B5 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro Avant
Discussion
3 Weeks ago i took the plunge on something entirely new to me. A V6 and 4WD. Already i have to say it is my absolute favourite car i have so far owned.
It was however, a shed...a good shed but still a shed.
It came on steelies, with white wall tyres (truly awful)! The dash board had been hacked to pieces by what one could only assume was a bear. It's not so much leaking oil from the rocker cover gaskets as it is pouring out of them (i'm thinking it as cheap rust protection) and the paint looked like to be an utter disaster. We won't talk about the exhaust system yet. The electronics seem to be slowly coming back to life - bit of a lottery with the parking sensors and i dread to think why the front speakers don't work.
However, after owning many BMWs and a few Fords and a turbo Volvo it's already my favourite car.
I paid £850 pounds for the pleasure, it had 118k miles and no service history.
The wheels had to go, so that was the first task. I managed to find some B6 alloys locally with good tyres and somehow subsequently sold my steel wheels with white walls for the same price? Result. Turns out it's not quite as much as a yacht as i initially thought.
Luckily it seems there's a few b5's being broken so i hunted around a little and found a significantly less broken wood veneer dash and missing trims etc.
Next thing was to make the paint less...s
t? Who knew there is some gloss red next to that foggy red lacquer peeling paint eh.
And finally to bring this post up to date. I ordered some pressed metal plates ( a necessity for any vehicle i own) new headlight bulbs and wipers that clear the water other then smear it across my windshield!
The little rust band seems to be solid so will fix that soon...next summer...maybe...probably not. Eh some red paint and standing 15ft away will do it.
Parts that are on order or have arrived: Mtec rotors and pads, rocker cover gaskets and spark plugs.
Future jobs: Rectify the disaster of an exhaust, Cam belt, speakers, paint, drill the airbox?? No? Bad idea?
But in any case. I'm enjoying it, it's really re-ignited my passion for cars again and im in it for the long game with it.
Will keep updating as i go.
It was however, a shed...a good shed but still a shed.
It came on steelies, with white wall tyres (truly awful)! The dash board had been hacked to pieces by what one could only assume was a bear. It's not so much leaking oil from the rocker cover gaskets as it is pouring out of them (i'm thinking it as cheap rust protection) and the paint looked like to be an utter disaster. We won't talk about the exhaust system yet. The electronics seem to be slowly coming back to life - bit of a lottery with the parking sensors and i dread to think why the front speakers don't work.
However, after owning many BMWs and a few Fords and a turbo Volvo it's already my favourite car.
I paid £850 pounds for the pleasure, it had 118k miles and no service history.
The wheels had to go, so that was the first task. I managed to find some B6 alloys locally with good tyres and somehow subsequently sold my steel wheels with white walls for the same price? Result. Turns out it's not quite as much as a yacht as i initially thought.
Luckily it seems there's a few b5's being broken so i hunted around a little and found a significantly less broken wood veneer dash and missing trims etc.
Next thing was to make the paint less...s
t? Who knew there is some gloss red next to that foggy red lacquer peeling paint eh. And finally to bring this post up to date. I ordered some pressed metal plates ( a necessity for any vehicle i own) new headlight bulbs and wipers that clear the water other then smear it across my windshield!
The little rust band seems to be solid so will fix that soon...next summer...maybe...probably not. Eh some red paint and standing 15ft away will do it.
Parts that are on order or have arrived: Mtec rotors and pads, rocker cover gaskets and spark plugs.
Future jobs: Rectify the disaster of an exhaust, Cam belt, speakers, paint, drill the airbox?? No? Bad idea?
But in any case. I'm enjoying it, it's really re-ignited my passion for cars again and im in it for the long game with it.
Will keep updating as i go.
Cheers! They definitely are a good looking car.
It seemed to have 101 different adverts, so was ultimately quite surprised it hadn't sold prior. Mechanically seems to be mostly okay and thank god, no obvious signs of rust. I guess the only concern is if and when the cambelt was last done. I assume by the general condition of the vehicle that it would have been? But it's certainly a job i'm saving up for to remove that worry.
It seemed to have 101 different adverts, so was ultimately quite surprised it hadn't sold prior. Mechanically seems to be mostly okay and thank god, no obvious signs of rust. I guess the only concern is if and when the cambelt was last done. I assume by the general condition of the vehicle that it would have been? But it's certainly a job i'm saving up for to remove that worry.
Great cars! I did 110k miles in mine back in the mid 90's. Mind you I successfully rejected my first one (ex management car, Sir...!) because the instruments were all over the place; and the windows kept lowering themselves -a little while - after locking the car!.
Audi were ok though and I had two days driving "experience" - hooning under instruction - at Donington as compensation! P52 FPM where are you now? (not that I want you back!)
Audi were ok though and I had two days driving "experience" - hooning under instruction - at Donington as compensation! P52 FPM where are you now? (not that I want you back!)
david.h said:
Great cars! I did 110k miles in mine back in the mid 90's. Mind you I successfully rejected my first one (ex management car, Sir...!) because the instruments were all over the place; and the windows kept lowering themselves -a little while - after locking the car!.
Audi were ok though and I had two days driving "experience" - hooning under instruction - at Donington as compensation! P52 FPM where are you now? (not that I want you back!)
blimey you did nearly as much mileage in 5 years then this car has done in it's life! Audi were ok though and I had two days driving "experience" - hooning under instruction - at Donington as compensation! P52 FPM where are you now? (not that I want you back!)
Seems like some great compensation. Interesting electrical gremlins though. Thankfully mine seem to be less prevalent the more it's being used.
david.h said:
Great cars! I did 110k miles in mine back in the mid 90's. Mind you I successfully rejected my first one (ex management car, Sir...!) because the instruments were all over the place; and the windows kept lowering themselves -a little while - after locking the car!.
Audi were ok though and I had two days driving "experience" - hooning under instruction - at Donington as compensation! P52 FPM where are you now? (not that I want you back!)
No tax or MOT since 2010 - beer cans I'm afraid!Audi were ok though and I had two days driving "experience" - hooning under instruction - at Donington as compensation! P52 FPM where are you now? (not that I want you back!)
G111MDS said:
Look forward to following the progress on this. Had a few B5s over the years, albeit 1.9 TDis, but still think the shape looks great.
Well, as soon as anything new happens i will add it to the thread. Yeah they're very smart looking things. Managed to completely forget their existence, find this and buy it within 3 days haha. Edited by G111MDS on Friday 16th September 15:19
Today did maybe drill the airbox - proper 90s renaissance. Sounds good, maybe not the best for heat soak..oops.
Wahay, some developments!
On last years Mot there was a handful of advisories and the previous owner went through addressing them, with varying levels of success.
Tyres - replaced with some white walls?????
Brakes lines - a tad crusty but seems also been replaced.
Oil leak - Rocker covers, attempted fix with RTV - resulting in an absolute mess which means i am using a litre of oil every 2k miles approx (at least its free rust protection)
Brake pads - Apparently whilst an advisory not a concern to previous owner. He got his moneys worth!
Upon purchasing i knew it needed pads, evident by the screeching of metal on metal. Sorry passing pedestrians, it hurts me more then it hurts your ears.
Anyway off to the internet to find some pads. Woe me, i end up on euros and find some EBC road pads. 11 quid, brilliant. 7 days later, box arrives and they're for a bloody A6. And for rotors in the 300mm size range, not the 288 like it said on their site. Yippy.
I latter decided with the persisted driving with the awful noise that i should buy new rotors too...
Attempt No. 2 - Mtec! Never failed me in the past and seems to be cheaper then other options out there. Grooved rotors (always avoid drilled imo, too bloody noisy) and their pads on order with a nice 10% discount.
As evident by previous posts i do do some spannering however, in my dyspraxic excellence i can make a mess of things and myself. So if a buddy is around and is generally a more adept mechanic...person, i will try and ask for their assistance and pass them tools/beer/witty humour whilst they do the work.
Not this car! I am very much so trying to get things done myself, and where have i started to do that? The brakes and pads. And all i can say is, ive driven 50 miles since doing them and nothing has fallen off, the car stops and there is no funky noises. I didn't round anything or break anything. Bloody miracle.
Whilst i was down in the wheel wells, was having a good nose around as unfortunately i have absolutely 0 service history. On inspection of things, bits have been replaced - most of the bushes that i could see looked healthy and a lot of parts are stamped with audi on them. I think someone cared for this car at some point!
I also found that there's some cable break somewhere which is why the front speakers don't work.
Finished the day off with an obligatory bit of sticker placement, starting off the shopping list.
When i next get some spare time, i will be doing the rocker cover gaskets and spark plugs. And chasing that broken cables
On last years Mot there was a handful of advisories and the previous owner went through addressing them, with varying levels of success.
Tyres - replaced with some white walls?????
Brakes lines - a tad crusty but seems also been replaced.
Oil leak - Rocker covers, attempted fix with RTV - resulting in an absolute mess which means i am using a litre of oil every 2k miles approx (at least its free rust protection)
Brake pads - Apparently whilst an advisory not a concern to previous owner. He got his moneys worth!
Upon purchasing i knew it needed pads, evident by the screeching of metal on metal. Sorry passing pedestrians, it hurts me more then it hurts your ears.
Anyway off to the internet to find some pads. Woe me, i end up on euros and find some EBC road pads. 11 quid, brilliant. 7 days later, box arrives and they're for a bloody A6. And for rotors in the 300mm size range, not the 288 like it said on their site. Yippy.
I latter decided with the persisted driving with the awful noise that i should buy new rotors too...
Attempt No. 2 - Mtec! Never failed me in the past and seems to be cheaper then other options out there. Grooved rotors (always avoid drilled imo, too bloody noisy) and their pads on order with a nice 10% discount.
As evident by previous posts i do do some spannering however, in my dyspraxic excellence i can make a mess of things and myself. So if a buddy is around and is generally a more adept mechanic...person, i will try and ask for their assistance and pass them tools/beer/witty humour whilst they do the work.
Not this car! I am very much so trying to get things done myself, and where have i started to do that? The brakes and pads. And all i can say is, ive driven 50 miles since doing them and nothing has fallen off, the car stops and there is no funky noises. I didn't round anything or break anything. Bloody miracle.
Whilst i was down in the wheel wells, was having a good nose around as unfortunately i have absolutely 0 service history. On inspection of things, bits have been replaced - most of the bushes that i could see looked healthy and a lot of parts are stamped with audi on them. I think someone cared for this car at some point!
I also found that there's some cable break somewhere which is why the front speakers don't work.
Finished the day off with an obligatory bit of sticker placement, starting off the shopping list.
When i next get some spare time, i will be doing the rocker cover gaskets and spark plugs. And chasing that broken cables
Tommie38 said:
Looks like a classic. Nice to see you rescuing it.
How similar is this to the S4 of the period?
Edit - apologies for some reason I thought this was turbocharged.
Yeah, would really like to keep it going for many more years. How similar is this to the S4 of the period?
Edit - apologies for some reason I thought this was turbocharged.
Edited by Tommie38 on Tuesday 20th September 10:58
No unfortunately only the S4 and RS4 are turbocharged in terms of v6's.
I mean it's 4wd like the s4? a slightly bigger v6 than the S/RS...i think it has the same steering wheel!
Was chatting to a friend about this though, it's interesting that a RS4 is 20k approx, a S4 is 10k approx but then the 2.8 quattro seem to sit down in the low thousands.
What The Deuces said:
I'm quite drawn to this for some reason. Bit of a bargain i think.
Whats the fuel consumption like? Low 20's?
Upon addressing so far the fairly inexpensive issues - it seems to becoming more and more of a bargain! Finally some luck with my 3rd 1998 year model car. Whats the fuel consumption like? Low 20's?
On my commute to work which is mostly 30-50mph and not too much stop starting and 15 miles i see 33-36mpg. Motorway driving seems to be a bit more towards 30mpg (don't think the draggy snow tyres do any good for that).
And then if i want to drive it with any enthusiasm a quarter of a tank in 40 miles is very doable.
Eeshk. 
Minor update today, would be doing the rocker covers but the misses car has decided to st itself and requires attention. Whoopy.
I searched high and low to find what the right headlight bulb was for a pre face B5 A4. Pretty much everything said H4, was it fk. Yes i could have checked but after my volvo im used to the headlights being an absolute nightmare to get to. So i chose ignorance and didn't check before purchasing.
Turns out B5 audis are an absolute dream to change bulbs on. Open the bonnet, pop the caps off and there it is. Literally 2 minutes to do both sides!
I wanted to change the dip beam bulbs as the dip H7s were pretty rubbish. However the separate H7 high beams are great?
First photo is of old bulb and second new. Not too obvious in the photos but in person was very different, thankfully.
I picked Osram nightbreakers 150%, seemed to be the most fair priced bulbs out there. Used them before and generally been happy with them.
Second quick thing was a new wheel cap! New wheels came with 4 wheel caps but unfortunately one of the springs on the original wheel cap was weak and after fitting the wheels off that cap went sailing down the road, never to be seen or used again. Yay.
Ebay apparently has new aftermarket ones, well i can now say - don't they're rubbish. It took me 10-15 minutes to get it to fit! I think i broke it too but fear taking it off to see if it has or hasn't. Schrodinger's hub cap maybe?
Least it looks okay.
Anyway, now off to rescue a mk6 Honda accord SpooooorrrT. Fix it and sell it i think.
t itself and requires attention. Whoopy. I searched high and low to find what the right headlight bulb was for a pre face B5 A4. Pretty much everything said H4, was it f
k. Yes i could have checked but after my volvo im used to the headlights being an absolute nightmare to get to. So i chose ignorance and didn't check before purchasing. Turns out B5 audis are an absolute dream to change bulbs on. Open the bonnet, pop the caps off and there it is. Literally 2 minutes to do both sides!
I wanted to change the dip beam bulbs as the dip H7s were pretty rubbish. However the separate H7 high beams are great?
First photo is of old bulb and second new. Not too obvious in the photos but in person was very different, thankfully.
I picked Osram nightbreakers 150%, seemed to be the most fair priced bulbs out there. Used them before and generally been happy with them.
Second quick thing was a new wheel cap! New wheels came with 4 wheel caps but unfortunately one of the springs on the original wheel cap was weak and after fitting the wheels off that cap went sailing down the road, never to be seen or used again. Yay.
Ebay apparently has new aftermarket ones, well i can now say - don't they're rubbish. It took me 10-15 minutes to get it to fit! I think i broke it too but fear taking it off to see if it has or hasn't. Schrodinger's hub cap maybe?
Least it looks okay.
Anyway, now off to rescue a mk6 Honda accord SpooooorrrT. Fix it and sell it i think.
Another day, another set of issues maybe fixed? Time will tell if my fixes are fixes or just stretching the issue out further.
Todays task, get the really bad rocker cover gasket changed. Do the plugs (119.500K) and maybe just add a few more holes to the air box. Maybe a lot more holes. Maybe too many holes - swiss cheese anyone?
Started pulling the plastics off, nothings broken! Hurrah. However absolutely everything is wet from oil. Cam cover comes off quite nicely which was a relief but that then showed me the pool of oil which spark plug 1, 2, 3...all of them were sitting in. Bloody audi v6s.
The above is the old gasket, it looks tired and certainly wasnt doing its job so im glad i went through with this.
Pulled the plugs, they were the bosch 4 points? Didn't look too bad. Didn't look great. Neither here nor there.
Unfortunately due to time, i did only manage to get the drivers side done but im less keen to get stuck in to the pass side as i know previous owner Mr. X
pulled that side apart to 'fix a leak' and used more RTV then i have seen in my entire life. Esshk.
But i did manage to clean up the rocker cover gasket a little, and remove some of the grime from the engine cover and bay!
As you might be able to see in the second photo, there's just a tiny bit more of red over grime. Quite frankly i don't see it anyway but i guess it means whenever i do put my arm in the oily abyss, there's less chance of me coming back out looking like i've been rubbing my limbs on a stove.
Once that was cleaned, i went about making my V6 sounding a bit more like a V6. I took a slightly earlier photo as quite frankly i knew the drilling after this wasn't going to be pretty.
All back together, she fired up on the button. Admittedly there was a plume of blue smoke but im not surprised as there was so bloody much in various places. To finish things off, i had a little help in ruining my paintwork courtesy of my cat Tinkerbell (no i did not have a choice in the name - all though it was a 'joint' decision. Apparently.)
Now the tentative wait begins, will there be oil on the floor...will there not.
Todays task, get the really bad rocker cover gasket changed. Do the plugs (119.500K) and maybe just add a few more holes to the air box. Maybe a lot more holes. Maybe too many holes - swiss cheese anyone?
Started pulling the plastics off, nothings broken! Hurrah. However absolutely everything is wet from oil. Cam cover comes off quite nicely which was a relief but that then showed me the pool of oil which spark plug 1, 2, 3...all of them were sitting in. Bloody audi v6s.
The above is the old gasket, it looks tired and certainly wasnt doing its job so im glad i went through with this.
Pulled the plugs, they were the bosch 4 points? Didn't look too bad. Didn't look great. Neither here nor there.
Unfortunately due to time, i did only manage to get the drivers side done but im less keen to get stuck in to the pass side as i know previous owner Mr. X
pulled that side apart to 'fix a leak' and used more RTV then i have seen in my entire life. Esshk. But i did manage to clean up the rocker cover gasket a little, and remove some of the grime from the engine cover and bay!
As you might be able to see in the second photo, there's just a tiny bit more of red over grime. Quite frankly i don't see it anyway but i guess it means whenever i do put my arm in the oily abyss, there's less chance of me coming back out looking like i've been rubbing my limbs on a stove.
Once that was cleaned, i went about making my V6 sounding a bit more like a V6. I took a slightly earlier photo as quite frankly i knew the drilling after this wasn't going to be pretty.
All back together, she fired up on the button. Admittedly there was a plume of blue smoke but im not surprised as there was so bloody much in various places. To finish things off, i had a little help in ruining my paintwork courtesy of my cat Tinkerbell (no i did not have a choice in the name - all though it was a 'joint' decision. Apparently.)
Now the tentative wait begins, will there be oil on the floor...will there not.
Good news! I fixed the oil leak. 
Now my consumption wont be measured in both oil and petrol
But back to the fun - Another day, another discovery.
Since i had the car, there was always a few audio issues. The massacred dash, the lack of working radio and lack of working front speakers. I thought this was all down to the previous owner butchering the dash to replace the blower motor. And in part it was...
Already got the radio working, as the aerial wasn't plugged in. Nice, easy, cheap. Good fix. Speakers was a bit of a head scratcher. For anyone that doesn't know, the concert system in these audis seems to have two circuits. The rear speakers are powered via the sub and the front by the head unit.
So, you'll understand my utter bafflement when there was still audio coming from the working speakers even though i had unplugged the speaker plug. Probably should do some more reading before i dive into electronics again. Once i worked it, i plugged everything back together and decided to just leave it at that
Today i wanted to dig deeper. I had at this point worked out the head unit was okay, so i begin to assume some cables have been chewed up in the heater blower installation. As im unplugging the head unit i notice that there are infact two brown plugs. And one has 4 pins and one has 8 pins.
AH. Lets plug the other brown plug into the head unit.
Why why why didn't i check this first. Yep. It works, i have 7...6 working speakers.
And actually you know what, it sounds sensible. Result.
I think the moral for me with this, don't assume with this car. Some bloody questionable work has been done. And even if it seems obvious, it still probably wasn't done right.
New adapters are ordered as i have some coaxial's sat in the shed, might as well use them. 5er posted.
I also decided to wash the car yesterday, so sods law. It has to rain. Probably helps hide the faded red...
Now my consumption wont be measured in both oil and petrolBut back to the fun - Another day, another discovery.
Since i had the car, there was always a few audio issues. The massacred dash, the lack of working radio and lack of working front speakers. I thought this was all down to the previous owner butchering the dash to replace the blower motor. And in part it was...
Already got the radio working, as the aerial wasn't plugged in. Nice, easy, cheap. Good fix. Speakers was a bit of a head scratcher. For anyone that doesn't know, the concert system in these audis seems to have two circuits. The rear speakers are powered via the sub and the front by the head unit.
So, you'll understand my utter bafflement when there was still audio coming from the working speakers even though i had unplugged the speaker plug. Probably should do some more reading before i dive into electronics again. Once i worked it, i plugged everything back together and decided to just leave it at that
Today i wanted to dig deeper. I had at this point worked out the head unit was okay, so i begin to assume some cables have been chewed up in the heater blower installation. As im unplugging the head unit i notice that there are infact two brown plugs. And one has 4 pins and one has 8 pins.
AH. Lets plug the other brown plug into the head unit.
Why why why didn't i check this first. Yep. It works, i have 7...6 working speakers.
And actually you know what, it sounds sensible. Result.
I think the moral for me with this, don't assume with this car. Some bloody questionable work has been done. And even if it seems obvious, it still probably wasn't done right.
New adapters are ordered as i have some coaxial's sat in the shed, might as well use them. 5er posted.
I also decided to wash the car yesterday, so sods law. It has to rain. Probably helps hide the faded red...
Today on "If ya squint, it's mint!" - trying to fix the shoddy 'rust repair' with a slightly less shoddy repair...
When i bought the car it had this weird different red band around the bottom of the boot window, took me a while to work out it was entirely just for the use of something like rustoleum. So whilst i commend the efforts of the previous owner, i have a few questions. Why is there so much filler? Why didn't you paint it vaguely the correct colour? and why why why did you ever touch this car?
And then with some sanding...
We found metal!! Hurrah. And some surprises too.
Some little holes. Sigh.
Anyway after i exposed the bad stuff, i did my best to rub it all down, treat it and fill it. I'm no body work primo but i should be able to make it look good from 5ft away for the time being.
I did not take any great pleasure using a screwdriver to remove the previous mess but it had to done.
However what i would say was the greatest frustration today was rain but with NO CLOUDS. Meant to be a perfectly clear day, hence my futile attempts at body work.
Skies cleared, car dried, lets get this done sharp.
Safe to say, masking up took a few times. A photo of the offending rain too.
Seems the paint i got actually is half decent, gave a good coverage and matched pretty well! The only problem in the equation is ultimately me.
Got some lacquer on it and the end result is, to bring it full circle back, if ya squint it's mint.
This is by no mean a permanent fix, as i probably will need a new boot lid at some point. However on reflection so many panels need attention. Whether its lacquer peel or fading but at least everything is now red. And that's my main priority at this point. I no longer have to come out in the morning and look at rust.
Have also got some new mats for the car, replaced some of the broken and missing interior plastic bits and also sourced a pleather bounder for the manual.
I have also purchased a terracotta brown interior to put in this. The one in the car is in fantastic condition but i think a reddy/brown interior on a red car will be great. (anyone want a cream leather b5 interior, no tears!?)
Will update interior bits down the line.
Finally, i also ditched the factory CD changer from the boot so i can have two cubby holes. Was also mightily impressed at the sheer weight of it (3-4KG). Wonder if there are any other random items like that which can be removed.
When i bought the car it had this weird different red band around the bottom of the boot window, took me a while to work out it was entirely just for the use of something like rustoleum. So whilst i commend the efforts of the previous owner, i have a few questions. Why is there so much filler? Why didn't you paint it vaguely the correct colour? and why why why did you ever touch this car?
And then with some sanding...
We found metal!! Hurrah. And some surprises too.
Some little holes. Sigh.
Anyway after i exposed the bad stuff, i did my best to rub it all down, treat it and fill it. I'm no body work primo but i should be able to make it look good from 5ft away for the time being.
I did not take any great pleasure using a screwdriver to remove the previous mess but it had to done.
However what i would say was the greatest frustration today was rain but with NO CLOUDS. Meant to be a perfectly clear day, hence my futile attempts at body work.
Skies cleared, car dried, lets get this done sharp.
Safe to say, masking up took a few times. A photo of the offending rain too.
Seems the paint i got actually is half decent, gave a good coverage and matched pretty well! The only problem in the equation is ultimately me.
Got some lacquer on it and the end result is, to bring it full circle back, if ya squint it's mint.
This is by no mean a permanent fix, as i probably will need a new boot lid at some point. However on reflection so many panels need attention. Whether its lacquer peel or fading but at least everything is now red. And that's my main priority at this point. I no longer have to come out in the morning and look at rust.
Have also got some new mats for the car, replaced some of the broken and missing interior plastic bits and also sourced a pleather bounder for the manual.
I have also purchased a terracotta brown interior to put in this. The one in the car is in fantastic condition but i think a reddy/brown interior on a red car will be great. (anyone want a cream leather b5 interior, no tears!?)
Will update interior bits down the line.
Finally, i also ditched the factory CD changer from the boot so i can have two cubby holes. Was also mightily impressed at the sheer weight of it (3-4KG). Wonder if there are any other random items like that which can be removed.
Edited by Scoobydrew95 on Thursday 6th October 15:47
From buying it, i knew there was an exhaust blow and i knew there was something funky up with what someone had previously done to the downpipes - however i was quite amused to see the uhh...repair?
I knew the car was missing the flexis, im guessing over time they had failed. To pass an mot they cut them out and welded something there as at certain revs etc the exhaust knocks about.
Here is what i found on Audi archaeology..
Ah yes, the infamous performance downsize pipe trick with free welding wire, holes and screws for good measure!!
Really a beautiful, sound job.
With MOT due end of November, i've for the time being used some exhaust paste to help with getting it through (I didn't take any photos, as no one needs to see me stroking some undersized pipes). However will be a replacement job i need to address very timely as that can't be doing any favours for the engine. (Any places in Dorset that might be able to remake the downpipe with the oem cat and flexi added back in? Or 200 cell cat?)
This is the first time ive properly got under the car, and other then the known oil leak from the rocker covers - it looks good. Everything is solid, barely even any surface rust. Lots of Audi marked suspension components, some looking very new.
(My face now knowing i haven't purchased a complete Lemon for the first time in a long time)
I can't remember if i've mentioned before but am waiting to go collect a Terracotta interior for this car, mines good and all but this one is better. Also gave
the car a clean/polish/wax as i doubt ill get the chance again before the weather gets really bad.
The reverse sensors have stopped working, so need to dive into the boot at some point and see if the buzzer is the culprit. I can hear all the sensors clicking when i put it into reverse which is something. Seems other people have had similar issues.
And finally a poor, in garage shot.
I knew the car was missing the flexis, im guessing over time they had failed. To pass an mot they cut them out and welded something there as at certain revs etc the exhaust knocks about.
Here is what i found on Audi archaeology..
Ah yes, the infamous performance downsize pipe trick with free welding wire, holes and screws for good measure!!
Really a beautiful, sound job.
With MOT due end of November, i've for the time being used some exhaust paste to help with getting it through (I didn't take any photos, as no one needs to see me stroking some undersized pipes). However will be a replacement job i need to address very timely as that can't be doing any favours for the engine. (Any places in Dorset that might be able to remake the downpipe with the oem cat and flexi added back in? Or 200 cell cat?)
This is the first time ive properly got under the car, and other then the known oil leak from the rocker covers - it looks good. Everything is solid, barely even any surface rust. Lots of Audi marked suspension components, some looking very new.
(My face now knowing i haven't purchased a complete Lemon for the first time in a long time)
I can't remember if i've mentioned before but am waiting to go collect a Terracotta interior for this car, mines good and all but this one is better. Also gave
the car a clean/polish/wax as i doubt ill get the chance again before the weather gets really bad.
The reverse sensors have stopped working, so need to dive into the boot at some point and see if the buzzer is the culprit. I can hear all the sensors clicking when i put it into reverse which is something. Seems other people have had similar issues.
And finally a poor, in garage shot.
A bit of a mixed bag on this one. Had many plans for the weekend but only managed to achieve a couple of things.
8:15, Saturday morning, suns shining and only one of my mirror demisters is working. Bugger. Anyway, i'm heading off to M Tech as they've got a parts car with a few bits i require including an interior which i desire as it's a bit of a rare colour. Always good to go to m-tech to chat with Adam as he has a B5 RS4 and then the parts car i'm slowly pilfering bits from. Very knowledgeable and helpful.
My buddy in his 80 meets me there, just to make sure i can fit a full interior into mine which it pretty much does but to save anything getting damaged i just give some to him to take, so his journey isn't entirely wasted. I then proceed to remind him how much slower is 2.6 80 is then my barge on a swift drive back to his.
We've both got some bits to do, mine is mostly interior related and his is...well take your pick. Safe to say we only manage to get some new ARBs on it.
As mentioned before, mine is also not so successful.
I found this Terracotta brown/orange interior which i fell in love. Perhaps a bit mental in a bright red car but it seemed so wrong that it was just absolutely right. Turns out, the avant i pulled this from is a very early one. Doesn't have Side air bags and the rear door cards are bloody wind up windows. fking nightmare. And i can't be bothered with dealing with resistors etc and air bag lights.
But this does give me the opportunity to give my cream leather some hide food and also clean the absolute muck from under the seats.
What made this more difficult is, that id already found someone to take my interior away and they'd already left. Double bugger. They were trading me for some new downpipes/cats and a cat back from an S4 - which he needed shot.
However thankfully, quick phone call later he was still interested in the 'new' interior and was also in convoy with a buddy and was happy to do a drive.
45 minutes later, we have a mini audi meet on our hands.
Audi 80 2.6
My 2.8 avant quattro
James' B5 2.8 avant quattro supercharged
and Aiden's B5 S4 avant.
Pretty cool to have all these cars together.
He was still thankfully, happy to do the swap. As likes collecting rare parts and all that jazz. They were also both a wealth of knowledge and great to talk to. My exhaust was also a good laughing point.
It was nice to have the sense of community about a car, and just endless help. Which will be required when i do the cambelt next month
.
We took a drive up to a pub in Sherborne, had a good chat and just a good end to the day.
of course, one car had to give us some troubles before everyone left. Resolved by tightening up the inlet pipe (that's the supercharged car).
Cracking day all in, if slightly disappointing with not getting the new interior fitted but can't complain in the slightest.
I also may have got my first ever speeding ticket this weekend too. It'll be something silly like 45 in a 40. Unsure how far the speed is out. Utterly my fault, was chatting to a friend and then spotted the camera van.
8:15, Saturday morning, suns shining and only one of my mirror demisters is working. Bugger. Anyway, i'm heading off to M Tech as they've got a parts car with a few bits i require including an interior which i desire as it's a bit of a rare colour. Always good to go to m-tech to chat with Adam as he has a B5 RS4 and then the parts car i'm slowly pilfering bits from. Very knowledgeable and helpful.
My buddy in his 80 meets me there, just to make sure i can fit a full interior into mine which it pretty much does but to save anything getting damaged i just give some to him to take, so his journey isn't entirely wasted. I then proceed to remind him how much slower is 2.6 80 is then my barge on a swift drive back to his.
We've both got some bits to do, mine is mostly interior related and his is...well take your pick. Safe to say we only manage to get some new ARBs on it.
As mentioned before, mine is also not so successful.
I found this Terracotta brown/orange interior which i fell in love. Perhaps a bit mental in a bright red car but it seemed so wrong that it was just absolutely right. Turns out, the avant i pulled this from is a very early one. Doesn't have Side air bags and the rear door cards are bloody wind up windows. f
king nightmare. And i can't be bothered with dealing with resistors etc and air bag lights. But this does give me the opportunity to give my cream leather some hide food and also clean the absolute muck from under the seats.
What made this more difficult is, that id already found someone to take my interior away and they'd already left. Double bugger. They were trading me for some new downpipes/cats and a cat back from an S4 - which he needed shot.
However thankfully, quick phone call later he was still interested in the 'new' interior and was also in convoy with a buddy and was happy to do a drive.
45 minutes later, we have a mini audi meet on our hands.
Audi 80 2.6
My 2.8 avant quattro
James' B5 2.8 avant quattro supercharged
and Aiden's B5 S4 avant.
Pretty cool to have all these cars together.
He was still thankfully, happy to do the swap. As likes collecting rare parts and all that jazz. They were also both a wealth of knowledge and great to talk to. My exhaust was also a good laughing point.
It was nice to have the sense of community about a car, and just endless help. Which will be required when i do the cambelt next month
. We took a drive up to a pub in Sherborne, had a good chat and just a good end to the day.
of course, one car had to give us some troubles before everyone left. Resolved by tightening up the inlet pipe (that's the supercharged car).
Cracking day all in, if slightly disappointing with not getting the new interior fitted but can't complain in the slightest.
I also may have got my first ever speeding ticket this weekend too. It'll be something silly like 45 in a 40. Unsure how far the speed is out. Utterly my fault, was chatting to a friend and then spotted the camera van.
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