I'd discussed in an earlier post regarding my discovery of a brand new Cylinder head. Parts for these 30 year old cars are now becoming more difficult. So when I had endeavored to rebuild my existing cylinder head, I was pleased to actually find a brand new one that had been sitting on a dealership parts warehouse for decades. I'd already acquired other parts including pistons, bearing sets, connecting rods and other parts to perform and entire rebuild but for the sake of time I opted to simply replace the head on the existing short block and move forward.
My brother, who also has a 90 G60 Corrado, had already begun the rebuilding of a short block which was roughly 80% complete. But his location 600 miles away did not afford me the time to retrieve it and I took the chance and simply built the engine on top of the existing short block. I will revisit the bottom end in the future.
One other notable item -- I had endeavored to replace every single plastic flange with an aluminum replacement. The plastic coolant flanges are notorious for expanding, warping, and cracking causing catastrophic failure of the cooling system. I most recently went through this on my Audi A4 1.8T. It was an expensive experience as I had to have the cylinder head rebuilt and planed in a machine shop after it overheated following the failure of one plastic coolant flange and the evacuation of the coolant from the engine while in operation.
I've been able to find Aluminum replacements for virtually every coolant flange on the PG motor with one exception. The notoriously unreliable front coolant flange. This particular flange contains the mount points for two critical coolant temperature sensors. And these are well known for leaking and require replacement often.
I discovered an aluminum CNC machined replacement on eBay. It was the last remaining plastic coolant flange on my corrado. So I bought it.
It is beautifully made and an accurate reproduction of the German OEM part. It is fabricated by a private machine shop and I discovered it on eBay.
It costs as much as the OEM part but will never crack or warp. This eliminates the problem forever. And it's only $20 on the online auction site. Click on the link below
1. Thermostat Housing
2. Side Coolant Flange
3. Front coolant flange
I had to find replacements in a salvage yard but now enterprising entrepreneurs will make brand new ones for you. No longer any need to find them in a salvage yard.
In my last build I had installed an Autotech 260 cam and adjustable pulley. I'd also installed the corresponding SNS performance chip. But this time around, I did not install the cam but opted to use the original OEM stock cam. That way I was more likely to pass the stringent CA smog test.
I do plan to install the aftermarket cam and pulley when the car has stabilized and has settled. But for now I'm happy with it just running and being drivable.
Comments