Tim's Max Power A3

[Tim_Attard]

Hello everyone, had my A3 for a few months now and done a little to it but felt left out on the build threads and wanted someone to put updates so here it is (sorry photos are only gonna be before and after shots really)

Debadged Grill off ebay, sanded the headlights and polished.

Calipers i painted with some cheap read caliper paint easy and simple, a little max power.

The wheels i did myself, sanded down primed, 4 coats of black then 3 coats lacquer.

Lights i got from ebay for £30 but not really a fan so will be tinting them. DE-badged and DE-wipered

The interior trim i took out did a coat of filler primer then white, wanted to match the dials and stand out.

Engine covers i did the same, i didn't use heat resistant paint as hope it will be alright. needs a clean

Removed the sound proofing and installed a strut bar which was a pita as i only had a cordless drill went through about 4 battery ha.

as it stands now

Catch can installed, pcv and n249 delete, heat shield and s2000 filter.


Heko wind deflectors
Sits slightly lower at the back as i have some temporary subs in the back while i make my enclosure.
Head Unit

Sub and base fiber-glassed, filled and sanded (was my first attempt)

Power Cap

Just received my over sized sfs tip £100 hopefully has im getting a partial refund (took a month)

so thats it at the moment, need to finish my amp enclosure etc and then the next part is vinyl wrap but im leaving that as a surprise.

 

[Mr-C]

Cant wait to see the vinyl wrap

 

[Jay A3]

nice work...

Very blue!
Not sure on the wheels, take the wheel caps off might look better. (PS ScottB5 might want them)

Good luck with the wrap! Took me a whole week

 

[kwistof]

Welcome,

and another Kent person I see!

So where abouts are you located in Kent mate and were you doing the wrap yourself or a place around here?

You haven't messed about in the few months you've had her have ya! lol

 

[Tim_Attard]

haha na i dont like waiting, im all about DIY so will be doing it myself costing about £75 for the wrap and another £20 for tools, magnets etc, ive booked 9 days off work as i work 7 days a week so hopefully will be enough time thinking i can do it in 3 full days. keeping the colour a secret near paddock wood, im thinking of doing the wheel all black when i do the wrap

 

[Vex182]

I like the white interior, different without being over the top.

 

[Tim_Attard]

yeah was thinking about changing it to match the outside after the wrap but think it would be a bit OTT.

little update,


wire wool for the catch can


new oil pressure gauge sensor as the garage managed to snap my old one :/


cant really tell but new 90 degree bend form top of oil filter housing as old one is mush

 

[Tim_Attard]

pick this little beaut up for £16 i wasn't planning on changing my bumpers etc but for 16 quid and its not too over the top i couldn't say no.



got this to go inside the cut outs.

however....

after spending an hour trying to remove my standard bumper found out that it doesn't fit, not sure if its meant for an s3 but the sides that meet the wheel arches stick out by a cm or 2 so needless to say i was annoyed and make things worse my original bumper wouldn't go back on so spent about 4 hours all in to accomplish nothing :/

so if anyone wants it and they can come collect it its there's for £10 or a part.

anyway my wrap came though £75 so if it goes well ive saved my self close to £1200




little hint of the color there if u can see it

 

[16Klappe]

I saw that on eBay, I nearly bought it myself.

Usually they look chavy as ****, but done right they look awesome. Weird that it doesn't fit, a friend of mine has one and it lines up fine on original mounts. Very odd!

 

[Tim_Attard]

yeah it wasnt too chanvy and got some quite big mesh so kinda looks the same as the rs4 if thats what im thinking off but it doesnt fit anyway

 

[Tim_Attard]

got some type of film/mesh that goes over your lights, so it tints them but also keeps a lot of visibility or is at least supposed to.


came out OK but wasn't over the moon with them, tried to do the rear ligths but it was a disaster so ended up getting some tint spray.


that's after the first coat but wasn't dark enough for my liking so did another 2 coats.

after coat 2.

also got some window tint as didnt fancy paying £200 ish to get them done, went for limo black (5%) not everyones cuppa





again not too happy with the outcome of the rear, i managed to crease it loads and get lots of air stuck so may re-do it when i get around to it.

will finish off my boot build tomorrow then next week is wrapping time

 

[hades-]

id rip that off

 

[Tim_Attard]

im gonna let it settle over night as the side windows looked the same after i finished and then chilled out a bit so will see firsts thing

 

[s33nyboy12]

Wrapping is not easy especially if your tints look like that!

its good to see you are doing mods yourself, however in doing that you still want it to look like a professional did it.

practice with the wrap on that bumper you are selling...... I've wrapped small bits and didn't find it the easiest thing to do..

good luck

Sean

 

[hades-]

im gonna let it settle over night as the side windows looked the same after i finished and then chilled out a bit so will see firsts thing

thats not gona settle over the next year
but good on ya for trying

 

[Tim_Attard]

haha oh god i plan on doing the whole care, i had a theory that wrap would be easier as it has the lines to release air bubbles, oh well i was going to practice on my wing mirrors and bonnet, thought being if it goes disastrous on the mirrors i should be able just to take it off if not buy new mirrors, and then move on to a bigger area such as the bonnet, anything i cant do i will give the wrap and the body part to get it done

 

[Jay A3]

Although the wing mirrors is only small, I found them much harder to do than the bonnet lol

 

[Tim_Attard]

Boot build is finally done, well kinda still got to make some holes for the fans and connect the power cap.

it didnt come out that good first time using fibreglass and filler and needless to say went horibly wrong but im gonna probs cover it later, i did it in sections so i can still get to my spare wheel.

yes i am a fan on neons im bringing them back

 

[s33nyboy12]

Is thread a revival?
Have I gone back in time ..........?
do you know what that would look good in tim?............... 2002! Lol you really are bringing back max power.
each to their own mate, as long as you like it that's all that matters

Sean

 

[s3dave]

Nice timing with The fast and the furious 6....

 

[Tim_Attard]

Haha oh if only I had a time machine, ha I know 99% of people will be trying to tear their eyes out but I do like being that 1% just wait see what the wrap looks like ha

 

[Mr-C]

I love this thread

 

[[Dave B]]

Subscribed.

 

[jay106]

hi mate where did you get white dials from???

 

[16Klappe]

This is awesome. I'm not sure why, I think you might be a troll sent from Saxsperience?

If you want to free up some cash to finish the boot build I'll buy the oversize TIP off you...

 

[Tim_Attard]

cheeky sausage it is finished cheers for the offer tho, ha i cant stand boy racers in their saxo's

i know the above picture will probably be physically hurting some people here, i am sorry

 

[16Klappe]

At least you acknowledge most people will think it is gopping.

HOWEVER you are doing the work for yourself and apparently love it, so for that you have my utmost respect. Congratulations, keep up the good work.

 

[MIGGZ]

At least you acknowledge most people will think it is gopping.

HOWEVER you are doing the work for yourself and apparently love it, so for that you have my utmost respect. Congratulations, keep up the good work.

woooooow Mr Grumpy Jardo gave a compliment without a gun to his head! well done Tim you doing something right

 

[s3clarke]

unfortunately the reason people pay £200ish for window tints is because they don't want them to come out the way yours have. I'm all up for DIY on my own cars, but there's something's id just prefer to be done correctly. What looks better? no window tints.. or messy window tints.. shame that bumper doesn't fit though, its quite a smart bumper for an after market jobbie..

 

[Tim_Attard]

Yeah I know the tint was only £40 so thought I'd try but gonna re do it if its still bad then will pay :/
Yeah little annoying as i really liked it but hay ho
Oh wow I'm honoured appreciated it

 

[s3clarke]

Did u use heat when u did them? I've tinted side windows before with a hair dryer and lots of water/ washing up liquid spray, but I took the windows out to do them which came up really good. This was years ago, it's a lot of hassle though haha

 

[Tim_Attard]

yeah used a heat gun but think thats what ruined the sides altho they have got better now just the massive crinkle left :/ i was really tempted to take them out wish i had now

 

[Scullies]

Tinting or wrapping a compound curve surface is damn hard and needs a fair bit of practise. I dont use a heat gun for window tints, just lots of soapy water in a spray bottle, position the tint film and start squeezing the soapy water out, starting at the center of the window.

Vinyl wrap is the same process, lots of soapy water and squeeze it out. Heat gun to warm the wrap up so you can stretch it for the corners.

You also going to need a lot more elbow grease to get the fiberglass instal smooth. Lots of sanding and finish off with a 320 grit paper, thats if you want to paint or wrap it. Otherwise you can cover it in carpet or vinyl material.

Good work on the DIY, I now I enjoy doing in myself too.

Keep it up

 

[Tim_Attard]

yeah got it super smooth but it just has holes where i did a crap job grinding and filling but will probs wrap it later on, scared and excited to start wrapping tomorrow :/

cheers will do

 

[s3 Hoggy]

I love this thread!

 

[superkarl]

Awesome.

Although i am questioning whether this is a guy that bought this a3 purely to have a laugh

 

[Tim_Attard]

basically yeah i had a 9n polo 1.2 before and bored me to sleep while driving basically, going to the army within the next year so wanted to have some fun before i leave = bought an a3

 

[Tim_Attard]

started the wrap today.... hold your breath for the color

bonnet when well took about 30mins and thought great then i started the roof... ive never wanted to hurt an inanimate object so much, i must of punched my car a good 5 - 6 times.

got to about 6 inches away from the end and it started to crinkle etc and now just refuses to work so taking a break to write this before i smash something.

anyway here is the bonnet and the color



p.s. it has no grill atm as it decided to pop out on my way home :/

 

[JJ.Foulds]

o mother of lord.

 

[s33nyboy12]

Someone has spilt red oxide primer on your car mate!

Sean