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2011 Sedan - Stage 1 and Done! 700whp?

21K views 70 replies 44 participants last post by  Speeddhaxx 
#1 · (Edited)
So I've been planning for a while now and started acquiring parts. I think it should end up high 600s and may have the possibility of getting to 700wph. Either way, I don't really have a 'goal', I think it should be a beast either way. Here is what my plan is and I don't think much else will get added:

  • lt1z stage 2 cam Deluxe Package (Rods/Trunions/Springs/Timing Set) + Johnson 2110 Lifters/ARP Studs-Bolts/Trays/Head Gaskets
  • 2” Headers/3” Cross Pipe/Resonators
  • Heads - Total Engine Airflow Stage 2 CNC & Assembly w/cam kit parts
  • Jokerz Ported Blower/Snout & 2.55” Griptech upper pulley
  • Ported LS3/LS7 90mm TB
  • Airaid CAI - Already installed - Adding a Green Filter
  • ZL1 Lid — Milled/Reinforced Brick/-12an Converted
  • ID850 Injectors
  • Track Attack HX
  • Varimax pump
  • ATI Super Damper
  • 9.17” Lingenfelter Crank pulley
  • Lingenfelter Pulley relocation bracket
  • New Ported LSA Oil Pump
  • LS2 ‘Dog Bone’ timing chain tensioner
  • Mighty Mouse Solutions ‘Wild’ Catch Can
  • TR7IX plugs
  • Dyno Tune


Funny, I bought the car this past summer and figured, i'll drive it for a year and then maybe do an intake and upper pulley! I should have known better and reading this site is just a downward spiral lol. I'm quite sure my issue after this will be figuring out how to get power to the ground. I'm also hoping that the tranny and rear can take it. I am certainly curious to see what it puts down and also curious how much pressure it'll be building with these mods.

2011 loaded Crystal Red A6 Sedan w/~25k miles.




 
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#2 · (Edited)
I started by cleaning up the garage, adding a LOT of lighting (four more ceiling lights), and adding some heat. Time to start tearing it down! I'm not in a hurry and plan to work on it an hour or two after work in the evenings and some more on the weekend(s). I need to get it tore down to send out the blower/snout/TB to Jokerz by the end of Feb. I also want to have the heads pulled and ready to drop off for porting by the week of 2/27. So, about 2 weeks to get it tore down really...no hurry.

Starting out - The only Mod I have done was an Airaid when I bought the car. Covers pulled.



Strut Tower Brace pulled



Front clip pulled




S/C lid pulled - Some oil but I've seen worse


The lid and brick


The Brick - I was curious to see if it was caving in at all. Mine is actually convex!?!?! lol



Next up, I think I'll lift the front up a little and put it on jack stands to get some more clearance under. Then drain the coolant and see if I can figure out how to remove the fans and cooling stack...looks like a PITA!
 
#4 ·
Looking forward to watching your progress! I always especially enjoy watching DIY builds.

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#5 ·
Great build list. Its a much better approach to go for a big time stage one rather than upgrading parts 2-3 times as I did. The only changes I would recommend are a larger CAI, larger TB and cat delete. I would also consider adding a set of resonators and cut-outs to stock exhaust.

Is it an auto or man?
 
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#7 ·
Watching from afar

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#8 · (Edited)
Thanks for the feedback and input guys! It will be much appreciated throughout this work.

The V is an A6. I have considered dumping the Airaid and going bigger but have decided, for now to stick with it, with a large green filter, ported 90mm TB and see how it goes.

The cats will be deleted and I plan to install a couple resonators as well. I'm not sure though what to do with the Flowmasters the previous owner put on! lol I know the perception here so I hate to admit that I actually like the way it sounds haha. The sound will likely change a lot after this though.

Im definitely not caught up on a number though, it will be a beast either way. Though, it will be at about sea level and will have a great tuner...New Era in Rochester, NY. About 45 min from me. That of course assumes I ever get this thing put back together lol.
 
#9 ·
It will be 650-660whp



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#10 ·
SAE corrected of course


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#12 ·
Looking forward to your progress. Keep posting pics with descriptions, especially the cam install!
 
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#14 ·
So tonight it was time for the electric fans and cooling stack. I've really not seen much detail on getting them out other than it's a big mess and a big pain in the ass! Well, it didn't turn out to be a mess but it was a bit of a pain in the ass. For the record though, I never removed the big hard plastic panels/shrouding on the bottom side of the car and it is sitting on the tires still, not up in the air at all, not even jack stands. In retrospect, access to some of the bolts and clips etc. would be easier with all that plastic gone and up in the air a little to get access from the bottom. With that said, I spent about 2 hours on it this evening.


Here you can see the bottom radiator hose that I pulled to drain most of the fluid. This is a shot from the drivers side, in front of the wheel from the side.



Once I finally got the clamp moved up the hose and the hose broke loose, I slowly pulled it off and let the coolant drain. I can see why this can turn into a big mess but since I read it was a mess multiple times, I had the idea of trying a big 35" washer pan from Amazon! Worked great, not a drop on the garage floor.



after the radiator was drained, I moved up to the IC and pulled the hose on each side to let that drain as well, just pull the pan up front a little more.



The fan shroud is a PITA because of all the lines clipped and bolted to it. Also, the lower bolt on the passenger side was tough to get to and there was a wire harness right against the head of the bolt so you can't get a little socket in there but was able to get it from the side with a 10mm ratchet wrench. Unclip the wiring to the fans and then wiggle it out. The radiator is a PITA because all the coolers are bolted to each other and then the stupid flexible shrouding that is held on everywhere with the plastic push pins that are tough to get pulled out because of space and get destroyed removing them or cutting them. I'll definitely be buying an assortment of them lol. Finally everything was separated, unhooked and released and I could wiggle out the radiator, then the IC.



Once you get to the point that they are out of the car and sitting on the bench, you'll certainly feel you've earned a beer! (and your hands might be a little sore.)



It may not be necessary with most smaller jobs but if you're doing something of this scope, do yourself a favor and get in the habbit of bagging n tagging!



Now I'm just looking to see if anyone has some pictures of how they move/position the AC condenser (without unhooking the lines) so that it doesn't have to be removed when it comes time to do the cam. Also thinking about what to do next. I guess it'll be pulling the S/C then unhooking a lot of wires, coil packs, valve covers, heads...
 
#15 ·
There are two big black plastic covers on the A/C lines a few inches away from the condenser. Those are some kind of lock and inside them are joints in the lines. The whole assembly can rotate at those joints. You'll need to pull the plastic piece underneath the car and let the condenser rotate down.
 
#16 ·
Bag and tag ftw! I do it on any bigger job or one that I know will stretch a few weeks before I re-assemble.

I'm liking the near step-by-step, too, I look forward to learning as you work and referencing this thread for my future install ;)

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#17 ·
Aircraft Maintainers in the Air Force have to bag and tag everything so I can tell you it's a little extra work, but definitely worth it in the end.

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#19 ·
Loving the build! I'll be doing the same in a few weeks! Definitely sub'd
 
#20 ·
Well, I WOULD have the S/C sitting on my bench right now IF I could find a fuel line disconnect tool! Doh, I guess it'll come off tomorrow instead, the only thing holding it on is the fuel line/rail.

So Eazy, my biggest tip so far is make sure you have a fuel line disconnect tool AND that you can find it lol
 
#21 ·
Haha it definitely made things easier when I did my injectors, so I know what you mean!
 
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#22 ·
I picked up another $6.99 fuel line removal tool so I was able to proceed with removing the blower. In general, the Lingenfelter instructions are a good guide, though I had many items done already. The only difference I did was to remove the complete blower as opposed to blocking it up. All this really entails is unhooking the wire harness from each injector and coil pack, then pulling the blower with the fuel rails and injectors intact.

http://www.lingenfelter.com/PDFdownloads/L250310709.pdf


To unhook the injectors, just lift the green portion of the connector and then pop them up off of the injectors.



The S/C lifted off pretty easily. I later removed the rails by undoing the (5) bolts holding them to the S/C and working the rails up with the injectors attached.



Next I started removing stuff from the front of the engine. First was the idler/tensioner wheels on the top passenger side. I removed both wheels, a large one and small one, then removed the bracket holding them from the front of the engine. Next was the power steering pump. I think two of the bolts are trapped by the pulley and one isn't. I just worked them all out together and you can get it loose. A ratchet wrench works good for getting to the two that are trapped behind the pulley. I did not undo all the lines or try to remove it from the engine as it doesn't look like I will have to? It swivels on the hard line running up from the steering rack, I just swing it out of the way.




To gain some room on the passenger side, I just removed the IC fill 'T' and tubing. Since I will also replace the factory hard lines when I install the ZL1 lid, I just got them out of there as well.



Next I removed the water pump. To get to all the bolts on the water pump, I had to removed the small idler wheel between the water pump and power steering pump pulleys (and slightly lower). I then just threaded the bolt/wheel back on after. To removed the valve covers, I started by removing all the plug wires and then the coil packs. Removing the valve covers was then simple, just remove the 4 bolts/gromets and give them a tap with a dead blow and they were loose.



The rocker bolts were removed so that all rockers and rods could be removed from both heads. I also broke loose all manifold bolts and removed all but one from each side to hold them in place until I get under the car to start undoing the exhaust. Just a tip, but if you're doing this like I am, over a longer period of time and not trying to pound it out in 2 days, spray the manifold bolts with penetrating oil a few times over a couple days if you can. I have read more than a couple threads where it was stated that bolts broke off in the heads or rounded off when removing them. It can't hurt, I did this and all of them came out without issue.





It doesn't appear I can pull the heads very easily without removing the manifolds? Which is fine either way really since I plan to install headers when I go back together. So, I guess next I will get the car lifted up on jack stands. I need to remove all of the hard plastic under the motor area (should have just done this from the start) and then start undoing the exhaust. I've read conflicting info on removing manifolds/installing headers. I will go with catless headers/cross pipe/resonators so I want to get it all out of there. I've seen some say the cat connected to the manifold can be removed from the bottom and others say they had to separate them? I guess I will see. I also see people talking about removing a steering colum bolt but I'm not sure why yet as I haven't scoped it out from below or tried to pull them down through yet. I will try to see tomorrow.
 
#24 ·
First up today, I tightened the one remaining manifold bolt on each side and pulled all the spark plugs.



I also wanted to get the S/C ready to ship (sending it to Brett at Jokerz for porting) and decided it would be easier to box up if the snout was split from the S/C. Plus I was curious what the isolator and shaft looked like since I've seen so many on here. I was surprised to see rust! There appears to be no lube at all and in 25K miles, it has already eaten well into the shaft.






I then removed the big plastic shrouding under the front of the car, which I should have done from the start. It is around (6) plastic buttons and 2 small bolts, then it drops right off. I was now ready to start working towards removing the manifolds. With the car down, I unhooked all (4) of the O2 sensors. You can reach these from just behind the heads on each side. I would recommend paying attention to which one you are unhooking and label the connectors/pigtails as the primary and secondary are close to each on each side and could easily mix them up.



Next I worked on getting the steering shaft disconnected. All I knew is that you don't want to turn the wheel once it's disconnected or put it back together incorrectly so I started by marking each section with a paint stick, as I wasn't even sure what parts would move or come apart. The first pic is from the steering rack looking up. The second pic is another angle looking further up towards the firewall from under the car. From the bottom up there is: bolt 1 -> rubber coupling -> bolt 2 -> shaft -> bolt 3 -> shaft -> bolt 4 -> firewall. I removed bolt 1, loosened bolt 2 (though I don't think you need to), removed bolt 3. You can then push from the bottom up to disengage from the steering rack and them pull back down and remove most of the shaft. Then just thread the two removed bolts back into the shaft so you don't lose them.





I have read that some were able to remove the manifolds with the cats attached and other said no way, they had to split them. And, they are very difficult to split. I had soaked them with penetrating oil earlier in the day hoping it would help. I thought, well I'll just try to separate the manifolds and cats, if they break loose fairly easy, then the manifolds will come out no problem for sure. Well, I started on the driver side with a 36" breaker bar, 1/2" drive with a swivel and deep 15mm. I got on it good and busted the 1/2" swivel! The nut didn't even creak. So I decided to see if I could get them out attached. I tried breaking the nuts loose on the joint/flange behind the primary cats and all four (2 on each side) broke loose and came out no problem. I could then push the rest of the exhaust back a little towards the rear of the car to get some room between the flanges. Up top on the driver side, I pulled the last manifold bolt from the head and lowered the manifold down to rest between the motor and inner fender, went under the car and twisted it right out with no problem. there was plenty of room on the drivers side and it was out in 15 seconds.



The passenger side though, definitely looked tighter. I removed the last bolt from up top and went back under the car. It was tight and my first impression, even a few minutes in, was no way. But, I finally managed to get it! You have to push the cat forward, rotating the back of the manifold towards the bottom of the car. There are insulated metal lines running up the back of the firewall and you have to get the manifold past these. Then, push the manifold back up into the engine bay with the back of the manifold rotated down. I then got a little flat bar and had to push the starter wire up past the manifold before letting the manifold drop back down. Now it was kind of pinned between the inner fender, frame support under car and against the side of the starter. Wiggle wiggle and it dropped! Boy was I happy because even up to the point that I felt it drop, I figured it wasn't coming out.





Now, I have a lot of stuff removed from the engine bay that you might not if you were ONLY doing headers. I guess it's possible that some of the cooling lines, including the solid IC lines could also get in the way and reduce room? Not sure but I can also see how others would give up prior to getting it out thinking it's not going to happen, I almost gave up myself on the pass. side. The drivers side was like a hot dog down the hallway though!



I was happy to give up for today at this point. This means, tomorrow after work I can drop the car back down and pull the heads no problem! Should only be a couple ground wires to unhook and out them come!

Now, for the 'Tip of the Day'...there is some sharp shit on these cars! I hate wearing gloves though I know I should and today it would have paid off. I was up taking the last bolt out of the pass. side manifold and pulling it around from the top. I'm not entirely sure what cut me because I didn't even know it until I saw the blood on my hand! I believe though that it was the shield on the manifold and I must have put my palm down on it somewhere with my weight on it. not terribly deep but deep enough to start leakin! So watch your hands and probably a good idea to wear gloves.

 
#26 ·
Thanks Red, I hope so too!

I've read a lot on this site from others so I want to try and do a little to possibly return the favor or maybe pay it forward some. I take a lot of pics along the way anyway, so I can reference later. So it's just a matter of taking a half hour at night to post them and do a little write up to go with them. I'm glad if it provides any help to some others looking to do something similar!


Ken
 
#27 ·
A good day turned bad...

Yesterday started out good and ended up not so good!

After getting the manifolds/cats out of the way, it was time to pull the heads. I started by unbolting the ground wires left connected on the back of the heads. The driver side head had one bolt on the back and the passenger head had three. They are a little bit of a pain to get out but I want able to lean over the front and get them broke loose. I used a 15mm ratchet wrench and a dead blow to break them loose. Of course I also tagged them.

Driver Side


Passenger side



Now I was able to start breaking the stock torque to yield head bolts loose on the passenger head. I was able to break loose the two rows of 15mm bolts with a 1/2" bar with a short extension and deep 15mm socket. I believe the small ones were 10mm? and used a 3/8" ratchet. Once all the bolts are loose and removed, the heads can be lifted up off the block. Rock it back and forth a little and then grab it and give it a tug up to separate the gasket and off it comes. It sits on dowels in the corners as well so it wont just slide off when the bolts are out.




I then repeated the process and the drivers side head was off as well. Felt good to finally have the blower off and now the heads off as both were scheduled to be sent out and worked. I then started to look things over and ended up feeling the inside of the #1 cylinder as it was near BDC. My stomach dropped as I felt fairly pronounced scoring in the cylinder bore! Bottom line, it was clear right away that this would not be acceptable and I don't believe just honed out so the motor would have to be pulled now...kind of took the wind out of my sails to say the least.




I guess now I am just going to take a few days to regroup and figure out my new, significantly more involved, path forward. Then I will carry on trying to pull the engine. I have started a thread in the 'Engine/Supercharger' section to try and figure out what happened and how to proceed...time for more research. At this point, I really see no damage other than the cylinder wall and from the coking on the exhaust valve it seems like it's been this way a while. It must be an issue with the rings, who knows, maybe it is something that has existed since it was new and has just been progressing. 'Engine/Supercharger' thread with a lot more pictures and details: http://www.ctsvowners.com/forum/4-engine-supercharger/80985-help-need-advice-damaged-cylinder.html



To be continued...
 
#28 ·
I assume con vexed is better than concave? Definitely a first sight for me.
 
#30 ·
It didn't cross my mind at the time but I really wish I had done a compression test or leak down test prior to tearing it apart! Not that it would have really changed anything, it is what it is, but I sure am curious now to know what it would have shown and I think it would be interesting to compare before and after now.
 
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