Long time since update. Well, engine failure caused me to DNF at Sandblast 2018. During stage 3 I noticed it was consuming a lot of water and coolant temp was fluctuating during transit. Temp stayed OK during stage 3 and stage 4. Engine knocking at high load/boost. Car was tuned for 104 so I put 110 in it to help curb the knocking. No luck. Anyway, towards end of stage 4 detonation event caused cylinders 1 and 2 to share air. Sharing is caring? Cylinder wall on the head blew a hole in it. Forged JE Pistons showed no signs of detonation, which is a testament to their strength. Bottom end bearings look great, piston skirts look good besides sharp rings. When we limped it off the stage we thought it was a bad coil wire due to it being crusty and only partially intact. Perhaps that was the reason for detonation? You can see burn marks on block where leakage was happening (between coolant ports and cylinders too). Leakage between 3 and 4 was starting to happen. See pics for details.
Sold the Motec M48 and harness. Bought VEMS and built harness from EFI Express. Very happy with the harness.
Because I’m stupid, I’m building 2 engines for the rally car. Maybe I’ll put one in my S6. First engine is AAN with 92.8mm crank, 144mm rods, 2L 16v pistons (block bored to 82.5mm). I’ll use the repaired ported head that came on the car (from Eurospec) since it has extensive port work done.
Rebuilding the car’s original engine from Eurospec; 2.5L. 95.5mm stroker. Most likely decking the block to eliminate the o-ringed block. I’lll use thicker headgasket to displace loss of block height. Pistons are recessed in the block so that’s not an issue.
Done:
-cage update. Now have ARA logbook!
-control arm bushings custom machined
-fab’d wheel scrapers to thread into rear hubs
-trans oil changed, still doesn’t like 4th gear fast shift
-inlet restrictor made out of aluminum due to 3D printed warping from heat.
To do:
-build and install new engine
-diagnose brake bias issue. Way too much rear bias. AP racing brakes with bias controller which doesn’t seem to work. Need to bleed the brakes first!
-alignment (slapped a bank and threw out the toe pretty bad, crew fixed it at service before engine blew)
-VEMS wire harness install with launch control
-VEMS tune 93 and 104 octane tunes
-flex pipe in exhaust
-repair cracked paint
-repair bumper
-new ClutchNet Stage 4 kit, t/o bearing
-check/redesign rear susp mounts
it starts...
before it blew
making control arm bushes for custom control arms
bumper repair
fun sponge (inlet restrictor)
belts
cage updates
shredded suspension mount
wheel scrapers
95.5mm 2.5L engine
92.8 2.5L engine build
Harness from Marc. VEMS!
