The Oil Pan

I've probably mentioned this before, but without rereading my own blog I can't be for sure.  So that being said I'm sure that everyone knows that the nice aluminum pan that the AAN comes with won't work for this swap.  Well to be truthful there isn't one that will work with this swap, so we need to make one.  With Bullmoose's guidance I sought out the pan from a 10v I5.  These are made out of steel and will be easier to modify than the aluminum one.  It took awhile, but I finally located one on the eastern side of the US at Force 5 Auto. When buying one be sure to get the block to bellhousing brace also that is in the pics below.  I was also sent the oil pump pickup tube.  Hopefully I can use it to lengthen mine, as material to lengthen the tube with wasn't something that I had thought about yet, maybe I lucked out on this one.  Notice that you can see the part numbers in the second picture in case you need them.

 

Oil filter clearance

I began lowering the motor into the 944s engine bay last weekend.  Well the farther you lower it the more items you have to remove.  It is currently in position and bolted to the torque tube.  I think that if you made allowances with wiring and plumbing it would be possible to change a clutch in the future by moving the engine forward instead of the fiasco that occurs on a stock 944.  There is a large amount of room in front of the motor compared to the original engine.  So on to the topic of this post.  You will find that the oil filter will land right on the top of the steering rack.  Aah crap...that's what went through my mind.  So I removed the filter and lowered it to the right height.  While there isn't enough room for the stock filter there does appear to be room for a part made by Trans Dapt.  The part number is 1413.  They call it a 90 degree oil bypass adapter. Here is what it looks like.

You wont find the AAN listed in the applications guide, but cross referencing the AAN oil filter over to units that are listed in the guide indicates which model to use.  Turns out that the Audi uses a Ford oil filter.  I thought that was funny for some reason.  So the plan for oil filtration at this point is to relocate the filter while retaining the factory cooler and turbo connection points.  The filter will mount onto either these two items.

The 1028 vertical filter mount

or the 1045 horizontal filter mount

At this point I would imagine that I will be using the 1045, but I'll leave that decision until later.

Engine fitting

Well I was able to trial fit the motor into the 944 today.  It became really obvious that the stock exhaust manifold won't work unless you tilt the motor clockwise. (as viewed from the front of the car)  I know that the guy in Russia tilted his motor for some reason.  I assumed it was so that it would fit under the hood, but maybe it was to make use of the stock turbo manifold.  I'll have to go review the videos and see if I can tell.  I couldn't get the engine lowered into place completely due to clearance issues with the stock oil pan.  (I was told this would happen, but I still had to try.)  I would really like to modify the aluminum one for the final product, but I am currently trying to locate a metal one from a 10v I5 to determine how it will need to be modded.  If anyone can help me out with that drop me a line.  Measuring from the pilot bushing to torque tube mounting surface on both engines shows them to be within 1\16th of an inch.  I'm not sure but I think that will be close enough.  Other than that I didn't get anything else done worth noting.

944 powertrain is removed

Well I didn't intend to pull the tranny out at first, but this was one of those live and learn things. The motor basically has to be lifted straight up to be removed from the car. This means you have to move the torque tube rearward, which entails that the transmission must be removed. The clutch fork pivot pin and I duked it out for a while. I don't think that it had ever been removed before. Long story short I got it all pulled out in a day. Now for some clean up work and I'll start looking at part fitment. I'll have a business trip this week so I won't be able to get anything done with the project.

The future has arrived

This morning I pulled the motor from the S6. I took everything not likely to be used for the project and the accessories off of the motor and then gave it a cleaning with the power washer. It doesn't look to be in bad shape. I don't think that the timing belt has been done in quite some time. The rubber portions of the motor mounts literally fell apart. I think a good front end collision would have sent the motor sailing out of the car.

The project has begun.

New kid

I thought that I would show you the new member of the family. It is just a crappy little video taken with a cell phone, but it'll show you enough. We picked up a z06 Corvette for my wife to enjoy and use for autox. I like it, it's comfortable, really fast, seems to handle well, and is nice and flashy. This one has the red and black interior.



Here is another vintage commercial that relates directly with her car.



Now I know that your going to say that the 0-60 time in that ad just isn't going to cut it against the z06 and that is just one more reason for this engine swap to be done post haste. I hope that 425 bhp will be enough to best the z06. Time will tell.

Debating....

I had a pretty good performance at the event that I figured would be the last for the year, but I may be in contention for a trophied position. If that is the case then I will put off the start of the swap project until after the last official event is over at the end of October. If I am out of the running then I will go ahead and start the swap. Now I'm just waiting to see how the points pan out from the last event.