# Seb's TT build



## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Well the time has finally come to re-write this thread of mine in attempts to document progress of my work. So far, it has been a blast and a huge learning experience. I started this with all of the required passion but lacking (and lacking a lot) of the knowledge required to have done things right the first time. This was the first time I was able to actually get my hands into something Ive been craving to do for a long time, so a lot of lessons were learned, and I have many more to learn as I continue to move on! 

But enough of that and on to the good stuff! 

Back in June of *2010*, I bought myself this silver Audi TT - an early 2000 180hp quattro. 




























During the remainder of that year, the car remained stock.

In *2011*, the basic modding began, despite my continued ignorance and lack of knowledge over any of the mods I was performing. :laugh:

First came the...cleaning up, if you will. I debadged the car and got rid of the "bling" by painting my Audi badge black. 




























I was also noticing some wind creeping in at speed and whistling my patience away, so, thanks to Idwurks and his thread at the time, found that it was as easy as realigning the door resulting an nuisance free driving!



















Then, came my first "mod" - a custom 2.5" catback exhaust with only a glass back :facepalm: 

I went from the stock single out, to a terrible flowing dual tip exhaust...but first, I needed to massage my rear valance to accommodate the second tip

I took a dremel, and cut away! 










I wasnt satisfied here...




























That following weekend, I got a hold of my brothers friend and he fabricated this beauty for me.










To be fair, it didnt sound too bad


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Continuing on through mid 2011, I undertook my first "big" modification - The suspension. I unfortuntely decided to take the cheap route and bought some FK Coilovers.





































Before:









After:









Sadly, due to my lack of getting an alignment, I went through a set and a half of tires prematurely. Who needs an alignment after suspension work? 

Moving on. In June of that year, I pulled the trigger on my first set of wheels

Raderwerks Mten-80. 18x8 fronts and 18x9 rears, et35. 









Drove these in 4th all the way home after I got them mounted and balanced. went with 225/40 in the front and 235/40 in the rear.









I have 17.5mm spacers up front and 12.5mm spacers in the rear.


















After that, I went through and did some replacing of parts. Got a new side mirror as mine had split and faded, I also replaced the 11 year old coolant temp sensor 



















Later on in the year, I continue to find myself running over debris, whether it be an inanimate object, or something that used to be alive and breathing. My car happens to be a magnet for this kind of thing. Anyway, due to that, I tore off the OEM spalsh guard, so I got myself a diesel geeks panzer plate.



















While I was down there, I took the liberty to remove a few rattles...










Lastly, I needed to find myself a camber solution for the rear, so what better way to do that than with some MadMax control arms


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

On to *2012*. Not much happened throughout the year, just some typical maintenance and less than a handful of odds and ends, nothing really performance altering. 

First thing was getting hit by an old man not paying attention at an intersection. He ended up pulling out in front of me and hitting my passenger rear. Luckily, that damage wasnt bad at _all_. Just a scuff and a chip off the wheel. 



















It was all covered under my insurance and all was taken care of, including a replacement wheel. 

(the day I got it back from the body shop)


















Heres the boost gauge I installed. Its a Revo Technica, one that I personally see suites the interior of the car the best. Quite an easy install, unfortunately, no pics to show for it.



























I then replaced my parking bulb with an LED, sadly, it wasnt much brighter at all. 










That wasnt enough, so I decided to pull the lights out and bake them. I got rid of the amber and swapped over a clear corner.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

In *2013*, a decent amount of maintenance was done along with my front end decided to say hello to its first bird - A Pheasant flew across the road on my way to do some boarding. Im rather glad it hit where it did vs, lets say, the headlight or maybe even go through the windshield if it had flown a little higher. 



















A piece of the grill punctured a tiny hole in my AC condenser 




































A few months went buy and I then started to feel a misfire under load. After some diagnosing, I found out it was my coilpack in cylinder one...after I had swapped out spark plugs :laugh:
It wasnt that big of a deal as they needed replacing anyway!



















Sadly, within the year, I went over a deer carcass on the interstate. (It was and unlit stretch, it was 3am, I was on my way to work) I ended up tearing my exhaust at the flex joint. 










Once spring rolled around, I put the TT down for a little TLC. 

A few things were done...

Timing belt
Motor mounts
Replace power steering pump
replace coil packs
replace spark plugs
and tons more that I figured Id fix while I was in there.










Started off by doing a complete emissions delete 









Than replaced my really ghetto setup of a vac line to my boost gauge which was kinked in several places apparently...









replaced my super duper leaky PS pump with one nearly new that I sourced out for $20









replaced one of my cracked/leaky vac lines (this one was the crank case to manifold line)









Replaced my dip stick funnel as I most assuredly tore mine apart doing N249/SAI delete









Got a new overflow ball as this one clearly has seen better days and was full of gunk at the bottom...









Got my hands on some VF motor/tranny mounts for $100









and then it was on to replacing my serp belt and tensioner and of course the timing belt job!


















This was probably one of the most satisfying moments during the entire time the TT was down! 


















Once that went on, I took a break from the mechanical parts, and tried my hand and the art of plastic welding. Please dont rail my attempt as its mainly to just keep the poor bumper together, not trying to make this cover look like new... too much damage already done to it to do that...

Anyway, I started by removing the filler plate and the stupid license plate holder and got sanding and filling the holes.









I than got the idea to remove a chunk of already painted plastic behind the filler plate to act as 'filler' to cover up the areas that I had lost of the bumper when I hit the pheasant. 


















This is what it looked like from the inside. Very messy job on my part, but it holds very well and thats all I really cared about, besides, no one will see the inside of it!




































While the wheels were off, I decided to repalace the very low quality hubcentric rings supplied by Raderwerks and replaced them with some billet aluminium rings









This were finally starting to get together though at this point I was waiting on the mail man for some bolts for the tranny mount, oil drain plug, dipstick funnel, and PS pump reservoir...


















I also caved and ended up purchasing an 93oct tune by APR second hand for rather cheap
Final list of what was ultimately done
-Timing Belt + all components
-Serpentine Belt + tensioner 
-Replaced power steering pump
-Replaced several vacuum hoses
-Replaced manifold to crank case breather hose
-Replaced coolant overflow ball
-Replaced power steering reservoir 
-New dipstick funnel 
-VF motor/tranny mounts 
-Open air cone intake
-SAI delete
-n249 delete
-EVAP delete
-Coolant flush 
-Oil change


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Moving on to summer time, I got the itch to see what the TT would look like to have a black roof line with black mirror housings...so what better way to do that than to plastidip the bish! :laugh:



















Showing off the smoothness













































Fast forward a few months, I ended up replacing the bushings on my dog bone mount with some nicer poly ones, and I began putting together my exhaust project. 


















The exhaust would consist of a full 3" turbo back with 2 Vibrent resinators and a Relentless downpipe (that I so kindly acquired from Ben. thanks!) 


















Fast forward about a week, and the exhaust fabrication began...








































































I absolutely went from a single out, to a dual out, back to a single out :laugh:









While I was at it, I also ditched my 710n DV for a MadMax DV. Pretty sweet upgrade!


















And heres a clip of what the car currently sounds like!


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

I should also mention, that earlier that month, I had officially paid the car off, freeing up a little more play money 

Moving on though, to the good stuff! On to *2014*, which is now almost over! This year, I pulled the trigger on something big. As some of you know, I had acquired a AWD long block from a buddy in good condition. I had that in my possession for a while, but slowly began disassembling it, prepping it for the machine shop. 

Ive been hording parts for the last few years, and I have now finally obtained 95% of everything I need to complete the build. 














































And best of all... The turbo setup. I couldnt pass this setup up as it had my 3 main factors bundled into it. And that was The turbo - gtx2867r with the Tial v-band housing, the FFE tubular exhaust manifold, and solid plimbing. Hardly had to think twice...

The bulk of the parts include

GTX 2867 Turbo 
Tial .64 vband housing 
FFE Tubular 304 vband manifold 
AN oil/coolant lines 
hargett clamps 
Aluminum vbands 
Aluminum interecooler piping 
intercooler 
OEM throttle body 
Tial 50mm bov
Custom 304 downpipe 
Tial vbands and clamps for turbo
IE air filter
Unitronic Custom tune for this setup 
Deka 630 injectors 
Walbro 255 inline fuel pump 
Tial 38mm vband wastegate 
IE intake manifold













































































































Ill get much more in depth with the specs of the build, but essentially, Im looking to initially break 350whp/tq. Not exactly sure where Ill be with this setup as soon as its all put together as it comes with an plug and play 630cc tune, but Ill be taking proper measures to make sure the setup runs correctly, healthy, and smoothly before I start upgrading. Ultimately, as time moves on, Ill be squeezing every ounce I can out of the build, but again, thatll all come in time.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Now on to the most recent. Here are a few pics of where Im at visually



















A few weeks back, I finally was able to take the bottom end to the machine shop. I have bearings bolts and gaskets coming to start the assembly on the bottom end! 










Though on to some sad news... I hit a minor setback in the build progression, as my front end met another bird, yet again. On my way home from a buddies, there happened to be a dead swan and there was no where for me to go at that given moment, so I bit the bullet and went over it (going over several other things and not damaging anything, I didnt think anything of it) well, this time, my car had enough...










I initially wasnt all that upset as I was planning on using that bumper as the winter bumper, but then I noticed I bent my quarter panel and worst of all, I punctured my intercooler...


















I ended up having to unplug my MAF and drive the car off boost for the week (total of 3 days) as I had to make it to work, but I was able to retrofit a side mount off a Jetta, though they are a tad longer (13 row vs 11 row that come in the 180s) so boost feels great again!

Anyway, I have this bumper on order, and potentially a quarter panel coming my way soon!










Anyway, thats all I have for tonight. I should have more parts coming in soon, so more updates to follow! :wave::beer:


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Nice documentation. What bumper is that?


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

Sucks about your bird issues lol. Nice build thread though.


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## Dark Zero (Feb 17, 2005)

That's an interesting bumper. Can you even mount your grille to it? Seems all the tabs/holes are missing. You sure have some strange luck with your original bumper.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Thanks guys. Yes, I have a love/hate relationship with animals. I dont get it and I dont like it. 

As for the bumper, its one that I found while I was trying to source a front end after my incident. Its from a shop in the UK. I liked that it kept a rather OEM look but had a slightly different bottom portion compared to any others that Ive seen, so I pulled the trigger on it to try it out. They seemed pretty confident in their fitment, so Im hoping that holds to be true when I get it. 

Dark, you are correct. The bumper does not have any mounting holes or screws that come with it, I will be taking my time and placing my own once I get it, though I do have a different idea in mind for fitting the front grill. I may be looking at getting an ABT 2-bar styled grill (coincidentally, it does not need any mounting holes as its attached via adhesive to the bumper)


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

On board! :thumbup::thumbup:


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## [email protected] (Dec 14, 2013)

I have an abt style grill for sale


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## [email protected] (Dec 14, 2013)

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?t=7004172


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Thanks! Yes, Ive gone back and forth to see it lol

I sent you a PM


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## [email protected] (Dec 14, 2013)

I like the way the exhaust sounds. How much did the fab work cost if you don't mind me asking. 

And sick turbo kit buy the way can't wait to see that on the car. Always nice to see a 180 shaming the 225 guys


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Thanks man, I was very happy with the outcome of the sound, it was a definite plus! As far as the price, I paid $500 even for it, that was for the labor alone though. The shop owner is actually a friend of mine, so he gave me a bit of a deal compared to what hed personally charge. His welder is actually an aerospace welder, so I would think the welding is top notch, but I have zero experience in welding resulting in an untrained eye, so I couldnt tell you how nice those welds are aside from the fact that they look pretty to me 

And thanks, Im pretty excited to get this setup going! Im going to run the setup with what I currently have to see where Im at and how things are working, and over time, Ill start modifying bit by bit to get the most out of the setup. Ive considered maybe going as far as water/meth and e85 attempting to run 30+ psi out of the turbo. Only time will tell though. As this is my first engine build, I dont want to get in over my head and get too ambitious right off the bat. I want to take my time, and expand on it as I learn the setup. :thumbup:


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

:thumbup:


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## ttwsm (Feb 27, 2011)

So much win in this thread! I'm going to have to put a thread for my car together here too at some point...


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

ttwsm said:


> I'm going to have to put a thread for my car together here too at some point...


Yes, you definitely should! Its pretty cool being able to look back to see what youve done (good or bad :laugh


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Small little update - Santa came over a little early. 










I got a few parts today 

Calico main bearings and rod bearings
ARP main studs
OEM thrust washers
OEM gaskets

I should be able to start on the bottom end assembly now, though I still need to clean out my oil pan/pickup before I can toss it on and completely call the bottom end done! :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Quick update - I finally got my exhaust valves and misc goodies and the cylinder head has been dropped off at the machine shop!

I also received my front bumper and may be attempting to throw it on later today just to check out the fitment. I can already see some things that are probably going to bother me (Im a borderline perfectionist) but I was aware of likelihood and prepared for it when I ordered the bumper, we all know nothing beats OEM fitment. Ill be posting pics when I throw it on :thumbup:


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

How's coming together man? :beer:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Forty-six and 2 said:


> How's coming together man? :beer:


So far so good. I should be getting my cylinder head soon, hopefully by next week. Right now Im trying to figure out my comp ring gaps so I can toss the pistons in and finish the bottom end. Im also trying not to stress out over the amount of work Id like to have done by June. Between putting the motor together, figuring out the kinks and unknowns along the way, getting my suspension sorted out (new coilovers and possible bushings) and fitting and altering the front bumper and stuff...its starting to pile up! 

It also looks like Ill be having to go through my thread and figure out what vortex or flickr changed to screw all my pictures up.... :facepalm:


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

Sweet! I'd love to see pictures of the assembly process. I can't wait to get to my motor's build phase. Seeing yours in the works will be majorly motivating. I'm glad to hear you are getting close to having it together. 

I was wondering what was going on with the pictures. I thought it was my phone that had the problem.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Forty-six and 2 said:


> Sweet! I'd love to see pictures of the assembly process. I can't wait to get to my motor's build phase. Seeing yours in the works will be majorly motivating. I'm glad to hear you are getting close to having it together.


Haha, well more the reason to get it done! Just realized today that I have 3 months to prep for the event. Kind of freaking out a bit. Mainly over the unknowns and unforeseeable issues that go with pulling a motor out and throwing a new one in! 

Small update though! Just ordered my Defcon competition bushing set for the A-arms and plan to toss those in, along with my H&R coilovers not this weekend, but the next! :thumbup::beer:


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## Koolaid-chris (Feb 22, 2015)

Couple questions for you man. Howd that emissions removal go? Mine has been a headache since I got my car. Does the car ran good afterwards ?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Koolaid-chris said:


> Couple questions for you man. Howd that emissions removal go? Mine has been a headache since I got my car. Does the car ran good afterwards ?


It was rather straight forward and quite easy, granted I had the majority of the front end apart as I was doing the timing belt and other maintenance items while I was in there. In regards to how its running, the car runs great. Simplifies the plumbing IMO and frees up a few vacuum nipples so you get pure vacuum sources which is always a plus (if youre in need of them.)

Just keep in mind that youll be throwing a CEL for the SAI system when its removed.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

More updates! 

First of all - apologies for the thread being pretty quiet, I recently moved! 

Anyway, on to some good stuff - Ive yet to hear back from the machine shop with my cylinder head (not worried, though, I was warned it was going to take a while as they were swamped) but I should be getting it soon - if anything, within the month for sure.

while Ive been waiting on that, Ive been assembling the bottom portion. 

bearings set and ARP studs screwed in









Clearances were checked, lubed up, and torqued to 60ftlb. 









Once that happened, I moved on to the pistons and assembled those. 









I then moved on to checking end gaps on the piston rings. I had originally gone off the cheat sheet provided with the pistons, which was Bore x .00xx" (a table with standard measurements based on applications was provided for both top and bottom rings) In my case, it was 3.208 x .0050"(top) .0055"(bottom) which gave me end gaps of .016" for the top and .018" for the bottom. I had a problem though, when I measured the bottom rings prior to making any potential changes, they measured out to be .021" out of the box. :screwy:

I continued to do a little reading and found this to be common, apparently, so after even more digging around and some reading, I decided to go with another standard practice which was using .006" per inch of bore for turbocharged or supercharged engines. So my 3.208 x .006 gave me an end gap of .019" for the top and I decided to leave the bottoms at the .021" as its also a common practice to keep the second comp rings slightly larger than the tops to relieve possible pressure build up between the rings under high rpms (a whole other debate it seems)

Anyway, due to this being my first time, I accidentally over shot the top ring for piston #1 to .020" and even more so for piston #2 at a whopping .022" :banghead::banghead:









Anyway, lesson learned - replacements are on order and I finally got a hang of it and got a nice, solid, and even .019" for pistons 3 and 4. My feeler gauge took the same amount of effort to slide in for both and I was quite happy! 









My final measurements for the top ring, bottom ring and oil scraper set was .019"/.021"/.015"









Once I receive the replacement rings, I will finish clocking the rings and tossing them in! :thumbup::beer:


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

I used a set of Wiseco's on a different motor in my garage. I did the exact same thing when gaping one of the second rings. While debating on using it, I moved on to file the top ring and snapped it in half. Just as you are, I had to stare at a partially assembled motor while waiting for a single ring at to show up. 

Good update though. That will be a nice motor!


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Forty-six and 2 said:


> I used a set of Wiseco's on a different motor in my garage. I did the exact same thing when gaping one of the second rings. While debating on using it, I moved on to file the top ring and snapped it in half. Just as you are, I had to stare at a partially assembled motor while waiting for a single ring at to show up.
> 
> Good update though. That will be a nice motor!


Yeah, I was a little upset. The first ring wasnt _too_ bad. The .020" feeler gauge _barely_ went in, but it went in. The second...well, I was about to break stuff after I measured it and found out what it was at :laugh: Figured Id just order two rings (maybe an extra one or two on top of that) and redo the first one too while I was at it, get them all to a crisp .019"


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## ttwsm (Feb 27, 2011)

Keep it rolling! I'm living my mod dreams vicariously through your build! :laugh:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Everything measured, checked, clocked and torqued down. :thumbup:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

:thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

*Sparta chant style* Tonight, we will reduce that nasty understeer!

and probably make my kidneys upset. :laugh:


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Uh oh, poly bushings for the rear of the front control arm! Prepare for a lashing! :laugh:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

20v master said:


> Uh oh, poly bushings for the rear of the front control arm! Prepare for a lashing! :laugh:


:laugh:

All I know is that words on the streets is poly in that position don't fare well and love to dismount themselves if the car is pushed hard while turning. Personally, I would run the OEM-style fused rubber or the metal-encased spherical one that is cushioned with some poly (at least the metal encasing prevents the dismounting of the bushing).


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> Uh oh, poly bushings for the rear of the front control arm! Prepare for a lashing! :laugh:





Marcus_Aurelius said:


> All I know is that words on the streets is poly in that position don't fare well and love to dismount themselves if the car is pushed hard while turning.


Oh boy... Lol not exactly what I wanted to hear early in the morning on my way to get them pressed... :facepalm:

I guess I'll have to figure something out, but for now I'll be obligated to run them. I mean, they can't be any worse than running the OEM ones that were on there... They kind of just rotted off with no effort needed to pull them out. 

Thanks for the heads up, Though! :thumbup::beer:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

Keep an eye on them and plan for an alternative solution. :beer:


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> Keep an eye on them and plan for an alternative solution. :beer:


I have them as you know Max, and there's a nice tight 180* super banked elevation change turn on the mountain roads near my house. I'm not super low by any means, but they don't pop out on my setup after taking that turn as hard as I can in both directions at least twice a week. Seb, yes, I run them too, just as I did in my Mk4, and never had an issue there either. They don't get ground away from dirt and grit that gets trapped in the grease, and they don't squeak either, so I'm a little skeptical of all the claims I've read over the years since they don't match my personal experience. I couldn't get them to press in cleanly on the TT though, and had to trim the smaller lip to get them in, but I was using a cheap press, so may have contributed.


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## All_Euro (Jul 20, 2008)

Just read through this - awesome thread Seb... except you need to stop hurting all those dead animals


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

Yeah, I know and you're part of the lucky ones that never had a problem with them. I have no personal experience, so I'm just going by what I've seen reported over the years. The amount of failure reported on them however does not inspire confidence. BTW, they come out in full droop not from compression, get that inside wheel unloaded in a turn and they can slide out since there no pressed metal encasing to provide friction to physically prevent that from happening.

There was one guy in a thread that showed the poly bushing almost dismounting itself while the car was completely unloaded on a lift. Come to think of it, the amount of droop travel available in your front struts (brand dependent) may be the reason some people have them stay, while others have no such luck. For example, I know that the Bilstein inverted struts (used in the PSS and H&R's) have a lot less droop travel than say the factory struts. Therefore, there might be something with the components used in the car.


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> For example, I know that the Bilstein inverted struts (used in the PSS and H&R's) have a lot less droop travel than say the factory struts. Therefore, there might be something with the components used in the car.


PSS on the daily and RSS on the project....in da house!!!! :thumbup: I had KW's on my MK4, how are they in relation?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

All_Euro said:


> Just read through this - awesome thread Seb... except you need to stop hurting all those dead animals


Haha thanks man. yeah, I dont get it... And I don't like it.

As far as the rearward bushings go, the decision was unfortunately made for me. As we were getting the second one in, the smaller lip tore off, so I had him order me OEM bushings and should have those within the hour, so in the end, I'll have defcons up front and oem in the rear.


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Like I said, I trimmed that lip off and have no issues. I'd say run it since you have it and now you'll have a backup ready to go if you need it.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> Like I said, I trimmed that lip off and have no issues. I'd say run it since you have it and now you'll have a backup ready to go if you need it.


Ill go grab it quick and edit with a pic - I feel too much may have been torn off to run safely? 

**Edit for pics:


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## ttwsm (Feb 27, 2011)

Tempes_TT said:


> As far as the rearward bushings go, the decision was unfortunately made for me. As we were getting the second one in, the smaller lip tore off, so I had him order me OEM bushings and should have those within the hour, so in the end, I'll have defcons up front and oem in the rear.


Getting this done at Nur Technik?


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## MCPaudiTT (Nov 26, 2006)

FYI, PowerFlex has done a MUCH better redesign that incorporates a spherical bearing in a urethane core that is all wrapped in a metal jacket. Spherical bearing is a very tight piece that will stand up to flex in ANY direction. The urethane core isolates the bearing from the big shocks that normally wear out the bearing leading to failure, and the metal jacket provides an easy, and stable, press-fit assembly (even better than OEM).

Best of all world's, IMO. They are a little spendy at $193 a pair (my price). If you want a set let me know. The part number is PFF85-414.


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

Mike, I wouldn't call the encased spherical rearward solution a redesign because it's not replacing/superseeding the original design that is prone to failure. It is more of their motorsports-oriented solution (they still have and sell the all-poly versions in two different durometers).

I like the encased spherical solution and design, but the guys looking to track in sanctioned racing classes might have legality issues with it (I used to not be able to use that design in street based classes, but can use it now in Prepared). Good solution IMO if the application allows it!


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Well, Ive finally got everything done, buttoned up and aligned. Im not sure what you old folk are always crying about with these poly bushings, but I absolutely love the ride!! Maybe Ill get grumpy about it as I age a little more :laugh:

Anyway, this was the worst job Ive tackled on the TT thus far - Between dealing with seized hardware, losing my spindle spreader bit, having communication issues with a NAPA machine shop and more, it was set back after set back. It probably didnt help that it was also cold out most of the nights I was working on it, but it was nothing a torch and a little extra elbow grease couldnt handle. But enough, on to the job and some pics! :thumbup:

First thing was first, I got home from work Friday night and drove right into the garage. Jacked the car up and took the control arms right off - first order of business, was the Defcon inserts and bushings. I figured Id take the time to clean up and remove what I could of the old bushings. The minute I pulled them out, I knew my rearward bushings were done. So much so, that they honestly fell out... 

All that remain, was the metal sleeve, which I made quick work of with a little love from the Dremel.



















I attempted to remove the leading bush, but there was no possible way for me to do it without the proper tools, so I gave up - I then met with a friend and shop owner of mine, who was also unable to remove them with _his_ press, so then he refered me to a machine shop he takes his work to. During this time, they ended up holding on to my arms for a few days...

While that was going on, I decided to go back home to work on the TT and get the rears done while the control arms were away. I ended up needing to get new rear end links as the bolt seized to the metal sleeve and pulled the entire bush out while I was pulling the bolt... :banghead::facepalm:










After that affair, I was able to get things cleaned up in the rear and back down on the ground with new end links. 



















after the miscommunication, I was able to get back with the Defcon inserts installed after a few days. I then returned to my friends shop and had them install the poly rears - In regards to the potential issue of them poping out, I bought and will hold on to an OEM set of rearward bushings just in case I end up needing them, while I havent done any extreme cornering of any sort, I feel nor fear any issues - I will keep a close eye on them though.










Once the control arms were obtained, I moved on to installing them and putting them in place so it would make a better support for the spindle assembly while I removed the coils (vs jack stands) 

This was a bit of a struggle as I had to use a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter in place of my spindle spreader tool as I lost it. Unfortunately, the passanger side put up a strong fight as that coil blew and spewed gunk everywhere and made its way down between the tube and spindle... regardless, after some time, it finally came out. 



















Another set of strut mount bushings going in the garbage. These polys certainly feel nice though! 










aaaaaaand finally in. 










Sadly, the FK supplied end links for the fronts were a bit too short and cause my sway bar to meet my axle, either way, they were trash and needed to be replaced anyway. For the moment, though, I simply removed them and had a free loader sway bar until the new ones came in. 




























Once it was all said and done, I could finally say good bye to all this garbage (minus the bilstein shocks, those are still quite good ) 










Lastly, this is where the TT stands (pun intended)

Front:









Rear:









I feel the fronts could probably go up a tad bit more, too. 

All that I have left now, is losing the stancy-pants, lead weight, staggared setup with stretched tires and go with a square setup with adequate rubber 

OH! And in the midst of that weekend, my best friend and I drove 15hrs round trip to pick up his new to him car (one that hes wanted forever and finally decided to pull the trigger on, after having 20+ different mistresses in the last 4 years...)










Thats all for now!:wave::beer:


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## velocitychris (Jul 16, 2011)

Great to read this all collected. I've been meaning to sit down and get my 2 years of build thread together in a similar fashion so this is good inspiration. Keep it coming!


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Dumped my staggered Raderwerks (18x8/9) and tossed on my buddies VMRs 18x8.5s all around. Theyre currently running 225/40s (two different tires front and back :laugh but will wrap some 245/40s on them when I burn through these.

sadly, these are much lighter than the Raderwerks lol


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

Looks good Seb! That ride height should be fine to hit the track a couple times. If your doing heavy track use with sticky rubber you might want to raise it up a little more (.375" or so) to give you a little more clearance. 

:beer:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

DeckManDubs said:


> Looks good Seb! That ride height should be fine to hit the track a couple times. If your doing heavy track use with sticky rubber you might want to raise it up a little more (.375" or so) to give you a little more clearance.
> 
> :beer:


Thanks Noah! :thumbup:

I was just talking to my buddy about that, actually, being that I want to throw 245s on this new set - I felt I was cutting it close as is, even more so with more rubber for travel clearance. Ill definitely keep that in mind and play with it as I continue to move forward :beer:


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

If you can find someone local with scales, corner balancing goes a huge way to making these cars remain neutral and minimize the lift throttle oversteer.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

I was in need of a little motivation today. Lots of work still yet to be done. :beer:


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## jsmith2015 (Mar 7, 2015)

Looking good. Nice to see you got that grill fitting in good


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

jsmith2015 said:


> Looking good. Nice to see you got that grill fitting in good


Thanks man! 

Anyway, small update unrelated to the mechanics of the build! This last weekend, boredom and curiosity got the best of me, so I wrote off a 3ft x 5ft sheet of vinyl (I bought 5ft x 50ft) to mess about with it a little and get a feel for the process of wrapping. Its majorly creased in two areas, but thats due to not quite caring as it was just a test run. Im feeling quite confident and have access to a proper heat gun and a few extra set of hands, as those will definitely be needed! I cant wait! :thumbup::beer:


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Bumper looks good. :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> Bumper looks good. :thumbup:


Thanks man! Im getting quite impatient and want to toss it on now, but due to the intercooler off a Jetta, Im unable to yet. The bumper will need some minor adjustments, but we'll see how much itll actually need once I do a final test fit when I take a min to remove the intercooler and realign the passenger side quarter panel.


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Tempes_TT said:


> but due to the intercooler off a Jetta, Im unable to yet.


I'm assuming you mean the sidemount is interfering with the bumper? I think the bigger ones came on the GTI's, not the Jetta's. I never compared to my 180Q though as I went to dual's when I did the 225 conversion.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> I'm assuming you mean the sidemount is interfering with the bumper? I think the bigger ones came on the GTI's, not the Jetta's. I never compared to my 180Q though as I went to dual's when I did the 225 conversion.


Yeah, after I cracked mine, I found one for really cheap off ebay - they claimed it was off a Jetta, so thats what Ive been basing it off of, I didnt care, I just needed an intercooler without cracks and holes in it :laugh:

But yes, because of its size, I had to remove the support bracket off the already bent quarter panel - so thats sticking out some, and then the bumper also doesnt make it all the way around for the same reason.


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## FatAce (Jan 30, 2012)

*Intercooler*

Hey bud,

I rarely creep on these forums anymore, but remind me to check my basement for a stock 180q intercooler when I get home. I think i have it lying around. If that's the case, pay for shipping and it's yours. I'm located right outside of Philadelphia.

Regards,

Mike


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

FatAce said:


> Hey bud,
> 
> I rarely creep on these forums anymore, but remind me to check my basement for a stock 180q intercooler when I get home. I think i have it lying around. If that's the case, pay for shipping and it's yours. I'm located right outside of Philadelphia.
> 
> ...


If you don't have one, I do, and the same offer stands.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

FatAce said:


> Hey bud,
> 
> I rarely creep on these forums anymore, but remind me to check my basement for a stock 180q intercooler when I get home. I think i have it lying around. If that's the case, pay for shipping and it's yours. I'm located right outside of Philadelphia.
> 
> ...





20v master said:


> If you don't have one, I do, and the same offer stands.


haha you guys are awesome, Ill start shooting PMs :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

So...This happened. :laugh:




























A few coats of high temp header/engine primer and blue dupli-color engine enamel. I simply love it.


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Ford blue!?!?!?:laugh:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> Ford blue!?!?!?:laugh:


Yessir! lol :laugh:


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## SLiCrado (Feb 21, 2014)

All I got out of this is that you hit alot of $hit.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

SLiCrado said:


> All I got out of this is that you hit alot of $hit.


Something like that... lol.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Small update:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

So Ive been busy the last few days. Ill let the pics do most of the talking though. Im too tired to formulate proper sentences right now.

Earlier last week, I decided to start throwing things together. 
























































I ended the week with a quick mock-up just to get my motivation going. 










:thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Come Friday night, I came straight home and started tearing apart. 



















As of this morning through the afternoon. Motor was finally out. 




























I then removed and mocked the valve cover to check the fitment with the inlet of the turbo. Quick marks were made to cut out. 





































Then came the timing. Old screw driver trick




























The night ended with the removal of the transmission. That this was a pain. Tomorrow I will try to finalize as much as I can, and attempt to at least drop the motor in by the end of the night. We will see. A lot of progress was made, though there is still plenty left to do!

Quick to-do list, outside of the motor iteself

New gauges (boost/AFR)
Wideband wiring harness
Battery relocation 

anyway, Im exhausted. :thumbup:


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## jsmith2015 (Mar 7, 2015)

Looking good. Going to be monster when its done


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

Well done :thumbup:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

:thumbup::thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

jsmith2015 said:


> Looking good. Going to be monster when its done





DeckManDubs said:


> Well done :thumbup:





Marcus_Aurelius said:


> :thumbup::thumbup:


Thanks guys. This has been an extremely fun and quite the learning experience! Im enjoying every bit of it. 

On to some more updates. Did some more taking apart and cleaning the parts that I was going to be transferring over!



















I decided to reuse the oilpan off my stock block. 1, it was cleaner, 2 it has the oil level senor. Same with the oil pick up tube.



















Off the stock block (Now using this one)









The one that came with the now built block


















after a good cleaning...


















Oil cooler/filter housing cleaned up and installed along with a new thermostat.


















I was really happy about this piece too!









Also, the PO must have had the clutch replaced, because theres still a lot of meat on these bones for 200k (the guy had receipts and paper work for the life of the car up until I got it.










I also knew DM flywheels were heavy, but man...its a whole other thing to read and another to actually hold :laugh::laugh:









Anyway, my plans for tomorrow after work, is to pull a switch-a-roo with the two blocks. The built one will be on the hoist and the stock block will go on the engine stand. Then my plans are to slap the flywheel and clutch on and bolt the trans up. :thumbup::beer:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

Seb, now would be a good time to add an oil cooler sandwich plate IMO. You'll be glad you did it now rather than when you realize it's a must and you already have the engine mounted. :beer:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> Seb, now would be a good time to add an oil cooler sandwich plate IMO. You'll be glad you did it now rather than when you realize it's a must and you already have the engine mounted. :beer:


Not a bad idea! Any recommendations? Id do a little looking around myself, but currently at work! :laugh:


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## SteveAngry (Jun 20, 2004)

A couple of things:

Nice work!

How are the poly strut mounts?

You going to sell that downpipe?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

SteveAngry said:


> A couple of things:
> 
> Nice work!
> 
> ...


Thanks man! Im exhausted, but determined to finish by the end of the week or so! 

secondly, I personally dont mind them at all. Ive always read that people hate it for daily driving etc etc, but maybe because I wasnt expecting them to ride like pillows (basically just having an understanding of what their purpose was) I was more than ok with the ride. Granted Im still quite young and dont feel like Im falling apart just yet! :laugh:

Thirdly, Ive surly considered it, as long as youd be ok with just the first section of it (the part still attached to the motor, seen in the pics). I may have modified the second section of it, tailored into the rest of my exhaust system, so selling that is out of the question.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Small update. I was able to pull off the switch-a-roo and get the flywheel/clutch and trans bolted up tonight. I also swapped and connected a few more coolant/oil lines and the like over - Ill also need to order an after run coolant pump along with any possible lines and whatever else Ill need to make it work. The 180q doesnt have it. (the coolant return line I have for the turbo calls for it) 




























I also spoke with Max, briefly, and went ahead and ordered up my sandwich plate oil cooler setup, that I will be running in conjunction with the OEM cooler/heat exchange. 

Anyway, Im thinking that for tomorrow, Ill give my body a bit of a rest and work on the electrical portion of the project. New digital boost gauge, AFR gauge, and my battery relocation need a home and will be tomorrows task! :beer::thumbup:


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## MCPaudiTT (Nov 26, 2006)

Tempes_TT said:


> I also spoke with Max, briefly, and went ahead and ordered up my sandwich plate oil cooler setup, that I will be running in conjunction with the OEM cooler/heat exchange.


Curious on the decision to retain the OEM heat exchanger... Just so the oil will come up temp faster? I know most people plug off the OEM lines and go 100% to the remote cooler, which eliminates a few potential failure points in the system (the heat exchanger itself being a major one).


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

MCPaudiTT said:


> Curious on the decision to retain the OEM heat exchanger... Just so the oil will come up temp faster? I know most people plug off the OEM lines and go 100% to the remote cooler, which eliminates a few potential failure points in the system (the heat exchanger itself being a major one).


Yes, as I dont have any plans of retiring it from daily duties. 

What about it makes it a major failure point? I wont claim that Ive personally performed tests of any kind to obtain concrete information, but based on the research Ive done, it not only does it warm up sooner, but it also helps regulate temperatures, does it not? The sandwich plate I purchased is also thermostatically controlled and will run "as needed" 

I plan to get some seat time and start doing autox/road racing once things settle down, so Im pretty sure the OEM heat exchanger wont cut it, especially with running a larger turbo setup. :thumbup:


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## MCPaudiTT (Nov 26, 2006)

Tempes_TT said:


> What about it makes it a major failure point?


In no way major, but it is an oil/water interface that can lead to issues if/when the separation of those systems fails. That said, not sure I have ever heard of an actual failure on that part either, so it could be more theoretical than practical... Plus the extra lines can be removed and plugged, leaving fewer connections overall if you eliminate it. 

If the sandwich plate is temp controlled, I doubt the warm up time will be radically impacted by removing the warm water from the oil loop, and removing the HOT oil from the coolant system will definitely improve the ability of the radiator to do it's job (an issue that is often reported, especially on hot days and with an FMIC). As long as you wait the required minute or so for the oil to come up to temperature before "stomping on it" (adding an oil temp sensor would be a GREAT idea, btw), then I don't see any reason to keep the OEM part in there... That said, it isn't "stupid" to leave it in place either, just an option to consider the pro's and con's for your specific situation and the style of driving you have.


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

MCPaudiTT said:


> In no way major, but it is an oil/water interface that can lead to issues if/when the separation of those systems fails. That said, not sure I have ever heard of an actual failure on that part either, so it could be more theoretical than practical... Plus the extra lines can be removed and plugged, leaving fewer connections overall if you eliminate it. If the sandwich plate is temp controlled, I doubt the warm up time will be radically impacted by removing the warm water from the oil loop, and removing the HOT oil from the coolant system will definitely improve the ability of the radiator to do it's job (an issue that is often reported, especially on hot days and with an FMIC). As long as you wait the required minute or so for the oil to come up to temperature before "stomping on it" (adding an oil temp sensor would be a GREAT idea, btw), then I don't see any reason to keep the OEM part in there... That said, it isn't "stupid" to leave it in place either, just an option to consider the pro's and con's for your specific situation and the style of driving you have.


The one thing missing is that the thermostatic plates don't fully bypass the oil flow to the exchanger core when in the "closed" position. They really only restricts a certain percentage until the selected temperature/pressure is reached, then it fully opens oil flow. If you're in a cold environment, you WILL struggle to get, and more importantly, keep oil temperature in good operating range (especially if casually driving). 

The oil/heat exchange is a clever and very efficient way of going about it -- simply use the coolant which generally gets and stay hot to regulate the oil temp. Without the factory exchanger and divorcing the two systems, you can easily become faced with two challenges: 

1) Getting into satisfactory oil temp quickly enough in colder ambient temp

2) Properly selecting the right components to tailor to the need and operations of the specific setup (too efficient and the oil could become cold while running at low loads since the regulating function is lost). Turbo cars need good oil cooling at full-load, but the low-load control necessity of regular engines is also present with forced inducted motors. 

I looked into it extensively, and even with the dedicated track use of mine, I opted to retain the oil/coolant exchange for the reasons discussed. There is a thread in the 1.8t technical with a good DIY, and where a couple knowledgeable members talked about it.

Read post #10 and #12 in the first page
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6151757-1.8T-External-Oil-Cooler-DIY


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

opcorn: Loving this build. That blue is mesmerizing! lol



Do you know of a good inline thermostat Max?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Forty-six and 2 said:


> opcorn: Loving this build. That blue is mesmerizing! lol


Thanks man! Means a lot! I thought it was fitting as blue is my favorite color. I was never planning on painting anything, but while I was out grabbing some misc things, I noticed the blue engine enamel and I though it would be something fun to do! I love how it turned out! :laugh:

I also had to take a day off from working on the TT. Ive gone ham on it since last Wednesday and Ive been sleep deprived since then as well. Working my full time job and then coming home to be up until 3-4am working on the car was starting to take a bit of a toll on me! :screwy:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Small, and slightly disappointing update. Called Unitronic today, as I had ordered a wideband wiring harness last week and have yet to see it. I had completely spaced out that SoWo had just finished, so orders and stuff didnt really get processed until today as they were just getting back into business. Unfortunately for me, I will not be banking on getting it by this Friday as it does not ship out until tomorrow. My plans are to have the car done and ready to start diagnosing any possible kinks and codes it may throw at me by next week, if I do not receive the harness on Friday. If I do get it Friday, I hope to be turning the key by the weekend. :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Made a little more progress tonight. Just about finished installing all the coolant/oil lines. Spent a little time rethinking a few routes and coming up with solutions that Ill be taking care of once everything is bolted up. I threw the downpipe on now, and while itll be a little more challenging dropping the motor in, it would prove to be ever _more_ challenging trying to clamp the wastegate down. It was tough enough with everything out of the way. It basically came down to picking the lesser of two poisons :laugh:










I also took apart my old boost gauge and a second vent to place my AFR gauge in. Ill be using both center vent locations for those two primary gauges. :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Small update:

TTs running  

Idles a little rough, so Im in the works of finding that out. scanning the car and seeing what codes I throw (I also have to order a new narrowband o2 sensor since it was stripped, but I need to figure out if it plugs into the wideband conversion harness instead of the stock connector under the car or what - still confused about that) 

Other than that, the motor feels excellent and AFRs are on point when driving and under load. 

Ill update the thread once I get home tonight, plenty of pics to upload and a start up video! :thumbup:


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## hunTTsvegas (Aug 27, 2012)

Tempes_TT said:


> Small update:
> 
> TTs running
> 
> ...


That's exciting! Did you not get a wideband O2 sensor? The harness should be mating the stock narrowband connector to the connector on the new wideband O2, as far as I understand it.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

hunTTsvegas said:


> That's exciting! Did you not get a wideband O2 sensor? The harness should be mating the stock narrowband connector to the connector on the new wideband O2, as far as I understand it.


I do have an wideband o2. I would have thought that the narrowband o2s would become obsolete with the wideband conversion, and I too thought that the connector for the primary o2 went from the bottom of the car to the wideband harness, but it does not as it did not go in. 

Basically, I ended up with 4 o2 sensors. Two wideband - 1 for the ECU, one for my AFR gauge (it came with one) and factory two narrowband, being the primary (which Im waiting for an exchange from ECS as they sent me the wrong one) and secondary.

My other issue, is that my radiator fan relay has gone nuts. It continuously clicks on and off and Im in the process of trying to figure out why. I havent messed with it, other than relocating it to its side and slightly out of the way for the intercooler piping.


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Something isn't making sense. The wideband sensor should plug into your conversion harness, which would plug into the old narrow band connector on the vehicle harness, and add a wire to the existing vehicle harness to supply to the ECU. You don't need the old narrow band sensor as the ECU isn't reading it. The secondary sensor is just for cat efficiency monitoring and you should have reused the OEM sencondary sensor. Your wideband gauge would be your 3rd sensor, so not sure why or how you have four in the car.


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## hunTTsvegas (Aug 27, 2012)

Possible the wideband 02 is from an incompatible vehicle? I think he's saying the fourth is an incorrect one that he's trying to swap back to ECS for a correct one. If I recall, radiator fan relays were finicky so that one doesn't surprise me much. Still, this O2 issue has me concerned my unit tonic harness won't work, if I ever get the rest of the parts from GTS that is..


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

hunTTsvegas said:


> Possible the wideband 02 is from an incompatible vehicle? I think he's saying the fourth is an incorrect one that he's trying to swap back to ECS for a correct one. If I recall, radiator fan relays were finicky so that one doesn't surprise me much. Still, this O2 issue has me concerned my unit tonic harness won't work, if I ever get the rest of the parts from GTS that is..


Unitronic harness works fine, I have it on two of my cars.


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> Something isn't making sense. The wideband sensor should plug into your conversion harness, which would plug into the old narrow band connector on the vehicle harness, and add a wire to the existing vehicle harness to supply to the ECU. You don't need the old narrow band sensor as the ECU isn't reading it. The secondary sensor is just for cat efficiency monitoring and you should have reused the OEM sencondary sensor. Your wideband gauge would be your 3rd sensor, so not sure why or how you have four in the car.


Ok, so the primary connection should indeed be taken up to the conversion harness? Thats what I originally thought and tried, but for whatever reason, while it did slid in about half way, it would not fully seat. Granted, it was super late and I was tired, so maybe I was in complete zombie mode. Ill try that again tomorrow when I get home from work! 

What I _*currently*_ have plugged into the car, is my wideband o2 for the ECU, wideband o2 for my gauge, and post cat (secondary) o2 sensor. 

What I _*havent*_ done, is connect the factory connector from the primary o2, which is still located underneath the car, to the wideband conversion harness located up by the ECU.


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Whatever your calling "primary" is making your description confusing. The new installed wideband sensor you installed with the conversion is the primary. The post cat is the secondary. There is no other sensor, other than your gauge sensor. Your description says you are currently using the wideband sensor and the ECU is reading it, then says you haven't even connected the OEM harness to a sensor, aka ECU is reading nothing. If you have connections on the conversion harness not plugged in, then the ECU isn't heading anything!


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> Whatever your calling "primary" is making your description confusing. The new installed wideband sensor you installed with the conversion is the primary. The post cat is the secondary. There is no other sensor, other than your gauge sensor. Your description says you are currently using the wideband sensor and the ECU is reading it, then says you haven't even connected the OEM harness to a sensor, aka ECU is reading nothing. If you have connections on the conversion harness not plugged in, then the ECU isn't heading anything!


Sorry, I was still referring to the two factory narrowband sensors as "primary" and "secondary." I was finally able to hook them up though (old narrowband connector to the wideband conversion harness) The problem I was having was that the purple plastic tab inside the Unitronic harness was raised and not allowing the connector fully seat - I took a pick, pushed it down into place and got it installed! :beer::thumbup:


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

:beer:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Before I get to the start up video, Ill finish up the build process with a little wiring. So due to the fact that I had a 180q setup (pass side TB and all) I had to figure out a way to get all my connectors to their sensors to mate them. I decided to undo the wiring looms and electric tape and start moving things around. I didnt take a ton of pics cause I got into the zone and just kept working. 



















I then had to order a small frame MAP sensor, as my stock one was a large frame :banghead:










My only casualty though, was that I broke the end on my clutch master. One thing I was not aware of though, was that there must have been a revision of some kind between my old, now broken one, and the new ones, because the pedal travel is noticeably shorter...not a _*huge*_ issue, until I found out that the clutch pedal pos sensor has a plunger of equal length... meaning that I had to order a new one aswell (as the plungers on the newer/current sensors are also noticeably longer) since the plunger on my current stock sensor no longer makes contact with the pedal. Yay for up-revs during casual shifts... :facepalm: (still waiting for the mail man)










I then tidied up and got the front end mostly installed. 


















Then I moved on to the inside and wiring my gauges. I didnt get a ton here either cause I just wanted to get work done. I went with Prosport Evo boost gauge and AFR gauge. Honestly, I love these. 



























crappy phone pic









Then came the Unitronic wideband conversion harness, which turned out to be a relatively simple and straight forward mod/install. Ultimately just adding pins 52 and 71 on the large ECU connector, and adding pin 115 on the small connector for non-VVT builds like my own.



























sadly, not many more pics were taken as I was eager to get this wrapped up and on to the break-in/kink busting stage. But without further ado...






:beer::thumbup::wave:


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## ramone23456 (Dec 29, 2009)

*Congrats!*

Hope to be in a similar position soon myself.:thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

So Ive been MIA for a bit going ham on some maintenance and kink smashing since I was trying to make my first event this past weekend, that I, unfortunately, did not make. 

I was able to get my CEL taken care of, I also cracked my ABS control module open and soldered the two leads for the connector to the pump, as those were no longer making contact, and replaced my rear right ABS sensor as it was giving me issues intermittently. It feels great having a fully functioning AWD system again as I was having zero problems breaking loose in first and second. So far, the motor has been absolutely great and Im just shy of putting 1k miles on it. I do believe I either have a head gasket leak, _*or*_ my cam seal might be leaking a bit (my bet is on the cam seal), I havent had a chance to fully diagnose just yet. Ive already replaced my valve cover gasket and took care of some leaky corners by adding a little more RTV than I did last time. 

On to my main two issues that held me back from making it (though I wouldnt have passed tech with the leak anyway). I found out my fan relay completely took a dump on me and left me without cooling fans and also, to my knowledge at the time, I had thought that one of my ball joints had gone to crap and given out. 

On our way up, we got held up in a traffic jam and realized that the temp needle started to climb with no activation of the fans, as we sat there for about a half hour quite literally inching forward (went through about two sets of lights without ever crossing the intersection, luckily we were close enough to that intersection to ride the shoulder and get off to drop the car off at my buddies grandparents for the weekend as they lived near by. Unfortunately, I ended up boiling a bit of coolant, but aside from that, no additional issues. When I got home, I put the car up in the air, to make sure nothing cracked and nothing else was leaking due to the excessive heat and to also check out what ball joint gave out.....well, everything was good and no leaks were found, *but* I found out that the ball joint was actually fine, but the nuts had completely come loose... :banghead::banghead::banghead: Im typically not this kind of guy, but Ill be writing my _"review"_ on some local forums of the only shop Ive let do alignment work as I had just had one done by them a few weeks before. Ive had nothing but issues with them, but I havent had much of a choice as I dont have any other local places to take my car to that will touch it. 

Anyway, Ill be going through and replacing some things, try to get my oil leak sorted out and go through and find out what else needs replacing on this 15 year old machine! Ill be checking my drive shaft to the rear diff, too, since Im hearing a clunk every now and then between the seats when I give it a little... the bushing may be on its way out (now that its actually transferring torque back there).


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

IC piping clamp details? And you HAVE to upgrade that throttle body. :beer:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

20v master said:


> IC piping clamp details? And you HAVE to upgrade that throttle body. :beer:


Haha, for sure! All in due time, though, all in due time! :thumbup: 

The clamps are 2 piece Hargett QDC (Quick Disconnect Couplings). The couplers are composed of a dual o-ring sealed male side and a female side with a grove for the locking ring to lock the two in place once mated. Its has enough movement to not break anything, but solid enough to never have to worry about popping a boost pipe off due to too much pressure. :thumbup:


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Okay, so like a Wiggins clamp but a little less expensive. :thumbup:


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## velocitychris (Jul 16, 2011)

Tempes_TT said:


> I was really happy about this piece too!


This looks nice! Where did you pick this up? I'm in the middle of my rebuild and this could really work for me.
Thanks


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## velocitychris (Jul 16, 2011)

Tempes_TT said:


> I also spoke with Max, briefly, and went ahead and ordered up my sandwich plate oil cooler setup, that I will be running in conjunction with the OEM cooler/heat exchange.


...and also for this, where did you get the sandwich plate? Same setup as in Max's link a little later?


Marcus_Aurelius said:


> I looked into it extensively, and even with the dedicated track use of mine, I opted to retain the oil/coolant exchange for the reasons discussed. There is a thread in the 1.8t technical with a good DIY, and where a couple knowledgeable members talked about it.
> Read post #10 and #12 in the first page
> http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6151757-1.8T-External-Oil-Cooler-DIY


Thanks for the help. BTW - the photos look fantastic. I am guessing you are using a DSLR since you consistently have nice DoF and a more standard lens.

Cheers
Chris


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

velocitychris said:


> This looks nice! Where did you pick this up? I'm in the middle of my rebuild and this could really work for me.
> Thanks


Their website is blocked for me here at work, but I got it from Gruvenparts. Its a really nice piece! 



velocitychris said:


> ...and also for this, where did you get the sandwich plate? Same setup as in Max's link a little later?


The sandwich plate, I got from TheDubnutz, I went with the 4cyl 24 plate kit. When I received my kit, I got straight -10an fittings instead of the 90* ones that are pictured. 

And also thanks about the pics, Im shooting with a 35mm Prime lens on a D3200. Such a simple lens, absolutely love shooting with it. :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

I thought Id also share my successful attempt to fix my ABS control module. This is the *DIY* I followed. 

Essentially what happens, is the two leads on the PCB that are used to connect the CM to the pump connector corrodes/wears off, thus no longer making contact between the two. Biggest problem with this, is that it disables the Haldex with it. 

Symptoms are generally having an intermittent ABS light, slowly making a more frequent appearance until it stays on permanently - you will also have this code when you scan it.

:01276 - ABS Hydraulic Pump (V64)
16-00 - Signal Outside Specifications

****DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE VCDS**** - you will need to run the ABS pump through the bleeding process as you _*will*_ get air in the system, which can only be done properly with VCDS. 

I degreased/cleaned and removed the entire assembly from the support bracket in the engine bay. Then, using an e5 socket, I removed the 4 screws to part the pump from the control module. I placed a paper towel over all the brake line ports, taped it and placed it in a zip lock bag to keep any debris from entering the pump while I worked on the module. (you can get a maintenance kit from VW/Audi that actually has plugs to place in the pump - refer to the linked DIY for more info)










I then took a dremel to part the module, as I could not find a way to take it apart without doing so.










Here you can see the two leads worn away.










Put my amateur soldering skills to good use and soldered the leads back to former glory (No, using a mountain of solder will not increase the strength - found that out after the fact :laugh










I then plastic welded the CM back together with a generous amount, making sure it was water tight once again.



















aaaaand all in and buttoned up. 










Everything is now in working order. Its nice to have my ABS and Haldex working properly again. :beer::thumbup:

Again, if youd like a more in depth explanation, refer to the link DIY. I didnt want to reiterate an already elaborate DIY.

While I was at it, I also took the liberty to swap out the right rear ABS sensor as this one has been flaky for the last couple years.


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## velocitychris (Jul 16, 2011)

Tempes_TT said:


> Their website is blocked for me here at work, but I got it from Gruvenparts. Its a really nice piece!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice! Thanks for the info. It helps me a lot. :beer:


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## chaldowhiteboy (Jun 14, 2010)

wow it must feel nice not having that annoying abs light on the dash anymore! sounds like i need to do this because i am having the same symptoms. nice job!


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

chaldowhiteboy said:


> wow it must feel nice not having that annoying abs light on the dash anymore! sounds like i need to do this because i am having the same symptoms. nice job!


Thanks man, it was defiantly rewarding being able to fix such an annoying, and often expensive piece. 










Took this about two weeks ago and still error free. :thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Did a little maintenance today. While underneath the car the other day, I noticed a bit of rubber missing from the dogbone mount. After further inspection, I realized the ECS bushing was completely torn apart. Ordered up a Powerflex black series poly bushing and slapped'er on! 














































:beer::thumbup:


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Did some more maintenance this weekend. Ive had a mysterious oil leak, that I, for the life of me, could not find. As a result, I decided to replace both cam shaft and head gasket. 

Turns out, when I pressed my cam shaft seals in, I didnt realize that the inside lips had folded over, so oil would seep out under high pressure. The oil would drip down the cylinder head, around the back edge, and would work its way over to the trans side, making my leak almost impossible to figure out (also made it look like a head gasket leak). 

Anyway, while everything was apart, I thought Id take the time to take a look at how things were doing on the inside, heat wrap my exhaust manifold and downpipe, respray a few things. :thumbup:

Anway, on to the pics. 























































Clearly not done with the front bumper, as I havent had the time to get back at it. I still need to finish the grill and finish wrapping the bottom half of the bumper. Anyway, My main focus right now, is maintaining everything and working out the kinks. I still have a slightly inconsistent idle, so Ill have to find out whats causing it. Ive checked and sorted my vacuum leaks, so Im moving on to the plugs next. Outside of that, the AFRs are in check and the car drives and pulls perfectly! :beer::thumbup:


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

Looks good man. And re: dogbone, Powerflex > ECS any day of the week...


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Man, its been a while since Ive posted! 

Well, the TT is still alive and its still being driven on the daily with almost 4k miles under its belt! Cranked the boost up to a solid 25 psi and has been that way for a few weeks. Id like to data log soon to see really just how healthy/unhealthy, but for now, according to the gauges, everything looks good and normal. AFRs are still on point and it pulls very smooth and strong!  :thumbup:

Also, the other day, I scored these on eBay for an attractive price of $260! Theyre Porsche 986 calipers - 986.351.421/422. I also spoke to the guys over at Apikol and I will be getting the remaining pieces of the puzzle from them! (thanks Noah!) 











I also, _*FINALLY*_, figured out the source of my oil leaks... 










The two circled areas are where the oil has been leaking from, and rather steadily, I might add. Most all the 1.8t cylinder heads Ive seen and looked at, have a ball bearing looking plug in those two locations. For whatever reason, mine have allen oil galley plugs (which can be found in other, similar locations, so not a big deal) Id originally opted to unbolt them, slap some more sealant on there, as it was apparent that there already was some on it, but it turned out that they were *really* stuck in there...so much so, that it stripped. Once that happened, I went with the silicone approach to plug the leak... well, that didnt work...So I then turned to high temp JB weld (stuff designed specifically for engine temperatures etc etc) which did a much better job, but while I was able to completely stop the leak on the coolant flange side, the timing side still decided to leak a hair. Im contemplating on taking the cylinder head off soon, breaking the JB weld off, and actually going in and welding them completely off, as they no longer serve a purpose. Until then, track events and the dyno are not in the playing cards, unfortunately (any present leaks means no go) so as of right now, these videos are all I have to tell where the build is at, and how well it performs. 

Here are 2 of the 4 total pulls with a friends friends EPL tuned B8 S4. Its an estimated 403hp/370lbft on paper on the low end, granted, its also an ~3800lbs car with 2 people vs me and my ~3200lbs TT

I took him on all 4 pulls, breaking all four loose every time (Crappy summer tires). The first video, I believe was a either a 30-40 roll, and the second was a 20-30 roll, hence the lower RPM spool delay. 











Anyway, thats all I have for now :thumbup:


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## One-Eight GTI (Jan 5, 2010)

Is that an FX400 your running.? Just curious how you like it with the O2M. I have an fx400 on my 02j but I am going to need a new clutch when I transfer my 1.8t into my r32 shell. Mine has been holding up nice with 32 psi boost on my 3076r in my gti. So I'm sure I'll,get another one. Just curious though. Also were you at eurowerks this last year?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

One-Eight GTI said:


> Is that an FX400 your running.? Just curious how you like it with the O2M. I have an fx400 on my 02j but I am going to need a new clutch when I transfer my 1.8t into my r32 shell. Mine has been holding up nice with 32 psi boost on my 3076r in my gti. So I'm sure I'll,get another one. Just curious though. Also were you at eurowerks this last year?


Yessir, indeed it is an fx400. I personally love it and for the power it holds, its a very light clutch. I daily the car, so its been great! 

I unfortunately was not at able to make it last year. Id like to show my work off this year, but we'll see; the purpose of the build isnt for show so much as it is for function. Im more concerned about being ready for HPDE season and start learning to actually drive :thumbup::beer:


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

Nice score on those 986 calipers! Was Troy able to get you everything you need to bolt them all up?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

TheDeckMan said:


> Nice score on those 986 calipers! Was Troy able to get you everything you need to bolt them all up?


Thanks man, I was pretty excited! I got the quote all situated, and will be ordering the parts some time soon. I haven't done so yet simply because I had/have more pressing items to purchase first, and the pads were still brand spanken new on my OEM setup, so it just felt wrong :laugh:


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## milo (Feb 19, 2002)

Awesome work and impressive dedication :thumbup:


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

Tempes_TT said:


> Thanks man, I was pretty excited! I got the quote all situated, and will be ordering the parts some time soon. I haven't done so yet simply because I had/have more pressing items to purchase first, and the pads were still brand spanken new on my OEM setup, so it just felt wrong :laugh:


Haha, yeah it does feel wrong to switch from perfectly good parts, but you wont regret it


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

milo said:


> Awesome work and impressive dedication :thumbup:


Thanks a lot man! Its been quite the learning process. Lots of late nights were had and Im sure many more will continue to happen! :beer:



TheDeckMan said:


> Haha, yeah it does feel wrong to switch from perfectly good parts, but you wont regret it


Indeed it does! Im itching to toss them on, so Im sure itll happen sooner than later! :laugh:


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## Alcrerion (Feb 16, 2012)

Any pictures of your thermostatic oil cooler plate?


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Alcrerion said:


> Any pictures of your thermostatic oil cooler plate?


Unfortunately I dont. Its pretty straight forward though. I should really update this thing one of these days...its quite a ways behind...


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## One-Eight GTI (Jan 5, 2010)

Oh wow. Long time since update 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ttwsm (Feb 27, 2011)

Sebastian is now putting updates on his YouTube channel. Really, really cool videos!


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

One-Eight GTI said:


> Oh wow. Long time since update
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It certainly has been! This is going to change though! :beer:



ttwsm said:


> Sebastian is now putting updates on his YouTube channel. Really, really cool videos!


Thanks for the exposure and support Wade! 

I have created a new handle to reflect the new stage of things. Lots of hard work, discipline and dedication ahead of me!


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

I cant believe its been nearly three years since my last update on this thread! I certainly have not given up on the project!

A lot has happened since my last real update including getting myself into a town home and getting engaged! Those were the primary reasons for the hiatus, though there was another major one that was directly related to the health of the car. Ill get to that later. 

I will begin with the mods and photo updates closest to the last official update. 

Back in November of 2015, I had a slight unfortunate event on my way to work of popping a tire. Thankfully, it was cool enough to throw the winters on for the season and a perfect excuse to finally rid myself of my mismatched and underrated 225 tires I was running and wrapping a proper set of Hankook RS3s on my 18x8.5" VMRs. 



















*_*not really as impressive as I have smaller than average hands :laugh:*_*


















*At this point, its April of 2016 and finally warming up enough to throw those summer shoes on! They looked super good installed. *



















*Ill eventually get to actually installing that grill, but for the sake of pictures, I tossed it on quick to remind me how good the front end can look! Ill figure out a way to mount the rings on as well.*









In standard fashion, I decided to do a few creative things, one improving airflow to the intercooler, and the other...well, you know, not being very good at growing up! 










**Excuse the not fully installed bumper**


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

Moving on to early May of 2016, I finally got around to installing those Porsche 986 calipers. It was a pretty straight forward install though I was not paying attention with the first caliper by installing it on the wrong side. 

Before: 



















After: 



















I decided to go with Carbotech XP10s for brake pads on good authority (thanks Max!) and man, this is by far one of the best mods I have done! (Brake pads that is). The stopping distance between the Carbotechs and the Hankooks (or any decent set of rubber) is insane! I found myself giggling like a little school boy once I got them past standard street temps. I highly recommend these if you're still street driving the car, but need some serious well rounded stopping power doing Autox or Road Racing as well. Their temperature range (250*F-1650*F) makes them street friendly with a very nice cold bite and an even better one once warmed up!

Moving on to May 15 -- I have my first Autox event. Things went very well despite a silly mistake made prior to the start of the event. I'm not sure what prompted this thought, but I decided that I was going to drop the boost down from 25psi to 15psi. Instead, I ended up cranking the boost up 10+ psi (apparently my MBC is counteractive and backwards compared to standard screw type MBCs...) as my digital boost gauge only reads up to 35psi and blinks with "--" with values exceeding that...which is how I ran my entire event...but hey, it didn't blow up! (I didnt notice until driving back home when I wasn't so nervous and paying attention to my gauges. Tsk tsk.) 



















Heres a video of my best run that day.






Despite that little mishap, the TT performed very well and better than I could have expected. Made it home in one piece and without a single fuss. 










I then decided to finish off the month with a little photoshoot of the dirty thing. Enjoy:


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

Moving on a few months later. I was sick of blowing OEM coilpacks, so I decided to change it up a bit and went with LS2 coilpacks. 

I cannot take credit for the conversion as those much smarter than I did all the leg work (thread found here)

Here is a list of the hardware I acquired and used:
_*GENUINE*_ d585 coilpacks
Honda H22 lead wires (needs LS2 terminals crimped on the coilpack side to actually work)
LS2 lead to coilpack terminals 
x4 LS2 pigtail connectors
D585 coilpack mounting bracket 

The conversion was pretty straight forward as it was a matter of lining the correct pins up (both having 4 pins) and splicing them together. 























































Fires up no problem now!


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

Now on to the devastation...

June of 2016 was a bad year for the TT. I had preregistered for an autocross event on the 18th and for the first time, I got the TT all prepped and ready to go a week in advanced (I usually procrastinate and get everything sorted out the day or two prior to the event) 



















Two days later, I was on my way home from family and not even block away from home...this happens............. 





































I used to live off an unlit county road where the speed limit was more or less irrelevant (It was near the edge of the city limits) so between the speed and not having seen it quickly enough, I didn't have the reaction time I was hoping for to dodge the 3 ball hitch, so I took my chances with clearing it. Obviously, the result was no less than catastrophic... 

The engine was shut off immediately after my low oil light came on and after the damage was assessed, it resulted in broken ribs on the transmission bell housing, it ripped the dogbone mount off and severed my oil return line causing me to lose most of my oil... The hitch was lodged in there so well, that I had to run home to grab my jack to lift the car off the ground and pull it out. 








B


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

Shortly after this happening, I thought all was going to be well as it was covered under comp coverage through my insurance. It took a few months, but I was able to get my hands on a junkyard 02M DXW 5spd, paid for by my insurance company and closed my case. Coming around to December, I was finally able to start swapping the transmission over and was convinced I was able to get the car up and running and back to normal! 

Well, was I wrong...to add insult to injury, things only got worse... I went to remove the transmission and I notice the flywheel shifted forward a bit and my heart immediately sank

This is what I found... 






In turns out that along side my incident that trashed my transmission and cut my oil return line, 3 of my crank bolts snapped while the other 3 backed out. By the looks of it, the 3 that had backed out were eating at the clutch disk for some time - this incident was totally unrelated to the hitch. 





































Having come to the realization of all this, the trailer hitch became more of a blessing in disguise as the result of a flywheel breaking loose under load could be far more catastrophic (say, at the autox event or commuting to and from work).

As far as the cause, I am unsure, though after doing research over the years, it could have been the excessive high revs on the lightweight single mass flywheel with a lack of harmonic dampening causing extreme vibrations. (the TT was on 225 street tires and couldnt handle the torque, so a lot of pulls were full spin at high rpms before catching enough speed to shift to the next. It would spin 1st, 2nd and half of 3rd gear, so it was a beating)

The bolts used were the supplied bolts that came with the kit. They looked like OEM bolts pre-lubed with locktite.

Regardless, it was at this point that I needed to take a break. Both mentally and financially. I was not prepared for something like this to happen so soon...


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## ttwsm (Feb 27, 2011)

Ah, good times, right? :laugh:

Enjoying the videos - keep ‘em coming!


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

fack that sucks Seb  My Spec caused all sorts of damage when it failed. Went to a steel Four Seasons unit and never had an issue again with 60k+ miles and hundreds and hundreds of hours of track time.


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

ttwsm said:


> Ah, good times, right? :laugh:
> 
> Enjoying the videos - keep ‘em coming!


Thanks man, I'm working on pushing towards a consistent schedule despite my lack of free time right now! 



TheDeckMan said:


> fack that sucks Seb  My Spec caused all sorts of damage when it failed. Went to a steel Four Seasons unit and never had an issue again with 60k+ miles and hundreds and hundreds of hours of track time.


Yeah man, heart breaking! I'm sure you remember my reaction when it happened! I completely forgot to send you the bolts, too! lol 

I really wanted to go with an FST setup, but went with a SPEC setup (steel flywheel) instead. 

My experience speaking with James didn't go well. Instead of advising me and giving me clutch suggestions based on my proposed power goals, I was simply told that Id never make that kind of power with my setup and then stopped responding to me...lol :screwy:

Anyway, we're past it now and moving forward! :beer::beer:


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

TNEP_Seb said:


> Thanks man, I'm working on pushing towards a consistent schedule despite my lack of free time right now!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Damn, that is odd as James has always been super receptive. I will have to give him hell next time we chat. Still crazy that the bolts backed out and failed like that.


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

We continue to move forward through the timeline where the TT sat for nearly two years. I was in a transitional period where I had moved into a home with my now wife. 

It first sat at my brothers house shortly after moving out of my roommates










By June 30th of 2017, I was finally able to trailer it to my own place but still wasnt fully settled in to get working on it.









I slowly inched the prep work


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

By the beginning of 2018, I was finally settled in and the fun money started pooling up again!

This is where I decided that I would try my hand at something I've been wanting to get into for a while. Moving from forums to YouTube with my build progress and documentation. 

A lot of what I have learned came from this place and its dedicated members. One of the many things I want to do is to give back to the community that has taught me so much. I still have very much to learn as both a modder/builder, and as a driver too. 

So without further ado, I present to you the beginning of *The NeverEnding Project*.

The channel takes off with a recap of what happened, the damage done and what will be required to get the TT road worthy again...and to further motivate myself, I pre-registered to a local autox event just a few months down the road! Let the resurrection begin!


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

I began the resurrection with the attempt to fix the crankshaft. This is genuinely the first time I actually took the time to look things over thoroughly. I had no idea what to do to get started as it was in really rough shape... I was luckily able to push through, though, after having a small panic attack and being under the impression that my crank was not salvageable...


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## Smspears592 (Mar 9, 2019)

I love the story! I picked up a 2001 225 Quattro about a year ago. It has been a blast. I have had to do a few things to it. It feels like my clutch is going. I had a stage 1 tune added. After the tune, I had to test it! It took off like a rocket in comparison to how it had been. Bust as I was going, it kept losing power and then grabbing it again. Clutch slipping. Well I stopped pushing and drove home. The smell of burning rubber (?) was strong. I was heart broken. After doing some research, it looks like the Quattro clutch job is hell. I think I have decided to do an engine out repair and do some timing belt maintenance in conjunction. I see that you have had some experience removing the motor. Do you have any advice? This will be the biggest repair project I have ever done.


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## TNEP_Seb (Jul 14, 2018)

Smspears592 said:


> I love the story! I picked up a 2001 225 Quattro about a year ago. It has been a blast. I have had to do a few things to it. It feels like my clutch is going. I had a stage 1 tune added. After the tune, I had to test it! It took off like a rocket in comparison to how it had been. Bust as I was going, it kept losing power and then grabbing it again. Clutch slipping. Well I stopped pushing and drove home. The smell of burning rubber (?) was strong. I was heart broken. After doing some research, it looks like the Quattro clutch job is hell. I think I have decided to do an engine out repair and do some timing belt maintenance in conjunction. I see that you have had some experience removing the motor. Do you have any advice? This will be the biggest repair project I have ever done.


Sorry for the late response, life has been absolutely nuts this last year! :screwy::screwy::screwy:

Anyway, congrats on your 225! These cars are certainly a blast, especially if you really take the time to work with them! 

Here are some things I would advise you to do to remove the engine (good choice if you plan on doing a TB job while you're in there)

- First things first. Take *every* safety precaution to support the vehicle and the engine during the removal process (this is obviously a no-brainer, but always worth mentioning) 

- The easiest way to remove the engine is to remove the front clip. (This will require you to drain the coolant system of course - part of the TB job anyway as you should be replacing the water pump) 

- It may be tricky to get to undo the drive shaft from underneath the car depending on the tools you have at your disposal. So if you have troubles reaching the 3 bolts, you can loosen the subframe a bit to give you more room to access them. If you loosen the subframe, a good trick to avoid having to get an alignment afterwards is to mark the bolts, or use a little bit of spray paint so you can bolt the frame in the exact position it was previously.

- Keep in mind that all the bolts, if still OEM, are stretch bolts, so replacements should be purchased. (I opted for higher grade, non-stretch bolts from the hardware store) 

- When removing the transmission, some will advise you to separate the transfer case from the trans, but I dont find that necessary as all my removals/installs have been without it (proof that you can do it that way just fine). If you choose to go this route, you will need to remove the brackets and CV shield from the transfer case to clear the block upon removal/install (they run into the block preventing the trans from coming out far enough to remove) 

- Since you're doing a clutch job, I would consider inspecting the rear main seal behind the flywheel (removing the flywheel if you have to) for any leaking. Depending on the mileage and when it was last done, it may be worth doing it regardless.

- When you get to the timing belt, *before removing anything*, rotate the crank to TDC and before you continue, transfer the timing marks onto the belt and make an arrow showing direction of rotation. That way you can transfer the marks onto the new belt (tip: there are 68 teeth from the cam to the crank - double, triple and quadruple check) 

- Installing a new belt over the crank sprocket is a pain, so you will have to get creative here to put enough tension on the belt to clear sprocket. I used one hand on a chain of zipties to pull the belt while I used the other hand to rotate the sprocket to feed the bolt on to the teeth (think of putting the chain back on a bike when it fell off) 

I'm sure there are more things that are useful, but I cant think of any at the moment as they have become second nature to me for the most part. That, and without having a feel for your mechanical aptitude, I dont really know what is or isnt necessary to mention.

In any case, feel free to ask any more questions either by replying to the thread, PMing me, or you can email me at [email protected]!


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