What have you done to your Audi A4 B7 today?

[Charlie Farley]

Just gave the old bus a shampoo and set ,nice and clean for all of 3 mins before being covered in pollen dust again, what a waste of time......
on a plus note the Rotors are on, pics to follow.

 

[northpole]

can't wait to see the pics...

 

[Matt275]

can't wait to see the pics...

This!

 

[Charlie Farley]

A few rubbish pics, but I think the Rotors look nice and almost make the old bus look a bit more up to date but not overkill.
Still with a 10mm spacer on the front and a 15mm on the rear.
I could probably get away with going down to 5mm on the front, but I don't think it needs it now, the rears are fine.
A quick run out and all is fine and feels nice, no loss of ride quality at all, given the different tyre sizing.
Very happy with the outcome.

Next, back to the decat refit, and hybrid turbo to refit, and what ever else that needs to be done.
Brakes are still noisy but not as much, hopefully will squeal will fade over a few more miles and weeks.

 

[trmarqu]

A few rubbish pics, but I think the Rotors look nice and almost make the old bus look a bit more up to date but not overkill.
Still with a 10mm spacer on the front and a 15mm on the rear.
I could probably get away with going down to 5mm on the front, but I don't think it needs it now, the rears are fine.
A quick run out and all is fine and feels nice, no loss of ride quality at all, given the different tyre sizing.
Very happy with the outcome.

Next, back to the decat refit, and hybrid turbo to refit, and what ever else that needs to be done.
Brakes are still noisy but not as much, hopefully will squeal will fade over a few more miles and weeks.

View attachment 281017View attachment 281018View attachment 281019

Has to be one of the cleanest B7s out there, sir.
Staying closely tuned!! Excited to see what the hybrid turbo can do.


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[trmarqu]

Visuals from my cam follower replacement on Friday. My theory is that the previous owner learned they must replace the cam follower once the car was already at 100k. When doing the job they found a hole in it, and the HPFP piston was already pushing through and scratching the cam. They replaced the follower only, and now the scratches from the cam have roughed up the backside of this follower.

By anyone’s estimation, will I need to replace this cam? I am hoping to upgrade HPFP internals and go stage 2+ so I’m a little nervous I could be playing with fire using this cam.

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[Charlie Farley]

That Cam lobe looks like its seen a lot of better days, if you can replace it then yes, do it , and don't risk any sort of upgrade with it as is.
Its having the same effect as a blunt hacksaw blade, just slowly mashing its way through the follower cap.

 

[trmarqu]

That’s mighty unfortunate, looks like some expensive parts! I think I can figure it out a DIY though. Going to check the follower periodically for the summer and hopefully do the replacement in the fall so I can go stage 2+.


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[northpole]

Just that looks like it has seen better days.

@Charlie Farley : those are the wheels the b7 should have come on from the factory.... that's it I'm now putting them on my must have list! It also doesn’t help I did see a black b7 avant with them on in gunmetal and diamond cut... they just lift the overall look.

Thanks for spending my money lol

 

[norad97]

Hi Richard, i'll keep that in mind, I have to say, though , I've been out this evening and they were quiet, unlike this morning when it was pretty loud all the time.

Are you still looking to do your engine work? just let me know when you need to use the tools.

Hi Rob, Yes I am, going away for 2 weeks Saturday so contact you when I return.

 

[Matt275]

Looking fab Rob, they show off the Brembo's more than the Le Mans...result!
Perfectly spaced too in my opinion.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Looking fab Rob, they show off the Brembo's more than the Le Mans...result!
Perfectly spaced too in my opinion.

I must admit the overall look is better than I expected so very happy.
Just need some 8 pots calipers now...lol

 

[Charlie Farley]

Hi Rob, Yes I am, going away for 2 weeks Saturday so contact you when I return.

Speak soon and enjoy your 2 weeks away .

 

[trmarqu]

Put this cheap aftermarket head unit in this weekend. Surprisingly all my controls and speakers work well! Super happy it has Bluetooth for playing music and fits like OEM. However it advertised having CarPlay and I can’t get that to work even with a dongle. Bluetooth is also a little choppy…you get what you pay for. Overall mostly satisfied!

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[B7Tourer]

The Carplay/Android Auto on most these Chinese units is pretty choppy at best; mainly because of the software, which is a knock-off for official integration. You can get around it with a 3rd party App or a dongle/app. You're unit is WinCe and not Android, which is very old, and will not work with almost any dongle neither. I've had an Xtrons unit for coming up 7 years now which has been totally reliable, with great audio and functionality; but that is probably good luck. Soon after I got it I adopted wireless Android Auto, without issue; now I have wireless Apple Carplay working perfectly after some software/firmware fiddling, with this dongle: https://www.carlinkit.com/ccpa , which incidentally is the only known one to work with WinCe units (how reliably I can't vouch for) You can see it in the 2nd photo tucked in the iPod binnacle of the glovebox.

Bluetooth and Wifi are also patchy on the cheaper units; again this can be circumvented by the correct dongle. The one I have has 5GHz and 5 BT.

I also use the armrest universal adaptor; for charging (when needed, say a long journey) and linking to the shark fin antenna.

 

[northpole]

Apart from that, the company doesn't even support the wince models anymore, I checked their website, only andriod versions are supported. Meaning Amazon bought them for pennies and is selling them at a killer profit.

 

[Jamsmoo]

A few rubbish pics, but I think the Rotors look nice and almost make the old bus look a bit more up to date but not overkill.
Still with a 10mm spacer on the front and a 15mm on the rear.
I could probably get away with going down to 5mm on the front, but I don't think it needs it now, the rears are fine.
A quick run out and all is fine and feels nice, no loss of ride quality at all, given the different tyre sizing.
Very happy with the outcome.

Next, back to the decat refit, and hybrid turbo to refit, and what ever else that needs to be done.
Brakes are still noisy but not as much, hopefully will squeal will fade over a few more miles and weeks.

View attachment 281017View attachment 281018View attachment 281019

Eyes sights not so good ,looks a fair stretch on those tyres
Looks mint


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[Charlie Farley]

Eyes sights not so good ,looks a fair stretch on those tyres
Looks mint


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Yes, they are 225/35 19 tyres. Thus far, I can't say if I've noticed any deterioration in ride quality, etc., but I've not been far yet.
I'll see how they go for a few days and make a spot decision whether to refit the 235/35 19's that are on my Lemans.
They look good but profile is less than the 235 so pot holes are going to even more of a challenge...

 

[northpole]

yes i would go for square sitting tires so 235 over the 225 since they have less rubber on the road. Potholes will be best avoided if you leave them 225's on. that all said i do like the overall look, and deffo on my list now... Rob you are responsible for the trouble and cost of the setup for mine, bill will be on it's way soon lol ( just messing)

 

[Jamsmoo]

Yes, they are 225/35 19 tyres. Thus far, I can't say if I've noticed any deterioration in ride quality, etc., but I've not been far yet.
I'll see how they go for a few days and make a spot decision whether to refit the 235/35 19's that are on my Lemans.
They look good but profile is less than the 235 so pot holes are going to even more of a challenge...

My 9j have 235 x35 so fair stretch too
Was messing about with fitment yesterday
41et with a 10mm spacer so effectively a 24.6et !!
Just call me Carlos fandango lol
Gonna see how I go for now but don’t imagine the spacers will be on long
I’ll probably get some 245 x 35 when the time comes

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[Charlie Farley]

Tire stretch is okay within sensible limits, but any stretch will lessen the overall sidewall flexibility of a tire, so there will be a price to pay, sometimes noticeable, sometimes not, and sometimes acceptable.
The Rotas came with the nearly new rainsports fitted so I kinda wanted to see how they worked out first before refitting the 235's , which , are my preferred size on an 8.5j rim.

 

[northpole]

true but i rather have the tires sitting square on the ground more rubber contact on the road means better overall comfort including being more pothole resistant. I also refuse to lower the car so i won't really be feeling a difference when i do switch over... just a bigger contact patch, maybe a little more tire noise... all of which i have no problem with

And just seen a copy set going for cheap but need a refurb... i'll pass as i want oem wheels just because they have a higher quality control and inspection they've got to go through.

 

[trmarqu]

The Carplay/Android Auto on most these Chinese units is pretty choppy at best; mainly because of the software, which is a knock-off for official integration. You can get around it with a 3rd party App or a dongle/app. You're unit is WinCe and not Android, which is very old, and will not work with almost any dongle neither. I've had an Xtrons unit for coming up 7 years now which has been totally reliable, with great audio and functionality; but that is probably good luck. Soon after I got it I adopted wireless Android Auto, without issue; now I have wireless Apple Carplay working perfectly after some software/firmware fiddling, with this dongle: https://www.carlinkit.com/ccpa , which incidentally is the only known one to work with WinCe units (how reliably I can't vouch for) You can see it in the 2nd photo tucked in the iPod binnacle of the glovebox.

Thanks for the tip!! It seems like some part of their website suggested the CarlinKit, so maybe that’s the path forward….currently messaging the company via Amazon. Wouldn’t have gone with the cheap Chinese unit if there was another option for under $200, but everything else seemed to need extra adapters and screen fitment pieces and ended up around $400.


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[trmarqu]

I also use the armrest universal adaptor; for charging (when needed, say a long journey) and linking to the shark fin antenna.

Love the center armrest charger! Going to have to look for that adapter. I hacked up my iPod glovebox port to make space to mount an amp, which I thought I needed…turns out I don’t need it at all. But it will be helpful for mounting other cords and the CarPlay dongle!


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[northpole]

Flappy pedal extensions have arrived and are installed... no pictures taken as I forgot to take my phone with me.... mweh will do that another day.

Also s-line pedals have arrived but haven't got around to do them yet... as the lot needs to be modified to fit properly. Will need to get some 3m double sided extra strong tape to make sure the lot stays put once I reshape the bits to make it fit like it came out of the factory like that. Only one that goes straight on is the gas pedal and even that doesn't really sit how it should. Did check the s6 c5/c6 pedals, but they too have the same shape as the s-line pedals so.... this is going to take a day or so to do it right.

Anyway pretty happy with the overall look of the flappy pedals now. I might even modify the steeringwheel ever so slightly so it's a bit chunkier than what it is now... just need to find an upholstery place first as the modification will want a new leather skin, and I want some carbon fiber in the mix.

 

[northpole]

this is the steeringwheel as it sits in the car right now:

and yes my gearselector is wearing a hoodie.

 

[Charlie Farley]

I'm still looking at a couple of more specific areas in my quest to locate and fix the vibrations and shaking steering.
The new alloys don't appear to have made much difference, that said I wasn't really expecting them to as I've had 3 different set on and the problem has been present with all.

I'm looking at the front wheel bearings, well, not the bearing being worn, but potentially the hubs to drive shaft bolts not being tight enough to pre-load the bearings.
Also, the problem does appear to be more apparent under acceleration and at a fixed speed, For example under casual acceleration its not really noticible until the 70mph area but fades away beyond that.
whereas under more spirited acceleration, it can be felt much more up to 70 mph, but still fades after that point.

With this in mind Im going to check the propshaft and centre bearing support for anything abnormal wear/freeplay wise , just ticks another two areas off the list one way or the other.
I have now factored out the steering rack as the problem does appear to be elsewhere based on the symptoms now more clearly noticible.

I'll get to the bottom of it one way or another.

I would say the engine mounts, but they are not that old, but it's always possible one is failing allready.

 

[northpole]

this just happened...

yes every part needed modifications to get these to fit... but i think it doesn't look half bad., simply because the lot matches, footrest, brake pedal & gaspedal.. now for cleaning up!
just so you lot know:
- footrest a A4 B8 LHD- stuck onto abs and melted ABS plastic to mould it in... has to be split, cut, reshaped, inner plastic shaved down to 0.2mm and than bend and hammered to the right curve for the oem black plastic automatic footrest( it's bigger than the manual version) than secured in it's place with 3m double sided tape (oem securing clips on the inside of the footrest are still used and so is the oem screw to secure it inplace)
-brake pedal A4 B8 automatic... it is smaller and has 2 locator holes on the base pad and 2 rubber pulls to pull it into it's place (extra secured with 3m double sided tape)
-gaspedal A4 B8 automatic... it's a different shape to the B7 needs to be made wider ontop so the pedal stays put once you pull the rubber around it (3M double sided tape does help a bit)

 

[northpole]

@Charlie Farley: did you make sure the front subframe bolts are all torqued to spec?

 

[Charlie Farley]

Yes , all done to spec.
I get the feeling the source of the problem comes from a rotational part as apposed to a fixed part but I expect I'll get to the bottom of it .

 

[trmarqu]

this just happened...

Looks great man!! Love the custom work. Always worth it in the end.


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[trmarqu]

Yes , all done to spec.
I get the feeling the source of the problem comes from a rotational part as apposed to a fixed part but I expect I'll get to the bottom of it .

That was my first thought too - although I know you’ve been chasing this for awhile! If it’s not uneven tread wear or balancing, or wheel hubs, things get a little hairier…I had some shake due to worn tie rods on a truck under similar conditions, but the wheel bearings on that truck were bad too.


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[northpole]

@trmarqu thanks for the kind words it took longer than i wanted but I kinda expected that, hence the reason I didn't immediately went out to fit them on upon recieving them. I spend about 4 hours in total to get them on how you see it now in the picture... I was satisfied with it but if i find some rubber (eva foam would be even better), I'll pull the footrest out again and make it flush. Thus making it look more oem. (normally i would just use resin but i can't be bothered with the curing and sanding process)

 

[KirkHallinan]

Yes , all done to spec.
I get the feeling the source of the problem comes from a rotational part as apposed to a fixed part but I expect I'll get to the bottom of it .

Bit of an odd 1 but I had a similar issue many moons ago on a VRs, I was chasing a front end vibration for months, turned out to be a rear weak shock, causing front end lift & all the minute tolerances in the front end to be exaggerated.


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[Charlie Farley]

So just been out on a mission for the wife , which involved a good spin out in the old bus and there is an improvement.
The original issue has almost disappeared now with the rota's on , its is hardly noticeable at all now at the 65mph-80mph zone which is where it was very noticeable , but, its now low speed under load .
This may now point to a more variable rotational part as it definitely varies with engine speed / forward motion.

So that's good news and still not so good, but it's progress all the same.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Well, its been a strange old day, first off with the limited improvement in the vibration issues, then this afternoon I had two separate offers to buy the old bus.....just came out of the blue.

One from a guy I know at my local garage, he knows the car well and just came out with, do you want to sell it and made me a very good offer , I'll buy it now......I was a bit taken aback to be honest, but just replied, no thanks .

Then later this afternoon whilst parked in Sainsbury's waiting for the wife, a guy came over, remarks on how nice the old bus was, and did I wish to sell it for a cash sale, needless to say I thanked him for the offer and declined....

Is it the weather...lol

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

 

[trmarqu]

Well, its been a strange old day, first off with the limited improvement in the vibration issues, then this afternoon I had two separate offers to buy the old bus.....just came out of the blue.

She’s a beauty - don’t act so surprised! Haha when it rains it pours


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[Matt275]

Well, its been a strange old day, first off with the limited improvement in the vibration issues, then this afternoon I had two separate offers to buy the old bus.....just came out of the blue.

One from a guy I know at my local garage, he knows the car well and just came out with, do you want to sell it and made me a very good offer , I'll buy it now......I was a bit taken aback to be honest, but just replied, no thanks .

Then later this afternoon whilst parked in Sainsbury's waiting for the wife, a guy came over, remarks on how nice the old bus was, and did I wish to sell it for a cash sale, needless to say I thanked him for the offer and declined....

Is it the weather...lol

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

...and the carbon interior day by day gets ever closer!....

 

[northpole]

@Charlie Farley no it's the wheels... i did say the car should have been on those from the factory... now factor in all your modifications and yes people will offer you cash to buy it straight from under your *** when you least expect it... those wheels just make the car even more appealing!

 

[B7Tourer]

Well... obviously there are bargains out there... even when you don't necessarily need them... case in point was this S-line grille, advertised as 'Pre-Owned', when even from the photos I recognised it was brand new and identical to those going for 250-350 quid; it was going for a fraction of that - I guess the guy selling it was embarrassed to say that; and although my grille is cosmetically fine from the outside, the top grey bit is cracked - not really an issue but always bugged me; so I bought it...

Car has had a very thorough 6K full service and I have replaced all boot/bonnet struts after my mechanic said they were shot; never realised; now they spring up, as if electric. Complete new wiper arms. front and near too; back one was floppy and shot; fronts tired looking. Detailed touching too; small spots of surface corrosion on the nether edges of doors. Very slight but this kind of thing can write a car off in a few short years; and that since what me and the old gal been through, would break my heart.