New Motor - Need Help!

[Talonted91]

I just dropped a new Turbo motor into my 91 TSI AWD. I am in the process of putting the tranny back in, and i bought a new clutch disk to go in cause the old one was extremely worn.

I have 2 questions, first of all with puttin the clutch back in, do i need an alignment tool? I was told that with these trannies because of the spline it should be ok just to put my fingers behind it to align everything up. Whats the easiest way to install the tranny?

The second question does not have to do with the tranny. When I bought the motor from the scrap yard, they broke off one of the exhaust manifold studs. (Such a pain) In trying to get it out, we screwed the thing right up. Im in the works of removing the head so i can take it into a shop and get them to weld it flat and tap a new thread for the stud. What is the easiest way to take the head off so that i dont screw anything up?

I need all the suggestions i can get, my car needs to be done asap, so all the help i can get is greatly appreciated!

 

[19Eclipse90]

I believe you need a alignment tool for the clutch. I don't know a lot about AWD transmissions, but I do know that it would be hard to set the clutch with your fingers as you try tightening and torquing the pressure plate. In my experience with FWD transmissions, using your fingers would be completely impossible.
For the stud, I don't get what you are saying exactly. What I pick up from what you said is that you tried getting the stud out and broke it off inside the head or that you got it out but screwed up the threads. If the first scenario is the case follow this and you will have it out in no time. Re-threading can also be done without much trouble. Get a tap and do it; it's pretty straightforward. It is not necessary for you to take off the head, there is plenty of space in there for extracting bolts.
I hope I understood your questions correctly and helped you out. Good luck!

 

[awdLaunch16g]

as for the easiest way to install the tranny:
with the tranny positioned under the car jack up the bellhousing first, sometimes its easier to remove a motor mount so the motor sags down and makes the lineup of the spline more direct but it isnt nessicary. Once you have the spline hooked onto the tranny jack up the other end of the tranny and slide it into the motor at the same time. this is the tricky part because the tranny is going to want to hang up on all sorts of fun stuff fuch as the firewall and fenderwell. Other than that its pretty straight forward, just do the opposite of what you did when it came out. good luck

 

[Talonted91]

Thanx guys!

The thing with the stud is that its the very bottom right one, its hard to get to cause theres a few pumps around. We've pretty much screwed the thing beyond belief..cause we didnt get it right on centre when we tried drilling it out.

With the tranny those explanations will help tons, thanx alot!

 

[GTM]

Thanx guys!

The thing with the stud is that its the very bottom right one, its hard to get to cause theres a few pumps around. We've pretty much screwed the thing beyond belief..cause we didnt get it right on centre when we tried drilling it out.
...

Who is paying for the stud repair? They broke it but why didn't you make the repairs before you put the engine in... ??????? Nuttin like making life more difficult. If you have not broken drills off inside the stud then you have a chance for repair. There should be a plethora of posts/threads on the subject here on DSMtuners. You should get a new stud so you will know how long it needs to be drilled since you apparently have gotten off to a bad start. It would be helpfull to have the manifold in place to act as a guide for your drilingl and taping operations. However if you have to come in at a radical angle to re-establish center then it could be in the way. You must be patient with yourself, use the smallest drill bit possible and then keep changing upwards until you get it centered. If this is not possible you can then drill with the manifold in place and remove as much as possible of the old stud, don't make the small drill bits bend for they will break and you will be worse off. If you have drilled out a lot of aluminum more than likely you won't be able to find a "Helicoil" large enough or will have to increase the stud size to something larger. I prefer to use a "Keensert", Slimsert, or new company is Timesert threaded sleeve replacement. The Keensert and Slimsert use standard taps and drill sizes, I don't know if the big chain auto parts stores will have these or the Helicoils but this is the only way you are going to get this done. Ask some of the local repair shops who they buy their parts from, if that doesn't work find an automotive machine shop and they will know where if they don't have what you need. Do not consider pulling the head for this job for you are just asking for more problems. You have gotten yourself into some difficulty with the wrecking yard and what ever guarantee they offered for they can claim you didn't do the job right.

If you have any questions or not understand ask FIRST rather than shooting yourself in the foot and then find the job takes twice as long for you could have had it running by now as against having to chase parts and tools from a botched simple job. You cannot weld another stud onto the old part for it just won't have the strength needed to clamp the manifold tight enough but you must make the repairs now unless you are going to loose your job and wheels are a must. Once you have the parts / tools consider it will take you 2 hours. When taping new threads make sure you back the tap out often if you are cutting both steel and aluminum for the steel chips will tear the aluminum threads you cut.

Cheers,
Gene

 

[Talonted91]

Thanx Gene.

I was thinking the same thing with increasing the size of the stud, there is a lot drilled out but its just screwed, i dont know if we would be able to tap a new hole, without gettin more aluminum braised in or whatever. I wasnt going to get the stud welded to the manifold, just going to get another service braised in so that we can tap a new hole and start from scratch. I think it might be the only way, because the whole is so messed up.

I guess ill have to give it a try, thanx alot for the advice

 

[GTM]

Thanx Gene.

I was thinking the same thing with increasing the size of the stud, there is a lot drilled out but its just screwed, i dont know if we would be able to tap a new hole, without gettin more aluminum braised in or whatever. I wasnt going to get the stud welded to the manifold, just going to get another service braised in so that we can tap a new hole and start from scratch. I think it might be the only way, because the whole is so messed up.

I guess ill have to give it a try, thanx alot for the advice

Heliarc welding of the head is possible though there may be some issues with the stud alloy in a blind hole and splattering. I can't remember if the manifold has an extra large hole for expansion but you could try to find a piece of pipe (fuel line, brake line) which will fit in the manifold, cut a 1/2"-1" long section then use a drill bit just large enoug to pass through. You can drill this out as you increment drill bit sizes. This will act as a guide and help you hold center so the drill doesn't wander from the center. I have a 1/8" Dremel end mill which would work nicely for if you are falling off the edge of the stud into the aluminum you really need to get it back down the centerline. You really need 3 hands for the job with one holding the guide and the other 2 holding the drill rock solid like a drill press. 5 minutes just getting that center makes all the difference in the world so take your time. Another trick, exhaust valve stems are pretty hard especially up near the head, cut an old one off square to usable length and with the biggest hammer you can swing give the blasted stud a few good smacks. This will flatten the end of the stud, then you can grind a point much like the angle on a drill bit and again a few good smacks with the hammer. Wrap the end of your punch with tape to the diameter of the manifold hole to again act as a guide so it doesn't want to fall off center.

It's been decades since I let some STUD get the best of me for I'm just mean enough to show it who's boss. I repeat, be patient, if it doesn't want to behave fall back and improve upon what you are doing. Use any tricks you can with the tap to also hold center if your original attempt causes it to wander. If spare duplicate taps are available then think nothing of grinding the end off or a shape that will fit YOUR needs, then use a blind hole tap for the finishing once you have established threads. Hopefully I've given you enough info to be successful and save having to pull the head off. The bummer will be if the engine has problems after you have invested all this expensive labor in one lousy hole.

Cheers,
GTM