OMG, another 6MT conversion thread.

[redwoodkiwi]

Got the passenger side manifold off! But crikey, what an ordeal.

Ground down an already-thin-wall socket, to fit into the recess, thinking that it was 12 outer hex in there.



Only to find that it is not a 12mm outer hex. It's 13mm. No way is a 13mm socket getting in there (it would have to be ground so much that the integrity of the socket would break at the slightest bit of torque).

So what's a lad to do? A 7mm hex just turns freely in the inner hex.

So, I took an 8mm hex, ground off the end-bevels (to give it a more aggressive bite). ever-so-slightly ground off .5mm off each flat side of the shank and hammered it in.



And, got the little bugger out.



So with the manifold off, I could then get to repositioning the turbo oil line so that it would not interfere with the starter.

Q: The image below shows how I have bent the bracket 90 degrees moving the oil line position from where it had been (shown by yellow circle) to its new position (red circle). By doing so, I have moved it very close to the manifold - it's hard to see, but there is about a 1 to 2mm gap between the line and the manifold. Could this become an issue? (I'm worried about heat exchange from the manifold). Before moving/bending the oil line it was running with about 5mm clearance.




And then as it comes around the front, it is just kisses the manifold (whereas, before bending, it had about 3mm clearance).



I do like getting it well away from the starter solenoid - but I am a little worried about heat induction from the manifold into the oil line (although, to what extent that it be greater than what it was before - I don't know). Or, am I just overthinking all of this?

[nubcake]

I do like getting it well away from the starter solenoid - but I am a little worried about heat induction from the manifold into the oil line (although, to what extent that it be greater than what it was before - I don't know). Or, am I just overthinking all of this?

I don't like it, and would prefer the tube being too close to starter, than too close to the manifold.
That being said, under normal operation it's unlikely to cause any issues:
1) The manifold outer shell has an "internal" air gap with the actual manifold.
2) The tube in question carries oil, so oil will cool any "excess" heat.

The reason I don't like it: oil coking after you shut the car off.
I don't know how big of a deal extra 2-3 mils of air gap are, but every little bit helps.
Also, using a heat-resistant blanket for starter is probably a good idea.
Shrug.

[SteveKen]

Got the passenger side manifold off! But crikey, what an ordeal.

Ground down an already-thin-wall socket, to fit into the recess, thinking that it was 12 outer hex in there.



Only to find that it is not a 12mm outer hex. It's 13mm. No way is a 13mm socket getting in there (it would have to be ground so much that the integrity of the socket would break at the slightest bit of torque).

So what's a lad to do? A 7mm hex just turns freely in the inner hex.

So, I took an 8mm hex, ground off the end-bevels (to give it a more aggressive bite). ever-so-slightly ground off .5mm off each flat side of the shank and hammered it in.



And, got the little bugger out.



So with the manifold off, I could then get to repositioning the turbo oil line so that it would not interfere with the starter.

Q: The image below shows how I have bent the bracket 90 degrees moving the oil line position from where it had been (shown by yellow circle) to its new position (red circle). By doing so, I have moved it very close to the manifold - it's hard to see, but there is about a 1 to 2mm gap between the line and the manifold. Could this become an issue? (I'm worried about heat exchange from the manifold). Before moving/bending the oil line it was running with about 5mm clearance.




And then as it comes around the front, it is just kisses the manifold (whereas, before bending, it had about 3mm clearance).



I do like getting it well away from the starter solenoid - but I am a little worried about heat induction from the manifold into the oil line (although, to what extent that it be greater than what it was before - I don't know). Or, am I just overthinking all of this?

I've often thought of this but have not way of proving whether the conduction causes any appreciable difference in temperature to harm anything. It's the supply line so in essence it's elevating the temp of the oil prior to it hitting the turbos.

One thing that you need to be super mindful of is not to ground out the starter voltage to this supply line. I know if 2 people that did this and the result could be very bad when it's arcs a hole in the supply line and oil spills over everything.

[redwoodkiwi]

One thing that you need to be super mindful of is not to ground out the starter voltage to this supply line. I know if 2 people that did this and the result could be very bad when it's arcs a hole in the supply line and oil spills over everything.

Yes. I'm very mindful of that. I think I may have read something you wrote (either on this forum or another) alluding to the potential for short. In this configuration above, there appears plenty of room for the live starter feed to coexist as the oil line has been elevated up and well out of the way. The downside being that it is now much closer to the manifold. @nubcake's comment re: the manifold having an outer jacket gives me some comfort.

[SteveKen]

So what's a lad to do? A 7mm hex just turns freely in the inner hex.

So, I took an 8mm hex, ground off the end-bevels (to give it a more aggressive bite). ever-so-slightly ground off .5mm off each flat side of the shank and hammered it in.



And, got the little bugger out.

I assume that you are going to use a new replacement when you re-install it? Check to see that the accompanying stud is inserted far enough. If too much of it is sticking out, then it could be hindering the amount of bite you have on the inner hex. I've also seen replacement nuts that look like long shafts so that the hex is outside of the manifold. I might have some lying around here somewhere....

[redwoodkiwi]

I assume that you are going to use a new replacement when you re-install it? Check to see that the accompanying stud is inserted far enough. If too much of it is sticking out, then it could be hindering the amount of bite you have on the inner hex. I've also seen replacement nuts that look like long shafts so that the hex is outside of the manifold. I might have some lying around here somewhere....

Hah. You assume correctly sir. I've ordered the newer longer manifold fasteners that fit the manifold recesses as per the suggestion of @GreggPDX earlier in the thread. They should arrive tomorrow.

[redwoodkiwi]

While waiting for other bits'n'bobs I got to disassembling the front of the motor in prep for a full timing belt change - cleaned her up a bit too...




And, also the valve covers in prep for changing all gaskets and seals - and also the tensioner pads.
Look what I found though...






Notice anything? Yeah, the 'L' and 'R' painted references (AFIK it is not factory procedure to label them in this fashion). And clean! There is barely any varnishing on the hardware (I recently had the valve covers off the Allroad with similar mileage (100k-ish) and the difference between that and this is night-vs-day). These heads have been either reconditioned or replaced entirely - and I'd guess, sometime in the last 20-25k miles.

The valve covers are original though...



The valve covers show the varnishing you'd expect from a car with 100-ish thousand miles under its belt - and that's after a degreasing and washing down.

I wonder what happened?

The previous owner kept a very good record of maintenance - although he was the second owner and acquired the car at around 85k miles. Records from the previous owner clearly have a few gaps because there is nothing to suggest this level of work (and expense). But it does explain the utterly ruined manifold bolts.

I don't think I'll be changing the tensioner pads. The tensioners look like they were replaced at the same time - and the pads still look new. That makes things easier. I will still do the half moons, caps and cam seals since I'm in here though.

It kinda suggests a snapped belt (or broken belt roller) that, in turn, led to catastrophic valve damage - necessitating head replacement. That can't have a been a cheap repair.


Couple of questions to the grouo:

I noticed no sign of RTV sealant on the gasket or head surface. On the 2.7T's it is considered a good procedure to use RTV sealant at the lower corners of the cover and in the valleys between the tensioner actuator and the end-cam-cap. Is this not the case for the RS6 4.2? (there was no sign of leaking anywhere - not at the half moons, the cam seals, the tensioner gasket, or the valve cover gasket).

Also, what are the correct bolts for the crank pulley? (mine had a mix of 6mm m8 hex that were all stripped and triple square m8's of different lengths) (it took me over an hour to get the hex bolts out - all stripped and no room for EZ outs. bah.

[redwoodkiwi]

BTW: @SteveKen - thanks for sharing the photo's of the mods you've had to make to the trans mount and axle heat shield. I'd not seen reference to those before, and it's good to know what's coming. Very helpful.