Where to stop?

Ok - I'll try and hit the high spots here....

Engine going together


A walk around the engine more/less together












I wanted to get a very good TDC reference for once and the SBC flywheel does not have a TDC mark on it and there is quite a bit of clearance between the TDC ridge on the transmisison and the OD of the flywheel. So I drilled/tapped the case to install a pointer (1/4-20)


View from the inside


I heated the tip up and quenched it to give it a little harness. I dialed the engine to TDC verified with a dial indicator on the #1 piston with the cylinder head off. Then I put a dimple on the flywheel with the bolt.

Looking good. Great idea on the TDC indicator. But you could have at least used a metric bolt! That SAE thread is surely going to cost some power.

Hmmm - I wonder where these engine vibrations were coming from....




Turbo feed line shows some corrosion issues - on the list to be replaced later, will be "good enough" for the time being.


I painted it with some High Temp Aluminum Paint to prevent further corrosion


Here's a shot of the flywheel at TDC - everything looks a bit "off", but it's absolutely at TDC.




Here's the end result of the weekends work: Rods/pistons/crank were together in the block and the cylinder head was assembled when I started, but everything else went together on Saturday/Sunday. Heli-Coiled the engine and transmission mounts to 1/2-13, Installed front springs, struts, mounts, ball joints, tie rod ends and rear shocks and springs, new glow plug harness, mounted engine/trans in the car before I called it quits for the night.


Putting together a list of misc items that are missing/needed to order this week - if all goes well, I'll drive it next weekend - at least to the alignment shop anyway!

Any thoughts on break in once I get it running?

New SBC clutch and new rings/bearings. Cam/lifters are reused.

Joe Gibbs, Brad Penn, or Amsoil break in oil for 500 miles. Don't be afraid to rev and load the motor, just don't go to the drag strip. Put it in some good 5-40 synthetic and enjoy the rejuvenated car and an extra gear!

edit- forgot to add don't be surprised if the clutch slips easily under power in the first 1000 miles. The kevlar disk takes longer to break in than a normal organic or ceramic material. But the trade off is it will last longer and stay smoother with proper driving habits.

Good to know about the clutch - I'll leave the trailer at home for the time being

I was planning on just using regular 5w40 and changing it after a few hundred miles - I'll see if I can get some of the break in oil - My uncle is an Amsoil nut, I'll see if he has any.

Fix_Until_Broke said:

Cam/lifters are reused.

Click to expand...

Dude. . .seroiusly????

That cam and those lifters are JUNK!!

you are putting together a really nice motor. if all goes well, its a motor you won't have to touch for another 100k

WHY put known worn out parts in???

Please get a new cam and lifters. . .please

Don't worry, it's in the plan, just not for the initial startup. I'm a little paranoid about initial cam/lifter break in and am concerned that if there's issues starting (empty injectors/lines/pump, any leaks on startup, etc) that I might have cam damage due to improper break in.

The goal is to use the original cam/lifters to get things started and broken in, then replace the cam when I know the engine will fire right up and be able to run and give a proper break for the cam/lifters.

A cam swap is pretty easy - couple hours tops.

I would agree if you built a PD motor, with the more sensetive cam. .

ALH is more robust, I doubt you could cause any real damage on start up.

As long as you recognize the need for replacment

happy motoring! I love firing up a motor after a re-build!

I can't seem to find inner CV boots for the 6 speed axles.

Dealer says they're not available - need to buy the whole axle at $550 and $400 each! Outer boots are available (3B0 498 203E), Inner shows up on the screen in etka but when he clicked on it, it said "Not Available Individually" or something like that. He was looking at a 2004 GTI - closest thing I could think of that I knew had a 6 speed in it.

I checked the usual TDI vendors with no luck. 1stvwparts and impex don't show it on their sites. F.L.A.P.S. C.R.A.P. only state manual or automatic and don't get specific enough for 5 or 6 speed manual.

So, does anyone know where I can get inner CV boots for a 6 speed?

I'm also looking for a vehicle speed sensor for the DRW (connector broke in shipping) and starter bolts (the 5 speed ones just catch a couple threads in the block).

VSS: 1J0 919 149A - $79.50
Starter Bolts: N 908 271 01 - $8.50 each

If anyone has some of these spare parts laying around - let me know

Thanks

Call boraparts.com on Monday. Aaron can get a LOT of parts the dealers normally can't.

Tony

I e-mailed last week and called twice (left 1 message) - No reply thus far?

No idea what's going on.

I do know he gets busy. I apparently get aggressive and call him again, if I don't get a call in what I consider an appropriate time.

Tony

Aaron was away for a week on vaca I believe.

ecs tuning has the boots. Ordered them many times http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Jetta_IV_GLI--1.8T/Drivetrain/Driveshaft/CV/

For the starter bolts, use automatic TDI starter bolts, they work perfect. I always have tons of them laying around from auto to manual swaps haha.

Excellent - Thanks Matt!

I'll get them coming

some very good data in this post

Just got back from a test drive - it was soooo nice to drive it again

First impressions in 10 miles -

Quieter and smoother than before
DRW 6 Speed is LOUD at idle with the clutch out
1600 RPM @ 60 MPH is about as low as I want to go - Cruise control gets a workout
Springs and Koni FSD's are nice - less road noise, smoother over a generally rough road.
E-Codes are much nicer than the milk jug opaque lenses I had before
No drastic changes in Boost/EMP's/EGT's, but I have a vacuum leak somewhere and was not driving it too hard.

Lots of work to do before a front end alignment tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM - back at it and then some sleep.

Fix_Until_Broke said:

Just got back from a test drive - it was soooo nice to drive it again

First impressions in 10 miles -

Quieter and smoother than before
DRW 6 Speed is LOUD at idle with the clutch out
1600 RPM @ 60 MPH is about as low as I want to go - Cruise control gets a workout
Springs and Koni FSD's are nice - less road noise, smoother over a generally rough road.
E-Codes are much nicer than the milk jug opaque lenses I had before
No drastic changes in Boost/EMP's/EGT's, but I have a vacuum leak somewhere and was not driving it too hard.

Lots of work to do before a front end alignment tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM - back at it and then some sleep.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear it's alive again! The gear rattle should quiet down a little bit as time goes on but it's always going to be more noticeable than a 5 spd. I offered the option of the silent disc but you passed . Aren't the 6 gears nice though?!

Fix_Until_Broke said:

Just got back from a test drive - it was soooo nice to drive it again

First impressions in 10 miles -

Quieter and smoother than before
DRW 6 Speed is LOUD at idle with the clutch out
1600 RPM @ 60 MPH is about as low as I want to go - Cruise control gets a workout
Springs and Koni FSD's are nice - less road noise, smoother over a generally rough road.
E-Codes are much nicer than the milk jug opaque lenses I had before
No drastic changes in Boost/EMP's/EGT's, but I have a vacuum leak somewhere and was not driving it too hard.

Lots of work to do before a front end alignment tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM - back at it and then some sleep.

Click to expand...

i have heard this a few times before.

sounds awesome man! glad it coming together for you. you have definitely put in a lot of hard work.
its 11 here, so im guessing you just got the car back from the alignment shop. THUMBS UP

FUB, glad to see you are Fixed again. You may want smaller diameter tires now that you have a 6speed.

High five

I didn't realize how much louder the 6 speed was than the 5 speed on idle chatter - If I had it to do over again, I would have spent the extra $$ to get the quiet setup, but it's not bad enough to warrant changing it at this point. I was really concerned right after I started it that I had a bearing knock or something - until I pushed the clutch in .

The 6 speed is very nice. I was within 50 RPM of a 6 speed @ 60 MPH with my 205/70/15's and 0.681 5th, but having the extra gear in the middle is handy. I think it will be even nicer when pulling the trailer. I do miss my DG short shifter though, will have to look at getting a 6 speed one of those.

Matt - Thanks for doing all the work on the DRW 6 speed - it works great. I wish I could have been there to see how it's done - Next time (ha ha). ATF break in oil is out and running GM Synchromesh now. The Wavetrack works well - I tested it out in the snow tonight .

It runs ~1600 @ 60 and ~1900 @ 70 in 6th gear (assuming my speedometer is correct) with the 215/50R17 Michelin Primacy MXV4's which are just a little (~1/4 to 3/8") shorter than the 205/70R15 General Altimax RT's that I had been running.

Jury is still out, but most of my around town travels are rural suburban 40-50 MPH traveling which is ~1600 in 5th which seems to work well, and when out on the highway 6th works fine. It pulled a 1/2 mile long 5% grade @ 60 MPH, 1600 RPM, 12 psi boost, 12 psi exhaust, 1100F EGT on the cruise control and held speed all the way up which suprised me to be honest.

Alignment went well (big thanks to Dave for doing this on a Sunday morning!) Caster was 7.3 and 6.8 degrees, Camber was ~1.3 (don't remember specifically) and toe was adjusted to 0. Drives straight and true.

The engine has an IDI sound to it that it didn't have before - Timing is 32768 and just above the middle line. The engine seems to have more/less the same power as before, but seems "soft" and a bit less responsive initially. Like I put a bigger laggier turbo on it. There were some unexplained hisses when I started it up - unplugging the VNT actuator hose made the hiss go away and it came back when plugged back in. I might have a pre-turbo exhaust leak which would definately soften the response.

The clutch is working well - very smooth, lots of transition between start of engagement and fully engaged - hopefully this narrows up as it wears in.

Things to do next....

Change engine break in oil/filters
Investigate possible exhaust leak
Adjust (advance) cam timing
Install new cam/lifters
Install oil temp/pressure gauge
Re-charge A/C system
Source missing trans/engine mounting bolts
Weld in CCV port on turbo inlet pipe
Source and install remaining 3 CV boots
Install new radio antenna base
Install new cabin blower motor

For now, I'm just going to drive it and get re-acquinted with everything for a week or so.

if i buy your sigma5 will that speed up the process of getting the sigma6??
:-D

Hey, at least "fix rear main seal leak" isn't on the list

I get my car on Tues. i have some similar stuff done as well cant wait!

runonbeer said:

Hey, at least "fix rear main seal leak" isn't on the list

Click to expand...

Yeah - I think I would cry if that was leaking - Thanks for the advice on installation earlier!



BenDur - My 5 speed shifter was from before the Sigma series, can't remember what it was called off hand. I bought it at the 2005 TDI Fest in Lake Mills, WI and Jim installed it personally on my car. Shoot me a PM if you're still interested.


raydeee - good luck with your car!

Are you going to come to Platteville and see how it is on the dyno at the end of April? I am thinking of just coming and hanging out.

Yes, I just saw that thread and plan to be there.

I think I've got a sticky injector as this IDI sound isn't going away and it smokes more than it used to, starts hard/rough, loud diesel knock when cold, etc. In hindsight, I should have sent the injectors out sometime during the 2 months it was down, but I'm dumb and didn't think of doing that.

Car is otherwise running well, I'm getting used to it slowly. A little of the "soft" is gone, but it's still not as responsive as it was.

I'm going to give it a good once over this weekend and tidy up a few more loose ends that I can in my garage

Looking for opinions on nozzles
Bosio R520's?

Titan 764's?

Nictane's site does not show any nozzles?

DSS does not really have any info on their site - just prices?

Any other suggestions?

I'd get a can or two of Diesel Purge and plumb it in/out of the IP, run it in the yard until the can is almost dry. Might free that nozzle up.
FWIW in a pinch I've used Sea Foam for the same before.
I try to do the Diesel Purge at the same time as an oil change.