Hinesy's Avant build thread.

Hinesy

Hinesy

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Hi all,

New member here, I've just posted in the welcome section so please feel free to view that post for more about me.

I thought I'd start a thread so I can keep track of what I've done to the car during my ownership.

The car car in question is a 2007 Sline Avant in sapphire black. It's the 1.9 tdi with 115bhp. I've owned it for just over two weeks and so far all is good

Here's a few pics (only from my iPhone, sorry)

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With me not owning the car for long I want to get a few miles under my belt with it before I start spending loads on it. I have a holiday on the south coast booked in 2 weeks time so hope to cover around 600miles and give it a good test.

With this in mind I started things off by cleaning the engine bay. Nearly 8 years of filth and grime under here. Sorry I forgot to take a before photo, I got a bit carried away. Here's the results.

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The only other planned under there will be the addition of the plastic covers for the power steering/washer bottle, battery cover and air con pipes. If any one could help with the part numbers it would be appreciated.

Next up was a set of legal pressed plates, this is my first ever set and I'm really happy with how these look. Made such a difference over the faded, warped originals.

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That's it up to date for now.

Between now and my holiday all that will be happening is a good detail, I've already done the engine bay and all the door shuts, pics will follow when it's done.

After I get back first on the list is suspension, it had a advisory on MOT for upper control arm bushes and the whole setup just looks old and crusty. My plan so far is AP coilovers, I had these on my previous V5 Passat wagon and was very happy with them. These will be joined by a rs4 rear ARB and a full meyle control arm kit.

That's all for now. Any comments/suggestions are always appreciated.
 
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Hi Mark, good start to build thread. Looking forward to reading more. :) x
 
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Welcome!!

Nice to see another 1.9 avant, not many of us on here. Maybe(definitely) not the quickest of the A4s, a quick remap will see you into 2.0ltr tdi power but with bulletproof reliability and decent mpg.

Will be keeping an eye on this!!
 
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Thanks guys,

I agree definitely definitely not the quickest, not as slow as I thought it was going to be though.

I'm currently waiting for a remap, I want it to go to Darkside Developments in Barnsley but they are part way through moving workshops at the moment so I have to wait for a booking.

I must say Ajax I've previously read your thread, your car is lovely. Hope to be able to get mine up to that kind of standard.
 
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Hinesy said:
Thanks guys,

I agree definitely definitely not the quickest, not as slow as I thought it was going to be though.

I'm currently waiting for a remap, I want it to go to Darkside Developments in Barnsley but they are part way through moving workshops at the moment so I have to wait for a booking.

I must say Ajax I've previously read your thread, your car is lovely. Hope to be able to get mine up to that kind of standard.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate and totally agree, for normal day to day driving and considering it's a fair size of car they're quite surprising.
 
Welcome to the forum, nice clean motor :smiley:

Good job on the engine bay, if you don't mind me asking what dressing / cleaner did you use? I've tried a few but none have that shiny look you've managed to get
 
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Hi thanks for your comments.

I used autoglym engine and machine cleaner to start off, worked in with a stiff detailing brush. Once rinsed I used meguires engine dressing. The instructions say to spray it on while the engines wet and then just leave it. I spray it on while the engines wet but I leave it 5 mins then buff it off with a microfiber.

Hopes this helps you out.
 
Very tidy car looks like new under the bonnet. Had a 1.9 TDI AWX in my Passat that ran a BV43 turbo and made over 200bhp with no issues.
Personally I wouldn't bother with Darkside, they are very over rated for diesel tuning and expensive for what they do.
If you are anywhere near Manchester Rick from Unicorn Motor Developments is a forum sponsor and has done many cars off the forum including my own Audi.
Karl.
 
desertstorm said:
Very tidy car looks like new under the bonnet. Had a 1.9 TDI AWX in my Passat that ran a BV43 turbo and made over 200bhp with no issues.
Personally I wouldn't bother with Darkside, they are very over rated for diesel tuning and expensive for what they do.
If you are anywhere near Manchester Rick from Unicorn Motor Developments is a forum sponsor and has done many cars off the forum including my own Audi.
Karl.
Click to expand...

Hi Karl,

Thanks for your kind words.

I'd not previously heard of unicorn motor developments. I shall certainly look into it.

Are his maps all custom? This is what attracted me to Darkside as all theirs are done individually for each car on a rolling road.

Thanks.
 
Hinesy said:
Hi thanks for your comments.

I used autoglym engine and machine cleaner to start off, worked in with a stiff detailing brush. Once rinsed I used meguires engine dressing. The instructions say to spray it on while the engines wet and then just leave it. I spray it on while the engines wet but I leave it 5 mins then buff it off with a microfiber.

Hopes this helps you out.
Click to expand...
****** me that (meguires dressing) was the last stuff I tried! Looks like I should start reading the instructions fully in future
 
desertstorm said:
Very tidy car looks like new under the bonnet. Had a 1.9 TDI AWX in my Passat that ran a BV43 turbo and made over 200bhp with no issues.
Personally I wouldn't bother with Darkside, they are very over rated for diesel tuning and expensive for what they do.
If you are anywhere near Manchester Rick from Unicorn Motor Developments is a forum sponsor and has done many cars off the forum including my own Audi.
Karl.
Click to expand...
+ one for Rick, never actually used him yet but he was very happy to give free advice to me over the phone. Really seems to know his stuff and is one of a few that thinks diesels are worth tuning rather than usual stock answer from most garages that a remap is all you can do.
 
SDHA4SLine said:
****** me that (meguires dressing) was the last stuff I tried! Looks like I should start reading the instructions fully in future
Click to expand...

I don't use the instructions for the meguires. I find if you do it dries all cloudy and sticky. That's why I buff the excess off after spraying it on.
 
Hinesy said:
I don't use the instructions for the meguires. I find if you do it dries all cloudy and sticky. That's why I buff the excess off after spraying it on.
Click to expand...
Yeah I meant the part about spraying on wet surface. Thanks again I'll give it another go sooner or later
 
Hinesy said:
Hi Karl,

Thanks for your kind words.

I'd not previously heard of unicorn motor developments. I shall certainly look into it.

Are his maps all custom? This is what attracted me to Darkside as all theirs are done individually for each car on a rolling road.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I hadn't heard of Rick either till I started looking into getting my car mapped and the possible options. I looked at all the big tuners AMD, REVO, APR, AMD etc and the smaller well known guys Shark, Celtic, F@R and ended up at Ricks.
Rick writes all the maps himself. He will do his best to get what you want out of the car within reason. My brief to him was get as much reliable power out of my car as possible. Result was 312bhp and 720Nm of torque. Very driveable, no black smoke and better fuel economy.

Karl.
 
desertstorm said:
I hadn't heard of Rick either till I started looking into getting my car mapped and the possible options. I looked at all the big tuners AMD, REVO, APR, AMD etc and the smaller well known guys Shark, Celtic, F@R and ended up at Ricks.
Rick writes all the maps himself. He will do his best to get what you want out of the car within reason. My brief to him was get as much reliable power out of my car as possible. Result was 312bhp and 720Nm of torque. Very driveable, no black smoke and better fuel economy.

Karl.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, sounds exactly what I'm after. I'll drop him a email and get things rolling.

I'm after much the same, just as much power as is reliably possible. With mine only been the 115bhp model I'd be happy with anything over 140bhp.

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted.
 
audi upgrades
Had a bit of spare time today so managed to give it a go over with the DA. Still needs some refining and a coat of wax but i'm happy considering the time I had. Quick pic below.

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On a separate note does anyone know the part number for the Sline black optic grill. I phoned Audi twice today and was supposed to be getting a call back but never materialised.

Thanks.
 
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Welcome to the forum - that is one good looking A4 Avant!
 
nice, that's exactly how mine looked when i bought it a year and half ago, same age, same colour, now get ready to empty your pockets mate as you make her your own lol.

i have spent a small fortune on it now and i'm still not there yet, de-chrome next for me....
 
Finally finished detailing the car yesterday. It's taken me over 30hrs in total but in very happy with the outcome.

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Then in true British fashion it started raining as I was taking the photos. Good excuse for a beading shot though.

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Hi all.

Not updated this in a while. Mostly because I've not really done much since I last posted and a impending house move has halted progress with the car.

Anyway today I made the journey from Scarborough to Leeds and picked up this from Craig Cull.

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Can't wait to get it pained and fitted. I think once it's on with the AP coilovers I've got waiting in my spare room and a nice set of 19's it'll transform the car.

Shame it will have to wait till after xmas.
 
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Loving your avant !! You done a great job of getting it looking like new , also it's gonna look so mean lower and with the DTM bumper ! Look forward to seeing it painted and fitted mate.

Dan
 
WARN3R said:
Loving your avant !! You done a great job of getting it looking like new , also it's gonna look so mean lower and with the DTM bumper ! Look forward to seeing it painted and fitted mate.

Dan
Click to expand...

Thanks mate.

It doesn't look much like it did a few months ago after a 'bodyshop' 'machine polished' it after doing some bodywork (I use the terms in quote marks very very losely). That combined with moving to a rural area in winter means it's not the cleanest at the minute. After Xmas is out the way I'll get it back to how it was.
 
Just a quick pic from the weekend. Sorry for the rubbish quality, only had my phone to hand. Will be the last one of it looking all standard. Lots of changes for the old girl as soon a xmas is done with.

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It's been a long time since I've updated this. Over a year. A lot has happened over that year, new house, renovations and a new addition to the family. As such the car has been on the back burner, only getting it's weekly wash and polish and servicing. I've covered 25k in this last year without any fault and a new set of tyres were needed so I decided to treat her to a new set of wheels. Well I say new, new to me a friend was selling them after he wrote off his a3 (engine blew). 4 brand new tyres on them too. Pics below hope you like. (I've include some before wash pics from today, this a weeks worth of commuting grime, hard to keep on top of.)
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thought mine got dirty on the **** end, wow, keep looking after her mate
 
It was sat in my loft for ages after we found out we where expecting... I had a lot of messages asking if I'd sell which I passed up. Then someone made me a offer I couldn't refuse so it went to save a accident damaged dtm.
 
Have you put the AP coilovers on? What's the ride like?

Ben
 
No not yet. They are still stashed away. They are my second set though, I had a set on my passat v5 estate (b6) and they where spot on. A very good compromise between cost and quality.
 
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Thanks pal. I'm in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. How about yourself?
 
I've got a set coming tomorrow, looking forward to getting them on the car.

Ben
 
James.c said:
Scarborough too mate! Thought I recognised Oliver's mount in one of your pics lol
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It's probably your car I see around then. I parked next to it once at morrisons and suddenly realised how dirty mine was. Where abouts in Scarborough are you? I'm just up in Newby.
 
I got dream detailing to do it the other week it wasn't my washing skills haha I'm in osgodby mate, il keep an eye out for you.
Hinesy said:
It's probably your car I see around then. I parked next to it once at morrisons and suddenly realised how dirty mine was. Where abouts in Scarborough are you? I'm just up in Newby.
Click to expand...
 
Hinesy said:
It was sat in my loft for ages after we found out we where expecting... I had a lot of messages asking if I'd sell which I passed up. Then someone made me a offer I couldn't refuse so it went to save a accident damaged dtm.
Click to expand...

Couldn't go wrong there then, they don't tend to last long around here anyway. Car is looking great BTW :D
 
Have you got round to fitting your DTM bumper yet? I have a custom DTM rear for sale if you are interested?

edit - just noticed you sold it. not to worry =)
 
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