Thread: Budget A3 project. its bloody purple! not pink!

So i figured i'd best make a project for me car. It will be slow going as its a budget project but someone may get a read out of it.

Pictures from ebay that i bought it from.











As i like to do silly things i bought it on impulse, in the dark on a garage fore court, breaking every rule imaginable, but THATS THE WAY I ROLL!

It a 1.8T (AGU) sport and i paid £1050 with 12mths and 4mths tax.

Whats right with it compared to other ones i saw?
imo the colour!
has DIS
has new cambelt and waterpump
s/s exhaust
factory bodykit
its an audi! not a very long list!!

So i guess i have two lists, stuff i have to do and stuff i want to do.

Jobs i have to do:- full service, all filters, plugs, oil, coolant etc
heater blower not working and guess the aircon will need re-gas at best
no reverse light
rear washer not working
new thermostat as not getting up to temp
pressure test boost pipes as suspect many leaks
steering rack mounts need replacing
airbag warning light(found damaged plug now so just need to fix)
Fit headunit!

Jobs i'd like to do:-
debaged rear (done)
black out grill
boost gauge in drivers side air vent
smooth front bumper top and bottom and fit cupra splitter, rear bumper resprayed (will do myself when weather is better)
repair both wing mirrors and paint gloss black (just bought one, so in post)
gloss black roof
Just bought mint sport interior (seats and doorcards) and all bits of trim i am missing (ashtrays, glovebox, vents etc etc), off ebay so full new interior soon. I think a dog lived in it as doorcards have been chewed!
New floor mats in the post too

long term plan
coilovers as low as i can! - but probably last on list due to cost.
remap
fmic

Steve

was going to add, bit odd. pre facelift, but with facelift doors and key!

looking forward to seeing this. Nice colour aswell mate

It does look well in pink

done a bit tonight. not that exiting though. oil change and filter, coolant flush and new coolant and new thermostat. i also backed of the throttle body cable one notch and the idle is much more steady now!

Quirky, I like!

Looks good, love the colour! Looks like it has the same kit as my car? Never seen another one before.

I'll keep an eye on this

Curt - noticed it on yours too. TTu has it as well and am sure someone said it was a factory upgrade. I don't have the bit in my bumper though. I bet my budget project ends up the way your does!! spend spend spend. Just going to focus or getting everything working and interior until the weather improves

Good stuff, like the colour aswell, break from the norm!

Get the dents in the bonnet sorted and it looks pretty much straight!

well spotted! i think i will vinyl wrap the roof, bonnet and mirrors in gloss black to sort them out as they are very minimal. one mirror is broken so i have bought a new one and the other cover is damaged. the chances of getting anything the right colour is a big no no! I will get a secondhand dent free bonnet and wrap that and stick this one in my garage. bumpers will need spraying but will be able to do that myself, not keen to spray roof or bonnet though as they are much less forgiving! I have spraying experience btw so will not be using rattle cans!

That experience will come in handy then. Can you not try a dent mob too remove the bonnet ones??? Dont look that bad really, then wrap the roof and mirrors like you say, sounds good either way mate, look forward to seeing how it goes!

The bonnet is pretty pants if i'm honest, its obviously been lent against a wall in the garage so the parts near the a pillars are all mangled. I think a new bonnet is quicker and less hassle. maybe cheaper too. But bodywork is on hold till the summer. Just want to get it running properly over the cold spell.

So i've done a tiny amount done, finished service, service (spark plugs, fuel filter etc etc), but since disconnecting battery have a fluctuating idle which is removed my reving the engine a bit. I will try a Throttle body reallignment to see if it helps. I'm going to switch the horn on with the alarm too as i never know if its locked or unlocked

Good news is the thermostat was not the problem! it was the sender. so for all the hassle of removing alternators and stuff it was the 5 second job which stole the show!

I've also decided on debadged front grill (not to everyones taste) but i snapped mine trying to remove trim and debadged are cheaper than genuine so thats the way i'm going.

I also won a boost gauge off ebay for £15 or so posted which is good.



and new mats which for £20 posted are actually suprisingly good. Better than generic rubber ones!

i've ordered a heater blower too and am looking forward to not driving a wind tunnel to work.

am going to order some pressed metal plates too as the front one fell off and the rear one is shot.

Also in the hunt for the amp so i can adjust the gain a bit i found i have a bose system which is a bit of a bonus! and the reverse light was simply missing the bulb all together. very odd.

and my bargain basement seats. nothing special but in good clean condition. included door cards with all switches, bose speakers etc, glovebox, centre console, stereo surround, drivers air vent and a few other clips and bits i am missing. It also solves the fact my seat belt buckles are all bent and held together with gaffa tape! £200 delivered!






thats all for now.

bugger. just notice the gauge doesn't sit at zero! does that mean its broken?

How To: Get Your NewSouth Boost Gauge To Sit At Zero - uk-mkivs

Good work man, interior changes all round then! Looks good

frickin needs it! i'll take some pics of the old one when it comes out. holes i can put my fist in!

looks good, will keep an eye on your progress. Interior looks good

hopefully interior stuff is arriving friday...to work!! and i work in an office. ha ha!

good news is a/c blower fan is back in so I have air con again. sorted.

and found the leak too. split boot seal. Sounds like an expensive item to me so will try and mend it first.

debadged grill in post....

good news and bad news! interior finally arrived today. Good news. One of the door cards i needed is damaged. Bad news! and the receptionist signed for it also so i can't claim on it. I will find out when i get home but i am fairly sure he hasn't included all the extra bits and bobs also. I hate ebay at times.

photos later.

More good news, DV turned up today. Bad news, the experiment failed. The £32 forge copy leaks and is brand new. piece of cack! so that'll have to go back.

More good news, grill has arrived as has carbon wrap. Bad news i am busy for the next 3 weekends so will have no time to fit anything! bugger!

Looking good so far dude, that colour will look the dogs with the gloss bits done. Not sure if I'd be worried driving it with that reg lol. Call me superstitious. (think that's how it's Spelt) dah.

Ha ha! your not the first to say that...ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT!!

well, a little update. pics later if i get round to it. old interior stripped out, the car goes like a rocket! with no weight in it. Also found the source of my damp issue. It seems someone has removed a tail light but didn't nip the bolts up tight so was letting water flood in. The wheel was in at least 3 inch of water! generally everything appears to be as it should. did i mention i found a bose set up, but it has the standard audi speakers by the looks of it. strange.

Also found aftermarket front speakers, but they are only 'fusion' and it may be the source of lack of sound from the front speakers so i think i will use the Audi ones which came with the new interior and see how it goes.

New interior is mint apart from the slight damage to (luckily) the bottom of the door card. few bits and bobs, but nothing much. glovebox repaired and ready to go in, stereo surround carbon wrapped, am going to do the interior handles too. such a cheap, simple mod, but what a difference campared to the 11 year old scratched plastic!

no. 12 purple stripe pool ball gearknob in the post

Hopefully do a bit of work sunday evening or next week.

New forge DV fitted as the cheap ebay experiment failed and it leaked. still having boost issues not going over 4psi so am going to give logging a go. who knows!

bit more done. after new n75 i now have 7psi boost. yay! pool ball fitted, interior fitted.

but...someone drove into my car good news front bumper was screwed before and he is going to pay to have it resprayed and i needed a new one anyway.

seeing as i have skirts and rear bodykit i always felt the front lacked a bit so was planning on getting an 'add on' or the splitter from a leon. anyway, opportunity cae up and i took it for throw away money so if no good no problem. reiger bumper for the grand sum of £30. we'll see how it goes. may be a bit ott. mmm

Audi A3 Rieger Front Bumper on eBay (end time 18-Feb-11 18:16:01 GMT)

oh yeah, got some rs6 replica too in 19inch. tight fit!!

DUDE! Thats defo a dark shade of pink!lol!

reiger bumper trial fitted and i like it so i'm keeping it. need an s3 grill no which is a pain. ho hum. on the hunt for a fmic too as it will help fill the holes! sold 19's and have some 18" split rims now which i'm collecting on thursday. yay. I have since washed it too

hopefully going to body shop to get all blemishes sorted and to paint bumper in next couple weeks

next thing will be roll arches, spacers and coilovers...but not for a bit due to cost.



check out what was holding the old bumper on!!

Lol @ the wood screws

Good stuff man, FMIC will go well behind that bumper. I do love that colour! Wheels sound good, been considering rolling my arches too, spacers and more lows...

i think my low plans may have to change a bit due to the bumper! but i should be able to get it down a fair bit, may prevent having to mess about with roll bars and stuff! if i can get the tyre to the arch that will be enough.

Now you say that the bumper is going to be verrry low.... But yeah even losing some arch gap will be win. Want to get my bumper lower, but I've had to raise mine as it was rubbing on the chassis itself and not the ARB.... which is somewhat baffling. Will look smart when it's all one colour

lookiing good, pikey screws ftw lol

lime green!!







18's have never looked so small!!

coilovers! yay. Brand new JOM's for £100. result. got spacers fitted as well now. 10mm front 20mm back. new cv boot, solid rear bushes for front wishbones, diesel dog bone and top mounts in the post....

anyone selling an s3 grill?