New build swift (ish) A4 B6/7 1.8t Cabriolet

Nagasaki · May 23, 2018

Finally undertaking the build of an A4 B6/7 cabriolet quattro to house the engine and Turbo set up finished last year, combining most of the transferable and upgraded parts from our S-Line CVT B7 (owned from new) with a B6 Quattro 6 speed manual picked up locally.
Reason, just based upon limits of the CVT to utilise engine set up and power gains desired. And a bit of fun!
The Quattro seems in decent mechanical condition other than the knackered engine (cambelt failure at 80k) which isn't required anyway.
Both engine codes the same (BFB) so presuming it should be a straight swap, except the flywheel and clutch housing.
Existing B7 parts to swap over; (in pics)
Forged Engine as per signature spec (PVC delete so ripping out all pipework on Quattro)
Vibra engine mounts
Custom made K04 and supporting hardware from Owen Developments (thanks Lee)
3 inch maf housing and stubby filter (may move intake to lower inner wing where cold start fan usually sits)
Race cat.
Large FMIC
Bilstein shocks (springs won't transfer from 2wd)
Front end body (wings, bonnet, bumper, lights etc)
New parts acquired;
ECS stage two clutch with lightened steel flywheel
Fluidamper
New Miltek cat. back non resonator exhaust (existing Miltek resonator on our B7 not transferable, but old anyway)
Eibach Pro springs
V Maxx 356mm front brakes disc/caliper kit
Hong Kong Phooey air freshener

As I have bravely (or foolishly) decided to undertake most of the work myself I am bound to come up against various issues, so will be reaching out for guidance and advice along the way.
Also have helpful Audi specialist (MDM) down the road should I majorly screw up.

Various used B6&B7 parts will also become available including BFB block (keeping head for future flow work/exchange) B6 body panels, lights etc, so PM me if there's any takers for parts as they come off.

Once complete will be off to see Ben at Shark for a rolling set up and see what we can squeeze out of him.
Then off for a metallic black wrap.

LawrenceH · May 23, 2018

Good project, keep us updated! Always wondered why they didn’t do 1.8T/2.0T with quattro

SKOOSH1970 · May 24, 2018

Good luck with this, I wouldn't mind the option to purchase all the interior trim pieces... door trim, dash trim etc if available... for the right price if in relatively good nick..?

Si.

Nagasaki · May 24, 2018

SKOOSH1970 said:
Good luck with this, I wouldn't mind the option to purchase all the interior trim pieces... door trim, dash trim etc if available... for the right price if in relatively good nick..?

Si.

Hi.
Happy to oblige although unsure which we're going to keep yet.
Both in decent condition and will post some pics.
One is black Quattro badged dark gloss grey set and the S line is black with aluminium trim.
Leave it with me.

SKOOSH1970 · May 25, 2018

Nagasaki said:
Hi.
Happy to oblige although unsure which we're going to keep yet.
Both in decent condition and will post some pics.
One is black Quattro badged dark gloss grey set and the S line is black with aluminium trim.
Leave it with me.

Topman....no rush.

DrStrange · Jun 6, 2018

Guys, im stage 3.

Read my build thread. I will post it up ASAP.

DrStrange · Jun 6, 2018

LawrenceH said:
Good project, keep us updated! Always wondered why they didn’t do 1.8T/2.0T with quattro

Its an odd one. But yeah they did make a a4 1.8t cabby with quattro and the 2.0t.

I have an A4 1.8t B6 quattro.

DrStrange · Jun 6, 2018

Nagasaki said:
Finally undertaking the build of an A4 B6/7 cabriolet quattro to house the engine and Turbo set up finished last year, combining most of the transferable and upgraded parts from our S-Line CVT B7 (owned from new) with a B6 Quattro 6 speed manual picked up locally.
Reason, just based upon limits of the CVT to utilise engine set up and power gains desired. And a bit of fun!
The Quattro seems in decent mechanical condition other than the knackered engine (cambelt failure at 80k) which isn't required anyway.
Both engine codes the same (BFB) so presuming it should be a straight swap, except the flywheel and clutch housing.
Existing B7 parts to swap over; (in pics)
Forged Engine as per signature spec (PVC delete so ripping out all pipework on Quattro)
Vibra engine mounts
Custom made K04 and supporting hardware from Owen Developments (thanks Lee)
3 inch maf housing and stubby filter (may move intake to lower inner wing where cold start fan usually sits)
Race cat.
Large FMIC
Bilstein shocks (springs won't transfer from 2wd)
Front end body (wings, bonnet, bumper, lights etc)
New parts acquired;
ECS stage two clutch with lightened steel flywheel
Fluidamper
New Miltek cat. back non resonator exhaust (existing Miltek resonator on our B7 not transferable, but old anyway)
Eibach Pro springs
V Maxx 356mm front brakes disc/caliper kit
Hong Kong Phooey air freshener

As I have bravely (or foolishly) decided to undertake most of the work myself I am bound to come up against various issues, so will be reaching out for guidance and advice along the way.
Also have helpful Audi specialist (MDM) down the road should I majorly screw up.

Various used B6&B7 parts will also become available including BFB block (keeping head for future flow work/exchange) B6 body panels, lights etc, so PM me if there's any takers for parts as they come off.

Once complete will be off to see Ben at Shark for a rolling set up and see what we can squeeze out of him.
Then off for a metallic black wrap.

Awesome!

I've dropped you a PM.

Things that come to mind..I hope the hybrid doesnt have the same hotside as our k03-029 BFB engines.

Nagasaki · Jul 12, 2018

So following the happy distraction of my annual pilgrimage to Le Mans along with a patient wait for parts to arrive from various quarters of the globe, I have returned to the HKP project in order to get it mobile before we run out of Summer.
A fundamental change to the the original plan is that the migration parts from the 2005 Quattro donor car to our 1.8t CVT was romantic but unpractical due to ECU, traction control unit and other niggling issues that seemed just too much hassle. So everything is going the other way, from ours to the donor.
Whole B7 front end, doors, interior, suspension (where compatible) and of course the engine set up etc
Having owned the B7 from new we had wanted to keep the car as it had various upgrades and had been well looked after (My wife's car from new) unlike the Quattro donor which had the inevitable meeting of pistons and valves through lack of maintenance (the nice old chap who owned it had serviced it once in 10 years)
However it has been driven gently over its 65k miles so I'm presuming the 6 speed Gearbox and general transmission parts will be good for the new set up. So I intend to list the parts I'm adding and then, where I can, document with pictures each addition.
Don't expect a 'How to' as I'm sure there's plenty more experience on the forum than I can offer, but it should be fun to document and see how it develops.
So fronts are off, engines out....

Nagasaki · Jul 13, 2018

Next, take the re-built forged lump out of our original CVT in order to add the parts parts list below, which have all now arrived;
Each bullet point will get a section (hopefully) as it goes back in

ECS stage 2 clutch (RS4 pressure plate and lightened steel flywheel)
Change cambelt/water pump
Adjustable head camshaft wheel (plan to have flow head work done at CNC heads, Stockport in next stage, maybe required for tuning so will install now)
Replace lower pulley with new Fluidamper wheel
Fit Bosch 550cc injectors, High pressure fuel rail and in-tank High pressure fuel pump
Ceramic coating on Manifold and Hi Flow cat from Zircotech coatings Oxford (Is a 2.0TFSI manifold with adaptor plate on custom made K04 from Lee at Owen developments)
Large FMIC from Majesty (China) replacing all supplied hoses with Orange 'Hong Kong Phooey' Samco hoses (Is supposed to be fun after all)
Inlet injection sandwich plate in order to transfer Devils Own methanol injection system (was already installed on our CVT)
Oil Catch can with breather to atmosphere. Not back into air intake (Already had PVC delete so simplified pipework)
Transfer Bilstein B12 shocks and install H&R 25mm lowered springs
Orange powder coated strut brace (Orange powder coated camshaft cover to follow)
Move across all interior seats and carpets
B7 front end, bonnet, wings, doors, boot
19 Ronal wheels with 255-35-19 plus spacers to replace original unmarked S-Line 18 Ronals (which I will be selling)
Other stuff that will inevitably come up

Nagasaki · Jul 13, 2018

Enjoyed discovering that Owen Developments laser etched Hong Kong Phooey into the K04 turbo housing as part of the original build (circled in orange)
Just discovered now on removing the engine. It's all in the detail :respekt:

Turbo set up from 2.0 TFSI with adaptor plate. Seem to have lost one of the nuts and accompanying flat washer which I think are Titanium, so will need to be replaced.

Nagasaki · Jul 13, 2018

Stage 2 clutch kit sourced directly form ECS tuning in U.S. This kit uses balanced and lightened steel flywheel, combined with RS4 pressure plate and slightly larger than standard 240mm clutch plate.
Comes with new bolts (Flywheel and pressure plate) as well as bearing for centre of crank.
There wasn't one of these bearings in the CVT engine, presumably as the CVT gearbox spline did not carry a clutch or pressure plate, but I referenced the old engine from the Quattro to see how it sat. The slight lip to the front and the roller bearings furthest away.
Hoping that there are no incompatibility issues when it comes to putting back in :blink:

Kit also comes with centring tool and very useful flywheel locking teeth, to stop the engine from turning when you're trying to undo and do up the bolts.
Seems like a decent piece of kit.
So first....Used spline tool to remove the x6 bolts holding the flywheel in place.
Then fitted new flywheel, while first cleaning off the coating using brake disc cleaner (or equivalent) so that your newly fitted clutch does not slip.

Off..............
Note that there is no bearing inside the crank end. As previously mentioned, this engine was joined to a CVT gearbox so presume there was no bearing due to the lack of a clutch and pressure plate to support.

Shiny new one!

Clean up and put on, using new bolts and adding thread lock, tightening to 60nm plus a quarter turn.
Note highlighted in orange one of the flywheel locking teeth that comes with the kit.
Saves plenty of hassle and is easy to thread through an existing gearbox bolt hole.

Add clutch plate and use centring tool to line up before adding the pressure plate, torque up to just 25nm, again using some thread lock.

Pressure plate..........And done!
Kit 'Very Importantly' comes with a longer clutch cylinder rod, seen here sat in its plastic to the right of the engine.

Ready to go.

DrStrange · Jul 16, 2018

This is fantastic. Great descriptions. The ECS SMF is great!

Fully locked in now..

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

So, it's been a while since I updated the build, which is now complete, running and of course not without its issues.
Unfortunately a phone malfunction meant I lost a lot of the progress pictures, but will I continue where I left off with what imagery I have.

Engine in.
Modifications/alterations made as follows (Engine first)

Engine previously rebuilt with Forged internals - Standard BFB carbon cleaned head.
Owen Developments Hybrid K04 Turbo with adaptor plate
Milltek Hi Flow cat and 3' system
Added Crank Fluidamper pulley and renewed all related belts and pulleys.
IE (Integrated Engineering) adjustable Camshaft pulley wheel fitted (not yet utilised on any remap)
Bosch 550cc injectors
DW high Pressure Fuel pump (See pictures below)
Large FMIC
DevilsOwn - Methanol injector plate and system
Custom air intake - Located where previously Secondary air intake pump used to be (see pictures)
Pro Flex Front engine snub
Vibra-technics engine mounts

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

So, having ripped out all vacuum related pipework, I set about creating a custom air intake for the 3' MAF housing that would take colder air from down where the previously located secondary air injection pump had been located.
Initially thought this was a good idea as under bonnet temperatures had previously got a bit out of hand and as the car was only being used on mostly dry weekends and trips to the odd car event, with a decent filter it wouldn't pick up to much cr*p

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

Fueling has been and seems to remain an issue.
Originally installed a Chinese Hi Pressure fuel pump sourced on Flea Bay, modifying the existing cage by cutting away some of the black plastic around the top and fitting some home grown brackets around the larger diameter pump.
Worked for a while, but had issues on the first Dyno run with the link pipe that joins the two sides of the Quattro tank splitting and eventually failing.
Then, having fixed and replaced the pipe, the pump then started to cut out.
So did what I should have done the first tome round and bought a proper DW version (Buy cheap buy twice)

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

As you might expect, the Initial Dyno run threw up lots of issues.
The trouble with attempting a major build without a garage is dealing with the unpredictable sh*tty British weather which in turn can mean rushing things to beat the rain.
Consequently there were a few nuts, bolts and clips that either didn't make it through the run, or caused issues.
The fueling being just one.
Nevertheless we achieved a reasonable 271HP before I was sent home to tighten a few things up and get some miles on it before returning for another go.
For reference, I was looking to break 300HP before moving on up to the circa (drivable) 330HP that the set up should be capable of, given the turbo's specification.

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

In between the first set up / Dyno run there was plenty more to get sorted and Transferring the Bilstein B12 set up from our original Audi was supposed to be a simple job!
But removing the top Aluminium pinch bolts from the top of the legs was fricking impossible and attempts to drill one side out ended with me ruining the whole off side knuckle (and mine)
Had to buy a second hand one from Germany and then set about swapping over the various arms, as my original ones had Pro Flex polly bushes in.
No advice to offer here other than 'read up about stuff before you start'
If had done so and understood that most attempts to get these pinch bolts out end in tears (and bills) I would have just taken it to MDM to press them out.

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

Brakes next on the list as with target as figured stopping is important.
The original 312mm are okay, but the Cabriolet is heavy and with the additional power I wanted to get a bigger surface area to keep things proportional.
So after a bit of research ended up going down the B6 S4 route, which basically means 345mm set up, with all parts OEM.
Have wanted to keep the car looking as stock as possible while also being able to make replacing future parts easy, so went onto Autodoc and bought;

S4 Carriers (Autodoc)
S4 Calipers (These are basically B7 2.0TFSI calipers, so not so expensive)
345 mm discs from Rotor Discs (Reduced from £130 to £70 and plenty good enough)
Ferodo DS2500 pads
Braided lines
Solid brake lines for the new calipers (Autodoc)

The calipers bolted straight up on to the same locations as the previous B6/B7 versions (new bolts though)
However, while the calipers fit the original brake lines and bracket don't, so some modification were required.
I used a grinder to cut down the brackets from the original 312mm calipers, and bought new brake lines.

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

Bodywise it was about getting as many of our original B7 parts onto the B6 chassis as possible. Particularly the front as I am not a fan of the smaller B6 grill and lights. So I set about removing and changing the bonnet, two front wings, front bumper and boot, plus all the associated crash mounts for the front bumper and area around the new FMIC.
Would have attempted the doors but they seemed like a big job and the existing doors are okay, added to which the whole car was being repainted so as long as they worked and weren't full of dengts then all was okay.
You'd have thought the the B6 and B7 chassis would be the same.......Not so.
I had to grind out two areas behind the front headlights so the B7 wings could fit on and even then there are some slight misalignments between the two fronts wings and the bonnet stays.
Needless to say, as with everything else it took ages of mucking about to get things even close to fitting as many of the parts underneath the wings and in particular the lower inner front wings have various different mounting points.
Eventually everything went on, however the bonnet still sits too low, so the whole front needs to come up a few millimetres to be absolutely right.
Colour wise I elected to stick to the B6 chassis Black, despite preferring the our original cars bluey silver, as I wanted the engine bay and door shuts to match.
Added high fleck black metallic that only really comes to life in sunlight, but given it's a cabriolet and that's when I will use it then I think it is okay.

Nagasaki · Nov 25, 2019

And a few days out of the paint shop........
Front headlights changed to clear indicator versions.
The B6 loom is different so be warned. While I was able to rewire the main headlamps courtesy of some help for various Audi sport net forums, I have not been able to get the adjustable motors to work, which have gone down as an advisory on the MOT, but will need to be either disabled from the dashboard or repaired.

Nagasaki · Mar 14, 2020

Got HKP back on the Dyno post some basic mods over the Winter, including replacing the cheap Chinese High Flow fuel pump with a proper Deatschwerks D65 (Buy cheap, buy twice) and the relocating of the air intake back down to where the Secondary air intake pump used to be.
Big thanks to Ben at Racingline who squeezed some more torque out during spool up and fixed the surging that had been plaguing it since the changes, making it an altogether better driving experience. Figures below....
Interested to hear any feedback on the numbers compared to other builds...

New build swift (ish) A4 B6/7 1.8t Cabriolet

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