Roadcar A3 build from the Netherlands

Another few months gone, another 'lack of progress' post...

Ordered TT washer jets and a new scuttle panel yesterday (inspired by @<tuffty/> ), primarily because one of the original jets stopped working. Will hopefully fit this week.

The "lateral G detection feature" eventually killed the radio altogether. It turned out to be a short in the left rear speaker, so I've just left it disconnected until I can muster the motivation to take the interior apart again...

Did have some fun in my 'sleeper' this morning:
While driving on a private road in a non-descript place, I was approaching my favourite bend; a long 270 degree sweeper with an advisory speed limit of 50kph. I know the absolute limit I can do through there at the moment is 110kph.

The Renault driver behind me seemed to believe he would be able to do it just as quick as that old blue POS that had been holding him up. He clearly and concisely communicated this opinion by driving as close to my rear end as physically possible.

So I happily approached the bend at motorway speed (130kph on this particular Mexican runway), let off the accelerator to lower my speed to 105kph (much to the dismay of the surrender monkey) and turned in.

Old A3: couple thousand euro
KW V3's: ~1500 euro
TT front suspension: ~500 euro
The scene in my rear-view mirror: Priceless!

François panicked as he realised I wasn't going to brake at all. He slammed on his brakes, nearly ended up in the hedge surrounding the bend, followed by a crawl through the bend at the advised 50kph. After the bend, he demurely got into the slow lane and stayed there while he looked for a petrol station to buy a fresh pair of pantalons.
 
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Good work Bottas!

1490267884485.jpg

Toto is very pleased with your progress

:racer:
 
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damn ... sorry to hear that.
What's the plan of action now ?
 
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Last weekend I drained the box to see how bad the situation was:

IMG 20170708 WA0006


No metal in there, that was a good sign...
Sadly, what came out was only a little over 2 litres, while the box capacity is around 2.6!
Turns out the box has been leaking out of one of the seals for the past year, which was hidden by the fact that the engine also leaked oil (checked and refilled regularly).

No metal in the oil meant that the wear wasn't necessarily catastrophic yet, so new oil went in... Minor victory.
The grinding noise is gone, the rumbling is quieter but still present.

Well, I already had a new box waiting to be rebuilt. That's still happening, and then fitting it as soon as possible... One minor issue: there is a big body of water between the car and the new gearbox.
 
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audi upgrades
Despite the gearbox being ready to **** itself at any moment, I decided to do some exterior upgrades.

Got a new scuttle panel and TT fan-type washer jets. Already had this planned for a long time, but never remembered to order the parts. Since one of the original washer jets recently decided to stop working, and MOT is due in a week, I thought now would be a good time to do it. Fitting was easy, following the instructions in @<tuffty/> 's thread.

Also finally got around to fitting the bi-xenons that I got from @t8ups in the group buy:

20170723 214449

(Panel gap on the LH side has been corrected since photo was taken)

Big improvement, both aesthetically and functionally. Also, these lights are BRIGHT :)
 
Took the car for MOT a few days before setting off on a driving holiday to Scotland... Exhaust was leaking in 2 places! FML...
Luckily the garage could get hold of parts and weld them in very quickly. Passed MOT less than 24 hours before setting off to the ferry :sweatsmile:

Speaking of Scotland, it was a great week! Accidentally ended up on what is (by some accounts) the best driving road in Scotland; Old Military Road :D
20170802132840 IMG 0632 resize

20170802133759 IMG 0644 resize


Spotted a LaFerrari enjoying this great road as well. Sadly no pics :(

The cheap rear silencer that's been on the car for 2,5 years didn't have such a good time with the lovely UK potholes:

Untitled


So aside from the cat, the car now has a brand new turboback exhaust :sweat: If all goes well (which is doubtful) it will only have to last about 6 months, at which point a 3" exhaust system will be fitted...

There's also a knock in the front suspension (both sides). Battle-scars, I call them!

In other news, my rebuilt gearbox has recently featured on Gas N Gears Ltd Facebook page :) Watch this space (patiently)...
 
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What was the sound like without the rear silencer :)

Nice road, must plan a trip to Scotland sometime soon.
 
JohnDuh said:
What was the sound like without the rear silencer :)
Click to expand...
While driving it wasn't too bad. I put this down to the exhaust gas blowing hard enough against the detached rear silencer that the pipes weren't touching, while at least some of the gas would still be going into the silencer.

At idle or while driving slowly, it was horrendous as the pipes were banging onto eachother, and the whole thing sounded like a ricer with a fartcan.
 
Sounds like a good trip, Erik. Car's looking lovely as usual (except that exhaust...)
 
Well, time for an "update" on this "project"...

The gearbox is still angrily wailing at me, refusing to die. This may be thanks to some Xado treatment which seems to have stopped the actual metal-to-metal grinding noise, but who knows. Zee Germans tend to build stuff to last, even without properly functioning bearings.

I did replace the inner door seals last week which has vastly improved the comfort while driving at motorway speeds, so that's some progress, I suppose...

Other than that, lots of stuff in the engine bay is covered in oily gunk, I am losing some power steering fluid somewhere, the fuel tank vent going to the canister is now attached via zipties, and I have successfully reminded myself why I didn't open the bonnet for quite a while.
For now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...
 
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cstmn said:
Wow.. Brilliant car :nogarors4:
Click to expand...

Thanks :) hopefully more to report this year than last year...

However, no update on here is complete without listing the latest problem!
The thermostat had been acting up for quite a while, taking a long time to get up to temp, with the coolant temp gauge sometimes dropping slightly at motorway speeds before recovering to 90 shortly after...

Last week as I turned off the motorway, I saw the temp gauge was sitting below 70... time to replace!
I'd previously purchased a new stat already, so couldn't be too difficult, right?... Wrong.

First, I had all sorts of fun trying to get the bottom bolt off the thermostat housing. The alternator is in the way from behind, and the intake manifold is in the way from the side. Solution: a 1/4" ratchet, 10mm socket, wobbly bit and all the extensions I could find:
20180216 171305 rez


So, with the bolt finally off I quickly replaced the thermostat, put the housing back in its place, reconnected the hose, job's a good 'un, right?... Wrong.

I let the engine idle until it came to temp, all seemed well (after adding some new coolant to replace the part which had familiarized itself with my driveway) so I let it cool down while I enjoyed my dinner. After dinner I went for a testdrive, carefully let it get back up to temp, then felt brave and went for a blast down a (Dutch, i.e. boring) B-road... Moments before turning onto the motorway; red warning, coolant level low. F* my life!

Upon inspection in the dark with nothing but a phone screen (battery low so no torch), the thermostat housing was clearly leaking fluid everywhere. Luckily I'd anticipated such behaviour because I know my car hates me, so I had spare coolant with me. Refilled the reservoir, limped home, refilled again halfway, and finally made it home.

Went through the entire removal and refitting procedure again, all seemed fine, until I revved the engine to 3k rpm; red warning, coolant level low. At this point I gave up and called it a night.

The next day (in daylight, which helped) I took the thermostat housing off and had a good look at it...
Resize

First off, the datestamp on it said 01-98. Second; it was warped to sh*t. No wonder it was leaking out the sides; the only part of it that was still flat were the bolt holes. I guess 20 years of temperature cycles took their toll.

So, got a new housing from the local parts place, refitted everything; all is well again :)

TLDR: a ****** plastic part worth 6 Euros caused a couple days downtime and lots of frustration.
 
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Strong work Valtteri .

Sometimes you just wouldn't think to check the obvious things, like 'is this flat thing flat?'

Good spot, and glad it's sorted.
 
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Yay, he's back!

But enough about the hedgehog - nice to see Erik too.
 
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Tax free withdrawl :laugh:

Mission accomplished!

Cracking visitor. Much fun.

Until the next time my friend!
 
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Ga je voor een K04-064 ombouw? Zoek je nog mooie spullen om de motor te upgraden? Ik heb nog het 1 en ander te koop nl
 
audi upgrades
Just drove the A3 for the first time in 2 months, due to buying a V70 for long trips and large hauls (see above).

Compared to the V70, the A3 is like an angry little go-kart, which I've just fallen in love with all over again! :D

Next order of business:

Igni
 
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