Jay A3 's 1.8T On-Going Build Thread

Jay A3

#because Racecar
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Finally plucked up the courage to write a thread. Forgive me if i seem to go on a bit.

I have owned my 1998 A3 1.8T AGU 150 bhp pre facelift in silver for the last 3 yrs or so. Only really decided to do anything to it this year. Car was on purchased on 90k miles, currently at 115k and still going very strong. The only modifying done to it was an aftermarket HU, 10" vibe sub, tints and 18" alloys that came with the car (kurb'd like hell)

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front.jpg


After 3 years of it being standard, i got bored and came across ASN where i got the modding bug like so many before me! A local garage opened near me where they did Car wrapping. I was intrigued into how it worked... 2 weeks later i ended up wrapping the bonnet in black carbon fibre.

DSC00061.jpg

Not bad for a first attempt... Had loads of help from my brother and endless pestering to Damo who was very patient with me constantly asking questions.

Anyway, the bonnet went so well i thought why stop there!? Looked into wrapping the whole car. I managed to get my hands on a Matt white bubble free finish. (Im no expert but if you can go for the 3M brand)

A week later the car came out of hiding looking like this:
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I was very happy with how it turned out. Something was still missing....It just didnt look right...Yet

I managed to get hold of a set of 18" black BBS CH's from a fellow ASN member (Thanks Steve) Very nice chap... i was more than happy to take the wheels off his hands...So one afternoon later, those rims were on

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With a bit of the comestics out the way i thought i would focus on the performance more, only to find out my clutch needed doing. So a minor setback, unfortunately for me this happened on the weekend of AITP 2011 (Regretted not going). Got hold off a clutch and flywheel from Audi for around £300. Not bad considering another supplier was trying to sell me the clutch on its own for £250! All sorted and driving nice again. At this point i also installed a pipercross cone and a cold air intake pipe sitting behind the bumper and DV.

On my way back from up north i swung into R-Tech in Leceister. Very nice bunch of lads, Nicks knowledge of 1.8T engines outstanding. The first run on the rolling road wasn't a good one, my car was only producing 110 bhp!?! Turns out the MAF i had was faulty, R-tech managed to get an OEM MAF same day for me. Run number 2 was much better, but still not at its original 150 bhp. They got 138 bhp which wasn't too bad...

Rtechpic.jpg


Few hours later the car was on the rolling road again... Results for a stage 1 was 184 bhp and an increase of 50 in torque. Not driven a remapped car before, i came out with a massive smile that lasted ages. R-tech did recommend a few mods i should think about doing.

I decided to experiment with the current catalytic convertor. Took it off, c sectioned it, took out the insides and welded it back up. As for power gains im not too sure if there will be any or not until i get a remap but there is a nice deeper roar when you put your foot down.

Hacking the bolt off!
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The cat guts
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Back to comestics, i was able to get hold of some front and rear face lift lights from another ASN member, who unfortunately got his car written off... One mans loss is another mans gain!
Fitted those no problem, fronts needed a little slight cutting to the wing.

Front
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Rear
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At the same time i decided to do the front grill. Carbon wrapped the surround and sprayed the 4 rings matt black.
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The front as it stands...
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The plan for after xmas is to get the K03s installed which is currently sitting in the house along with the tip. Can not wait!
Sorry if i have babbled on, hope it was a good read... i will keep you guys informed on anymore future mods!
 
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Looks good, something different. I think it'd look better lowered and maybe with some black rings on the boot or a rear wiper delete.
 
Looks good, something different. I think it'd look better lowered and maybe with some black rings on the boot or a rear wiper delete.

Thanks... i do have the rear badge already sprayed black in the house, in two minds about fitting it back on...
 
That poor fella with the written off car sounds like a legend.

Car always looks nice when I have seen it, and at least you chose to wrap it in a decent colour, unlike a certain Northern member..

:cheers:
 
That poor fella with the written off car sounds like a legend.

Car always looks nice when I have seen it, and at least you chose to wrap it in a decent colour, unlike a certain Northern member..

:cheers:

He was unlucky to get it written off, as far as to call him legend? Its a little far fetched...
 
Bout ****** time Jay. lol

Car looks good mate, you done well with the wrapping.

I agree with Aaron, deffo needs dropping, de-wiper and audi badge.

NIce find on the lights, did the Yut take you for ride on the price? I hope not, you know what theses Yuts are like.

Got any more visual mods planned or interior mods?
What about a nice set of leather or alcentera seats?
 
Bout ****** time Jay. lol

Car looks good mate, you done well with the wrapping.

I agree with Aaron, deffo needs dropping, de-wiper and audi badge.

NIce find on the lights, did the Yut take you for ride on the price? I hope not, you know what theses Yuts are like.

Got any more visual mods planned or interior mods?
What about a nice set of leather or alcentera seats?

Thanks Scott, i know it has taken me ages to even think about writing a thread, The "Yut" was fine on the prices... i did have to go collect them though...

Visual / interior mods? wouldn't mind doing the electric folding wing mirrors...i got the link you sent to me..tempted
Im going to pass on the alcentera seats. Not for me!
 
Boost gauge?

Get the turbo fitted rather then fannying about with mirrors?
 
Turbo wont be till after winter... im trying to see what i can do in the meantime
A small thing is silver indicator bulbs, makes the front look better I think.
 
Needing a little bit of help...
My engine temp has not been reading right, i think. It seems to go up to 90 but then drops... I thought it must be the coolant temperature sensor. (The Green One!) Bought mine from Audi at £35 including the seal. Very easy change. What i did was take off the engine cover and then the other smaller cover that sits by the oil dip stick. On the right hand side of the engine is the sensor. Pull out the metal pin and unplug the connection. Beware when you pull out the sensor the coolant may squirt out. (Have a towel handy) Change it. Leave it to run for a bit and top up the coolant...

Anyway the temp seemed to work, it went up to 90 and sat there with the fans kicking in. I decided to take it for a spin, only to notice as i put my foot down briefly the temperature dropped, (i know it can drop a little bit) it actually dropped down to about 62... I though to myself this cant be right. So i parked up and sat there leaving it running. The temp then went back up to 90. Any ideas why it is dropping so much?
 
Not sure if its the thermo, but i do fear it could be the water pump, is there a way of checking?
 
I wouldn't have thought it would be the waterpump, if it was surely the temperature would just go up and up and up.

Temperature sender?
 
Right just been out in the car, I let it run for 20mins... Nothing. The needle didn't even budge!

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How do i check the sender? How do I eliminate the air lock if I do have it?
 
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Jay, start a new thread in the 8L section. get more responses in there.
You replaced the sender when you replaced the sensor.

I'm not sure on the bleeding side of things.
have you replaced the pump or thermo since you owned the car?
 
Take off water coolant cap.Turn engine on. Turn climate control on to highest temp and fan to max. Wait until engine reaches running temp .bleeding should be done .Then replace coolant cap
 
Never changed the thermo, but the water pump was done with the Campbelt about 25k miles ago.
Thanks Steve I will bleed it tonight, hopefully that will work...
 
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Little update... Not much has been happening, like many others xmas, car insurance and road tax has killed any chance of modding over the last month or 2. Still got the issue with my temp gauge.. I got told to do the 49 oC test. The temp is reading the same on the AC unit as the gauge. The temp still isn't reaching past 60 unless im sitting stationary, as soon as it hits 90 oC i start to drive and then it just drops back down below 60 oC. I still have my suspicions that it is the thermostat. i will order a new one probably from TPS, im sure it doesn't cost much at all.

My upgrade to S3 front brakes is taking shape. They have been sandblasted and cleaned ready for painting

Here is the result of me sandblasting a carrier
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Turbo refurb /upgrade is going on the back burner along with the fmic for now (hopefully not too long).

Im concentrating on improving the handling and reducing the amount of understeer im getting...

I thought about upgrading the the front and rear arbs... 25mm front and back a little excessive??
Ebach-25mm-front-25mm-rear-anti-roll-bars

At the same time i was thinking of lowering the car by 35mm or so with some springs... Any opinions or suggestions?
Apex-35mm-lowering-suspension-springsbr-a3-8l

 
Nice project I'm doing the same thing on my Audi but going more for engine mods and keeping it looking quietly and stealthy lol
 
Jay did you ever find out if your shocks were standard or not? It's not recommend to change the arbs and springs if you have standard shocks as the dampening rates will be different. You don't want to find yourself in a hedge somewhere!

I like the sound of 25mm arbs :thumbsup:
 
Looking good jay, Nice write up dude. when will you have the front breaks on/ what colour you going???
 
Defo thermostat Tps £10 job done

For £10 i cant argue... i have read its a pita job but it should resolve my temp problem!
Nice project I'm doing the same thing on my Audi but going more for engine mods and keeping it looking quietly and stealthy lol

Thanks mate... I do like the sleeper concept! good luck with it...
I am fan of that blue too! What engine mods you done or planning on doing?

Jay did you ever find out if your shocks were standard or not? It's not recommend to change the arbs and springs if you have standard shocks as the dampening rates will be different. You don't want to find yourself in a hedge somewhere!

I like the sound of 25mm arbs :thumbsup:

Yeh shocks are standard westy... Do you reckon i should go for coilover setup rather than just springs?
Something like this?
APEX Coilovers

Looking good jay, Nice write up dude. when will you have the front breaks on/ what colour you going???

Thanks mate! Next week or 2 i should have them all painted. Gone for ferrari yellow. Fitting will be shortly after as my current discs and pads are still new-ish...

 
Also mate the only thing that couldn't be changed over to the s3 brakes is the disks, the pads would be fine.
 
Got round to doing some more work on the car today....
I have been wondering what could be done to improve the handling of my A3. Initially thought of getting the Apex coilovers as mentioned earlier... but after a chat with Damien at DPM, he advised what the best kit for me would be based on my £300 budget.

Vogtland 35mm spring and shocks - They arrived on Thursday
Nice piece of kit. Good quality, TUV approved and a decent price.

Got them fitted this morning!
Visually its not a massive difference, but the ride is more stable (reduce the body roll i used to get from the standard setup)
Stiffer ride and feeling the road that little bit more, but the big difference is the handling. I tested on a few roundabouts home and where i used to put the power down the car just would not grip enough but no longer! Car is handling well... i am very impressed!

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The top mounts looked very tired and old, so while everything was off i decided to order a set in and get them changed too.


Next on the to do is to get a strut brace fitted (maybe a JOM ebay jobby) install the S3 front brake calipers, discs and pads, replace the track rod ends and do the tracking/alignment.

Then i can go back and focus on POWER :whistle2:
 
​Well done Jay. Some really good progress today.
 
Good progress mate, got a bigger pic of it how it currently sits?

Also, could you see if it had been lowered originally or was it just all those fat chicks you have in your car had caused suspension sag? :lmfao:

P.S Get that turbo fitted!