Organization is fucking key, I couldn’t agree more Jimmy.
Great work and pictures BTW.
Ah, I remember helping you with the timing on my Avant…this should be a breeze for you. Again, good work Sir.
Those cylinders look good, can’t wait to hear you start her up with the new heads and V2 in!
Great job jimmy like a pro. it almost makes you tired just reading the post. Thats a lot of work
Mmmmmm, those V1s!!!
Good work Jimmy 
that will make sense once someone beats 12.70 @ 110 all motor 
Take off the front clip, alternator, ac compressor, engine mounts and upper brackets with the engine supported from the top. Then slide in the headers from the transmission side. I would do the driver’s side first because it is a bitch to get around the gear drive unit that sticks out. The passenger’s side should be pretty easy. Good luck!
Nothing sad about it. It’s fantastic…because I want to see a few of them do this and have problems. That will be penance for listening to the cheapskate fucking whiner crew and not listening to what people who actually know what’s going on told them a year ago.
In fact I’d love to see xalfa, badneighbourhoodRS4 and gibsonl be the first ones to have an ACT PP fail and see their clutch stick to the floor
Something like 2 years ago I was talking to Dan on the phone, and he was all over the place working with someone on the new pressure plate design. It wasn’t like he called up ACT and said ‘hey can we sell your pp and paint it?’. They redeveloped it entirely, brought in other external experts, and came up with something great. ACT doesn’t sell it. JHM sells it. But hey…if someone wants to buy an ACT PP from ACT to save $0 dollars just because they got owned online by customers who bought JHM parts, I’m all for watching them burn their cars to the ground (figuratively).
BC, just pull the motor and tranny as one unit with a nice hoist, bolt on the headers and slide it back in. You will cuss less and waste less time trying to work in limited space. Completely pulling the motor isn’t really to bad.
I did a bunch more work on my S4. Fair warning this will be a big update.
Put the camshaft bars in.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0390_zpsbofs8m3w.jpg
Took the mechanical camshaft adjusters and most of the timing components off the back of the engine.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0391_zpsfpkka4yi.jpg
Took the cylinder heads off.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0398_zpsxcnfrqxl.jpg
This is the rear of the engine with the cylinder heads off. The block looks rather small with everything taken off.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0399_zps4labtdbg.jpg
The stock cylinder heads look like this when they came off the car. Still have the camshafts and rocker arms installed.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0401_zpsiz5uwyos.jpg
I got some JHM rebuilt cylinder heads to replace my stock cylinder heads because my valve stem seals were leaking. So not only to do I get some maintenance done but I will get slightly more power out of this too and I am another step closer to a built engine. The JHM rebuilt heads reuse the original rocker arms and camshafts so I had to swap them over.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0402_zpsxajdg1pm.jpg
While I had the cylinder heads off I took the crank pin out to look at the cylinder walls to check for scoring. This is cylinder 1:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%201_zps70ezeis2.jpg
Cylinder 2:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%202_zpsqua6iksh.jpg
Cylinder 3:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%203_zpsqxyl0mzs.jpg
Cylinder 4:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%204_zpsgrrqkaup.jpg
Cylinder 5:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%205_zpsfkqedtpo.jpg
Cylinder 6:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%206_zpsgnypmmyy.jpg
Cylinder 7:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%207_zpsbuscl5eo.jpg
Cylinder 8:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/Cylinder%208_zpsqlfgsdoh.jpg
Put the new head gaskets on.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0421_zpsw8jjeelg.jpg
Swapped everything over to the new cylinder heads and installed them. This the view from the front.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0425_zps04kwxgby.jpg
This is the view of the rear of the engine.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0426_zpsyd6cuc5u.jpg
I took my mechanical camshaft adjusters apart to rebuild them with the JHM rebuild kits.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0427_zpsv9opucrz.jpg
Comparison of the old backing plate and the JHM rebuild piece.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0430_zpsolqwytet.jpg
This is the back of the backing plates.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0431_zpseorbdyab.jpg
So I installed all the new timing chain guides, tensioners, exhaust camshaft sprockets and bearings, and rebuilt mechanical camshaft adjusters. Along with reinstalled the electrical camshaft adjusters and other parts. Also replaced all the needed bolts, gaskets, and spacers. Then I put in the special tool trim wedges to put tension on the chains. Next I tightened the big bolts that go through the camshaft adjusters and exhaust camshaft sprockets. Just to double check the base timing we took the crank pin and camshaft bars out then spun the engine over twice to make sure that everything lined up and it lined up the very first time. Yay!
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0432_zpskfbqjiwc.jpg
Next I put the timing covers back on with new gaskets and silicone RTV sealant. Still need to install the rear main seal but that is a minor issue.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0441_zpslmdlusc8.jpg
In addition to the engine work, I took the transmission apart to reinstall my stock sixth gear set. I had installed a TDI sixth gear with a different gear ratio to get better gas mileage but I found that I need the stock sixth gear for certain situations.
This is the transmission all apart.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0392_zpsyxqudhb6.jpg
In this picture, you guys can see the 1st, 2nd, and Reverse gears along with the splash plate and shift forks.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0394_zpsmzmkovdb.jpg
This is the center differential. I have the JHM 4:1 center diff.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0395_zps0mypxx4e.jpg
Here is the input shaft and the hallow shaft that the sixth gear is on. The loose big gear in the box goes on the input shaft and the loose small gear goes on the hallow shaft.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0396_zpsvayqdd4a.jpg
After everything was swapped over on the transmission shafts I put the two shafts back into the transmission.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0438_zpsegvvpznd.jpg
Put the rest of the transmission guts back in expect for a few shift forks.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0439_zpsh9dutcdh.jpg
Got the rest of the transmission guts installed and reinstalled the big cover over the back of the transmission with fresh RTV.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/Jimmybones777/SAM_0440_zpsa9mdfv88.jpg
these pics make me sick when I think about putting the car back together (easy for jimmy…life ending for me lol).
Insanely complex these things we call cars.
The biggest issue that most people have is keeping everything organized. If you are diligent about keeping everything organized then it is a lot easier to take stuff apart and put it back together. You can see in most of my pictures that there are random bolts and screws sticking out of certain things. That is because that is where those bolts go so that I don’t misplace them somewhere. That is one of the best tips that I ever got from someone.
EDIT: IMO, the hardest part of these big jobs is ordering all the stupid bolts, gaskets, spacers, and other shit. Then torqueing everything properly in the correct sequence and to the correct amount takes absolutely forever but it is better to do it right the first time then have to take everything back apart to do it again.
But yes these things we call cars are incredibly complex and there are so many pieces that it can be overwhelming to the vast majority of people.
Organization is fucking key, I couldn’t agree more Jimmy.
Great work and pictures BTW.
Ah, I remember helping you with the timing on my Avant…this should be a breeze for you. Again, good work Sir.
Those cylinders look good, can’t wait to hear you start her up with the new heads and V2 in!
Great work, thanks for the pics! And agreed on the organization. I have a few of those cheap plastic parts holders with the adjustable dividers (there are like $3 at walmart). I draw a grid on the lid with a dry erase marker that corresponds to the sections below and label everything as it goes in along with quantity and size. Makes putting everything back together so much easier and I always know I never miss a bolt/screw. Used three when I pulled my engine. I used to leave hardware partially in but sometimes it would fall out (unnoticed) when moving things around so I use my little plastic bin method. And I just wipe it off with my finger as I reinstall.
One of these things:
http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-61f7/k2-_4b4c6c7c-59f1-444b-ba79-e444117725ac.v1.jpg
Great job jimmy like a pro. it almost makes you tired just reading the post. Thats a lot of work
Great work, thanks for the pics! And agreed on the organization. I have a few of those cheap plastic parts holders with the adjustable dividers (there are like $3 at walmart). I draw a grid on the lid with a dry erase marker that corresponds to the sections below and label everything as it goes in along with quantity and size. Makes putting everything back together so much easier and I always know I never miss a bolt/screw. Used three when I pulled my engine. I used to leave hardware partially in but sometimes it would fall out (unnoticed) when moving things around so I use my little plastic bin method. And I just wipe it off with my finger as I reinstall.
One of these things:
http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-61f7/k2-_4b4c6c7c-59f1-444b-ba79-e444117725ac.v1.jpg
I love how you can make things sound so easy…I know it’s not, but I’m also a very stubborn man.
Halfway there:
I love how you can make things sound so easy…I know it’s not, but I’m also a very stubborn man.
Halfway there: