mk4 GTi v6.0 - v8 RWD Edition

I got to a point yesterday that made me decide to pull the engine and work on it on the cart, I dont have much for space constraints that would make it worth the in car struggle....so did that and landed her by end of the day yesterday, at which point I told my self I needed to walk away and come back with a clear mind....I did start doing some measuring of my runners and I think there is a solid chance they will be relatively close to equal length, I've read a fair amount and it seems that the "exactness" of equal length is a bit more of urban legend than many would claim

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

A busy day back at work did me some good, kept my mind occupied elsewhere....got back at it last night, decided to break out the green tape and take a different approach to mock up...

I think I have a plan, you can see #2 runner needs finishing up, but there is a clear path to the merge and all the flange nuts seem relatively easy to reach....if time permits, might start tacking more together tonight

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

After much deliberation and tape mock up, I decided this is going to be a never ending battle until is just jump in.....reevaluated my approach, decided I didnt like the way that #4 runner looked with how the other three were shaping up....so pull them all out and locked in #1 runner, it is now tacked all the way through and also tacked to the head flange...hoping that will keep the collector solid and allow the other to come together better

I'll add some detail that while i know it is not of utmost importance, but 3 of 4 runners were coming very close to ~26" while trying to measure in a similar fashion, and #4 was ~2" longer, again, while I know this isnt a huge deal, but it would be nice to make it look better and be a little shorter, with less bends

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Where is the crossovers for the 180 degree headers?

Lolz.

I have made headers 3 times now.  I will 100% agree that at some point, you just need to jump in and start sticking metal together.  You can always cut it and weld it again if you don't like it.

wvumtnbkr said:

Where is the crossovers for the 180 degree headers?

 

Lolz.

 

I have made headers 3 times now.  I will 100% agree that at some point, you just need to jump in and start sticking metal together.  You can always cut it and weld it again if you don't like it.

LOL

Yeah, I decided the nuclear approach was the only way to go....EFIT, lets just start making things solid....honestly, it worked out well, b/c as soon as I had #1 tacked in, #4 no longer fit :facepalm:

btw - I just noticed you are in Charleston!  I used to live on Johns Island, I am now in the upstate

They must not have easy eBay headers for that engine.  At least you have workout beer to keep you marginally sane in that process. 

rustomatic said:

They must not have easy eBay headers for that engine.  At least you have workout beer to keep you marginally sane in that process. 

LOL - they do, but they are all designed for the S4 platfor, so they clear the front axle output shafts, which puts the merges up high, I am not using the front axle output shafts, that is why the merges are placed right there so I can have a smaller tunnel since the engine is so far back

#fueledbymillerlite

one of the joys of work from home when your shop is 15ft away, when its slow, you can "multi-task" spent my Friday appearing active and working on headers...here is where i finished up the day...#2 runner will mimic #4, I think it will flow very well aestetically 

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Got out to the shop this afternoon for a couple hours, got the passengers side header finished up, well, all tacked up...

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out...now to order more material and get started on the drivers side

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Awesome!

Got some time at my buddies shop with the mill last night, plan was to work on the axles, do the fish mount and punch a couple holes in the outer axle tubes to add some fillet welds....the axles had a different plan....

Brand new hole saw barely scratched the tube....then moved to the fillet holes, 4 flute end mill didnt have any better success....Anyone have any experience or suggestions on machining a hardened axle?  I am honestly shocked then are this difficult to work with...

Pic for click bait

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Try starting the cut with a grinder, the abrasive blade won't have a problem with the hardened outside.

Shavarsh said:

Try starting the cut with a grinder, the abrasive blade won't have a problem with the hardened outside.

Thanks!  I actually forgot to write that....I was thinking that exactly

Following that logic, do you think hitting the areas where I want to drill the fillets with the abrassive will remove the hardened coating and allow the mill or a drill to go through?

In reply to fouckhest :

Its worth a shot. Make sure you test with an inexpensive drill first, as it'll break the drill if you catch an edge of the hardened area that you didn't fully clear. If you're going to weld the area anyway I'd grind a decent amount away before drilling. Very interested to see your results.

Shavarsh said:

In reply to fouckhest :

Its worth a shot. Make sure you test with an inexpensive drill first, as it'll break the drill if you catch an edge of the hardened area that you didn't fully clear. If you're going to weld the area anyway I'd grind a decent amount away before drilling. Very interested to see your results.

Appreciate the feedback, hoping to find some garage time tonight after work...I'll report back with my findings

Tried the grinding then drilling, I did work for one hole, but upon trying the second hole i quickly realized this was going to be an expensive drill bit per hole experiment...so I changed course and decided to enlist my trusty angle grinder and flap wheel...

First hole...was encouraging...quickly followed by defeat

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Test with the trusty angle grinder...seemed very repeatable

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Decided it would be a good idea to assemble and test out both sides...so did that went through the full articulation of the rear suspension on both sides, no binding even with the CVs dry...so it was time to move on to making all my weld cuts and burning them in...

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Made a total of 6 cuts per axle...hoping they got good penetration and will be solid

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Guess I missed a photo of all the mig goober welds, but here are some of them sanded down, hit them with the flap wheel then on the belt sander

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

End of the day....coat of the trusty chassis and roll bar paint!  even had a $5 off oriely coupon to cash in for this little project, BONUS!

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

In other news....new JMD tubing ordrer arrived Friday...now that axles are done, engine can go back in and start on the driver side header....which I feel may involve more steering shaft work....TBD...mirrored the materials used on the passender side in hopes of making them close to mirrors, added some straights for the #1 runner that is two shorts welded together, plus picked up some 2-1/2" to be able to start on the exhaust where it meets t x-pipe

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Got the axles assembled and installed today....everything seems to work as it should...small project checked off the list

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Once axles were done got the engine back in the car so I can start looking at driver side header...happy to report the engine went in with the header installed, small win for future me...I have to admit,  I am happy with how this side turned out, hoping i can get a similar look with the driver side

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2pv4tMg][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53493755381_28ff30d42a_b.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2pv4tMg]Untitled[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/48285508@N02/]fouckhest[/url], on Flickr

Where does the turbo go?

wvumtnbkr said:

Where does the turbo go?

LoL!

My buddy that has the mill and lathe frequently asks me that same question....I keep hoping that I don't become deranged to go down that rabbit hole

Spent last week enjoying some time away in the mountains of Colorado doing some snow skiing with the wife, was a much needed/enjoyed break from corporate america and the general rat race we call life....came home rested(ish) but ready to get back to work on projects

Before I left a buddy of mine came to help me "figure out" runner #7, its short and has to make some tight turns around the steering shaft, I "thought" I had the angles figure out....got it pretty close, not 100% in love with the couple little wiggles, but it has me to a point that I think when I pull the engine next it will be easier to see if I can find the route to get some straight in there rather than the bends...

Got this far Saturday

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Sunday got started on runners #6 & #8, trying to mimic the look of runners #2 & #4 on the passenger side

Start of #2, before cutting the leg back

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Hard to tell here, but this is with the leg pointing back trimmed a bit....it will need to come back further, looks like I'll be able to take 2x 45° bends and do an "Z" over the #7 runner so #8 runner can come up and have the same look 

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Little better angle, but I am confident I can get the headers looking close to symmetrical, will see how this week goes and what time will allow for shop time

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

I would not give even 1 E36 M3 to make them look symmetrical. 

Make them work.

The enemy of good is perfection.

You are doing great work!  Keep it up!

wvumtnbkr said:

I would not give even 1 E36 M3 to make them look symmetrical. 

 

Make them work.

 

The enemy of good is perfection.

 

You are doing great work!  Keep it up!

Thanks :)

Believe me, I wont let "perfection" get in my way, only want to give my best effort to get them close enough for goverment work lol

Busy week, but nonetheless, weekly update....We hosted our now annual chili cook-off on Saturday, so garage work was slow this week...made a little progress early week, got runner #8 done and tacked up, but then had to abort for garage cleaning

Clean garage prepped for guests

Chili cookoff by fouckhest, on Flickr

Event at full go, 13 or 14 chilis, great time!

Chili cookoff by fouckhest, on Flickr

In project news.....runner #6 is taking shape, it is now rounted over #7 and pointing down/back towards the merge....I am going to pull the engine to get that one finished up, but all in all, happy with how it is looking, symitry is nice between the two sides, excited to hear this thing someday

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

comparison to the other side

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Almost forgot, picked up a new tool this past week....after cashing in all my "atta-boy" points at my current job, after giving my resignation last week, I ordered this guy from lowes, picked it up mid week, now its time to build a cart/stand for it

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

I've heard good and bad about the metal chop saws.  With that in mind, I've had my crappy H-F carbon/grit blade model for most of a decade now without failure, so even though it makes a freaking mess, it just works (not so precisely at that).  Definitely interested to hear of how careful usage of that Evo thing (without YouBoob sponsorship of testimony) results in nothing but precision and symmetrical cuts (the perfectly drugged bodybuilder of chopsaws, no doubt).  Also, much jealousy over the chili event . . .