[s-cars] RS2 EM + K26/T04E install complete!

[Marc Swanson]

I was _very_ nervous that I would have coolant leaking from the EM stud
where I drilled into the coolant jacket but it looks like my jb weld
repair worked great!

I buttoned everything up last night and had a bit of a coolant leak, but
thankfully it was coming from the wrong side of the motor.

Further inspection revealed that the plastic housing for the thermostat
had a chip in the sealing ring causing the leak.

In the interest of getting the stupid car back on the road I dug through
my parts bin and found a powdercoated coolant flange from a 5kt that was
the right shape, but the outlet diameter was a bit smaller.  I don't
think this will be an issue, but I'll be watching the coolant temps
carefully.  Here's a pic of the flaw:

http://www.theswansonfamily.us/modules/gallery/rs2_em_install/IMG_1436

and the side by side of that with the replacement flange:

http://www.theswansonfamily.us/modules/gallery/rs2_em_install/IMG_1437

After swapping in the new flange I had absolutely zero leaks.  SWEEET!

For the MAF to turbo hose I contemplated making something out of the
pipe I had in my garage but opted for the $$ 2B unit just because it was
the easy way out.  A very nice piece indeed.

Took the car for a trip to the grocery store and I was pleasantly
surprised that even with zero tuning the lag isn't as bad as I was
fearing.  Boost comes in at 3k and pulls hard all the way to redline.

More pics here:

http://www.theswansonfamily.us/modules/gallery/rs2_em_install

Looking forward to this weekend's Mihnea tuning fest.  I think tonight
I'm going to install a boost gauge temporarily in the ashtray area until
I have more time to mount it up properly.

Anyone ever tried to replace one of the stock round gauges in the
instrument cluster with an autometer/VDO boost gauge before? I was
thinking about replacing the clock...

-- 
-Marc Swanson-
95.5 //S6 Avant
87 4ktq
88 90q
www.mswanson.com/audi