1-2-Raymie S4 Sideskirts

[ad3crk]

Making this "thread" for people who in the future are going to fit S4 sideskirts to their standard A4...alot of my progress was picking the mind of Raymie..(Shout-out too Raymie) the most challenging part is cutting the 15 mm off the old door moldings...its time consuming and tedious..take your time as i was warned by Raymie...i also had to fix the cuts in the OEM S4 sideskirts that the previous owner had made in them..i wasnt informed that he had done this...o-well...i got them for $180 and overall they are in good condition...here is the progress so far..all i have left is to have the skirts sent to the body-shop and painted my favorite color LY1B

1. My method of making good cuts on the old door moldings

some sanding is needed to make a clean edge from the box knife..

2. Repairs of cut in sideskirts with a bumper repair kit worked well

3. final bondo for filling

4. Fitting the moldings to ensure good fit with sideskirt

more fitting pics

Next time i post to this thread i will have a finished product with the sideskirts painted...hope this helps any of you DIY'ers like myself

 

[raymie]

nice job there m8 u done well looks good

 

[Drizz]

Handy to reference at a later date!

 

[jcb]

why do you need to cut them (teh OEM S4 sidesthat is)?

 

[ad3crk]

i didnt cut the OEM sideskirts...the previous owner did...it makes a faster and easier fit...but isnt my prefrence seeing a gap between the sideskirt and the front and rear molding that goes along the top of the sideskirt..
in this picture #1 u see that front upper molding isnt usually that size its cut down so the sideskirt fits underneath it ..
#1

on the first post i did look at the 2nd picture..you can see partially see what is left of the piece after being cut..

 

[Drizz]

So the std lower door mouldings need trimming to fit S4 skirts yes? cut theyre whole length?

 

[ad3crk]

Indeed thats what you need to do...along the entire bottom strip of the molding....from front to back...4 pcs..1 front piece 2,3 Door moldings and 4. Rear piece...15 mm off each piece

 

[Randomjim]

does the s4 come with different mouldings then?

 

[ad3crk]

Actually Random i looked into this.....they are just mounted higher on the doors and higher postions in front and rear.15 mm higher would be my educated guess.. ..is you look at a S4 they are the same width as a A4's moldings...without a tapered edge

 

[Randomjim]

Ah ok cool. I'm gonna do s4 sideskirt soon and im thinking of taking of the door mouldings and smoothing the holes.

 

[ad3crk]

It may be easier then that...im just not that comfortable in body work...there isnt mounting holes, there are pins that have mounting slides on them..if you did that...what route would you go to mount that OEM moldings? or would you just leave the moldings out of the equation?
**Sorry i stand corrected...there would be holes for the front piece(3 holes) and for the rear there would be (one) tiny hole to be filled..it would be harder then i overlooked. **{body-work wise}

 

[Drizz]

im gonna do the facelift door mouldings, the ones that protrude..

 

[Randomjim]

the door blades from the b6?

 

[Drizz]

Yes theyre the ones i think

 

[Randomjim]

do they fit the b5 then? i was wondering that cos i've always liked them

 

[ad3crk]

Really i dont know...my advice would be to:if you have any friends with a B6 and see if they can cross-over..see how they come off and try to fit them...trail and error is always not to bad..now i dont know about the dealers in Euro. but the Audi dealerships here in the US are helpful....thats how i found out about the S4 oem moldings are manufactured..i might be able to ask the dealership i been enquireing all this about...

 

[VaulterTim]

Did mine a while ago and removed the door mouldings 'cos quite frankly I think they look crap, especially when they're black pieces of rubber. They just look odd in my opinion. PLUS they don't actually do the job they're put there for, they just hold water against the door instead of getting rid of it... hardly an improvement!

The problems I faced (1999+ facelift car) were that once fitted with door trims removed, the sideskirts are overlapped by the original scuff panels along the sills which then stick out past the door bottoms when the doors are closed... which again looks naff! These either needed to be cut or replaced with S4 items and they're not cheap! I did the latter for simplicity and a better finish but to have them totally flush I tucked them underneath the skirts to ensure a flush finish on the outside of the car. Obviosuly they are designed to line up with the OE S4 skirts which also protrude from the doors underneath the coloured lower door mouldings of the S4. So for a flush finish they'll need to be trimmed slightly or tucked in. I tucked them in as I didn't need to trim them at all that way but if trimming is required it's easier to do this with the S4 ones since there isn't as much to remove and there is no bend in the scuff panel... the OE A4 ones wrap around underneath the sills.

It's flush now but it took a LOT of elbow grease and fiddling to get it all fitted.



Here's a few pics...

[URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/MuppetMuppet/Bodywork/Sideskirt-RearFillingandBlending.jpg"][URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/MuppetMuppet/Bodywork/Sideskirt-RearFillingandBlending.jpg"][/URL][/URL]


[URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/MuppetMuppet/Bodywork/PassengerSideskirtFitted.jpg"][URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/MuppetMuppet/Bodywork/PassengerSideskirtFitted.jpg"][/URL][/URL]


[URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/MuppetMuppet/Bodywork/DriversSideskirtFrontFillingandBlen.jpg"][/URL]

 

[Drizz]

Any finished article pics? I just think at the stage in the pics it looks like its missing something, i.e door mouldings...

 

[VaulterTim]

There ya go... sorry, I thought the same thing and you caught me in the middle of editing it!

 

[ad3crk]

That looked like alot of body work to get rid of the moldings...looks good...i know i dont have a B6 or a S4 B6 at that...but i really dig the protruding moldings ..they pop out a ton more then the B5 S4..and the way you did yours...you loose that look...im not knocking it....we all have our preferences..im guessing those S4 scuff sills cost a pretty penny...

 

[Drizz]

Actually i like that. Very understated!

 

[VaulterTim]

Yeah I was thinking the same... each to their own etc. I love the smooth look myself hence removing the mouldings. The pre-facelift models didn't have any mouldings oddly enough...

 

[Randomjim]

yea that looks good

 

[VaulterTim]

Cheers dudes!

Car needs a damn good clean at the moment... it's totally covered in dust. I have a skip company right opposite my house that just cakes the car in dust every coupla days, HIGHLY annoying! Also need to fix/replace the RS4 front bumper... a slight encounter with a badger

Car 0 - 1 Badger

Just bought a bike though so that will have to wait

Post some more pics when the project is finished ad3crk... always interested to see others mods.

Good luck with it

 

[Drizz]

[URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/MuppetMuppet/Exterior%20Pics/2.jpg"][/URL]

Is that front bumper OEM? Doesnt look right on the front wheel?

 

[VaulterTim]

No, not OEM, it's a Reiger RS4 replica... and that is a damn good spot on the front wheel! Funnily enough I had spotted the same thing after we fitted it and was under the car in a pit... you could see it when comparing the two sides. I think it's a manufacturing anomaly because the bumper is flush everywhere else... weird! Like I said, it needs replacing (ideally) now anyway 'cos of the badger incident

 

[Drizz]

So the other side sits right?

 

[VaulterTim]

Pretty much, but like I said it's flush across the car... same distance from each headlight etc. to front of bumper. I think it needed trimming a little more around the arch curve at the factory... didn't notice until it was fitted. I'll make sure I check it better next time!

 

[ad3crk]

well just got the skirts back wed. and I just got done fitting them...i love the enhancement they give my car ...now onto the rear and front bumper...because that black just dont look right as im sure all you Audi lovers would agree...ill get better pictures as soon as im not blocked into garage.

P.S.Raymie im going to rep the brilliant yellow for the both of us

 

[raymie]

WOW m8 class job better than mines

 

[smitch]

Tim, you from Surrey?????

 

[ad3crk]

Sun came out finally here in Washington and here are some un-obstructed pictures with the S4 skirts...

 

[Drizz]

nice mate!