I've completed my piano top piston project to go with the VGS airbox and manifold setup, a little "go" to go with the "show". My engine has a Schrick 284 cam and triple Webers, and until now the crappy USA 8:1 pistons. For years I've wanted to put piano top high compression CSi/L pistons in. First I bought a set that were too big. Then
@Wes sold me his standard size from his CSL that he is rebuilding oversize. My engine only has 85k miles and wasn't burning any oil so I decided to replace with standard size.
I also didn't want to pull my engine and pay big bucks for the total rebuild on a low mileage engine so I challenged myself to do this engine-in-situ after reading the blue book on how to replace a piston, I thought what the heck I'll do all 6
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. Off everything came to get to the pistons, while doing this I took time to refresh many things along the way (a list later). Existing pistons out:
I am very glad I did this because one of my pistons was missing a gudgeon circlip (the pin easily slid out from one side) and #6 cylinder rod cap bolts had lost their torque and were not very tight! Yikes. Onward...
@stphers took me under his wing and gave me invaluable advice and encouragement along the way, thanks RIck! He told me how to hone the bores and get the cross-hatch:
And polish the crank with 600 wet sand and a shoelace from below. While the pistons were at the shop getting my connecting rods put on and balanced, I did major detailing and rewiring. I had no less than 7 connections to the + side of the battery for accesories which has bothered me for years, looks like crap all cluttered. Before:
I installed a vintage style fuse box on the firewall (with the same torpedo fuses as under the dash) to fuse the relays of the horn, high & low beams, and window relays/stereo amp. I realized while doing this that not only is the low beam circuit not relayed (I changed that years ago), but neither high or low beams are fused. The horn has a fuse but it's not the relay that is fused. I also cleaned up my driving light circuit and a/c fan relay connections and wiring etc under the headlight acess panel. Here's the fuse box with beefy wiring, it's fed off the starter post and big cable from the battery:
And the result of the rewire is I now just have the original cable to the battery with no janky clutter (hmmm I need to clean up that tape):
Next I measured and filed the piston ring clearances and installed the piano tops, torqued the rod caps (new bearings), clearance is .038mm so in spec:
Put it all back together and spun the engine with no plugs in to get oil pressure. Repeated a couple times. All good. Put the plugs in and she started right up! I did the break in/ring seating procedure for 20 min then drove it 30 miles with various revs/engine braking then changed the oil. Definitively more pep and power.
Once satisfied it was running ok I put everything back together in the engine compartment (this took a week). Here is a list of what was done during this 2+ month project:
Installed euro piano top pistons
New rod bearings, rings, bores honed, crank polished
Retensioned loose oil pump chain with shims (cold start knock now gone)
New head gasket
Sanded and POR-15 repainted exhaust, all new hangers
Painted brake booster (new decal) and blower motor cover plate
Cleaned all engine components and brackets, oil pan, valve cover, etc.
Differential fluid changed
Power steering fluid changed and reservoir cleaned & repainted, new hoses and filter
Tranny cleaned, fluid drained & replaced, new Coupeking bracket (it's a beast) to be installed next
All new radiator and heater hoses and clamps
New brake booster vacuum hose
All new fuel hoses front to back, cleaned up fuel pump wiring, new filter
New O2 sensor for my AFR gauge
Complete coolant flush including upper block passages, repainted block & radiator
Painted wiper motor
Painted suspension & steering components, new sway bar bushings
Cleaned up triple Webers and installed new accel pump gaskets, jet covers, o-rings, etc.
Removed cluttered battery wiring, separately fused the horn, high & low beam relays, and electric window relays
Detailed engine compartment, new yellow zinc clamps to show off the beauty of these e9 engines
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New upper and lower firewall insulation from CS-Werke
Flushing brakes and new blue hoses is next up.
I also made an emergency fuel pump harness so I can swap in my spare pump into the spare tire/trunk fuel hose fittings (without getting under the car) and run it off the cigar lighter socket if the existing one dies on a trip.
Finally, I had a stencil of the VGS logo custom made for the airbox, and here are the resulting bling shots:
This is the nicest it's going to look in my lifetime because from here on out I am going to drive the hell out of this car! I am tired of working on it, but this was a lot fun and satisfying to do this project, I learned a lot with the help of fellow forum members. It's ready for a long road trip at a high rate of speed!