Time for another update!
Good weekend out in the sunshine, so nice to be working in good conditions
Unfortunately I have been battling with tonsillitis all week, and generally feeling pretty crappy, but work on the imp cannot be halted, we're on a tight schedule here
The various bolts needed to attach the carbon plenum had arrived, and some petrol proof laquer aquired, this meant that the plenum could be trimmed, and the fitting finalised.
Protruding bolts that stop the plenum sitting flat -
Countersunk so that the bolts sit flush and no longer interfere -
The plenum was treated to a single coat of laquer with no sanding, as I decided that I don't want to destroy and of the fibers and risk the structural integrity. The whole unit was then installed -
Various components have been painted with wrinkle finish paint, including the intercooler and supercharger, once this was complete and having the correct joining hose, the intercooler needed mounting.
Painted items bolted on -
When mounting a component like this that is fragile having cast ally end tanks, and also not too position critical, rubber mounting points are best. Fortunately Audi very kindly put mounting points on either end ready for insertion of rubber grommets, thanks Audi!
Intercooler suspended using the 45 degree silicone hose -
The first mounting point was at the inlet end of the intercooler, there was a small length of tube ready to accept a support -
This went straight up to a large 3mm thick washer that carries the rubber grommet -
These were then welded and another support added linking the intercooler to the supercharger, this will make the whole assembly nice and rigid -
The finished mount on that side -
At the plenum end of the intercooler another rubber mount was needed to support the weight of the intercooler, a couple of 5mm steel mounting points were cut by hand (hacksaw!) and cleaned up. Everything was sized up and then TIG'ed together -
At this point everything was looking good, the intercooler was in and rigidly mounted, the plenum was in and looking mighty fine! -
With all that in it's final position, the pipework between the blower and intercooler could be finalised, there were two options, number one was two joins one at the intercooler and one at the supercharger -
The second option being a single join at the intercooler end and rigid at the supercharger -
After all the time getting rid of joins and desipite the extra time to fabricate, the decision was made to use option two. So all the ends were tidied up and made gapless, and the welding could commence
The finished article ended up so -
It is a tight fit, but so much better for the lack of joining pieces -
So this is where we end up for the day -
The next thing to do is going to be mounting the wastegate for boost control, now things are getting a little tight so I have to decide where to fit is, option 1 is tight up against the T-piece like so -
Option 2 will use a 90 degree fitting and a length of pipe to move the wastegate towards the middle of the car and into one of the final remaining areas free from stuff! -
So what do you think? I leaning towards option 2 as I will be able to make a support for the wastegate, taking the load off the boost pipes?
And finally a parting shot of what this car is all about -
Lot's of love,
J