be mean - but I've been watching all this work and if that mount fails, things could get expensive.

  I hear you, but it did pass the "Hit it hard on the end of the table multiple times"  test, so I have a good feeling that it will hold together; remember each side was welded with a LOT of welding filler.  If it doesn't work, we pull it back off, do a better welding job, and stick it back in.  The front mount does a decent job of holding the engine still when the rubber is good, so there's still a back-up.  At this point, forget the price tag.  It will run by the end of the summer; either it runs with some tuning and stays good for along time, or kills me by exploding in half 5 seconds after first start.
  I become . . . impatient.

[Gizmoman]

Carry on!

FWIW, your engine will perform the table-smack-test about a billion times a day.

[theman53]

The welds don't "look" the best, but if it penetrated it will hold up for a bit. It would never pass x ray or the bend test but again, if it penetrated enough it should hold...at least for a while. I would get it on road and then on the lift for some more welding later, but I love overkill.

I hope you get it running soon. I want to see what the T3 will do for you. If it was my head that kept popping them or if it is a function of the turbo being modded.

[CrazyAndy]

More work done to the Rabbit this Saturday. Finally got the bends of the oil cooler brazed so that they don't leak, and sealed the rest with VW sealant for BPY cam bridges. The brass parts don't turn anymore in the cooler and are sealed against leaks, and are for good if that stuff holds up like I've seen it do on it's stock application. Put the fan back on, and it slotted right back in it's installation area. I also bought a stock VW 1.8T/2.slow oil filter to try fitting instead of the shorty filter I put on for the in-car oil leak test, but didn't get time to fit it; either way, that's the oil system taken care of.
After that I turned to trimming the two boost hoses that go between the turbo compressor outlet and AWIC core. Each needed about 8-10mm trimmed from their ends so that the hoses fit and the bend reducer to the core didn't rub on the passenger strut tower. The reducer is pulled a bit, but only about 9-10 degrees so it's not going to break or anything. It also just misses the strut tower, but doesn't hit any of the studs on the tower. That's the pressure side of the intake tract taken care of, but I'll stretch either some cheesecloth or a cheap filter over the turbo intake for initial start until .
Next thing on the list, fuel lines. I picked the fuel supply line off the old fuel pump, cleaned it up, and mounted it on the pump and filter housing. I also mounted the braided return line I had ordered long ago. I will stick the fuel filter assembly behind the passenger strut tower for initial start-up; after that I will put some studs through the rain tray and do a true hard mount. 5 gallons of diesel and a mityvac to prime the injection pump, and that's the fuel system taken care of for initial start-up.
Last thing I did that day was wire the oil cooler fan control relay. Mounted it behind the passenger headlamp on the fender side wall and ran the wires near the AWIC water hoses. The power supply and relay control wires went directly to the battery positive terminal, and the control ground went to the thermal switch in the oil cooler. The power supply wire needs to be wired into the right wire on the fan (blue and black wires, not marked for polarity), and the oil cooler body and fan need dedicated chassis grounds. That is not even 1/3 of the wiring that needs to be done, but the rest will be wired next weekend.
Final little bits include buzzing off the transmission-mounted shifter relay's ball ends and pressing the rest through their holes to prepare the relay for the Claus Von Essen 02A rod shift conversion, and installing the speedometer cable in the transmission. Both these parts will be installed next week, with the shifter needing adjustment and the cable possibly needing modification on the instrument cluster end. I could essentially start it up right now, and I might do that next week if the parts install goes smoothly next Saturday.
TCB, man.

[theman53]

cool. I think you should start it for about 30 seconds and then check for leaks. If you are good, then go run it, if the wiring is done. I wouldn't let it idle for much more than that. Looks good too.

[CrazyAndy]

Went up this weekend.  Filled the tank with fuel, primed the lines with my mityvac, put the last of the stock wires to their connections on the engine, dropped a battery in, primed it, hit the key and then . . .

Catharsis

http://youtu.be/9jn74Ylau04

I'll need the correct oil idiot light sender, as this one is normally open instead of normally closed; that's why you didn't see the light.  Now it's just shifter, speedo, and wiring before being towed to the exhaust and alignment shop.  I might just make H2OI with this turd.

[theman53]

I would not let it idle more than you have there. Rings need dealt with. Good job and I hope your turbo makes it. I have a procedure down for cleaning out the intake tract when the turbo explodes I can give you if needed

[gnavs]

Nice!!

[CrazyAndy]

I would not let it idle more than you have there. Rings need dealt with. Good job and I hope your turbo makes it. I have a procedure down for cleaning out the intake tract when the turbo explodes I can give you if needed

Yeah, I'll be buttoning It all up fully next week (unfortunately won't get all the parts in by this weekend for rebuilding the stock shifter parts and finalizing the serpentine belt setup) and then TOWING it to the muffler shop, with specific instructions to push the car in for exhaust and alignment work; I might even unhook the injection pump so they can't start it..  After that, another tow to my apartment complex to begin initial break-in procedures.  The only times it will be running will be to get it on the trainer/dolly and if they need to get it onto an above-ground alignment rack, and that's only if it's needed; if all those times I can find ways to get in on trailers, tow dollies, and alignment racks without turning the engine on, then okay.  Hopefully I'll have a couple hundred miles on it before departing for H2OI late this month.

[CrazyAndy]

Okay, so I won't be making H2O this year with it, since the Jetta needing tires and a tie rod took up all the exhaust money, but at least I did get some great progress these past couple of weekends.  I got the radiator fan hooked up to the old plug wires by adding new ends to them.  The control relays fro the AWIC fan and pump were wired up, with the parts coming on with the key.  The coolant system got a 50/50 blend of coolant and distilled water, and the AWIC system was filled and extensively bled with distilled water and a bottle of Water Wetter.  Next weekend, I was able to rig the old speedometer cable securing ferrule to the new cable by cutting groves in the sides and compressing it with a gear clamp.  I also got the shifter rods mounted up.  I had to bend the lateral h-pattern adjustment lever on the transmission so that the ball end could attach without being at an odd angle, but that was necessary anyway as it states it in the kit's instructions.  I also had to lengthen the lateral relay arm so that the lateral rod could reach it.  After mounting the relay lever and other rods (made easier by removing the ball ends, relocating the diff-mounted relay pivot, and cutting clearance in the rear trans mount), the shifter works . . ish.  It still needs some bushings for the main rod so that the side-to-side play isn't so vague, and the same play motion needs adjustment so that 1st gear isn't in the middle of reverse lockout half the time.  I might also need to shorten the modified lateral relay arm a bit, as well as bend the final lateral arm, as it is hitting the main selector rod when I go for 5th.  But at the very least it can run, drive, and stop.  Hopefully the next update is about exhausts.











Here's a vid of the shifter 'working'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7IPiFDxV0w&feature=youtu.be

[GEE-BEE]

So after you cool the air you run thru the front of the engine with a metal tube only to heat the air up again ?

This is called heatsoak..

Stephanautohuas was doing the same on the 2.0 t ( 240 hp ) install on the vanagons kits.

We converted all to silicone assys and reduced the temps down 34.

Did you relocate the battery in the trunk ?

GB