2003 Audi A4 Avant - 5 speed manual swap

[MT-Getto]

I know a guy with the drive shaft alignment tool.

[Mikewire]

I know a guy with the drive shaft alignment tool.

I'll keep that in mind Trev. From the Bentley all I should need to do is line up the factory markings and radial run out should be back at factory specs. If I can't see the dots, then I have a dial indicator to measure runout, so we'll see about that.

[Mikewire]

Had some time last night, an I was able to source a pilot bearing puller from a buddy I met who works at the Napa in Laurel. Great guy and he is a VW enthusiast and has spent some time in Vegas. If you need parts and are in Laurel, ask for Jake at the counter.

He lent me this specialty tool from his own personal tool chest:



I was expecting the bushing to be somewhat easy to pull, but his was kind of a pain to pull an took some real effort. The tool made it a snap though:







Empty, waiting for the new manual V6 pilot bearing:



A comparison between the OEM auto pilot bushing vs. INA V6 pilot bearing:





Next up, pilot bearing install, then clutch and trans.

[MT-Getto]

Slick!

[YASHA7FOLD]

Don't forget to cut that end off.

[Mikewire]

Don't forget to cut that end off.

Not forgetting about that

I did eventually get sometime Sunday night to work a bit. First thing was to get the pilot bearing squared away. First thing is to cut the back off:



I used a Dremel and a high speed metal cut off disk:



That's the finished product:



To insert it into the crank I used a 17mm socket, which fits nicely over the lip of the bearing, and a hammer to slowly tap it into place very slowly...



A bit more...



And...right about there should be good for clearance:



Next up is to install the Valeo HD clutch and SM flywheel I picked up from DBC Performance:



SMFW, PP, clutch disk, throwout bearing and the alignment tool:



And all the appropriate hardware:



After cleaning both the flywheel and PP with a shop towel and some carb spray, I threw it up in the car:



This is just a quick pic to reference the pilot bearing and how far it sticks out from the crank:



Flywheel bolts torqued to 60NM + 90, clutch disk installed using the alignment tool, and PP with bolts torqued to 25NM, it's installed and ready:



Prepping the trans by swapping in the B6 axle flanges. Pretty straight forward - use a long bolt and a prybar to press out the old B5 flanges. Put the B6 flanges in and I used a socket extension and a hammer to carefully tap them in:





Cleaned up the inside of the bell housing a bit, removed and cleaned up the throwout arm, greased the pivot and slider, an installed the new throwout bearing:



Now I'm just waiting on the drive shaft and B5 trans mounts. Unless someone can find me a 5 speed downpipe, I'm planning on using the B5 trans mounts so I can use my existing auto downpipe.

OH and Wade, it's time to fill the trans and diff's with fluid. I'll need to get that from you here sometime this week if possible.

[MT-Getto]

Nice. I like the sharpee'd pressure plate

[Darkside]

Nice steady progress.

[Mikewire]

Been a bit, and it's been a busy week but I did get some time to work last night. I filled the trans and rear diff with Amsoil. I tried getting the clutch up and in the car but my ATV/MC jack isn't small enough and just couldn't do the job, so tonight I'm headed to HF and I'm picking up a trans jack:



And this little gem from TT showed up yesterday:



Compared to the auto DP:



Took apart the ECU connector to fine pin #39 for my clutch switch - time to get some 20ga wire:



And I organized my workspace a little bit and cleaned up the cabinets I scored at the auction over the weekend, and hung some stuff on the wall:



Sorry about the blurry pics, I think I have a smudge on my lens.

[MT-Getto]

Those connectors are cool.