Blog Title: Calan
'92 TSI Complete Rebuild From Firewall Forward - Part 21
Well it's been about 6 months, so I thought I better post an update on what's been going on with the never-ending project (but that's why we love 'em 
).
The car was running really well after firing it up, and still is. After break-in and a bit of tuning, ECMLink HP and 70-90 estimates put it right around 400 awhp on the e316g, which feels about right. (I plan on getting to a dyno sometime this year; but we'll see how that goes). I also auto-x'ed it at one event, and had a blast. The car handled great, and the power steering pump rebuild and high RPM cutout mod seemed to work as expected. The catch cans I designed are still working nicely too...I've drained maybe a quart from the VC can and still have no oil at the turbo inlet.
You may remember that one issue I had was a weeping oil feed to the turbo. That was quickly remedied with a -4AN SS line and some fittings from Summit. And as promised, here are a few pics of the fusebox labels once they were installed.
Now on to the new stuff...
A couple of months ago I decided to upgrade the front brakes, which was part of the original plan all along until I ran out of $$$. I happened to find a set of 93+ dual-calipers in decent shape, so I figured being winter it was as good a time as any. As before... I stripped, painted, and rebuilt the calipers, and then picked up a set of new rotors from Brake Performance. They came with a lifetime warranty, full zinc coating, free shipping, and a free set of average semi-metallic pads for each rotor...all four for $326.
While I was at it, I pulled the front hubs off and replaced the wheel bearings since that didn't make the list the first time around. In the pic below you can also see the Fluidampr balancer I installed a couple months after getting it back on the road.
I just couldn't bring myself to bolt up the nasty rear calipers to those beautiful new rotors, so of course they had to come off for a rebuild and paint. It wasn't easy (and I'm not in a hurry to build another set of 1G rear calipers), but it was worth it. I wrote a tech article on how to rebuild them that can be found here.
I ordered rear SS brake lines when I did the fronts, so they are going on now as well.
This is where everything started snowballing. Since I was pulling the rear calipers, I figured I might as well replace the rear bearings while I was at it, since the passenger side hub was starting to show some wear. And since the hubs were coming off, I might as well install the active toe eliminators that I've wanted for two years. Once I got the suspension off, it became pretty clear that I couldn't stop there and this was going to be another full-blown project. Long story short...the entire rear end of the car has now been disassembled for a complete rebuild, just like I did with the front.
Yuk.
Note: Even though I've moved to the rear, I'm keeping the build blog named the same, to keep things simple.
The sub-frame and rear diff came out next. I was debating on cleaning it up in place, but finally decided to just go for it. There wasn't much space to work in since I'm just on jack stands, but with a floor jack it was actually pretty easy to get out.
Ehh...accept for one shining moment. Click here for an example of why beer, lack of sleep, and midnight is a bad combination.
Next came the gas tank and all of it's plumbing...and what a nasty mess that was. I also pulled the filler and vent pipe, and just hacked away at all the rubber lines and rusted POS factory clamps since they will all be replaced.
And of course the brake/fuel lines and underbody are just as lovely.
Once everything was out of the way, I cleaned up the wheel wells and coated them with Herculiner like I did the fronts in Part #15. (This stuff is awesome).
As I started disassembling and cleaning the suspension components, I discovered that one of the trailing arms had what appeared to be a crack running halfway through the center bore. I also noticed that the machined area for the seal wasn't concentric with the bearing insert. Fortunately I was able to locate a replacement arm from a member here on tuners (Thanks Jayson!).
The inner and outer hubs were cleaned and bead-blasted, and prepped for new bearings.
Once the arms and other parts were cleaned and blasted, I welded up the heim joints for the toe adjustment, and painted everything with Duplicolor low-gloss black engine paint. New ball joint boots, seals, and a few other odds and ends finished it off. (More on the sway bar later).
I've already made a lot of progress on the fuel tank and rear diff. In the next part I'll cover my adventures in fastener restoration and cleaning under the car, and I should be just about ready to put it all back together.
Stay tuned!
).The car was running really well after firing it up, and still is. After break-in and a bit of tuning, ECMLink HP and 70-90 estimates put it right around 400 awhp on the e316g, which feels about right. (I plan on getting to a dyno sometime this year; but we'll see how that goes). I also auto-x'ed it at one event, and had a blast. The car handled great, and the power steering pump rebuild and high RPM cutout mod seemed to work as expected. The catch cans I designed are still working nicely too...I've drained maybe a quart from the VC can and still have no oil at the turbo inlet.
You may remember that one issue I had was a weeping oil feed to the turbo. That was quickly remedied with a -4AN SS line and some fittings from Summit. And as promised, here are a few pics of the fusebox labels once they were installed.
Now on to the new stuff...
A couple of months ago I decided to upgrade the front brakes, which was part of the original plan all along until I ran out of $$$. I happened to find a set of 93+ dual-calipers in decent shape, so I figured being winter it was as good a time as any. As before... I stripped, painted, and rebuilt the calipers, and then picked up a set of new rotors from Brake Performance. They came with a lifetime warranty, full zinc coating, free shipping, and a free set of average semi-metallic pads for each rotor...all four for $326.
While I was at it, I pulled the front hubs off and replaced the wheel bearings since that didn't make the list the first time around. In the pic below you can also see the Fluidampr balancer I installed a couple months after getting it back on the road.
I just couldn't bring myself to bolt up the nasty rear calipers to those beautiful new rotors, so of course they had to come off for a rebuild and paint. It wasn't easy (and I'm not in a hurry to build another set of 1G rear calipers), but it was worth it. I wrote a tech article on how to rebuild them that can be found here.
I ordered rear SS brake lines when I did the fronts, so they are going on now as well.
This is where everything started snowballing. Since I was pulling the rear calipers, I figured I might as well replace the rear bearings while I was at it, since the passenger side hub was starting to show some wear. And since the hubs were coming off, I might as well install the active toe eliminators that I've wanted for two years. Once I got the suspension off, it became pretty clear that I couldn't stop there and this was going to be another full-blown project. Long story short...the entire rear end of the car has now been disassembled for a complete rebuild, just like I did with the front.
Yuk.
Note: Even though I've moved to the rear, I'm keeping the build blog named the same, to keep things simple.
The sub-frame and rear diff came out next. I was debating on cleaning it up in place, but finally decided to just go for it. There wasn't much space to work in since I'm just on jack stands, but with a floor jack it was actually pretty easy to get out.
Ehh...accept for one shining moment. Click here for an example of why beer, lack of sleep, and midnight is a bad combination.
Next came the gas tank and all of it's plumbing...and what a nasty mess that was. I also pulled the filler and vent pipe, and just hacked away at all the rubber lines and rusted POS factory clamps since they will all be replaced.
And of course the brake/fuel lines and underbody are just as lovely.
Once everything was out of the way, I cleaned up the wheel wells and coated them with Herculiner like I did the fronts in Part #15. (This stuff is awesome).
As I started disassembling and cleaning the suspension components, I discovered that one of the trailing arms had what appeared to be a crack running halfway through the center bore. I also noticed that the machined area for the seal wasn't concentric with the bearing insert. Fortunately I was able to locate a replacement arm from a member here on tuners (Thanks Jayson!).
The inner and outer hubs were cleaned and bead-blasted, and prepped for new bearings.
Once the arms and other parts were cleaned and blasted, I welded up the heim joints for the toe adjustment, and painted everything with Duplicolor low-gloss black engine paint. New ball joint boots, seals, and a few other odds and ends finished it off. (More on the sway bar later).
I've already made a lot of progress on the fuel tank and rear diff. In the next part I'll cover my adventures in fastener restoration and cleaning under the car, and I should be just about ready to put it all back together.
Stay tuned!
Total Comments 13
Comments
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very nice rebuild, that's the way you go about redoing something. not half-assing it and letting stuff just corrode.Posted 04-09-2010 at 06:37 AM by pantherballhp
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nice! you just gave me an idea about using Herculiner.Posted 04-09-2010 at 07:07 AM by tristanmb81
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Dont ya love to hate when you start to do a simple fix and it ends up taking you days because you decided to just rebuild the whole god damn car? I love the labels.Posted 04-09-2010 at 11:41 AM by jjrock5
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Your work has definitely inspired me to take care of the rust appearing on the rear of my car, and other places....Posted 04-09-2010 at 12:04 PM by david9291
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Thanks guys!Posted 04-09-2010 at 12:57 PM by Calan 
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Nice.Posted 04-09-2010 at 02:22 PM by iugrad92turbo
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About time you got this up. I might have to take a look tomorrow I will be driving past you anyway.
This car is amazing in person I am so glad I got to see it.Posted 04-09-2010 at 03:00 PM by turbotalon1g
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Thanks man. Stop by any time you're up this way (call first 'cause I might be out).
I'll be around this weekend as far as I know...probably underneath the thing with a brush and a bottle of Simple Green. 
Posted 04-09-2010 at 05:16 PM by Calan
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Ehhh... you mean months? Or almost a year for the "radiator installaton".Quote:Originally Posted by jjrock5
Dont ya love to hate when you start to do a simple fix and it ends up taking you days because you decided to just rebuild the whole god damn car?
Posted 04-09-2010 at 05:21 PM by Calan
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Glad somebody has the patience to do this, the only way i will is when i have my own garage and another car to drive around in lolPosted 04-10-2010 at 09:31 AM by blakktalon
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Where did you get the ball joint boots?Posted 04-10-2010 at 05:05 PM by 97gst_spyder
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Mitsu... they are the same P/N as the fronts, but I don't have it handy. I'll update this when I can find it.Posted 04-10-2010 at 05:19 PM by Calan
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Yeah, all six of the balljoints on a 1G are the same :front lower, rear lower, and the ones on the rear camber adjustment arms.Posted 04-07-2011 at 06:07 AM by kchaazz
