WITW - Barn-find Final Edition

[MikkiJayne]

Put the engine and gearbox back on the separating table



Since I had the engine crane out, I contrived a solution to split the inlet manifold. The strap goes through each inlet port and supports the inner portion. The outer portion is wedged underneath the two box sections which are clamped to the legs of the engine crane





A little persuasion from the crane and the inner just popped out I'd dropped some brake cleaner in there previously so this probably loosened the silicone



Lift it out



and thats it from the top. These flaps open up at high rpm and shorten the inlet tracts. Its an interesting arrangement - the springs on the front hold them open, and the vacuum pods pull them shut at low speed. Presumably this is because the engine has less vacuum at high rpm since the throttle is open, so its easier to let go of the pods to actuate the manifold than it would be to try and actuate the pods.

This piece is a very intricate pressure die-cast. The tool for this must have been exceedingly difficult to make with such fine details.



The upper manifold is also die cast, but a magnesium alloy, the same as the cam covers. What's particularly interesting is that it looks like the mould must have been sand blasted after machining to give the outer surface a sand-cast alloy look. That's purely for visual effect, rather than an artefact of the manufacturing process.



The two halves are sealed together with silicone





Back on the engine. Gearbox and torque converter bolted on, starter back on


New manifold bolts and powder-coated upper coolant pipe



Reconditioned alternator

[tonupkid]

Manifold porn

[strummagnet]

Is the manifold a repair project or just take it apart and admire Han's design excellence...??

[MikkiJayne]

Take it to bits and see how it works

[strummagnet]

I got lost at "it's an interesting arrangement"

[MikkiJayne]

I'll make an explantion of how it works when I have a mo

Engine ready for the inlet manifold to go back on



Manifold on



Injectors on



Vacuum pod gubbins on the front. No silly orange nuts!



Cleaning the wiring harness



Wiring harness and coolant hoses back on





The replacement subframe after pressure washing. This is in really good condition and just needs some rusty spots painting. Its currently at home keeping warm so all the moisture dries out over the next few days so I can deal with the rust and repaint



Normally at this point I would have spun the engine over and got oil pressure, but unfortunately I can't do this yet because it has no oil level sensor in the sump, largely because I forgot to order it The original was too crusty to reuse and I only realised I'd forgotten it when I put the sump back on. Consequently I can't put the spark plugs and coil packs back yet, or the engine mounts, although I can't put it all back on the subframe until thats repainted so its not a big problem.

[Ronin]

I really like alternator

[MikkiJayne]

Well spotted I managed to covert it to V8 spec

[MikkiJayne]

The oil level sensor came in last week. The Hella part is the original item with the VW and Audi logos milled off



With the sensor back in the sump I could put some oil in it and use the test box to get oil pressure



Green means we have pressure



Spark plugs and coil packs back in





The subframe has dried out nicely so I painted the rusty bits with Rust-oleum.



I also prepared a replacement steering rack and spent some time on the AC hoses but forgot to take any pictures Tomorrow will be cleaning up the engine bay while the paint dries on the subframe.

[Ronin]

Let me know when you run out of steering racks, I have a couple and can deliver but my A8 will need fixing for the drive back home