The Project Pad

Awesome! Seeing such fresh looking parts makes me reaaaaaally want a powder coating set up of my own.

PRY4SNO wrote:Awesome! Seeing such fresh looking parts makes me reaaaaaally want a powder coating set up of my own.

It's a slippery slope!
I started with the oven because my friend was selling it cheap. Then I needed a sandblaster, so I got a 90lb pressure pot one. My wimpy 15 gal compressor would only work well for a few minutes so I stepped up to a 30 gallon. That got me another few minutes and a few years of use. Then I upgraded to the current 80 gallon 2-stage compressor, refrigerated air dryer, 4'x2'x2' blast cabinet, dust collection system (which I want to upgrade even more). Right now I switched back to a siphon feed gun inside the cabinet, but I want to put the pressure pot blaster gun in the cabinet and then use a foot actuated bladder valve as the trigger. And then I would really like to get an adjustable voltage powdercoat gun as I just have the simple eastwood kit.

Moral of the story, unless you have a way to do all the prep involved already, it gets expensive quick! Much more than the $100 gun and free/cheap oven.

Life in general is a slippery slope

alxdgr8 wrote:

PRY4SNO wrote:Awesome! Seeing such fresh looking parts makes me reaaaaaally want a powder coating set up of my own.

It's a slippery slope!
I started with the oven because my friend was selling it cheap. Then I needed a sandblaster, so I got a 90lb pressure pot one. My wimpy 15 gal compressor would only work well for a few minutes so I stepped up to a 30 gallon. That got me another few minutes and a few years of use. Then I upgraded to the current 80 gallon 2-stage compressor, refrigerated air dryer, 4'x2'x2' blast cabinet, dust collection system (which I want to upgrade even more). Right now I switched back to a siphon feed gun inside the cabinet, but I want to put the pressure pot blaster gun in the cabinet and then use a foot actuated bladder valve as the trigger. And then I would really like to get an adjustable voltage powdercoat gun as I just have the simple eastwood kit.

Moral of the story, unless you have a way to do all the prep involved already, it gets expensive quick! Much more than the $100 gun and free/cheap oven.

I am going to be doing a setup of some sort. Used to have access to one and now that I dont it's been killing me! I think its a must if youre overhauling any older car. I have a few parts that I didnt blast and they stand out so much. Really liking that aluminum color too.

Afterthought wrote:

alxdgr8 wrote:

PRY4SNO wrote:Awesome! Seeing such fresh looking parts makes me reaaaaaally want a powder coating set up of my own.

It's a slippery slope!
I started with the oven because my friend was selling it cheap. Then I needed a sandblaster, so I got a 90lb pressure pot one. My wimpy 15 gal compressor would only work well for a few minutes so I stepped up to a 30 gallon. That got me another few minutes and a few years of use. Then I upgraded to the current 80 gallon 2-stage compressor, refrigerated air dryer, 4'x2'x2' blast cabinet, dust collection system (which I want to upgrade even more). Right now I switched back to a siphon feed gun inside the cabinet, but I want to put the pressure pot blaster gun in the cabinet and then use a foot actuated bladder valve as the trigger. And then I would really like to get an adjustable voltage powdercoat gun as I just have the simple eastwood kit.

Moral of the story, unless you have a way to do all the prep involved already, it gets expensive quick! Much more than the $100 gun and free/cheap oven.

I am going to be doing a setup of some sort. Used to have access to one and now that I dont it's been killing me! I think its a must if youre overhauling any older car. I have a few parts that I didnt blast and they stand out so much. Really liking that aluminum color too.

Yeah, it's definitely nice. Takes some time, but much better than painting.

Oil pan is mounted and torqued. Replaced all the fasteners with stainless, going to do the same for the valve cover.

IMG_20150312_201448007 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Coated the valve cover in wrinkle black:

IMG_20150312_200553324 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Then whipped out the dremel to remove the powder from the Audi logo and ribs:

IMG_20150312_214012187 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Comparison of the valve cover to the "chrome" powdercoat that's on all the brackets. The 'chrome' is more of a polished aluminum/stainless look since it's a pretty cloudy reflection, not mirror like. Going to do the intake slightly different...I'll probably wait until the whole engine back together before I reveal that.

IMG_20150312_214106578 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Damn! thats looking really good, cant wait to see the whole engine together.
What are you going to look at for an adjustable voltage powder coat kit?

Afterthought wrote:Damn! thats looking really good, cant wait to see the whole engine together.
What are you going to look at for an adjustable voltage powder coat kit?

Not sure, haven't done too much research. I know Eastwood makes a dual voltage gun, but I think I'd rather have a true adjustable one. I'm always watching industrial surplus auctions waiting for a pro one to come up for cheap.

Welder 1, broken bolt 0

IMG_20150318_205225073 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150318_205329073 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Nice!!

I had a fight with that same effing bolt when I pulled my motor apart. Nice win.

Anyone recognize these brackets? I'm not sure where they go and can't find them on the parts diagrams.

IMG_20150322_221555371 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Made a lot of progress tonight. Mounted the 3B flywheel, and luckily I had a spare 01E sitting around to mate to the engine so I could time the motor (since it's impossible without having the bellhousing window to line up the flywheel TDC mark).

IMG_20150322_221244982 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Fab'd up my crank lock tool and extension so I could use my 150ftlb torque wrench to get the crank to 258ftlb (350Nm). Not pretty, but they do the job.

IMG_20150321_242215300 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150322_224550995 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Engine is nearly put back together, gotta coat a few more brackets and waiting on a 10v->20v PS adapter bracket. Still need to ceramic coat the header too.
Intake manifold is coated in a 'silver vein' which looks great in contrast with the wrinkle black valve cover.

IMG_20150322_221142000 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150322_221153030 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

[IMG_20150322_221135079 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150322_221229010 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Seems like such a shame to cover up the shiny belt setup, perhaps I need a carbon cover instead of the OEM plastic one.

IMG_20150322_221335504 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Armed with some light reading...

IMG_20150402_193223961 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

I started a first of a series of several date nights with the wiring harness. A glass of tasty porter is a requirement!

IMG_20150402_201020614 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Progress is immanent! Labeling all connectors on both the engine and fusebox side. Got about halfway with the engine side harness tonight.

IMG_20150402_230629141 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Mystery brackets one is for the supporting the breather tube at the back of the motor, it bolts to the valve cover on the corner. The bigger flat one is most likely for the FPR.
With all the attention to detail why put the the timing belt on with the lettering backwards? Sorry personal gripe of mine.

yodasfro wrote:Mystery brackets one is for the supporting the breather tube at the back of the motor, it bolts to the valve cover on the corner. The bigger flat one is most likely for the FPR.

Thanks!

yodasfro wrote:With all the attention to detail why put the the timing belt on with the lettering backwards? Sorry personal gripe of mine.

Doh! I better start over! I'll make sure to get the other belts correct.

Progress is looking good! Keep it up man!

Harness is 100% labeled on the engine side. Not entirely confident on the interior side, I'm hoping things make more sense when I pull out 20v harness. I plan on pulling the CGT into the shop this week to start tearing out the motor!
Working in the aviation industry, some of the wiring OCD wears off on you. Most of the sticky fabric tape was falling off, so I used the 2nd best wiring invention (after Scotch 70/self-fusing silicone tape), lock-stitch...also known as lacing tape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_lacing). It's wax coated fabric cord that's used for tieing wire bundles. Helps clean up the wiring a lot, and much better than conventional tape or zip ties.

IMG_20150405_214316849 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Say so long to the 20v! Car came into the shop for surgery Saturday night.

IMG_20150411_215237621 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Few hours later and the drivetrain was out!

IMG_20150412_024544582 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150412_032217032 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

So much grime!

IMG_20150412_205031439 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Started round 1 of cleaning, a few more to go. My OCD is really starting to show.

IMG_20150412_223014541 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150412_223000718 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

nom nom nom

Battery box was rusty, so it was the perfect reason to cut it out and relocate the battery to the trunk. Going to get a spraycan or two of Alpine White to touch up this and a few other scratches in the engine bay.

IMG_20150413_234537141 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

What are your plans for the battery relocation? Welding cables?

PRY4SNO wrote:What are your plans for the battery relocation? Welding cables?

Not sure yet. I've got some notes saved on wiring from a guy that made some battery cable kits for 944's. We had some reasons for NOT using welding wire. Gotta dig them up and start pricing stuff.

So I'll probably be using SGT or SGX battery cable. Probably 1/0 SGX, gotta figure out exactly how long I need and do some voltage drop calculations.
Good read on cable types: http://custombatterycables.com/info_pag ... _types.htm

Trans after a degrease and pressure wash, not as clean as I would like but it'll do. Gotta stay on schedule!

IMG_20150414_204432099 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Gotta love PNW cars. Can you believe this car did 200k miles in 15 years and then sat for over 10 more? Subframe and suspension cleaned right up with degreaser and pressure washer, I didn't even scrub them.

IMG_20150414_192709017 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Once again, the engine bay isn't as clean as my OCD would like, but it'll be good enough. Only way I could get it cleaner is to bring the pressure washer inside and make a mess...or put the suspension back on and roll it out, but once again there are other priorities. Going to pick up some custom spray paint cans from NAPA tomorrow to go over some deep scratches and the battery box welds. Also need to try and remove the adhesive on the passenger fender, hopefully I don't have to sand it and paint it.

IMG_20150414_204333120 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150414_204340134 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150414_204527567 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

IMG_20150414_204520368 by alxdgr8, on Flickr

Gettin' after it! Man that thing is clean!