While we were waiting for fuel line parts from Finish Line Factory to arrive, we started fishing around for other projects we thought we could accomplish. Because of this we found ourselves contemplating where to put the air filter. The factory cars had it on the cowl with a trick ovalized Kevlar tube feeding cold air to the turbo. While we don’t envisage utilizing that level of technology that area did seem intriguing, not the least because it is a high pressure area for cold outside air and there is a hood vent right above it. We could just stick a cone filter on the end of the intake tube but then it would sit right below the hood vent for the turbo and get rained on. We therefore put this here as a sort of placeholder:





Then we turned our attention to properly fixing the radiator. The works cars used a brace rod from one corner of the radiator to the metal work near the rear corner of the engine bay. We thought we’d do something similar and scrounged up some aluminum tube that looked like a suitable size. We wanted to tap each end but couldn’t access our tap holder so made do in true storage build style:



A couple of stainless steel bolts and washers later and this thing isn’t going anywhere:





With the radiator in we test fitted the shroud and fan. We had previously determined that the shroud needed clearancing to avoid the frame rail because we added the shroud as an afterthought at the last minute. We now realized that the fan would also hit the frame rail if we mounted it on the modified shroud. DOH! Perhaps a shroud isn’t necessary after all. We don’t think we’ll use those through the core plastic ties though; unless we can’t come up with something more mechanical.



Thwarted again we really needed a victory so we turned our attention to the brake lines. We already planned the system out and had purchased almost everything we thought we’d need.



We had started this project late last year but only got as far as installing the stainless steel flex lines from the calipers before the car got invited to Radwood Detroit and we scrambled to get the engine in and put it on the ground. Now we were excited to complete the process but just needed to source some bulkhead fittings. We are trying to keep this build as metric as possible but we couldn’t find metric bulkhead fittings nor SEA versions anywhere. Then Ryan from Thompson Racing Fabrication told us he uses 3AN fittings on his rally car builds and suddenly the way forward was clear: 3AN brake line system! Again, we were stopped waiting for parts. Still, these look pretty:

Storage Unit Rally Car Build: Week 3 - Fuel System Progress

Fortunately some fuel line parts came in from Finish Line Factory so we switched our attention back to the fuel system. We received some hose end barb adapters to transition from the fuel tank to the AN lines and brackets and a sleeve for the Walbro fuel pump so we scrambled under the car and installed those:







We attached the fuel pump using an existing stud but later we will remove that and use two threaded inserts and mount it level. We just don’t have access to our grinder right now because “storage unit rally car build”.

We also received a 90* bulkhead fitting from FLF for our 6AN return line. The hose end will probably need to be a 45 degree version but, guess what, we didn’t order any DOH!



Stuck again we decided to open up the coolant hose part of the project and got busy with or calipers and started measuring up hose barbs on the radiator, coolant manifold, thermostat housing etc.





Our plan was to cobble together various bits of silicone hose to create some of the convoluted hoses we’d need as we were quite far from adapting anything stock. Fortunately Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies carries everything we seem to need. New to this whole thing we thought the best plan was to wet our feet with the main hose from the thermostat housing to the bottom of the radiator as this stuff is quite expensive and we didn’t want to waste more money on an abortive plan. We’re waiting for parts again.

Ill Fitting Downpipe and More Brake Lines - Storage Unit Rally Car Build Week 4

While we were going through our boxes of parts we came across the AAN’s down pipe so thought we’d install that as it might impact the intake system we were thinking about. Of course it didn’t fit. It fouls the subframe as it descends below the axle. We need to cut and weld it anyway so now we will be doing that just a little closer to the turbo, or making one from scratch. No welding in the storage unit though. That would be a little ambitious, don’t you think?





Some 3AN brake fittings came in so we made a brake line, our first! It was complicated (for us) as it was metric at one end and 3AN at the other. It was also tricky because we don’t have a 37* AN flare die but Ryan at TRF told us, as we are using copper nickel hard line, we could just flare them 45* and once we synch them up they will magically become 37*! Who’d have thought?





So this is what we made:



And this is what it looked like once we’d made it fit:





We were so excited we had to stop and have a cup of tea! Oh, no kettle in the storage unit DOH! On a roll now we started laying out the under hood brake lines but immediately decided that this SAE tee had to be a 3AN so the job stopped again while we wait for parts.

Storage Unit Rally Car Build: Week 6 - Odds & Ends

We installed some jewelry this week. Always nice when you bolt on some freshly zinc plated bling:





We also dug the PVC system out of the boxes.



Then the last bits for the fuel filter came in from Finish Line factory so we mounted that.



Just sheet metal screws for now but when we strip the shell for paint we’ll drill holes for threaded inserts which we’ll install after the paint has cured. That way the holes will be protected.

Storage Unit Rally Build: Week 7 - Finishing Brake Lines

This week we were determined to finish the brake lines. We had so many projects open we were determined to finish anything to be honest, but brake lines seemed the most likely candidate for success so we jumped in. Our 90 degree 3AN bulkhead fittings had arrived so we started in the rear wheel wells and created hard lines to the flex pipes.





The next obvious step was the lines from the bulkheads to the tee at the end of the transmission tunnel but instead we moved to the engine bay and plumbed in the brake master cylinders and lines to the front brakes!









Then we focused on the lines inside the car starting with locating the line lock. We think we’ll dispense with a handbrake. We’ve never been keen on handbrake turns all wheel drive cars so just need something to act as a parking brake so this should do nicely:



Now we just need to get brake lines to it.











We’ll clamp everything as a separate project as we might have to move everything later anyway. We are very happy with how the brake lines turned out but there were a few casualties along the way. This got flung across the unit in fit of frustration...



...and next time we work in the rear of the car we’ll perhaps remove the seats and climb in rather than leaning in through the window aperture. Ouch!

Storage Unit Rally Car Build, Week 8 - Coolant/Heater Lines, Power Steering & More

More coolant hose parts from Pegasus arrived. Yes, those are Dzus fasteners. More on those later. This hose worked out a lot simpler than we thought it might with just two shortened elbows, one of them being a reducer.





We also got the heater valve and pipes in:





At this point we gave up on the coolant lines as we need to locate the electric power steering pump and lines before we know where we can run lines to the coolant reservoir. So we shifted our attention to the PVC system. Getting crowded in here now.





This section needs to find its way into the intake manifold via the PCV check valve, which we don’t seem to have. It also seems to want to go through our new radiator DOH! We are hoping we can bend the steel lines just enough.

Week 9 of the Storage Unit Rally Build

We ran out of things to do so now we can reveal what those quarter turn Dzus fasteners are for: The removable dash panels!



We have never played with these before so this might not go well. Our panels are not very thick so we ordered the fasteners for the thinnest material possible. Fortunately they seem to be the perfect size:



Our dash and removable panels cane pre-drilled for these fasteners but we still had to clearance the center hole to allow the fasteners to sit flush. Then we riveted them in place.







That went well but then we had to attach the springs to the back of the dash panel. In order for the removable panels to sit flush we needed to countersink the holes and to use countersunk rivets. But we couldn’t find any locally. Then an old-school bodywork guy told us how to make our own countersunk rivets. You place a regular river in a 45* flare die and chamfer the end or a short piece of steel brake line. Place this brake line chamfer “tool” over the stem of the river and tap it into the die with a light hammer until it forms a 45*. It worked great!





and enabled us to mount the springs without any frontal protrusions once we filed them flush:





Then we installed our first removable panel. May be time to order some fuse blocks:





The rally computer panel had us worried though as the top right faster was really close to the roll cage. In fact we had already filed it down to get the dash to fit. We went at it without a plan for that one fastener.



After attaching the other fasteners we riveted the top right one in place and filed it down a little to clear the cage but we were still missing one of the rivet holes for the spring. Still, one less countersunk rivet to make!



Then we thought “What the hell. Maybe It will work with half a spring!”



And what do you know; it did!







We decided to hold off on the gauge panel as we’d have to remove all the gauges and switches to install the fasteners. We’ll wait till we do that when we paint it.

Week 10 of the Storage Unit Rally Car Build

Inspired by our success with the dash fasteners we moved on to something that has been troubling us for a while, the PCV system. We’d like to keep the engine as stock as possible for now as we don’t want to complicate getting an engine we are unfamiliar with running well after it has been idle for who knows how many years. So we think we’d like to keep the PCV system intact as it came from the factory. This was complicated by the fact that we know nothing of the mysteries of PCV and that part of it connects into the intake manifold; the stock intake manifold. Undaunted we dug through our 300 boxes and pulled out anything that looked like it might be part of a PCV system.



We thought it good insurance to replace all the weird bits that weren’t just pipe so we went to our friends at Pelican Parts.



We offered up the bits that went around the back of the engine but it was clear that our radiator was in the way of a straight shot forward. So out with the pipe cutter!





And added a length of flexible hose. It fits now.



Once passed the radiator we aimed it at the intake manifold behind the throttle body like the stock maniold and used a piece of clear hose for now. We will need to take the manifold off to either weld on a bung or tap it for a fitting of some sort. Next time the engine’s out perhaps.

I actually did the same cut and just capped it and copied the S2/RS2 setup with tube (6A).
Works great.

Storage Unit Rally Build Week 11 - Diverter Valve & Door Handles

Diverter Valve

Our new diverter valve arrived while we were playing with the PCV system so we slapped that in too, upside down at first!



Fortunately, it sits directly over the turbo pipe into the intercooler



But we will need to weld on a bung to attach it. No welding in the storage unit though.



Door Handles

We were told to get a handle on things so we pulled these out of a big blue box.



They go on the doors. Might not seem like a big deal But it’s been a real PITA to constantly reach in through the window aperture to pull the interior door handle. This will make storage unit life much more palatable. If we can fit them.

We again went to the parts diagrams to see what was needed.



Initially it didn’t look promising as we seemed to be missing some actuator rods. Specifically, #8 and #9 but when we looked inside the doors we found both #8s still attached to the lock mechanisms.



Also, it turns out the missing #9 operates the lock so we’ll get one of those later as we won’t be needing to lock it for quite a while. The handles themselves cleaned up very nice and we had all the bits. The driver’s side lock did give us a scare as it appeared it may have been re-keyed at some point because we could not get it to turn. A bit of WD40 freed it up though so we slapped them on.



The actuator rods were a bit fiddly but they are now on and the doors work. Nice!

Storage Unit Rally Build - Week 12: Clutching Straws

We spent this week clutching at straws, curly straws at that! No, actually, we made a curly clutch line that goes between the slave and master cylinder. We have no idea why it’s this shape but Audi went to a lot of trouble to make it so we thought we should too! We were going to use the original one but it’s in really good shape and will make a great spare for our '85 road car so we decided to get bending. Hope it doesn’t drive is round the bend.



According to math this thing is enormous before you bend it. Nearly 3 foot long!



We needed to find something suitable to form it round. The jack handle will do.





It was actually easier than we thought it would be.







And it added up fitting pretty well. Don’t worry, we have a new master cylinder, somewhere. Pat on the back!

Storage Unit Rally Car Build - Week 13: Axels & Heater Lines

AXLES

One day we are going to find a new building and will have to push this thing back out and into the trailer. With the axles out the wheel bearings flop about so we didn’t want to struggle with it again like we did, pushing it in. We decided now was a good time to reinstall the axles, even though we haven’t refurbished them yet.



Don’t worry, we cleaned them up a bit. We’re not peasants.

When we dug them out of hiding it soon became apparent that there were two long ones and two shorter ones. But where did they go, front and rear, left and right, where? It turns out, opposite corners!



We’re sure there’s a good reason but just for giggles we did try to install one in the wrong place, just because, well, we’re idiots to be honest. It was too long.



HEATER PIPES

The 45* bends we were waiting for from Pegasus Racing came in so we got to finish heater pipe installation.



We’ve also located a brand new double grommet for the bulkhead!

Week 14 of the Storage Unit Rally Car Build

IACV (Idle Air Control Valve)

Yep, we’re now struggling to find things we can install while working in the storage unit. Picking at straws so to speak. Next on our list is therefore the idle air control valve. IACV. If you don’t already know, this ECU controlled valve bypasses the throttle at idle to allow it to, well, idle. Of course, with our fancy aftermarket intake manifold it won’t just bolt back in place. There is a connector for it at the back of the manifold be we’ll still have to tee into the intake tract before the throttle at some place. Here’s the valve with its rubber mounting ring and the nifty bracket that it sits on.





It is quite heavy so we think we should try to mount it using the OE bracket if possible. The inlet to the manifold is towards the back directly underneath, but whatever the IACV mounted off before is no longer apparent. So, we contrived a bracket extension off the engine mount arm as there were already three threaded holes in that. Engage CAD design mode.





We’re not really setup to make this in our storage unit so we’ll either make it later or outsource it. The inlet is a straight-ish shot to the back of the intercooler end tank but we’ll need to weld a bung on for it so, job stopped!

SEALS

Our searching through various boxes for various parts revealed the window and aperture seals so we decided to take inventory and install some because, well, we’re running out of things we can do and we have to keep moving forward somehow.

Door seals



Windshield seal



Under hood cowl seal





Trunk seal



The rest of the window seals are already on the respective windows hidden away, somewhere. These pieces seem to be still in good shape and were surprisingly satisfying to install.

Storage Unit Rally Build - Week 15 (Quick Update)

I'm back to working on the fan mount. You may remember that our beautiful afterthought of a fan shroud would not allow us to fit the actual fan as it interfered with the frame rails because we didn’t think it through. So, we ordered up six of these fan mounting brackets and went to town.





The fan is quite weighty so we thought some vertical hanging type mount would be a good idea. We cobbled one together.



That’s better.



Fits too!

That fan is nice and slim. Keep up the good progress!