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APR Motorsport X A4 Engine Build
| Parts Listing | Pictures | Logs | Dyno Results |
Base APR Motorsport X Engine Description
Additional Engine Enhancements
A moment of madness, a man obsessed, an action of auto enthusiasm....I don't know what it is or was... but I am the midst of a project that many would consider complete madness and absurdity... and they're probably right.
This is a project I will likely never do again in my life so I thought it was worth documenting from beginning to end...
History/Background: I purchased my 1999.5 Audi A4 1.8T in July of 1999. I chipped it (TAP 0.8 Bar) at 500 miles and was happy and content with that level. A few years passed and I got the opportunity to drive Ed P's APR Stage 3 A4 while attending one of the APR BBQs. By the time I left I had put down a deposit on a Stage 3 kit, and agreed to get their chip. Long story short at 40,000 miles Stage 3 was in my car. At 80,000 miles I added an air to water intercooler setup. At a 110,000 miles on August 12th 2005 my car had the unfortunate encounter with a raised manhole cover. The manhole cover caught the front crossover tube, bent it back and crack my oil pan. I thought I had caught it in time, and there wouldn't have been any damage....and likely there wasn't any. The car was towed to the dealer and the oil pan and pump were replaced. On October 2 2005, 300 miles after getting the car back from the dealer and doing my really first WOT run, my engine grenaded. When I say grenade... I mean grenade.
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Engine Destruction: Best I can tell here is what happened. Cylinder 4's piston seized to the block. The inertia and momentum in the system pried the bottom of the connecting rod apart and off the crank. The rod then got hit by rotating crank, and bent into the block and impacting the RPM pickup gear. The rod went through the block and also impacted the intermediate shaft, and breaking it. The intermediate shaft then broke in 3 other places, and fell into the crankcase. I believe the sudden release of energy led to the breaking of the connecting rod of cylinder 1. The connecting rod on cylinder 1 swung around and put a nice sized hole in my nice new oil pan and out through the AC support bracket and waterpump. Cylinder 2 also blew out through the block for some reason, probably due to the oil pump shaft pieces. Cylinder 3 showed signs of cracking upon closer examination.
What to do...: Well I had been planning to overhaul the motor and put in rods and pistons over the winter, but buying a new motor was not on the agenda. My original manhole accident I filed with my insurance company as an accident. They agreed and picked up the bill. My motor blowing up they also agreed was due to the same accident. They cut me a check for $4500 to buy a used motor and the necessary bits to get my car up and running. Add that to my tax refund, a work bonus and my original plans... and I started thinking big.
Now I am a Program Manager. I'm also an engineer so I know that projects never get estimated accurately, and there is always something. I tried to add in an "unknown factor" in my budget. I know about requirement creep, and I know about anticipating for the unknown. But along the way I learned something else... it wasn't enough when I am the unknown. I decided as I started to really get my hands dirty, that if I was going to do this I didn't want to go half way. I didn't want to build a motor that also wasn't "finished" (e.g. hot rods) So what are the unknowns? BLING pure and simple... Oh wait and a few suprises along the way
Build Story:
So here is the story and build log...for anyone thinking "oh that should just be __, ___, ___, and ___ and cost $___"
| October 2, 2005 - Engine blew to pieces in A4 | 108,503 miles on Odometer |
| December 14, 2005 - Purchased Passat
After months of negotiations the car was finally delivered to me at 8pm. |
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| December 19, 2005 - Engine pulled from Passat
After purchasing an engine hoist, and a space heater I pulled the engine from the passat in 20 degree weather. It wasn't too bad actually, pretty straight forward. Here you see the engine after it has been stripped down, and prepared to be boxed and shipped. |
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| January 5, 2006 - Engine shipped to APR | |
| January 21, 2006 - Engine pulled from A4
I pulled the engine from the A4 in order to take a closer look at it and the destruction. |
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| January 23, 2006 - Kickoff meeting with APR on engine build and project goals | Decided to build an APR Motorsport 2.0L 8.5:1 compression engine. In addition the head will be ported and polished with new valve guides installed. |
| February 4, 2006 - Polished intake manifold and prepared valve cover for powder coating |  |
| February 11, 2006 - Dropped off valve cover and coolant pipe for powder coating | |
| February 25, 2006 - Parts back from powder coating |  |
| March 7, 2006 - Begin detailing work on engine
accessories.
Using rust remover, degreaser, and paints from Eastwood, I prepared and painted the pullies, and engine accessories.
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| March 10-11, 2006 - S4 Strut Tower Brace
Following ModifiedA4s article, I machined up my 2nd version of the S4 strut tower brace. I painted the A6 brackets in gloss black to match the bar. In addition since I didn't have the pesky engine in the way, I installed the 5th bolt through the firewall. |
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| March 13-18, 2006 - Airbox
Began work on my custom intake system... I'm hesitant finish it until I figure out what manifold I am going to use (and if the turbo placement may become an issue) |
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| June 2006 -Gauges gauges and more gauges
I bought some new gauges... SPA Gauges: (Boost + EGT and Oil & Fuel Pressure) Using a CF/kevlar panel I made up I replaced the center vent. The SPA gauges have a lot of cool features. Two alarm levels (four really) One alarm will flash the LEDs, the other will trigger an external alarm. I decided for the track having an audible alarm would be good. So I went to Radio Shack after doing some research about what a specific tone would sound like. |
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| June 11, 2006 -Revised Intercooler
Plumbing
I purchased a larger transmission cooler core to upgrade my existing air/water radiator to the largest possible size that would fit behind the stock bumper. I also purchased a power steering core to help clean up the installation and to provide an additional cooling for the track. I bought some extruded aluminum and a rivet gun to create a new mounting structure for the new setup. |
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| June 2006 -Houston we have a
problem
While trying beginning to assemble the AEB block with the new crank, the crank impacts the infamous oil pump/intermediate shaft. The solution? Use an AWM 2001 chain driven pump block. |
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July 2006 Fuel Pump Install
-Wired in the fuel pump...twice (stupid connectors from radio shack) -Wired in accordance with APR Stage III+ TT details + modifications for A4 (writeup coming soon)
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| July 2006 -More wiring.
-Ripped out my VDO gauges and about 12 feet of wiring from 7 years of modifications. -Wired in my my new SPA gauges. -I also wired in a digital tachometer I purchased. I have the digital tachometer mounted in a new south steering column pod. I drilled a hole in the back of the pod and installed a switch so I can turn the gauge off for around town driving. (see Tachometer Install Article)
I finally have nothing to do until my motor and manifold show up... |
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| August 24, 2006
OMG my manifold finally freaking showed up. Originally supposed to arrive on June 7th, it shipped on July 31, got stuck in UPS hell, and finally arrived on my door today. Manifold by Jay Thornton aka California Jay. Purchased from Tapp Auto in Canada.
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| February 15, 2007
The motor is FINALLY here... after a long time it is here. APR Motorsport Level X
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| February 2007
Evaluated the differences between the AEB and AWM block...time to go shopping again.
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PCV System:
N90467301 Round Seal
06A103213F Breather Tube
N90739901 Hose clip
06B133382H T Fitting (3-way 1" T)
06A129101E 225 TT PCV
1" Heater Hose
Coolant System:
06b121065AC AWM coolant pipe
N90365302 Seal ring
078133335A coolant pipe nipple/Thermostat Housing
unknown Hose Clamp
N0210742 Banjo Bolts-turbo to block
N0138149 washer
058198025A AEB Valve cover gasket
4B0121055J AWM Lower Radiator to Coolant tank and Thermostat Hose
032121142 Clip
N90316802 Seal
357121140 Radiator Plug (plugs coolant sensor hole in lower hose)
Engine Mounting Hardware:
8D0199335Q AWM snub mount housing
N0102706 bolts
8D0 199 305A AWM Support Bracket Driverside
8D0 199 306AA AWM Support Bracket Passengerside
Oil System:
06B121058B AWM Oil cooler hose
06B121058S AWM Oil cooler hose
06B115611C AWM Dipstick
06B103663B AWM Dipstick tube
AC System:
06B260885A AC Compressor Bracket (Didn't work and returning)
06B260849A AC Belt
058260885C AC Compressor Bracket
N90696701 Bolt
N90355801 Bolt
PS System:
n0138486 banjo washer -PS Inlet
n0138486 banjo washer -ps cooler ret line at rack
n0138494 banjo washer -ps line at rack
Intake Manifold:
n10080102 Intake M6 Manifold Bolts
06B129723AR Intake Manifold Bracket
AEB Intake Manifold Gasket
Exhaust Manifold:
n90085001 Exhaust M8 Self locking nuts
n90357201 Exhaust M8 Washers
AEB Exhaust Manifold Gasket
Accessories:
06B903141D AWM Accessory bracket
06B105243D AWM Vibration dampener
06B119145 Viscous Fan Pulley (yes it was different. AEB didnt align)
n10302601 Bolts for fan pulley attachment
n0147454 Fan Attachment bolts
N90448801 PS Pulley Bolts
N0147135 Rear PS washer/bolt
Misc: 8D0803123 Battery Hold Down (gave my old one to the GF's car) 8D0941509 Hazard Relay (gave my old one to the GF's car) 06A109108K AWM Toothed Belt Upper Cover 06A109147F AWM Toothed Belt Middle Cover |
March 2007 Progress
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Some of the custom work that needed to be done
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| April 1, 2007
Engine is installed in the car. Thanks to Mark Pogers (MarkP) and Chris Reed (ModifiedA4) for the hand and laughs. Also installed:
Hit a snag though... the crossover tube is different on the 2001, despite what I was told. The snub post is not where it needs to be....another order for more parts |
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| April 2, 2007
Packages out and packages in...
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Parts on order:
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| April 7, 2007
Blog #5- Another few steps closer...Manifold back from coating Cleaned up this week
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| May 16, 2007 Car Back from 666 Fabrication |
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| June 25, 2007 Parts back from coating! |
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| June 28, 2007 Prime the car for motor ignition |
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| July 8, 2007 American Le Mans @ Lime Rock Weekend |
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| July 10, 2007 Ordered Alternative Intake Pieces |
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| July 14, 2007 Could it finally be that time... |
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| July 15, 2007 The break-in drive |
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| July 22, 2007 Waterfest Weekend |
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| July 30, 2007 Reinstalled Turbo |
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| August 4, 2007 Running Well... |
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| August 8, 2007 Fabrication |
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| August 17, 2007 Passed Emissions |
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| September 27th, 2007 Getting close |
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| Coming Soon.... aka What's left |
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So what did this all take? Well there were no Freebie values...
Engine and Parts Donor:
I had been looking around to all the usual sites to find a used motor that I could purchase. All the ones I found were in the 1600 to 1800 dollar range. I luckily had a friend refer me to a friend of his who had a client who had a son who ended up driving a Passat into a cable guard rail. Did you follow that? That wasn't a typo. I had 4 degrees of separation in trying to seal the deal on picking up this wrecked Passat that still had a low mileage engine installed in it. The car itself had 140,000 miles on it, but the engine had ~40k on it as it was replaced (I'm assuming after a timing belt failure). It took until December for the deal to occur, but in the end I think it was worth it. Besides the motor block, I was able to get replacement AC support brackets, power steering pump, and some other bits and pieces. I also ended up selling and giving a lot of the parts away including:
Total cost $1800 - $610 = $1190
Oh wait... I didn't need an AEB engine in the end....so $1190 for a new to me AEB Head, and core charge block.
Bill of Material/Ordered Parts: (to be cleaned up and documented with parts in Log)
Engine Belts
Engine Cooling
Engine Exhaust
Engine Fueling
Engine Intake
Engine Monitoring and Control
Turbo System
Driveline
Intercooler and Accessory Coolers
Other
Other Car Parts I Needed To Update:
Tools and Garage Upgrades:
Bling Materials and Custom Fabrication:
Total:
