I installed screws to keep crankshaft oil seal in it's place. I've never blown a seal before but last summer it blew off three times and replacing it is quite a job. I'm also improving breathing a lot and probably it alone will prevent the seal moving but I can never be sure.

Simple fix and I hope it works.

Dash is on

I'm not very fond of electrics and that's why I didn't insall the dash earlier. I finally got myself to do it and it was fairly simple, only 7 wires to be connected as I'm getting all the data from ECU. For the ECU I need to install road speed sensor, clutch shaft rpm sensor, oil and fuel pressure sensors and that's about it for now. However, the dash looks OK and I can configure it as I like.

New display

Santa brought me a new dash display. Now I can get rid of all the extra gauges and warning lights, they are all in one display. I also got interface cable for Tatech ECU so I get all the info form there. No need for extra sensors. Tatech has now been upgraded to Pro in order to get internal datalogger and loads of extra channels for logging, five different maps behind a switch and more options I will ever need. For the datalogger I'm getting rpm info from engine, clutch shaft and at least one wheel, oil temp, lambda, advance, injection time, oil and fuel pressure, etc. Probably too much information but it can be useful sometimes.

Race Technology Dash2 was the only display that had Tatech interface cable ready.

I assembled the engine as summer is getting closer and closer. This time I want to be ready right at the beginning and I still have a lot to do. I also realized that this will be the last evolution of N/A engines to this car. I really can't find out what could be better, more powerful and still streetable engine. If this is not fast enough(are they ever?) I will go turbo.

I had an -12 bungs welded to improve breathing. Last summer I blew oil seal three times and really hope it will not happen again.

I added O-rings to center main studs. I noticed a small oil leak while the engine was hot and running, not sure it was from there but they do no harm. I also put sealant to head studs and cylinders and hopefully the engine will stay dry this time. The green stuff is VW factory sealant, quite expensive but great stuff.

Exhaust

OK, time to start building the new header. That will be the only new part for the engine, rest will remain the same. This time we'll use all kinds of cool stuff found from Aalto University's art department's laboratory, like 3d scanner, cad programs and all the cutting and welding tools. Header may not be any better than the previous one but at least it's interesting enough to see what all those gizmos can do.

First we made a simple cutting template for the collector. It's 16 degree collector for saving space and it's also easier to weld than 12 deg.

Family portrait

We finally got to move into our new house and now I have more time to consentrate on other projects. Here's a line up on our garage's winter project engines, about 2500 hp on the counter. Three turbo engines and two roller cam N/A engines, all destined for street cars.

From left: Pauter 3.5l turbo, ARPM 2.3l turbo, Scat 2.9l N/A, Scat 2.9l N/A, Autorcaft 2.3l turbo

Oh well...

I managed to drive the car for more than a month without major problems. I also got it tuned to a bit dissapointing numbers 250 hp and 285 nm with belt and muffler. So, I'm missing some 30 hp and most of that must be from the header which is way too long. But this will do for the summer as I have quite a lot of other things on my mind for now. However, I got new specs for the header from JPM and will start building new one as soon as I put the car on stands again.

I also got to test the car on 1/4 mile in Pori and for a test it was good, otherwise nothing special. I did 12.6 @ 171 km/h with clutch slipping from 2nd to 4th gear. It did not hold even the burnout so I'm still confident I will run mid 11's when everything is OK. At the end of the track I also blew breather hose and oiled the engine bay pretty good. The breather is absolutely not up to date with such a big engine and I also popped crank seal and had to pull the engine to fix that. Everything is going back together and I hope to get back on track soon.