ur such a badass.

 

^ I agree. The baddest of all asses on AZine.

 

Hi Tyler.

 

This.

 

Thanks guys - not a badass .. just a 1 trick pony with older S4s .. even then, I've made every mistake and slowly relearning what mistakes were made years ago

I'm rusty

 

I hope all is well <3.

 

As you’d imagine, haven’t made much progress since my last update but I got the majority of the sensors / odds & ends from the old motor to the new - it’s pretty much just harness / clutch / transmission, and slave cylinder and it’s ready to go back into the car.

I have all the timing belt components ready once the engine is back in.




Somebody tagged me in this post on IG post - Somebody in Canada had the same idea as me




No big updates on the blue car other than getting new tires, PS4S ftw!





My client: "Does it leak oil?"

Me: "Nope, not yet".

My client: "Good .. thanks for letting me know - I don't want any oil drops on my driveway."



Never get tired of looking at this interior ... so happy I went through the painstaking process of converting it to this spec.




My whole weekend is booked up but I hope to get the big stuff together and done by the end of the September.

If I can have this car done by year end I’d really be happy with that progress.

Doing this project with 2 kids under 2 was a lot harder than I thought it would be

Thanks for reading.

 

LOOOOOOOVE that car.... you included!

 

I may be visiting SD for work soon! I want a ride in this beast if/when I get to go.

 

Keep me posted! I'd love to take you for a rip - just swapped cars and it's currently hibernating at my mom's house.

It'll feel the same as a Model 3 Performance so you probably won't be blown away with the performance.

 

it'll make better noises though

 

Posted the same to Srika on his RS7 vs S Plaid video.
The S may be ~2sec faster in the 1/4 but the RS soundtrack makes up for it.

 

Great updates, mang! That blue on blue is absolutely rad. And nice Stone posters hanging in the garage. Heaven on Earth exists in Escondido, CA.

 

I must say, I love a lot of engine sounds ... but the 2.7T makes some incredible noises if you do the exhaust right.

I love driving it around.

Wish I could emulate this particular note:






Thank you!

Stone has some pretty sweet locations .. Escondido is great but you need to check out the Liberty Station location, too. Lots of stuff to do down there.

 

Stone Smoked Porter. My fave Winter Beer.

 

I'll definitely check it out the next time I'm in Cali.

 

Liberty Station Stone location is fantastic.

And they have a parking lot.

And you can watch planes fly over your head.

Going to Cali on the 19th.

But to Orange County, not SD.

 

The Richmond Stone location isn't too shabby either. They have some nice locations.

 

Definitely one of the more requested seasonal beers and one of my favorite porters.

If you find yourself here, please message me! I'd love to meet you / the family.

Hint, I can give you a discount

Dang - If you have yourself a free Saturday morning, check to see if South Orange County Cars & Coffee is happening (most likely is).

You'll seriously cream your jeans .. most high end C&C in all of SoCal.



I enjoyed it as well - mostly you and your family

 

Nah, I fly in Monday afternoon and out Thursday evening so no time to be here on the weekend.

 

 

Hell yeah bro, that's awesome! Will for sure!

 

Don't be fooled, it's his pants that will be half off, not the beer.

 

So be it.

 

That's the spirit!

 

Decent amount of progress made in the last 2-3 weeks.

Flywheel mounted up & torqued per spec.



I don’t care what the manual says, go to the right torque spec & always Loctite your pressure plate bolts.

Lot of accounts of them backing out even at the right torque specs.



This input shaft seal removal took me a week because of part delays / trying to find the correct seal puller - 0
space to get any kind of long seal puller because of the bellhousing / input shaft - makes for limited options for sure.



Ultimately, destroying the old seal with a butane torch / prying it out with this ended up working like a dream.

It was pretty evident this seal was replaced when the transmission went under surgery for the upgraded 4:1 differential back in 2014.

Looks like improper installation since the whole bellhousing was covered in gear oil.



Seal removed / surface prepped.

Since the whole transmission casing / bell housing is aluminum, it’s almost unavoidable making a few nicks in the metal.

Fortunately, not anywhere near where the seal sits (sunk 4.5mm per factory repair spec)



New slave cylinder:



Been doing a lot of early mornings .. fun to just stand back and take in the chaos once in awhile.



With all this B5 work going on, the A7 reminds you that it is getting old too and needed a fuel door actuator

I love pain!




Digital caliper tool set @ 4.5mm for the input shaft seal installation:



New seal installed with a little gear oil resistant RTV around the edges.

I really hope this thing doesn't leak ... if it does it's going to be a huge set back on time.



Cleaned up the clutch fork, re-greased any moving components, made sure it lined up with the new slave cylinder.

Good to go!



Spent a good hour steam cleaning the transmission, hardware, and triple checking the starter position.

Starting to look like a powertrain again!

Just needs timing service, downpipes, transmission mounts reattached, few lower inlet pipes / hose clamps installed and it's pretty much ready to throw back in the car

Getting close!

 

This makes me so overwhelmed and happy for you.
I think you're going to love driving this more than you think even if it ain't faster than blue.
I had to do the gas door popper (spread em!) on the S4 as well...Melt the tabs, pull it out...
it is SO aggressive sounding now when you unlock the car

 

I'm excited to drive it again .. it did ride / drive pretty nicely even with a hurt motor .... and bad wheel bearing .... and smoking every where

Funny, that's the first thing I noticed, too - unlocking / locking the door leaves a huge "THUMPHH"

Speaking of replacement parts for shitboxes - I ordered 2 new rear bearings, Schwaben wheel bearing puller, an axle boot, and 2 new transmission mounts. No more parts needed to finish the car .. hopefully

Things left to do before I put the engine back in the car:

• Timing belt service - now that I have some proper cam gear pullers, I can do it without much fuss.
• Wheel bearings
• Axle boot replacement
• Attach transmission mounts

Getting close, ish.

 

This is a bigger project than I expected it to be.

 

With B5 S4s .. it always is

I would like to get top dollar for this car - up to date maintenance / minimal issues is key.

Used car market is softening up pretty hard .. as is the B5 market - There's a guy selling a bit lower mileage Imola, same options, package, and maintenance for $16,500 and it's been sitting on Marketplace for 3 months ... been keeping in touch with him and he's getting nibbles but nothing serious.

Lets hope I can get at least $12,000 for mine

 

I'll give you $25 cash and will pick it up as soon as it's done.

 

$34.50

 

@ stand back and take in the chaos. I've done that quite a few times, not to the scale of yours though.

 

future classic,
good idea to hang on to it

 

Not much of an update here but, the motor is going in and the timing belt will be done this weekend

I'm hoping to have it completed by years end so I can put more focus into the Nogaro S4 / Cayenne.

Not bad problems to have ... I love my stable right now.

 

Now that the motor is in .. I can finally start making some real progress.

Engine bay is a bit dirty but clean enough - subframe had probably 1/2 inch of oil / dirt in it



Garage is an absolute disaster ... can't wait to get this car buttoned up and give it a one over / organize everything again.

 

 

I'm sad to see this project come to an end.

 

Project Cayenne will take its place. Until the next B5 finds its way to T's garage.

 

If the input shaft seal in the transmission leaks, I'll be doing a lot of this work over again .

Otherwise, excited to drive it / break it in.

I bled the clutch with my buddy and it feels good ... slave cylinder / clutch operation feels correctly installed.

I'm REALLY excited to start the Cayenne project - Wife and I agreed that I will have a tight budget on it for awhile but there's still a lot of cheap / turd shining options out there to make it look and drive nice.