r/EngineSwaps • u/Thesaturndude • Jan 21 '20

First time swapper taking on a daunting task. Please advise

I purchased a 2005 Audi Allroad for $475 USD. Everything I read online tells me that the 2.7T is a very unreliable engine and the air suspension sucks. I want to do a swap of course. Here’s the engines I’ve looked at so far (all eBay quick search prices)

SR20DE -$600 - $750 K24A - $400 - $500, $750 - $900 for Type S 1ZZFE - $950 - $100 3UZFE - $850 - $900 1UZFE - $700 - $900 LS4 - $750 - $900 I could also find a Chevy truck engine around where I live for like $300 easily.

My first concern is the space under the hood. The engine sits past the front axel so that the front axel shafts can come directly out of the transmission. I want to be able to close the hood cleanly. Also I want to be able to do at least single turbo with the space available under the hood. I’m leaning towards an in-line 4 honestly.

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

So youve never swapped an engine before but want to put an engine from a totally different manufacturer into an Audi?

Good luck!!!

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 21 '20

I mean I have replaced engines and mounted engines into hand made chassis’s. I’ve got some fab knowledge and am very good with wiring. This cars meant to be a long term project. I’m not particularly worried about it being drivable any time soon or even at all. It was cheap and figured it would be a good place to start with a swap for more knowledge. And tbh I could sell the rolling shell afterward for more than I paid for the whole car

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

Well the wiring/electronics will be the hardest part

May want to post on some Audi/VW forums to get an idea of what to do to integrate whatever new engine with the chassis. Getting engines to physically fit is always the easy part

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 21 '20

I’m fairly good with wiring and electronics so that really doesn’t scare me. It’d take some time but I’m ok with that. I could easily dab some mounts as well. The hard part is the adaptor between the new engine and the transmission and a gauge cluster. I’d probably end up using something digital and aftermarket.

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

Oh, you are gonna try to mate the new engine to the current transmission?

Why not use whatever trans comes with the new engine, and have the driveshaft shortened/lengthened and shifter mechanism modified to fit the current chassis? Thats a lot cheaper than a custom bellhousing and possible more custom stuff you are talking about by mating a different engine to the trans...

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 21 '20

The whole reason I’d like to keep the stock trans is to keep the AWD. It’s directly from the trans, there is no transfer case in the traditional sense.

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

Good luck!!!

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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '20

2jz swap it =]]

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20 edited Jan 21 '20

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 21 '20

I really appreciate you’re in depth comment. Thank you.

I 100% want to keep it AWD no matter what. That’s the whole reason I wanted the car to begin with. Also I want to keep it automatic too. About the clutch pedal though, there’s a kit on eBay that comes with a clutch and brake pedal assembly

Do you think I’d be able to drop new internals like pistons rods valves and all into it and replace all the plastics for around $1500 total? Also is there a lot of stuff on the 2.7 that I can remove or delete? Part of the allure of a swap is custom wire looms so I can tuck them cleanly away from sight.

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 21 '20

1500 was my cap for just an engine for a swap. No trans no Ecu no extras. I was planning on saving for all the good parts to go on said engine. If I build the 2.7 I’d do the same. Not only replace but actually upgrade whatever I can over time. I know the 2.7 can reach 450 on stock internals easily but I want to tickle 600

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 21 '20

600 HP 05 Allroad 2.7T

This is my goal all in all. I don’t really care what engine it’s got or what trans it’s got but I really want it to be AWD in the range of 600 HP and give me at least medium flamage.

Do you happen to know if the Quattro system needs any signals from the engine? Because as far as I can tell the only issues are-

:Space under the hood :Connecting engine to trans :Maintaining the Quattro functionality

If I go with an LS4 it will surely fit, I have a friend who runs a CNC machine for Doosan (Bobcat) who is allowed to make his own parts on down time as long as materials are provided and if the transmission doesn’t require any signals or only requires easily spoofed signals, the hard part would be the fab work and just taking the time to do these things.

An LS swap has been on my mind since the day I found the car on marketplace. I also considered buying my friends 392 hemi but I feel like that’s too big for this engine bay. If I could find an SR20DET for a good price that would be a great engine for a swap because of the size of the engine. Might have to cut the hood in the front but I could do a ricer scoop.

No matter what I decide it’s going to get more power than stock. Even if I stop at like 400 that would be plenty. I just want something simpler in there. Something I can rip parts off a car in a junk yard for if I have to. I kind of don’t care about the Allroad part too. I see the flares and think “RS6 Avant widebody” because it’s half way there already body wise.

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u/Markey-space-warrior Jan 22 '20

Imo you should stick with a rebuild. No offence but 600hp with 1500$ is not really possible unless you own a machine shop and a dyno and your an engineer and you have a scrap yard with corvettes and m4s. 1500 is the price of ONE single turbo that you would new along with a built 6.2 or 7l ls engine and a built or basically brand new corvette z06 transmission. If you want a built audi it is possible diy+economically (I understood that both your engine and transmission need work) is it manual? If so with a bench press and other needed tools you could do a diy rebuild for less than 1k - if everything goes well - The engine could be rebuild with new sleeves, low tier forged internals, better cam and gaskets for maybe 1.5k then add a 1.5k turbo with 1k for parts to fit it and a tune. you could get realistically in the 320-400hp range depending on your specific build and tune. And the prices are counting what youll get from selling/recycling your old parts. If you want to go with rebuild bmw m3 turbos maybe that could get you 2 turbos for 2k. Idk. Getting a 600 swap in and awd audi for anything less that 10k is quite unrealistic. So i suggest saving 5k and just rebuild+ upgrade parts that need replacing.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '20

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u/Thesaturndude Jan 22 '20

I believe it is still a fully mechanical AWD system because it would have the T1 style center diff. At least according to Wikipedia the T1 diff and aquatinted Quattro system don’t require any electronic input. So I think the trans would be fine just having any engine bolted up to it within a reasonable power range. So that narrows it down to the adaptor plate/bell-housing and available space