Building a new 1.8l 20 valve turbo
I have now started building a new engine for my car, the original engine was mainly built using second hand parts scavenged off friends and eBay. This engine will be 100% new, every component will be the best i can buy – not going cheap on this one!
A few months ago I bought a cheap 20v 1.8T from a VW Golf, looking at it I could see it was a high mileage engine, the rings were shot, but it was in OK – this will be the base of my new build.
Parts list..
- Garrett G30 660 turbo
- Supertech single groove valves and double valve springs (Nitrade inlet, Inconel exhaust)
- TTV Racing single mass flywheel and R/S4 2.7T Clutch
- ARP bolts throughout (main bearings, crank pulley, head bolts, conrod bolt)
- 82mm JE pistons
- ProRace forged rods
- IE intake manifold
- ACL racing bearings
- New crank pulley and dowel kit
all new gaskets, seals, chains, tensioners – you name it, its new.
This is a quite comprehensive 1.8T engine tightening sequence and torque settings. I have included the ARP bolts where I have fitted them.
I started by having the block bored and honed to suit my new pistons. This was done by JR Engineering 07737749556 in Slough. The quality of their machine work is awesome and the price was very reasonable. They also polished the crankshaft.
For a bit of fun I mocked up the turbo on a spare head.. Its a BIG TURBO!
I have fitted the crankshaft with the new ACL main bearings and ARP studs and nuts. I have also now assembled the pistons with their con rods. I can not fit them until I gap the piston rings correctly.
5th November 2024
Today I gapped the rings and fitted the pistons. I was dreading doing the rings after watching a program called “Roadworthy Rescues”. the mechanic, Derek Bieri, did this to a V8 and kept saying how hard it was.. (at least I thought he did..) I bought a grinding tool on eBay.. I fitted the rings about an inch down the bore and checked the gap, then stuck them on my grinder and took tiny amounts of metal from the ends. I set the top rings to .0016″ and the second to .0018″. the oil rings were ok with a minimum gap of .0015″
Then I used my trusty ring compressor and pushed them in – with lots of lube! when the engine turns over it makes a nice reassuring noise.
I also received my AliExpress 44mm “Made in USA” Tial wastegate and a vacuum exhaust valve i will use to open up the exhaust on full throttle
7th November 2024
My new front crank pulley was a bit of a challenge, firstly it is dowelled onto the crankshaft and secondly I am using an ARP bolt.
Drilling the crank.. The ProRace kit comes with a reamer and and a drill bit and 2 dowels
I was quite nervous about fitting it, as failure means losing your crankshaft! But I went for it anyway. I pushed the new front pulley onto the crank, the pulley comes pre-drilled with 2 dowel holes. I put some tape round the drill bit to mark the depth of the dowels. Then, very carefully i used the holes in the front pulley as pilot holes and drilled through into the crank. The holes in the crank are VERY close to the big bolt hole in the middle. Very slowly I kept drilling until i reached the tape mark. Then using the supplied reamer I reamed the holes until they were the perfect depth for the dowels – Phew..
I then pressed out the old oil seal in the front oil pump chain/crank oil seal, coated the housing with Blue Hylomar and fitted the front cover, torquing to 10nm
Next was the front pulley and ARP bolt.. The bolt needed to be torqued to 105Nm plus a 1/4 turn with Loctite. I got to the 105Nm easily using my torque wrench, but the 1/4 turn was impossible without a scaffolding pole! The 1/2″ drive 3′ long bar i used was almost bent, but I got it about a 1/3 of that 1/4.. its not going anywhere.
10/11/2024
I started the day by taking the car to a car meet at the Pinewood Hotel @ Wexham Park Ln, Slough SL3 6AP, We have a car meet there on the 2nd Sunday of every month. When I got home at about midday, I started stripping the car down. First job – remove the seats. These are going off to be reupholstered by a friend of mine who runs her own car upholstery company called Funky Bugs https://www.facebook.com/funkybugsupholstery
The seats will be black faux leather with green Alcantara centre and a logo on the headrest
Then on to stripping the car down.
