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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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 Posted:
Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:04 pm |
 
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My project is finally going forward and I've been following audifans for a while so I guess it's time to introduce myself and the car...
My Audi is an import from Italy that came here as a diplomatic vehicle...I then got her through a weird exchange of car for labour sort of thing back in september and have been trying to get her road worthy since....my insurance company refused to put her on the road because the VIN wasn't in their system....anyways finally got everything sorted out (had to switch 4 cars and 2 properties to a new insurance company just to get this one insured) thanks to a fellow Audi driver...
Here's how she came to me...
I recently decided to enter the car in Targa Newfoundland for one of the biggest rallies in North America...For the purpose I had to cage it and get some more 'go'...
and of course I had to shoot a video of me taking the dash apart so they can work on it 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwz0syVdZfk&hd=1
Recently I came home after 3 long months away for work and immediately got to work...picked up an S6 as a donor and got the B4 back from the cage builder...
I got started on the S6 engine:
here's where we started...
mid-way
looks like the car took a hit on the right side...the main beam was bent and the right-side mount is ripped...
having some trouble reaching the 4th bolt on the exhaust pipe...
I couldn't get ahold of the downpipe bolt at first...a seized driveshaft bolt made it impossible to reach back without getting the downpipe out so I decided to take the head off (thinking the exhaust will follow)...If I only thought this through I'd see that the driver side downpipe would never squeeze through there...In the end when I lifted the head up I managed to get a wrench around the last downpipe bolt and got the exhaust out of there...
Mid afternoon:
and after a very good fight with this donkey I managed to pull it out...
and of course I had to play with my old R32 bumper
so this is where I sit currently...the next thing is to pull the electrical out of the S6, put apart the block and head and send them off to the machine shop...I've already ordered a JE/Integrated engineering piston/rod combo which should freshen things up pretty good under there...
stay tuned for more updates in the next couple of days... |
Last edited by NiTeC on Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sidrick
Needs to get out more
Joined: Jun 11, 2008
Posts: 183
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Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:06 pm |
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I've been following this on the S2 forum.
One hell of a project and great work so far  |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:48 pm |
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what a pleasure it was to talk to 034 Motorsport today...no hesitation just straight service... :thanks:
on the order:
JE 81.5mm pistons
Scat rods
Main/connecting bearings
APR head studs
Also after a quick discussion with Dan (I think) we changed the turbo selection to the Garrett GT2871RS for a more linear power curve...he was worried the 3071 I had chosen would be way too much for the curves I'm about to tackle...the best thing is the turbo will be direct bolt-on to the stock manifold and I can use my original WG...here's some specs on their chip:
Specifications:
-26psi overboost, 22psi to redline, 7200rpm rev limiter
-Air/Fuel ratio 11.5-11.8 under boost, 14.7 under light load and idle conditions. Recommended for 91-93 octane fuel.
-330 wheel HP (to the wheels), estimated 400-425 crank HP.
-Injector duty cycle 85-90% max. under full load at peak rpm of 7200rpm.
very very very exciting stuff! |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Fri Apr 01, 2011 1:48 am |
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got some more work done today - tackled the wiring and damn what a task that was...
got in there:
had to take out the stupid heater because you can't pull out the wires without it...that thing is as big as the engine...
and after a couple of hours of solid and very uncomfortable fight:
then I got started on the head:
ok - what the heck is the secret to taking the intake manifold and the coolant crack pipe off? there are two bolts on the coolant line that are inaccessible from the top and without taking that off you can't get the manifold...there's gotta be a trick of some kind...
and the first of the parts started coming in...
hahaha - yeah I know the gaskets should be arriving last but at least it makes it look like it will actually be done one day |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:45 am |
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very productive weekend this was....
Started off with:
and finished with:
then ripped the S4 legs off..
and dropped it like it's hot!
(on 3" wheels that is  )
and as the S4 drove away on a flatbed the B4 rolled into the garage...
started cleaning up the cage:
From the front:
From the back:
and after some proper scrubbing and a first coat of paint it cleaned up pretty good:
 
The interior needs another coat or two and then everything goes back in...the pistons and rods should be in this week and the engine and head are off to the shop... |
Last edited by NiTeC on Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:36 pm |
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productivity is my middle name
touched the cage up a little bit
went from dirty:
to clean:
decided to play with the bumper:
R32? Why the heck not
a bit of trimming and a fresh coat:
 
and hmmm...what could this be?
:thanks: 034!!!
the interior is going in tomorrow and I'll try to get the bumper setup...the seat belts are the last thing I need to start driving around...still 2.0E but I'll get some seat time which is priceless... |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:18 pm |
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a crummy day can always pull a 180 when a box arrives
started putting everything back together:
the turbo is shipping out to G Pop Shop today...here's the 'before':
very excited to see it rebuilt...
and the engine is ready for the shop:
when all of this comes back, the head will have new guides and seals, the block will be bored out .5mm and the crank should be polished and balanced...
Emil
Eurotrash Motorsports on The Race for CHEO |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:02 am |
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rather slow weekend...not much to do at this point while I wait for the shop to finish the engine...
test fitted the R32 bumper...it will need a little more work but I think it looks acceptable...
also the belts came in so the interior is pretty much finished...
Talked 'brakes' with a Targa veteran and he basically said I don't need to worry about them...there's only 1 stage with significant breaking and its at the end of the day so even if I toast the rotors it won't be an issue...I'm still going to try and get ahold of a hydraulic hand brake, a proportioning valve and get rid of the ABS
How about suspension? It looks like Bilstein has a nice set of front/rear shocks..what about springs? I don't care for lowering the vehicle as I need travel but it would be good to have a stiffer spring...can't find anything from H&R...keep in mind it's a FWD...
also - this was submitted to the design competition...meeting with the wrap shop mid week to try and get it done
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:19 am |
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while dealing with the head issues I decided to tackle the understeering issue...
before:
now what can I possibly use that won't cost me money and will help move the weight in a corner...I know...a MK4 rear sway bar...
How convenient is it that the 2001 VW Jetta rear subframe is identical to the 1993 Audi 80 subframe?
the brackets fit like a glove...I still need to figure out the shock attachment points though...there's a little issue with those...here you can see the MK4 bolt (small) and 80 bolt (large)
the way larger 80 bolt means I can't use the current rod end bearings so I have to figure out a little fix...the problem is the sway bar end is a rather small diameter compared to the shock bolt end...here you can see the rear (small) vs. front (large) rod end bearings for the Neuspeed sway bars...I have an insert that allows me to use a smaller bolt with the front rod end but the 80 bolt is still too big...gotta visit the local bolt shop...
and here's the fit with and without a shock...
and started cleaning my speedlines...
here's the before:
the after will come tomorrow... |
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audioc
Site OWNER
Joined: Jan 17, 2003
Posts: 12502
Location: E Bay?
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Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:52 am |
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looking good! 
The cage seems a little "over complex" compared to others I've seen in the past? |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:44 pm |
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gotta keep my a** safe |
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steveh
Audi Nut
Joined: Nov 30, 2007
Posts: 97
Location: Kinross
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Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:53 pm |
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How's the project going matey? |
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NiTeC
Newbie
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 10
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Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:09 pm |
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lol...the project is done I guess I haven't updated in forever...let's see if I can summarize the last 3 months in pictures and videos...
56k - sooooooooo sorry....
| Quote: | haven't updated in a while...
Got a few things cleaned up...
Before:
After:
have to figure out what to do with these pieces....powder coat? wrinkle finish?
Engine's back home...
Refinished my wheels (the sand blaster guy said he couldn't clean them off so I had to do it by hand - different guy next time that's for sure...)
and mounted the bumper a little more securely...the side profile is a little off...
but the front makes it all better
First track event next week and the car is getting dropped off for the wrap right after...can't wait to slap my 034 decals on courtesy of Sam...
put together a little solution to the sway bar problem - ordered a few things at a local machine shop - we`ll see how they turn out...
all right...figured out the sway bar - the solution is in 'testing' mode so unless it fails it's awesome
replaced the big 5/8" bolt with a 5/8"->3/8" sleeve and a 3/8" bolt...the bolt is now 7" long to give space for the spherical bearing...technically it should have been 6.5" but the store was short (haha get it - short) on 6.5" bolts...I used a nylon lock nut to secure it in place...the sleeve fits perfectly inside the assembly and everything was nice and tight...
as soon as I put everything back together I remembered the sway bar was actually wider than it should have been...I was pressed for time as I had to be at the track in 2 hours so I just fabbed up a quick spacer and used a 3/8" bolt on the bottom as well...this can likely be done a little better but it works for now...
took the car to the track....holy tail happy batman people were worried about understeering I am worried about oversteering the car felt great on the track - very predictable and controllable....the back is very light and was constantly in a hurry to go first...some throttle play and everything was in check....the gearing is extremely poor for any type of racing - 2nd gear is way too high and 3rd gear is way too low...basically I needed something right between 2nd and 3rd the whole time....not much fun in the straights either but I'm hoping the new engine will change all that
oh and of course - got a box in the mail...Thanks Sam!
also - spent some time being eaten by the flies at the Lanark Highlands Forest Rally...
some teaser footage:
http://youtu.be/HDBcLOmhjhU
thumbs up to 53 colors for being patient with all of my wishes
did some investigative work in the quattro swap direction...
1. the shocks mounting is identical between the FWD and quattro chassis
2. looks like the shocks themselves are identical as well - the quattro version has them slightly twisted but the setup looks the same - this makes things very easy because it looks like when it comes to shocks and springs a FWD and quattro cars have identical setups...this also means I can now use springs off a quattro car...the "FWD" version is not available in NA
3. there are 4 attachment points to the 'quattro' part of the equation - you all knew that already...the question was whether everything quattro will swap directly over...after a good hour of staring at the four bolts it looks to me that 2/4 bolts match...the back two holes need to be drilled/tapped into the frame...everything else looks identical
4. can't see much with the fuel tank in but looking from the top the floor plans look the same so i`ll assume attaching the back end of the quattro should be rather trivial
here are some pictures (it was very tight under there...i`ll def undo both back ends and at least mock up a swap...
FWD - passenger side - looking from the back towards the front - this is where the back quattro bolt should be..I was hoping the bolt holding the exhaust hanger will match up but no dice...the diff mount sits forwards of this bolt...
couple of shots of the front subframe mount on the FWD...there are 3 bolts holding it to the chassis...the bolt on the left matches the front diff mount bolt...looks like this one will be plug and pay...
the quattro front bolt:
same bracket on the passenger side:
and the quattro version:
the quattro setup is very 'busy' making it hard to take good shots and measurements...it will be easier to just drop everything down and mount it up on the FWD to see how things look...I am guessing that will be done next week at some point...
meanwhile got some shocks installed while I was under there...everything off:
the back installed:
the front will need a few parts - most bolts were seized and I had to cut a few things off...I`ll be needing new sway bar links and I figured I`ll change the tie rods while I`m in there...it also looks like the shock bearings up top are in need of refreshment...
overall - good work today
well....this was a busy day got lots done and lots more to go...
as promised this weekend was devoted to the quattro swap so here we go...
8am...."ahhhhh shit...the shock mounts are different..."
well this project ended up quite quickly...
wait...what's this?
looks like Audi in their infinite wisdom decided to put the holes just in case so I have a 'universal' bolt pattern meaning I can put in the FWD rear shocks or the quattro rear shocks...
k...the shocks are out...clearly different even though they looked pretty close while installed on the cars...
what's next...well let's drop it all down...
you can kind of see where the front diff mounts align with...
it's the right hole here:
these holes are already there...the back I thought was going to be a little different, however I tried the screwdriver trick again and guess what - the holes are there
all right - let's sum this up....the shocks mount 100%...the two front diff mounts bolt directly to the body...the two back diff mount holes are there but there's no thread...it looks like the floor is right above that which means we'll need to cut the floor up a little bit to get access to the top of the holes...I'm thinking of simply welding a nut there or something...
here are the two floors:
Quattro:
FWD:
here are the two tanks:
Quattro:
FWD:
some minor differences:
Quattro:
FWD:
Quattro:
FWD:
and mandatory quattro shots:
still to do:
1. fab up mounts for the front diff support - not existent on the FWD floor plan
2. fab up mounts for the drive axle bearing
3. swap the transmission
4. enjoy quattro
I`ll have to source out the tank supports for the quattro - the ones from the sedan were completely rusted through...also I've have to refresh everything up at the back...perhaps a sway bar that's thicker than a pencil...
so there you have it folks...quattro swaps - no big deal...
some engine work...
I`ll try to finish most of it by the end of the week...still stuck with the head issue...waiting for a call from the shop today...got the call that the turbo was refinished at GPopShop - picking it up on tuesday...
mmmm spare parts
do you think my mom will flip when she sees the driveway?
and thumbs way up for the work Jim and Gary at GPopShop did...
let me remind you how it left my house:
the shop asked me to get the tranny to them so they can make sure everything is aligned properly...so I took it out
let's play a game I like to call 'what did this tranny come from'
some more work:
waiting on a gasket or two to finish the bottom end completely...
meanwhile got the wastegate off the manifold and managed to clean everything up...
everything was insanely rusted...I wonder if I can still use this diaphragm...
some parts ready to go - just need the head now...
I`ll try to get the gaskets tomorrow...as soon as I mount them up, I`ll get the clutch on and mount the tranny...then I`ll have to wait for the welding to finish for the quattro and then everything is going in...my hope is to have everything finished by the end of June except the head...waiting on a quote from Sam@034 for a complete rebuild and 7A->AAN conversion...I`m done playing around with this - not much time left - I still need to test this car out before we head to Targa...
here's today's progress:
took the 7A pan off and cleaned it up as much as I could...
added the AAN baffle...
mounted on the engine:
block->gasket->baffle->gasket->pan (a little bit of a weird design IMO)
worked on the 01A from the A4...took the shifter off, swapped the plastic clutch slave cylinder with the metal one off the V6, got the new bearing in there....
got working on the engine side of things:
had to stop because I needed some help with aligning the tranny and stuff...so I decided to take apart the extra bits I got off the V6...
oh look at this - brakes are 2 piston vs. my tiny 2.0E brakes...nice!
the calipers haven't been used in a while so it will take a little bit of elbow grease but I think it will be a nice upgrade to what's on the car right now...also took the shocks off to start rebuilding with the Billsteins but decided to wait for the car and see which ones are in better shape...
shipped the head out to 034....hopefully it will be back by mid July....I should have done this a long time ago...who would have thought nobody would want to do this locally...60.9lbs shipping weight - should be even higher when they ship it back to me...
hmmm...just realized Dave suggested using the 7A oil pickup tube - I have already closed everything up with the AAN tube - what's the problem? everything lined up fine...
I'm getting dangerously efficient at destroying cars
a shot of the ABS...
notice - no prop valve as this is FWD and the prop valve is mounted to the rear sub frame...
the fan...I`ll try to use the same rad-fan setup if possible...
the ABK - pretty sure the engine's been swapped at some point...the odo reads 400+ km...
weird (different) driver side tranny mount...
results in the following difference in subframes...
dirty:
clean:
ABS completely out...didn't cut a single wire - very proud of myself
wiring mess in:
wiring mess out:
I wonder if the 01A will have issues with this extra bit?
mandatory quattro shots:
the quattro work the shop had to do was fairly straight forward...nothing crazy...i`ll drop it down tomorrow to get better shots....
and got the heater out:
tomorrow is a short day but I still hope to drop the rear end, clean it, clean the interior, put apart the heater and remove all AC shit, figure out the clearance issues with the 01A and mount everything up...sounds like something I can do by lunch right?
all of this was performed at 30+ degree sunshine....I need beer...bad!!!
short but insanely hot day today...
dropped the rear diff to take some shots of the mounts...
rear subframe bolt mounts:
front diff mounts:
central bearing mounts:
and yeah...mounted the engine...WTF!!!!
I sat there staring at it for a few minutes freaking out...luckily I had the 7A mount to try...
phew...I`ll source out the passenger side as well...looks like the UrS4 mounts aren't a good fit...I should have expected that...
silly photobucket....thinks it can slow me down
started mocking stuff up in wait for the head....
tried to figure out what bumper to use...I gotta hang a pretty big IC (Greddy 28r off my old Mk4) and was thinking it has to fit the rad as well...the V6 rebar seems to work (without the dampers)...I`ll have to drill some holes...
here's the front done...
interior is ready for some cables:
hey look what I found at the local junk yard...
all of my problems are solved lovin the price list too: rad 40$, alu head with cams - 40$...gotta put apart a whole lot of it to get to the passenger side engine mount though - pain in my a**...
oh wait - I was wrong...the rad won't work 
sigh....
yeah there's a Wagner IM that can be used but there's no need...plenty of alternatives
bled the brakes and the clutch although the clutch took a little while....it looks to me like the clutch has discovered the secret to anti-gravity...the liquid was NOT flowing down that's for sure...the most exciting part of the brakes:
the rad and intercooler were finalized and I cleaned and painted the rebar...the pictures are a little dark but I`m happy with the result...
it ain't easy bein cheesy let me tell ya certainly did wonders for boostin my enthusiasm
busted out a box of goodies that I've been itching to get my hands on for over 5 months...
got everything mounted up and came up with 2 acc. belt setups
1. tightened using the alternator and a custom bracket i`m about to fab up
2. conventional belt tensioner
about an inch difference between the two....notice I`m not using the fan pulley
this is where I`m going to put the bracket for the alternator if I go that route....
hydraulic pump issue solved - V6 pump swapped over..you can see the differences here - the AAN pump has an 'add-on' that is basically that third port...
the ABK pump is actually the same but uses different mounting so can't use it...
actually so is the Eurovan one anyways...the alternator is in a rough condition - been sitting around for a while but the damn thing is 200$...it's the same as the V6 one but my V6 alternator is completely seized...
the Eurovan one is different...I can probably make it work but won't try until I've made sure I can't find a V6 one...
belt's done...46" using the conventional tensioner and no fan pulley...it's pretty solid...
ready for battle
well...not exactly but def ready for exhaust and IC piping...
proper wheel gap...and it will only get bigger with the Kumho tires
hmm...I noticed today the bumper is a little short with the IC installed...i`ll have to come up with a creative bumper extension...
mmmm clean....
straight 2.5" pipe, used the Urs4 downpipe but modified to fit the B4 chassis + added an extra 02 bung for the wideband sensor...3" hi-flow cat, no muffler or resonator...this will be LOUD!
stainless steel piping for the IC - next time it will be done with thinner walled alu but for now this will do...the MAF is mounted just before the TB - I was going to put the whole thing together but couldn't get those damn silicone couplers over the MAF....any ideas how to 'soften' them up a little?
picked up some goodies...
that helmet is BADASS!!!! gotta take some better pics of it on my heat...the intercom is also Stilo WRC and it's amazing...
also managed to get the couplers loosened up - used a bottle of Baileys and a heat gun - worked like a charm...so here's the finished setup...
swapped on my R615s so I can bring the rims over to get the Kumhos mounted....205/50/15 - this is what the actual wheel gap will be...I`m wondering why the front wheels are seeing a bigger gap than the back - I would have expected the opposite...
overnight from Japan - Mishimoto low profile fan....nice and snug..
and this is where I`m going to mount the battery...it would be good to get something a little thinner so it fits in the floorpan better...
Just wanted to say a big thanks to Carl @ Perry Performance for inviting me to the ASE Lapping day at the Autodrome St. Eustache...it gave me a great opportunity to test the new engine and drive train before Targa in 3 weeks...
We didn't manage to break anything, learned a few things about the car and had great amounts of fun in the 30 degree weather...
last time I drove this car it was pushing 80whp and FWD...now I was running upwards of 200whp and a quattro...completely different animal....I looked like an absolute rookie all morning the organizers were very patient with my apparent lack of any driving skills and didn't kick me off the track...I had never driven with these brakes as they were taken off the V6...the discs were gone but I didn't have time to get a new set before the track so I drove all day with basically no brakes...every time I touched the brake pedal the steering wheel started shacking like the wheels were going to come off...
anyways here's a few shots...
ready for battle:
my poor dad holding for dear life (we haven't even left the pits yet)
my future navigator ("Can we go faster?")
some track action:
can you say body roll?
of course - what's a testing session if you don't get problems - we let the magic smoke out...
Lessons learned:
1. car understeers
2. lots of body roll
3. need new brakes
4. a random cut-out under hard left cornering in 2-nd gear...thought I ran out of gas on the first one...did it twice more...
5. cooling issues - there's something fishy...the ECT gauge in my cluster showed 100+ consistently...my rad thermoswitch starts the fan at 100 gauge degrees...the water didn't boil until we hit close to 115 gauge degrees...I`m very inclined to believe that the gauge is not measuring right...I`ll have to see if there's any difference between the B4 and S4 gauges...the sensors are different but not sure if their temp specs are the same...also the pusher rad fan wasn't doing a very good job...a lot of the air was simply bouncing back from the rad and not cooling properly which I had already expected...the fact that I ran with no bumper didn't help - I imagine the rad was just a wall in front of the airflow...
played around with the system today...currently the fan on the front is setup as a pusher - a lot of the air is just bounced back...it's pretty easy to notice...with the fan on at idle the temp does NOT go down period no matter how long the car sits there...I flipped the fan into a puller (still at the front of the rad) and there's a significant difference in the performance...at idle it managed to keep the temp at bay...to avoid reconfiguring everything i`m going to get myself a second identical fan...I will wire them together and hook them up to a DPDT switch so I can switch the direction at will...that way I can run then as pushers when the car is moving and pullers when idling to achieve best cooling in both situations...the ducting is very important but there's pretty much no space to do anything there...if one fan can work good as a puller a pair will be sufficient...I can also test running them as pullers while moving to see what works best...
the idle is still all over the place and I`m not happy with it...it's not the spark plugs and it's not the injectors...it feels to me like one of the cylinders is simply not working or working bad - can't figure out a way to pinpoint which one...still have to hook up the vag-com and see what the computer has to say...also started seeing some blue smoke out the back at idle...noticed a similar thing a few days ago - checked compression - 12atm across the board so the rings are fine...retorqued the head so it's not that either...either the turbo's pissing oil in the exhaust or the PCV is throwing some oil in my intake...
all right folks...it's time I did a more detailed write up...I`m sorry it took a while but I haven't had a single minute since we're been back and even now I`m stuck in China Lake, California with some slow internet making it hard to finish processing the footage...
We wanted to get to Newfoundland a few days ahead of schedule to give us a chance to drive a few of the more complicated stages. It was the first event for both my father in the navigator seat and myself in the driver seat. To top that off we had virtually no test time with the car so we were worried we`ll be having hardware issues. In any case it took us a few days to get there. We stopped by in Halifax for some fresh fish and a little cruise to Peggy's Cove.
The ferry ride is rather long at 14hrs or so. We got to meet a few of the other teams on the boat and had a chance to review the route books and discuss the calls from the navigator seat. Once off the boat, we headed to St. John's, where we were staying for a few days. We were also scheduled for the Targa Newfoundland school which was to run on Thursday and Friday and is taught by Targa veteran Glen Clarke (Openroad Motorsports). I already took it last year but it was going to be beneficial to my dad as it focuses on navigation and gives a good description of some of the more problematic parts of the route. We spent a couple of days driving various stages with Carbonear and Brigus being the most interesting ones.
The thursday session was in class and gave us a chance to review some theory and meet a few other competitiors including Zahir Rana who brought his Ferrari Enzo along for a ride. On friday we took a short ferry ride over to Bell Island, where we were going to run a practice stage to get some seat time.
A few pictures from friday:
As the day was progressing, the speed was building up. We ran the stage one way in the morning and the opposite way in the afternoon. There was a pretty quick right hand turn with gravel on it, which I had driven all morning and was fully aware of. The car gave me no problems crossing over the gravel beforehand. My original plan was to take it easy for the first few days of the race until I`m more familiar with the car and avoid doing something stupid. Unfortunately, that right hander had different plans for me. On my last run, the car hit the gravel, the rear end came out and my natural reaction was to counter steer to correct the oversteering. Later I found out that this is by far the worst approach to the situation. Glen had mentioned a few times that when you hit gravel you should avoid overreacting. I now know exactly what he meant. The problem is the transition from gravel to tarmac. Once traction is restored, the car goes exactly where the tires are pointing - in my case a 10ft ditch filled with rocks.
Here is the full video of that run...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VapQcxi4UyI
The result was of course rather sad...
The crash aftermath...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8iPZOeZsUs
This was also the first time we met with the famous Newfoundland local hospitality and spirit...we had over 20 kids get together to help us dig the car out. When the tow truck said he can't get us out of the mud without sinking himself, everybody started calling their friends to bring their trucks, ATVs etc over. In the end everybody pitched in and we pushed the car out for the truck to be able to tow it.
We headed home rather down in spirit. I thought the race was done for us but my dad remained calm and kept saying we need to make a list of all that is broken and fix it. This is also the first time we met the famous Targa Newfoundland competitor spirit - we had over 5 teams offer help in various ways. Glen told me one of his techs is flying in from Ottawa the next morning and can bring any parts we might need. We rolled up our sleeves, took the whole front apart that night and made a list of everything we need. Lucky for us, I had that donor car still sitting in front of my house. The extra control arm, a set of headlights, a half shaft and some other bits were at our hotel at lunch the next day and so the rebuilding began. We had to be careful to not miss our registration and first aid courses, however we were forced to miss the scrutineering and the 'Prologue' stage on sunday. The Prologue, however, is not included in the overall scoring - it's more of a warmup and allows the officials to set the starting order for the next day. Needless to say we were placed at the end of the pack.
Here we are making a bumper out of Canadian Tire sheet metal
Along the way we had to get a new alignment - the front left tire was completely out of whack even after we replaced the control arm. The Capital Group of St. John's did us a big favor by putting our car on their brand new state of the art alignment setup in one of their Subaru Dealerships...
Monday morning came. We were able to finish everything we had to by late sunday night and were lined up for scrutineering at 7am on monday. Needless to say people couldn't believe we were actually going to start the race, but when we fired the engine up all doubts were gone - we were back in the race! Scrutineering was not an issue - the car was actually set up pretty good for all the safety stuff. We passed our breathalyzer test and loaded up - off we went. The day started off with a transit to the first stage. The problems started as soon as I backed off the gas on the highway off ramp. A huge cloud of smoke came out and of course all doubts were back in. We parked at the breakfast location and everybody gathered around to see what's up. The car was completely engulfed in a cloud of white smoke - clearly oil or coolant. I thought we might have cracked the head or something of that sort but the engine ran just fine - just copious amounts of smoke. We made the decision to keep pushing - there was nothing we could do at the moment.
The smoking was getting worse but again - the car just kept running. We stopped for lunch and started tracking down the drivers around us and saying sorry for chocking them all morning.We lined up the first stage after lunch and off we went. Two minutes later, one of the marshals signaled us for emergency and to stop immediately. We came around the corner and found this:
This was a rather interesting crash involving some rather interesting people.
The driver of the Nissan is Mark Kostick. He owns a Kia and Nissan dealerships in Western Canada. Mark prepared a Kia Forte Koup last year and raced Targa. He mis-shifted and blew the engine up, ripped the engine out of a brand new car and managed to finish the race, but lost the leadership. Since then, Mark's apparently had a chip on his shoulder and was determined to win this year. So here we are - mid day monday. Mark comes around flying out of a corner, doesn't listen to his navigator, loses control, slams into the guard rails twice and ends up in the rear end of Danny Williams' Subaru STI. Now for those of you who are not following Canadian politics, Danny Williams is the son of Newfoundland's ex prime minister, who's had a rather 'interesting' life himself. His Subaru left the start line with white smoke. Turns out, they had a head gasket issue and overheated on their way through the stage. They parked the car on the side and got out asap. That might have saved their lives or very bad injuries at least.
Mark wasn't so happy. AFAIK he broke his back in the crash. Now - it gets even more interesting here. Mark was supposed to support the Kia Forte, which Kia bought back from him and gave to driver Jacques Deshaies and navigator Shaun Keenan - journalists with Autonet.ca. We became pretty good friends with the Autonet/Kia team through the week - great guys. Anyways - Mark had promised to support their team through the week. Soon after the crash though, he ordered his crew to pack it up and head back, leaving the Kia team stranded with no support. They sorted it all out through Kia and finished the race with very good scoring.
As soon as we drove away from the crash, we passed a yellow Porsche Turbo in the water. The driver, Bruno Rodrigues, miscalculated a corner, took out a rock and caused some serious damage to his Turbo. My crew helped him get the Porsche out of the water and loaded him up on our trailer. Funny enough, a day later, we tried to tow start his car after it died at the end of a stage - pretty funny stuff.
We had serious work that night - the turbo had to come out. While the other teams were busy polishing their cars and signing autographs, we were yet again taking the front apart. Lucky for us I had a spare. Hours later we were ready to go and I took her for a spin. I had full power and was very happy. We didn't consider the fact that the car was cold and the air temp was very low. The next day, the ECU started cutting the boost off pretty quickly when the car warmed up. We thought that improving the airflow through the improvised metal pipe would help us out and instead of setting up the intercooler we spent the time cutting holes in the bumper, hoping it will work.
That's also the first night we slept inside
The next day we kept having the same problems - tried a few things like unplugging the boost control valve but nothing helped. We were still running but had no power at all, which kind of sucked as we ran two of the fastest stages that week and kept getting passed by the next team. This is also the day we had to run Gander. Here is a spectator video of that stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWEeUb5CV8U
You can see us around 2.00min and you can hear the car run like poop but there was nothing we could do. We had another busy evening ahead of us. I had an extra 1.8T intercooler and luckily had brought the stock turbo intake and throuttle hoses from the S4. Surprisingly, it didn't take us very long to set the intercooler up - we had power again. This time I made sure I warmed the car up and did some more thorough testing before I was happy with the results.
We ran our best two stages the next morning. The car ran great and my dad and I were getting used to the communications. With the exception of a late 'Tripple Warning' call on his side, which gave me goosebumps, everything else ran smoothly. People were no longer passing us - in fact considering the rainy stage, the quattro gave us a good advantage. Here's the footage from Boat Harbour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI-g1zTpxVg
The good times didn't last very long. After lunch, the race resumed out of order for some reason. We didn't figure it out and thought we were late for our turn. As we were in a hurry and basically lined up at the start line as we pulled up, I made the mistake of dropping the clutch. The car didn't move. We quickly pushed it off to the side and had to sit there watching everybody else run while I wasn't sure if we blew the tranny, lost the clutch or something else. This stage also claimed the first injured spectator in 10 years of Targa history. In any case, after a quick inspection I figured out that we stripped the rear right shaft. We still had that spare that flew in from Ottawa for the front so naturally we started hoping they are the same. But they're not. Took us a while to figure out a way to retro-fit the shaft so that we can use it. We also ran into that Newfoundland hospitality again. We pushed the car into a local's driveway and while we were trying to fix it, a few of the neighbours were helping us out. They also brought us some sort of fried moose pancakes, moose steaks and one of the guys gave my dad a pair of moose antlers as a present.
In the end, not finishing 2 stages wasn't so bad after all. Thursday also claimed the Enzo - it ended up in the river after a little gravel exercise similar to mine. You can watch Zahir's footage here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaMkT1Dk6xQ
We had to transit the stage after his crash:
here his crew is trying to dry off the interior and the electronics of this 2.3mil $ car
Friday came with it's own set of challenges. Hurricane Maria rolled through the island. We saw winds in the 90km/h range and insane amounts of rain. The organizers canceled the high speed morning stages due to standing water and high crash probability. We proceeded towards the last two stages - Carbonear and Brigus. They were also the two stages we practiced a week before that. The car ran fine through the rain and the stages did not present any significant challenge. We had a little issue with the throttle after the first run of Carbonear but as soon as we got back to the start line everything was fine. Brigus was downgraded to road condition 3 due to the standing water and tight corners. I think that's the only stage we zeroed the whole week
Here's Carbonear 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSQH5Jh3mN0
Brigus 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCnnF4VNAvE
Brigus 2 - event finish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcbCm5PBOqk
Needless to say, passing the finish line was something extraordinary. I can't remember the last time I had this feeling of accomplishment. Everybody came to congratulate us - we were like the Targa success story . With this ended one of the most intense weeks of my life. We met some incredible people, saw some unbelieavable things and learned tons about ourselves and what it takes to succeed. I strongly recommend this adventure at least once in a lifetime - you will not regret it.
Also a good article by the Autonet guys that talks about the Eurotrash team...
http://www.autonet.ca/autos/news/2011/09/18/18705571-autonet.html |
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Sidrick
Needs to get out more
Joined: Jun 11, 2008
Posts: 183
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| Posted:
Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:26 am |
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Absolutely superb |
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bru_basic
Newbie
Joined: Apr 15, 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Swansea
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| Posted:
Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:40 pm |
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