Garth S

The recent thread, " 993's and Avants" verified that many here like their wagons - even more so if they have some kick butt potential. Here is my story ....
A well trashed '03 W8 Variant, 4motion TIP ( silver on black) had been sitting for the previous 5+ months at a friends independent VW garage. It had arrived " making bad noises and smelling like oil and antifreeze" quoted the previous owner .... " think maybe it dropped a valve".
Short version of a long prelude is that I bought it as a roller for my next project - after the PO had had months to contemplate the repair estimates.
The top of the engine, stripped for the estimate, was inside the car - as was everything else that should reside in a garbage can: full of optimism, towed it home and began the clean up. The chassis and interior were all in good shape, and the car cleaned up to be very presentable .... then on to the lift ...
The oil filter cartridge was a twisted mess, and the oil was full of copper particles = con rod inserts, maybe mains too. The last oil change must have been years ago. The trans ATF drained black, but no burned aroma.
Abandoning plans to repair the motor, I sourced an excellent used one, so on with the teardown.

With the entire front clip removed, a friend & I dropped the engine, trans, and suspension/subframe as a unit. Once the trans was split, it was carted to another friends trans shop. We stripped the ZF ( 5HP19FLA) quattro trans in evenings, and shipped off the torque converter(TC) for a max strength rebuild. The trans was perfect, and the TC was wasted, thusly the black ATF.
As this was going on, the fresh engine was prepped ..... and eventually mated to the refreshed trans. With the subframe wrestled underneath this pair, and balanced on two floor jacks, the assembly was rolled under the chassis.
So began the delicate dance of lowering the car and raising the eng/trans pair to allow the subframe bolts to grab the chassis .... tightest engine fit I've ever dealt with!

So, all bolted back together, we fired it up on the Xmas break. It now runs like a champ - quite the car.

Why do this - well, there is the aspect of having a challenging task with an uncertain outcome - until the key was twisted: there is always a lot to be learned as well. The final product is a great DD vehicle, especially in the snow .... and in hand for little more $$ than sweat equity.
A compelling reason was the (technical) intrigue of having an 8 cyl engine with a flat plane ( 180 deg throw) crank - quite a unique sound, as the engine configuration is effectively two banks of 15deg staggered V4's joined at 72deg.
Anyway, some pics below from my very rough & ready garage

goofballdeluxe

Great write-up and pics. Thanks so much for sharing

cmd4

always liked the w8's...especially the wagons.nice little grocery getter for sure

csertich

Man, you put a lot of work into that car. Glad the results are good! Good going.
chuck

AOW162435

Holy smokes! The complexity of that engine bay is almost beyong comprehension.

Did the gasket work as intended?


Andreas

Cactus

Almost makes the 993 seem like a 64 Beetle.

Renaud Bizet

Awesome build, congratulations !!!
Now we need more pictures of the calendar on the wall

Garth S

Thanks again for being my export broker! [Andreas has saved my butt several times when I've encountered a US based seller of some item critical to my latest project - but refuses to mail to Canada:]

Actually, I did not use it ...... my initial plan was to drop the two sections of the oil sump to access the lower block half ( the W8 has a split block, like the 928 - or the 911 'split case' .... the halves sandwich the crank, eliminating main bearing caps). That was to access the con rod inserts, suspected of being the first to fail if copper was in the oil. ... ergo - a quick & dirty in car repair.
The deal killer was that I later discovered that the the windage zones of the lower block (for the con rod throws) were solid - no access to the inserts!! ... the engine is a pseudo dry sump design .... a "gotcha" ... so it was on to plan 'B'
All worked out for the best ...

Garth S

Good eye! Just for you .... this calendar is really Wurth it!