Matt Danger's B5 S4 Owner Log

I’ve added a Parts Summary page to the site outlining the parts that I have currently installed on the car . I have started with a brain dump of what is on the car now and I will try to add more to it later.

Check it out: Parts Summary

It’s been almost 1 year since I received my RPM rods. When I received them I wrote about their appearance out of the box.

This post is a bit of a follow up. So far I am happy with them, especially for the price. However, I have only 2 miles on my motor so I can’t comment yet on longevity.

Shortly after I received the rods I went to a friend’s machine shop to end balance the rods. I had been under the assumption that the reason these rods were so inexpensive was because they would require final machining and balancing. As it turned out all rods were already within 1g of one another and required no machining.

One thing you will want to check is wrist pin bushing clearance. Mine were all fine except 1, which was a bit tighter. I ran it because it didn’t seem overly tight and I was told that it felt normal and the bushing would break in. We’ll see how it goes. If you assemble them and they are too tight then you can have a machine shop open them up.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the RPM rods come with ARP bolts & assembly lube. I want to point out that the torque instructions that RPM includes for the rod bolts is incorrect! They incorrectly list the bolts as 3/8″ when they are in fact 5/16″. The proper torque, according to ARP, should be 32 ft/lbs and not the 50 ft/lbs listed by RPM.

I believe these same H-Beam style connecting rods are being sold by several other vendors. One includes Nick Audilee @ ProjectB5. The pictures he has show on his website are identical packaging & wrapping. He prices his at $650.

She runs!

I have discussed off-brand connecting rods with several people in the B5 S4 community and many believe all H-beam rods come from the same Chinese source that supplies IE, VAST, Rosten and a few other companies. I found one source, Racing Parts Maximum (RPM), that sells these rods for $390 shipped with ARP 2000 bolts. I ordered them last week and yesterday they arrived from California.

A visual inspection shows these rods are very similar, if not the same. We will see how they work out in the engine. If they fail, oh well.

The rods came with a calibration sheet from RPM that included crankshaft and pin end weights. I will be rebalancing them myself to verify.

The RPM rods also come with ARP 2000 bolts. These bolts cost $140 if sourced independently so it is a big savings to have them included. There has been some speculation on the forums that these bolts were Chinese fakes but they have ARP markings and appear to be quality. A rep from ARP confirmed they were authentic.

I weighed two of the rods (without bolts). They were 522 grams and 523 grams.

This post has some comparison rod weights:

• Stock 2.7T rod/no rod bolt: 529 grams
• Pauter standard 2.7L rod/no rod bolts: 530 grams
• VAST standard 2.7L H-beam rods/no rod bolts: 515 grams
• VAST custom 3.0L stroker H-beam rod/no rod bolts: 479 grams
• Rosten Connection Rods/no rod bolt: 542 grams
• IE Connection Rods/no rod bolt: 555 grams

So far, so good. I’ll post more info after they’re balanced and installed.

Yep.

Nothing to really brag about but I tried to hit 11s all last year on my heavy 18″ avus wheels and bad trans so I was happy to finally get my goal last night. I will make a few changes and head back on the 24th w/ bracketracer and see if I can improve.

Current setup:
PJ K04s
Self tuned on e85, 23psi spike to 22. Tune is evolving as I learn.
RS4 83mm MAF housing, airbox and accordion
Deka 60lb injectors @ 4 bar, about out of injector and will need to upgrade soon
Walboro 255 (probably also pushing it)
ER intercoolers
DevilsOwn injection using windshield washer fluid
AWE DPs, no cats, Milltek single 3″
Rebuilt 01E trans w/ JHM shift linkage/bushing/Nuespeed shifter
034 motor mounts (1 torn), Stern tranny, Apikol rear diff, snub, DTS w/ GM mount
18lb Volk TE37 w/ Pilots
No weight reduction other than an empty trunk (no spare) and 1/4 tank of fuel

Also, Sunday there was a local dyno day. Mustang AWD. Shop owners and locals say it reads low, but everyone says that about their dyno so IDK. It was like 90* out. I put down 400whp / 413 wtq (ok, 399, but the monitor said 401 at first!!)

Logs from the ride home last night. I’m still learning/working on the tune. I think my MAF scaling is off. Thanks to NOTORIOUS VR and judeisnotobscure for giving me some tips on my file.

Almost 2 years ago I had a minor front end accident. At the time I repaired the mechanic bits and put bandaid stickers over the dented body work.

That was “good enough” for then and the bandaids got a bunch of laughs. But I’d grown tired of a haggard car.

My friend owned a silver S4 that was rear ended and available for parts, so I pulled the front end off.

Hood transplant

Freshened up for the cruise to Great Lakes GTG a few weeks ago (ignore Casey). Also, new wheels (pictures soon).

So that took care of the front end. The rear end also needed some attention. The rear bumper & 1/4 panel needed a respray and the trunk had some rust coming through around the license plate frame & lights. Off to paint:

Finished pics coming soon!

It was bound to happen.. my 1-2 shift collar locked up at the track in October. The early 01E transmissions have a 1st/2nd gear shift collar tolerance that is too tight. If any burring or wear develops in the collar it will not slide smoothly. In addition, the stock brass synchronizers wear down prematurely and need to be replaced. I bought a rebuild kit from Scott @ Advanced Automotion. He took good care of me and helped me through any questions I had. I also sent him the center differential to modify to have a 4:1 rear bias. To make the rebuild easier I ordered a instructional DVD from JHM. This DVD was very helpful, without it the rebuild would have been a lot more confusing and stressful.

If you want to tackle this job you’ll need a few basic mechanics tools and some more specific tools like a gear puller, hydraulic press, c-clip and snap ring pliers and various little picks and things.

I borrowed a used core trans from a friend to reduce down time. This one was also in need of a rebuild. I used a pair of vice grips to shift through the gears. 1 and 2 were impossible to engage.

I popped off the tail housing and pulled out the center diff, and reached inside and pulled out the debris magnets.

They had some metal on them, but nothing abnormal.

Pulled the shift level out.

To remove the tail housing a bolt on the end of the input shaft had to be removed. To do this, I had to engage two gears at once to prevent the input shaft from spinning. The input shaft bolt is on quite tight and since I was working alone I had to strap the trans to the bench to keep it from rotating.

Once the bolt was out I had to pull the housing off from the input shaft. Undid the case bolts first. There is a bearing race that is pressed onto the shaft and holds the housing. I used a gear puller, though a modified steering wheel puller like that one used by JHM in their rebuild video would have worked better. I would tighten the gear puller a little, then pry between the case, then tighten the puller, then pry a little more, etc.

Then off came the 5th and 6th gears.

Then popped off the center housing & the gear sets. I installed a worm clamp on the end of the main shaft to prevent the front diff shaft from balling out and the bearings falling all over the place.

Here’s the center casing partially disassembled. Reverse and the input shaft have been removed, along with the shift forks and front diff shaft. I also painted the case.

After this I didn’t take many pictures. The remaining process involved pressing the gears off from the input and main shafts and reinstalling them with new synchronizers and 1-2 shift collar. That part was straight forward and went very quickly.

Reassembly was basically the opposite of removal. Some bearings & guides were heated and hammered on. I spent about 12 hours over the course of 3 weekends with the whole thing. I’m sure I could do another in a day or two.

The transmission has been completed for a few months waiting for the right time to install it. Hopefully soon!