s_defran

Hello everybody,
A little bit about me, I'm a 24 y/o who refinishes boats and just got into cars and working on cars within the last year. Before that, I was just a personal trainer who knew you needed to change the oil, and that was the extent of my knowledge.
So I thought that a fun way to learn would be to participate in a 24 hrs of lemons race. Next thing you know I'm the proud owner of a 500 dollar 1998 Audi A4 Quattro with the 2.8 AHA and the 5 speed transmission that had most definitely seen better days. This car had been used and abused by some girl who had a drug problem. (Found lots of little baggies/drug paraphernalia while stripping the interior, wearing heavy gloves of course). I got the engine and transmission out of the car and went to work tearing it apart. This thing had an oil leak something terrible. The entire upper oil pan was coated with about an inch of caked on oil, not to mention the timing belt tensioner had broken and the clutch had completely disintegrated.
At this point, my friends who wanted to do the lemons race with me backed out. Trying to make the best of a bad situation (having a stripped junker in the driveway and no team to race with), I decided I may as well just try to rebuild/regasket the engine and then try to find a c5 avant with the 2.8 that I could then drop my engine into and have a cool daily driver. So I took the engine all the way down to the block. Removed the crank/pistons and everything. At this point I found that several of the cylinder walls had pretty significant scoring.
I know that scoring in the cylinder walls is a huge issue. and one that might end my project before it even really gets started.
I don't have a lot of experience, and realistically I don't have a lot of money. But I'm enthusiastic and willing to put hundreds of hours in if necessary. It would just be a little disheartening if there was absolutely nothing I could do. I could really really use some input and advice. Anything would be appreciated. I posted a thread in the 30v v6 discussion with photos https://www.audiworld.com/forums/30v-v6-discussion-100/rebuilding-scored-cylinders-2902904/

I don't want to give up, but if there's nothing I can do and I just have to part it out I would rather know now than spend hundred of hours and potentially thousands of dollars to have an engine that has bad compression.

Thank you everyone for your time and taking a look at my thread, I really do appreciate any help or suggestions I can get.

the_duke

I wouldn't use that motor without having the block washed, cylinders bored, and new pistons. Not a cheap process for an engine that is pretty gutless to begin with. Also with a broken timing belt your're talking rebuilt heads. Also not cheap. Used heads can be had for not much money but then you still have a bad block. Your best bet is to find a junkyard motor in running condition.

s_defran

Thank you for the response!
I would be willing to clean the block myself. Is it possible to bore out the cylinders on a 2.8? It doesn't seem like they left much room, and are the cylinder walls lined with a special material? And if you were able to bore it out to fix the scoring, would it be possible to use the same pistons with oversized rings?
As for the heads, I think i actually caught a break. The timing belt never snapped, just lost tension, but the valves and heads seem to be in OK condition. What do you think?