My A2 'blog'...
- Thread starter <tuffty/>
- Start date
<tuffty/>
Member
Yeah... was getting a bit tired Sunday evening after putting in a 12 hour stint to drop the gearbox, sorting the carnage and getting it all back together again... 02M gearboxes are HEAVY!!... had my little 'love bite' from the old girl and decided to call it a day lol...
Ta mate... not happy with the finish on the cam cover as I had to repaint it due to the lacquer turning yellow... will get all the relevant parts powder coated after AITP ready for Audi Drivers at Castle Combe..
<tuffty/>
<tuffty/>
Member
Amazing! If i only knew how to strip the motor down like that along with the work on your A2. Good work Tuffty your hands says it all. Do takecare mate
Sheer inspiration on the forum
Thanks mate, appreciated... I'd like to say its not that difficult to do but I know the thought of messing with engines like this can be a bit daunting for some... I have messed with cars since I could drive... here are a few pics of my first Mk2 Escort... was a basic model with an 1100cc engine and drum brakes all round... I was about 19 at the time
Fitted a 1660cc Kent engine on twin 40 Webbers... not sure of the power tbh its was quick though
I couldn't be a normal mechanic as a day job I don't think... it doesn't really interest me plus if your hobby becomes your job sometimes it can make the hobby a lot less fun... the modding and fabrication side of things is far more interesting though
<tuffty/>
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<tuffty/>
Member
Yay!!... she's back together and she runs!!
...although it looks like I did a rooky mistake on the cam belt and let the cam pulley slip back a tooth :/
...so will do that at the weekend and then I can finally drive her back home
Obviously put the OE covers back on to complete the OEM look...
Doubt I will get a chance to finish the mapping before AITP but at least she will be able to get there... maybe next year I can persuade my daughter to drive the A2 up too and have a presence on the A2OC stand too
<tuffty/>
...although it looks like I did a rooky mistake on the cam belt and let the cam pulley slip back a tooth :/
...so will do that at the weekend and then I can finally drive her back home
Obviously put the OE covers back on to complete the OEM look...
Doubt I will get a chance to finish the mapping before AITP but at least she will be able to get there... maybe next year I can persuade my daughter to drive the A2 up too and have a presence on the A2OC stand too
<tuffty/>
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Birchall
Dick Chown Award 2016
So pleased for you !!!
And great to see the shots of the Escort. a half inch / nine sixteenth spanner, a hammer and a screwdriver and you could carry out almost any job on an escort!!!
I went the other route and build a drag Escort (sorry if I am repeating again!) but your photos reminded me of happy days in the Escort.
I am loving this thread it is great to see a true "petrol-head" if you can accept that as a compliment?
Steve B
And great to see the shots of the Escort. a half inch / nine sixteenth spanner, a hammer and a screwdriver and you could carry out almost any job on an escort!!!
I went the other route and build a drag Escort (sorry if I am repeating again!) but your photos reminded me of happy days in the Escort.
I am loving this thread it is great to see a true "petrol-head" if you can accept that as a compliment?
Steve B
<tuffty/>
Member
Appreciated Steve and yeah, I do take it as a compliment
Your Escort looks pretty cool mate... a friend of mine would love that... his missus drives an 8 second car at Pod etc
<tuffty/>
Birchall
Dick Chown Award 2016
Appreciated Steve and yeah, I do take it as a compliment
Your Escort looks pretty cool mate... a friend of mine would love that... his missus drives an 8 second car at Pod etc
<tuffty/>
Mine was only a 10 second car, but it was also street legal and this was 15 years ago.
I do miss the adrenalin rush of launching the car on Nitrous and seeing the bonnet rise as the front wheels lifted off the ground. But I am getting old now and seem to be more interested in MPG than MPH these days!!!
REALLY looking forward to seeing the S3 !!!!!
Steve B
<tuffty/>
Member
This is why I have the A2 as well as the S3 lol
Don't pay too much attention to the iffy paint on the inlet manifold and the cam cover :/
The lacquer went yellow from the heat (its supposed to be suitable for wheels ffs!) and I needed to get a small pinhole re-welded on the inlet so it needed repainting and for some reason the silver I used the last time spat more metal flake out than silver and the finish is awful... I am going to get them powder coated next but won't have time before AITP... need to give the inlet another go really but will do that once she is back home as I need to let my mate has his ramp back for actual customer cars lol
<tuffty/>
<tuffty/>
Member
Yeah... I had the front cylinders fail on me when i first had the car... scary as hell... made me change the 1600 sport discs very quickly lol
I would love a Mk2 again but they are massively expensive to get a good one :/
My second Mk2 was a 1.3 Popular Plus and had discs to start with but it soon changed lol
I put a 2ltr Pinto in that one with twin 45 Dellortos
<tuffty/>
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<tuffty/>
Member
So.... managed to get to the bottom of the S3's cambelt fault code... after setting the bottom end to physical TDC (using a dial gauge in the spark plug hole) the cam pulley mark didn't look as far out as it should for being a tooth out which prompted me to check the timing marks on the crank...
Disappointing... can only mean one thing... the crank sprocket had spun... removed it and low and behold, both tool steel dowels had sheared and the key of the (made of cheese) pulley had crushed retarding the crank to cam timing...
So replaced it with a billet steel pulley and ARP crank bolt!!!... spin now mofo!!
Unfortunately this hasn't been the only issue... seems the cam cover gasket is leaking too... brand new for the engine build and I tried re-sealing at the weekend... but to no avail...
Even a short trip and its dripping out enough to cause a small smoke screen under the bonnet... so ordered up new gaskets and will have to change them before I can drive her anywhere more than from home to the workshop
Means I doubt I'll be at AITP this year which is a little disappointing...
...at least my new brakes have turned up...
Thankfully the A2 has been faultless during this time... I still need to straighten the steering wheel but she hasn't skipped a beat...
Plan is to take my time getting the S3 ready for ADI... I don't know if A2OC is having a presence there though this year...
<tuffty/>
Disappointing... can only mean one thing... the crank sprocket had spun... removed it and low and behold, both tool steel dowels had sheared and the key of the (made of cheese) pulley had crushed retarding the crank to cam timing...
So replaced it with a billet steel pulley and ARP crank bolt!!!... spin now mofo!!
Unfortunately this hasn't been the only issue... seems the cam cover gasket is leaking too... brand new for the engine build and I tried re-sealing at the weekend... but to no avail...
Even a short trip and its dripping out enough to cause a small smoke screen under the bonnet... so ordered up new gaskets and will have to change them before I can drive her anywhere more than from home to the workshop
Means I doubt I'll be at AITP this year which is a little disappointing...
...at least my new brakes have turned up...
Thankfully the A2 has been faultless during this time... I still need to straighten the steering wheel but she hasn't skipped a beat...
Plan is to take my time getting the S3 ready for ADI... I don't know if A2OC is having a presence there though this year...
<tuffty/>
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<tuffty/>
Member
Lol... I was waiting for someone to say that
I will see how it goes... I need to get the S3 sorted else I will miss my mapping slot with Bill and the days I can work on her are limited... I suspect I will be doing bits to her Sunday now to make sure she is ok to run up on the dyno...
<tuffty/>
<tuffty/>
Member
Arrghh!!... now its the S3's turn to fight me lol...
Had the cam cover off to sort the oil leak...
All back together and warmed up the car... no leaks... happy days
Next fitted the new rotors and pads...
Too busy on the road to bed the pads in but have to bed in the rotors first anyway so took a trip from Bills to my mate who has an aircon machine and re-gassed the S3... thats went ok too...
However.... there was a rubbing noise from the front off side brakes when I turned right... b*gger!
On closer inspection it looks like the track rod end is pitching into the back of the rotor when turning right...
Out with the power tools tomorrow then lol
Gotta love cars...
<tuffty/>
Had the cam cover off to sort the oil leak...
All back together and warmed up the car... no leaks... happy days
Next fitted the new rotors and pads...
Too busy on the road to bed the pads in but have to bed in the rotors first anyway so took a trip from Bills to my mate who has an aircon machine and re-gassed the S3... thats went ok too...
However.... there was a rubbing noise from the front off side brakes when I turned right... b*gger!
On closer inspection it looks like the track rod end is pitching into the back of the rotor when turning right...
Out with the power tools tomorrow then lol
Gotta love cars...
<tuffty/>
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<tuffty/>
Member
I'll be honest with you Steve, I'm not feeling it... it seems I am still snagging stuff on the build and would rather do the mileage locally until I know she right to do the kind of mileage from mine to AITP... a little disappointed but past few months have been a bit of a roller coaster ride between car issues and job issues... all getting better now of course but I'm not the sort of person that likes to rush things and while in my mind she is not right I am finding it difficult to get enthusiastic about going to shows...
I will be at ADI regardless of what car I am taking but the aim is to have the S3 up to the 'spec' I have set for myself now... I have new poly bushes and anti roll bars on order and will sort the paint issues on the engine parts...
I know it probably sounds odd but its been a hell of a year for me, lots of change all at once and I think I am just emotionally drained from it all lol...
Sorry for the little emotional vent... seems to be one thing after the other lol... I wasn't going to look at the disc rubbing issue until tomorrow but my OCD got the better of me and I went out in the rain and the dark to have a look...
Anyhoo... if my eldest passes her test in September I may even stick her on the A2's insurance so she can drive her to ADI and I can support A2OC as well as ASN and Badger5 on the day!!... gonna be a busy one lol
<tuffty/>
<tuffty/>
Member
Been a while since I have posted as the car has been performing her primary role as the daily without issue while I have been sorting a few things out on the S3...
However, the other day I parked up outside my local Tesco Express in a fairly roomy parking space and returned to find some inconsiderate a**hole felt it was ok to open their door into mine and leave a parting gift!!...
I didn't notice this until I got back home of course but remember the blue car parked next to mine... it was miles away so must have been a real effort to achieve this!!! FFS!!... while I am not massively precious over the A2 (I would then have two cars I'd never park anywhere then lol) I am massively annoyed at people that think this is ok to do... I had nearly taken the S3 out for the trip but decided against it which turned out to be a wise decision as I would have gone back and hunted the driver down to uses their face as a polishing pad!!
Anyhoo... thankfully no dents and with a little work with the DA and...
..does of course mean I need to find some time to do the whole car which of course was always planned...
I have started getting a slight knocking from the NSF... not sure what this could be considering most of its new lol but will try and get her on a ramp soon to have a look... I have also been formulating plans for an engine rebuild... the A2 has done 165k now and I think I am looking to be doing between 15k and 20k a year mileage wise so I'd rather factor a replacement engine build sooner rather than later...
Initial plan will be to source a relatively low mileage AMF engine which is essentially the same as the BHC... I checked part numbers in ETKA for the block, head and other components and they were all the same... the later engines had lower compression pistons which is understandable as they run more power... not worked out the turbo wheel differences as yet but AMF and BHC engines still use actuators while the ATL (90hp) use VNT turbo's... I have been in talks with my turbo guy regarding using the compressor wheel from one of the higher power PD engines... he can get these as alloy billet rather than the cast alloy typically used so they are lighter and will spool better... plan is to make a hybrid turbo of some description that can easily produce over 100hp of airflow..
Engine wise I can use the 2ltr 8v TDi pistons with a rebore that will take the normal 1,422cc to 1,476cc (1500 essentially)... I might consider changing to aftermarket rods but will see how I am doing budget wise...
I will look at replacing the pipework with suitably sized alloy and silicon and changing the intercooler for something a little more effective...
This is a little way off at the moment of course but I think the little 1.4tdi needs a little pepping up but I don't want to go silly with the tune due to it being a daily and therefore must be reliable...
And on the subject of modding this leads me to my 'other' car lol... the poor old A2 has not had much attention over the past month as I have been doing work on the S3... I have fitted uprated ARBs and polybushed just about everything... the way she drives is fantastic and was worth all the effort...
I also had a stroke of luck yesterday (had a day off)... popped over to Bill's to finish off painting the new cam cover to go on the S3 and he unfortunately had a no show for mapping... so he mapped the S3 instead
I strapped her to the dyno and plugged in the emulator and let Bill work his magic...
As is the way with my S3 she put up a little bit of a fight... my water/meth stop working due to a sticking check valve so fixed that and it became clear that I will need to fit cams to get the full potential of the turbo realised... that said I am well happy with the final figures... (of this round of modding LOL)
On the road its simply amazing... driving the A2 this morning to work felt very undramatic in comparison so best pull my finger out and sort out the parts list for the engine build lol..
The end game for the A2 realistically will be some horsepower figure over 100bhp and torque of 200+ftlbs... I'd like to keep the boost sensible but the 2ltr 8v pistons are 18.5:1 comp ratio which I believe is the same as the ATL so will see what sensible boost can achieve...
<tuffty/>
However, the other day I parked up outside my local Tesco Express in a fairly roomy parking space and returned to find some inconsiderate a**hole felt it was ok to open their door into mine and leave a parting gift!!...
I didn't notice this until I got back home of course but remember the blue car parked next to mine... it was miles away so must have been a real effort to achieve this!!! FFS!!... while I am not massively precious over the A2 (I would then have two cars I'd never park anywhere then lol) I am massively annoyed at people that think this is ok to do... I had nearly taken the S3 out for the trip but decided against it which turned out to be a wise decision as I would have gone back and hunted the driver down to uses their face as a polishing pad!!
Anyhoo... thankfully no dents and with a little work with the DA and...
..does of course mean I need to find some time to do the whole car which of course was always planned...
I have started getting a slight knocking from the NSF... not sure what this could be considering most of its new lol but will try and get her on a ramp soon to have a look... I have also been formulating plans for an engine rebuild... the A2 has done 165k now and I think I am looking to be doing between 15k and 20k a year mileage wise so I'd rather factor a replacement engine build sooner rather than later...
Initial plan will be to source a relatively low mileage AMF engine which is essentially the same as the BHC... I checked part numbers in ETKA for the block, head and other components and they were all the same... the later engines had lower compression pistons which is understandable as they run more power... not worked out the turbo wheel differences as yet but AMF and BHC engines still use actuators while the ATL (90hp) use VNT turbo's... I have been in talks with my turbo guy regarding using the compressor wheel from one of the higher power PD engines... he can get these as alloy billet rather than the cast alloy typically used so they are lighter and will spool better... plan is to make a hybrid turbo of some description that can easily produce over 100hp of airflow..
Engine wise I can use the 2ltr 8v TDi pistons with a rebore that will take the normal 1,422cc to 1,476cc (1500 essentially)... I might consider changing to aftermarket rods but will see how I am doing budget wise...
I will look at replacing the pipework with suitably sized alloy and silicon and changing the intercooler for something a little more effective...
This is a little way off at the moment of course but I think the little 1.4tdi needs a little pepping up but I don't want to go silly with the tune due to it being a daily and therefore must be reliable...
And on the subject of modding this leads me to my 'other' car lol... the poor old A2 has not had much attention over the past month as I have been doing work on the S3... I have fitted uprated ARBs and polybushed just about everything... the way she drives is fantastic and was worth all the effort...
I also had a stroke of luck yesterday (had a day off)... popped over to Bill's to finish off painting the new cam cover to go on the S3 and he unfortunately had a no show for mapping... so he mapped the S3 instead
I strapped her to the dyno and plugged in the emulator and let Bill work his magic...
As is the way with my S3 she put up a little bit of a fight... my water/meth stop working due to a sticking check valve so fixed that and it became clear that I will need to fit cams to get the full potential of the turbo realised... that said I am well happy with the final figures... (of this round of modding LOL)
On the road its simply amazing... driving the A2 this morning to work felt very undramatic in comparison so best pull my finger out and sort out the parts list for the engine build lol..
The end game for the A2 realistically will be some horsepower figure over 100bhp and torque of 200+ftlbs... I'd like to keep the boost sensible but the 2ltr 8v pistons are 18.5:1 comp ratio which I believe is the same as the ATL so will see what sensible boost can achieve...
<tuffty/>
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