jbrentd's 2nd Chance CQ

[ottawa coupe]

You need to buy top mounts. They're dirt cheap tho.

[riotburn]

And do they come with strut top mounts? Or need to buy separate replacement for those?

[jbrentd]

How are those bc coilovers? Recommend them for street driving?

I have been really happy with the BC coilovers. I've owned a couple brands of COs and some DIY's over the years, but none of them have been as comfortable as these, especially it the height I am running. I attribute that to the design that allows the height to be adjusted independent of the spring preload.

[riotburn]

How are those bc coilovers? Recommend them for street driving?

[jbrentd]

Long time, no update! I've just been driving the coupe on nice days, but I'm glad to see Spring is here. Last weekend, I put some new wheels and tires on. I back and forth on black wheels, but I still have them for when I might want to switch it up again.

[jbrentd]

My recommendation as someone who has casually played with standalones for a road car: don't.

Power is easy, daily driven refinement? Not so much. More specifically, it's a giant pain in the hoohaa....

Yeah, I'm not after huge hp or anything. I drive like a grandma 95% of the time. Switching away from the distributer and to an AAN ECU is an path that interests me since it does open up some more options.

[ottawa coupe]

My recommendation as someone who has casually played with standalones for a road car: don't.

Power is easy, daily driven refinement? Not so much. More specifically, it's a giant pain in the hoohaa....

[jbrentd]

The head looks really clean and nice. I built my engine myself, because of those engine builder "mistakes". I think you should consider swapping to an aftermarket ECU like MaxxECU, you will be really pleased and also you will also get rid of all idle hoses/parts...Keeps the engine bay clean

Thanks Tomi. My first goal with this swap was to get it running in stock form and make sure everything was was in good working order. I did consider going stand alone, but I have no experience with that stuff and I didn't want to introduce so many variables all at once. Some day down the line I might get rid of the distributor and switch over to an AAN ECU or possibly a stand alone. For now, I am loving the extra power from the 3B vs the 7A and I recently acquired a 3B Lehmann chipped ECU to throw in there.

[Tom_]

The head looks really clean and nice. I built my engine myself, because of those engine builder "mistakes". I think you should consider swapping to an aftermarket ECU like MaxxECU, you will be really pleased and also you will also get rid of all idle hoses/parts...Keeps the engine bay clean

[jbrentd]

So, it appears that the new lifters resolved the noise issue.

As for the issue I had with the cam caps being on the wrong side, it seems as though the engine is doing fine. I don't know if this speaks to the quality of Audi's engineering or just dumb luck that the caps were close enough on both side to not do much (if any) damage. I did a fresh oil/filter change last night and used some oil with some zinc content. When I started it for the first time, I would say most of the lifter noise was gone within a minute or two. I drove the coupe to work today and it seemed even more quiet after the 20 mile commute.

[jbrentd]

Going back together...

Over the weekend, I was able to check the rotation of the cams with the caps installed correctly and no lifters. Everything seemed to rotate just fine. It's back together and I have rotated everything several times to check the timing. I ran out of time, but I should be able to try starting it soon.

New lifters


Cam timing marks before installing the cam caps


Cam timing marks after installing the cam caps


Cam caps on and some assembly lube on the lifters and cam lobes

[jbrentd]

Thank you! That jogs my memory from some past timing belt jobs.

[Tractor Dave]

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[Tractor Dave]

I made a tool. You need to be careful you dont damage the hall sender ring. The official way on the Ur (Bentley Manual) was to use a large flat bladed screw driver. I will dig out a pic.

[jbrentd]

This is precisely why i rebuild my own engine this time around. When i paid a so called expert to do it for me he also broke the key on the top pulley ( probably using a ratchet gun or not supporting the sprocket when removing or replacing) causing me a whole load of grief and extra work. At least you found these things now before serious damage was caused.

While on the subject, what is the proper way to support the sprocket when torquing the bolt down with a torque wrench?