Lighter = Faster (N/A build thread #2)

[infernosg]

Getting there. The shop estimates about 2 more weeks and that's mostly due to waiting for a new rear window.

[infernosg]

Posted a couple more pictures up on Facebook. Figured I should share them here as well. Not too much longer. Need to finish the rear window and waiting on some clips to install the sides.

[infernosg]

Few more with the rear window complete and the TII sides installed. Last item is the OEM option TII front lip and it's done.









My only gripe is the alignment of the side skirt and front fender on the passenger's side. I'm going to ask the shop get it as good as possible but I've come to realize perfection isn't attainable for what I'm willing to spend with aftermarket/used parts.

[WE3RX7]

Its looking good. I like the orange.. any shots of the engine bay painted up? Did you make the rear hatch?

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by WE3RX7

Its looking good. I like the orange.. any shots of the engine bay painted up? Did you make the rear hatch?

The best picture at the moment is in post 76. I bought/supplied the parts for the hatch and the shop put everything together. It's the stock frame with a poly-carbonate window from Optic Armor Windows.

Body work is done. I'm going to the shop today to wrap up everything and hopefully take the car home!

[infernosg]

TII lip installed and the car is back home. Now time for me to get to work!

[chibikougan]

Ooooh color is even better in natural light...

[infernosg]

Did some stuff. The doors are back together and the headliner is in. I might need to dye the faded sun visors.





I threw one of the wheels on to check fitment. It looks like it'll clear just fine but front camber is like -3.x degrees at this point. I spent a lot of time on Saturday hacking up the stock fender liners to work with the ~1 in. wider fenders.



That's is how the car looked when I stopped last night.

[infernosg]

Most of the body is back together but before I start putting the wiring back in I need to figure out a heat shielding solution. I removed all the sound and heat insulation material from the car. There's only bedliner, metal, and carpet between the underside of the car and the interior space. Fortunately the exhaust manifold is ceramic coated but I want to add something to the inside of transmission tunnel and passenger's side at minimum to shield heat away from the interior of the car. Does anyone have any experience or products they could recommend?

[Pete_89T2]

Did you already chuck the stock heat shielding sheet metal that runs under the trans tunnel/cat area? If not, I'd say just bolt those parts back in - it weighs very little and works well enough.

[GySgtFrank]

The most effective heat shield is to place a sheet of aluminum between the exhaust and the body. Leaving an air gap on both sides and attaching the heat shield to the body not the exhaust. If you still have the factory heat shielding, it works better than any stick on alternative.

:edit: Pete beat me to it. I really must learn to type faster.

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Did you already chuck the stock heat shielding sheet metal that runs under the trans tunnel/cat area? If not, I'd say just bolt those parts back in - it weighs very little and works well enough.

Originally Posted by GySgtFrank

The most effective heat shield is to place a sheet of aluminum between the exhaust and the body. Leaving an air gap on both sides and attaching the heat shield to the body not the exhaust. If you still have the factory heat shielding, it works better than any stick on alternative.

:edit: Pete beat me to it. I really must learn to type faster.

Had to chuck the stock heat shielding because it didn't fit with the Defined Autoworks header. I'm looking into wrapping the header and adding that reflective insulation stuff to the firewall and underneath the car. The latter depends on how much space is left between the manifold and the body and if the insulation will adhere to the bedliner coating. If that works I won't need anything inside.

[Pete_89T2]

Originally Posted by infernosg

Had to chuck the stock heat shielding because it didn't fit with the Defined Autoworks header. I'm looking into wrapping the header and adding that reflective insulation stuff to the firewall and underneath the car. The latter depends on how much space is left between the manifold and the body and if the insulation will adhere to the bedliner coating. If that works I won't need anything inside.

Maybe you can fabricate your own heat shielding out of some sheet AL that uses some/all of the stock mounting points that will fit with the header?

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Maybe you can fabricate your own heat shielding out of some sheet AL that uses some/all of the stock mounting points that will fit with the header?

That's another option because I did keep all the heat shield mounting points. One thing I did before taking the car to the body shop earlier this year was bang in parts of the firewall and transmission tunnel. Hopefully that gives me a little more room to work with. Unfortunately with no engine in the car it's hard to line everything up.

[infernosg]

Almost three months since the last update. I've got some "life issues" going on, which prompted me to build the engine earlier than I had originally planned. After a brief setback due to receiving a wrong oil control seal spring I got the short block assembled last night:





My goal is to get the oil pan, water pump assembly, and clutch installed tonight. I'll then bolt on the transmission and drop everything in the car tomorrow or Thursday night.

Here's a couple things I've noted along the way:

1. Somehow I managed to mix up the rotor housings. I have the "rear" housing in the front and and "front" housing in the rear. Everything I've read seems to indicate this isn't a problem. I have S5 N/A housings with TII exhaust sleeves, by the way.

2. Eccentric shaft end play is within spec but near the high end of the tolerance at somewhere between .0025 and .0030 in. (my dial indicator is only accurate to .001 in.). I'm using the second smallest spacer, "V." Going to the smallest, "Z", would give me approximately .0008 in. less end play but I figured it wasn't worth the wait.

3. I'm confused about these "water pump housing shims." The S4 has two ~0.5 mm thick metal shims between the water pump housing and the front iron. I have an earlier-style S4 front iron but I'm using a S5 water pump and housing. Everything I've read says to match the washers to the iron, but when I mock up the water pump housing I'm not seeing any gap for these shims. I'm concerned if I use the shims they'll cause the housing the stand off from the iron and fail to seal.