Hi guys, been a lurker on the forum for years (and in fact bought my last car on here) but have never made a project thread. Please bear with me as this first post will have a lot of catch-up and be rather wordy and pic-heavy.
I'm Ben, living in Georgia in the USA. Not a lot of old Audis down here...
About a year ago I imported an ABY S2 Avant from the UK. I spent a lot of time and money on it (coilovers, steering rack, euro Cabriolet recaros, RS2 bits etc) but I never really fit in it super well. I am relatively tall with a long torso. I guess that's one problem with buying a car sight unseen from another country, lol! Was a great car and a fun experience. Ended up selling it to a buddy of mine who really wanted the car.
Off to a good home...
He brought me a partial trade as part of the deal.
1991 Coupe Quattro that's already got some goodies. I've owned 4 1995 S6 (two sedans, two Avants), an S2 Avant, and a C5 RS6 but never a CQ.
- 191k miles
- wrapped 3M gloss Hot Rod Red over tornado paint, which was certainly a choice
- zero rust, originally from California
- 7a running an EMU Classic standalone
- 5 lug conversion (s2 hubs?)
- S2 front bumper without headlight washers
- H&R springs
- rear sway bar (I think RS2)
- Sparco R100 seats and Sparco steering wheel with hub adapter
- OZ Superturismo wheels
- some sort of exhaust?
- short shifter
- lots and lots of parts, including AAN block.
- extra VEMS PNP ECU for AAN
I ended up loving how the car drove. It probably helped that my head didn't hit the ceiling -- The Sparco seats made a big difference with the driving position.
The Sparco steering wheel was hideous and looked out of place in the interior so it had to go. Luckily I had a euro 3 spoke wheel in the garage that was a direct fit.
Before:
After (also found some floor mats that kinda fit, out of a 1996 Infiniti J30 I used to own)
Also cannibalized the Euro S8 Avus that I got on the S2. I really think black wheels looked awful on the bright red paint.
Now begins the actual project part. There is a pretty weird backstory behind this car. It was modified around 2017 with wheels, bumper, wrap, standalone, etc. Eventually it sold on Bringatrailer and was purchased by someone in Vermont. This guy dropped the car off at a shop to be AAN swapped, and while the shop was gathering parts he unfortunately passed away. My buddy bought the car from the guy's father and picked up all the AAN parts from the shop.... and now I've ended up with everything. Boxes and boxes full.
AAN block:
So...... here's where I assessed everything that came with the car and ran into some problems.
- the block had been torn down (I guess to inspect it?) and everything was rattling around in a box so the main and rod bearings were ruined.
- Missing a bunch of components from the head. In fact the head was totally bare with nothing except for valve guides.
- Missing valve cover
Luckily a friend had a head he pulled off his rally car that I'm currently having built. It's already quite heavily ported. Just needed a valve job.
Ceramic polished 3B intake manifold and boost pipe arrived...
Rods and head studs....
After a couple nights working on it off and on, the 7a was out! My buddy came to help and pose for the pic.
Rotating assembly put together -- polished crankshaft, new bearings, forged rods w/ARP hardware.
At this point this brings us to last weekend. I removed the battery box (will clean up later when wiring harness is out).
Pulled the dash and the heater box. What a pain! In case anyone is about to attempt this, make sure you get the two bolts near the blower motor inlet in the cowl.... I was scratching my head trying to figure out why it wouldn't come out.
Here's the current situation. What a pain trying to remove the 7a harness. I have a 3B S2 harness I will likely be converting to coil on plug AAN spec to go in the car, but if anyone has an ABY LHD harness for sale let me know.... also, anyone have any tips and tricks for getting the 7a harness out?
Here is a brief recap of the plans:
- H beam forged rods
- ARP head studs
- Ferrea valves in head
- AAN cams (I like quick spool)
- larger turbo eventually, but will run the stock one now
- RS2 rep log manifold
- 3B water manifold
- Deka 630 injectors
- V belt setup for now.
- 3b intake manifold
- Reusing the EMU Classic the car had installed already
Anyway, that brings us up to now. Been trying to get things done quickly as I'd love to have the car at a local show here in late May. Probably not realistic, but it keeps me motivated. Thanks for reading!
I'm Ben, living in Georgia in the USA. Not a lot of old Audis down here...
About a year ago I imported an ABY S2 Avant from the UK. I spent a lot of time and money on it (coilovers, steering rack, euro Cabriolet recaros, RS2 bits etc) but I never really fit in it super well. I am relatively tall with a long torso. I guess that's one problem with buying a car sight unseen from another country, lol! Was a great car and a fun experience. Ended up selling it to a buddy of mine who really wanted the car.
Off to a good home...
He brought me a partial trade as part of the deal.
1991 Coupe Quattro that's already got some goodies. I've owned 4 1995 S6 (two sedans, two Avants), an S2 Avant, and a C5 RS6 but never a CQ.
- 191k miles
- wrapped 3M gloss Hot Rod Red over tornado paint, which was certainly a choice
- zero rust, originally from California
- 7a running an EMU Classic standalone
- 5 lug conversion (s2 hubs?)
- S2 front bumper without headlight washers
- H&R springs
- rear sway bar (I think RS2)
- Sparco R100 seats and Sparco steering wheel with hub adapter
- OZ Superturismo wheels
- some sort of exhaust?
- short shifter
- lots and lots of parts, including AAN block.
- extra VEMS PNP ECU for AAN
I ended up loving how the car drove. It probably helped that my head didn't hit the ceiling -- The Sparco seats made a big difference with the driving position.
The Sparco steering wheel was hideous and looked out of place in the interior so it had to go. Luckily I had a euro 3 spoke wheel in the garage that was a direct fit.
Before:
After (also found some floor mats that kinda fit, out of a 1996 Infiniti J30 I used to own)
Also cannibalized the Euro S8 Avus that I got on the S2. I really think black wheels looked awful on the bright red paint.
Now begins the actual project part. There is a pretty weird backstory behind this car. It was modified around 2017 with wheels, bumper, wrap, standalone, etc. Eventually it sold on Bringatrailer and was purchased by someone in Vermont. This guy dropped the car off at a shop to be AAN swapped, and while the shop was gathering parts he unfortunately passed away. My buddy bought the car from the guy's father and picked up all the AAN parts from the shop.... and now I've ended up with everything. Boxes and boxes full.
AAN block:
So...... here's where I assessed everything that came with the car and ran into some problems.
- the block had been torn down (I guess to inspect it?) and everything was rattling around in a box so the main and rod bearings were ruined.
- Missing a bunch of components from the head. In fact the head was totally bare with nothing except for valve guides.
- Missing valve cover
Luckily a friend had a head he pulled off his rally car that I'm currently having built. It's already quite heavily ported. Just needed a valve job.
Ceramic polished 3B intake manifold and boost pipe arrived...
Rods and head studs....
After a couple nights working on it off and on, the 7a was out! My buddy came to help and pose for the pic.
Rotating assembly put together -- polished crankshaft, new bearings, forged rods w/ARP hardware.
At this point this brings us to last weekend. I removed the battery box (will clean up later when wiring harness is out).
Pulled the dash and the heater box. What a pain! In case anyone is about to attempt this, make sure you get the two bolts near the blower motor inlet in the cowl.... I was scratching my head trying to figure out why it wouldn't come out.
Here's the current situation. What a pain trying to remove the 7a harness. I have a 3B S2 harness I will likely be converting to coil on plug AAN spec to go in the car, but if anyone has an ABY LHD harness for sale let me know.... also, anyone have any tips and tricks for getting the 7a harness out?
Here is a brief recap of the plans:
- H beam forged rods
- ARP head studs
- Ferrea valves in head
- AAN cams (I like quick spool)
- larger turbo eventually, but will run the stock one now
- RS2 rep log manifold
- 3B water manifold
- Deka 630 injectors
- V belt setup for now.
- 3b intake manifold
- Reusing the EMU Classic the car had installed already
Anyway, that brings us up to now. Been trying to get things done quickly as I'd love to have the car at a local show here in late May. Probably not realistic, but it keeps me motivated. Thanks for reading!
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