Ok so I need to make a choice to buy a 98 A4 1.8T 5spd AWD.

My old boss got this car on the cheap that had been overheated. It would run but the compression was toast! thus most likly just rings?

I got the engine out yesterday, which was extremely quick!

Anyway, I can buy this car off of the guy for 2,500 but I would then need to get a clutch, timing belt, RMS and what not for it adding up to a little over 3Gs to be back to stock.

What I really want is a 300WHP set-up and possibly later a 6spd tranny install.

Is it worth bothering to keep the engine out and wait for the funds to do all of this or not? I would be doing the fallowing as a rough idea.

turbo to support 300WHP (dont have enough research yet)
build a custom FMIC
Custom turbo back 3inch SS exhaust
Injectors
tune
and any other supporting mods that will help. All suspension and brakes will remain stock.

I wanted to get your guys opinions on this whole thing...

 

Well for starters, i think $2500 for a 98 with a toasted motor is a little high. Not sure about the turbo and FMIC setup, i'm a 12ver. Although I do think 300 is a perfectly reasonable number to shoot for. Do you have a lot of experience building motors?

 

ya price is too high. however an elim setup will do it

 

2500+3000=5500. you can buy a already running A4 with no problems for 5500. if he wants to take 1000 off the price then go for it. overheating can = warped head among other expensive things. you are going to be replacing more then just the rings. this car could end up costing you $8k to get up and running. got some more info on the cars history before you buy.

 

ok, a little misunderstanding here.

I would be paying 2,500 for the car with a 100K mile engine that is being picked up today. The car was bought for 1K and the engine is being bought for 1K but the owner wants a little bit of profit. I'm installing the engine on monday with a new clutch, RMS and timing belt. So If i wanted to buy the car after I was done putting it back together then it would cost me around 3K due to the new parts being installed.

I would have the spare overheated engine at hand which I really dont think is worth anything. I mean I could get the head milled but are the AEB heads worth keeping?

As for building the engine, I wouldnt be doing any internal changes. Ive been building Volvos for a good while now and thats cake to get 300WHP but you just have to make sure you have a good tune or say bye bye to your rods!

The reason why I would be doing a 300WHP build an an A4 instead of a AWD X70 is becuase the Volvo AWD systems wont hold up to the task.

 

With the extra engine it sounds like a good deal but if you want to go 300hp it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a full engine build just for the extra security and possibly saving you money in the future. I know people get that kind of hp out of stock internals but I think do it right or don't do it. A good idea would to be just start w/ what you have drop in the engine w/ an upgraded clutch drive it a while see what the car needs to be perfect as the suspension is going to need work and possibly other things as well. You may need a wheel bearing or 2, tie rods, control arms, cv's, and possibly even struts. Sounds like a car that will make an excellent start though. I think the price is great if you can put it together and get it up to par for 3500. Oh and make sure your doing a full timing belt replacement with the new engine meaning tensioner, water pump, any pulleys just in case.

 

ok let me get this strait. you were given a $1000 car with an overheated engine to fix. then you got another engine for $1000. you are going to put the new engine in there. then possibly buy the car, fix the old engine, then put it back in the car? that sounds like alot more effort then you need to do. if your going to buy the car, just give him 1500 bucks and dont buy the new engine, and work on the current engine.

also a fully working AEB head goes for between 800-1200 so depending on how damaged it is or isnt, it might be worth fixing. AEB heads have bigger ports then later models so everyone likes to swap them out.

if your going for 300wph spend the extra $350 and get some scatt rods and new bearings while you have everything apart anyways. a 350ftlb tq spike will snap the stock rods, you are getting into this territory and already have everything apart anyways. theres no reason to not spend the time now and possibly blow the whole motor in 6 months.

and as long as you are replacing rods, the rest of the engine and transmission can hold 500+hp as long as you have the right clutch. volvo all wheel drive is garbage compared to the quattro system. mike@dth has a 600 wheel horse power A4 on the stock drivetrain that he drives every day for the past 3 years or something.

the only possible weak point, and i only know 2 guys who have had problems with this, are a set of bolts in the center differential that sometimes dont hold up. but thats only when your going for like 450+whp. and 95% of people never have a problem with these.

 

you got to start all over again if you want 300whp on an old engine. Yeah 300whp is easily achievable but with a healthy low miled engine. These sound exhausted. Do a compression test, unless it aint running. Do at MINIMUM drop-in rods, rings and bearings. While you got the engine fvck elim set up and get your self a SPA mani with a snail of your choice (2871r, a 30 series, and there are a lot of other brands surfacing like Bullseye and the old t3/t4's. Also HTA) FYI screw the 6-speed. They're a no-no. 2.8's longer gears are way better. Don't throw in a stock clutch yet cuz it'll be toast with a few hard drives. Go Stage 5. 3" ss custom sounds good. Do turbo back if you got no emissions, straightpipe the bitch and she'll growl nasty. 550 or 6** cc injectors with a Uni file. Now for a custom FMIC...unless you're going with a Precision 600 core get a ER or Racetec. I think they're under $1,400 but that has enough ci's for the turbo air and avoid heatsoak. Go any bigger and you'll be asking to choke and add unnecessary lag. Lemme know if you got any more ?'s.


BTW, thisll be a lot more than f/n $5,000. You still have no brakes or suspension along with any other things you may need for a 98

 

Ok idono if I'm totally screwing up how I'm saying this or not but here it is again.

The car had an overheated engine. A used one was bought. it will be installed and I will have the option to buy it in RUNNING condition for 3K and that includeds a new clutch, timing belt, rollers, seals and WP. I will have left over a overheated AEB engine to do whatever with, even if I dont buy the car.

As for 300WHP, since rods are just not something I want to bother with right this moment then I will probably keep most things stock and work with just custom mods to keep the price down. As in exhaust, FMIC, turbo and tune...

 

ok well thats not a bad deal then i guess. but im still asking, if you are going to buy the car, why are you taking out the engine, replacing it, then building the first engine, then changing the engine out again?

if your not going to do it right the first time dont bother doing it at all. your going to be playing russian roulette with your engine.

if you have the engine sitting out of the car, you have to do the piston rings, so you will have the pistons and rods out of the engine for that anyway. just throw some new rods in there.

if you do not do the rods, every time you are about to pull off a stop light you will have in the back of your head a question of "will today be the day i blow a hole in my engine block?". and if you decide to do them in the future, its going to take 8 hours of labor to take it all apart and put it all together again. $350 bucks for a set of rods is worth the piece of mind, trust me.

btw- 300whp is like 375 to low 400's crank horsepower. people have snapped rods on MUCH lower power then that.