Heebie Jeebies

[Mike Arman]

>Subject: Re: Heebie Jeebies
>From: quk at isham-research.freeserve.co.uk
>Reply-to: quk at isham-research.freeserve.co.uk
>
>
>>> Putting the cams back in an AAN engine, knowing that cracking just
>>> one of the ten caps will cost you $5000.
>
>> HUH? Are you serious, $5000 for ONE cam cap?
>
>Yup.  Crack a cap and the head is scrap - it's line bored and caps are
>not available separately.  There's also no exchange option for the AAN
>head - you have to buy a complete new one.  GBP3700-odd.

$5,000 buys you a heck of a lot of really talented machine shop time . . .

First, CNC machine a new bearing cap by copying one of the remaining nine.
Make it out of the correct grade of aluminum (after identifying it, or
simply specify some super-duper aerospace grade).

Strip the head, find a good speed shop, get it line bored.

If VAG can build it, it can be duplicated.

After you do one or two of these, it might pay to advertise the service,
with a markup - it would still probably be less than half the VAG price! It
HAS to cost less than $5,000 to do this! Audi's answer, of course is to
sell you a new car, or failing that, the most expensive sub-assembly
possible ("Need spark plugs? Not available separately, here's a new engine!")

Of course, the customer will go nuts, but if he's pre-warned "these parts
have a tendency to self-destruct, and it will cost you $$$$ when it does
and take a month to be fixed . . . " and get him to sign the work order in
blood.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman