B7 general discussion/chat thread.

[northpole]

Right so I just hoovered the car and gave the inside a good old valet... washed the mats let them dry and took a bristle brush to them before hoovering them again before putting them back... does anyone have any recommendations for some nice thick floor mats preferably with the audi logo and S-line (embrioded) have to be black mats with red and white (grey) piping...

 

[ttelracs]

Just been doing parts ordering and price comparisons.
The Camshaft adjuster (febi/bilstein) is £278.72 and that is the cheapest its been on autodoc for a while,
View attachment 273816

but from parts in motion its only £148.29

just shows you need to shop around , and that from a uk supplier so no 2 weeks or more waiting time.

View attachment 273818

I have a nagging suspicion that mine may need doing too. Grrrr......

 

[Charlie Farley]

Right so I just hoovered the car and gave the inside a good old valet... washed the mats let them dry and took a bristle brush to them before hoovering them again before putting them back... does anyone have any recommendations for some nice thick floor mats preferably with the audi logo and S-line (embrioded) have to be black mats with red and white (grey) piping...

eBay tend to have lots of mats etc.

 

[Charlie Farley]

I have a nagging suspicion that mine may need doing too. Grrrr......

If the mileage is around 100k and you are going to do a chain and tensioner replacement then very advisable to do the cam adjuster aswell, it has to come off to do the chain/tensioner so may aswell do the lot.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Some places do a kit with all the bits, but just do your research to avoid paying more.

 

[ttelracs]

If the mileage is around 100k and you are going to do a chain and tensioner replacement then very advisable to do the cam adjuster aswell, it has to come off to do the chain/tensioner so may aswell do the lot.

Yep and the control rings too. 148k and no evidence it's been done. Do these have that oil screen thing in the housing which can get clogged?

 

[Charlie Farley]

To be honest there are so many parts of the lubrication system with these EA113 engines that can and do get blocked i'm surprised any are left running these days.
Not 100% but i think there is a small one in the cam chain cover housing .

 

[northpole]

eBay tend to have lots of mats etc.

I know but what i am looking for they clearly don't have... seems like i'm going to have to find a car upholstery place to make what i am after...
luxury black velour with red and grey piping and A4 S line logo embroiled on the side. (in the right colours of course) driver side with a heel-pad same piping around it ( heel pad from the same material). I'll go to the car upholstery place near me soon and ask them if they can do this for me and if they can provide some designs so i can post them up maybe for a group buy... See if they can do S4/RS4 also. Would be good to have some extra luxurious mats to enhance the floor a bit.

I did look at the Chinese offerings but nothing that comes anywhere near to what I actually want.

 

[Stu_b7]

034 motorsport 25.4mm rear sway bar is it worth the money?
Does anyone else have one of these fitted as it is on sale at the moment on awesome.GTI and I am contemplating getting one

 

[Charlie Farley]

034 motorsport 25.4mm rear sway bar is it worth the money?
Does anyone else have one of these fitted as it is on sale at the moment on awesome.GTI and I am contemplating getting one

cheaper and just as good to track down an rs4 rear arb from a breaker, 034 will dent your wallet way more and i dont think you will notice it over the oe rs4 item.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Another day on the old bus today tackling 3 overdue jobs.

Started well and as to be expected went down hill rapidly.

Front-wheel bearings, all new track rods inners and ends, and front ARB bushes allready to fit and after 6 hours of cursing and knuckle grinding ive just finished getting the track rods done , wheel bearing replaced but struts not rfeitted yet nor the arb bushes.

Track rods came off easy with the help of a fabricated tool, a bit of a fiddle to get a cable tie back around the rack boot end but it was done.
both front struts came of easy, then it went tits up with the bearings.
One bearing behaved and came out nicely with a drift and fluid, the other side was a total pain.
The bearing was solid and it was going to be a heat job, ok I thought, remove the ABS sensor get it hot, and drift it out, nope the ABS sensor bolt was solid and snapped, after removing the sensor there was enough of the old bolt left to hold in a vice and have a go at unwinding, nope snapped again this time flush with the surface, so now into a drill out and retap job ontop of the bearing...arghhh.
anyway , new bearing refitted to struts, new threaded abs hole and bolt, ready to be refitted in the morning , then the arb bushes.

Hopefully that will solve the remaining front end issues that have plagued the od bus for a while now.

 

[Charlie Farley]

All back together now and washed the old bus and dried it off just to keep the surface muck at bay.

Front ARB bushes were pretty worn so I can't complain as they were the original items, new ones went in nice and snug.

Quick road test and all appears to be well with the annoying steering clanking and rattling now gone and wheel shaking seems to have stopped too.
Steering and handling now feels razor sharp and tight, just as it should be on a B7 .
fitting new front wheel bearings was a definate plus point, no whirring from the front either, so smoooooooth now

I'll give it a few weeks to settle down and then get the alignment checked, I was careful to measure each track rod etc before replacing so new items were as close as possible from a manual input.

so it is onwards to the next batch of jobs, the engine, then onto the rear suspension bushes etc.

 

[Rob Avant]

Right so I just hoovered the car and gave the inside a good old valet... washed the mats let them dry and took a bristle brush to them before hoovering them again before putting them back... does anyone have any recommendations for some nice thick floor mats preferably with the audi logo and S-line (embrioded) have to be black mats with red and white (grey) piping...

UK Manufactured Car Mats From £9.99

Over 25,000 5 Star Reviews. Manufactured in the UK. Fully tailored carpet and rubber car mats. Water-resistant and anti-slip. Personalised car mats available now! Free delivery on orders over £30.

carmats.co.uk

Try these guys. Bought mine from here years ago, decent quality. Not sure about Audi logos etc but you could always ask.

 

[Rob Avant]

034 motorsport 25.4mm rear sway bar is it worth the money?
Does anyone else have one of these fitted as it is on sale at the moment on awesome.GTI and I am contemplating getting one

I’ve got the Eibach ARB kit front and back and it’s a definite improvement. The RS4 rear bar can usually be found cheap and is a decent upgrade, mine randomly had it fitted from the factory. Heard good things about the 034 one too.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Same here Rob, my special ed had the larger diameter rear arb fitted from the factory,
I was a bit annoyed at the time as I had ordered the parts from Audi as an upgrade only to find that when I came to fit the same parts were already on the old bus.
The old bus has always handled well , probably why.

 

[Charlie Farley]

I know but what i am looking for they clearly don't have... seems like i'm going to have to find a car upholstery place to make what i am after...
luxury black velour with red and grey piping and A4 S line logo embroiled on the side. (in the right colours of course) driver side with a heel-pad same piping around it ( heel pad from the same material). I'll go to the car upholstery place near me soon and ask them if they can do this for me and if they can provide some designs so i can post them up maybe for a group buy... See if they can do S4/RS4 also. Would be good to have some extra luxurious mats to enhance the floor a bit.

I did look at the Chinese offerings but nothing that comes anywhere near to what I actually want.

Probably worth going to an automotive upholsterer or similar and spec your requirements, wont be as cheap as online off the shelf items but will be decent quality and last longer

 

[northpole]

Probably worth going to an automotive upholsterer or similar and spec your requirements, wont be as cheap as online off the shelf items but will be decent quality and last longer

jup that's exactly what I thought and just maybe, I'll ask them to put in a piece of rubber backing so the logo can be a resin stick on pad as the quality will be better and can be replaced if it's damaged.

 

[northpole]

I did ask but at that price i can actually have those Chinese floormats that cover 99% of the carpet inside the car, I guess I'll just get some cheap ones and buy 2 sets.

 

[ttelracs]

Another day on the old bus today tackling 3 overdue jobs.

Started well and as to be expected went down hill rapidly.

Front-wheel bearings, all new track rods inners and ends, and front ARB bushes allready to fit and after 6 hours of cursing and knuckle grinding ive just finished getting the track rods done , wheel bearing replaced but struts not rfeitted yet nor the arb bushes.

Track rods came off easy with the help of a fabricated tool, a bit of a fiddle to get a cable tie back around the rack boot end but it was done.
both front struts came of easy, then it went tits up with the bearings.
One bearing behaved and came out nicely with a drift and fluid, the other side was a total pain.
The bearing was solid and it was going to be a heat job, ok I thought, remove the ABS sensor get it hot, and drift it out, nope the ABS sensor bolt was solid and snapped, after removing the sensor there was enough of the old bolt left to hold in a vice and have a go at unwinding, nope snapped again this time flush with the surface, so now into a drill out and retap job ontop of the bearing...arghhh.
anyway , new bearing refitted to struts, new threaded abs hole and bolt, ready to be refitted in the morning , then the arb bushes.

Hopefully that will solve the remaining front end issues that have plagued the od bus for a while now.

Very impressive. At least you can do it out of the elements as if I attempted this job, it would be outside and I would be gutted and stuck if that happened to me. Well done.

 

[Charlie Farley]

What's been happening chaps whilst I've been offline?

I've been unwell of late and missed you lot.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Managed to get the alloys painted this afternoon, just need to clearcoat tommorow.

 

[Jamsmoo]

Managed to get the alloys painted this afternoon, just need to clearcoat tommorow.
View attachment 274638View attachment 274639

Look fantastic Rob ,can I drop a set of mine off


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[Rob Avant]

What's been happening chaps whilst I've been offline?

I've been unwell of late and missed you lot.

Thought you’d be a bit quiet recently, hope all is well mate.
Not done much to the old wagon of late. Had the wheels on the Golf refurbished last week.
Nice job on the LeMans, looking good

 

[Charlie Farley]

Thought you’d be a bit quiet recently, hope all is well mate.
Not done much to the old wagon of late. Had the wheels on the Golf refurbished last week.
Nice job on the LeMans, looking good

Thanks Rob, I'm much better now .

 

[northpole]

Good to hear you are alright mate. Nice job on the wheels, I didn't do anything of big importance to it of late just happy it drives as it should.

 

[Charlie Farley]

I organized a new LUK clutch kit from parts in motion and with some extra discount, it came out at £199.97 , well pleased with that.
DMF , not so much luck on that part yet though.

4 litres of fuchs gearbox oil for £40 too from opie oils , so that is another job to do shortly.

 

[northpole]

with the engine your building you might want to go for an upgraded one anyway... I wouldn't have bought an oem clutch at all. I'd buy with the powerhike in mind (from what i remember most 2.0 tfsi oem clutches start to slip at around 260bhp) something with a lightened SMF and maybe the OEM RS4 clutch setup (more commonly used than youd expect) but finding a lightened SMF at a decent price? possible but not an easy task. And why go SMF? simply because you'll never have a flywheel fail and you can keep upping the power and only need a better clutch and springplate.

 

[Charlie Farley]

They slip moreso in the 2wd variants more than the quattro's.
The LUK ones in quattros are fine upto 350bhp provided they are used with a new flywheel of whatever flavor one desire, when one starts putting 350 bhp through an old unit with 60k plus miles on it , then they fail, and of course factor in driving style, drive like a plank and any clutch will get a beating.

 

[Charlie Farley]

4 coats of clearcoat today, all good and nice and shinny , not that you can see it in the pic, Job done so now to find some tyres.

Not as good as a pro refurb but a good DIY effort and will be fine for my purposes.

 

[swisstony]

4 coats of clearcoat today, all good and nice and shinny , not that you can see it in the pic, Job done so now to find some tyres.

Not as good as a pro refurb but a good DIY effort and will be fine for my purposes.

View attachment 274663

Looks superb mate and a very professional hanging arrangment there . When you are not doing alloys, a couple of slabs of meat hanging, or pheasants

 

[Charlie Farley]

Looks superb mate and a very professional hanging arrangment there . When you are not doing alloys, a couple of slabs of meat hanging, or pheasants

It is amazing what one can do with 4 motorcycle tiedown ratchet straps and 4 coach screws..lol

 

[swisstony]

It also helps that you have enough space to do that, the rest of us poor saps have to make do with a shed ( or the spare room , lady wife permitting )

 

[Charlie Farley]

Yep, but I've not allways had space to do this sort of project, making up for lost time now.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Was toying with fitting a smallish 2-post lift in there but the plan was scuppered by the lack of headroom ....

 

[swisstony]

Was toying with fitting a smallish 2-post lift in there but the plan was scuppered by the lack of headroom ....

what about those scissor lift things I see all the time , would that work with the height ?

 

[Charlie Farley]

I will need to

what about those scissor lift things I see all the time , would that work with the height ?

Sadly not that well as the ceiling is not high enough to facilitate a lift, well not one that permits good access and not bending over all the time.
I could change the celing layout but then the upstairs space may be affected and some plank fitted two ruddy long and thick beams across to support things which doesn't help.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Will need to source a pair of decent 8mm spacers too to get the lemans back on and clear the brembo's, wasn't an issue last time but the A6 lemans have a lower offset, not by much but enough to create contact points.
But wont need rings this time as the CB is 57.1

 

[Jamsmoo]

It is amazing what one can do with 4 motorcycle tiedown ratchet straps and 4 coach screws..lol

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[Gmac]

Not been on here much myself recently either Rob. Glad you are feeling better. I’ve just been busy with work. My bus is going fine. Usual wash then the next day its filthy again with the weather a dirty roads. I’ve started on the front grill upgrade…A6 one bought off eBay and have dremelled it from the frame, just need to get a chance to get the front bumper from the car now, which is tricky being a daily.

 

[northpole]

A6 one bought off eBay and have dremelled it from the frame, just need to get a chance to get the front bumper from the car now, which is tricky being a daily.View attachment 274725

is this an oem one or an aftermarket one (S6 oem or just an aftermarket S6 looking one)... it is what stopped me from doing the mod and was even inclined to just buy ABS honeycomb mesh and make my own (still don't get why the aftermarket doesn't make those for both the S-line bumper and S4 bumpers... they do the fog lights grills so why not do the main front grille)