I tried dropping the cylinder head + turbo/downpipe onto the block in one motion but quickly realized there was no way it would slide into the place. The problem was the wastegate which restricted the angle at which I could drop everything in. There were also two fitment issues preventing it from ever working -
1) The turbo didn't clear the firewall - this was potentially a HUGE problem. In previous posts I mentioned how I should have bought an angled turbo manifold and this was the exact reason why. I was lucky in that I was able to bash the firewall in about 1/2 an inch with a sledge hammer (not the most elegant of solutions). I also re-aligned the charge side of the turbo one more time to give it more clearance. Now that it's installed I have about 2 - 3cm gap between the turbo and the firewall.
2) The downpipe was too short... This was super disappointing but not devastating. You can see the downpipe in the pictures above just resting on the axle. It is less than 1/2 a cm too short. Super frustrating - I thought about taking the sledge hammer approach, but I wouldn't be able to get enough clearance to have a sufficient gap between the downpipe and the floor of the car to avoid heat issues, so I'll do it the proper way and re-weld the downpipe. Unfortunately I won't be able to simply extend the downpipe, I'll have to extend both the turbo's exhaust outlet and the wastegate's pipe in equal amounts, which will be tricky to do, especially now that the turbo and manifold are back in the car. I'll likely make a template using a cardboard box before I cut up the existing pipe - then I'll weld a new downpipe - this may be a winter project.
Aside from that, I worked on a few other key things. First, I found a solution to the turbo's coolant lines - I found a way to expand the water lines from 3/8inch to a half inch, and will be tapping into the heater core lines. This solution is nice since it doesn't involve any cutting, welding, etc.
I installed the fittings for the turbo's oil feed line (braided metal hose in picture above) and tapped that into the oil filter housing without any major modifications or problems.
I also pulled the oil pan off the old 16v block and welded a hose attachment for the turbo's oil return line. I then pulled the 8v oil pan and swapped it for the modified 16v oil pan. Again, everything went pretty smoothly with the exception of a few stripped bolts when removing the oil pan.
I also installed the new head gasket and head bolts to spec. I used ABA torque specs and ABA head bolts.
I re installed the timing belt, re-timed the motor, re installed the distributor, fuel injectors, etc.
Next steps will be to find an oil return line long enough to reach the modified oil pan, install the coolant lines as planned, and then bolt everything back up so I can refill the fluids. I'll likely plan to get the motor running again without the intake piping hooked up and without a downpipe, since I'm running out of time before winter comes. If I can get everything running before winter, I can work on the downpipe in the basement and have everything road-worthy by spring.
