So at this point I pulled the engine out of the car so I could get my PL head, and start getting the trans cleaned up and ready for the reinstall.
Headbolts/headstuds. I debated the options of McMaster 10mm bolts, ARP studs, and redrilling the block to 11mm. I decided to drill and tap for 11mm. Ordered a standard and bottoming tap, only to find
the block has counterbore on the head bolt holes. I dont know if this is a Mk6 thing, but the first 10-13mm of the head bolt holes in the block are not threaded, and were basically about the size of the 11mm head bolt.
Therefore, if I was to drill and tap for 11mm I would have lost a LOT of thread engagement.
So I ended up going the McMaster route for now, as I am not boosting it and just want the car to be able to move at this point. Keep in mind that in almost 6 years of ownership, I have driven it maybe 5 miles. Its been pushed around and collecting dust the rest of the time. The head was just refreshed when I did the head gasket 5 miles ago, so all I did to the head was to transfer the new dowel hole location and install a set of Schrick 260 cams I had laying around.
On December 2, it was all finally bolted together! One thing I didnt think about was the front water neck, and the port that used to go to the old water pump. Not shown in this pic, but I pulled it back off, and noticed that the ID was about the drill size for a 3/4" NPT. So I cut the nipple down, tapped it for 3/4" NPT, and installed a pipe plug to block off the lower port.
After that, I got to thinking about the crank case ventilation thing. One thing thats different on the Mk6 vs the Mk4, is if you look closely at the 2nd to last pic, that while the feature is cast into the housing for the PCV pipe(that gets plugged on the Mk4 2.0), on the Mk6 its not open. I noticed this early on, but Issam mentioned along the way at some point that welding a nipple to the valve cover is an option. The more I thought about it, the less I liked that idea.
I decided to try some hack isht. I removed the housing from the engine, and drilled out the port to make it functional. I then obtained a 304 stainless 1" NPT to 1.25" barb 90 off Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M76JVLP?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details&th=1. Now for the hack isht. I have Ultra Black RTV in the pressurized can. I put the adaptor in the vice to hold it steady. I then put a thick layer of Ultra Black on the bore of the port, then inserted the elbow at the desired angle. I then filled the gap between the elbow and the housing solid with RTV and let it set for 24 hours to cure. I can tell you, its never coming out! And the original hose fits perfect.
So from there, it was get the trans cleaned up for install, and all the rest of that jazz. On December 11th, had first fire and and ran!! Put the engine and trans back in the car, made up some custom AC lines, and on December 14th, got to do this! Its so awesome turning the AC on and not hearing a belt squeel! LOL