Pearl white coupe revival

[ottawa coupe]

That was some interesting reading, thanks forcthe link.

I mathed things out this weekend. I figure i'll be on the north side of $6000 to put the 7a right, if i do what the machine shop suggests. I am picking up my parts this afternoon. When i say if i do what they suggest, i hope to see a piece of paper with measurements so i can decide if i wanna do the wrong thing and just throw a set of rings at it and call it a day. Even then, that would get pricey.

Basically, $2500 to get pistons in the block, $500 for bearings, gaskets, n hardware, another $300-$500 for an oil pump (iffy on that, i probably should replace the original but it seems there are questions regarding quality of what you can get now?)

And then you move on to the head. And if you're replacing all the things on the bottom, doesn't make sense to half *** the top... a cool $2000 in parts for new valvetrain, springs etc... plus whatever the shop would charge to setcthe valves properly (would i need guides n seats too?)

Then figure $1000 for misc bits and timing gears (remember the cam gear is broken and i would replace the crank gear just cuz i know they crack as it did on my s6)

And that would be just to have it sitting on my stand. God knows what else it would take to get running, although i guess i have that stuff already.

All that for 165hp seems a bit silly....

There WAS one for sale not long ago that wasn't obscenely far from me. But no info on mileage or condition. So i could drive for a day and a half and still be in the same position...

There is also another coupe for sale nearby with a hacked in aan swap. It's been for sale forever because the price is so wrong. It'd be tempting in a few months but then i started looking into the parts to get it closer to 3b/aby configuration and my wallet caught fire.

It's starting to look inevitable it will get a v8.... the 2.7 is tempting, need to look harder for info. The problem i'm running into is that i'm 15 years behind the curve and most of the forums are dead or the pics were lost in the photobucket implosion. And searching facebook groups is crap lol.

can't get any more done on it right now as i have a broken racecar taking up space in the workshop at the moment. Hoping to start getting things back on track sometime in june...

[ottawa coupe]

Right, trying to figure one last thing out before i wait to hear back on one last option for pistons.

Headgasket for an 83mm bore. I have searched and found 2 links here for some very expensive custom gaskets that may or may not stell be available. I have found responses elsewhere stating a 7a gasket can accomodate up to 83.5mm. I looked at the gasket i pulled off and it has 82.5mm stamped on it. I measured the diameters of the rings and they are 84mm.

I am certain there some sort of tolerance at play here.

So, if i can justify the cost of the pistons to myself, am i then faced with an absurdly expensive gasket or just send it with the $30 7a gasket?

[steve briance]

Rings have a certain amount of spring so could easily measure 84 but fit in an 82.5bore. It's better to measure the piston.

If you have the 7a head gasket in front of you why don't you measure it and see what size it is, it would be useful to see what size gasket hole is used on an original bore

[ottawa coupe]

So, someone had mentioned it earlier, and i don't know why i didn't clue in then, about using a worn 3b block and boring it out and using their 7a pistons. 3bs are impossible to find here, but AANs are not. I have a lead on a couple of bottom ends. Less than $300 vs $2000. My 7a pistons LOOK ok, but maybe a bit smaller than when they started out 30 years ago. But if they're still round, a machine shop would be able to make a properly sized hole for them. Significantly cheaper than getting new pistons!!!

so, a coupla calls to make there to confirm the theory but i would think a feasible way forward.

At any rate, i am back on this to an extent now as my other projects just came good last weekend. Dragged it out from under the trees and emptied the contents into the shop, i will hopefully get it to a powerwash later this week, i need to get a few more bits off first.

The goal for the summer remains to clean it up and make sure it doesn't dissolve any further. But with luck i'll have the power question sorted soon too.

[ottawa coupe]

So much goo in the engine bay

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Last nightmare to remove is the wire harness. Should be easy street after that...i hope

20230606_220008.jpg gonna be a while before it goes back together i think!

[steve briance]

You probably already are but... Put labels on everything you unplug and learn from my mishap recently where id used biro ink pens to write on my labels but it had faded to virtually nothing in 6 months off the car! Maybe use a sharpie marker / indelible ink marker.

As for 3B blocks.

That was the route I took and specifically because the oil and waterpump set up is identical to 7A. Ive got zero experience with AAN but know that the ABY has a different belt tensioning set up on its oilpump. 3b/7a = rotate water pump, aby = sprung loaded roller.

As long as you can satisfy yourself a sprung loaded arm tensioner (if that is how aan is) still works then it sounds like you have decent availability out there for blocks to work on.

[steve briance]

The other thing just to be aware of on turbo blocks is that you will have an oil return line from turbo to block down at the bottom where the sump bolts on. Simple 6mm thick alloy plate and gasket seals that off no worries.

[ottawa coupe]

I wouldn't be using anything aan other than the block casting itself. The belt tensioning would be as it should on the 7a. I'd hafta get a freeze plug to eliminated the turbo water supply too.

Gonna swing by the machine shop on the way home from work and see what they say about the usability of the pistons. Hoping they're good enough still.

Not my first rodeo re the wiring lol. That said, audi was kind enough to colour match the stuff i've been pulling so far. But that's about to change on the interior/fuse block wiring.

Not gonna work on it for a few days though i think. Hundreds of forest fires here now and first the first time in my life, they're not far from home. It was bearable to be outside yesterday but today it is definitely not. Just about vomited on my way to the office (and not just because i was going to the office!!).

[david1980]

I dont think the 7a pistons can handle as much boost as turbo ones. I know one person who ran a 7a on nitrous years ago.

[ottawa coupe]

to clarify, use of the aan is only for the block in order to bring the 7a back to life, no boost.

the verdict from the machinist on the 7a pistons is that they are good enough to use. So the idea of replacing the worn 7a block with the aan block and boring it out to 7a specs is viable. The last hurdle is finding rings. It's wierd, i can find the right rings, but for the life of me, i can't seem to find the right rings in ONE set. Need to find out if i can buy them individually....maybe the machine shop can.

Gonna have a good think n see if this is gonna be the way to go, seems like the least headache as it's very much just hand the shop a buncha parts and say "stick it together" compared to an engine swap (which may be just as worn?).

But 165hp?!

On the stripping down front, i am getting tired n frustrated. It is clear now that the wiring was the first thing installed after the paint dried. And holy hell things were crammed even tighter than i thought.

On the bright side, it looks like i can get it out in one piece without disconnecting anything.

[K Simmonds]

Have you considered a 1.9 PD engine or one of it's variations? They're light and easy to fit, just weld a mount each side to the subframe. Can be mapped on the stock ECU safely to produce buckets of torque and about 180bhp... 200 bhp is possible on a K04 equipped 150bhp motor as your base but I don't advise it. They're also plentiful and cheap, well they are over here and parts are readily available. Amazing on fuel if your not pushing it, the chap I work with has one in a FWD B3 Saloon and it's very fast, considerably quicker than a 7A would be. The ABY uses a manual tensioner as opposed to the water pump on a 3B or 7A...Not sure about ANN's as that's one of the few five pots I'm yet to change a belt on, would assume it's the same as the ABY arrangement.

Sent from my SM-A115F using Tapatalk

[K Simmonds]

NG and NF 10V blocks are identical to 7A engines, no idea how easy they are to find over there but their very cheap in Europe.

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[ottawa coupe]

What a chore that was...
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The list of broken things grows. If i thought i could weld in a panel well enough without warping the snot out of the roof, i would definitely consider closing in the sunroof at this point

Anyone ever heard of/bought from a place called max speeding or similar from dubai? Theirvsite says they have plenty of sunroof guides. Only place i found in a quick search but.... dubai.... not exactly a place i associate with the truth in advertising....

Want to get the fuel and brake lines out as well as the 1/4 glass and the i should be ready to attempt cleaning the shell.

[K Simmonds]

You can weld up the sunroof without distorting the roof, prep the roof, cut a panel that's a tight fit and pulse weld it in going no more than one inch at a time either side after putting a dozen or so tack welds on to hold the new metal in place... We weld large panels using this technique quite often at work, the other thing that helps is stopping for plenty of breaks to let the steel cool naturally. You can use the original panel if you build up the edges with weld or a thin strip of steel using the same technique but it's a lot of work. However this will give a better finish as it has the correct shape already and the lip keeps it ridged also helping to avoid warps.

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[ottawa coupe]

Yeah, i know the technique in theory, it's the execution... i tried it on a mk5 golf racecar....it didn't go well.

That said, this metal is ALOT thicker.

I would then need to find a headliner too... not straightforward either way i go.