Northampton OFN's project thread

Hi guys, my name is Ben and I'm from Northampton. This is going to be my build thread for the cleaning up and improving of my B6.



I bought her in April 2013 looking like this from a Polish bloke in Northampton , having previously owned mainly Vauxhalls I was more than impressed with build quality. For some reason the car had come with 3 18"s and a 17 (pictured).


So I bought a fourth RS6 style wheel.

These are commonly called RS6 wheels in the scene but are actually called 5 Arms by Audi. I had all the tyres changed to Proxes T1R. And that was it.

I suppose the build got quite boring at this point as I left everything as it was and just cleaned her properly once a week for nearly two years whilst saving for a house. I also occasionally detailed the paint.



Then, for no good reason I can remember other than seeing another very tastefully modified B6 out and about, I got the modding bug! The car I saw and liked looked really wide on the rear so my first move was to get some spacers.





On further inspection (didn't know much back then) I realised the 18"s I had got with the car weren't genuine but an aftermarket ET33 8J set.


I fitted the spacers on the back



Then I bought my first home and stuck the Audi on the drive.

All you home owners will know how time consuming houses are! So the car got ignored for a while whilst I set about decorating my little girl's room and the kitchen.
I did however clean her whenever I got a minute and kept on top of regular services.



Well that brings it up to the beginning of this year and is enough for one night. More to follow when I get time.

Found some time so here's some more..

Then the steering developed a knock. It was a very slight noise coming from the front and could be felt mostly when shaking the steering wheel with the engine off. It would also make a clunk when making a turn onto an uneven surface. So I had a poke around and found control arm rubber joints failing all over the place.


So got to work on the nearside.

At this stage I had used my full vocabulary of expletives on removing the long bolt (b**ch bolt) and was left with both ends snapped off and it still not budging whatsoever with a punch and lump hammer, so out came the grinder.
I tried running the grinder into the pinch grooves to separate the bolt into pieces but even after this I only managed to get the small threaded section out (about 12mm's worth haha). So I turned to the Internet and found I was by no means the first person struggling with a 13 year old, salt corroded bolt. It seemed I had used a few "wrong" techniques so it was time to get the whole lot off.

Now having ground off the top arms I couldn't undo the hub nut. So I removed the 6x 11mm(??!!) multi-spline bolts into the gearbox hub, doused the two bottom arm bolts in WD40 and removed them from the bottom of the control hub (they came out so much easier!! Such a better designed joint).

No photos but the whole driveshaft/control hub was now easily removed and taken to a friend's work shop for some oxy acetylene loving!!

The offside was much easier with the knowledge found online, I bought a blow torch and blasted the pinch area very hot, snapped off the hex head from the bolt and drew it out the other end by its thread with a nut. Used lots of WD40, and had to grind off the thread once it fouled the other pinch casting. Once I ran out of thread I backed off the nut and spaced it away with lots of washers. The last inch or so was done with a punch through from the bolt head end. It all sounds complicated but only took an hour. Was so involved I forgot photos but here's one of the nearside bolt!


I'd been wanting bigger brakes due to the original 288mm's being very poor. I'd researched into what would fit and had bought some B7 S4 calipers with the plan being to refurb them but a late night including beer and eBay ended up in a brand new set of B8 S4 calipers (which I'd confirmed bolt straight up!) from Poland with pads and sensors arriving.

Pictures don't do justice just how huge these are.

Whilst the car was off the road I decided to fit all the parts that had been piling up, in one go. These included genuine full set of top control arms, a red HEL pair of front braided brake lines, the B8 brake calipers, genuine disc guards with bolts from Audi <expensive>, new Audi caliper bolts and some S4 B7 discs (after having ordered Zimmermann A6 C6 347mm which I'd read on audizine would bolt up, but of course didn't, this delayed me by a few days whilst I waited for some drilled EBC discs to arrive)

Pile of bits.


Then I threw it all together

Also ended up changing the front offside rear bottom control arm for a new genuine one as I didn't like the look of the rubber joint to the subframe.

I'd been scanning the bay for 19"s and a couple came up cheap near me so..


18"


And test fitting a 19"


And after a refurb.




What an improvement tire gel makes.




And temporarily running 19"s front and 18"s rear..

Kept looking and found one more in good condition (£30!!!)


225 Tyre fitted, spacer fitted and on the car.

Hi Jimmy. Yeah I found that out whilst looking at brake options on Audizine.

I plan to do the rears soon too so I've got the full set, not sure if rear B8's go on too (anyone?) but if not I'll go B7.

- - - - -

By far my best mod so far!; ordered some Akebono Euro pads from the U.S.

Had initially planned to put them on with the brakes but they take ages to get here so did a few miles on the Audi pads first.
And all fitted.

They're amazing. After the initial quite scary bedding in period they grip identically if not better than OEM. But the main pro, virtually zero dust! Love them!

Then decided through a combination of wanting more lows, and everything else on the front being so shiny, that I wanted to change the struts. So bought some very low mileage B7 S-line diesel fronts fully made up for a very good price.
Wanted to get my front springs powder coated and then run the new shocks with them, with some genuine new B5 perches I'd purchased from the stealer.
Broken down

Off to the sandblaster


In the meantime I was driving around with the front sky high 4x4 style on B7 S-line Diesel springs.

Just goes to show how much heavier that lump must be.

Was too excited when 10 days (wtf!?!) later shiny springs came back so forgot pictures until..
NS strut made back up


And ready to go on (running the B7 top mounts, triangular plates, shocks, spring supports and B5 perches)

It occurred to me after installation that you could surely get another 5-10mm lower removing the rubber bottom spring support that engages the spring to the perch? Anyone tried this or know if it's feasible?

Anyway.


I had measured hub centre to top of arch curve with a square and tape measure before starting

With B7 springs the ride height was almost 20mm higher! And after finishing (but not yet settled) I was already down 15mm offside and 18mm near. Haven't measured since but would be a nice comparison one rainy day.

Another simple but very effective mod is removing the back door S-line badges. Looks so much better without IMO



The Audi had been leaving an increasing amount of spots on my driveway and I got a low oil warning on a long journey. Time to chase the leak. After reading up on thread after thread of terrible oil leaks on the 1.8T I finally cleaned all around the head and block with evaporating degreaser and then had a good look around after a few more miles. It was quite apparent that the cam cover gasket was seeping oil in more than one place.
So off it came.


And a new genuine TPS one fitted.

Becomes pretty apparent how much hotter the turbo corner of the head gets! Most of the oil was coming through the gasket there in the front right corner (see the wet patch in the picture) and there was much more oil found in the spark plug ways nearest the turbo than the rear ones. I stuffed blue roll down them with a blunt flat head to soak it all up and changed the plugs whilst I was there with NGKR's.

Then back together

I suppose the H&R's are quite a bit shorter than standard are they Jimmy? So they'd move/rattle a lot easier with the suspension fully extended when you lift the car? Even with the B5 perch on, mine were still solid once the compressors were off. However it probably isn't a good idea to remove the rubber as it probably stops metal on metal noise and I guess the two surfaces would strip each other's paint and corrode..

Done a little homework and you're correct, the B8 rears can't be done due to the E-brake, discs being wrong bore and offset & calipers mounted in a completely different position on B8.

Good stuff. Think I will try and get used ones like the bloke did in the thread. Can't see the point in butchering new ones. I will probably make a second hand pair fit, then weld the required spacers to the holes to give the correct mounting angle and then get them blasted and powder coated. Probably silver cos that makes them look bigger and I'm a tart like that haha

I totally forgot to mention what will shortly become an important point;
Whilst I was doing the cam cover gasket I noticed a bit of gunk on the inside of one of the breathers that has to be removed to get the cover off. So whilst I was working I decided to leave all the breathers, joints & the PRV in some chemical degreaser. When I needed to put them back I blasted them out with the garden hose.

Anyway, as I said before I put the engine bay back together. And went out for a drive, partly to see if the leak had disappeared but also thinking I might have gained some performance back by clearing the breather system.
Then this.

5 minutes into my drive and just getting up to temp I got the dreaded symbol


Had no idea at this point what a sludge issue was, I just saw a red oil symbol and pulled straight over.
I got the car recovered and after lots of checking over my own work followed by trawling through thread after thread it became clear that I had the sludge issue, and that I'd probably freed up just enough crap to block the final few holes of the pick up tube mesh whilst cleaning the breathers. D'ohhh!!!!

For anyone who doesn't know, the in line mounted 1.8T's were designed to have 10,000 mile oil changes due to the small capacity sump and filter. But when Audi started to offer the long life service scheme many people opted for the 20,000 mile servicing which is far far too long for a turbo engine, let alone a small oil capacity engine with tiny turbo feed lines. The oil loses its viscosity and other qualities and starts to build deposits in the engine which eventually clog up the pickup tube and starve the engine of oil. Add to that the use of poor quality oils and some hearty driving and you've got a huge problem killing 1.8T's the world across.

So I was left with the task of checking if my engine was worth saving or should be scrapped. I found a test which was to check the forward most exhaust cam caps by taking them off and checking for oil starvation, in the form of pitting or scoring.
Exhaust cap #5

And the decider:


Good! It's worth keeping. Time to spend some money. Here's what I bought with P/n's to help anyone who might need them in future:
06B115251 pick up tube
N0282222 pick up tube o-ring
06B103623P windage tray (NN)
06A115105B oil pump (NN)
N90823501 subframe stretch bolt M12 (2x)
N90663002 subframe stretch bolt M10 (4x)
058145757A turbo oil line to sump gasket

The things marked NN aren't necessary but you might as well while you're there for piece of mind. It's a big job to do twice.

No photos here because I got the car towed to my MOT garage for them to do it as they have an electric hoist (to hold the block up) over a pit. I have since however discovered a pit in my very own garage and would definitely do this myself next time..

In a nutshell though, the engine was hoisted up, subframe dropped, sump pan dropped, above parts changed and sump cleaned & all put back together. My garage only charged £200 but I think that's mates rates cos I've sent so much business their way over the years.

When I got her home i changed the breather system too. Below is a list of parts required if you're overhauling the breather system at the same time, which Audi themselves change when carrying out a warranty engine de-sludge:
06A103213F breather pipe
035103245G one way valve
06A129101D pressure relief valve
058133753D suction pump
You can also change the metal piping that runs parallel to the exhaust side of the head but I decided a proper clean was sufficient.
The breather pipe sits on top of the oil filter housing under the inlet manifold, an old one will almost definitely have gone brittle and snapped or broken up. Mine was dumping chunks of plastic into the engine so ofcourse got renewed.

Whilst I was at it I decided the cam chain tensioner gasket and half moon should be changed. So cam cover back off

Offending article

I'd read allsorts of threads about locking tools and rolling the car in gear etc but what worked best for me in the end was picking up the front end

I then removed all the bolts holding the tensioner down except the one closest to the exhaust cam which I left in by a couple of threads to pivot from. I wedged a chock under one of the front wheels and with the gearbox engaged in 5th, turned the other front wheel until the tensioner lifted up from the head:

This left a good inch and a half to get the old gasket and half moon out

And then clean the contact surfaces with degreaser sprayed on blue roll, wrapped around the end of an Allen key.

I inserted the half moon and the gasket, double checked they were correctly aligned and then span the wheel back to lower the tensioner back on to the head, and fitted the bolts back.


And then cleaned the tensioner and everywhere I could access in the head with upwards strokes to ensure nothing fell back towards the sump and my fresh pick up tube!

I had a look at the bottom of the cam cover. Years of use plus my close shave with sludge had caused a fair build up of the tough crud to form. I loosened it up and removed any flakey bits with a wire brush.

Then I got some neat chemical degreaser and, section by section, left it to eat away at the grime before cleaning it off with rag. (Took ages)


It foams up attacking the grime.

And all done.

Then gave the inlet cam cap covers the same treatment.

I doused some blue roll with degreaser and left it laid on the cam cover mating surfaces of the head for a while then cleaned up all the old residue

Cam cover gasket back on and torqued, cover on (gave this a little clean although you don't see it) and spark plugs back out to thoroughly clean the coil pack channels

Looking good after not many miles from new.


I still had the undertray off from when I prepped the engine for the sump removal.

It was looking a bit of a mess from the oil leak on to it. So decided to give that a clean and regretted it about an hour in to a 2 and a half hour job.

All done, hardest job so far!!

Fitted all new clips from eBay to finish off cos there were a couple missing on removal.

Didn't refit the undertray straight away as I wanted to do a 300 mile oil change in case I'd loosened up any more sludge with all the cleaning.
So wired the coil packs back in, put the bay back together and went for a drive.



All this messing about had meant I'd not been looking for another 19" to complete the set and AITP7 had creeped up. So feeling defeated I polished her up and went with 3 19"s haha. (F it)

Rather annoyingly my phone decided to delete all the other photos I took on the day. But during the polishing process I had decided to lose the 1.8T and S-line badges from the boot lid which cleans it up even more IMO. (Shall I just get rid of the A4 one too and be done with it?)


A few miles later I did an oil and filter change

Used the larger Mann filter and Edge as is specified by Audi.

Around the same time I did the scuttle plenum drain hole checks. For those who don't know, the B6/7 had a badly designed plug at the bottom of the chamber where all the water runs down from the windscreen. The two rubber plugs very easily get clogged up with leaves and debris and water starts to back up, worst case scenario you'll find water getting into your brake servo or Ecu housing.
The previous winter after heavy rain I'd had an issue with the brake lights staying on when the pedal is released which can be water getting through the Ecu housing and down to the switch for the brakes (and others like accelerator pedal). So I removed my battery and had a look around. There was a little debris on the battery side but it was only slowing the water from escaping, not blocking it. The other side however opened the floodgates when I cleared it. It is positioned right underneath the servo, is a right old PITA to get at, and can be got at by forcing your hand under the servo from the battery side (once removed). I cleaned the area and put the battery and everything back together. No photos because my phone camera had totally given up.

The next time I drove the car after having the battery disconnected for half an hour, it felt like a different engine! The throttle response was vastly improved, it idled better and pulled stronger through the revs. Anyone want to explain that one? I have a theory.

Anyway, previous owner's Mrs had fake nails so

Much better.

A full set of genuine RS6 9J x19" ET35 p/n 4B3601025Q came up on eBay very cheap, I lost the bidding but the seller messaged me saying the buyer hadn't made contact. So a cheeky offer, a trip to Sheffield and a McDonalds later I had the wheels.

Turns out you can't double stack 9J in the boot FYI.

One modification I forgot to mention before was a set of HID's I had fitted about 5 months after buying the car. They were slim line ballast type that I'd bought from a workmate.
They had generally worked fine but I remember every now and then I'd get flickering from them, mostly at idle.
Well now the nights are drawing in for winter and most of my driving is done in the dark I've noticed the n/s dipped HID is almost constantly flickering at any revs which is very annoying.
Having lots of space to fit the ballast on this side I had put it here originally
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_79.jpg.html][/URL]
On the other side there was far less room so I'd nut and bolted the ballast under the headlight tray.

But I'd read somewhere that the EMI can play games with the ABS module (and had had my fair share of warnings on the dash) so I decided to move things around to see if there was any improvement.
So 4 bolts and the connector and out came the N/S headlamp.
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_80.jpg.html][/URL]

And had a quick look at the condition of the bulb.
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_81.jpg.html][/URL]

Checked the data in case I ever need to order any more.
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_82.jpg.html][/URL]
These are 6000k 35 watts.

Then I put the bulb back in the projector and pushed all the bulb supply wiring up to the connectors in to the headlight fitting to keep it out of the engine bay.
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_83.jpg.html][/URL]

I wrapped all of the high voltage wiring in aluminium foil and cable tied the ends.
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_85.jpg.html][/URL]

And fitted the ballast in its new home under the headlight tray by drilling a 6.5mm hole. http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_84.jpg.html][/URL]
I ended up turning the nut and bolt the other way up because the thread fouled the lamp body.
I wrapped the remaining wiring and the relay in foil.
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_86.jpg.html][/URL]

And pushed the headlamp right back in to its normal position,
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_87.jpg.html][/URL]
Job done.

Upon testing I found the HID not coming on at all haha so it was currently all in vain and I haven't managed to see if the flickering has improved/gone but it was too late so I packed up. I suspect either a connector came loose during the final positioning of the headlamp or the bulb has given up.

Anyway, some goodies have been turning up ready for a session soon, got rear S4 guards
http://s175.photobucket.com/user/benpge2k88/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_88.jpg.html][/URL]

Also got new Lemförder snub engine mount and anti roll bar bushes sat around waiting to go on.

Small update, today the headlamp I had removed's xenon was working. However the other side had gone out but a couple of off and on's and they both fired up. But the one I worked on was still flickering (which according to research means ballast faulty), plus I got the abs warning too.

So all of this has led me to the conclusion that cheap is no good, OEM is once again the winner.

So if anyone can help with the query at the bottom of this thread http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...d-xenons-to-h7-headlight.112120/#post-2607029 then I get ordering.

Thanks

Haha anytime mate, seriously though bring it over in summer and we'll do it.


Yeah I've been test fitting the 9" 19"s (pics to follow) but not sure now whether to refurb these or buy the B7 RS4 19"s that I've fallen in love with

Thanks Colin, yeah I love the twin exits too. Think I might get half an inch larger pipes welded on at some point to fill the apertures properly.

Good luck with the brakes, just carriers and discs you'll need for that IIRC..?

Thanks Neil, yeah I'll get the kettle on then. Do you head over there much or do you mean during show season?

Well, I've been trying to not spend time or money on the car as I'm still renovating my house and that takes all of the above, however, the following parts have been miraculously arriving in the post

OEM Valeo Ballasts
Valeo D1S/D2S adapters with starters and screened cable
Philips D2S bulbs

So I think the next mod will certainly be an overhaul of the headlights, I'm thinking a good quality bi-xenon projector upgrade, with side lights and indicators in LED. I'll move my night breakers out of the fogs into the full beam and then run matching temperature LED fogs and look into running them at 10% as a DRL.

After that I really must focus on the house for a bit but by Feb/March I will be doing cam belt/water pump/engine mounts and rear brakes are in the pipe line (no pun ) too.

Other bits sat around are Lemförder arb bushes, my genuine RS6 wheels which need painting, rear S4 disc guards & genuine bottom control arms.

How about you?? AIR!!?

Ok fella, great!

neil ratcliffe said:

ill pm you when iam over your way.

Click to expand...

I've been putting together some parts to go OEM Valeo Xenons in the headlights. I got some LAD5GL ballasts, Valeo D1S/D2S adapters with screened cables, genuine Philips 4300k D2S bulbs and a couple of adapter rings from the U.S. that allow you to run a D2S bulb in place of the H7 halogen. Search Woorlord on here to find a great "how to" on it..

The original plan was of course to just retrofit in to my current halogen headlamps. But as usual this mini-project has got out of hand and today I picked these up.


They are genuine Valeo Xenon headlamps with stepper motors, got them for a great price.


The driver's side is brand new and has clearly never even had bulbs fitted. On closer inspection, this one is designed to take a D1S bulb as it has the square locating hub on the rear of the reflector bowl.


The other one is used but is in great condition with just one small stone mark to the outer lens and could do with a wipe over. This one came with the D2S fitment with a Philips bulb in place, a LAD5G ballast, a screened starter and a full beam halogen bulb.


So the new plan will be to get these fitted so I can take the unreliable cheap Xenons out and have good light for the dark winter evenings. And then run another project alongside (when I get time) where by I'll butcher my halogen headlights, as it seems a shame to split these with them in such good nick, do the Joey mod and fit some much better reputable aftermarket bi-xenon projectors in place of the halogens.
More to follow when I get time.

Dan, great minds..

Dan klang said:

Have you thought about going all out and do a double projector headlamp

Click to expand...

Unfortunately the old headlights have gone into a box in the garage, who knows when they'll next see daylight (hopefully soon)

Ah good stuff Dan, hopefully that'll sort it then. That old ballast is probably designed for a different output bulb..

Found some more free time and threw on a 9" RS6 wheel to get an idea of what tyres/spacers I'll need to run. The RS6's came with 255/35 which I think is the OEM spec but three of them are budget and the one I fitted has a conti contact fitted.


Gave the car a quick clean and put some turtle wax on to protect the paint a bit over the next few harsh months.


A few more of the fit of the RS6.

Plenty of poke


Makes the 235/35's on the front look a bit rubber band like. Think I prefer the larger wall, opinions welcome..




Then I decided to go for a little drive and get some photos as they're usually always on my driveway haha.







There was a tiny little bit of scrubbing from the RS6 corner. But they're is literally nothing in the back so I assume with a bit of shopping and my little girl etc in the back it would be worse. Not that it matters as I never planned to run those tyres anyway. Would like to see what it looks like on 245/35 and possibly 235/40 too as I think I prefer the chunkier sidewall, plus it fills the arches and means I can lower it by whatever the tyre heightens it without worrying. If I get too much tuck I can always space the wheel back out. So that's the rear and it was a tight fit, I wonder what the front is going to need.....