Nige`s Golf MK2 2.0 16V Turbo track car with Aero. www.pinderwagen.com

Initially I was going to just use the die grinder, all you are doing is making enough of a taper so the radius on the pin doesn't touch it.

Then I remembered I have a set of taper drills so used the 15-20mm one

 

Oh, they look nice.

 

Much appreciated Nige! I've got a set of step drills that should do the trick, just wanted to make sure there was no fancy tooling involved

Also sent you a pm on another subject.

 

I've been invited to take the golf to Coventrymotofest this weekend where it will be displayed and I'll also taking part in the demonstration driving event

The whole event is getting bigger each year and if you are local and fancy popping along it should be a great day out

 

It's just a single, simple sentence but for some reason it sent goose bumps down my spine. No bragging, no grandstanding, just a statement of fact.

You have a MK2 Golf that you built in a garage by yourself on a limited budget that shames most supercars. And you have fun.

Well done sir.

 

fantastic write up and vids nige myself and liam would like to join the trip next year , fair play nige you never give up and fight to the very end to make fixs in almost impossible circumstances , much respect , cheers paul

 

My Golf had zero engine issues on the last outing at DN in May. The wastegate broke as I`ve explained elsewhere but that was all.

Upon returning to the UK I fixed the wastegate and at the same time checked the condition of the piston crowns using a boroscope Matt bought me for my birthday. All 4 had no damage whatsoever, I was just checking to make see how good the camera was not because I thought anything was wrong.

I was at CoventryMotofest the other weekend, unloaded the car and left it idling for 10 minutes or so as usual. Went out for the `parade / sighting` laps with Cat in the passenger seat.

First lap was really steady, following the car ahead and just seeing where the road went.

After around 20 seconds into the 2nd lap I said to Cat "It`s really strange driving without a helmet at low speed, I`m hearing noises I never usually hear. I never knew the engine sounded this tappety, it`s surprising how much the helmet muffles that"

10 seconds after that it made ever more tappety noises and just stopped

I had taken no tools with me at all so was unable to perform any diagnosis over the weekend but I said to several people it sounded like a valve/top end issue.

I have a cheap USB boroscope that connects to the camera and that clearly showed some marking to the piston crown.


The following photo was taken with camshafts removed Inlet valve 2 is stuck Open


This engine was built in September 2014 and the head hasn`t been removed since but I knew I had to take the head off to investigate further.


At TDC, the crank was lined up exactly with the mark on the cover so I knew that pulley hadn`t moved.


Piston looks in brilliant condition. ZERO signs of Det. Mixture looks perfect. Well, apart from the valve damage.... alt="" title="Whistle" class="inlineimg[/img]


The vernier pulley has slipped.


Damaging the camshaft in the process.


If you look really closely you can see the cracks in the camshaft around the keyway area


Adding the damage in the camshaft and the vernier is obviously sufficient to cause the belt to move enough to cause valve to piston damage. All 8 inlet valves are bent and all 4 pistons have marks from valve contact.


I'm absolutely delighted with the combustion chamber condition, zero signs of det showing the timing and fuel mapping is spot on.

The cylinder head also shows no marking at all


Before removing the old pistons I gave the block a quick clean.


The bores are still in superb condition with the hone marks clearly visible


Gurds very kindly sent me 7 standard pistons he no longer needed. I selected the best 4 and gave them a good clean


The old pistons were in great condition. No gases blowing past the rings, no damage between the ringlands or signs of cracking.


Removed the old pistons and checked the little end for any signs of wear. As you can see, the factory hone marks are unworn without the shiny finish you get when they start wearing


A new set of rings is around 100. If they were needed I would have bought a set without hesitation. I`m sure some people will disagree but the rings and bores were undamaged so I swapped the rings onto the replacement pistons. Why ? well quite simply because they were already bedded in to the bores and I saw no reason to replace what wasn`t worn.

Replacement pistons and rods all built up


When I checked the big end bearings in March 2016 I noticed some odd wear and it was suggested that the fuelling was too rich and caused that.


However the fuelling has been running exactly where it should be since then but the bearings were starting to show the same type of wear on 2 cylinders on the top half bearing. I suspect the downward power stroke is causing the oil to compress into the bearing material and cause this damage. It`s much less than before but still unacceptable. I`ll either replace the bearings annually or look for some with a stronger bearing material. Suggestions are welcome but obviously the preferred route is to upgrade the bearings. I believe it is simply because they are designed for a n/a engine and I`m using them in a forced induction environment and they aren`t strong enough.



Since writing this, Pete sent me the link to the Mahle Engine Bearing Analysis document which seems to confirm my own thoughts.

19 Surface fatigue
APPEARANCE
Bearing surface cracked, small irregular areas of surface material missing from the bearing lining.
DAMAGING ACTION
Heavy pulsating loads imposed upon the bearing by reciprocating motion within the engine cause the bearing surface to crack due to metal fatigue.
Fatigue cracks widen and deepen perpendicular to the bond line. Close to the bond line, fatigue cracks turn and run parallel to the bond line, eventually joining and causing pieces of the surface to flake out.

POSSIBLE CAUSES
Overloading (lugging, detonation, or overfueling).
Bearing material of inadequate fatigue strength for application

Pistons fitted complete with new big end bearings and 2x Head gaskets ready to refit the head..


Whilst the head was off I had a look at the Turbo oil drain, the protective sheath was showing signs of high temperature a from where it went between the runners, I couldn`t push it any further up as it wouldn`t go past the jubilee clip.


The hose underneath was showing the signs of getting too hot as it hadn`t been fully covered by the sheath once that had opened up a bit.



Seeing as the head and sump were off I welded on some threaded adapters to the drain hose and sump return then fitted a teflon inner with stainless outer braided hose with crimped ends.



Not only is it far easier to swap if it fails in future (I bought a spare), but the ptfe lining is rated to a higher temperature than the rubber AND the insulation sheath can now be pushed further up the pipe, it was stopped by the jubilee clip before.



I can remove / replace the hose in situ in a few minutes, no need for all the faffing around I had to do with the rubber hose. I also angled the sump return to bring it closer to the block and further from the driveshaft so that can`t ever rub through again. Yes, I know, I should have done this in the first place....


The camshaft pulley had been on the car and untouched since September 2014 so I really don`t know why it decided to slip at Motofest. The bolt was still tight when I removed it.

It has been suggested lightly lapping the crank pulley bolt to the end of the pulley helps remove high spots to reduce the chance of microslip between the 2 faces to stop them slipping in supercharged installations where the pulley takes more load. Even though I have never had this happen before I wanted to reduce the chance of it happening again.
Put some paste on the mating face of the pulley and end of the camshaft after tapping the locating pin out of the way then rotated the pulley back and forth by hand whilst pushing the pulley towards the camshaft.


After a few moments the pulley and camshaft had a dull finish showing there were no high spots which would have reduced the effective clamping areas. I know it`s overkill and not necessary but for the sake of a few minutes it made sense to be certain.


The pulley was bolted to the camshaft with a new bolt and torqued up. Head refitted with all new inlet, exhaust and rocker gaskets.*Engine fired up first time, ran up to temp without issue and zero oil leaks.

I still don`t quite understand why the pulley slipped when it hadn`t been touched for 3 years but at least it was at low revs so didn`t cause a catastrophic failure. The head I fitted is the spare I had built and was sat on the shelf. I`ll strip the one I removed and see if it just needs a set of inlet valves or is scrap.


What this has given me is a lot of confidence in the way the engine is holding up to the boost I`m running. The pistons were in fantastic condition and the combustion chamber showed how good the mapping is. It has been suggested this should also give me confidence to turn up the boost.......

Whilst it was annoying to miss out on driving at motofest, it could have been lap 1 of Ringmeisters in a few weeks. Now that would have been annoying.

 

Um, thanks

Appreciate that

I just don't see the point of sulking and not even try to fix it. Usually I'm able to get it running in a fashion, but as I keep saying, I'd rather not need to lol

I might see you out there next year then

 

Rings do not only match bores, they also match the ring landings and do lose tension when disturbed and you are changing the pistons.
With engines that are 'raced', compete or withstand heavy duty use, it is just simply false economy to reuse components like rings.
Cheap rings are 100 quid. Actual OEM rings are 160 quid up and are the ones I recommend for an engine like this.

This is my 2p from building and supporting engines like yours in the community. Engines that must remain durable over many many miles and not just trackdays.

It is your call ultimately as it is your car and your learning experience. I am only commenting as you asked for suggestions. Therefore you can take what I said on board or not, makes no difference to me

Thanks for taking time to share on here. The community needs more folk like yourself to do likewise.

 

Regarding the conrod bearings, here is my suggestion (for information as I know we've already discussed it), only the power stroke side of the conrod bearings have suffered wear so I would suggest sputter bearings would help fix that.

For those who do not know, here is a link describing Sputter bearings, what they are and why they are suitable.


https://www.highpowermedia.com/blog/3445/what-are-sputtered-bearings


Gurds

 

Gurds link not working mate

 

Sorry, link fixed.

 

I have that article and magazine, but cannot see how the numbers quoted translate to a VW engine that is operating no harder than your average 1.8T track motor.
IMO if the bearings where OEM sourced or previously ACL 'Race' spec and coated bearings, the above phenomena would not have been observed to occur.

I am not in anyway even attempting to undermine this thread with my comments, but happy to give constructive criticism. Engine's like Nige's, which is based on my WOLF R budget build of 2007, are being pushed well beyond the purpose of my concept. The way Nige is able to extract pace from this powertrain on a track day, maybe many components used now either meet or exceed OEM component thresholds for durability. In such a case bearings, rings and other critical components need to be specialist ordered or from TPS as a minimum.

 

I`ve used Goetze rings on my build and the compression when I tested it in April this year was almost identical to what it was back in 2014 when I built the engine.. The Rings were not worn by any measure I had available to check them. When I checked the ring gaps last week they were identical to when they were set 3 years ago, the compression was the same and the engine didn`t burn oil so I don`t agree that they need `specialist items`.
Whether reusing them will cause issues I honestly don`t know. If I thought that would be an issue, as I said, I`d have obviously bought new but I`d have only bought the same Goetze ones as they have been absolutely fine and I see no benefit of fitting a different manufacturers rings instead. If removing and refitting them has caused them to lose tension then I guess I`ll see issues soon and if so I`ll replace the rings over the winter and it`ll be a lesson learned But honestly I see no evidence that these Goetze rings are not suitable for this kind of engine build and use. ?

Hey, I`m not an engine builder or a mechanic so if you say I should have changed the rings then I am pretty sure you are correct ! I always fit new head bolts but you`ve reused yours in the past which shows that we don`t always have to replace parts with new that people say we should but as should be abundantly clear to anyone reading this thread, I`m always open to learning something new.


Now I have identified the beginnings of the same wear pattern on the big end bearings as last year, I don`t believe that it`s down to overfuelling. That was one of the suggested possible causes but my mapping hasn`t changed since that set were fitted, it runs at 11.5 wot and has done since these bearings were fitted. I`m still not sure why the Glyco bearings are failing this way but I`ll try another set of ACL next time and see how they last

Thank you.

Your build threads haven`t been updated for some time either Eddie

 

Your call dude

Head fasteners or engine fasteners actually are completely different discussion altogether and no relation to your problem. I am being very specific regarding ring reuse and brand quality which are different between ebay items and OEM items.

Cannot help here, other than I do not have this problem as I use KS bearings from the OEM or ACL 'race' bearings when they were available.

Regarding my build threads, for the benefit of the readers primarily on here, as a sense of duty to this Club, I help to facilitate this platform every day of the week and the other mediums with the rest of the staff for you all to be able to share your work and experiences. I make very little excuses when doing so.
Outside of my volunteering work on here, I am a very busy man working with members in the field and with my son's professional karting career.

So if more folk volenteer to keep Club GTI running and be loyal to our brand, it leaves folk like me free to report and experiment on the various developments I have on going on a personal basis.

Therefore I make no apologies if my 5 VW based vehicles, which are progressing are not reported on on here . Folk get enough of me on facebook anyway.

 

Eddie, don`t suggest you are the only one who has busy life outside of CGTi / Facebook . Just because I happen to keep updating my build threads pretty often doesn`t mean I have a lot of spare time to do it. I choose to keep them updated but I have to make the time to do so.

Spending several hours typing up a trip report and literally getting one or 2 replies doesn`t exactly motivate me to keep updating them either But as I have said many many times, I have personally got a lot out of the club over the years and it was my way of giving something back by sharing my experiences both good and bad.


Sadly your last sentence is an extremely common view and people are switching to Facebook in droves. I`m guilty of doing it, my instagram feed has photos of developments a long time before I post them on here. It`s literally a couple of taps on the screen and it`s online. That doesn`t help keep the build threads updated though and for members not on Facebook or other social media they don`t see any of it.

 

I am forthwith to suggest that if there are facts to support such a statement. However I never did suggest that. Not sure how why you interpreted my words as such. I am a busy man and I make no excuses for that.
Selectively highlighting what I said in bold does not change those facts as they are for me, nor makes me feel guilty. I do not think you read the words before what you highlighted.
It just demonstrates the thankless task this volunteering role entails yet I am good at taking stuff like that on the chin and soldering on.
My ways of giving back to here are different to the majority and pretty substantial as I help to keep this platform alive while most folk are too busy to volenteer or have other priorities or other self interests. So asking me to share details of my work to thereby update threads on 5 vehicles is wanting a bit much and is a low priority as I work with the rest of staff to help run the Club.
I am no slave to any organisation or folk and will not write 'threads on demand' like that.

That is correct. I am one of the admins of the Club GTI FB group page who also keeps that platform going and my choice is to achieve content on here so I can provide links to FB, back to here, to keep traffic coming in. Easier said than done when you are on the move from 6am to 10pm.
As said folk need to use the platform provided and step up to the plate more often to feed into the brand as you and others do. Staff here work very hard to make that happen and many time folk grossly underestimate the task at hand as trivial.

My content takes time to write as I put a lot of research into it, often after a few months on brainstorming and benchmarking, driving to locations and speaking to the right folk in the industry. Very little has to do with the internet opinion. Then I have to attempt to condense it all into words most can relate to.
Therefore you will have to appreciate in due course I will update the my own stuff when there is more free time to do so .

 

I can't speak for others but I read all these posts and appreciate you taking the time to write this stuff up, I just don't usually have anything useful to contribute. But I guess I should just say "thanks" anyway


Actually, this in this instance I do have a question: Did you remove the rings from the pistons and clean everything up before refitting them? Does removing the rings affect the ability for them to seal again if they're being re-used? I'm about to re-use good looking rings in a good looking bore and am wondering which is the lesser of two evils: having perfectly clean rings and pistons or risking messing up the seal somehow by cleaning everything.
*Edit*: re-read and you're using new pistons so obviously you removed the rings

 

When i look at the sump, i see only 1 baffle plate, unles the 2nd plate is behind the hose, you need a central box about 10 - 12 cm wide that gets always oil under cornering forces to feed oil pickup ...also use a windage tray to keep oil down in sump...

 

Hugo if you look carefully you can see the welds for the second vertical baffle on the horizontal baffles either side of the oil return pipe

Nice write up as per usual Nige love the mechanical stuff as I find it easy to relate to . On the the other hand the computer screens from your mapping diagrams make my colourblind head hurt

Nice work I guess Gurds spends more money on car parts ( it's a red car owner thing I think lol lol) and you on ring trips . Also could be a southerner vs Yorkshireman thing lollollol

Any colour but RED for the win