Penry's MK1 Project

[adr1ch]

it will be a laal weapon when that powerplant is scopped in

looking forward to the updates dude

[penry]

Today made the most of the weather and had a good day on the donor. Start of the day stripped bumper off etc, looked like this:

Then i got the front panel off

And a random bit of luck, mentioned to the old man that a BMW E30 rad with the built in expansion tank will fit the mk1, he said he thought we had one in the attic of the garage. Went up for a look, and lo and behold: (Bearing in mind we have never owned an E30 BM )

Not major progress, but tomorrow same again and the engine should be just sitting on the mounts ready to come out. Comments etc as always?

[stealthie]

Dude, just seen this thread and will now be watching it

I built my Mk1 20v turbo about four-five years ago so if you get stuck I may be able to give you some pointers

I hope your going to loose that atmospheric dump valve and fit a re-circulating one, go for a forge one or similar is my advice fella.

[Philplop]

at your Dad having a random radiator in the loft.

Good work.

[penry]

Stealthie: That dump valve was one of the first things to come off, sounded cack! Im not a stranger to 20v engines and ive got a forge 007 on my car now, so i'll pick one of them up later on.

Phil: Apparently when he repaired our family e36 about 15 years ago, a guy working for BMW who we know gave him that as it was going spare in the workshop, in the hope it would fit. Thats a lesson to all who say not to clutter! Came in useful in the end!

Today i had another few hours on the A3, flipping time consuming stuff. Got the engine ready to come out, apart from driveshafts. Went slow so that i remember where everything goes, and working out the way im going to route it in the mk1 bay. Didnt help that audi build quality is awesome, and every bit of wiring was held in plastic shrouding and clipped onto the chassis everywhere! But engine loom is all out and ready to be adapted. Next job(s) are get it into the garage, get it cleaned and change cambelt/waterpump, put mk2 16v cambelt tensioner on to allow custom mount to fit, get cable clutch cylinder on, and a bit of paint.

No pics because no one wants to see donor car anyway, but more soon when i get the mk1 engine out

[penry]

Right then, another update as its been a while again.

Engine: Painted block gloss black, inlet manifold/throttle body/head/rocker cover/ all painted high temp silver, gearbox done in hammerite smooth (not 100% happy as by that point i was sick of painting so i rushed it a bit), changed cambelt tensioner for mk2 16v item and spaced it out to suit, custom mounts all on and ready to go.

Engine bay: Rubbed back to bare metal on struts and chassis legs and painted in original colour, lower bay undersealed, driveshafts/brake linkage/steering rack all cleaned and painted too.

Loom and ECU have gone away to be adapted to run OEM management, also welded rear arch, waiting for bulkead repair panel as the clutch cable has pulled through as on every mk1 and then need to do a repair on rear panel, its already had a lower valance but for it to be perfect the upper will need to be done as well.

Pics:

Before

After

Cleaned and painted, Mk2 tensioner, removed PAS and Air con pump, cut down bracket, custom mount on and cambelt covers trimmed to suit

Engine out

Back to metal

Primed

Done

Will be going for paint when all welding is finished, then back to get engine in and get it running!

[jon_273]

This is good progress for a home build! Interesting stuff, would love complete a project like this myself in the future

[penry]

Cheers mate, you should go for it! Ive sat for hours cleaning engine bits with a toothbrush, going to put one piece back on and then finding more rust, and have now got shares in WD40, but still i go out the garage every night to get it done!

[penry]

Been months again since an update but was away all summer and been slowly gathering parts as and when they crop up.

Got my loom back adapted to run OEM management

Connected the engine loom back up and tidied it where possible

Managed to pick up a Jetex 2.5" stainless system off the 'bay

Then got a stainless qpeng downpipe to go with it, along with G60 servo and new old stock rear panel (again an absolute bargain off ebay!)

Painted the servo a it was a bit grubby

Now, set to work on removing the lower valance repair section and the original rear panel

Before:

Lower valance off

After

Does anyone know if the old panel is brazed on at the top? Now waiting to weld the new one on, then need a tailgate and its off to paint - hopefully dont come across any more rust!

[Huw Pugh]

How have I not noticed all these updates. Good effort mate! looking forward to seeing this progress

[penry]

Because they only come once every 4 months Hopefully once ive got a tailgate it can go for paint then the rebuild commences!