Das Smaragd RS2+ Coupe

[John B]

September 2011 - Engine Removal

Time to get the lump out. There are a few weeps of oil but I suspect something untoward in the head department ......bit like me

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This is the hole left behind!

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Some damage to the heat shields - I suspect this was from its ownership in Scotland, where the temptation to rally it in snow was too great

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The rear end of the transmission tunnel was not too bad though. Usual corrosion on the exhaust and handbrake cable hangers.

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[John B]

25 October 2011 - Engine Out

I should have said why I asked Keith Edwards to do the work. Well he has many years experience of building (and re-building ) Quattros particularly of the Ur and Sport variety. Also he actively hill climbs one of these

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More importantly he had a spare ramp, took a real interest in the S2 and said he would work on it over the winter when the demands of running a garage were not so great. Basically I asked him to strip out the whole drive train and rebuild the engine, contact me when he needed a decision on whether to replace or re-use and put it all back together. I said I would help when I could and would be upgrading some components whilst we had it in bits.

So what did we find?

Well the sub-frames were a tad crusty and Keith recommended that they should be blasted and powder-coated. I chose aircraft grey as the colour........see later for results.
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The Milltek cat-back was in good nick and would be going back on the car.....but perhaps with something slightly different up front
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I had already rebuilt the struts once and only used Hammerite paint to control the rust......well you can see how good that was. This time more blasting and powder-coating in aircraft grey was in order. I would be retaining the H&R springs and Konis as they were relatively new.
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You can see evidence of various leaks (oil, water and hydraulic) so some further investigation was in order. Also, the engine mounts (plus diff and sub-frame) would be replaced.
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You can see the corrosion around the oil cooler intake and in fact we had to replace the oil cooler as it was not in great condition. The chassis needed some attention too.
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[kinaputt]

It looks like you guys have no problem figuring out what to do in the weekends
Keep the pictures comming!

[John B]

October 2011 - Cylinder Head Removal

Here's the CGR gearbox.....not too bad on the outside except for a small leak near the spider
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This is the ever expanding parts bin
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The cams looked ok.....no signs of unusual wear........so far so good....
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...oh sh**. .....as I suspected oil has been mixing with water.......hence the emulsion in the cooling ducts in the head. This is the culprit for the massive overheating that I had been experiencing. Keith said that #1 cylinder was the worst and in his experience where most head gaskets fail first. This is one area where we would be upgrading to a metal gasket.

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......phew the bores look ok though
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Here is #5 cylinder
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Better view of the top of the head
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This is the view from the business side
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#5 cylinder
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#1 cylinder
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[John B]

25 October 2011 - Engine Dismantling

Upside down view of the sump
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The sump - dirty oil but no nasty metallic bits
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Underneath the block - looking ok
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Big end bearings coming off - Keith's view was they were good enough to go back on but it was daft not replace them so we did.
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5 pistons having done some work We only needed to replace the rings
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[andy10v]

They do seem to wear amazingly well.

Are you fitting forged rods?

[John B]

It looks like you guys have no problem figuring out what to do in the weekends
Keep the pictures comming!

Yeah.....these babies take up some time Hope you like the pictures

They do seem to wear amazingly well.

Are you fitting forged rods?

No....per earlier post, the ethos behind this build is to have a stock block and see what that is capable of

[John B]

25 October 2011 - Engine Dismantling - Part 2

Better shot of the pistons and caps
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The crank looks ok in situ
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......and ok when removed
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Leaving the bare block ready for cleaning the crud off
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The cams look ok too
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[John B]

25 October 2011 - Engine Dismantling - Part 3

Cam chain close up
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Cam followers numbered ready for removal
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Caps in number order
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Valve removal
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A better view of the pistons
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[andy10v]

No....per earlier post, the ethos behind this build is to have a stock block and see what that is capable of

Woops, just read the previous page

[John B]

31 October 2011 - The rebuild continues

Here's the bare rear end
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Gear linkage ok
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The remains of the oil cooler housing
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Pistons cleaned
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New parts bin
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[John B]

13 November 2011 - Engine Rebuild

Now things start to go back together

Valves and springs on parade
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New oil pump
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Crank back in
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Nice clean block
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.....now in blue
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[Sonic]

Loving all the pictures

[John B]

15 November 2011 - Sub-Frames, Block & Suspension

Rear sub-frame back on with solid mounts
The front spoiler in the background looks a tad tasty
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I'm loving that colour blue on the block
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Front sub-frame - "you bushes will go in those wishbones"
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.....and on the car
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Struts powder-coated in aircraft grey with H&R springs in their natural blue.....mmmm
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[John B]

15 November 2011 - Sub-Frames Rebuild

Rear differential in place
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....using 034 rear bush
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.....and 034 diff / sub-frame bushes
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Front wheel arch refurbished
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.....and the rear too
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......that's it for today's update