RE: Pierburg Fuel Injection: Rally Car

["Ned Ritchie" <NED@IntendedAcceleration.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Payne [mailto:quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk]
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 1999 12:25 AM
To: NED@IntendedAcceleration.com
Cc: quattro@coimbra.ans.net
Subject: RE: Pierburg Fuel Injection: Rally Car

In message
<NBBBKPAGMDMGMKIIMAPCGEOBDBAA.NED@IntendedAcceleration.c
om> "Ned Ritchie" writes:

> I know the location of three aluminum engines of the
STOCK Sport Quattro
> type.  These cannot hold the head gasket tight enough
to keep water from
> leaking under continuous hard driving.  This type was
also disposed of by
> putting them in cars in remote sales areas.

Indeed.  I discovered this problem when chatting to the
owners of 17
Sports (!) that turned up for a joint meeting between
the UK quattro
Owners Club and the International Sport Quattro Owners
Club, which is
based in Switzerland.  We had a 'bonnets up' session,
and I queried what
appeared to be thin steel plates under the head gaskets
of about six of
the cars.  About 3mm in thickness?  It's about three
years ago now.

This is what it turned out to be.  I've forgotten the
exact term they
used - even being as good at three or four German
dialects as I am,
I have to pay _serious_ attention when listening to a
Swiss at full
speed.   I _think_ I remember that they removed 3mm of
stock from the
top of the block and secured the plate in some pretty
serious manner
before remounting the head.  A lot of engineering was
involved.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021

Phil,
In talking with an older Audi engineer from that era I
was informed that Audi actually replaced these leakers
with cast iron blocks within the first year.  You could
drive the alloy engine hard and it would leak.  Let it
sit for 10 minutes and it would repair itself.  You
could put in more coolant and continue on at a
reasonable pace.  BUT let your foot press on the GO
pedal and within a minute or two it would allow the head
to loosen, and the leaking would begin again.

This engineer has three of these alloy blocks plus a
rally one from Heintz Lehmann.  They are all for sale
but not guaranteed.  Good for high compression normally
aspirated autocross use.

Ned