Scratch the dowels....use a pen and line that head gasket up!

While that might work, it wont be done. The technician helping me with assembly has deemed the dowell pins as necessary, his word and techniques are beyond my contestation so assembly will await arrival of the pins.

for what?aligning the head gasket?Forget the dowels...the head bolts are going to take care of it.Just bolt the head onto the block and get the project started

It is not up for discussion, not even a little bit. What he says goes, the topic was discussed already and a decision was made. He refrains from questioning my parts guidance and I try to do the same for his technical guidance. I've worked with this person for nearly 3 years at this point... I know him very well and it is futile to even bring this topic up again. This engine is not being assembled in a rush... every bolt is expected to be torqued to spec and every torque to yield bolt will be done so to the correct number of degrees. He is allowing me to keep this engine in his bay, and is doing the installation of the engine. I am lucky he is allowing me to even aid in assembly of my own engine. This swap is to be done to his satisfaction which is beyond mine which is already pretty absurd. I dont do complete flawless 1.8T engine replacements in under 12 hours with ease... he does. IMO he has the right to be rigid and demanding. I'm honored to have his help/interest in my endeavors and more so as a friend.

Phil's buddy Ralph = the man....I know him and I would also not question his methods or knowledge. He's a very good tech, one of the few I know that I would trust to work on my own car, and I barely let anyone else do that....its a short list.

Ok so what does being a good tech have to do with 2 dowels?They are just there to aid when installing the head gasket.Early blocks never had them!

Well, he feels more comfortable having them in there. Not for nothing Issam, but its not your build. Phil doesn't have a deadline for completing this engine, they're going to take their time and do it right, and if they feel something is supposed to be installed, its going to get installed. Everybody wants to see this completed....hell, I've just wanted to see that '96 sedan of his back on the road for years now.

If anything, while he's waiting for the dowel pins to arrive it will give him time to focus on some other things that need to be done. He won't be making the upcoming Watkins Glen event in April, but I certainly believe he'll make it to at least a couple of events this year with a running '96 sedan.

Pins came in...

very nice

looking good phil!

No pic yet but my intake manifold is now a nice depressing matte black... just like the block.

Oosha... my shop foreman gave me a free AEB crank pulley... lightly used but its in great shape.

God damn... the hardware tab is adding up to shit thats a lot more than I thought it could. I'm ordering hardware daily right now and labeling it and bagging it up for use in the near future.

I think the alternator, fuel rail and vane pump will arrive late this week... some accessories to clean up and mount to the accessory bracket.

Saturday I should get a good 6-8 hours of work done on the engine. I'd stay late weekdays but I can't till my carpooling co-worker's semester is over... at that point I can stay late a couple of days a week and get more accomplished.

Are you running AC or no?

No more AC for my sedan.

What alternator set up you using?

Goodies came in today... they are hand-me downs from a friend who is parting out an A4 1.8T.

90A valeo alternator which works but its kinda gross... I'll work it over with the wire wheel and wire brush to get rid of the white oxidization. I may apply some paint by hand to keep it from re-oxidizing. I may put a new voltage regulator in it.

AEB fuel rail in good shape.

AEB coil harness ought to make my harness adaptation easier.

AEB accessory tensioner... the roller needs to be hit with a wire wheel otherwise it is in good shape. Likely to be painted in matte black.

AEB vane pump needs more attention with the wire brush to get the oxidization off. Likely to be painted in matte black.

So far this week I've primered & painted my oil filter bracket and left / right engine brackets in my preferred matte black.

Tomorrow I'll get a lot of work done, some assembly and some primer/painting of accessory and engine components.

Made some progress today...

Water pump is in place beneath the accessory bracket. To do so I had to finish the accessory bracket which I cleaned, primered and painted in matte black.

Torqued exhaust manifold nuts
Torqued cam gear
Torqued timing belt tensioner roller, hydraulic tensioner and relay roller
Torqued front main seal
Torqued IM shaft seal
Ordered engine bracket hardware
Cleaned alternator casing... needs more attention & painting
Cleaned alternator pulley
Primered/ Painted IM shaft pulley
Cleaned vane pump casing... needs more attention & painting
Cleaned accessory belt tensioner... needs more attention & painting
Torqued intake cam hall sender ring & hall sender
Torqued dizzy plug
Installed crankcase breather @ block


The bad...

My Avant is having some MAF issues and a brake light switch is tossing the gearbox into limp mode... I didn't have time to use the 5052 at work so I used the vagcom when I got home. I guess one night this week I'll have to stay late and sort out the Avant's issues.

The first real issue and the problem of the day is that the paint I am using does not respond well to brake cleaner... at all. So I guess no brake clean on this engine.

It will probably be a bit more resistant to the brake cleaner once it has had time to cure properly. Nice progress Phil!

A little bit more progress and some new pics....

clean job :thumbup:

keep on going this way

I fitted my scummy looking accessories today, Vane pump and alternator... after work tomorrow I'll see if I can address their appearances. I also need to apply another coat of something to my intake manifold which got brake cleaner on it... and yeah it didn't like that. I've got some alternate black paint here at home. I tried to order the flywheel surface today... I dont think it took hold so I have to call up AWE, they seem to have me confused with one of my service managers at another one of my delerships.

I think it is time to order my breather and coolant plumbing. The question is what breather setup should I use... I have a TT 225 valve cover with a breather connection on it... I also am using the early block type... I need to make some phone calls or write a couple of emails.

Coolant hoses are on order.

Valve cover came in but my intake cam cover does not clear the valve cover... had to order the transverse variant. The 034efi coil cover does not fit the transverse valve cover correctly, I had to space the cover with some washers and use longer hardware.

My aasco friction surface came in from AWE... that will be headed up to the machine shop tomorrow for assembly. I took the opportunity to order a new set of DTS hardware.

file off the raised nipple on the cam cover or just eliminate it all together since your running a catch can...

Looking really good Phil!

1 pair of RS4 engine mounts on order... and for less than the stock purple people eater's blood filled pieces too. Waiting on completion of my flywheel before I order the clutch, I think I'm going southbend.