Hibiscus Red TQS - New Car, New Project, cars been here before though.

[midas]

Quick test drive, and if I’m not mistaken, the car feels a little more lively at the bottom end of the revs. Not what I expected at all. I just went a drive to make sure everything was fine and no boost leaks. But it definatly felt more responsive. I’ll take that, but surprised really.


And………when I went for my MOT the other week, turns out the very recently fitted down pipe (fitted before I bought it) is now leaking again. So seriously thinking about buying a pipe from the states, off Techtonics Tuning. And then since I was there, I thought……… I wonder if I could pop in a high flow cat, maybe from 034Motorsport.

Anyway, looking at my cat, not sure if it’s a standard one, or aftermarket or a..n..other. So, so what do standard B5 1.8t cats look like, do they look like this…………..

 

[midas]

So the consensus seems to be that this cat is an aftermarket one, of unknown origin. So think in the next week or so, I’ll go about ordering a cat and downpipe from the states.

In the mean time, I’ve dismantled my driveshafts. Plan is to have the centres powder coated. I’ve also stopped down the prop shaft, in order to install the new prop centre bearing mounting. Although looking at the U/J and feeling the bearings, I think I’m going to have a look at work for a U/J that will fit. At least this way I can rebuild the prop and know it’s 100% when it’s going back on.

 

[midas]

So that’s a U/J found. Now to figure out if I can change it on my own.

 

[1990rette]

It looks like a long journey to go but the progress looks good. I hope that everything turns out well with this build.

 

[midas]

It looks like a long journey to go but the progress looks good. I hope that everything turns out well with this build.

Yeah should do, and thanks. It is a longish road, some of the parts I’ve had for months. I use the car daily, so it’s as and when time allows. Plus some things have to go under the radar, if you know what I mean.

 

[midas]

Bit of a test for the old girl this week, trip to Northern Ireland for the honeymoon. Everything’s been sweet really, no problems. Usual loss of power steering fluid, but we’re aware of that so just top it up. Need a new power steering hose really, hopefully resolved next week or so. Didn’t see 1 other B5 in Northern Ireland at all.
Was even able to keep my eye on it in the hotel room too, lol.

All was going well until the trip home. Was on the A75 for no motor than 20 mins, arrived on a slight bend in a dip, totally flooded. Doing 60, so tried to scrub off as much speed as possible, but…….the inevitable sploosh straight into a foot and half deep water. Managed to keep the engine running, but Jesus. Really sh*t me up. Stopped for a de-stress and check all my grilles were still in. Not lost any bits, but got to Dumfries and the exhaust is blowing and now hitting the floor on startup. Nice.

 

[Jcbmally]

Bit of a test for the old girl this week, trip to Northern Ireland for the honeymoon. Everything’s been sweet really, no problems. Usual loss of power steering fluid, but we’re aware of that so just top it up. Need a new power steering hose really, hopefully resolved next week or so. Didn’t see 1 other B5 in Northern Ireland at all.
Was even able to keep my eye on it in the hotel room too, lol.

All was going well until the trip home. Was on the A75 for no motor than 20 mins, arrived on a slight bend in a dip, totally flooded. Doing 60, so tried to scrub off as much speed as possible, but…….the inevitable sploosh straight into a foot and half deep water. Managed to keep the engine running, but Jesus. Really sh*t me up. Stopped for a de-stress and check all my grilles were still in. Not lost any bits, but got to Dumfries and the exhaust is blowing and now hitting the floor on startup. Nice.


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lucky escape indeed mate.

 

[midas]

lucky escape indeed mate.

It was a lucky escape, definatly put lottery on this evening. It’s hard to believe but it was unavoidable, it was pitch black, so had my dip beams and fogs on as standard as it was hammering it down. Using my main beams when no oncoming traffic. I’d just come past oncoming traffic so mains were off. Literally put the main back on, and boom there was the flood. Very little time to react, no prior warnings. I’ve never had to stop before due to shaking. One for the books I suppose. I honest to god thought it was going to stall and would hydraulic the engine. My old Alfa would have been a gonna, as it sucked in air out of the lower grilles.

No mudflaps missing, bumper still on, foglamp intact. Lucky lucky.

Just about to jack it up now though, as the exhaust is definatly hitting something, the fact it’s moving makes me think the flexi has been made worse, or I’ve lost an exhaust rubber, or both. We shall see.

 

[midas]

So, the extent of the lucky escape is ever present. Got underneath the car before, and…….not much to report really. An exhaust hangar was loose, so hooked that back on. Plus the heat shield was resting on the exhaust as the water has pulled it through its mountings. So unscrewed the nuts, and put them back on with some repair washers, and the heat shield is all solid again. All good. Had a check on my flexi, I honestly can’t see where it’s blowing from, but they did flag it on the MOT.
Also had a look at the prop shaft underneath. Got hold of the prop and rocked it back and forth, there must be about half an inch of movement in it, and a knock which sounds eerily like the knock I get changing gear. Hmmm. See how it looks in a few weeks when I’ve got my reconditioned prop shaft ready, plus my Jetex exhaust to go on.

 

[midas]

2 questions……….anybody ever used a Zinram downpipe on a B5 TQS?

And, these holes in the picture below, are directly behind the front wheel arches, are they supposed to be holes? Or am I missing a bung here?

 

[Bradderz_1988]

2 questions……….anybody ever used a Zinram downpipe on a B5 TQS?

And, these holes in the picture below, are directly behind the front wheel arches, are they supposed to be holes? Or am I missing a bung here?

View attachment 245019

Missing a bung iirc

 

[Jcbmally]

Missing a bung iirc

 

[B5NUT]

List of the underside bungs, all still available from Audi except number 5 measurement wise is 29,6 mm

On the non quattro model there is a 30mm one (number 5) which is still available

 

[midas]

Thank you very much for that. Unsure which one it is really. Are you saying you think it looks like number 5?

 

[midas]

Soooo….little bit of work this week. This is what happens when your other half gets involved in the spending habits surrounding B5 ownership. Lol. I said I was going to buy a new undertray as mine has seen better days. Can you not repair it she says, possibly says I, bit of fibreglass maybe. So repair it then. Ermmm…….ok.
Completely degreased the undertray now, and then fibreglassed the problem areas. Looks like a good repair. I’m going to spray glue the inside now, and apply oil soak pads to the surface. Inevitably I feel this car will constantly fight me with regards to little oil leaks, and I’m bored with having the rainbow sheen all over the driveway. So I’ll try this and hopefully it works for a while.

I now know I have some more casualties from hitting the flood. I now have a passenger headlamp which is full of condensation on the inside, which never happened before. And my sidelight bulb has fallen into the drivers side headlamp. The joys.

 

[B5NUT]

Yes I believe it's number 5, which is aprox 30mm, just measure up and see what size hole you have.

As far as the oil leaks go, only real way do stop them on a car of your age is to pull the engine out and change every external oil seal the engine has. That sorted it on my engine. Also change the gearbox seals while your at it.

 

[midas]

Yes I believe it's number 5, which is aprox 30mm, just measure up and see what size hole you have.

As far as the oil leaks go, only real way do stop them on a car of your age is to pull the engine out and change every external oil seal the engine has. That sorted it on my engine. Also change the gearbox seals while your at it.

I’ll see if I can have a measure up tomorrow morning with the vernier. Started raining on me with my legs stuck out the front today, so I gave up and came in.

Yeah, it is pretty ,I have a loosing battle with oil Leaks. Says it all at MOT, when he said ‘yeah it’s solid that underneath, just need to fix the oil leaks’ to which I replied ‘which one’. ‘Exactly!‘ his reply, lol.

Im checking the oil weekly and I’m not loosing any, but there are drips near where the crank oil seal is, ‘but’ I replaced that when we did the timing belt so…….. just playing chase the ace. If the absorbent mat does a job, it will just stop the rainbow oil slick on the driveway.

Hopefully get some replacement power steering pipes shortly, which I know is another small leak also.

 

[midas]

Sooooo, looks like the next bit of work won’t actually be done by me at all.

Booked in for 8th of December. Asked if they had the parts available, he said yes we can sort it. So guess we’ll see on the day. I hope Bolton Audi don’t take the micky with time, or an overexuberant techie. I’m probably being a bit harsh there.

 

[Jcbmally]

Sooooo, looks like the next bit of work won’t actually be done by me at all.

Booked in for 8th of December. Asked if they had the parts available, he said yes we can sort it. So guess we’ll see on the day. I hope Bolton Audi don’t take the micky with time, or an overexuberant techie. I’m probably being a bit harsh there.

View attachment 246249

At least it free

 

[midas]

At least it free

Yep, least it’s free.

 

[midas]

Sooooo………..having sustained an ankle injury (grade 2 severe sprain), I’m on crutches for the foreseeable with a 4-6 week recovery window. No driving. So I’ve rescheduled the Audi recall till late January.

Boredom brings purchases though. Making a concerted effort with the brake upgrade. Quick chat with Sandip, and turns out I was hunting the wrong calipers. Found some 973/974 calipers on the bay for £20.40 each. What a bargain. Complete with pad carriers. To say they are huge though, is an understatement. With my ankle injury, I could barely move the parcel into the house. But, what an upgrade they will make. I’ll get cracking in the new year tidying them up, getting the little metal brake pipes made up in copper. Just need some discs (thank you Sandip), pads from work together with new brake hoses and some mounting bolts.

 

[midas]

Not been any posts from me for a while, mainly due to becoming I’ll at the end of October, which then lead me to tear my ligament in my ankle. So been on crutches for about 6-8 weeks now. Still painful, but I’m steadily beginnng to think about getting some jobs done.
I did agree to buy some parts about the same time as I became il, so that’s a trip to Norfolk coming this month, and a Bilstein/Eibach suspension kit coming back with me. Knocking the coilovers on the head, as I really didn’t like the ride last time on my old B5. So if anybody fancies some coilovers that do need a bit of work, private message me.

Finally got the recall done yesterday, after I had to cancel it in December as I couldn’t drive. The guys at Jardine in Bolton were really quick with it, which I appreciated. Forgot to save my radio settings, doh! Bit of discolouration on the plastics of the airbag, which I hope will go away. And they didn’t put my cowl back on properly, but I’ll sort that, easy job.

So there we are, that’s why there’s been no progress. See if I can make a bit more progress in February.

 

[midas]

Been doing as much work as I could this week, without being in pain. Trying to get my front brake conversion going if I’m honest. Sick of it laying around now, and I need the cash back out of my old brakes too. I also bought 2 brand new rear calipers, reason for this is I’m sure one is sticking, and I didn’t want to paint a caliper that’s already tired of life.
So I pulled the brand new Front calipers I got from work apart, and masked mating surfaces off, or handbrake bits Etc. And got them painted in gun metal grey. Didn’t want black, and my missus objected to the red, lol, so this is in the middle. Just got to get to work on the hangers this weekend getting all the corrosion off, and I can paint them. Tomorrows job hopefully is to get the brake pipes made up that sit on the back of the caliper, and spray the pipe hangers black. And I’ll call that progress for this week.

Incidentally if anybody need some of the calipers for the 350mm brake conversion, I have a set to get rid of, just minus hangers. These are the 973/974 calipers, which need adapters but enable B6 S4 discs to be used.

 

[Jcbmally]

Been doing as much work as I could this week, without being in pain. Trying to get my front brake conversion going if I’m honest. Sick of it laying around now, and I need the cash back out of my old brakes too. I also bought 2 brand new rear calipers, reason for this is I’m sure one is sticking, and I didn’t want to paint a caliper that’s already tired of life.
So I pulled the brand new Front calipers I got from work apart, and masked mating surfaces off, or handbrake bits Etc. And got them painted in gun metal grey. Didn’t want black, and my missus objected to the red, lol, so this is in the middle. Just got to get to work on the hangers this weekend getting all the corrosion off, and I can paint them. Tomorrows job hopefully is to get the brake pipes made up that sit on the back of the caliper, and spray the pipe hangers black. And I’ll call that progress for this week.

Incidentally if anybody need some of the calipers for the 350mm brake conversion, I have a set to get rid of, just minus hangers. These are the 973/974 calipers, which need adapters but enable B6 S4 discs to be used.


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Great work as ever pal.

 

[midas]

Did a bit of rust removal on the hangers this morning. What a job that was, after I’d finished I looked like a coal miner. I actually only did the parts that will be on show. In fairness, I bought one coarse disc, and the first hanger three quarters ravaged it. So I just thought if we’re being honest, only the bits you can see need rubbing all the way back. Also managed to grind off the little corners that the adapter guide tells you to remove. So now I just need to machine off the faces where brake pads contact will be, plus the contact mounting faces, and I’m good to go. I’ll try and fit them at some point in the coming week.

 

[midas]

Little update. I wish I had loads to add to this build thread, but with my ankle injury I’m just more and more frustrated each week. I have a massive brace on my ankle, and this just about allows me to get through a day at work. Tried to get back on my bike last week, and after 5 miles I was in agony. Tried to take the wheels off the Audi the week before to do the new rear calipers, and the pain was immense when kneeling down Etc. So so frustrating.

But, I’ve been doing more parts collecting. As I can drive without too much pain, I made the journey to collect some parts I was supposed to collect last November.
I got a full Bilstein/Eibach kit, 2 rear lower arms, 2 rear upper turrets, both power steering pipes to the rack, and a full set of door cards. Plus the guy gave me a gearbox mounting support brace FOC, so was really happy with that. Think the guy is on here as well, Mikey Marshall is his name. Whilst I was down collecting these parts, a front mount intercooler came up not too far away so I went to collect this also.
Im really looking forward to getting the suspension kit fitted, as Mikey said the drop should sit the arches just about level with the top of the tyres, which is just perfect. But……got to have patience. Need to get some things blasted and powder coated first before I start swapping parts out. The rear arms need dissassembly and blasting. Think I’ll just try and clean the Bilsteins up. I’ll try and take them apart this week if I can find my spring compressors. The rear turrets have already been refurbished once, so I hoping they’ll just need a cleanup and maybe some paint.

Hopefully some more parts arriving this week too. We’ll see.

 

[midas]

Another delivery. Bit of a rare accessory. Genuine Audi rear sunblind. The list of jobs is getting long now. Really need the weather to start playing ball.

 

[Jcbmally]

No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing

 

[midas]

No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing

haha, well yeah maybe I’m a fair weather mechanic lol. In torrential wind and rain though, some of the enjoyment has gone for me then. Might be changing jobs imminently though, crossing my fingers for a bit of gardening leave, we’ll see.

 

[midas]

Well………..I’m probably going to be flamed for this one. But this arrived today. Not fitting yet, as I want some other parts to box it off from heat.

 

[midas]

Managed some jobs today yaaay! Jeez I’m sick of this weather. Just about managed to fix my heater/stereo surround and remount my phone holder. Then spent the next hour fitting the Genuine Audi rear sunblind. Bit awkward, lots of cursing at the little holders at the top of the C-Pillars, but it’s in now. I like it, ‘and’ it misses the rear facing camera I’ve got, so yeah it’s all good.

However, started smelling fuel this week, like ‘really’ strong. On a garage forecourt this morning,could see a damp spot underneath. So I got down to see roughly where it was, and it’s just in front of drivers side rear wheel. On getting home today I jacked it, thinking maybe it’s a hose perished or something. Well……….it’s the fuel filter banjo. So it looks like the sealing rings on the banjo has given up. Which means, the job I’ve been putting up with for months, is now going to have to be done, the dreaded fuel filter change. Awesome, thanks Audi.

 

[midas]

I may have lost about a fivers worth of fuel on the road today, but…….my rear sunblind is looking splendid. (Facepalm)

 

[Simon]

I may have lost about a fivers worth of fuel on the road today, but…….my rear sunblind is looking splendid. (Facepalm)

So about two or three millilitres of fuel lost then?

 

[midas]

So about two or three millilitres of fuel lost then?

Haha, yeah with todays prices.

 

[midas]

Small jobs. Tried to fix the alarm siren today, after I purchased the updated siren second hand from eBay. It was only cheap, so really Im unsure if it was working or not. But after swapping over, and relocating the mounting, the siren still doesn’t work. I know the siren is weak, and not very loud Etc etc, but I just want it to work. I’ll have to see if I can check the wiring Etc. Is there a fuse for it?

Anyway, cleaned all the boot out, and since I always have an umbrella in the boot, thought I’d mount it up and out of the way.
Also got underneath and undid all the bolts holding the fuel tank up, in preparation for changing the fuel filter asap.

 

[midas]

Whilst I didn’t have enough time to do the fuel filter today, thought I’d get some things done. Replaced the passenger side doorcard with 1 from a set of 4 I bought the other weekend. Fits much better now, swapping over all the speakers was more of a chore than I remember though.
Thought I’d try and fit my silver S4 door mirror covers too……..hmmm. That wasn’t to be, I guess I’ve now found out that pre-facelift and Facelift mirrors are different. Which I didn’t know before. So I’ve shelved that idea for a minute. Need some new machine screws first so I can screw the old pre-facelift door shells back together.
Is it only me, I just hate doing a job, o key to be stopped by something you didn’t forese, or not having parts you need Etc?

Anyway, see what I can get done tomorrow.

Pic below is a prefacelift mirror glass, in a facelift cover, just so we all know as much as I do now. Lol.

 

[midas]

Couple more small jobs today, very limited on time this weekend due to family commitments. But I’ve a lost as long as my arm now of jobs I need to get done on this car. This week coming I need to get the fuel filter done as a priority.

The cross brace between the gearbox mounts has been missing for a while now, since we took the rotten one off last year.
Got the replacement I bought last year out today, gave it a of spray stonechip and sprayed the bolts black. Got that fitted, and whilst the car was up in the air I thought I’d give the seams between the outer sill and inner sill a coat of stonechip. Ive noticed all winter that the leading edges were in a poor state, and I don’t want any rot setting in.

Had another bash at the S4 door mirrors again. having ordered some M3 machine screws from Amazon, I thought I’d try and reassemble the original mirror arms with the silver covers. As it turns out, the brand new mirror glasses I bought in preparation for this, were for the preface mirrors. They don’t look too bad reassembled again. I’ll try and fit them again this week.

Got a lot of the parts I’ve removed or acquired ready for sale too, so I’ll be sure to list those in the classifieds section.

 

[CQ20V]

Just been reading through your posts again. Some great progress and commitment to your project/rolling restoration, car is looking really well. Keep up the good work and it should start to get a little easier now as we hopefully start to have lighter drier days! LOL.

 

[midas]

Just been reading through your posts again. Some great progress and commitment to your project/rolling restoration, car is looking really well. Keep up the good work and it should start to get a little easier now as we hopefully start to have lighter drier days! LOL.

Thank you very much. Good to get positive comments really, so thank you.

 

[midas]

Decided today was the day for doing the fuel filter, the leak is too much and I’m worried somebody with a cigarette is going to undo all my work. Started at 5, and I eventually got tidied up at 8.30. so the progress was good. I was amazed to find a Genuine Audi filter on the car. Which considering I’ve combed through the service history and cannot find when it was done last, it’s a reasonable guess it could be the original. The washers on the lower banjo were significantly corroded. So given the corrosion of the washers, I was hopeful this was the cause of the leak. It appears I maybe wrong. On reassembly, before I dropped it off the jacks, reconnected the battery, and then primed the fuel pump………….and it leaks. So annoyed.
I’ve retightened the banjo bolt, just to check, and still leaking. So I’m thinking, the copper washers are no good, and I need aluminium ones, as I’ve seen some of the guys in the states use. Or the banjo union on the hose is porous. I can get hold of some aluminium washers and try it. But the porous union fills me with dread.
Currently undecided if I’m walking to work tomorrow, or driving. Great.

Interesting how the Bosch filter is totally the wrong size, way too small. In fairness the Purflux filter was a different size also, but I managed to get it in.