My non starting heap of Metal A4 build thread.

[Rhysd1309]

Hi everyone. Have always wanted to do one of these threads, so why not start with my first Audi.

Progress will be abit slow at first as i am strapped for cash, but have got alot of things planned. I have a picture in my head of what i want the end result to be.

Will add some pictures when i get chance.

Anyway, prepare for the essay.

It started with me needing a practical 5 door saloon, to cart 1 year old and his pram around in. I have had about 6 cars since having the little one. Most of them being daft choices. Such as a Golf VR6 and a Mitsi FTO (which i have still got)

I wasn't quite sure what to have. It was between a Veccy C:

And the Audi (2 years its senior): awaiting picture.

So, not knowing which to have, i brought both lol. The Vectra was a running car, 2.0 Sri T so used it for a week. The Audi was a non runner, but got it for a very good price.

I soon came to the decision that the Vectra wasn't for me. It had a massive boot, but it was black, and i couldn't keep it clean in the short amount of time i had it. Also it was abit thirsty and the bodywork was awful. Looked like someone had painted it with hammerite.

So the Audi it was!

 

[Rhysd1309]

So, the next step was to get the Audi running. Me rushing into buying it, i didn't check it 100%.

Its a 2.0 N/A 20v (petrol)

It just turned over, spark was present (ish) and so was fuel. But i thought, maybe the cam sensor is abit dodgey? So i took it.

Got it recovered back and to be honest, left it there a couple of days. Then got stuck in. Started off by checking the timing, fine.

Oh, how i couldn't of been further away from the truth.
I cracked the valve cover off, and hey ho, the cam chain at the back of the shafts had snapped and wrapped itself around the sprocket, shattering the VVT.

So, head off, valves out, the fun!

Got it all back together, with a new cam belt and head gasket. And after a minor hiccup (putting cam in upside down due to following the 1.8 timing marks lmao) we got there.

If you look at this picture, you can see the inlet valves are just about to open, yet on the exhaust side, its about to open on the next stroke. This caused 60 psi compression lol. Also on the exhaust stroke ALL VALVES WHERE CLOSED whilst i tried to start it lol.

Its funny, as at first nobody could figure it out. Not even the machine engineers (who skimmed the head) new what was wrong. The autodata image is abit confusing i suppose. It took me 3 days to realize there was a triangle on the cam sprocket, on the otherside of the square cut out that i originally timed it to.

 

[Rhysd1309]

Just thought i'd add a picture of what happens when you don't shut your bonnet properly.

Ouch.........

 

[Rhysd1309]

Did a small tour of the U.K to get a B7 front end.
Managed to get:
2x headlights and wings (2nd hand genuine) - £115!!
Brand new Bonnet (pattern) - £70
Bumper (2nd hand genuine) - £30
Brand new grille (pattern) - £25

Some pretty good prices, collected them all in one day, got as far as Cardiff! (I'm in the West Midlands) They have all gone for paint now, ridiculous as it costs double what i payed for the items!

 

[Rhysd1309]

Why can't i get the motivation and get my **** into gear. Was a nice day today, and a rare day off. Last night I was quite looking forward to spraying the chrome grille matte black, but have spent most of the day watching storage wars on T.V.

I don't know whats happened to me, i used to be out in the snow at 6.00 in the morning fitting springs, changing gearbox's. Working 6 days and having a one year old has killed me!

 

[Rhysd1309]

Right, managed to do abit today. I have de-tangoed one of the headlights, while i am waiting for the front end to be sprayed (which is taking forever!)

Before

Compared

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Really happy with results, just need to get a set of chrome indicator bulbs.

Oh and as you can see, the baby seems well interested in what i was doing today!

 

[Rhysd1309]

My front end finally got painted today, and as always the finish perfect and colour match is spot on. I've only fitted the wings and bonnet, as the front panel is different, and i thought i could modify my existing one, but it soon became clear that it couldn't be done.

Anyway, here's some pictures of it stripped down, no pictures of what it was like before unfortunately.

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[Rhysd1309]

Does anybody know if the support bars and front bumper beam has to be changed? If they do, I cannot find one anywhere! It's the only thing holding me back!