Update 10th October 2012:

My clutch pressure plate turned up, I got a call from my Audi dealership, to say it was here, so I made the trip down, to pick it up.

I thought it would be similar to that of the B5 S4 / RS4, but it's different. The diaphram springs are a lot stiffer, and at a different angle, so will have a greater clamping force. Fitted to the flywheel, it has a stack height of 85,0mm.

So pretty much ready to mount the lot to the engine, and then bolt the engine to the tranny. Next step will be to pull the 2,6 V6 12V engine and 5-speed manual tranny from the B5 A4 quattro, and clean up the bay. I also want to remove the secondary firewall, and prep the whole bay for paint, before the engine goes in. I'm painting the engine bay satin black.

 

As this is going to be a road, as well as a track car, and in view of the fact the interior's completely gutted, I've decided to go further.

My initial plan was to remove the dash, chop it up, then reinstall just the portion that houses the instrument cluster. I've now had a change of plan - there'll be no dash whatsoever.

And in the interest of safety and good handling, I'm going to stiffen up the entire bodyshell. I'm having a full roll cage custom built, and welded in. This will be done after the New Year. The roll cage will be built to accommodate my race seat, a race seat for a front passenger who may wish to ride shotgun, and will also brace the rear-mounted radiator housing. Of course, with all the seat belts deleted, I'll be relying on full racing harnesses.

I was going to get rid of the ABS, but having checked with VOSA, the car won't pass an MOT. If ABS was an option on the Audi A4, I could get away with it. But as ABS was standard equipment on all Audi A4, it'll have to stay. Oh well.

 

While awaiting a few bits and pieces, I decided to give the engine a bit of a clean-up.

The first parts I tackled, were the aluminum front timing belt covers. These were a standard grey, and looking a bit sorry for themselves. Of course, getting them prepared for paint involved removing them from the engine itself. The viscous fan assembly is fitted to the larger of the covers, on the right-hand side. The fan cam off okay, but the large 32mm nut proved a b1tch to remove.

I attacked it with everything I could throw at it - chisels, hammers, 32mm spanner, more hammering. It just wouldn't shift. In the end, my best friend came to the rescue - Mr Angle Grinder! ;D

I had to literally chop the viscous clutch to bits, then grind the bearing down till it fell off. Then I ground the edges of the 32mm nut down, so I could slide off the belt pulley, which itself is held in place by three 10mm bolts. This then gave me access to the three all bolts that held the assembly to the timing cover.I think the heat from the constant grinding, and beating with a sledge hammer took its toll on the fan shaft bearing, as it feels rough, and no wonder! I priced up a new one from Audi - £257 + VAT!! I went with a good used one in the end.

The hardest job was removing the spring-loaded belt tensioner from the cover, what a beast. I etched the covers, cleaned thoroughly with methylated spirit, before applying two coats of primer, followed by three coats of dark green gloss. This gives an idea what the car's new color's going to be...

I'll be removing and painting the rocker covers, the alternator, starter motor, crank pulley, then finally the block and intake manifold.

Pictures of the timing belt covers as they were on the engine, and after paint. Ignore the fancy aluminum crank pulley, that won't be used, as it will only fit the 40V engine.

 

Update 17th October 2012:

As I can't determine if this engine has had a timing belt replacement, I decided to play it safe, and order a replacement.

When replacing a timing belt, everything that the belt rotates against MUST be replaced too. In the case of the Audi S8 4,2 V8, this means;

01) Timing belt.
02) Idler.
03) Tensioner.
04) Water pump.

If the rest of the belt's rotating assembly isn't replaced, you might as well leave the old belt in place, and tempt fate. A seized water pump or other rotating assembly will shred a new belt in a very short time.

I'm also taking the liberty of replacing the thermostat too.

A bust timing belt on most engines means extensive damage, at the very least, the cylinder head/s will have to come off, to replace bent valves. If the engine was operating closer to the rpm limit under load, then it's possible for the valves to smash holes in the pistons.

While I'm doing the timing belt job, I've got to find a way to get rid of the aircon compressor, which will mean re-routing the drive belt (possibly a shorter belt) with a system of idler pulleys. I could leave the aircon compressor in place to avoid re-engineering the belt and pulleys, but if I'm not retaining aircon in the car, why carry an extra 13 - 17 kilos of dead weight?

 

Update 19th October 2012:

My Audi S8 timing belt kit turned up today. This kit consists of:

*Timing belt.
*Tensioner.
*Idlers.
*Water pump and gasket.

I ordered the thermostat later than the delivery cut-off time, so that won't be with me until tomorrow morning. I'll be installing the water pump and crank pulley with new bolts.

 

Update 19th October 2012:

My thermostat turned up this morning, so I decided to carry out my timing belt replacement, along with all associated tensioner and idlers.

I started just after midday, and completed the work by 15:40 hours. Now replacing a timing belt with the engine out of the car may seem easy, (no car front to strip down for access) but it's a massive pain in the posterior. The crankshaft bolt is torqued to 245 Nm. Normally with the engine in the car, there are several ways to prevent the engine from turning, when trying to undo this bolt - putting the car in 3rd gear, with the hand brake firmly applied, locking the flywheel to the transmission through the holes provided etc.

In the end, I went further than I planned - I installed the flywheel, and was able to lock it in place by inserting a long bar through one of the holes.

I replaced the thermostat as a precautionary measure, the timing belt was pretty worn, and wouldn't have lasted long. The water pump was fine, though I replaced it regardless. As is typical with most modern cars, the impellar is plastic, and a known weak point. The replacement has a steel impellar, so all good. Both idlers and the tensioner were also replaced, and I was then able to refit the newly painted timing belt covers.

Since the flywheel was installed, I decided to fit the clutch, and the 01E 6-speed manual gearbox. Man, that thing's heavy! It tips the scales at 78 kilos, so heavier than the average full-grown male human.

Normally, I would wait to pull the 2,6 V6 and 01A 5-speed manual gearbox from the Audi A4 quattro, so I can used the engine-to-transmission bolts, but I can't really be arsed. So I've looked on eBay, and ordered all the bolts I need. They should be with me sometime next week. So right now, the transmission's in place, but not bolted to the V8.

Pictures of progress so far:

Thermostat location, with old thermostat in place:



With old thermostat removed:



Old versus new thermostat:



Flywheel fitted:



Followed by clutch:



Front of engine with freshly-painted timing belt covers:



And 4,2 V8 engine mated to 01E 6-speed manual gearbox:

 

Update 29th October 2012:

I have now assembled my remote oil filter / cooler assembly. So will be running both coolant and air-cooled oil coolers. My external air cooler matrix turned up today. So all I'll need to tie the lot together, will be my stainless steel braided lines. Orientation is important, so no point getting custom lines made, until the distance between the oil filter / cooler assembly is known.

I will be using the heater core coolant feed at the rear of the engine, to take coolant to and from the water-cooled oil cooler, since I will not be plumbing in the heater core (the matrix will be removed).

I'll be ordering a couple more external matrix - my 01E 6-speed manual has a built-in oil pump, and two oil feed and return pipes that normally go to an oil cooler, incorporated in the radiator. Since I won't be going that route, I'll need an extra matrix. My power steering also has a pretty basic cooler, adequate for normal driving, less than ideal for a big V8, and the associated heat in the engine bay. So that will also get its own matrix.

I'm toying with the idea of converting the car to LHD, though not decided yet, just considering...

Pictures of the assembled remote oil filter housing and coolant / air cooled oil cooler, and of course the external matrix:

 

Update 01st November 2012:

I have completed all that needs to be done, with the engine out of the car. The 4,2 32V S8 motor, is now married to the 01E 6-speed manual, and ready to be installed. Obviously, once the complete assembly is in place, I can make wooden engine mount mock-ups, then have them made out of 4mm thick steel.

Oil lines for the remote oil filter housing and coolers (both air and water cooled) will be made, as well as power steering and centre differential oil cooler lines. Secondary firewall will be removed, and battery will be relocated to the trunk, sharing space with the rear-mounted radiator.

Pictures of engine and tranny, ready to install:

 

Update 06th November 2012:

My cherry picker turned up this morning, I ordered it on Sunday the 4th. It's a 2-ton, 6-wheel version, with a maximum lift height of 2340mm. No automobile engine and trans combination weighs 2,000 kilos, so pretty good reserve SWL. It arrived disassembled, in two boxes, the whole hoist weighs in at 80 kilos!

The 2,6 V6 2 x SOHC 12V engine currently in the A4 has provisionally sold, the 5-speed manual is sold too, so right now, the car has cost me nothing, I've actually sold parts off her for more than I paid for the car, so it's all good.

Got an Audi RS6 wiring harness to get to grips with, so next week should see me pulling the engine and trans from my A4 quattro.

Cherry picker all assembled, and ready for work:



I'm going to purchase a load-leveller to use with this. Not really an essential item, it just makes working with an awkward load easier to level out for installation.

 

Update 17th November 2012:
It was an early start for me. By 08:30 hrs, I was down in the garage. I didn't get much sleep the previous night, as my 4-month-old daughter decided she wasn't sleepy, which meant my 28-month-old wanted to play with her too. Still, it's all good!

The 2,6 V6 engine sold on eBay, and so did the 01A 5-speed gearbox. The gearbox (sold) was sheduled for pick-up after 18:00 hrs, so it meant working fast. The engine and gearbox can be removed as one unit, then separated on the bench. Or both units can be pulled separately. I chose option two, and by 16:22 hrs, both engine and box were out.

The weather was good, a bit of early morning mist and very light rain, which soon stopped anyway. So I made good time. Engine bay was not as dirty as I thought it would be, but still needs a good steam clean, and preparation for paint in satin black.

Pictures!