The Project Pad

Well lots has happened since last time, but not much with the car. Directly at least.

I bought my first house and take possession this week. The garage is just an oversized single so maintenance on my daily/winter beater will have to happen outside... but that's what summer is for anyways, right? Until I build a double, at least!

Got a call from Hank at work the other week about my build. It was nice to hear from him as I know he's a busy guy who is torn in a million directions at once. Biggest issue was regarding my timing belt tensioner, and we concluded it would be best if he fab'd up something appropriate; and the cam gear, for which I opted to go with a billet adjustable. #BecauseRacecar.

Hank said he'd be ready to ship by the end of the following week and true to form, he got busy with other things and there were more delays. Sixteen months down the yellow brick road, I'm used to it; also, I work in construction and understand what the supply chain and unexpected issues can be like at times. When I phoned out of the blue last Thursday I was pleasantly surprised to hear him answer.

We had a good chat about getting this prioritized since we're so close to the finish line. And show season/summer is upon us. He mentioned that he was at that very moment cutting some custom head gaskets for myself and others such as Darin. Another thing he told me was that he'd previously had little interest in the EFR line of turbos, but when one showed up at his shop (big thanks to Mike Hood @ Ringer Racing for the solid support) he couldn't help but test the waters. We agreed on compensation and he started testing my 7163 on Sean's Urq. The rest is history. Hank said in the interim, he's sold over 20 EFRs to people and loves their capabilities.

If all goes well, my crate should be ready to ship within a week or so. Emphasis on the or_so.

Let's get this done Hank! I want to drive this beast!!!

Woo! Good news! This is going to be so sick. Insta-tq

Get your crate yet?

Better hustle and get your garage set up for when it arrives

Good news!

Heard from Hank today, and looks like after one longstanding 07k build is cleared up by Friday, my stroker is his sole priority so as to make room for a couple TTRS builds. Word is my motor should be ready to ship next weekend.

Custom head gasket previously mentioned is done.



As of right now, there are a couple minor issues to solve. One of which is the water manifold I supplied interferes with Hank's old personal intake. So he's modified a 3B manifold to do the job.




As mentioned, I bought Hank's old manifolds. I had him tap the intake for direct port w/m injection, which has been finished.

Had a 7A valve cover tapped with AN fittings for lines to the catch can, and machined to accept 2.0t coils.

Oil pan has had a baffle welded in.





Aside from that the TiAl flange on the EM has to be modded to fit the smaller EFR flange, and some other odds and ends.

Woo! Man am I excited for this. Finally get to see where dad would have been going with this motor

I see why it has taken so long, all those little add ons make a big time and price difference!
Looking good for sure.

Damn, this is a lot cooler than i last remember. Need to keep up with this one! Needs more eye candy, I think that's the problem

Om nom nom

That otta do et!

Boyyaa

I like that it's not painted. Looks so good!

I'm assuming it runs by now?

No, haven't had a spare minute to do anything yet.

Between house renos, time with the girlfriend, and a new job out of town, I'm fully booked.

Still need a couple parts from Hank too.



But.

I need to get my ass in gear.

Nice , i wish i was that far as far as engine work is concerned. Hope you have time to work on the car soon.

FINALLY got the motor crate from my friend's place to my garage at home the other weekend.

Randomly met some guy who's a mechanical engineer at a gas station shortly afterwards who admired my parts 90q. He has the same car, but in nicer shape. We started talking and kept in touch. Turns out he has access to large scale media blasting equipment. Wouldn't you know it, my subframes and suspension need a good clean up...

Dropped off my control arms, sub frames, sway bars, axles and associated parts today to get blasted.

When I get back from spring vacation everything should be done and I can paint in POR-15, then basically start installing parts again.

PRY4SNO wrote:FINALLY got the motor crate from my friend's place to my garage at home the other weekend.

Randomly met some guy who's a mechanical engineer at a gas station shortly afterwards who admired my parts 90q. He has the same car, but in nicer shape. We started talking and kept in touch. Turns out he has access to large scale media blasting equipment. Wouldn't you know it, my subframes and suspension need a good clean up...

Dropped off my control arms, sub frames, sway bars, axles and associated parts today to get blasted.

When I get back from spring vacation everything should be done and I can paint in POR-15, then basically start installing parts again.

I just started reading about POR-15 since I'm thinking about using it for my floors and wheel wells of the UrQ. From what I've read, it doesn't work well on completely clean surfaces (ie. blasted) as it needs a little corrosion to stick. If it's too clean it'll come off. It sounds like a better option for blasted stuff would be either powdercoat or some kind of epoxy primer.

alxdgr8 wrote:I just started reading about POR-15 since I'm thinking about using it for my floors and wheel wells of the UrQ. From what I've read, it doesn't work well on completely clean surfaces (ie. blasted) as it needs a little corrosion to stick. If it's too clean it'll come off. It sounds like a better option for blasted stuff would be either powdercoat or some kind of epoxy primer.

I've found POR actually sticks well to blasted surfaces (using something pretty aggressive like black beauty). What it doesn't stick to is smooth surfaces like new sheet metal. You can etch it with their metal prep, but it prefers rough surfaces. If you are blasting with something that leaves a rough surface, the POR should love it.

Great info, thanks Dana!

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My plan was to go through the three step process.

I'll update with results as it happens.

Done yet? Dyno? Vids?

Haha, all in due time Matt.

To be completely honest, I lost almost all of my motivation over the last year or so after my accident, move/house purchase/renos, and changes in workplace. It's only now starting to build up again with the crate engine and transmission together in my own garage. Summer weather has arrived early, I have my own spot to get stuff done, and 95% of the parts required on hand... just have to do the work. It's a good place to be.

I've been volun-told by the girlfriend to drive her stuff to Edmonton from Ottawa, so we leave tomorrow night. Going to be a great trip, starting with a whirlwind tour eating and drinking our way across Toronto. We're going to eat at Richmond Station in Toronto, Pizzeria Libretto, take in the Hockey Hall of Fame, imbibe on Scotch at The Caledonian and go to Bellwood's for a drink and brewery tour. More importantly, I'll be making a visit to Issam at his shop once we get to Ottawa.

When we get back at the end of the month I'm going to start focusing my evenings and weekends on getting the car running.

Sent away my old UrS4 for scrap this week. Yep, you guessed it... I finally have time to work on the Coupe!


Here's today's issue. When I pulled the glovebox and went to remove the ECU (ahead of installing VEMS), the damn thing wouldn't cooperate.




So with all the bolts and screws out, the ECU slides up and down about 3" independently of the mounting plate. But still won't come out. The threads I've read say it should just slide right out at this point. Not sure why, but the electrical connections refuse to come off (I'm being firm at best, as I don't want to ruin anything being hamfisted).

Any tips or tricks with this would be greatly appreciated.



How to pull the main wiring harness off of the ECU?

push the tab on the right towards the left and pivot the whole plug in a counterclockwise rotation with the left side of the plug being the pivot point. Does that make sense?

dana wrote:push the tab on the right towards the left and pivot the whole plug in a counterclockwise rotation with the left side of the plug being the pivot point. Does that make sense?

Thanks Dana, you conveyed your point with crystal clarity. However when I tried that it just felt like something was going to break. I wedged a flat screwdriver blade into the seam above the VW/Audi logos and pried it up a tad... looks like there are pins inside holding everything firmly in place.

It's probably something really simple that I'm not seeing, but I'll try again tomorrow.