The R32 Chronicles

Does anyone still read these and actually want a proper update?

 

So i have the wheel lips professionally polished in the end. Mainly because I absolutely could not be fucked. and i rebuilt the wheels


The next step was to finally tackle the subframe bushes. Since i built the car I immediately realised i built a race car to use on the road. Rather than a road car that i can use on the track. So I’ve been working on making it a nicer place to be on the road. One thing thats pissed me off for a long time was the solid subframe bushes. However I couldn’t be arsed to pull the subframe. I’d somehow convinced myself it was a huge job.



then i dropped the subframe in under an hour. So fuck knows why id been putting it off so long.


then i knocked out the solid bushes. And pushed in the poly’s


I also added my shortened rear LCA’s back in too.

Then i got the subframe back in the car.


The next job was a quick oil change. Then it was time to get the car out of winter hiding and start using it again.

so i dropped the oil….. this was the sump plug.


And this was the oil….


Fuck my life. 5 years building it. And i got a dyno session and 300 miles out of it. Mint.

So i sat and stared into my oil pan for an hour or so trying not to have a total mental breakdown. Once i was done there. I threw my fresh wheels on the car to remind myself that it is worth keeping.


Then I pushed it back in its hiding hole and ignored it for a bit.

Got it up on stands in the car port and got ready to pull the engine.


And i got to work. I want to pull the engine but keep the box in the car.


Got the engine out in just under an hour and a half which i was pretty pleased with. This is how the bay is staying for the foreseeable.




Sadly the bearing material has taken the turbo out too.


Its nice to just have other things to need other than just an engine.

I got the engine on a stand and into my shed.



Started stripping everything off and got the head off, uncovered this delight on cylinder 6.


Which was accompanied by this on the head.



So cylinder 6 has seen some detonation in its life.

however we kept on digging. Got the sump off.


What is that i hear you say, that my friends is powder coat from the rocker covers. Make sure you clean your rocker covers properly people.

All the rod bearings came out and were fine.


So they weren’t the source of the glitter in the oil.

piston 6 looked nice too.


Dug a big deeper.


Bingo. We have a winner. Main bearings are shot.

So what now. Well. I’ve ummed and arr’ed about what to do next. I considered selling the car and giving up, the time and money i have in the car already makes it hard to keep going when you keep getting kicked in the dick be it by paint or engine or whatever next.

Spoke to a few people. They all told me I’d regret that decision. Which after some thought i agreed with.

So on the horizon is a forgey. If i’m doing it I’m fucked if I’m doing it twice. I considered building it myself. However the anxiety of constantly worrying if i did everything correctly.

So how do you eliminate that worry, well if you live in the UK you get on the phone to Dave Yandell, my engine is booked in to go down there at the end of October and dave is going to build me a fully sorted rb. I can’t wait.

Also I’ve sold my defi’s if im putting the best of the best engines in the car. There’s no point having defis screaming at me. Id rather have proper safety’s set up in the link with all the potential sensors it needs. So i am going to do that, Also i think I’m going to add a Haltech ic7 dash, the engine will also have a full trigger kit and e throttle on it. So like i say. If we are doing it. We are doing once and properly.

 

Do people still read this? Do you people want an update? Here’s a teaser

 

So you asked and here they are. Updates. Stoked to see people still enjoy reading build threads.

So a few months back i loaded up the trusty Passat daily with lots of broken rb25 misery and headed to Bristol to see a very nice man, with a massive chicken.


Told you his chicken was big, as is his skillset. The man is by all accounts the best in the business, Mr Dave Yandell. I must say he is everything everyone said. A true gentleman and hugely knowledgeable.

We talked about what i wanted to do with the car, and i said to Dave whatever this engine needs. Do it. I refuse to build this car a third time. So the decision was made. I left him my pile of misery, sent him some money and waited.

Then a message came through and all it said was “she‘s a beauty” with this photo.


He was not wrong. Then i got a date to pick it up and dave would not send any more pictures. The date was a few days before Christmas. What a delight an absolute Christmas present for a grown man.

So the trusty passat was fired up yet again and off to Bristol we headed.

Got there and was immediately greeted with a boiling kettle. Perfect after a 6 hour drive. Then i was taken through to the build room and this is what greeted me.


Phworrrrrr what a stunner compared to the pos i dropped off.

I got it home and bizarrely the Mrs helped me to get it into the house where it has taken pride of place in my kitchen rather strangely.



She pretended she approved haha.

Then all the parts I ordered in the Black Friday deals were broken out or happened to arrive around the same time as the engine turned up and it was time to get started on getting this prepped to go in. First thing was turbo manifold and turbo.


The manifold is a jdm garage one. Essentially its identical in every way including who its made by as a Walton motorsport manifold. As for turbo choices i have gone for a pulsar turbo on the recommendation of my tuner Jack at J’s Garage. Its a gtx3076 gen2 unit. I wanted to keep the engine restricted a bit for the sake of the driveline. I was toying with a g30-900 and going for big power but I decided against it for a couple of reasons. 1, i dont need to make 700 odd bhp and its just going to put strain on everything and 2, and to be honest this was the biggest reason, i dont like the sounds of a g series and i think gen 2 gtx’s sound so gangster. Stupid reason to make a turbo choice but its a stupid car. So i am happy with it. With this new manifold setup i also have a brand new 45mm turbosmart wastegate too that i will be running.

I am going to keep the same “greddy” inlet manifold. However i am changing it slightly with the addition of DBW to bring it into the modern era. This means i can tidy up under the inlet manifold and remove the iacv. As well as the bonus of anitlag. Which i again, want almost single handedly for the sound. A while back i made an adapter to go from freddy manifold to a 350z throttle body. Well i have finally gotten around to fitting it and i am pleased with it.


Meanwhile i also had another delivery, this time from Australia. The rest of my beautiful ross performance trigger kit. There has been a backlog what with the vid and what not so i had to wait for the crank dampener.




Im a big fan. To continue with my mission of simplifying under my inlet I wanted decided to remove the oil to water cooler as i will be running an external oil cooler again. So i changed the stud in the block so i can run the sandwich plate straight on the block and therefore needed to simplify the pipework too. I wanted to make a nice job of it so i set to it in some spare time at work.



I also had another part turn up which was also from Australia.




The replacement for my defi’s Is this gorgeous ic7. Along with a host of bew sensors to make sure this engine is being monitored and maintained as best it can.

So thats where we sit currently in terms of engine. The specs ended up being as followed.
Cp pistons
Manley rods
N1 oil pump
Long nose collar.
N1 water pump
Arp main studs
Arp head studs
Acl bearings throughout.
Mls headgasket
Tomie 256 cams
Ross performance trigger kit.

I also bought some winter/ every day wheels. Im
Not sold on them. But im not down to be polishing wheels every time i drive the car.


I’m not sure what i think of them. Do i buy some works or do i keep these or do i stop being a fanny and just run the splits all the time. What do you boys think?

Thats us all up to date. I’ll be back soon. Thanks for continuing to read my drivel.