Indium Gray Metallic Money Pit Mk7.5R

[swcrow]

I can only imagine the OCD measures that pay off in this venture...the bagging/tagging and methodically placing in step order......sucks about having to do rework, but SO worth it in a build like this when you look at risk/reward. Personally, I'd welcome the opportunity to take part in doing this tbh....I'm fascinated by the process, but for me, AZ was just too far away lol

 

[scrllock]

I can only imagine the OCD measures that pay off in this venture...the bagging/tagging and methodically placing in step order......sucks about having to do rework, but SO worth it in a build like this when you look at risk/reward. Personally, I'd welcome the opportunity to take part in doing this tbh....I'm fascinated by the process, but for me, AZ was just too far away lol

Big benefits to going through a really organized builder. Like I think I mentioned, we missed a couple seals I would have preferred to replace. A better master parts list would have helped order everything in one go, versus 6+ orders that inevitably get mixed up into 3-4 boxes. I labeled all of the bags of new bolts and still got a couple things mixed up, either by parts diagrams not being correct or human error. E-ACCA sent quite a few bags with the parts number label ripped off, one of the local dealers sent the entire bolt order mixed up in one bag. I imagine once you build a bunch of these, it's obvious where they go.

 

[JerseyDrew77]

Went by super fast but I did have a VW tech and a guy who's built 5 or 6 of these. I can't claim any measure of success til it's in the car running, but we all learned something. My tech has never built an ea888 from a bare short block (dealers usually just re-ring or send out for a new assembled long block). Mike hadn't built a 19+ motor (slight differences in the balance shafts, upper oil pan, etc.

#1 thing that helped was organizing everything that came out of the old motor and labeling it. And I mean _everything_, you never knew when you might need to re-use a bolt that disappeared and you've got RTV curing and the nearest dealer with one is a 2 hour drive away and they close in an hour.

Unfortunately when you assemble it in a clean garage then quickly move everything back to the home garage, things get misplaced. Especially when you've got 3 guys all working out of 7 totes full of old/new parts. I'd have felt better seeing every seal and bolt go in, but unfortunately as the least-skilled contributor, I was the designated go-fer and spent a good bit of time at harbor freight and home depot.

While I wait on a turbo for break-in, there's a few things I'm going to go back and re-do. I didn't have a new oil cooler or a gasket for it. Bad spot to develop a leak. Also discovered that my new FCP thermostat housing was broken in the box, but that's gotta come out to do the oil cooler anyhow. The bolts I ordered for the camshaft and crankshaft position sensors weren't correct and were re-used. Both easy to do later on if it's a problem. Not entirely sure if we put the strainer on the oil pump (separate from the pickup itself), so might have an excuse to pull the pan and helicoil the upper oil pan threads.

Feeling great about it though, building a motor with some VW buds is a fantastic way to spend a long weekend.

Building the block is no easy task. You gotta start somewhere and by watching or assisting the more experienced folks is a great way to learn. I find it's easier to learn things by visual and being hands-on versus in a classroom or reading about it.

 

[scrllock]

Small update: motor is still sitting on the crane. I got that strainer installed in the oil pump, that's like $30 in bolts to get to. Took the time to add a completely new oil cooler and gasket.

My guy sent me a gently abused IS38 to get it going. Got that bolted up, but I ordered a new turbo with all the sales, so I might wait to bolt it into the car until that's here. Kinda way easier to do that with the motor out. Installed the IS38 in less than an hour (which is sad that it took more than 20 minutes tbh).