RichLV's UrS4

[RichLV]

Finally got an assembled bottom end. And I've disassembled it right away.


The crank is out and seems fine. There were some wear signs on both main bearings and rod bearings. The block and crank will go to a shop for wear check and grinding if needed.


OEM rods will probably be sold, since I'm going for an upgrade.


Pistons also seem fine, a bit of cleaning and they'll be like new. I'll get new wrist pin retaining rings. A question though, do I need new piston wrist pins? I couldn't find any part number on those. I suspect they only come with pistons.

[Kieron20V]

Have you got any pictures of the exhaust you made?

[RichLV]

Somewhere I do, but it's nothing special. OEM downpipe with the T piece cut and welded, and a straight 60mm pipe afterwards. I'll go for a 76mm downpipe and exhaust after the turbo upgrade.





It's not a solid piece for a reason, I can't pass MOT with my FK-Automotive end muffler, I have a spare quieter one which I swap over.

[hunker7]

How loud is it?

[RichLV]

It's 96 db(A). We have a max of 85 here.

[hunker7]

You shall make a video when she's running. Want to hear that

[RichLV]

Oh I think you'll love it. It's a very raspy and powerful sound. When I'm driving, I can be heard like miles away. When I was picking up my GF, she was already waiting outside because she heard me inside the house. And it's a pretty unique sound, haven't heard any other cars or 5-pots sound like that.

[hunker7]

How is it under normal driving? Not too loud?

[RichLV]

I like it. Some of my friends don't. I usually drive with loud music since my audio system is pretty good and I like loud and shouty cars in general.

[hunker7]

I think exhaust is a very personal thing.

[RichLV]

I agree.

Got the valves out and did another check for cracks. We're all good, no cracks found during second check.



So the exhaust valve guides are toast. The valves are rocking very very badly. Those will need to be replaced. Intake is fine, some are debatable, will measure with new valves. Exhaust valves are going to be improved a little, the valve is pretty heavy and the tulip form will be improved a little. No porting will be done, just cleaning, cutting the angled valve seats and new parts for the head. Valve stem seals are OEM VW, so it seems the head has not been touched since '92.

[RichLV]

The block and crank are back from the shop and everything is great.

Crank is near perfect, all within standard dimensions, no grinding was necessary it was just polished and is ready to go in.



Block has seen a bit more and there's little signs of wear right at the top ring, but still, all measurements were in factory spec and no bore was necessary. All 5 cylinders were honed and the surface was cleaned.





Next stop - rods & bearings.

[RichLV]

The rods are here! Thank you FCP-Engineering!









A little insurance not to bend anything when I'll try to map VEMS for the car.

[RichLV]

Updates!!

Final parts have been received and initial bottom end assembly is now possible. Most likely will assemble next week. Last parts were OEM main cap bolts & piston pin retaining rings. I opted for Mahle piston rings. Had to buy additional sump gasket, cuz the VR set only contains one.



Still need the bottom crank pulley & damper, oil return valve, thermostat, waterpump, timing belt kit, timing belt covers, and some other small stuff. But mostly it is finally going forward. After the bottom end, I'll start searching for RS2 exhaust manifold and rebuilding the head.

Soon...

[RichLV]

I'm currently looking for RS2 or RS2-style (Wagner evo probably) exhaust manifold. If someone has offers, please contact me. Also created a thread in the Wanted section.