Am I blue? No, the new car is though...

[Rettax3]

Update on this... The little car blue, or Blau (in Deutsch) has not gotten much time or attention unfortunately. Pulling the broken studs out of the turbocharger housing and dealing with the timing-belt replacement was simply more than I felt like messing with until recently.

Now, the exhaust-pipe is all welded-up and happy, only one of the four studs refused to come out peacefully (LOTS of PB Blaster and torch-heat convinced the other three to come along quietly), but it was an absolute PITA to drill and re-tap that fourth hole -all my fault too... I screwed up, and used a Helicoil tap I didn't realize was for Helicoils, so I basically ended up with a hole one size larger than it is designed for the thread-pitch... And I didn't feel like waiting until the next day when I could get replacement Helicoils... But I got it all worked-out, and the car sounds fine... Until...

Once warmed, the engine starts hiccupping, misfiring, and running like crap. I know how utterly maladaptive the VAG engine computers are, at least on the turbo engines of the era, so I was pretty sure it was some minor vacuum-leak or pCV system defect -I've seen them run far worse from some tiny little thing like that... Sure enough, I found a split crank-case breather hose. Stupid that their ECM coding can't figure out how to adapt to issues like this, but instead start screwing with fuel-trims so wildly that the engine won't run beyond 'limp', and in some cases even ignition-timing will get so badly thrown off that severe engine damage is a serious risk.

Then there is the timing belt... I've done them on the 1.8s before, I'm thinking this is my first time in a TT chassis though -I don't remember. Absolute Pain In The @$$. Removing all the little pieces and parts is expected on one of these, but the engine mount that cannot be removed despite it blocking the belt is another thing... I will TRY to remember to snap pics when I chop the stupid piece of "scheiße" into a functionally-removable component... The rest of the belt and pump were nothing special to work on -just a stupidly-applied rubber-band holding an interference engine together...

New Timing-Belt installed and ready to go. New pump installed too -upgraded to ditch the crap-tastic plastic impeller.

And one more reason to dislike most timing-belts: Take the wheel off and work on the entire face of the engine from top and bottom... Dumb.

I found the belt HAD been changed (Gates brand -what I usually choose too), but the water-pump was original Audi -possibly replaced with OEM, possibly NOT replaced... Either way, plastic junk impeller, had already cracked and was missing pieces. Nowhere in sight and crumbly as 'Blau" cheese... The belt had stretched enough that the hydraulic tensioner wasn't even keeping up anymore. So yeah, the belt and the pump needed to go.

The car is still on the rack for the week, so I may even decide to try the transmission service while it is up there -I have a filter kit ready to go- but if it needs more than that, it looks like a manual swap is going to happen.

More to come...

[Rettax3]

Removing all the little pieces and parts is expected on one of these, but the engine mount that cannot be removed despite it blocking the belt is another thing... I will TRY to remember to snap pics when I chop the stupid piece of "scheiße" into a functionally-removable component...

This is the mount that traps the belt to the engine and must be unbolted for the replacement

!@$#! Piece! >:( Instructions say to 'shift' this mount around to get the belt out of the engine. It is supposed to stay in the way. Ahh, NO.

My Porta-Band saw-blade broke when I started cutting this, the only one I had was old and dull. The cut looks nasty, but is straight.

The kerf, or cutting width of the bade, had to be made up for -so a small sheet-metal shim was made. Before cutting, I drilled a hole through the mount, and tapped a bolt in to make an alignment 'dowel pin' that will also help support the mounting bolt against shear forces.

And there it is. In place, and now readily removeable for future belt service.

[woody90gtz]

I hope you keep it long enough for that to be worth it! haha

[Rettax3]

I hope you keep it long enough for that to be worth it! haha

I weighed the options and considered whether or not the belt will get replaced again, but I wasn't going to work around that stupid block so it was out anyway, and it was such a PITA to remove that the satisfaction of chopping the damn thing in half AND fixing a pi$$-poor design made it worth it all on it's own.

As for replacing the belt itself, if I hadn't done that when I did, the engine would likely be ruined before much longer. So keeping it at ALL required the maintenance to be done. It does look like we are keeping it though. Of. Course.

[Rettax3]

Should have known you would have that covered. AWD conversion? Is there anything you can't do?

Fifth amendment. Buuuuut, honestly on this car it would be easy, as all the parts are bolt-in, if I find a donor. Thanks for the props though, I appreciate it, it has been a tough week for me.

Hmm, long time, no update. So, here goes.
Firstly, the blue Audi has been parked for a while, as the transmission is finally dying and I no longer trust the car -I am 97% sure it is all in the valve-body, but we don't like automatics here, so fix it or swap-in a manual? Yep, swap! I have most of the parts ready, just hunting the shift-linkage on the transaxle now, and some hydraulic-lines or fittings for them for the clutch... Even the ECU can be reset for a manual transmission via my scan-tool, as VAG installs all possible versions into the one computer, and you just tell it which set of variables/tables to run off of... That was pretty cool, at least.

Secondly however, I WAS WRONG. Well, that was my one for the week... An AWD (or 'Quattro') conversion is not really in the cards for a MK1 Audi TT. These folks actually made a different trunk-pan for the FWD variation, to give their little cars and their drivers more trunk-space, about three inches worth. A lot of cutting and welding or spot-drilling at least would be necessary, and really not worth it to me. The MK2 TTs aren't a problem, and that is what I had run across during my research. Why did I research it?

Because I found a Quattro parts-car with a six-speed manual for cheap, so of course, we now have TWO MK1 Audi TTs... Ugh. The parts-car, as mentioned, is a Quattro model, meaning both AWD and a more powerful version of the 1.8T, 45 more ponies to be exact. 225 isn't bad from such a small powerplant, and from what I can tell, they are perfectly reliable at that output (so long as the maintenance is kept up on them, and the plastic junk-parts are replaced occasionally, or upgraded...). This particular one looks just like the blue one, perhaps a little rougher, but is silver under black, instead of blue-on-blue. Stock rims (I like them better myself). Some rough spots in the paint. Oh, and a totally ruined cylinder-head from a snapped T-Belt... Duh.

This is the worst angle for the car. The rest of the body and paint are much cleaner.

...Except for the front bumper-cover. It was included, just not installed. A few cracks, but nothing beyond repair.

The interior is a little rough, but some replacement parts (like door-panels) were included. The P/O did INTEND to fix the car...

Until they got into the engine, I think. They say, Never take-on someone else's abandoned project... Do I ever listen? Nah.

So, after a season's worth of months, I finally dragged the little car into the shop, and got to work.

Dem be some bent valves... Stupid interference design...

Riddle me this, Batman... If VAG can utilize a CHAIN to drive the Intake Cam off of the Exhaust Cam, why the !@$#! don't they use a frigging CHAIN to drive the Exhaust Cam in the first place to avoid breakdowns and repairs like this? GM did with the Quad-Four and 2.4L Twin Cam engines, just saying...>:(

This is pretty much how it sits right now, except that I also installed a new Gates Belt, new tensioner, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, and water-pump. That was it PITA...

I felt terrible installing the freshly overhauled Cylinder Head, new valves, every inch cleaned, fresh paint, etc in that filthy bay, but since the car came to me with a loose head (it wasn't off, but was loose), I couldn't risk washing it and getting water in the block... but it WILL get cleaned! Fresh silicone hoses may be in order too, and upgraded aluminum coolant pipe fittings, to do away with the plastic trash.

For the cost of the car, it also came with boxes of new parts. A total Cylinder Head rebuild set was included, valve-stem seals, valves, gaskets, head-bolts, pulleys, water-pump, and timing belt (which I didn't use, as the brand they had included isn't trustworthy, IMO, but the rest looks decent so I'll try them). Even a spare starter and a BRAND NEW turbo in a box was thrown in, adding value beyond what was expected. Of course, I hadn't expected the car to have been partially taken apart, somehow the listing pics had dodged around those details... But, IF the car fires up and runs as it should, it will have been one heck of a bargain, even considering all it will still need to be put back in the center-ring. But, for the moment, once I "fix" the dumb-@$$ engine-mount in this car as I did the blue TT, it will be one step closer to hopefully driving itself out of my shop-bay. And good too, because play-time for the month is almost over, and I have work to do. Besides, I have a Northstar 4.6 to rebuild (and Timesert for the cylinder heads), and swap to a five-speed... STS with a H.O. N* and a stick-shift, the way luxury sport touring should be done... Well, ONE OF the ways, at least! But that is for perhaps a different thread...