I received a Project:B5 modified RS4 intake manifold that is enroute to a customer. Shortly I’ll be performing flow testing on the intake manifold similar to what has been done with some other B5 S4 and RS4 intake manifolds.
This particular item lies between two prior RS4 intake manifolds that I have evaluated in terms of modifications. Previously I tested a stock RS4 intake manifold and also a heavily modified RS4 intake manifold that had the Throttle Body inlet enlarged to accommodate an 80mm throttle body. The unit I have on hand is more closely related to the RS4 IM with the 80mm TB adapter, this unit also has an enlarged plenum and porting and smoothing, but retains the RS4 throttle body sizing at the IM inlet.
With the single piece driveshaft and 3.5″ single exhaust I was finding that the heat shield between the exhaust and driveshaft was in contact with the exhaust, the space is tight between those two main components.
I took a hammer and started strategically creating flat spots so that the driveshaft and the exhaust pipe each had some space with clearance to sit within. I still need to do a test drive to ensure the driveshaft doesn’t rub anything. When I pressed on the heat shield I was getting movement of the heat shield where if it were too close to the driveshaft I’d have expected that there wouldn’t be any movement. Hopefully that’s a good sign that the clearance is sufficient.
I finally decided to abandon my efforts to track down the reason for the ignition switch not functioning correctly and have another set of eyes look at the problem. Part of the process of getting the salvage title revised to read repaired and to get the car registered involves having the needed repairs made. Luckily in my case there was almost no damage to the car so the repairs were very easy, the ignition lock cylinder was the only functional damage and I’d replaced that immediately with a replacement part I’d found in the glove box. Still, I wanted a shop to look the car over so I’d have documentation to present to the DMV inspector showing that the car had been looked over by a mechanic. I had the car towed to HB Motorwerks, which is where I routinely take the car when I need help with it, and Paul was able to quickly determine that I had been one wire off when hooking up the clutch position sensor. In short order the wiring was done correctly and the car started with the ignition as it’s supposed to do.
With the car back at my garage I can now move on to some additional suspension work.
I’ll be swapping out the KW V3 coilovers for a set of Stasis/Ohlin Motorsports, and I have a set of Stern adjustable upper control arms to install. First on the agenda will be to apply some Boeshield to the adjustment threads on the coilovers to protect them. The coilovers just came back from a fresh rebuild at PSI.
