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Thread: Muggy's RS6 Refresh 2020

  1. #55
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    Dude, I'm tellin' ya.. You're going to absolutely love the manual swap. Everything you thought of for a RS6 is just exemplified x10! I can't wait to see the beast up and running.

  2. #56
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    Thanks Joel, I'm excited too....just sent you the final $$ for the swap kit, now just need to find some donor parts!

    Finally spent last night with my wife and dog as an empty nester! My son and his fiancée are doing their final move in to their new house and spent the night there last night! I've been helping with that and also getting his new to him Tacoma 4x4 back to factory new specs...he sold his Lexus IS that was paid off and bought the 96 taco, something he's always wanted...had the $20k left after the car/truck swap to cover his closing costs on the house. Also got the boat pulled, cleaned, winterized, and parked for the winter yesterday...I just love getting sprayed in the face with 2 month old lake slime when power washing the outdrive, but it was a nice day and not 30 degrees. Point being, I'm just about done with "other" projects and will have time to focus on the RS6!


  3. #57
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    Morning all. Hope everyone had a safe and tasty thanksgiving. Hey muggy since my engine is out it of course it gets me to thinking. Just out of curiosity what car does the donor transmission come from and in the end is the swap factory feeling? As in is the check engine light always on. Are the TCU issues all cleaned up. And lastly what kind of a budget would a guy be looking at. Good luck with your swap.

  4. #58
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    Soooo.....I did drive Jolio's briefly when he still had it...definitely got me hooked and that was with a slipping clutch and no tune at the time. From what I'm told, it can be done so there are no CEL's or other lights to aggravate you, it just takes some effort to find the right people to put in the right coding. TCU will be disconnected, so no issues there, again, once coded properly.

    Budget wise, I'm doing mine at home, so without labor, I'm probably looking at 5k for the SteveKen parts plus donor stuff. Most likely I won't source a cheap car to break down myself as I have too much stuff around here now to mess with that...I'll probably call Phil at Audis4parts and a few others that offer what is needed.

    Parts wise, transmission with mounts and linkages, clutch (SteveKen kit comes with flywheel, starter, and adapter plate), pedal assembly, clutch master and maybe brake master?, center drive shaft, front drive shafts, and a bunch of other smaller parts. Again, all of this could be sourced from one car, or one breaker that has it to sell as a "kit".

    We'll see where I am in the end...I'd say you'd be looking at $10k for an installed kit...

  5. #59
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    I've gone on record quoting $8k out the door for the conversion if they deliver the car to me and allow me to use used parts for the axles, prop shaft and transmission. The variable is the transmission and whether you want it rebuilt or not.

    Good used front axles are very hard to source these days so aftermarket is the cheapest and quickest option. Same for a prop shaft. I've never done it before, but would consider looking into a shop lengthening the stock one if it can be done.

    If I have all the parts gathered ahead of time and there are no issues uncovered during the teardown/install, then I can have it done in a week.

    I've basically got all my projects sorted at the moment, so I have the room to offer this. Hit me up if you are interested.
    2012 Q7 TDI S-Line - 2010 GTI - 2007 A3 3.2 S-Line - 2003 RS6
    2001 Honda S2000 - 1977 Honda CBR 750-F2 - 1965 GMC 1500 WideSide

  6. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveKen View Post
    I've gone on record quoting $8k out the door for the conversion if they deliver the car to me and allow me to use used parts for the axles, prop shaft and transmission. The variable is the transmission and whether you want it rebuilt or not.

    Good used front axles are very hard to source these days so aftermarket is the cheapest and quickest option. Same for a prop shaft. I've never done it before, but would consider looking into a shop lengthening the stock one if it can be done.

    If I have all the parts gathered ahead of time and there are no issues uncovered during the teardown/install, then I can have it done in a week.

    I've basically got all my projects sorted at the moment, so I have the room to offer this. Hit me up if you are interested.
    Good to know! I'm sure that you are probably the master when it comes to these...price sounds very fair for someone that doesn't want to try themselves (with your kit of course!).

  7. #61
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    That does seem reasonable to me as well. Right now my engine is out and unfortunately the car is in CO. Everything looks pretty healthy for 85,000 on the clock so Just going to replace everything I can and reinstall. I don't mind the auto I just hate that I feel like I have to be so careful with the right pedal. If or should I say when it implodes I'll probably have it rebuilt and beefed up if that's possible. So much conflicting info and opinions where transmission rebuilding is concerned.

  8. #62
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    Went ahead and got on the list for a swap kit from Phil...said about 6 weeks or so, which I'm fine with given the upcoming holidays and my lack of available free time.

    Looking forward to rowing the boat!

  9. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by DKP View Post
    That does seem reasonable to me as well. Right now my engine is out and unfortunately the car is in CO. Everything looks pretty healthy for 85,000 on the clock so Just going to replace everything I can and reinstall. I don't mind the auto I just hate that I feel like I have to be so careful with the right pedal. If or should I say when it implodes I'll probably have it rebuilt and beefed up if that's possible. So much conflicting info and opinions where transmission rebuilding is concerned.
    I think it's a fair price. Includes the adapter kit, clutchmasters clutch and Nubcake tune.

    Additional hardware costs (and additional time) add up when it's also recommended to replace the downpipes, valve cover gaskets, intercoolers afterrun pump, valve cover gaskets, possibly RMS.
    2012 Q7 TDI S-Line - 2010 GTI - 2007 A3 3.2 S-Line - 2003 RS6
    2001 Honda S2000 - 1977 Honda CBR 750-F2 - 1965 GMC 1500 WideSide

  10. #64
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    Not a whole lot happening in the last couple of weeks...very busy with work through the holidays, but doing research and ordering & waiting for parts, so forward progress even without too much to show for it in photos. I've been doing research on the aux intercooler removal process, and have decided to do that as part of the project....from what I see, there are 2 good ways to do this. First is to remove all of the front piping and radiators and then plumb the pipe from the reservoir hose cluster to the lower radiator hose stub that feeds the thermostat while keeping the one way valve in there to halt any backflow to the reservoir. The other option is to completely remove this pipe and put plugs on the lower rad hose stub and stub back at the reservoir connection. I've ordered the 034 motorsport silicone plugs and am waiting to see if I like the fit when they show up. I like the idea of removing everything possible, but want to be sure that the plugs are solid first (nice looking silicone rated for higher temp, pressure, and water, so we'll see. Since this is strictly a fun car for me, I can avoid driving on those hatefully hot days (or at least in stop & go traffic situations), which really aren't that often here in my region. My reason for removing is to just eliminate all of that extra plumbing...so many places for a coolant leak to happen with the snake of plumbing on the front end. I'm also hopeful that I can get the aluminum radiator highlighted in another current thread here that also eliminates the auto trans cooling circuit for even more cooling efficacy.

    As a Christmas gift, my older son hooked me up with a nice little 5000 watt heater for the garage. I don't have a finished ceiling, but it definitely helps to take the chill off on those extra cold days! He hooked it up for me since he's an electrician...220v with a 30 amp breaker and 10 gauge wire, so done right!



    Last thing up...I have a set of Wraxles in my car now installed by a PO...coming out for the conversion, so hit me up if you need a pair of good axles for your auto box...or a whole transmission and torque converter for that matter. I have 2 transmissions and 2 torque converters for good rebuild cores...or honestly if you just need to get your car back on the road, my old one is still usable, not sure of the condition of the second one that was a gimme from Jolio. I also have 12 quarts of the real deal ZF Lifeguard5 if you need it for a trans fluid change...I got that off of eBay before I decided to go with the manual swap. Picked that up on the advice of Level10 when I talked to them about a rebuild...he said to only use the Lifeguard5 for any fluid changes.

  11. #65
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    If I wasn't already taking such a financial beating on my refresh I'd Take your old tranny, send it to Level 10 have it redone and keep it for a rainy day.

  12. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by DKP View Post
    If I wasn't already taking such a financial beating on my refresh I'd Take your old tranny, send it to Level 10 have it redone and keep it for a rainy day.
    Something said for having the trans ready to go...not like your last fiasco scrambling for parts from who knows where...
    Trans and torque converter would be freebies from me, you just need to cover shipping. Even torque converters are getting expensive and rare...many shops don't even have the cores anymore and need yours in rebuildable condition or no dice.

    Honestly, Tozo is still doing rebuilds on stock only cars...yours is stock, correct? He'd be my go-to for sure. I reached out to him and he's still willing to do them, but as I said, on a stock car only...and mine isn't stock anymore....so that ruled that out....

  13. #67
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    Now that all the parts I scoured the planet for are finally here the car can finally go back together and I'll see what my final tally is. Once I know that number I can look at the spare trans program. My question currently is does Tozo rebuild to stock standards or is it a little beefier. The car is bone stock and I'm happy with that but as we all know the tranny is under engineered for RS6 duty and I'd like to get things strengthened up as much as possible. Also is there any downside to a rebuilt transmission just sitting for months or years. Will things dry up seals fall apart etc? Muggy do you know what a Tozo rebuild runs? So before you give your old tranny the heave ho let me know.

    Happy New Year everyone.

  14. #68
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    Not sure what Tozo charges as we didn't get that far since he isn't interested in non stock rebuilds anymore. He has an excellent reputation on here, so I would definitely trust his work for a stock rebuild as he knows the common failure points. Pat at Level10 seemed very knowledgeable too, so I don't think you'd go wrong with either one.

    If your trans is solid now, then grab a spare...once it starts acting up, get the spare re-done before the pull so it's ready to go...
    As in, I hope not to store for too long...

  15. #69
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    For what it’s worth, I have a Level10 rated to handle up to 700 hp, installed by a PO (who apparently shredded his stock AT5 shortly after flashing a Stage 1 tune). According to their site, they’ll build up to 1,000 hp... I imagine that means beefier components where it matters, but I’d hope for the associated cost that they’d reveal a bit of what exactly goes into it. Verbiage on my receipt says it carries a 36 month, 30k mi warranty, but to get the full 36mo/30k mi warranty you need to service it at their shop at 20k mi... not exactly practical unless you live in NJ!

  16. #70
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    I don't think that you'd go wrong either way...Pat at Level10 really seemed to know his facts on the RS6 and said that the've worked on quite a few...in fact, he was a little giddy when talking about the car and his appreciation of them. I'm also sure that Tozo would give you an honest appraisal of what's what as well. It was a conversation that I was just starting to have with both, but as I mentioned, Tozo won't work on a non stock car anymore, which killed that conversation for me and decided to go 6 speed which ended my conversation with Pat too.

    Now a little progress on mine, finally had a short stretch of time yesterday to pick away at a small project...I pulled all of my aux cooling stuff out, but opted for now to leave the pipe in that connects to the heater core that will now tie into the lower radiator hard line nipple with the one way valve in place. This has proven successful for several in the past...and would be the hardest part to replace and would need to be another engine out project if I ever wanted to put it back in. I could also just disconnect and cap on both ends...I have the 034 silicone caps coming too for options. Personally, I'm happy to get all of this stray piping out of there as it just seems like so many more places to have a leak.







    And I must say, these Wagner intercoolers are beefy and top notch!



    Also decided to remove all of the extra piping for the trans cooler too, since I won't be needing that either.




  17. #71
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    Received a couple of goodie boxes from Jolio....

    I went ahead and picked up his SteveKen 6 speed conversion kit, clutch assembly, and spare ECU...he threw in a spare new starter and mostly complete wiring harness...much appreciated!





    Now it's time to replace my rear main....I picked up the new plate with seal already installed...just need to strap it back on to the hoist so I can unbolt the stand to get access to the back side. I'll start the "no going back" process of getting the guide plug tapped out of the crank nose...

    Spending this weekend building out a laundry room...been here for 22 years with it in an unfinished side of the basement, but now with both kids completely out of the house, we could sort 20+ years of crap out of the utility room, I promised my wife a clean space for the laundry area...after all, it is her birthday today and our 30th wedding anniversary on Tuesday (I was 21 and she was 22 when we got married, so I'm really not that old!)....happy wife, happy life!
    Last edited by Muggy; January 8th, 2021 at 11:02.

  18. #72
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    Glad you got everything in one piece!

    Funny, I'm actually working on remodeling my laundry room for my wife as well haha.

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