todays progress... could not for the life of me press the new poly bushes in!!! got a little metal vice... need to make some some of wood baffles to pres them in!! good some goodies lying around bought most of the bits i need! 102@ GSF!!! painted the front of the block & sump with two coats of smooth hammerite black...after cleaning it with a wire brush on the end of a drill and some brake cleaner! and some autoglym machine cleaner...good stuff! digi waiting to be lifted out!
you don't need to lift the engine out... just drop it out the bottom on a jack... it's not as if it's any good anyway. You've done the right thing in taking the front end off. Take the head off in situ if you want to lighten it a bit... or just get a mate to help. It's easier to undo the headbolts with the engine held still anyway. And do you know how much heavier chromed bits are?!?!?!? More seriously... good work - keep it up!
the main problem about dropping the engine down is i still have the downpipe connected to the manifold... and need to drag it about 2 foot forwards and upwards to get the downpipe past the engine subframe/anti roll bar etc. slightly worried about the gearbox too.... wondering if the suddent jolt of the engine siezing/snapping has snapped the mainshaft or something inside the 'box because i cant seem to lock the diffs by putting it in what i think is a gear...not sure if its a gear because ive disconnected the gear rods etc and have to select it by hand....and cant lift the clutch arm by hand so dont know if its fully engaged... the rotor arm disintegrated when the engine blew up possibly because the intermediate shaft got smashed... the problem with the bushes is that if you lay it down...the frame is flat to the floor...and the bush has no where to go.... i need a baffle with a hole in it the size of the bush so it has somewhere to expand to on the other side...the bushes seem soooooo big compare to the hole in the frame! they are much stiffer than the original bushes! r.e. taking the head off.....because the exhaust manifold is still connected to the down pipe i cant take it off in situ can i? gsf list a copper nut for Audi/VW manifold but 8mm??? any good for exhaust? not sure ...Part no. 20279? anyone? plus when gsf say 'side' of head water flange do then mean what i would call the front metal flange? its the more expensive of the 'side' and 'end' water flanges at 6.45 +v.at (PN 17952) instead of 3.85 + v.a.t (PN 17953H).... also do i need exhaust gasket? gsf dont list one.... maybe you can only get them in HG set? or they dont have one? help?
Unbolt the manifold from the back of the head and do it that way. If you separate the downpipe from the back parts of the exhaust system, you can even pull head, manifold and downpipe out throught the front. If you'd bought a head set... most / all of the gaskets you need will be in that, but GSF do all the gaskets you need. 8mm on the copper nuts is right - it's the side of the stud thread, not the flats across the nut. Flange on the right hand end of the head (looking from the front of the car) is the cheaper one I think. Re bushes, read NigeP's posts, as already said. I think rubjonny is talking about putting the new bushes in. Just hacksaw the old ones in half to get them out. On the gearbox... you might be right, but you need to get it all out of the car to find out.
bye bye 1.8 block update.... ripped the pb block out with a clarke engine crane...very good tool....very heavy though! only problem was exhaust downpipe stuck in middle pipe but bashed the middle box backwards with a rubber mallet after opening up the joint with a screwdriver and sprayer some releasing agent in there....and it came free... got some pics here of my home made press using wheel spacer, ally chequerplate and wolfcraft quick grip clamp...for the poly crossmember bushes after 5 mins of the bushes being in hot water they softened up abit.... copper slipped the bush and the subframe holes.... clamped it up watching for it going in square... they just ping in...very satisfying ...took 10mins to do all four...thats one less thing to worry about then... now for the pb out....and started to clean the bay...now ive started i dont know how far to go....do i just clean and repaint the lot... or filler smooth the chassis legs abit? to hide my ugly welded in plates! althought the airbox and batt cover most of them... back of the smashed PB Block nice conrod...looks like it sheared at the top end of the 'rod... as that fracture surface there is flatter not just mangled like the other end. middle section got sheared in half?!!! its not me thats the skinflint its the missus that bought the reduced bread! haha bits of intermediate shaft and casing etc in bottom of sump... is the pb head any good? needs cleaning thats for sure
