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[Jim K]

Ahhhh, rub it in you guys....!
Jim K.

[75evo]

Hey JK, don't let those 2 jokers make you feel bad. Sooner or later your government will make something happen to make you feel closer to the ring....... they will put a toll at the start finish line of your local track.

[Jim K]

Don't give the assholes any ideas! They might just do it!
Jim K.

[Mats]

That doesn't work. They put toll stations all around my town and you have to pay everywhere you go, including if you only pass on the motorway. All in the name of saving the environment, while everybody knows it's just to get more money out of us. Can't complain though as my daily route is now free of congestion.

Doesn't feel anything like the Ring though.

[Jim K]

Hah! That wouldn't work here, as most Greeks don't pay tolls anymore, they just get out of the car, raise the bar and drive away! Then, when they eventually go to court, they prove they have no money and get away with it! Its a sad reality but in most cases its true. This financial crisis has unbelievable manifestations; you must live in it to understand everything going on. More than half a million drivers returned their license plates to the government as they can't afford to pay road tax, which is very high compared to incomes now. A 2liter car pays 660€/year, my 1.8T's pay 300€ each/year, the 3liter pays 880€... With average salaries down to ~700-1200€/month, fuel prices at ~1.70€/liter, living costs on the rise (but why?) and unemployment aiming for 30%, its no wonder people are abandoning their cars. As a matter of fact, we have many European dealers coming to buy high-end cars from Greece, like Cayenne's for ~15k€, Brera 3.2 4wd for ~16k€, 3liter M3's from 6k€... And the best part is they're 100% rust-free! My family has lost ~51% of the income we had 3 years ago... It IS a huge drop, but what can I say... That's life. We've been better and maybe we will again. I'm just thankful for what we have -its sobering to look around and see so much misery.. And, we're still waiting to see politicians behind bars... The biggest problem in this country was, is and will be tax evasion. If laws are not enforced, we will do worse -yes, worse is always possible!

Ahhh, screw this! Today I brought home from the garage the water/air IC, the little radiator+recirculator and will deal with replacing the injectors with the IW-44 ones first; if I can finally get off my a$$ that is!
Jim K.

[Maurizio]

[Wise guy modus on]

3liter M3's from 6k€... And the best part is they're 100% rust-free!

So stop fiddling and buy a M3

Or lets make a business out of it.
You are the inside man... I can make room on the driveway for 4-5 cars if I really push
Now we only need an investor

[Wise guy modus off]

But I like your spirit, just make the best of it!

[Jim K]

There's no other way! Besides minimizing (where possible) family expenses, I've started selling a bunch of stuff I had sitting here, most of it new. I am now a 1.8T and 24v guy, so all 12v related parts can go. In a few months i will probably sell the 24v 3liter also, when the 3.2 proves itself; no sense having both engines around.
Jim K.

[75evo]

Son of a....what the....he said the bad word

He said M3

[Maurizio]

Son of a....what the....he said the bad word

He said M3

Yes I said it ...

Shouts
M3
M3
M3
M3
M3
while he gets carried away in a white coat.

Oooh so we are going to be banned again, Jim lets further discuss on the M3 forum

[Jim K]

We are only allowed to participate there if our cars make more than 95hp/liter naturally aspirated!
Jim K.

[Jim K]

Ok, enough off-topic BS, let's see what's new on the 1.8T front... Past couple of days I spent putting in the water/air IC, its front mounted radiator, expansion tank and recirculator pump. System capacity is 6liters, a good volume for this application. I also installed the IW-44 injectors (measured at 294cc). Before starting the engine I of course checked for water/ fuel leaks by running the recirculator and then the fuel pump. All ok, so I started up and reduced fuel pressure to ~3bar. Measured and set idle CO to 1% and took it for several test runs on the 'uphill dyno'. No pinging at all in 2nd/3rd/4th gears flat out, afr 10.5-11.5:1 wide open at 1.5bar with 1.8bar overboost. I wanted steady 1.6-1.7bar but seems the wastegate opens up on me, damn! I even bent (shortened) the rod by ~3mm, same thing. I'll have to check further; maybe need a stronger spring in the bypass (dump valve). Tomorrow morning I'll resume testing and I may even remove the wastegate input...VERY CAREFULLY! Anyway, the intercooler housing goes no higher than what I think is ~30-45*C. I'll find some means of measuring intake temp. So far so good, I am actually happy with the result. If it gets any better, I'll call for a dyno appointment.
Jim K.

[kevin]

Jim , any pics of the front mount Water/air intercooler. Please remind me what you did on head gasket .

[Jim K]

Kevin, the head gasket is a 2-piece std production item with separate steel O-rings from Nava, pn 80029. http://www.navalineasport.it/eg/catalogo_eg.htm
Head is milled 1mm for 8:1 from std 7.5:1. Note this is the 75 1.8T engine, NOT a 2liter. With these gaskets, 2.5-3bar is no problem. However, we've seen liners split at ~3-3.2bar though.
Here's a pic of the std IC, the modified one, the top tank and the radiator with the recirculator pump showing connected to one end (15liters/minute). System capacity 6liters.
Jim K.

[Giuliettaevo2]

A guy over here that works a lot with these kind of chargecoolers told me an easy solution for the front radiator. He said an airco hetaexchanger works quite well and they're nice flat and available in many sizes.

[gtv-racer]

Aren't the water in and outlets on the chargecooler not a bit to tiny, they look restrictive compared to the other connections (front radiator and pump)!? Or are those other connections at the back side and front site of the charge cooler?