My minor modding thread

A3-Lee · Jan 23, 2015

Looking good buddy .... Are the quarter cards hard to remove?

<tuffty/> · Jan 23, 2015

A3-Lee said:
Looking good buddy .... Are the quarter cards hard to remove?

Quarter cards?

<tuffty/>

Gops · Jan 24, 2015

Sub sound better than before?

A3-Lee · Jan 24, 2015

<tuffty/> said:
Quarter cards?

<tuffty/>

Half asleep moment sorry mate .... I ment boot trims

<tuffty/> · Jan 24, 2015

Gops said:
Sub sound better than before?

Certainly sounds punchier than before... Bit more air moving about... Well as much as a little 6.5"sub can of course

A3-Lee said:
Half asleep moment sorry mate .... I ment boot trims

Not massively difficult mate... Boot lip trim needs to come off first and there is a hidden plastic screw/rivet thing to undo... The strapping handles need removing too..

Best bet is to Google "Amss fitting" and should come up with a pdf of the installation instructions for the sub box and has all the info in there

<tuffty/>

Gazwould · Jan 24, 2015

Any Silent Coat panel damping ?

Do you use polyfil in the sub box ?

Wow , how JL Audio subs have progressed.

Dubster5 · Jan 24, 2015

I was going to say a little bit of glue would probably fix it but the new sub looks a lot better anyway

Sam_ · Jan 26, 2015

I need to get one of these RNS units. So much fresher inside.

Engine first though

<tuffty/> · Jan 27, 2015

The unfortunate side affect of having a working sub again is its highlighted my rattly handle problem again so Sunday I decided to sort it out... I also took the oportunity to swap out the front tweeters as one of the Focals stopped working a few years ago and I have been using an OE one instead in its place... grabbed some Alpine tweeters at a decent price so swapped them out too...

This of course meant taking the door panel off and as this crops up from time to time I took a few pics to show how easy it is to do...

First there are two very stumpy screws to undo at the top corners of the panel that need to be undone...

Then undo the screw holding the door grab handle inner trim in place...

Remove this to reveal two screws securing the panel to the door...

Remove those then lift the door panel up and away from the door...

The door handle cable is secured in a clip on the frame, unclipping it makes it easier to pull the door panel away... with that done I swapped out the tweeters which fitted nicely in the OE position and added a spring to the handle to stop it rattling about... which actual worked!...

Erikn89nl · Jan 28, 2015

Nice and clear explanation

My door handle doesn't fully return, it sort of sticks out from the recess it's supposed to be in. Any idea how I can fix that?

<tuffty/> · Jan 28, 2015

Erikn89nl said:
Nice and clear explanation My door handle doesn't fully return, it sort of sticks out from the recess it's supposed to be in. Any idea how I can fix that?

Use a hammer.... !

To be honest I think the handle pin just wears from use making it all floppy... Wear and cable stretch would be the issue here I would think... maybe a replacement cable and the spring trick?

<tuffty/>

Erikn89nl · Jan 28, 2015

Will have a go, thanks!

S3Alex · Jan 28, 2015

Tufty...all that audio is going to slow your car down!

Seriously though,as expected,that's a very neat and impressive sub.

<tuffty/> · Jan 28, 2015

S3Alex said:
Tufty...all that audio is going to slow your car down!

Seriously though,as expected,that's a very neat and impressive sub.

Thanks dude... as for the audio slowing the car down... I guess I'll just have to add more power

Keefy · Jan 28, 2015

@Tuffty - Am i right in thinking that once you've pulled the door panel away you can access the main door speakers? Need to replace my passenger side Bose one as it's got all farty...

S3Alex · Jan 28, 2015

<tuffty/> said:
Thanks dude... as for the audio slowing the car down... I guess I'll just have to add more power

<tuffty/>

I thought that might be your solution!

<tuffty/> · Jan 28, 2015

Keefy said:
@Tuffty - Am i right in thinking that once you've pulled the door panel away you can access the main door speakers? Need to replace my passenger side Bose one as it's got all farty...

Yes mate... all will be revealed once its off...

<tuffty/>

Adam P · Jan 30, 2015

Just been catching up with this as haven't been on here for a while.
Great work as always Paul, your car is literally the ultimate s3

willh92 · Jan 30, 2015

have you spaced you wheels or do the RSTT's sit that much wider than the 17" Avus? (Looking at the pics on previous page of your winter wheels vs RSTT's)

<tuffty/> · Jan 30, 2015

willh92 said:
have you spaced you wheels or do the RSTT's sit that much wider than the 17" Avus? (Looking at the pics on previous page of your winter wheels vs RSTT's)

RSTT's are 1/2" wider with 1mm ET difference so would imagine thats why they look like they sit wider... same spacers were fitted on both... 15mm rear and 10mm front...

<tuffty/>

<tuffty/> · Feb 1, 2015

Not cleaned the car for a little while so needed to get the winter salt off...

And gave her another coat of Jeffs Werkstat Acrylic Jett...

Todays other task was to fix my arm rest that has been stuck in the up position for the last few months..

Knowing this is a common issue I used ASN's search (yes... it does actual work!!) and found a couple of decent links that have decent info
http://00626e1.netsolhost.com/formoshun/s3/Armrest.htm
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/int56.shtml

So armed with this, I made a start... finding the screws was fun... they had been flocked over... using a T8 torx I undid all four...

The issue here is the plastic 'pins' that operate a metal sprung loaded plunger which puts quite a strain on the plastic (go figure)

...all this leads to them breaking which causes this problem...

So based on the fixes used in the links above I drilled a hole...

...tapped it for M4...

...screwed in a bit of M4 studding...

...epoxy'd it in place...

...put it all back together and now can adjust the arm rest again... woohoo!!

One more job off the list

samurai · Feb 1, 2015

<tuffty/> said:
One more job off the list
<tuffty/>

... does this list have the end at all :think:

nice car mate :thumbs up:

Prawn · Feb 1, 2015

Nice work....

...tart :laugh:

Lavis89 · Feb 1, 2015

your interior looks immaculate, you really have gone balls out with this car!

Sean_S3 · Feb 1, 2015

I'm currently using the Werkstat acrylic kit , quick and easy to use and looks good. Shame it's no longer available.

<tuffty/> · Feb 1, 2015

sean_s3 said:
I'm currently using the Werkstat acrylic kit , quick and easy to use and looks good. Shame it's no longer available.

That's disappointing...

<tuffty/>

<tuffty/> · Feb 2, 2015

sean_s3 said:
I'm currently using the Werkstat acrylic kit , quick and easy to use and looks good. Shame it's no longer available.

Ok... been in touch with Polished Bliss over this potential disaster and they have pointed me in the direction of this..
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/blog/2014/11/introducing-the-carlack-range/

Would appear that the Werkstat range has ceased production for now and the Carlack stuff was the basis of its formula so should do the job as well as the Werkstat..

I have asked about cross compatibility as I have quite a bit of Prime left but running low on Jett and Gloss...

<tuffty/>

<tuffty/> · Feb 2, 2015

...just had a reply and turns out the Carlack stuff will work fine so will get some on order when I get close to running out

Sean_S3 · Feb 2, 2015

<tuffty/> said:
...just had a reply and turns out the Carlack stuff will work fine so will get some on order when I get close to running out

<tuffty/>

Great stuff thanks for the heads up , I recall reading a discussion on detailingworld about how the carlack products were very similar to werkstat so it's good to have an alternative.

<tuffty/> · Feb 14, 2015

Had a slight 'moment' the other night where I had to pull up a bit smartish due to a pair of foxes humping in the middle of a country lane I happened to be 'travelling' down...

No harm became the foxes or the car but... the brakes felt horrible...

After a little bit of reading up and a little chat with ASN's resident brakespert @Prawn I decided on a set of DS1.11 pads from Ferodo...

Here are a couple of graphs taken from Ferodo's web site...

Essentially I was going to go for DS3000 but... they have a habit of wearing out discs (by all accounts) and also wearing them selves out too... the DS1.11 pad is described thusly...

Several brake pads on the market boast 'ceramic' technology. DS1.11 is the real thing. It is based upon a chemical family known as Siloxanes. Unlike carbon based materials, siloxane chains do not decompose at high temperatures and so DS1.11 keeps on working up to the highest temperatures a brake pad could ever see. That means it won't fade and has excellent life, the best in the Ferodo Racing range. Moreover the performance remains exactly the same throughout the pad's (long) life. It is formulated to provide a very flat friction profile at a medium/high level of friction. The pad compression is very low, always, and so pedal travel is short and consistent.

The main characteristics of DS1.11 are:

Heavy duty endurance material

Applications - touring car, GT, single seat

Average friction coefficient 0.46 over working temperature range of 200°-700°C

Long life

Very kind to discs

(Excerpt taken from http://www.ferodoracing.com/products/car-racing/racing-brake-pads/ds1-11/)

They are an endurance pad and as you can see from the graphs perform better overall than the DS2500's I did have...

So Bill ordered some up and...

..and swapped them out with the DS2500's... (DS2500 on left, DS1.11 on right

One thing to note though is that the normal pad for my AP calipers is supposed to be 55mm deep... this is a bit of a problem on my rotors as they are designed for a 50mm pad... this was causing me issues with pad knock off as the inboard pad over hung the inside edge of the rotor and the outboard pad back plate was catching the bell as it wore down...

Ferodo list the FRP3083 as the front pad...
http://ecat.ferodoracing.com/car-racing/brake-pads/FRP3083

...and the FRP3115 for use for when the caliper is used as a rear...
http://ecat.ferodoracing.com/car-racing/brake-pads/FRP3115

When placed together the look very similar..

...however you can see they are not as deep (obviously)...

..and a slight difference on the sides...

Reality was I either tried to source a rotor that supported a 55mm pad depth (turned out to be an expensive venture if I decided to do that) or use the 50mm pad... biggest issue realistically is the rear pad has 2mm less material depth than the front pad so will wear out sooner... however it works perfectly as there is minimal loss of pad surface area and because I no longer had pad knock off or any of the other issues all was good..

As a further comparison... here is an old pic I took showing off a few of the pads including LCR brembo... as you can see the Brembo pad while being 50mm deep is not quite as 'wide' as the AP pad...

What are they like? f00king actual amazing!!!... they just bite... I have done a minimal amount of bedding in and they are showing no signs of dropping off... little more to do I think before I try a higher speed/hard stop but I have done a fairly hefty pull up from road legal speeds and it near ripped my face off!! ABS was having a bit of a spaz as there wasn't much heat in the tyres and its a little damp out but the difference is epic!!...

I will have to learn how to drive again... I can brake much later now and have much more confidence in my brakes...

Gazwould · Feb 14, 2015

Excellent , DS2500 have had their day .

tom2001s3 · Feb 14, 2015

Gazwould said:
Excellent , DS2500 have had their day .

Just as I get a set of ds2500 lol.
Just had a look at ferodo's website, how comes they say not suitable for road use?

<tuffty/> · Feb 14, 2015

tom2001s3 said:
Just as I get a set of ds2500 lol.
Just had a look at ferodo's website, how comes they say not suitable for road use?

Its to do with an EU directive called regulation 90 from what I understand... Reg 90 requires replacement pads to be +/- 15% of OE spec for performance but pads like these and DS2500's etc exceed the requirements of Reg 90 which makes them 'unsuitable' for road use...

<tuffty/>

Gazwould · Feb 14, 2015

The unsuitable bit comes from the coefficient locking the brakes too early .

s3gazz · Feb 15, 2015

Does bill sell these tuffty carnt find the LCR ones on the site so wondering who else sells them thx

<tuffty/> · Feb 16, 2015

s3gazz said:
Does bill sell these tuffty carnt find the LCR ones on the site so wondering who else sells them thx

Just because they are not on his site doesn't mean he doesn't sell them mate... he lists popular parts on his site at the moment...

Give him a bell is the best bet

<tuffty/>

badger5 · Feb 16, 2015

Gazwould said:
The unsuitable bit comes from the coefficient locking the brakes too early .

more over its because they perform >15% different to OE, and thanks to the vaguenbess of reg90 who's aim was to stop inferior pads from being sold as replacements, they (euro make **** up for the sake of it brigade) neglected to differentiate the 15% as being >15% better as not meeting the reg. Regardless of the daf reasonings, their coefficients are higher across the temp range than oe, and not like old performance pads which were dead from cold and needed warming up top perform "better" << not so much the case on modern pads generally.

Prawn · Feb 17, 2015

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Damn you PT. I think I'm about to waste some more money on lighting because of you and George.

PM incoming to ask for help :laugh:

<tuffty/> · Mar 1, 2015

Quick report on the brakes....

They are pretty aggressive... takes a bit of getting used to especially as the NS-2r's need a little heat in them and the ABS gets a little tetchy...

I have been looking to replace the rears for a while too... I did discs and pads not long after I bought the car but I think they will rust away before they wear out and am not use how affective they are so I have been looking at putting together a 300mm two piece disc setup and upsize the fronts to 350mm to even it all out...

Thats a little way off as I am saving for cams currently but will update when it happens...

On the subject of the pads... they are dirty little buggers...

So off they came for a clean and seal...

...look pretty caked...

..after an initial clean with megs wheel brightner it was obvious these pads give off some sticky crap as I have never had to put this much effort in to clean my wheels before

..was bad on the leading edge of the spokes too... right ****** to remove...

After a lot of perseverance (and patience!)...

Applied three coats of poor boys... will see if this works (as I have a new tub of the stuff) and if not try one of the ceramic sealants...

The heavens opened inevitably...

.... managed to clean under the arches...

...and of course a beading shot...

Hopefully this should prevent the stuff from caking up the wheels... I will be changing my wheel cleaner too as Megs is an acid based cleaner... will try something more gentle

<tuffty/>

Jenno007 · Mar 2, 2015

Try a coating on your wheels, I find it works much better than any sealant or wax!

Opticoat 2.0 is ideal but they no longer sell this so I'm not sure if you have any or know anyone with some. Alternatively you could try ArtDeWheel, or there are hundreds of others out there

My minor modding thread

Active Member

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Badger 5 Edition

Active Member

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Registered User

Down under

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Rarely neutral

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Registered User

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

My other car is a MINI!!!!

Registered User

Registered User

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Registered User

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Registered User

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

www.badger5.co.uk

My other car is a MINI!!!!

Badger 5 Edition...Its all about the flow...

Registered User

Similar threads