Giving an old S3 army girl a new lease of life

Was feeling pleased with myself for getting stuff back together.
BUT
I then found these under an oily rag. They must be from around the pistons. Anyone suggest where from? Are they important? Do I need to put them back? HELP!

I'm not being funny here but if they came out of course they have to go back in..........

crankshaft thrust shims ,engine go bang without those ! they go on the center main crank bearing

as above youll need to remove number 3 cap they will then slot around bronze face to crank

Cheers guys, found them in workshop manual too, rectifying situation tonight.

great thread, well done on diving in the deep end and learning as your going, you have given me hope that i can do the same!

tomhop said:

great thread, well done on diving in the deep end and learning as your going, you have given me hope that i can do the same!

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Every bit you do seems scarier than the last but once you get into it all fits together. It's just a real life Meccanno kit!

At last I'm off again. Next pictures should be the engine being reattached to the chassis!!!

excellent, was beginning to wonder what was happening

OK, here we go, Sunday morning, slight hangover from some excellent Isle of Harris gin. Time to upload recent progress.
Last time I asked the silly question about cam shaft bearings.
Now everything together and in. After wait for sump gasket reattached and looking shiny!

Now to upset all you purists; I know it's the wrong colour but I wanted my engine to be red!

Then I started pitting bits back on.



(Note highly technical support mechanism.

One of the things that worries me; I sometimes have a little pot with random nuts and bolts and can't remember where they came from..... exhaust manifold fittings?

Lovely, first thoughts are you have an awesome workshop... or you are in for it when your other half gets back

ER1C said:

Lovely, first thoughts are you have an awesome workshop... or you are in for it when your other half gets back

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It's just my garage but it evolved over the years!! The other half never sets foot across the threshold!!

Then the rocker thingy went back in (some of you will be pleased to note that my technical vocabulary has not developed further in my period of absence!)

I did all the bits first to check it like rolling shafts across tables to check for straightness. Thought I had a problem at first but then realised it was my table that wasn't straight!

Other bits and pieces added. The fuel pump that took a day to take off and clean took 5 minutes to replace. I get the feeling the rebuild my be quicker than the strip down.

Funny shiny bit for the manifold - why does it get special treatment? Everything else get a piece of brown paper!

Now for the really stupid bit. Moments before trying to move a heavy engine on my own! I have got an engine hoist but.... since moving the block into the garage I have taken out the up and over doors, bricked them up and replaced with a single door. Therefore the hoist no longer fits through the door..... And some people say I'm intelligent!

However, once I wheeled it outside on my wheelie pallet I was able to call on the hoist.

And with the help of a bit of rope (and a beer) it shuffled into place.

A bit of jiggery pokery and it was in.

Then I got bored with engine stuff and needed to get the grinder out! So made a start on the bulkhead with footwells made from filler!

90% filler 10% metal

Trimmed up, rivetted in place, welded tight, quick coat of red ox and looking better already.

Does anyone know what this is all about?

Now the engines in I can start adding more bits.

Created a new tool for lining up the clutch plate and cover. The end of a aluminium crutch is exactly the right size!

Then, after some minor work, the gearbox was ready to go.

Really starting to look the part now.

What a great piece of engineering.