Curt's A3 1.8T Progress Thread

[Curt]

Hi all ,

Thought I'd stick up a thread to show my progress so far with the Audi. Told myself that I'd be sensible, not spend too much and make this one a slow project. Who was I kidding


This is as I bought it in December of '09 for £1400:


Mmm... dirty.

After a quick clean.



Then it snowed:


So the mods begin, first comes my audio kit from my 306:

Note the obligatory large hammer.

(Now have a nice JL audio sub and new encloser, but no decent picture).
New HU:


I also bought an engine cover, as it didn't have one when I got it.

More goodies:



New exhaust:


Refurbished my gear knob:



New keyring:


At a 306 meet with my old car club:


Coilies :D:







Playing with a torch:

[Curt]

Sprayed my wheels Rover Gunmetal:






Then got my LM rep's:









Boost gauge:

Lights off:

Lights on:



Snowed again:


Then the latest additions, Forge carbon strut brace and engine cover:



Whoa, that was more than I thought. As you're still reading this.... Cheers

I've also had a Revo stage 1 map too.

Got a few more plans, more power at some point... Going to pick up some Ming blue paint and spray my induction kit to get rid of the silver... Also found a replacement N/S door for £45 which I'll hopefully pick up at the weekend.

The chap also has a black leather interior in excellent nick... Tempting. Should I go for it? I've always wanted leather :D

Anyway, thanks again for reading. C&C welcome

[CHRIS555]

Nice one mate, how you finding the Revo map?

[Curt]

Yeah I'm loving it, totally transforms the car! Does feel flatter sometimes than others though, not quite sure what it could be. Pretty sure it's not just my imagination

[JS1500]

Very nice 1.8T mate.
The LMs are superb - I want some! You got spacers on?

[Curt]

Thanks mate. Yeah I'm pleased I went with them - I think they suit it so well. Just 5mm on the front, as without they caught the coilovers. Got them from BM Autosport and I highly recommend them, great service.

[Foxmeister]

Nice project mate, some good photo shots too!

[Curt]

Cheers dude, yeah some of them came out not too bad .

Well it's official, made an offer on the interior with the door.... and he accepted! So leather interior next week :D. Also just bought 2 tyres for the 16's, so I can get the LM's off for winter.

[4rings]

looks very nice. were did you get the boost gauge mounting vent from?? or did u fabricate it??

[Curt]

Cheers. SWG Motorsport, I was going to make one but decided I couldn't be bothered


Have purchased another goodie for the car I perhaps shouldn't have . Will update when it arrives

[Curt]

Went to pick up my interior and replacement door today... Pleasant chap and everything as described so I'm happy, interior looks good but I'm going to give it a clean/condition/re-dye too once it's in. Hopefully fit it tomorrow or Saturday.

Only thing I'm not looking forward to is paying my Uncle back for the fuel, we went in his V8 F-150

[steve bain]

should have got it posted!!

[Curt]

Didn't want to risk damaging any of it really, especially the paint on the door .


Fitted the leathers today, looks so much better. Will get pics soon, did take some with my phone but they're rubbish, don't know what's wrong with it.

[Curt]

My work space for fitting the interior, a bit tighter than I remembered:



Dirrty:

[steve bain]

looks ace bud! saddle soap is what you want to nourish it, from a horsey place. cheap too and its what everyone recommends. roll on ice cold ass in winter and red hot in summer

[Curt]

Cheers mate, I'll keep that in mind about the saddle soap. Haha, yeah that is one downside, although it hasn't bothered me thus far :P

[steve bain]

you wait till your wearing shorts in the summer!!

[will89]

Big improvement from the first wash! Looks in good nick!

did you spray or lamin-x your headlights and then put them back to standard or was that pic photoshopped?

[Curt]

you wait till your wearing shorts in the summer!!

Haha, I know what you mean, I think it's worth it

Big improvement from the first wash! Looks in good nick!

did you spray or lamin-x your headlights and then put them back to standard or was that pic photoshopped?

Cheers man, yeah it's getting there. It's not in brilliant condition if I'm honest, but I'm slowly getting there with it. I would like a respray at some point but can't justify the cost when the car's not worth much more.

Yeah I had Fly Eyes on them a while back, which I think is similar to Lamin-X. But I decided I couldn't see much at night and ripped them off. They're still on the indicators though haha, as I didn't pull them off and decided I kinda like it.


Thank god for quiet days at work, got quite a bit done today.

Weather was nice so decided to change my door over...

Reason for the change, damaged door. Had been pushed in before and pulled out, leaving it out of shape and with damaged paint. It's hard to get a picture of but noticeable in person, doesn't help that it's filthy. Was like it when I bought the car:



Door card off:



Frame, regulator and motor out (brilliant design IMO):





Door-less:


Done'd and cleaned:

















It looks so much better IMO, it really bugged me ever since I got it. Glad I waited for a door in the right colour to come up though, it only has one dint in it and was only £25. Sod load better than paying to have one painted.

Also got a parcel today.....






:D

[steve bain]

looks tidy as you like mate
that scratch looks removable on the bumper to me. get detailing!!

I think that front bumper is cryin out for an fmic!!

[Curt]

Thanks mate. It's actually deeper than it looks unfortunately, I've had compound and SRP on it which helped a lot. May get the mop out and give it a whirl, although they do catch with the finger nail test so there's not much hope. I have been researching for a FMIC actually, but I think I'll try and get hold of a K03S first! Don't think there's much point on a stage 1? Apart from looks.

[Sarah's A3]

Looks good, some nice pics too. Some tints would suit. Loving the Boxer! Sadly just lost ours, great dogs.

[Curt]

Cheers :-). Yeah you're probably right, but I can't be bothered with them haha. Had them on my old car and wasn't overly keen, so all I gained was a significant loss of visibility at night.

Sorry to hear that. They are indeed, love him! Also got a 13 y/o boxer cross.

[Jackal]

Is that an Audi kit on your car?

Not S3 is it?

Looks good

[Curt]

AFAIK it's an Audi factory option yes, but I don't think thy made them. Cheers.

[4rings]

nice work curt nice work

[Curt]

Cheers dude

[Jacktdi]

Looks real smart now.

[Curt]

Thanks, she's getting there

[superkarl]

you like coheed and cambria, therefore you are cool

[CHRIS555]

Nice wheels mate

[Curt]

you like coheed and cambria, therefore you are cool

Why thank you, you clearly have exquisite taste too

Nice wheels mate

Cheers mate . Keep forgetting to order some centre caps...

[jay1601]

looks good so far mate

IMO, should de-badge the boot

[phoenixv6quattro]

Mate, looks like a differnet car! Also with the mods you've done it looks years more modern! Well done!

[oilyaudi]

Hiya, looking good, love the torch pic. How did you do that?

[Curt]

looks good so far mate

IMO, should de-badge the boot

Cheers dude, been considering it but I'm not quite sure yet...

Mate, looks like a differnet car! Also with the mods you've done it looks years more modern! Well done!

Thanks mate, appreciate it. Good to know my hard earned has been well spent!

Hiya, looking good, love the torch pic. How did you do that?

Cheers man. Camera on a tripod, long exposure and run around like a spastic, basically. That was before I got my DSLR too, should get some better and more interesting ones really....

[Curt]

Woot: VW GOLF 4 1.8T GTI 20V TURBO DECAT DOWNPIPE DOWN PIPE on eBay (end time 02-Mar-11 21:26:40 GMT)

I seem to be accumulating lots of parts and not finding time to fit them...

[Curt]

Finally got round to fitting my new fanimold yesterday, also painted my air filter as I got bored of the silver.

Before:


After:









Next on the list is a damn good clean, sorting out the rubbish battery cover (S3 one?) and painting the throttle body, most likely purple... I would polish it but that is fair too much effort for my liking... and the only other colour I can think is black, which is boring. Oh and replacing the dipstick I broke whilst fitting the inlet.

[Curt]

Painted my TB yesterday:

[laner]

nice work mate keep the updates coming

[Curt]

Cheers man, will do

[Curt]

Found out Monday night that someone had egged my car, all down the drivers side. Bad thing is that it must have happened Saturday or Sunday outside my mates house, but as it was dark when I left I didn't notice until I went out to it Monday... Which meant by the time I washed it off, it was too late. Sure enough, it's fcuked my paint over. Calmed down now but I was fuming when I found it. Makes you think what the bloody point is, spend £££ making my car my own and look half decent just for someone to be an absolute penis for no reason.

[Jacktdi]

Annoying isn't it, I had 2 tyres slashed on my old Bora a couple of years ago, good job I never found out who it was because I don't think I would be using the internet now.

Might be possible to machine polish the etched in marks out do you think?

[Curt]

More than annoying to be honest. Yeah, it'd probably best for everyone involved that I don't find out who did it...

No unfortunately not, it's too far gone. I went over it quickly with some G3, SRP and Meg's but it didn't really help, the only way to sort it would be paint

[Curt]

Little audio update, did put it in another thread but may as well whack it in here as well.

Bought some new JL Audio kit, and made a box to house them rather than having them on the seats. First time I've ever upholstered anything, so considering I think it turned out pretty well.

Cut some funny shapes.


Testing, testing...










Then fitted the sub grille:



Today I filled in the gap between the amp to hide the wires:





New comps for the front to be fitted:



Getting there!

[4rings]

nice F*CKING work curt nice work.

[Curt]

Haha, cheers buddy!

[Curt]

Fitted the Focal's the other day, now sounds very awesome.



Thanks to AndyMac for the very nicely made adapters

[Curt]

[Curt]

Not lot changed really, just a few pics:

Amongst a load of 306's at mine where I hold a camping meet every year:








Bought some more stickers:





Then someone decided to smash my rear screen for whatever reason, bye bye stickers:







Nice drive home form Crawley with no back window, in the rain.


So I bought another bootlid from eBay, as a new window would have been £250. Got this for £70 delivered, but the nice courier dented it by the badge...

Boot-less:




Hmm, 1.6?


And a few pics with my mates 306 form the weekend when I helped him change his shocks:






His car makes me wish I could wind mine down more