Build Thread JMR S3 Sportback Daily

[16VG60]

Hi all, I have had my S3 for three months now and have been busy tearing it down and rebuilding it back up the way I wanted it to be. Some of the tasks taken on we're not at all expected and others were planned upgrades. The work is reaching a near conclusion now so I thought I would share my story, for interest, info or just pure enthusiasm.
I bought this example from my good friend, who owned it from new having purchased it from Sterling Audi. A facelift S3 Sportback, 6spd in Sprint blue, with a fair measure of factory fitted options. With 54k on the clock we closed a deal at £14500, and I was a happy fella, having always admired this car.
I drove it back from Scotland to the warmer West Sussex coast, a pleasant drive but it did however highlight an immediate problem in that the diff was noisy. Still, I had an Audi extended warranty to cover this?
Following a closer inspection at our workshops highlighted my misplaced trust in this vehicle and its previous care. I should have listened to my own advice often afforded to my customers and looked before I leaped! So indeed I must take some responsibility in this unfortunate revelation. In addition to the failed Haldex diff I found the bonnet seams on the underside were rusting out due to poor factory prep, there was light corrosion found in the front and rear wheel arches caused by the liner rubbing, the rear floor pan had light corrosion at all the weld sites, the rear subframe was corroded and all the adjustment bolts were seized solid, the clutch was on it last legs, the gearbox main shaft bearing was worn to excess, the air con condenser was heavily damaged by multiple debris impacts, the Audi Techs had left sockets in the coolant reservoir, the dealer techs had also failed to re-fit all the retaining bolts for the cam belt cover after completing the renewal of same, the sills were damaged were dealer or tyre centre had used unprotected jack direct to the sill and not used the correct lifting points and so on it went . Well I was pretty deflated and wondering what I had done!

First stop Audi Dealer to present claim for the rear diff noise, and bonnet corrosion. After a fight with Allianz who underwrite the Audi extended warranty I finally got a new rear diff and glad I was too as these are £2700.00 to buy. The bonnet however was not a success as after Audi checked the paint depth they informed me that it was too thick and clearly must have been painted post build. I was assured by my friend that this was not the case so indeed did it get repaired by dealer before handover?? Anyway I bit the bullet and bought a new genuine bonnet and had it painted. I stripped out the rear subframe and replaced it with a good condition used frame, which I stripped, shot blasted and powder coated my signature purple. The frame was then assemble with all new components which were also powder coated. I fitted the new rear diff into the frame and this was made ready to be re-installed.

The floor pan was next for some love. This I stripped back and painstakingly removed all the corrosion back to clean steel. Next I etch primed the floor pan. Following which I sprayed it into body colour and finished with a coat or two of 2 pack lacquer. Once cured the painted floor pan was sprayed with clear waxoyl, never to corrode again!

With the nice new paintwork the old exhaust heat shield looked decidedly tired so I bought a new one to replace it. I also deleted the redundant battery box and powder coated black the metal capping plate to give it better protection.

Next came some upgrades to put a little joy into proceedings and inject a little more purpose into the build. We are agents for both Milltek exhaust systems and KW suspension. So indeed it would have been rude not to fit a non resonated turbo back system with sport cat and a Variant 2 KW coil over kit and anti roll bars which compliment my purple subframe beautifully .

Works to the rear engineering were completed with the fitting of re-powder coated rear brakes and back plates, new cross drilled rear discs and pads, and new brake hoses.

My focus now turned to the front engineering and the front end of the car was stripped off to give ready access.

The gearbox was stripped out and the clutch and DMF removed. The gearbox was sent to our specialist rebuilder to have the main shaft bearing repair carried out and a full internal check for any other works required. Meanwhile I fitted a new LUK genuine DMF and Sachs uprated organic clutch in readiness for some Stage 2+ tuning.

 

[16VG60]

The gearbox was returned rebuilt with a stronger main shaft bearing and without delay fitted back into the car, after the casing was fully cleaned and back to the way it should look.

My next job was to strip down the front hub and retain the coolant radiator. The front hub was subject to minor corrosion so I opted to buy a new item from TPS and use this to rebuild upon. Before assembly I treated the hub with waxoyl to prevent the same fate as its predecessor. The hub was built up with a new air con condenser, the retained coolant radiator and a new uprated Airtec intercooler. The new hub assembly now bolted into place, I fitted the freshly painted new bonnet and re-sprayed front bumper. The bumper also got a facelift as I was never very taken by the stock front grille. The answer to this was a xenons RS3 style front grille. Next problem was my car has front and rear parking sensors as standard and of course the RS3 of the earlier vintage was never spec'd with front sensors in the grille. Mmmm? I got around this by purchasing from TPS two rear bumper sensor mounts and glueing these in place into the appropriate location int the RS grille using Innotec plastic adhesive. The result was perfectly looking and mounted centre sensors that function as intended. I could have deleted them from the spec but that just seemed like a cop out.

With the bodywork coming together I wanted to get the front running gear looking a tidy as the rear. So to that end off came all the front subframe, lower arms, uprights etc and these all got the JMR treatment. The front running gear I then re-assemble onto the car along with a few more upgrades. I fitted the Anti lift bushes to the lower arms long with the KW V2 coilies and ARB. The front discs were replaced with cross drilled options and new pads. Wheels were next to go on and I had opted for 3SDM .05 staggers 8.5 x 18 front and 9.5 x 18 rear with Hankook Evo 225 and 235/40 tyres that give a very slight stretch. I now some will being jumping about at this option, but I'm paying the bills and it pleases me .
The last of my ordered engine upgrade parts then arrived, finally, the HPFP unit , the CAI kit, and the re-circulation valve, which were all fitted in due course.

Time for more upgrades then !
I sourced an RNS-E with the latest spec and LED screen for sensible money and this along with an AMI unit were fitted to upgrade the stock head unit and AUX plug combo. VCDS to hand and these were coded in and working to my satisfaction in no time. Next, seats. I had wanted a set of wingback a in my A4 B6 Quattro but never did round to it, so this time I needed to make sure they were fitted. I wanted to find seats that were from an S3 and therefore not incorrectly embossed with RS4 in the headrest. I had to look no further than this forum to find my seats and a thoroughly decent guy to do business with too. These I fitted and the smile just won't go away. I know some folks don't get on with them, but I think they are absolutely Brill and they are quite simply the best road car seats I have sat in.

By this time the build is progressing well and I am on a roll, trouble is the momentum is an unstoppable force and the budget, what budget, is out of control. Answer is, spend some more!
So if this car is to meet my standard then every niggle will have to go. So off comes the rear bumper and away to our bodyshop for repainted to correct three scratches from my friends poor boot loading skills. Next, replace all the boot side and threshold trims to correct scratched panels from same careless loading. Fit the-painted bumper and new top trim strip. Upgrade exterior lighting to include all
LED bulbs. Carry out repair to sills to rectify jacking damage, including re-treating with OEM underbody vynyl to keep the original look. Whilst the sill trims were off I sprayed the outside and inner sections of the sills with waxoyl for some future proofing against corrosion.
Most recently I was pleased to receive my Integrated Engineering uprated inlet manifold, which I had pre-ordered some months ago as it seemed it would from the moment I read about it offer significant gains.

Next step was to fit the Integrated Engineering manifold. I built up the manifold to have all the new deals in place and fit all
The components as required to make it a straight forward bolt on unit. One has to modify the fuel Injector rail with a die grinder to allow the required clearance around the larger inlet runners. I also decided to re-furnish the throttle valve as it was a little tarnished and I'm a big tart .

The manifold fits really well and yet again it is another superbly engineered IE component that will stand up to the test of time much better than a plastic item and give much improved air feed and distribution. This manifold also deleted the flap valve runner system, again improving air flow. Out on test drive I immediately noticed the improvement made by the inlet port clean and the manifold. My car was so much more responsive. To help prevent future carbon build up I am fitting an Aquamist water methanol injection system and oil catch tank set up.
Finally here's some pics of my S3.

 

[XFi]

Good price for that! Not a huge fan of the wheels but liking everything else. A lot of work done in such a short period of time hats of to you.

 

[S3Alex]

Lovely bits of kit from IE.

I hate to say this but WMI and a conventional catch can system will not stop inlet valve coking unless you divert all of the breathers into the can.

I've run WMI for a few yrs and a Forge catch can and whilst the can does get some of the muck it doesn't get it all.

If you "invest" a bit more and get IE's cam cover and a vent to atmosphere breather system like this it will do the job.

 

[16VG60]

Apologises to all for my typos and text inconsistencies. This build thread I wrote up direct on my IPhone and clearly it didn't get a proof read .

A whole section of the write up is missing which covers the carbon deposition build up in the intake ports. In common with all direct injection engines mine was no different and when I removed the inlet manifold it was heavily contaminated. At JMR we have blast cleaning equipment specifically designed to clean the carbon from these heads in situ. No chemicals are used, instead a synthetic media is blasted into the port and the debris is vacuum away simultaneously. It took me about an hour to complete the clean and now the intake are cleaned of all carbon deposition, in readiness to fit the IE inlet manifold.

 

[16VG60]

S3Alex, thanks for your feedback. I was looking at the IE cam cover. I was also planning to re-route the breather return from the cam cover, that links in with the EVAP emissions. Has your combo of anti carbon build up components had a positive effect on this problem? As I see it, if there is a marked reduction in oily waste entering the inlet and the water meth to present a fuel substitute to clean the inlet tract then the issue should be resolved to the greater part.

 

[S3Alex]

S3Alex, thanks for your feedback. I was looking at the IE cam cover. I was also planning to re-route the breather return from the cam cover, that links in with the EVAP emissions. Has your combo of anti carbon build up components had a positive effect on this problem? As I see it, if there is a marked reduction in oily waste entering the inlet and the water meth to present a fuel substitute to clean the inlet tract then the issue should be resolved to the greater part.

The problem is you have the crank breather plus the front cam cover breather and also a sneaky one to the rear of the cover that empties into the turbo inlet.

A catch can does get a good bit of this but the rear breather is a pain.

WMI is no help at all and I have plenty of pictures to demonstrate that.
The thing is that the system is off most of the time and even a port injected WMI setup will be the same.

The IE cover and VTA breather will stop it as will the port injector fuelling I use but I wouldn't recommend that!

 

[guile]

awesome work mate, absolutely love these kind of progress threads. keep up the good work...

the cai looks like a purposeful bit of kit. which model is it if you don't mind me asking please...

 

[freezebox]

How did you know the diff was on its way out mate?

 

[16VG60]

The air intake kit is an Airtec item, we deal with these guys and they also supplied my bar and plate intercooler for this build.

With regard to the diff diagnostic. It was brought to my attention on the initial drive home, every time I applied the throttle at higher end motorway speeds and therein loading the rear diff, I got a droning noise from the rear. This noise could be brought on at will in this way, so much that one could almost play a tune with the diff .
Dealer confirmed the fault and said had the car been subject to manufacturers warranty it would have been an instant no quibble replacement, but Allianz AKA Audi extended warranty put up a real fight. But they couldn't argue with my engineering based return of serve and a new diff was supplied.

 

[16VG60]

S3Alex, thanks for the overview based on your real time experience of oil emissions control on this engine, really interested in your findings. Does the VTA option allow oily mist into the engine bay and ergo to be drawn into the fresh air intake for the cabin? I run a Corrado 4WD 2.0 16V turbo as my toy and track machine, this car I developed a breather system for and the vapour is returned to the air intake to avoid oily smells in the cabin.

 

[S3Alex]

If required it can be adapted to direct vapour elsewhere.

On mine the breather filter sits on top of the catch tank.



There's nothing to stop that being run to somewhere that it won't get drawn into the cabin intake.

 

[S3Alex]

This picture was taken with both a catch can and WMI in use on the car.



Nasty!

It's one of the big pitfalls of the TFSi.

 

[pburv]

Well done mate..Would love to have free access to car ramps (and your wallet) ha ha. Great build thread.

 

[16VG60]

Alex that inlet picture says it all. I'm determined to keep thee ports clean and overcome the problem. I will be in touch with IE on Monday. I am going to ERL Aquamist on Monday morning to discuss their equipment and a set up that will offer WMI at all throttle openings., this should offer actual help to ease the issue.

 

[S3Alex]

Alex that inlet picture says it all. I'm determined to keep thee ports clean and overcome the problem. I will be in touch with IE on Monday. I am going to ERL Aquamist on Monday morning to discuss their equipment and a set up that will offer WMI at all throttle openings., this should offer actual help to ease the issue.

I think most will advise against running a WMI system from zero boost and in any case the system is progressively fed in usually from 0.5 bar up to maximum boost.

The volumes involved are small and I really don't see this is the answer.
Running petrol via port injectors will do the trick but it's complex on our cars as mine will show.

I do think re-routing all of the breathers will do the job as well.

 

[16VG60]

What you say stacks up logically and I agree, I'm always looking at testing and re-visiting commonly believed conceptions. Do you run WMI still and if so have you seen any performance improvement from it? Have you any photos of port condition as a result of oil emissions only control?

 

[S3Alex]

What you say stacks up logically and I agree, I'm always looking at testing and re-visiting commonly believed conceptions. Do you run WMI still and if so have you seen any performance improvement from it? Have you any photos of port condition as a result of oil emissions only control?

I see what you're getting at but you would need to be running a LOT of WMI to achieve the result of keeping the ports clean and I think you would run the risks of interfering with air/fuel mixing and so on.

The real benefits are keeping intake and combustion chamber temps down and raising RON values.

I do run WMI and both Storm and Syvecs are sure the benefits are clear with high power applications and certainly my own on the road impression is it works.

 

[16VG60]

The benefits of WMI are no stranger to me, so I am keen to get your impression of it, not having run it on this engine before myself. I think what we are saying here is give full commitment to oil emissions control and run WMI for the performance angle, and hey, if it helps clean up the intakes to any degree then take it as a bonus. I have an ongoing plan to upgrade the turbo later on, so all these ground level preparations will help.

 

[S3Alex]

I think we're both saying the same things!

The coking is a big problem and it does decrease performance at least as far as the bum dyno is concerned.

At this stage we're not timing the engine specifically for WMI nor using the ECU to alter valve timing so there is a lot more that can be done if I want more from it.

The thing is that curing the problem is costly.

 

[16VG60]

Totally agree, he right kit never comes cheap. It's just a shame that I can't get the IE cam cover in black, they offer raw and red only. Don't mind shelling out for my addiction but would be a lot happier if I could have a choice on basic spec.

 

[S3Alex]

Totally agree, he right kit never comes cheap. It's just a shame that I can't get the IE cam cover in black, they offer raw and red only. Don't mind shelling out for my addiction but would be a lot happier if I could have a choice on basic spec.

Could always have it anodised....

I think I made the most sensible choices I could at the time but there are so many more parts available now that I would have chosen differently now.

I'd have the Nortech kit for sure plus the current turbo but even that comes with compromises in terms of it waking up at around 4000rpm for instance.

The sheer grunt after that is amazing though.

 

[16VG60]

Would be good to meet up Alex and have a good chat about where you gone with your S3 spec. Where are you based? I'm in West Sussex. I feel we are like minded souls on this subject.

 

[S3Alex]

Thank you.

That would be a great idea.
You have PM

 

[Deze2014]

quality build mate would love to take on tasks like this but unfortunately my wallet wouldn't keep up to the challenge

 

[16VG60]

Thanks for your comment. I guess I'm fortunate in so much as I run my own VW Audi specialist garage and have all the tooling and facilities to play on my own cars these days, but it wasn't always the case. I've been a petrolhead ever since my 10th birthday when my cousin's husband took me out for a spin in his TVR Vixen S3 and from that day I knew what made my world rock .
My other toy is my Corrado 16V Turbo which is properly out there, www.johnmitchellracing.co.uk take a look if you like on our website. The spoils of working hard and now playing hard maybe. I never thought I would be able to indulge my passion in this way, but I suppose if you really want something you have to make it happen. Hope and encouragement for all of us.

 

[S3Alex]

Totally agree.

That's fantastic and you enjoy it.

 

[freezebox]

Good luck with this build. Wish I had the knowledge to do something like this myself. If you ever choose to sell your S3 in a few years time be sure to make an ad on here. I know for sure I would be very interested.

 

[16VG60]

Good luck with this build. Wish I had the knowledge to do something like this myself. If you ever choose to sell your S3 in a few years time be sure to make an ad on here. I know for sure I would be very interested.

Thank you, there's no better compliment than that.
No plans to sell as yet, indeed the plans I am entertaining are to further develope this car so that it still looks and drives like an S3, but is re-engineered to increase performance, and delete its few failings, yet still delivering sports comfort, compliance, drivability and reliability. The end result should be quite beautiful, and of course the knowledge gained along the way will be offered back to our customers who wish for their cars to be upgraded, be it for just selected aspects of our car, or indeed the whole package.

 

[freezebox]

Out of interest where did you get the boost gauge from? Been looking for one that fits into the stock air vent but can only find ones from america that are $400+

 

[16VG60]

The gauge is a P3 cars unit and plugs into the 16 pin diagnostic port, therein providing a whole raft of info from the live data. You can get these unit from PSI Tuning over here, but they do originate in the States.

 

[S3Alex]

John......Just had a quick skim through your site.

What a fantastic build that Corrado is.....I think you've done a superb job there,and I can see you'll have no trouble with the S3 from that.

That must be such fun to drive.....remind me of my old Escort.

 

[S3Alex]

Thank you, there's no better compliment than that.
No plans to sell as yet, indeed the plans I am entertaining are to further develope this car so that it still looks and drives like an S3, but is re-engineered to increase performance, and delete its few failings, yet still delivering sports comfort, compliance, drivability and reliability. The end result should be quite beautiful, and of course the knowledge gained along the way will be offered back to our customers who wish for their cars to be upgraded, be it for just selected aspects of our car, or indeed the whole package.

That's been one of the great things about this forum and VAGOC.

Members,whether running businesses or not,feeding back experience and packages to the forum,so that others get the same sort of engine and suspension,without all the pain.

I've learnt a lot from the entire process,and continue to realise how much more there is to learn,especially from the ECU side.

 

[16VG60]

True passion for engineering shared selflessly amongst fellow enthusiasts, this is what underpins all great motoring clubs and nowadays the forums, like this one.

 

[S3Alex]

True passion for engineering shared selflessly amongst fellow enthusiasts, this is what underpins all great motoring clubs and nowadays the forums, like this one.

Absolutely.

That's what sets the real enthusiast apart from those who tune something,and won't tell you what they've done.

 

[guile]

The air intake kit is an Airtec item, we deal with these guys and they also supplied my bar and plate intercooler for this build.

thanks mate, i'm familiar with the airtec intercooler and have one installed on my s3. i'll take a look at the cai now too...

 

[16VG60]

Order placed today with Integrated Engineering for their cam cover in black finish and a vent to atmosphere catch can breather system. Now all I have to do is be patient, not my forte, and wait for it to cross the pond. For the shear hell of it I have also bought an ERL Aquamist water meth injection system, following a full morning of discussion with Richard Lamb the top man at Aquamist. Richard is going to produce a custom set of WMI injectors for me, specially made to fit the Integrated engineering inlet manifold NPT ports. I will post more detail and pics as the kit arrives and is fitted in our workshops.

 

[mister.c.]

Another good read on ASN. Thanks for sharing. May I ask a bit of a back to first post question...
How does your friend feel selling you a shocker of a car?! I know its caveat emptor but having just 'sold' my 13 year old Leon Cupra to my brother in law then I went far in excess of what a seller should do to make him aware of everything, plus looking over it well for the time of ownership.

I would have been embarrassed/ very guilty selling something of this initial 'quality' to a good friend!

 

[16VG60]

I think it would be fair to say it had placed a strain upon our friendship and there was tension for some weeks. That having been said however, a friendship of some twenty plus years is not to be lost over a misunderstanding over engineering. As passionate as I am about my cars, people are what this life is about and without friends life is a lonely existence.

 

[S3Alex]

Order placed today with Integrated Engineering for their cam cover in black finish and a vent to atmosphere catch can breather system. Now all I have to do is be patient, not my forte, and wait for it to cross the pond. For the shear hell of it I have also bought an ERL Aquamist water meth injection system, following a full morning of discussion with Richard Lamb the top man at Aquamist. Richard is going to produce a custom set of WMI injectors for me, specially made to fit the Integrated engineering inlet manifold NPT ports. I will post more detail and pics as the kit arrives and is fitted in our workshops.

Good result.

Are they now producing them in black,or is it a one off for yourself?

I found their delivery time was amazing.....the items were picked,packed and sent out within a day,and over this side of the pond in under a week.
That's quicker than some of our homegrown offerings.

I had Aquamist gear on the Escort,obviously way behind the current gear in terms of technology,so you'll be getting the best.

I've got an AEM system,which has been totally reliable,and easy to run.....are you intending to run sequential port injection on yours?

Reminds me I need to have a trip back to Storm shortly for a few things to be done on the ECU......if you did think about it some time,the Syvecs can run WMI +/- nitrous as well.