My Modified A6, Progress Report with pics

[evomaster3000]

Well Here's a progress thread for my A6, nobody mods A6's these days, i never intended to as i wanted away from the scene and just a tidy luxury car! but one thing let to another..... and well it's never ending!

I went to most major car shows last year just to get the feel of them really and check em out, meanwhile thinking ip and sourcing parts for the body re-vamp.

I'm adding a few things aswell as removing some, we'll see if they all work well when it's all done i guess!

Some of you may not like what i'm doing, some may and some may not see the point! and honestly i'll never undertake something like this again! 3 years work so far!

Most of the styling modifications i've done and am doing i'm doing not because it's different, but because I want them and I think that it will look good, most if not all are custom one-off pieces.

Anyway, I'm undertaking some major work on the audi and have been since sept 07, anyway here's some progress pics and a few before and during:

Here's my 1998 Audi A6 SE and how she looked at the end of last year:

I stuck with this look for the year so it wasn't off the road for the show season and so i could save up and also refine the mods i was going to do for next year which i hope will be the final works for the body.

I'm going for a Euro look with a bit of a twist, the usual Euro smoothing and subtle lines, with my added own touches like the spoiler and a few other things!, anyway it came off the road mid september 2007 and so work started:

First was to smooth the grill into the bonnet and flush off the number plate recess on the bumper:

And then to make a start on a slight mod to the skirts, one of my wild but i think innovative ideas, BMW Z3 wing vents upturned and opposised in to the rear of the M3 style skirts:

Line it up make out the hole and get cutting!

Then get glueing!

Also i didn't like the design and corner of the front bumper as the other corners were all custom stlyed to the car, whereas this is the original audi RS6 design, plus the added LCR splitter didn't sit nicly enogh for me:

Basicailly it didn't match the height of the skirts on the side.

So i'm handy with building up bumper from plastic and fibreglass as i did build the rear one! and so far hasn't cracked in 2 years! so i set about cutting choping addding filling and bonding some new corners!

Thats the corner piece from a mazda 323f i believe that i robbed from my local bodyshop, it was cut up anyway! all i needed was a base to work with.

Put the bumper back on to check it was at correct height, which it was.

So set about the filler work!

Then a bit of expandable filler to strengthen the corner.

You may be able to see the vents in the skirts smoothed in a bit more.

A lot of sanding and primering and dust! and it's nearly to shape! As you may see the LCR Splitter has been re-shaped in to the bumper to follow the lines of the corner all the way round, and then i've followed the flat roughly 1cm line from the wing down all the way to the corner, true worksmanship! Attention to detail is vital! After all at this stage it only takes time to achieve perfection!

Bonnet now off to do final prep and smoothing of grill.

Interior looking a bit empty! As i don't want the leather to get overspray etc.

Not a pretty sight!

I try to do most of the work myself, i'm an amatuer sprayer and i've been messing with cars for years, i also have a very experienced custom painter who runs his own bodyshop to hand. He gives me all the advice i need which is a great help so soon when the car is 90% prepped it will be off to him where it will get a full respray in the green base it is now with blue crushed glass and a blue pearl over the top to give it a blue/green flip.

Right well here's the wings and the proposed vent i'm fitting, Its a custom one too, it's the side vent off the new Range Rover, cut up and made in to 3 slats instead of 2, then cut to the line of the arch, hard to explain, the pics say it all!

Get cutting and bonding!

Then comes the fibreglass and filler

And after alot of filling and sanding and hobby tooling! Comes primering and sanding to get it flat and smooth:

They took over a week to get them to a stage worthy of a decent coat of primer, never again! But i can almost guarantee they are the only ones like this!

Meanwhile more repair work,

Firstoff the spoiler, a hairline crack had started to develop on the top of it, poor manufacturing to blame! cut the crack out resin poured in to it then filled back over:

And when removing the roof rails slight bubbling of the paint was unearthed, so ground out all the rust

Rust treated to help prevent re-occurance, tho grinding it all out is usually sufficient, Re-bonded the join ready for priming

Then to the rear bumper, while still on the car more smoothing to the line on it, (wasn't happy with it and this will be the 4th time it's be re-sprayed!)

Then my new set of tyres turned up! All £383 of them!,

Not too bad really, covered about 12000 miles on the old ones, awefull really but thats the cost of lowering on 20's on a car that tops 2 tonnes fully laden!

Also doing a little modification to the mirrors, encorperating 5 10mm LED's with the tops flatted to be used as the side repeaters.

More smoothing work on the doors to be started, removed the door bump strips then had the problem of the glue residue! now Audi only use the best! nothig worked, De-greaser, brake cleaner, thniners, in the end a wire brush bit on a drill! the only way! very effective and keyed the surface up a treat for filler to adhear to.

 

[evomaster3000]

And A couple of days ago decided to start getting it all primed up ready to go to the bodyshop and be flatted down for paint!
So the front end to start with:

Soon the rear door handles will be welded up then filled and primed, front doors will be primed soon as the filling work is nearly perfect on them, currently the rear bumper is being re-paired again! as it's so low it often encounters speed bumps!
The boot has to go down to be welded again as rust is coming through somehow? And currently the wings have been fitted and bonded to the skirts for filling.

I know all this smoothing work can cause cracks where the joins are but using the correct materials it can be avoided, hopefully! tho i guess only time will tell!

Right well now were comming to thee end of feb, here's what i've been doing:

Firstoff was to use up the grey primer i had in the garage as Ken (owner of Airbrushink who's painting the car for me) want's the whole car in green TI primer which he uses so that if he rubs through he can reprime it using the same stuff and to avoid potential colour discrepencies on painting.

So layering down thick coats over the rear bumper and doors where i've done filler work so that it can be rubbed back for a properly smooth finish!

Then popped the rear doors down to ken for the rear handles to be welded up, then got about fillering them:

Lots of block work and 120 grad paper but eventually smooth, and as you can see even the smallest and best welds cause heat distortion in the pannels! dam cars! metal is too thin!, fortunatly the galvanised body didn't cause a problem as we managed to rub the area back to original bare metal.

Then the weather got a bit cold and with work i only had evenings in the garage free so i set about sorting the boot out.

I've now wired in the second battery, using a 200A fusion wiring kit, 2 gold connectors and split charge relay.

Then to the new Amp which is more powerfull than the 2 smaller ones which will be powering the subs and the old ones will be used on components to be fitted in the boot aswell.

And all back together:

Uprated all the wiring connections and now runs a combination of 1 guage and 4 guage wire. Battery guage also wired in to the pillar pod so i can keep an eye on the levels.

And to the new fornt brakes!

Here they are, Audi S6 4.2 V8 Twin pot Calipers with 321mm Discs

These are sure to slow the dam thing down as the old ones are, well now inefficient and well don't stop this car quick enough!

Back to the body:

Found the problem with the boot, too much filler and vibratuions from the stereo has lifted it a little, combined with the trim that hold water = rust!

Ground out and treated:

Then simply re-filled, thats all that can be done here:

Then all primed up in lots of TI primer!

Now for the skirts, the final bit of the modifications to the body, bonding and smoothing the wings in to the skirts:
Took a whole day just to finish off the smoothing of the filler on the join! thats even after i've built up some sort of shape with filler a few days previously, constant rubbing down with a block, then re-filling then rubbing down, again and again until all small holes have been filled and the lines flow!

Then mask it all up and slap down a F**k load of primer filler so that it can be rubbed back flat to take out some of the ripples in the fibreglass skirts, as this is possible going to be the only area that'll let the car down, i would like the whole body as flat as possible to get the best paint finish and look dam good!

That currently how she stands, i'm in the process of macking up the windows and doors etc to prime the body so she's all ready to roll on down 1st march.

Currently All the Doors, Boot bonnet, Bumpers, and silly lil bits, mirrors, roof rails, feul cap cover etc are now all primed ready for ken to work his magic!, just waiting on the body itself now.

It's been one hell of a job and i'll safely say, NEVER AGAIN! taken 6 months and alot of time and effort! but finally an end is sort of in sight! tho the amount of bits i have in boxes!!!! Putting it back together in a couple of week and getting it roadworth! we'll see! Audi's are compicated and the doors require fine adjustment upon re-fiting to ensure all the seals close properly and the door sits right!

Right well 1st of march has been and gone it wasn't until 2 weeks before ISTS that the body went and got painted:

Here it was after 2 days of wet flatting to get the body ready to paint:

On wednesday 26th we painted the body, here's ken doing what he does best:

The next day I had to take the body home to free up the paint shop for my other bits:

So it was towed home where i could begin to put her back together with just over a week to go till donny!

After a day managed to get the wheels back on with new tyres, the lights, feul cap trims, door/boot and bonnet rubber seals.

Then next the headlights with eyebrows were done and both bumpers were painted:

With also the interior now fully re-fitted with rear door poppers wired and indicators re-wired to the door loom.

Front bumper fitted with grills fogs and bars:

Next to the doors: This was going to be interesting, holding a door in one arm and feeding the loom through with the other witout damaging anything! but i did it! took about 2 hours to fit each door remembering the specific order everything was fitted in and adjusting the windows to close properly.

But i finally saw a glimpse of the smoothing work and it looked dam good!

Meanwhile more bits being painted:

 

[karl7900]

Wow! Hats off to you mate. I'm not a fan of modified motors, But (bar the boot spoiler) That looks excellant. You obviously put a massive amount of time and work into this,and I will be keeping an eye on it to see how it progreesses.

Keep up the good work, Karl.

 

[Cranka]

Not my thing normally, but I have nothing but admiration for guys who can do this stuff. I struggle to hold a hammer the right way!

 

[Bong Water]

Wow thats great for a home job, I really like your car but for me it would look smoother without the spoiler, think about it!

 

[maxlbrown]

Looks like your having fun.

Liking it definitely something different. Wish i could half the body work. I'm ok with engines and computers but no good at this type of thing.

Keep it coming. Im following with interest.

M

 

[AJO]

Nice work mate, Hopefully see you at the shows this year so i can check it out in the flesh...

it gonna be ready for ISTS (formally Donny)?

 

[evomaster3000]

I'm doing my Best to get it ready for ISTS, and hopefully it'll be done tho that'll just be outside that'll be done.
It's rolling in to the bodyshop beginning of march and all going well out at the end of so it'll be tight but it should be done.

The rest (install, interior etc) will probabily be finished by the end of the year maybe, all my time and spare funds are going on the re-spray as it's a huge job!
As it stands today 1/2 of the car is in primer ready to be painted, just a few more things and more welding on the boot (it's rusting a bit from where smoothed due to stereo vibrations cracking the welds!)

If not I'll definatly be at most shows this year and also some euro scene type shows too.

 

[bigblokey0]

fair play to you some great looking detail and work going into her you got a big set of balls to be doing that to such a nice car i look forward to seeing it finished all the best with it

 

[96a6v6]

Wow, you have been really busy !

How many hours labour do you think you have spent so far

Keep the pictures coming as you progress

 

[evomaster3000]

Well i took her off the road in october 07 and started then at least 1 day a week until the start of this year when i got more time off (work is really busy comming up to xmas, which is nothing to do with cars) and now well i'd say i'm working on it at least 2 full days a week and tinkering with the stereo in the evenings, far too much time it's taking.

I'd safely say when it's done i'll never do a full re-spray on a car by myself esp on a car this size!

I haven't realised how much work is envolved! But i've put alot of changes in and simple things like smoothing the doors and rear handles seem simple and small but believe me take alot of work to get right!

It will be worth it when it's done but never again!, i've modified nearly every pannel on the car for the re-spray and this has increased the time taken massively.

Put another way to pay someone to do what i've done in my spare time to it i'd be looking at a £3000 - £4000 bill easily as all of the work i've done is custom one off. and thats before it's even ready to paint, as it goes i'll be paying a good friend to spray it in his bodyshop and it'll cost about £1600 incl materials, which by the standard of his work is very cheap as it will be show finish.

 

[AJO]

Any more progress?

 

[evomaster3000]

More progress Added! And it should all be complete by 1st april! My painter has almost guaranteed it!

 

[karl7900]

Looking forward to seeing this finished.

 

[evomaster3000]

Give it a month! Fingers crossed!

 

[evomaster3000]

Right here's the finished end part of the thread (too many images, limited to 30 per reply)

While ken painted those I prepped up the bonnet here it is after being wet flatted and washed off ready for paint once dry:

Front doors had been painted the day before so once the bonnet was done I shot home to fit one door, then back to collect the other front door, the other back door was going to have to be left until the next day (the day of the mot @ 3pm!!!!) to be fitted as with the boot and bonnet.

Working by twighlight by 9pm i had all 3 doors on and fitted correctly with poppers working and thus set about building back up the wing mirrors with indicator led's that evening, not too bad had it all done by 10.30 ready to fit in the morning and wire up.

The day of the mot!!!! got up early fitted the mirrors, then went down collected the back door and fitted, meanwhile mt cousin fitted the door cards and door electrics had that all done by 12pm then checked all electricals all good here thank god! and drove the car to the bodyshop minus a bonnet and boot!!!

Got boot and bonnet fitted with my cousins help by 2.20pm, then off to be mot'd tho i was worried about the smoke emissions as on the way to the bodyshop we had to keep the windows open as the drag from the car brought all the fumes from the exhaust in to the car (no boot or window trims at the time!) which was alot of smoke! and because over the last 6 months the engine hadn't been properly run although just serviced! shw was smoking like a bus!

But even though we managed to get it to the mot station and the smoke had cleared and she passed 1st time with only an advisory! get in there!

Mot out the way set about cleaning it a bit and relaxing and fitting all the little bits we missed cos of rushing for the mot, oh and rear bumper was removed for re-spray due to a bad paint match as it was really obvious and cannot go to a show just sprayed with a pooor paint job! ken would go ape!

Friday 1 day before ISTS Insurance certificate arrives, i tax the car then off to bodyshop 2 power polish off the spray finish and any overspray just to get it show worthy! and re-fit rear bumper with 6 more coats of paint!

only at about 9 pm did we finish power polishing the car with g3 and a quick coat of wax to protect the paint as bad weather was forecast.

Anyway i made it to the hotel at about 1.30 AM saterday morning for the show, here she is at the show all nice and finished, just!

Oh and here's the backend when she's loaded up (5 people)

And thats how it is at the moment, she needs a bit of attention to a few bits and as yet the paint needs a cut back and full power polish to get a proper show finish to the paint as there are a few imperfections, and the front bumper is going back for a re-spray too as it's not quite right.

But not bad for a 2 week paint job!


Cheers, Jack

 

[bigdavie]

nice one jack ! really nice car you have there ,well done mate !

 

[maxlbrown]

EVO Hats Off nice one

I am not picking and have a genuine reason for asking i notice the joint between the front bumper and the wing on the passenger side appears slightly out. I have the same problem on mine the rear is perfect i can only assume its due to the front end coming off for the cam belt changes.

Was your front bumper a pig to fit ? I cant seem to see how it all comes apart.

M

 

[AJO]

Where was this parked at the show?

I never saw it?, dont you think the show was absaloute crap?

The best stand there was ours... Ignition/Furious Angels! :lol:

 

[evomaster3000]

Ajo, the car was parked here and there, the weather was so crap. i drove it round a few times and park it on a few stands i'm member on lol and drove off at lunchtime to get food, show prices are a rip off!

the stand i was meant to be on was right in the corner by the entrance, poor site really.

And M, the front bumper is not a great fit considering the cost! £250!! tho it is pastic not fibreglass so won't crack and i've modded it alot but it never fitted perfect at the corners. and it's simple to remove, undo the inner arch liners at the front and there are 3 10mm bolts that bolt the bumper to the edge of the wings same on other side and sides simply putt and unclip and bumper is off!

 

[maxlbrown]

thanks for the info As i said i wasn't picking considering it is a good fit.

I love the way the whole project is turning out. And I do like the spooler now it def grows.

Ill try and sort my front bumper out.

Again thanks

M

 

[AJO]

can you take some pics of the switches youve used for door poppers?

 

[dummi]

though the body work detail is not my style the 20" BBS and wide arches look mint.

what tint have you got on the front, mine is 35 rear sides and back, want the front something like you have there though looks like 50

 

[evomaster3000]

Ajo- i got the switches off RS website, cost about £5 each but are slimmer and are about 15mm in diameter, they aren't described as waterproof, but they way i've fitted them and the look of them they look ok and are holding out, will see tho, co i've turned them upside down the bottom has been sealed (as standard) and the top well is upside down so no water usually gets in.

not sure on the tint on the front, it's about a 30- 35% tint "light smoke" rear side are dark and back is limo as the window is soo huge and thats the biggest he had.

 

[Broken Byzan]

I can appreciate the work that has taken place here, props to you.

 

[SiliconS]

Yeah, I enjoyed this thread. Thanks Jack.