What I have been up to the past year...(picture heavy)

[Andy123]

This isn’t so much of a build thread in progress but more so what I have been up to with the s3 the past year. It is nearly finished and back on the road. I was originally selling the car before I decided to rip it apart as I wanted something new but ultimately wasn’t too impressed with other car’s I tried and decided I fancied a bit of a project so kept it and proceeded to tear it to pieces.

As standard it was a black 01 plate with a few mods that the original owner had done: AMD remap, uprated haldex, forge re-circulating valve and that was mostly it.

All of the work done on the car has been done by myself bar a couple of bits which I didn’t have the equipment to do myself: powdercoating wheels etc.

I originally was going to just work on the engine and chassis but decided in the end to repaint the car and alter a few other parts to get it looking how I wanted. I have only put a fraction of the pictures up which I have taken but it will give you an idea of what has been going on the past year. Brief spec list, most likely with parts missing which I have forgotten to add:

Paint change to vw candy white with black surrounds and roof
Garrett gt3071r turbo
SEM intake
R32 throttle body
Additional inline pump
Aquamist water injection
Built AEB head with supertech valves, springs, new guides etc
IE rods
Custom turbo manifold
Custom 3" downpipe and exhaust
630cc injectors
Unitronics 630cc tune
Custom intercooler
330mm discs + 6 pot calipers
Zeitronix AFR digital display with egt, map and oil pressure sensor
MBC
Sachs performance clutch kit
Fidanza flywheel
Kw suspension
r32 roll bars
A lot of cutting and chopping and custom parts.........

I started it up for the first time a few days ago and have attached some videos at the bottom. They aren’t the best videos as they were taken on my phone. The first video has an annoying noise coming from the secondary water pump but it goes away after I disconnect it. I need to figure out what is wrong with it and test it later to see if it is still working correctly.

Anyway I will update pics and reply to any comments people may have so feel free to comment on it.

The car when I was going to sell it:

Last June when I began to take it to pieces:

Block and piston surface cleaned up:

New IE rods:

Original head and replacement AEB built head with supertech valves,springs,new guides etc

New rods in:

Engine built up, new timing belt,pump etc.

Body rubbed down in preperation for paint etc:

New rear bumper I made to accommodate the exhaust I was making:

New kw suspension and r32 roll bars installed:

Fidanza aluminium DM flywheel:

Sachs performance clutch and pressure plate:

Flywheel and clutch in place:

This is only part 1 of the thread, I will be adding two more posts but had to do them individaully as I couldn't upload the amount of pictures all on one post. Please don't post anything or reply until I have uploaded the other two parts so that I can keep them together. Thanks Andy

 

[Andy123]

Continuation:

[FONT=&quot]Starting work on making the turbo manifold, cutting up some merge collectors:

A few collectors made:

Finished merge collector:

T25 flange welded in place on the collector, ready for mocking up in place:

Jig made to hold the collector in place to check the position of the turbo in the engine bay:

Turbo mocked up in place for the best position for the downpipe etc:

Starting on making the turbo manifold. I drew a cad file of the head flange and had this cut. All done using 316l stainless, schedule 40:

A few more pics of the manifold being made. The runners are equal length for the firing cylinders,to say it is a pain to match these up is an understatement. Getting the right cuts and shaving off the correct amount to make sure it all connects up without gaps is time consuming...

Final assembly of the manifold prior to welding:

Tacking up some of the runners:

Final manifold welded up with egt ports:

Mocking up of the manifold to make the downpipe, check space for feed lines etc..

Downpipe tacked up:

Checking the turbo in situ:

Downpipe wrapped, oil/water lines in place and the turbo etc fitted up ready for putting back in the car:

Bracket I had to make for the actuator to fit it in place:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Now onto the exhaust I made. As you will probably notice from the rear bumper I made, I was going for a look similar to that of an rs4. Now this needed quite a lot of modification to the original rear end to get this look not to mention the time making the rear bumper itself. I used a magnaflow backbox and 3" pipe from the turbo to the back with a single oval tailpipe either side. Making all this and getting it to fit perfectly whilst the car was on axle stands was a challenge to say the least. If I had had a car lift for this whole project then I could have done this stuff so much quicker. Working underneath a car whilst trying to hold parts in place with only a foot or two of clearance is an absolute ******. Anyway the exhaust came out exactly as I wanted. I may add another silencer if I find that it is too loud.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Decat pipe with the o2 sensor:

Tailpipe rear plate welded onto the back of the tailpipe:

Magnaflow backbox:

Centre section:

Positioning the backbox:

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Continuation following this post, please don't reply yet thanks
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[Andy123]

[FONT=&quot]Backbox with one of the tailpipes in place:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Finished exhaust:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]A few pictures of the exhaust from the back with the new paintwork:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I relocated the battery to the boot to free up space in the engine bay. A junction box was installed in the engine and the wiring routed inside along the passenger sill and into the boot where I bolted the battery box in place. There is a trip switch mounted to the battery box so I can toggle the battery on and off and also for safety reasons:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Ok now on to a few more pictures of the engine going back and other parts:

Wheeling her in to place:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]SEM intake manifold in place:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I had to make a connecting piece from the downpipe to the exhaust. There is a 3" v band connection at the downpipe end and a bolt on connection which attaches to the exhaust. I wanted to make the downpipe section so I could remove it from the car without having to put the car on a lift or take the engine out. The whole design of the turbo manifold and the positioning was done so that I could easily access the turbo and remove all the parts without having to rip the engine out.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I then started to make up the boost pipes. These were made out of 2.5" stainless steel because my welder is only DC current and you need AC to weld aluminium so I chose stainless instead.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Boost pipe in situ:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]MAP sensor flange I drew up and had cut out and then finally welded in place on the inlet pipe before the throttle body:

Another part coming after this.............again please don't post
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[Andy123]

[FONT=&quot]I mocked up the size of intercooler I wanted and had this made up with the spec. It retains the foglights and uses 2.5" inlets and outlets. Some plastic needed trimming on the radiator surround but nothing major. The intercooler has got diverting welds on the inside of the inlet side to smooth the airflow and reduce any pressure drop across the intercooler. It also allows a lot of air through the surface of the core so that the radiator behind still gets a decent supply of air. This was made up and the brackets positioned how I wanted them and finally sent off for powdercoating. I then tapped a thread on the outlet pipe to take a water injection nozzle.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Intercooler before the brackets were welded in place and prior to powdercoating:[/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Powdercoated and ready:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I am using an Aquamist water injection system I managed to get a good deal on. I had to locate the pump somewhere as I was using the water reservoir as the feed for this. I mounted it just underneath the water reservoir using a bracket I made to hold it in place.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Now for the brakes. I decided on trying out a set of 6 pot calipers and 330mm discs which fit nicely behind the MTM wheels:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Finally here are some more pictures of the engine in situ with all of the final boost pipes, intake etc in place and also a few pictures of the car. I'm a bit tired after writing all this so have left out bits and obviously haven't gone into that much details about different parts but I will do that later. The two videos at the end are the first starts I did:[/FONT]

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[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Video of the first start a few days ago, excuse the whining noise of the secondary water pump, not sure what is wrong with that.

[/FONT][video]http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff451/andyg31/?action=view&current=Audistart.mp4[/video]
[FONT=&quot]
Second start and idling around 900rpm.

[/FONT][video]http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff451/andyg31/?action=view&current=Start2.mp4[/video]
[FONT=&quot]
That's enough for now......................I thought doing this project took a while but this took ages too!

Andy[/FONT]
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[Andy123]

Ok that's it done for now................that took far too long so I'm taking a break!

 

[Seansy]

nice! in fact, ****** awesome.

Your head unit, how did you do the fascia cover over the double din?

Seán

 

[s3 Hoggy]

Oh my god! That is amazing mate!
Looks like you've done a fantastic job

 

[Andy123]

nice! in fact, ****** awesome.

Your head unit, how did you do the fascia cover over the double din?

Seán

Thanks Sean. I used the double din adapter you can get which I think is for the 8P s3. I had to cut it to shape and fibreglass parts so that it fitted flush with the centre unit. I then covered it in a gloss black vinyl to match the dash. It was reasonably time consuming to do to get it to look right.

 

[jojo]

Love it!

 

[superkarl]

WOW!
Repect to you and your work! Inspiring to say the least. My fav touch is the exhaust and rear bumper.
Can't wait for more updates and pics.

 

[Lemon S3]

Amazing job Andy!

You've done pretty much exactly what I want mine to look like minus the black roof n wheels, love the exhaust.

 

[dusty]

awesome job mate, your car looks stunning in white i like your custom exhaust to, sounds a bit loud for me but i like the twin tailpipes, youve done a great job well done

 

[Sandip]

Wow! You've done a fantastic Job Andy!! That is going to sound awesome on full chat

 

[badger5]

very nice work..
lots of nice touches..

distinct deja vous feeling when seeing your build

what do you do for a living? nice skilz

 

[Seansy]

Thanks Sean. I used the double din adapter you can get which I think is for the 8P s3. I had to cut it to shape and fibreglass parts so that it fitted flush with the centre unit. I then covered it in a gloss black vinyl to match the dash. It was reasonably time consuming to do to get it to look right.

Apologies for focussing on that part, but I guess it does show how far you went to do things properly! Cheers for the idea.

Seán

 

[S3 CYP]

Stunning and inspirational. Great work there.

Can you PM the details of the sprayer you used for the colour change when you get a chance please.

 

[Andy123]

Thanks for the comments guys- as for the exhaust sounding loud, that was the first start up so I am going to wait for it to bed in and then see how it sounds. In the second video when it is idling it is quite quiet. If it turns out to be too loud for cruising speeds then I will end up putting another silencer in which should't be too much trouble.

 

[s3gazz]

Awsome pal I want it lol noly kiddin great job

 

[hilly]

top job! well done mate

 

[Andy123]

very nice work..
lots of nice touches..

distinct deja vous feeling when seeing your build

what do you do for a living? nice skilz

Thanks, I graduated in mech engineering at uni but run a business at the moment which has nothing to do with cars. This was supposed to be something on the side which I was going to do but ended up turning into a bit more than I had planned.

 

[Andy123]

Apologies for focussing on that part, but I guess it does show how far you went to do things properly! Cheers for the idea.

Seán

No worries- if you need any help with it then let me know.

 

[Andy123]

Stunning and inspirational. Great work there.

Can you PM the details of the sprayer you used for the colour change when you get a chance please.

I did all the prep and most of the spraying myself mate so can't help with that sorry. I have a separate folder of pictures from that which I will add at some point.

 

[jay1601]

best 8L on here IMO. love it mate

 

[MUSH]

Top work Andy! Like it very much!!

Love how youve done it all yourself! The SEM looks good, havnt even looked at my box of tricks yet but i will be soon!

 

[Speedy Steve]

Andy sick work there mate it looks awesome. Wish i had half your skills!

 

[finesse]

Fantastic work! Are you the white S3 in Suffolk/Norfolk?

 

[Andy123]

Again thanks for the comments guys- I'm glad you like the work.

Fantastic work! Are you the white S3 in Suffolk/Norfolk?

No I'm not, I live outside West London and the car as of yet hasn't set foot outside of my garage let alone onto a road! A few weeks and I will hopefully have it ready.

 

[Dane]

Suuuwweeett! A*

My exhaust is quite loud outside but it's ok for cruising and normal use

 

[TDIQ]

Amazing work, did you use a booth to spray? Looks so good in white with the RS4 style rear bumper.

Did you have the blue tinted mirrors as standard?

 

[S3 Rav]

Car looks amazing!

 

[ptr]

Best looking 8L A3/S3 on here IMO, especially love this photo.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Excellent work mate... reading through those 2 posts brought back the memories of doing mine for the past couple of years lol... impressive stuff d00de...

<tuffty/>

 

[wibble111]

Awesome build mate, car looks amazing in white, and really like the exhaust.

 

[Andy123]

Amazing work, did you use a booth to spray? Looks so good in white with the RS4 style rear bumper.

Did you have the blue tinted mirrors as standard?

I will upload some more pictures of the paint work I did, it was part done in a sealed off tent built to spray in and the basecoat and clear done in a booth. I'm happy with the rear bumper but it was one of the most time consuming parts making the splitter part for the exhausts and shaping it all so that it blended in with the original curves. I dread to think how many hours of my life that part took up! As for the mirrors, I wasn't aware that anything had been done to them, they are standard as far as I knew. They do have a blueish tint to the glass but I'm certain the person I bought it off didn't do that so it must be standard. Thanks for the comments

 

[rhubarb4]

Wow you have some talent there dude that is an exceptional build, wish I had those skilz. It must have taken you a while, but well worth it. I think we will all be very interested to see it up and running well done mate top quality thread.

 

[Andy123]

Thanks buddy- it turned out how I wanted so was worth the time it took.

 

[rhubarb4]

Your going to be very popular on here Andy maybe you can manufacture some parts as your side line lol

Chris.

 

[Andy123]

Excellent work mate... reading through those 2 posts brought back the memories of doing mine for the past couple of years lol... impressive stuff d00de...

<tuffty/>

Thanks mate- I can imagine it brought back memories, your original thread inspired me to go the big turbo route but like you know it comes with all sorts of problems and challenges! Although now as you will probably appreciate with your build, the engine bay feels a lot cleaner without all the unneccessary audi pipes and parts.

 

[Andy123]

Awesome build mate, car looks amazing in white, and really like the exhaust.

Thanks mate

 

[Andy123]

Your going to be very popular on here Andy maybe you can manufacture some parts as your side line lol

Chris.

Thanks Chris- yes I am eager to get it on the road and use it. There are a few minor bits to sort out first before I take it for a test drive and then finally get it on a RR to dial in the right amount of boost etc. I am expecting some more headaches with it but I'm used to the setbacks now. As for making parts, it hasn't crossed my mind but I would certainly think about it, I'll get this finished first!! Thanks