The Anvil

[Noisy Cricket]

Some of you have seen the Anvil.

The Anvil is my VW. I beat on it and beat on it and it never seems to mind.

It doesn't hurt that the engine is barely strong enough to tear the skin off of pudding. So, let's change that.

The current high compression (well, 10:1 anyway) 1.8 is getting a bit long in the tooth. The bottom end is still solid but the top end needs some attention.

For a few years, VW made a forced induction 1.8l engine called the "G60". It had a wierd little blower on it that, to the best of my knowledge, forced air through itself by means of a spiral that orbited inside another spiral. I think. I'm still not sure on the concept, but anyway the block is sturdily built (essentially the same thing is used as the basis for the Diesel) but the blower, she-a not very tough.

And that's not good enough for Anvil-spec.

Fortunately, I've found a G60 engine for a decent price. Over the winter, I'll check out its internals and do a basic valve job/seat blend. There was a recall on a rod knock issue but I think that after this many years, if it was bad it'd have been fixed, so we should be good to go.

Also fortunately, I have an Eaton blower that I bought from our Dear Leader, that I've gone and cleaned up and rebuilt. It's just a shade too small for the 2.3 but it's Just Right for a 1.8l. And, unlike the G-lader, it does not have a reputation for self-destruction on an impressive scale.

[Noisy Cricket]

After shipping the head off to WRE for a disassembly and cleaning, "Seat blend" turned into "let's remove the right angles from the port bowls" and "let's trim down the tree stumps that the intake guides are peeking out of".

Porting sucks. Or at least, trying to smooth out a short-turn radius on cylinder heads with intake valves smaller than most (real) cars' exhaust valves is okay, trying to do the same for weeny little 33mm exhaust valves sucks.

I stopped myself after four hours of work with the die grinder and happy friendly 6" extended carbide. Don't want to get too carried away... still not happy with the short turn radius but the geometry is such that I doubt I ever *will* be happy with it. At some point, you need to shoot the engineers and ship product...

So, it's back to WRE on Monday for the seats and valves to be cut, and the deck to be lightly cut, and reassembly. If it weren't for the direct-acting cam arrangement, where the valves sit directly under the lifter bores and thus making it impossible to use shadetree valvespring compressors, I could have done the assembly and disassembly myself.

[TireSmoker]

Also fortunately, I have an Eaton blower that I bought from our Dear Leader, that I've gone and cleaned up and rebuilt. It's just a shade too small for the 2.3 but it's Just Right for a 1.8l. And, unlike the G-lader, it does not have a reputation for self-destruction on an impressive scale.

To the best of my knowledge, that blower I sold you is from a 1st-gen SC'd GM 3800. How can that be a shade too small for a 2.3? Unless you're planning on running some crazy (20+ psi) boost levels. Just curious..

-Dave

[Noisy Cricket]

It's a matter of max RPM. The M62 is only good to 14,000rpm continuous. After factoring in the V.E. of the blower, the V.E. of the engine, calculating the heat generated, I *think* a 2:1 pulley ratio on the 1.8 will give me about 10psi. Also a 7000rpm rev limit, with an "absolute" of 8000rpm before the blower wants to come apart.

Not a problem for the 1.8, in other words. The approximately 25% larger 2.3l, on the other hand, would have to be cut off early. Not acceptable.

In practice, once people go over 2 liters on a VW, they run into the flow limitations of the M62 and have to reach for an M90, so there is some anecdotal evidence to support the math.

As it is, it seems like with a blower, all the math available only gets you to the general ballpark when it comes to how much boost you will make. The exhaust system alone can change boost by a couple PSI, with a more free flowing exhaust making boost drop. Same amount of airflow, it's just that the engine can accept it more easily so less pressure is generated.

(Also, the VW setup has the supercharger blowing INTO the throttle body, by way of an intercooler, so this also drops the pressure since the temps will be lower)

[Noisy Cricket]

As it turns out a 2:1 ratio is going to be way too fast, but most people who have done it before are not talking.

Hmm.

In other news, the head studs came in. Nothing says "fast" like an engine block with studs sticking out of it.

[Noisy Cricket]

Head is done, acquired some ARP rod bolts (factory is use once, throw away, just like the head bolts) and so I finally got around to popping a piston out to look at the rod bearings.

Wow. This thing has some seriously *beefy* little rods. At a guess, they have all the metal of "Pink" rods but they're a little shorter and have a smaller big-end. The rods aren't broached for square rod bolts, they aren't even football-cut like Ford did, they take *round* headed bolts for maximum rod shoulder strength without going to capscrews.

The crank is also a beefy looking forged piece with some *serious* undercut fillets in it. Me like.

And of course, it has forged pistons, under-piston oil squirters, and full floating wristpins. I might have to get another one of these to play with naturally aspirated.

Not for this one, though. Compression is on the order of 8:1 factory and I have a Mitsubishi 16G turbo (ex-Evolution VIII) sitting on the shelf. The Evo built a max of 19-21psi at 3500rpm in a two liter, factory stock, so it should probably have the spool and boost characteristics I am looking for...

[Fred32v]

All this activity, can spring be far behind?
Looking forward to seeing the video of the first startup.

[VeeDub]

How's the project going? I'd like to see some pics. BTW... Just letting you know I have the Bentley books for the MKII Golf/Jetta/GTI and also the Corrado (G60 and VR are covered) If you would like any info out of these let me know.

[Noisy Cricket]

Oh, er.

The Golf is for sale. The reasons for this are twofold:

The rust is far worse than I expected.

For less than how much it would cost to acquire and swap in a transmission that can handle any kind of power, I picked up this:



It's essentially an Audi 4000 quattro, but awesome. And the transmission in it is one of the most bulletproof all wheel drive trans placed in a passenger car, so that takes care of that problem.

[Basement Paul]

I'd say that's a nice improvement! Better style, better underpinnings. Nice.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

I've never seen one of those before -- what is it? (ie-- what was it sold as?_

[Noisy Cricket]

It was called the Quantum Syncro. It was only in wagon form, and they only made about 3000 of them over a three or four year period. The front half is essentially a 4000/Coupe Quattro (Audi "small chassis") but the back half is unique. It has trailing arms similar to a BMW or Mercedes of the timeframe, while Audis had the front strut suspension in the back. (Literally!)

It's similar in size and weight to an early Impreza (3000lb, 100" wheelbase) and any drivetrain that fits in a 4000 will fit into it. Which, thanks to what some people charitably call the VW Mr. Potato Head theory of design, means pretty much anything. Any 5-cylinder including the turbo 20 valve will bolt in, the V8 is almost a bolt in. My half built 4 cylinder is not a direct bolt in, sadly. Something to do with the way there's the 4 cylinder bellhousing pattern, the VR6 pattern, and the everything else pattern.

[MostMint]

What are you going to call it?

[markss327]

So, it's an Audi with VW badging. Interesting. My first response was a Passat Wagon. The 3000 produced, does the mean only 3000 imported to the states, or really only 3000 (over a 3yr era- wow) ever made?

[MostMint]

At first glance I thought it was a Fox wagon, but I know practically nothing about VWs.