Missed the first post on this project? Catch up at here!
Well, the engine is coming along, but we have had a few surprises along the way. Most have been of the “good kind” of surprises.
First, it seems that when Audi designed the 2.0L engine for the 924 and other cars of the early and mid seventies, they decided that strength was important. So, the crankshaft and connecting rods are all forged, not cast. That instills a lot of confidence in this little engine as far as longevity.
Second, the engine mounting is a little different than the what you find in the 944 and 924S. The engine mounts are at the rear of the engine around cylinder number four, and the engine hangs from its mounts instead of sitting on the cross member. The engine is far enough back in the engine compartment that most of
the weight of the cast iron block/aluminum head engine is behind the front axle. That is great for weight distribution and the physics of a track car.
Third, the early 924 radiator is pretty thin, and in the “parts stash” we only have one – and it looks a little ragged. So we found a description online from Ideola Garage’s Dan Beckett on how to make brackets to put the bigger, thicker 944 NA radiator in the early body. Thanks to my son, Chris, and his friend Isaac Titcomb, the radiator with its dual fan setup is now mounted in the car.
Lastly, the clutch. The car is a 1982 924 Turbo (931) but we are building it up as a naturally aspirated car. But the body is set up for the hydraulic clutch setup instead of the early NA cable clutch. We have located all the parts including the bell housing, and the clutch is almost exactly the same as the setup in the 944 – no surprise there. So, with clutch and radiator sorted, we are almost ready to put the engine in the car and complete the drivetrain.
One detail is yet to be completed – the engine wiring harness. We are building our own wiring for this car, and as such have had to make everything from scratch. So the next thing to do is make a harness for the engine, complete with a nine-pin connector to make removal and replacement easy in the future.
So we are moving along. Slowly, but making sure everything is done right. Before the engine is mounted, we will be plumbing all new hard brake lines into the car – the original lines are over thirty years old, and we really want to be able to stop. NOS “original” pre-bent lines are very expensive, so we are making our own. The front-to-back line is going inside the interior through a proportioning valve for safety and adjust-ability.
Keep an eye on this blog for more!
