So, nothing terribly exciting lately. The high compression ABA Mk2 has about 600 miles on it since the engine rebuild/swap, so I'm planning on an oil change tomorrow night. The original radiator was cracking around one of the upper mounts and seeping coolant, so I replaced that this past weekend. The oil pressure sensor mounted on the oil filter housing is leaking oil at the electrical connector. I'm also in the process of finding the best temperature range to use for spark plugs - I have mostly been running a set that are 1 heat range colder than stock. The stock heat range does appear to be a little too warm.

New summer tires came in a while back - a set of Nexen N3000, in 195/45-15. They were crazy cheap, and seem to grip just fine. I read some reviews which mentioned poor hydroplaning resistance, but it was pouring with rain today and they seemed to do well. They aren't super quiet, but they're one heck of a lot quieter than Yokohama A-520s (haha).

26896 views

No comments yet, click here to post yours!

Can you tell what's different in this picture, other than the front bumper finally being reinstalled?

Last inspection, I was told that I should have side marker lights on my 91 Golf for the next time. The previous owner had removed them and filled the holes in the fenders before painting the car. I decided that since anything I did would require modification to the fenders, I might as well do something cool looking and unusual. I don't care for the factory A2 side marker lights. I've always rather liked the A4 style side markers that are also found on some Audis and Passats - those small, clear, oval ones. So I ordered a pair, along with the amber colored bulbs, and also scored a pair of the bulb connectors to splice into my wiring. After that, it was simply a matter of making a template, and using that template to mark and cut holes in the front fenders - I chose to locate the new lights in the rear of each fender, just ahead of the front doors (very similar to their location on the A4s and Audis). With the inner wheel well linings removed, there was plenty of room to access the lights from the back. I'm pretty happy with the end result - definitely a huge improvement over the factory side markers.

Here's one of the 2 spliced adapters to go from the factory wiring harness to the Audi style light:


And here is a closer view of the end result:

1783 views

No comments yet, click here to post yours!

A quick update: a few nights ago my new alternator arrived and I installed it. No more charging problems! With everything working I was finally able to take her out for a spin around the block. The car had moved under its own power since the engine swap, but this was the first time I had really driven it. I'm hoping to get some video footage to post up - watch this space!

29189 views

1 comment, click here to view it!

I took a trip to Autozone this weekend, and it turns out that all 3 alternators are actually bad. Go figure. A new one is on its way. On a related note, I had tried taking one of the alternators to Pep Boys to have it tested - it took them 10 minutes to discover that they didn't have the right adapter to go from their machine to the exciter wire terminal. So if you want your A3 alternator tested, don't waste your time at Pep Boys.

29486 views

No comments yet, click here to post yours!

The major remaining issue with the high compression engine swap is the battery charging circuit. I've tried 3 different alternators so far, and all produce no output. The testing procedures in the Bentley manual lead to all 3 alternators being bad... but I just have a hard time believing that. What I need to do is take the alternators to an Autozone (free alternator testing!) so that I can be 100% certain. The wiring is so darn simple with these things, that I'm basically stumped.

On a more positive note, the motor runs great with the Techtonics 268 camshaft and the ignition timing close to correct. Some of you may be wondering why I chose the TT 268 over the 270. The 270 has better idle characteristics (close to stock, actually) and fantastic power gains. The 268 does have a little more lift, but I chose it mostly for it's large valve overlap period. It is also ground with an offset to favor top-end power. The larger valve overlap should really favor high compression applications like mine. Had I kept the factory compression ratio, then I would have chosen the 270.

30203 views

No comments yet, click here to post yours!

So, a little more than a week and a half ago, I started the high compression ABA engine for the first time. Since I half expected the engine to explode, I consider this a minor success. Ignition timing issues, alternator issues, and a clearance problem with the adjustable cam pulley kept me from running the engine for more than a couple of minutes.

Here are a couple of shots of the new engine, installed, and in a ready-to-run state:



And here is a close up view of the clearance problem with the Autotech adjustable cam gear - note the back surface of the gear, where it has "machined" itself against the edge of the valve cover.


I e-mailed Autotech to see if they had any advice as to whether I should shim the gear, or clearance the valve cover. I was leaning toward shimming the gear, since the timing belt was running just a hair over the outside edge of the gear. I never heard back from Autotech, but in the meantime I ordered a Techtonics 268 camshaft to install at the same time I addressed the cam gear issue. What I ended up finding was that the Techtonics camshaft was just a tiny bit longer than the stock camshaft I had been using, and so the cam gear sat that much further away from the valve cover, which eliminated the clearance problem. The new cam is now completely installed, and at the same time I addressed the ignition issue I was having. One of the pins on the ABA distributor body wasn't completely removed (it was sheared off) and that was limiting the amount of adjustment I could make to the ignition timing ... I couldn't get it advanced enough to run right before that pin got in the way.

So, I'm looking forward to starting it up with better ignition timing, and with the more aggressive camshaft in place.

31157 views

No comments yet, click here to post yours!