S4s rolling restoration project

[Barrykearley]

Clean faces up - measure shims - bolt back together - measure clearances and adjust shims. Simples 👍

[snowrx]

Check the head threads @  the missing bolt, someone may have stripped it previously?

[tomcattom]

I was beginning to worry that I might find the remains of a snapped bolt in there when I first noticed it was missing. Luckily that isn't the case. There appears to be threads in there but no idea if they're sound yet. I'll need to remove all the old oil from that bolt hole first before I can properly assess it.

[Sparky]

Play safe and helicoil it.

[tomcattom]

Broke out the verniers and dial gauge to measure up the existing shims and camshaft endfloat at lunchtime and I've now got all the necessary parts to put it back together on order from various different suppliers.

The camshaft endfloat was quite some way out upon initial measuring, but then when I was removing the end caps I discovered the joint face was covered in quite a thick layer of what I'm presuming was Permabond A136 or equivalent. I don't believe its supposed to be in there - there's certainly no mention of using it there in the reassembly instructions in the manual. I cleaned it all out and reassembled it again and re-measured and the end float is now comfortably in tolerance.

• Exhaust camshaft = 0.14mm
• Inlet camshaft = 0.10mm

[tomcattom]

Got the exhaust manifold off this evening. Used the dremel to put a relief cut in the stubborn remaining nut and was able then split it and remove it without damaging the stud threads. The maninfold wouldn't drop off so I had the remove part of the engine mount heatshield arrangement and then it dropped out pretty easily. The heatshields weren't properly attached so I'll need to work out how they should be arranged before they go back on.

 

The delightful oil slick to be cleaned off the side of the block and head this coming weekend - not looking forward to that job!

 

Just the turbo left to be removed from the manifold.

[Barrykearley]

Please say you are dumping that boat anchor where it belongs and fitting an alunox

[tomcattom]

The Alunox is ready waiting in the wings.

[Chillidoggy]

13 hours ago, tomcattom said:

Got the exhaust manifold off this evening. Used the dremel to put a relief cut in the stubborn remaining nut and was able then split it and remove it without damaging the stud threads. The maninfold wouldn't drop off so I had the remove part of the engine mount heatshield arrangement and then it dropped out pretty easily. The heatshields weren't properly attached so I'll need to work out how they should be arranged before they go back on.

 

The delightful oil slick to be cleaned off the side of the block and head this coming weekend - not looking forward to that job!

Just the turbo left to be removed from the manifold.

 

It's comforting to note you're not using just any old rags.

[tomcattom]

Ha! Nothing but the finest middle class rags for the banana @Chillidoggy 😉

[Sparky]

This is going to start a label war.

[Chillidoggy]

@tomcattom - Page 5 of my refurb thread gives you the heat shield photos. I think there's more somewhere in there too if you look. Shouldn't take too long, there's nowhere near 256 pages.

[tomcattom]

6 minutes ago, Sparky said:

This is going to start a label war.

I'm saving the Gucci rags until its a bit cleaner in there 😆

3 minutes ago, Chillidoggy said:

@tomcattom - Page 5 of my refurb thread gives you the heat shield photos. I think there's more somewhere in there too if you look. Shouldn't take too long, there's nowhere near 256 pages.

Found them last night after posting the pictures following some searching 👍 @Sparky had already pointed out I was missing some heat shields when he came to give the car a once over a while back. With the limited space I couldn't work out which were missing very well. Now I can see better I've ordered a complete set of replacement heat shields from a breaker so I can try and assemble the origami arrangement with the help of the various photos I've found.

[Sparky]

It should be a MENSA qualification test.

[tomcattom]

After close to two solid days of scrubbing I've managed to remove almost all the oily deposits from the outside of the engine and get into an acceptably clean state given the space I have to work with.

BEFORE

 

AFTER - I still have to clean up the cam housing mating faces and clean/repair any threads.

 

At least I know it has the right head on it 😁

 

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if these marks mean anything significant? They're on the exhaust side of the block right next to the bell housing join. I had a brief look in the workshop manual and couldn't find any mention of it.

 

The exhaust port face on number two doesn't look very healthy. Hopefully I'll be able to clean it up sufficiently well with the engine still in to be able to get a good seal with the exhaust manifold. Only time will tell.

 

Plan for tomorrow is to separate the turbo from the old manifold and clean it up. I'll also clean up the cam housings and fit the new seals ready for them to be refitted when the oil seals on the head mating face turn up.

New manifold can't go on just yet because I'm waiting for posty to bring me the missing parts of the engine mount heatshield.

[Jacques]

Good progress all the same.

Kind regards,

Jacques

[Chillidoggy]

Looking at the photos, I think the exhaust port faces will benefit from being machined. It looks even worse than mine and there’s only so much those gaskets will accept.

I do hope I’m proved wrong, however it’ll then leave you free to overhaul the rest of the head......

[tomcattom]

I really don't want to be taking the head off at this stage if I can avoid it, not least because of the shielding complications I have under lockdown. I'll clean up the port faces as best I can and hope it seals. I wonder if the gaskets supplied by Alunox with the manifold might be more forgiving on less than perfect faces than the triple layer metal gaskets I've also bought.

On a more positive note I split the snail from the boat anchor this morning after an extended session with the Dremel 🐌

[Chillidoggy]

I might have a set of the composites laying around of you haven’t got any, need to check first, though.

[tomcattom]

Took a while longer than I'd hoped but the turbo scrubbed up pretty well 😄

I had hoped to clean up the cam housings too but I ran out of daylight.

[tomcattom]

1 hour ago, Chillidoggy said:

I might have a set of the composites laying around of you haven’t got any, need to check first, though.

I'm good thanks Ian. I've got the fibre set that came with the Alunox. I order the metal gaskets separately after they were mentioned earlier in the thread.

[tomcattom]

Ran the scraper over the deposits on the exhaust port for number two and it's actually not turned out as bad as it might have been 😌. Long term it could probably do with machining but it will be absolutely fine for now. I'll give it a tickle with the wet and dry before the Alunox goes on.

[Barrykearley]

Ensure you use a flat block over that. The alunox header will tolerate difference between ports far more than a cast manifold would. Get it clean and flat 👍

[DaveFRC]

Just read through your thread, great work so far, hope to see that you are on the road soon!

Dave

[tomcattom]

Thanks @DaveFRC. I hope its back on the road soon too. Just looking back at the thread its been off the road for nearly 19 months now; that wasn't how I planned it The pace of work has picked up dramatically in the last six months though due to there being less to do on the house a long last.

The car has been a bit like an onion, I peel back one layer and then find another issue and so on. I'm tentatively aiming to have it ready for an MOT in the next couple of months - subject to some long awaited parts arriving. Whether I'll be allowed out to drive it any time soon is another matter entirely!