I am wanting to tidy up and paint my plastic side trims and skirt. What is the best way to remove these on a S3 sud before I break some unobtainable clips?

Any tips appreciated.

Hi mate, thanks! From memory (which should be better, wasn't that long ago I took the rails off!) the side rails roll towards the roof, twist if you like, then go upwards. I will check for you next time I'm up there which most likely won't be until the weekend. Pretty sure there are just the screws...

wow looks great!

I am in the process of taking rust out of my HF turbo. Not wanting to hijack the thread but how do you remove those black roof side rail trim pieces? I found the three screws down the windscreen but the roof rail wont budge and I don't want to break it.

I have had my pistons and rods balanced and the heads resurfaced and the crank is in the block just setting up my piston rings and I am getting a gap of .024 out of the box. Trying to track down a piston ring file tool. Are the piston ring gap settings of .03 - .05 correct for the 1.7? I only have a...

hmm I dont think my kitchen scales quite have the same accuracy as that setup. I might take them down to the engine shop and see what they can do.

Thanks Bob, they dont ship internationally though. I think I may have found one on a Spanish site though.

I have sent off a message to Justsuds and Alfasud parts hoping one of them has an 87mm piston.

With the conrods. I have taken one out of my 1.5 motor and they are the same visually as the 1.7 rods but 10 grams heavier. Can I grind 10 grams off the cap or is this best left to professionals?

I thought as much. I don't really want to risk reusing it. Unfortunately 87mm Pistons are not easy to find though.

Is this Piston ok to reuse? Its quite pitted in one spot. It looks like its been that way for some time. Im a bit apprehensive about putting it back in.

Yes my thoughts exactly.

Thanks Kev that tool looks perfect.

I've changed my mind. I may as well spend the extra $80 on the ARP bolts. I want to make a reliable motor that will last me a long time. I'm going to take the heads into the cylinder head shop and get them crack and pressure tested and skimmed. I have removed the camshafts from the hydralic tappet c...

thanks Simon. I've had a read through that thread.

The costs are starting to add up and I'm not sure if i'll see any value in ARP bolts. I'm only going to use the car for very occasional track days and In future I wont be taking it over 7k rpm. With a baffled sump I should be ok.

Couple of questions regarding assembly. I am going to plastiguage the crank and conrod bearings before permanently bolting things up to make sure clearances are correct. Can I also plastiguage the end float of the crank? Should I use threadlocker on the conrod bolts and/or main bolts? What strength?

I am going to order copper lead bearings. Not sure what the standard ones are

The single lobe camshafts are looking a little tired in my mech tappet cam boxs. Are the hydraulic tappet camshafts a direct replacement? My single carb motor has the dual lobe camshafts.

quite right they are ever so slightly out. Perhaps I should take the sharp edge off the 1500 head's inlet ports like the 1700 has.

Yes the heads are identical in height.

that is interesting about the hand positioning of the inlet manifold studs.

i forgot to attach the pic of exhaust ports

that is interesting about the hand positioning of the inlet manifold studs.

i forgot to attach the pic of exhaust ports

That could make sense. The engine came complete with carbs when I got it but it may have had parts swapped at some point.

Here are some pics hopefully showing the comparison. You are right, the valves are slightly longer in the 1500 head by about 1mil. It looks as though someone has had a go at opening the intake ports on my 1700 head. he have a slightly more radius on the lip where they meet the inlet manifold and ano...

Yep the Mech tappet 1500 head is the same as the 1700 hydraulic tappet head. I measured the exhaust ports and they are the same diameter. Same combustion chamber design, diameter and depth. I havn't looked at the camshaft in the 1700 cam box yet. I do know the 1500 and 1700 motors have different len...

Today i removed one head from my 1500 twin carb motor and compared it the my 1700 head and as far as i can tell its identical. Even the valves seem to be the same length and size. I checked the valves to make sure they have a good seal by filling the combustion chamber with fuel and blowing compress...

Well it appears the conrods in the 146 are slightly different to the 1.7 motor. They have extra metal on the end cap and the small end oil hole is different. Anyone have a spare 1.7 8v conrod they want to part with? IMG_20160521_151240.jpg Isn't the extra metal on the end cap just there to get the ...

Well it appears the conrods in the 146 are slightly different to the 1.7 motor. They have extra metal on the end cap and the small end oil hole is different.

Anyone have a spare 1.7 8v conrod they want to part with?

Measured the crank from the 146 engine and it's been ground! I need .010 undersize bearings. I wonder if its been re nitrited? anyway to tell?

Engine is dismantled. Pretty nasty damage on bearing number 2. There wasn't much left of the bearing.

I've managed to get a second hand crank out of a 145 1.6L which I believe has the same crank. So I'll put the motor back to stock.

Ok so 1500 crank in 1700 block with 1500 standard size crank journals. 1700 pistons and conrods will make a 1600 engine. No need to deck the block to adjust compression?

The piston has a groove where it contacted the valve. Should I just smooth out the rough edges?

What would I need to do to use the 1500 crank in the 1700 block with the 1700 heads? Can I use the 1.7 pistons or 1.5 pistons? or a mixture of 1.7 and 1.5 pistons and conrods?

Engine numbers are

1.7 Motor - AR30550 0032452
1.5 Twin Carb - AR30588 0019816
1.5 Single Carb -AS30124 0098211