The Project Pad

Dang... that's a great idea for the boost gauge. I hate the idea of a vent gauge for a couple reasons. Reduced airflow, another place to look/focus on, doesn't look OEM. And good call on removing the lens, should be able to eliminate any glare that way.

What are you using as a backing plate to cover the hole? Wonder if a guy could 3d print a cover to sit flush with the rest of the cluster?

Those reps look fantastic, but quite heavy. 23.5lbs... Is that more or less than say the 16" Avus from the UrS6?

ChrisAudi80 wrote:Those reps look fantastic, but quite heavy. 23.5lbs... Is that more or less than say the 16" Avus from the UrS6?

B5 S4 Avus are ~28lbs a piece and I bet the 16's aren't much lighter.

Been working with Marc today to get the E85 tune rolling. And WOW!

Thanks to Marc for the work. The plan is all coming together.

Just did a pull at 324 kpa - just over 32 psi - and this thing is crazy!

I think I found a solution to the brakes and wheels that I'll update on shortly.

Also, I re-torqued the ARP head studs this morning. No real looseness that I could sense so they really didn’t need it but glad for the peace of mind!

32psi! That's nuts! I was quite happy with 20psi on my 20v. Now I am ready for more though haha.

DE80q wrote:32psi! That's nuts! I was quite happy with 20psi on my 20v. Now I am ready for more though haha.

It’s insane!

I’ll take you for a ride at Carlisle this year if I can make it!

My son’s 9th birthday is the Saturday of Carlisle so I’m trying to decide if I’m a terrible father for not being there

That's a tough one! He is old enough to come along now... I'll probably be bringing my daughter this year.

DE80q wrote:That's a tough one! He is old enough to come along now... I'll probably be bringing my daughter this year.

If I brought him I'd have to bring my 11 year old daughter and my wife so we could all spend his birthday together - I don't see that happening. Remember I'm a 7 or 8 hour drive from Carlisle!

The whole lot of us are doing something fast car related this spring though. We're all heading to Montreal for the Grand Prix in June. I'm super excited. My daughter is a huge F1 fan and is really excited - hoping she'll somehow meet Max Verstappen.

Now that everything has had some time to vibrate around, the engine and trans seems to be living where they want to.

The issue is that my downpipe is being pinched between the transmission and the subframe. When I first did fitment tests I had to cut some extraneous fins and metal off the 01E to make the DP fit there comfortably. Now that it seems to have moved a couple mm closer, I get vibrations and such a little more than I'd like.
a couple pics:



I believe I can easily solve this by trimming the subframe a bit but I don't want to cut through the welds. If I have to cut more, I'll end up having to pull the subframe and having a piece welded in.

I may try raising or lowering the trans via shimming the trans mounts first.

I understand wanting to keep the family together for his birthday. My wife has zero interst in cars, so trying to keep my daughter thinking about it.

As for the downpipe, your best bet will be to shim the engine/trans back up. Even with my "epic mounts" from Jarid, my 3" down pipe is very close to pretty much everything.

DE80q wrote:As for the downpipe, your best bet will be to shim the engine/trans back up. Even with my "epic mounts" from Jarid, my 3" down pipe is very close to pretty much everything.

Yeah - the 3" DP takes up a lot of space down there!

I think a combination of trimming ahead of the welds, shimming and shifting things a bit should be a good solution

I'd shim before you trim. Easier to add metal than take it away!

One thing I've done before. If it gets to the point of trimming the subframe and you don't want to. Ive gotten creative with heat and a hammer before and basically made a small "dent" in the exhaust to clearance just right where it needs it. Kind of a last ditch effort because to do it right you have to pull the DP out. Well and also because you're making a dent.

That's another option!

good thing is that the DP is all V bands - so removal is super easy.

Grillage wrote:That's another option!

good thing is that the DP is all V bands - so removal is super easy.

yes.. V Band everything FTW!
Ive even thought about making a new rear section for my exhaust that has no muffler that I could swap in and out.

Pulled the downpipe yesterday to see what kind of problem I really had. I was able to do two things that I think should solve the problem. I loosened the motor mounts and trans mounts and got a lever between the frame and the engine and was able to move the motor about a quarter inch or so toward the drivers side.

I was able to trim some ribs and such off the exterior of the 01E - shown in red here:



Also, about 1/8" from the subframe outside of the welds.

It seems to have a bit of clearance now- Certainly not a lot but more!
Later today I found the Axle shield too and reinstalled it. I was a bit surprised that it fits with the 3" DP going through there but it does!


Lastly, I solved a problem I had been having. Since the motor swap my power locking system had stopped working. I first established that it DID WORK - but only while the car was running. Not exactly helpful.

Anyway, I had the fusebox totally out of the car and disconneced so I traced the power supply and figured out that I hooked up the power supply wire to the wrong spot on the underside of the fuse box.

The "M" section of the underside of fuse box is all single connectors and I put it on "30ac" instead of "30az" - I had it labelled wrong too (label was still on the wire) which is weird.


Anyway - all good now!

The only pain in the ass about it is that I run a Euro B4 stowage compartment rather than the US flat panel that could go there. The benefit is that there is a place for my VEMS box (I had to cut out a portion of the backside of it so that I could run the wires to the VEMS though). The problem is that the wiring all needs to be smashed up there for one, and also that there is no real way to attach the top 3 bolts of the compartment to the US b4 dash.


I have a little metal bracket I made that works okay but it could be better. Has anyone else dealt with this issue?

Congrats Ben on the great work! Love what you've done with that beautiful 90 and I'm happy that my motor is being put to good use! Some time this spring I want to stop by for a visit and go for a ride if that's ok with you?

Yeah there isn't much room behind the knee bolster cubby. I installed one in my old (91) CQ since the non airbag CQs only got them. I had a megasquirt ECU in my cubby for my 20vt swap here is a link to my CQ which the first post have pics of the cubby

speedydtp247 wrote:Congrats Ben on the great work! Love what you've done with that beautiful 90 and I'm happy that my motor is being put to good use! Some time this spring I want to stop by for a visit and go for a ride if that's ok with you?

Of course!

Regarding VEMS ECU placement, I made some crappy Alu brackets and bolted it to my glovebox lid. I'm RHD of course. The lock is strong enough to hold it and passengers are not hit in the knee.

I'll see if I can get a pic of it.

Of course I can...

Love those seats!

Thanks for the pics

I put mine in the glove box of the CQ; if I was starting over I'd find room under the dash.

My v8 CQ VEMS was in the glovebox too. I think where this one is works, the bitch of it is the attachment of the b4 stowage compartment. There are bolt holes at the top that don’t line up to anything. I made a little metal bracket that I have everything attached to now but it is not the best solution