Mr Simmonds 3B lite project.

[Kieron20V]

Congrats on the clean bill! Just in time for some quattro weather by the sounds of it too.

Looking lovely I must say. Just bought a new welding mask as I found the urge to work on mine yesterday, need to crack on!

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

She's looking much better with the new bumper Kit and congrats on the 12 months ticket!

[andy10v]

Well done on the MOT.

Looks much smarter with the black lower bumper (in my opinion).

Fingers crossed on the MAF, great to have a source.

Where did you end up gettin the clutch from? I am going to need to get one at some point, so might as well do it before it fails at the worst time.

[K Simmonds]

Cheers chaps

Yeah I don't really like the colour coded look, not with Emerald green anyway, need to find a shell I can pinch some bit's of sill off then I could sort out the jacking points and return the lower potion of the car to black. I've got a new set of trims sat on the shelf ready.

Andy, my clutch and MAF came from http://www.bestpartstore.co.uk/ though I ordered the clutch through their German language site, you have to order the pressure plate and friction disc separately as they don't supply a kit, mine came to around £450 with delivery.

The MAF arrived and is a genuine Bosch recon unit 'new' in it's box. I fitted it this afternoon and was slightly disappointed to find I'm still running a bit rich (9.8-10) on WOT, though it does mean my RS2 MAF is in perfect order as the AFR's are identical. It's pig rich (9.3) and bog's if I use my spare ABY unit so that's knackered, I'm going to have leak test again and consider changing the fuel pressure regulator.

When I first fitted the PRJ ECU I was getting low 10's on WOT so I don't really get what's changed, still goes like stick though.

I'm running the catch tank exit to atmosphere ATM and that seems to be working fine, no funny smells.

[andy10v]

Great, thanks. Let me know what you do for a through out bearing as well, I dont want to have to change that twice.

MAF sounds perfect then, good to have a good backup.

A slight boost leak would result in running slightly rich?

Mine is rich, low tens, its one of the reasons I would like a live map.

I vented the catch tank as well, no issues, well except oil slosh out the block

[K Simmonds]

Yeah a live map is the way to go to get everything spot on, still I'd rather being running on the rich side than lean, at least nothings going melt.

I'm wondering if I've got a high pressure boost leak, as like I've said it use to be better, will leak test it to 20 PSI + before changing anything else.

I'm thinking TPS for the bearing, might have to ask the question with a new thread to get some feedback from other members before ordering anything, as you say it's not something you want to be changing twice.

[K Simmonds]

After a lot of testing at 20 psi+ I found that the ISV was leaking along the seam in the alloy casing at high pressure, repaired it with Quiksteel which worked well. That little fix improved the AFR to 10.1/2 on WOT, then it occurred to me that I'd vented the catch tank to atmosphere and that air had been through the air flow meter, all be it not very much. Anyway I hooked it back to the MAF hose and now it's back to 10.3/4 on WOT and absolutely flying again! It's only a week till I get time to fit the SRE clutch I have put by ready, I'm dying to be able to use all the power again.

[andy10v]

Are you doing the clutch over the Christmas break?

[Error404]

Looks loads better without the colour coding, just as nature intended

[K Simmonds]

Are you doing the clutch over the Christmas break?

That's the plan mate I've got a couple of weeks off so it's not like I'm going to be short of time.

Cheers Alex, I've got to find a couple of decent sill's now so I can sort them out and get them back to the OE finish, we know how much fun they are remove wholesale so I'm looking at cutting out the worst bits and straightening the rest, we shall see.

[K Simmonds]

Picked a set of four 205/55/16V Goodyear Vector all season tyres with 7.5mm of tread for £150 which given that I'm using my S2 though out the winter seemed like a good idea. I fitted them to a tidy set of the original diamond cut 3B five spokes I've had tucked away, I think they suit the car well and having just jumped from 225/45/17's I have to say the car feels much more sure footed particularity on uneven surfaces. Plus if we have a bit of snow I can have some fun and get about safely.

Photos to follow it was too dark by the time I got them on the wheels, balanced and fitted this afternoon.

I've got a clutch release bearing ready to do the job, but only the OE Sachs item which is metal faced and looks good quality, the SRE bearing is no longer available. I'm wondering if I should get the flywheel skimmed?

I've also got a new prop bearing so can service that as well as the drive shafts whilst I'm doing the clutch.

I dropped the coolant with K-seal in out and replaced it with a fresh mix of 50/50 VAG stuff, then covered over 1K miles in the last week and she hasn't used a drop so the head can stay put. It runs far too nicely to pull it apart, managed to average 34 MPG on a steady section of motorway driving like a pensioner, the low own grunt with this software is awesome, there's some boost from 2K RPM and it's all there by 3K

[andy10v]

Nice grab on the tyres. How about steering feel going back to 16s?

That is good about the water, saves another job.

If you have time/money to get the flywheel skimmed, it would be good to get the job done properly, make sure they dont break the timing pin though....

Anyway christmas has been and gone!

[mackenzie50]

Good to see you enjoying your 3B properly at last, Kit...and wise move with the wheels too

[Error404]

100% reface the flywheel or you won't get the full service life or capacity out of the new clutch

Result on those tyres, like Andy said, interested to hear how the steering feels compared to the 17s

[K Simmonds]

Hmm, yeah I thought the flywheel should be resurfaced, will see what it's like once apart but I'll bank on doing it.

The steering feels much more predictable on the 16" wheels, sure 17's would be better on a track but for real world driving stock wheels are the way forward. I'm going to get new carriers made to squeeze the Alcons underneath hopefully with either a 320 mm rotor or pos a 316.

The rubber, which I'm impressed with so far in the wet.



And a rubbish pic of the car, best I can do with no light.