My CQ+AAN build

[spikemoto]

Hey guys! After lurking for some time I thought I would finally post up my project!

For those who don't know me, my name is Hans and I work at a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota called Imola Motorsports.

It all started with a crazy cheap URS6 purchase at an auction:




The S6 had many issues, more than I felt like sorting through as I was well aware that it would add up quick and would not be worth fixing. There were a bunch of aftermarket bits on the car like an Apikol coilpack conversion, Samco hoses and MTM stage 1+ ECU that I could put to good use in swapping the motor into a coupe making the idea that much more appealing. The big drawback of the situation was that the motor had spun rod bearings and was knocking pretty badly.

Even after receiving several offers from people who wanted to buy the car as a whole I decided to part it and start building the motor.



Initial disassembly revealed a considerably clean top end for 163k miles.






Bare block ready for the machine shop


Hot tanked, honed, decked and painted


The goodies: Balanced and polished crank, 034 coated main and rod bearings, Scat rods and cleaned AAN pistons also balanced.


Center main bearing needs the tab filed down (sorry for the terrible picture)


Installed crank and mains.


...and onto some head work...


New valve seal vs. old.




Lappin' da valves





Overall it took me about 10 hours straight to pull all the valves out, clean them on the wire wheel, clean the head, meticulously lap the valves, install new valve seals, and reassemble the head. This was my first time doing this and it wasn't in my budget to bring it to a machine shop but I plan on building a head in the future with springs, retainers, etc.

Lapped and cleaned ready for install


...Just waiting to transfer some 7A cams in.

[spikemoto]

Bottom end pretty much assembled.





Money shot.





I also decided to crack open my ECU to see exactly what was in there:



It looked like MTM so I called up Jason Andersen from Andersen Motorsports (a local audi shop which has been around for about 20 years and services 3 sport quattros) to run the VIN and he came back with service records of an MTM stage 1+ install. WIN


3Bar MAP!




At this point I was putting all of this energy into building this awesome motor without being super excited about putting it into my ratty coupe. I looked around for a cleaner chassis for a while but didn't want to spend what people were asking for a clean example. Coincidentally, a friend had just picked up a clean pearl/black car from Wisconsin that did not run. After talking with him we worked out a trade: my beat up running coupe for his clean non-running car with the stipulation that I can use my coupe as a daily while I get the swapped car running so long as I do not take too long

Anywho, after the last cars and café my friend Frank was nice enough to haul the car up to the shop on his way back to Further Performance with the rally car.

[cooperquattro]

hi,do you have any pics of the car its going in??
any details on the coilpack conversion?/

[spikemoto]

hi,do you have any pics of the car its going in??
any details on the coilpack conversion?/

Just added. The coilpack conversion is one from Apikol: https://www.apikol.com/#Products,Engine,21

They are spendy and cost more than half of what I paid for the whole S6

[spikemoto]

A few things straight from "twenty valve" here on the forum: ABY engine harness and projector headlights.





Conveniently, I am able to use the AAN ECU with the ABY harness making the AAN swap nearly pug and play.





I immediately started tearing into the car once I got it and I was able to pull the interior, motor and engine harness in a weekend.



FUN TIMES



As soon as I pulled the carpet I was met with disappointment. Despite how clean everything looked the padding under the carpet was still wet and moldy... moral of the story is don't buy a coupe




...Is that a 997tt?



Why yes, and my, what big brakes you have...



... and that would be my boss, Kevin, being himself



K, back to work. As it sits, the 7A engine and harness are out, the ABY engine harness is in and the interior is ready to be put back together.


Being that the shell is ready to go, the next step is to finish the motor. Last weekend I spent some time taking my motor beyond the mock-up stage and started torquing things down. I started with the ARP main studs.




I hadn't realized that the windage tray needed to be clearanced for these studs so that was a bit of a pain to deal with.





I also hadn't realized that some trimming on the oil pan was necessary. First, I had to cut off the A/C belt tensioner nub on the front of the 7A oil pan to clear the AAN crank pulley.




Then I actually had to hog material out of the oil pan to clear the rear most main studs...

[spikemoto]

I also received my new intake manifold from Hank on motorgeek; a modified AAN manifold making piping for a FMIC easier that with a ABY or 3B manifold.




A few nights ago I stayed after hours late to make some more progress on the motor and ended up getting most of it together:






Once I got it all bolted together with the timing belt in place I tried to turn the motor over (with the spark plugs removed) to find in very difficult. After pulling the cams I determined the problem was caused by a missing washer between the pulley and crank. Sam (a co-worker also building a 20vt coupe) and I tore the entire upstairs of the shop apart looking for it only to find that the machinist, who we brought our motors to, decided to switch our crank pulley bolts with my washer on his bolt. It would not have been that big of a deal but it turns out that measly washer is a $90 dealer only part. Go figure...

Anyway, I get the washer in place and continue bolting everything back together but when I went to put the cam pulley on...




darn

[spikemoto]

After cussing about a broken cam pulley and cam position sensor. I decided to try making a 7A cam pulley and dizzy hall sender work since I had the parts kicking around.

Once I had the motor assembled it was time to lower it from the heavens (lofted storage space of the shop/engine building cove for employees) where it would meet it's new body.








Once I got it down and back safely on the stand I bolted up the last few items to get it ready for install...

Powder coated black Apikol coil pack cover:


Unfortunately in the process of moving the lump the intake got a big scratch in it


I also installed a steel 7A flywheel lightened by Sean Cole. I didn't get a chance to weigh it but he claimed that he got it down to 18lbs. Preferably, I would have gone with an aluminum one but this was cheaper and readily available plus he was able to balance it to my pressure plate.


Lightened vs. stock:



The motor went in fairly easily other than the fact that the oil pan is offset due to the added thickness of the windage tray. Normally one would elongate the holes that mate the oil pan to the trans but I decided to take the risk and leave those bolts out since I a plan on swapping in my 01E in the near future.



The AAN looks soooo at home here



K24 for now... I will start seriously contemplating the next stages once the motor is broken in and running well.


Here is a shot of my serp belt setup without the A/C compressor. For a belt I ended up using a 1300mm which fits perfect (although it is only a 5 rib since that's what was sitting on the shelf).


Testing of radiator fitment with the modded AAN IM:



Mocking up FMIC fitment for core support fabrication:

[spikemoto]

Once I finished the core support I swiftly moved on to the intercooler piping so that I could focus on getting the car started.





Here are the final pieces. I was trying to minimize both the amount of welds and silicone couplers needed and I am pretty happy with the result. I also plan on getting them powdercoated, which may help seal any potential pin-hole leaks in the welds (although I am pretty confident in the quality of my welds :wink: ).


Since the ends of these pipes are not flanged I added some small beads to help the couplers not pop off while hanging out north of 20psi

[macspring]

Spikemoto,

Nice work / write up / photos. Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to updates on your progress in due course.

Kind regards.

[spikemoto]

After sorting out a no-power problem to the ECU caused by using the wrong fuel pump relay I was able to get the thing started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Hztc-FkfA&feature=player_embedded

This was bittersweet because as soon as it started I realized I had no oil pressure

As it turns out, one of the arp main studs was threaded in too far and crushed the oil check valve which provides oil pressure to the head and sensor.

With the motor in the car, I had to drain the oil, remove the oil pan, remove the one main stud, remove the oil pressure sender, remove the crushed check valve, then put it all back together.

It now makes oil pressure but I am trying to sort out my cooling system. Otherwise everything is coming together well and it should be done soon, all after picking up the car 2 months ago

[S2central.net]

Well spotted on the oil pressure - never heard of that before here - or maybe I missed it !

Interesting build and some nice pics - thanks for sharing.

[Error404]

do you have the right studs? I only heard of this problem with people using the longer studs for girdling the main caps.

[andy10v]

Nice to see your build on here, very jealous of your work place, that porsche is nuts when you see the acceleration videos.

[spikemoto]

This is long overdue for an update but things have been going quite well. I have been driving the car all summer and finally mustered the balls to turn up the boost after getting a few thousand miles on the motor. With an N75 valve installed the MTM Stage 1+ software hits 23psi and very quickly

Here is the most recent shot of the car:



I have been far too busy to keep up on the project thread and trying to buy a better lens for my camera to showcase everything in much higher quality.

So far this summer I have conquered such issues as boost leaks (messed up intercooler), vacuum leaks (torn turbo inlet), misfires (bad 1.8t coils) and just regular mechanical gremlins associated with a 21 year old car.

Lately, however, I have had some trouble with the car running a bit rich and generally a bit more sluggish under boost. At first I thought it was bad plugs or some ignition issue but I think I have nailed it down as a failed MAF.

What do you guys usually see with a failed MAF??? The most apparent symptom that has led me to believe that it is the MAF is a reading of 40% load at Idle with VAGCOM... Now, I'm not sure what the specified reading for load at idle is but 40% seems a bit high.

Other than this the car has been cutting out hard under high load and dying randomly during idle, is this something you guys have seen before? Not to mention that it smells like it is running pig rich... I tried swapping the O2 sensor out and that did not make any difference on the smell.

Also I should note that I am running about an 8inch long K&N cone filter on the car with a 3" U-bend to the MAF. I know I have heard of MAF's prematurely failing due to inadequate air filters so this is another reason I am leaning towards the MAF

Am I on the right track here??

[spikemoto]

Well, I replaced the MAF and crank sensors and the problem still persists.

I am pretty sure that it is an ignition issue since when the car cuts out (either happens at idle or higher boost/throttle situations but normal driving is fine) the tach seems to fall completely and it is almost like the ecu is losing power all together.

I have heard of people running into issues with the ECU crapping out on AAN's as a result of running the 1.8t coil conversion so I am somewhat leaning towards this at this point.

Anyone heard of this?