The Project Pad

Glad you made it out there! Too bad you don't have those nifty 17" wheels on!! About how many cars were there and any other old school Audis?

I ordered the stud kit this week so I can put on the spacers to run the 17's. There was probably around 100 cars there give or take. Both sides o the track were open as well as the auto cross section. Next month I should have a clean car with 17's to run

Look, my car - Cartoon'dified!

i like.

Got some spacers, which are 20mm and will require some longer studs up front. They are ordered and hopefully will be here by the end of the week. I was able to test fit them though with the shorter studs and here's the results:






The original plan was to pick up some 15mm's, but the 20mm came up locally so I picked those up instead. I really like the way they look.

One Issue I am running into with the wheels are that they were custom drilled and with the studs they don't want to line up proper to slide on. My question is, can I go a size bigger on the holes and be ok? If so, Can I use a hand drill and go slow or do I need to have someone put them on a press?

I still like those wheels! Looks killer! I'm surprised you are having issues sliding the wheels onto the studs. When I switch to studs I didn't have a fitment problem.

Weird. Yeah could just be the hub. I only test fitted the one wheel so far.

What's surprising to me Darin, is that in the time I've gotten these wheels sorted out you have built and got your car running! You are fast!

Gave this thing a much needed bath and test fitted the wheels. Quickly found out that one of the struts is blown and luckily for me I have a couple good used ones to throw on before this Friday's local In n Out meet.

A few pics from the fun:

















Is there such thing as too many pictures? I love looking at this thing now that there are proper wheels on it I took some good(well as good as an amateur photo person can do) photos of before I started and when it's all done I'll take some good ones to do a compare.

The chicken wire stuff on the bumper is too small so I'll have to find something closer to what the grill is...Chris you still have some???

Love it! The car looks fantastic!!!

yeah the wheels make the car look 200% better!

Never too many pictures. I like to have a high ratio of pictures to text in my threads.

Looks great, Nick. I still have the mesh too. Darin picked some up a few weeks ago too. It is definitely a better match and holds up well with a coat of Plasti-Dip.

I'd say it's time to wrap those under headlight trims, yes?

Hybrid_Hatch wrote:yeah the wheels make the car look 200% better!

:stupid:

The car looks fantastic man! Those wheels really do set it off nicely!

Thanks everyone! It's amazing what the wheels did for the car and I can't stop smiling

On a different note, for the WantAnR8 experience in a couple weeks I am having a one-off polo embroidered as such:



I hope they like it

There are a few more punch list tasks to do cosmetically but hopefully I'm done spending my funds on appearance and can start saving for....you guessed it....Turbo! Current plan is to save over the winter, find a donor car and get all the parts ready for a swap mid-summer next year.

Went to a VW meet last night and what showed up? a double rainbow! There were some nice examples from the VW world there, my favorite had to be the diesel caddy.

Had a couple hours this week to clean the car up and get the passenger seat working. After searching and trying to trace the harness back to the mess of wires at the fuse panel I gave up and spliced a line right to the power wire. Seat works great but still no idea what is going on. I gave the leather seats some good cleaning and first round of conditioning. Hopefully after three applications they will be somewhat more supple than the hard rocks they were before. Also cleaned up the center gauges and plasti dipped the last of the wood trim in the car (only three pieces total, but still, needed to be done).

Checked the AC pressure with one of those Auto Zone things and there is still pressure, just not enough to actually do any cooling. Question is, do I go through and try to find the leak, or just give it a recharge for the trip so we are somewhat comfortable or deal with the heat and fix it proper later...?

Did a proper mount of my rigged up AC switch. Had to get creative with it because there isn't a Dremel tool in my arsenal (yet). I did however have a mapp torch and a small, cheap dentist style pick. A few heat cycles, some burnt plastic and 30 minutes later it was resting comfortably amongst the other switches.

Last few items to do before BBQ:
- Wrap the driver's rear-view
- Paint lower rockers
- Install Power Inverter (to fuel the iPod dock that will serve as our radio)
- Replace rear door cars with the clean, better ones in the garage
- Install wheel studs

Looking good! I need that steering wheel!

Was able to get a few things done last night:

- Replaced both rear door cards
- Tucked in loose leather stuff on pass side door card so it doesn't shed all over the place.
- Hooked up power inverter and ran extension cord into rear seat. (for the iPod dock)
- Pulled front bumper and fitted new grille inserts (still need painting)
- wrapped driver's mirror and was able to get the broken mount bolt out to then get it secured properly

Doesn't it feel good to just spend a few hours alone in the shop/garage and do mindless work?

Hey, this is your brother Jordan's friend with the E28. It was awesome seeing your car today. Just read the whole tread. Car turned out awesome. Good work!

Thanks! Sorry I didn't stop to chat, had to get back to work :( When can I come check out that e28 of your's?

Wheeljack wrote:Never too many pictures. I like to have a high ratio of pictures to text in my threads.

Looks great, Nick. I still have the mesh too. Darin picked some up a few weeks ago too. It is definitely a better match and holds up well with a coat of Plasti-Dip.

I'd say it's time to wrap those under headlight trims, yes?

Have a source for that mesh? Looks like a spot on match for some of my old stuff, haven't found a good match yet.

Nick, man your vehicle is well executed! (So is your thread with great documentation!

Thanks I got the mesh from Wheeljack (Chris). I think he may still have some kicking around.

PRA4WX wrote:

Wheeljack wrote:Never too many pictures. I like to have a high ratio of pictures to text in my threads.

Looks great, Nick. I still have the mesh too. Darin picked some up a few weeks ago too. It is definitely a better match and holds up well with a coat of Plasti-Dip.

I'd say it's time to wrap those under headlight trims, yes?

Have a source for that mesh? Looks like a spot on match for some of my old stuff, haven't found a good match yet.

Nick, man your vehicle is well executed! (So is your thread with great documentation!

The source is McMaster Carr, but like most things there, you end up needing to buy more than you will need. I had a 4' x 4' sheet that is mostly gone now, but has taken a few years to use up. It is expanded and flattened aluminum mesh.

Depending on how much you need, I also have some left...probably enough for one more car, but would need actual dimensions of the application to be certain. PM me if interested.

Attending BattleBorn this year was phenomenal. But, after driving Rudy’s URQ and then riding in Hank’s red death machine, I long for turbo! While this is a huge upside to the future of my car, the downside is… … … budget. How can I turbo my car and be able to keep the cost reasonable? I’ve searched and searched for a local deal a donor car but no luck. In a conversation with Chris he mentioned the option to get a 20vt bottom end and essentially go the “Ghetto 20vt” route. As of right now I am persuing this route and will do my best to document the parts list/procedures. I will update this post with the parts list and will try my best to keep the procedure in such a way that the next guy can follow it without digging through the thread.

Parts List:
- 20vt bottom end. This includes the stock pistons, rods, crank. (or shave off .020" off stock 7a pistons)
- 7a Head: Stock everything (valves, seats etc)
- AAN ECU
- Compression drop head gasket?
- Mixed matched wiring harness
- K24 turbo (whatever I can find that works)
- AAN Exhaust Manifold
- AAN Intake Manifold (modified by Hank)
- Downpipe: Either Hank’s or a hacked together AAN stock
- Injectors: AAN
- Coils: AAN
- Flywheel: probably use the stock 7a
- Tranny: Stock
- Head studs: ?
- AC Compressor: probably fit a Volvo compressor. I’m keeping AC! ☺
- Intercooler: I have an Evo 8 front mount
- FMIC Piping: Whatever I can rig up

If there is anything missing from this list please let me know. Over the winter I hope to get the block, paint it and get the wiring harness all put together.

You forgot new engine mounts. I have you covered. :-)