B5 A4 1.8T Avant Quattro.

[K Simmonds]

I thought I should really start a separate thread for this car, I'm not 100% sure what to do with it but kinda feel it's too nice to break even though I wasn't looking for another project car.

It suffered a blocked oil pick up that destroyed the head, however the bottom end survived pretty much unscathed as when it locked the exhaust cam the belt snapped probably saving the bottom end. I had that out five years ago and cleaned the sump and oil pick up out and checked some bearings and the oil pump and it all looked okay.

I'm hoping I can revive the cylinder head off Dave's old 1.8T engine to go on this and do a budget rebuild. It came with a complete ready to fit 180bhp ALJ engine which is why I purchased it. That engine is destined for my B3 80 quattro project or my C4 as I've decided long term it would make sense to use the same engine in all my cars apart from the RS2. 1.8T's are plentiful and service as well as tuning parts are super cheap whereas K-jet stuff is insanely expensive. Though I guess they kept the AAH V6 Engine going right to the end of the run of B4 cabriolets.

So altogether I've now got three decent longitudinal bottom ends, two with heads on as well as a small port transverse engine which I can pinch the head from. I have the inlet manifold and engine loom from that car as well.

It's solid enough but does have one quite nasty dent on the nearside rear arch as well as a heavy scuff on the offside rear arch,
which is a pity as the paint is very good otherwise.



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[K Simmonds]

Unfortunately the drain holes in the scuttle blocked up so the near side rear foot well is soaking. Which it turn has destroyed the leather on the base of the rear seat and one of the backs. However the front seats and steering wheel etc are all in nice condition so I guess I could pick up a complete black cloth rear seat set up for next to nothing and bin what's in there. I've left it in the sun with all the doors open to dry out, I'll remove the back seats for now and once it's dry give it good clean inside.

On the positive side it came with two sets of wheels, the 16" ones on there have a matching set of Dunlop winter tyre's with about 3mm of tread on the front and 5mm on the rear. The original 17" wheels have four directional budget tyre's with about 5-6mm tread.

It's also only done 115K, the clocks still work properly with no missing pixels, it's got the optional Bose sound system, a functional sunroof and the air-con was working perfectly, the display is fine so I'm hoping that will just need to be re-gassed, the pump feels fine.

It should still have the service book etc and I seem to recall the clutch looked new when I had it apart and I think I replaced the rear main seal. It's got the five speed box which I actually prefer over the six speed and did drive very well.

I need to have good sort through all the parts in the boot to see if anythings missing, the front bumper and headlights are still in my workshop attic. They're a little damaged as the previous owner stuck it in a hedge, however we repaired the broken mounting tabs with Tiger Seal and the lenses are nice and clear.



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[Tractor Dave]

Nice
Flatout90 on the forum has a friend that broke a tqs. Maybe he still has the rear seat?

[Ian_C]

Nice one Kit! Love a B5. 10 years ago my 2.8q had the same scuttle water leak fill up the rear footwell. Thankfully I spotted it straight away, it was the middle of summer, so I parked it under my parents car port with all the windows down! If that car has been underwater for a while, hopefully it hasn't rusted anything like seat runners or seat belt mounting points?

Would be nice to see the subtle quattro badge back on the front grill - embedded in a hedge somewhere from what you mention!

I fitted the same-sized 17s to mine (B5 S4 Avus) and it drove sooooooooooooo much more sure-footed than the stock 16s! 225/45 R17 tyres are cheap too.

I'm sure you already know this, but centre caps for these Boleros are unobtainium aren't they

Nerd point - I thought the only B5 A4 model to ever get the 6 speed box was the 2.5 TDi? I'm absolutely certain the 2.8 never got it, and I don't think these did either - despite the alloys, seats and 180 bhp upgrade

[Jaswan]

Hi Kit.

She is looking nice!

It would certainly make for a good run around!

Let me know if I can lend a hand!

Jase.

[K Simmonds]

Cheers chaps... Had a full day on the car today and assessing engines... The head on Dave old engine is fine, aside from a smashed cam chain tensioner and loads of carbon deposits the head is perfectly serviceable. Lifted the cams out and they're in nice condition as are the journals. All the lifters feel good so all it just needs is a dam good clean out, followed by a full service with a new tensioner and it's good to go.

I didn't get as far as checking the bottom end out but I expect it's okay as well, though I think the bottom end I went over and refitted to the car is probably lower mileage. So I think it would make sense to lift the head from Dave's old engine and completely strip it on the bench before getting it lightly skimmed and deep cleaned in a hot dip tank as it has heavy carbon deposits and bit's of tensioner pretty much everywhere. Then spend a day lapping in 20 valves and fitting new stem seals, I think it's worth doing properly.

I could use the tensioner from the original engine as remarkably it survived. However the pads are pretty worn, plus it was oil starved so I think it makes sense to simply buy a new one.

I need to find the original injectors and fuel rail, they must still be tucked away at the previous owners house as I lifted the destroyed head there. Aside from those parts everything else is accounted for.

Apart from the rear seat dissolving every inside the car is in great condition, the damp hasn't done any serious damage to anything else. It still has all four original floor mats in great condition which I've removed to help the car air out. It's parked so it's in the sun all day with the doors and boot open.

I hooked the power up and went through everything electrical inside the car. The Bose stereo sounds amazing, it has both a functional CD player and cassette deck which suits me just fine as I'm still stuck in analogue world.

The ABS and air bag warning lights work and go out and all the auto check things seem to be flashing at me and beeping which means they work. The heater/blower controls operate perfectly as does the pre-select glass sunroof, finally all interior lights work, including the vanity ones behind the sun visors.

I got a little caviler on eBay and picked up a de-immobilised ECU that's tuned for 260bhp and 350nm with a either a K03S or K04 001 which I happen to have in stock... I just need some bigger injectors from the slightly latter BEX engine to run that set up.

I could use it in the A4 or save it for my B3 80 quattro. It only cost £80 and saves me looking for my other 1.8T ECU which I'll no doubt now find tomorrow.

I also have some injectors from the ACK 30 valve I broke but these would probably lean out by 260 bhp

Though I am eyeing up another billet wheel K04. Parts for these engines are so cheap compared to S2's it's easy to get carried away.

More sensibly i picked up a 180 grit 81-83mm ball hone to refresh the cylinders.

My hands were absolutely stinking from stripping Daves engine by the time it got dark so photos will have to wait until tomorrow.

A really major bonus is I have five 17" Boleros, all with center caps and decent tyre's, they could do with being refurbished to be perfect but they'll be fine as they are. I also have a complete tool kit, not particularly exiting but nice to have non the less.

And I have the four 16" rims with decent winter tyres again all with center caps.

[K Simmonds]

Turbo purchased after much pontificating got this for a good price. And can pay in three installments which helps spread the cost.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404694092736

[K Simmonds]

Hi Kit.

She is looking nice!

It would certainly make for a good run around!

Let me know if I can lend a hand!

Jase.

Cheers Jase...

If I decided to pull the current bottom end out and use Dave's complete engine I'll give you a shout, as that actually may make more sense, I need to have a good look at the whats going on in the crank case before making my mind up.

I would save a lot of time and money if i could leave the head on the block, I need to make a clean area to pull all the lifters out and turn the engine upside down on the stand and attack it with brake cleaner and compressed air. I might be able to get it clean in situ and if the shells in the bottom end look okay I think I'll use the complete engine.

I do have a complete ready to fit engine on a stand but I'm using it for reference to assemble this one.

Purchased a new cam chain tensioner to be on the safe side.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176930007460

[K Simmonds]

Nice one Kit! Love a B5. 10 years ago my 2.8q had the same scuttle water leak fill up the rear footwell. Thankfully I spotted it straight away, it was the middle of summer, so I parked it under my parents car port with all the windows down! If that car has been underwater for a while, hopefully it hasn't rusted anything like seat runners or seat belt mounting points?

Would be nice to see the subtle quattro badge back on the front grill - embedded in a hedge somewhere from what you mention!

I fitted the same-sized 17s to mine (B5 S4 Avus) and it drove sooooooooooooo much more sure-footed than the stock 16s! 225/45 R17 tyres are cheap too.

I'm sure you already know this, but centre caps for these Boleros are unobtainium aren't they

Nerd point - I thought the only B5 A4 model to ever get the 6 speed box was the 2.5 TDi? I'm absolutely certain the 2.8 never got it, and I don't think these did either - despite the alloys, seats and 180 bhp upgrade

Cheers Ian. Yeah,B5's are great car's and represent the last of the really well made Audi's in my humble mechanics opinion, not too difficult to work on, highly reliable if maintained and parts are super cheap for the 1.8T engine.. Really, what's not to like. s

Apart from the front arms, which can be a sod to remove. I'm going to drill my bearing carrier's to add a grease nipple's to the dreaded long pinch bolt so I don't have to fight it in future. I've inspected the current arm and they're all in decent order, including the boots and ARB links.

Now I have the history I can see the car was very well looked after until the brother of the mate I got it off borrowed it for a couple of years and didn't change or top up the oil. He's also responsible for the couple of bits of body work that need attending to which I think I will eventually get around to doing.

I just wasn't planning on getting another car. All I have to do is make a brake pipe and bit of exhaust work and my lovely 2.8 quattro Avant C4 would pass an MOT, the headlining needs redoing which I'm going to brave myself after watch a lot of YouTube guides by people like Ed China who know their stuff.

I think if I get everything set up properly I can do a decent job. If that works out I'll then tackle my RS2 and MK2 GTI myself, though the MK2 looks very straight forward compared to the Audis... My 80 has no head lining or much else interior wise for that matter and the A4's lining is in perfect condition.

Unfortunately there has been a hiccup in proceedings. Despite wearing safety glassed I got a couple of spec's of cast iron in my eye whilst porting matching a knock off RS2 EM for a customer on Wednesday. I thought they would come out in the shower, but no joy, it wasn't too bad yesterday and I thought they were working their way out. However, this morning I woke up in agony and my eye was constantly streaming and blood shot. So I phone the surgery to see what I should do they said "go to Spec Savers, they'll sort you our" I was quite surprised by this info. As it transpires all opticians in Wales have to offer to tackle basic eye injury's, so I got an appointment within two hours and the head optician got the bit out of my eye in no time using a local anesthetic and some pointed cotton swabs.

The metal has scratch my eye quite badly and there's also rust floating around that he couldn't remove, however this should now work it's way out and I have to give my eye applications of various special gels every two hours, including a hideously expensive antibiotic product...

So I am out of action for a couple of days at least. Currently browsing eBay for a complete set of sporty leather seats from a latter Audi as I can make anything within reason fit and the existing A4 front's could be used in my 80 to give it just a touch of comfort. That thing is going to be seriously quick and very loud as I've stripped everything I can, still got all the tar to tackle this year and paint the floor. I saved over 25kg's from my 3B doing this and I reckon there's even more tar in a B3 80, will stick it all in a box and weigh it once done. Though I may fit a base model carpet to protect the wiring and central locking pipe work, Dave may have a lead on one at his local breakers. Their very thin unlike S2 rugs so weigh less than 5kg's which I can live with.

I will even be doing away with the B3 80' ABS when I move the battery to the boot and cut the tray out, as long as I get rid of all traces of the system it will pass an MOT. I reckon it's the best base to use for a light weight B3/4 project, the rear bulkhead add's a significant amount of strength to the shell, it's got really simple suspension that works just fine and they're already very light. My target is 1000kg's, I got my S2 down to 1330kgs with an 85kg me in it, plus 3/4 of a tank of fuel, so that was around 1250kgs.

I think I can get the B3 close to 1000kg by keeping things very simple. I'm sticking with the close ratio 115bhp 2.0 8 valve gearbox which is designed for 120mph at around 5800rpm. So it's going to be wild with double the power.

Right I shall leave my waffle there as it appears I've just purchased a C6 S-Line leather interior for £150 by making a cheeky offer. It's complete with door cards and Bose speakers, which I'm sure I can sell on eBay and at least make my money back if not a profit.

[K Simmonds]

Result! Scored a complete black leather S-line interior from a C6, door cards. arm rests, the lot for less than £250 including delivery and I can pay for it in six installments for a very small fee using eBay's new Kalma payment method.

Getting it delivered added £50 to the cost but it would have cost that in fuel to go and get it plus it now simply arrives on my door step, probably on Wednesday.

It's going to take quite a bit of time to make it fit nicely, but I'm sure I can do it having done such projects for customers at the classic specialist I worked with for well over 10 years.

So now the interior is going to be well sorted and I'll have super comfort in both my A4 and my B3 80, plus I like leather as it's easy to keep clean and my hands, arms and cloths are often stinking with oil.

The door cards will be sold probably making most the money back. if not more.... I need to get eBaying again anyway, I've got over £500 worth of Corrado parts in a couple of boxes in the house ready to list. Not to mention the full black leather interior I need to clean and feed to get it ready for resale.

[K Simmonds]

The seats are also heated which is a nice bonus and hopefully there will be space for the arm rest in the front. Fitting is going to require a bit of cutting and welding but I expected that if going for something more modern. As this car is going to become my daily I'd like it to be as comfy as possible.

Plus replacing the back seat with an original is pretty much impossible and repairing it would probably cost what I just paid for a complete interior.

[K Simmonds]

Just in case someone hasn't read my 80 thread here is a major up date...

It dawned on me I may as well fit the complete, plug and play AJL engine as I'm using a transverse head on my B3 80 project. Durrr...

I'm currently have a break from moving cars about, as only the 80 runs and I use that to tow cars about but cant run it for too long as it doesn't hold water/coolant very well

The final arrangement car and work wise will be the MK2 Golf GTI facing the left garage door awaiting a return to stock Didgifant from G60.. That's going to be a totally OE car., no rust and never welded which a great interior and good history..
I may end experimenting with the charger assembly on 1.8T on a stand. Awaiting another phase of my B3 80 project.

My A4 will be on the right facing the garage door, there is a 130k miles engine in there ready to go straight in,

So am going to pull the bottom end out of the A4 as that's been sat in the open with the bores covered with white grease and a towel over it for seven years, it was under the bonnet so had a fairly good amount of protection...

This is far from ideal So will be refreshing the block properly, pistons out and a quick pass with a ball hone.with a ball hone.and I may as well clean the ring lands.

For now my B3 will sit in the middle awaiting it's conversion which could be something wild, it's going to be using a GT2871 knock off at the very least.
My Billet K04 for the A4 arrives tomorrow which I'm quite excited about.

This MaxSpeeding stuff is great quality despite the dreadful name and obviously being Chinese manufactured....

I need some BEX injectors to run 260bjhp/350 nm, or I maybe able to change the FPR to up the fuel pressure to keep the ECU happy.

Zeitronix should stop me from blowing it up.

[K Simmonds]

I've also decided to give the interior a serious face lift as there's virtually no chance of me finding an original one, well there is but it's a complete interior for £600 which most certainly not paying just to get a back seat.

It's a 25 year old car so many have probably met their demise at a breakers yards when scrap steel was a crazy price.

So I put a silly offer(£150 in on this)..and it got accepted with delivery being another £50, so it;ll arrive on a pallet on Wednesday. However, it comes with door cards fitted with Bose speakers which I can sell as singles or perhaps in pairs for £50 a shot, which is cheap! the drivers door card with all the switch gear is probably worth more than £100, especially if I sell the switches separately.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356499797278

It will take a bit of ingenuity to make it fit nicely but I;m not bothered, I've tackled much more difficult swaps at work. As long a you can weld anything roughly the right shape will fit. These are the C6 A6 S-Line front seats there heated and have air-bag in them...

And a real bonus is I can use the two half leather A4 seats in my B3 80.

[K Simmonds]

My K04 has arrived should be a straight fit using the cast performance manifold I have in stock.

Typing with one eye closed is very difficult, so my posts will be very brief






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[K Simmonds]

Now I've recovered from my burns I'd really like to get on with this car and actually get it back on the road with a decent power upgrade. 260bhp is more than enough to make for a very quick car, the map was done with a K03S so the Billet K04 I've got should work well with it.

I've been sorting out my workshop, tools and vast spares hoard for the past few days, getting stuff in the attic etc. I dug the front end out and found it has the xenon headlight's which are quite a rare option and front bumper isn't that badly damaged, nothing I can't sort with my recently acquired plastic repair kit.

I'm really struggling to make my mind up regarding which engine to put in this car. I have the complete motor ready to go on a stand, however I've already fitted a fully serviced bottom end to the car and got all that hooked up. Aircon, PAS and water pumps are fitted along with the starter motor etc. I even fitted a new rear crank seal when I installed it back in 2019 and the clutch and flywheel are virtually new.

I know I've got the complete engine I could simply whack in but it pains me undoing a load of work I've already done and taken a lot of care over.

All I really need to do is clean and service the head I got off the engine from Dave and plonk it on the block in the car. Fit a new cambelt kit, which the complete engine also needs and the job would be done.

It's also the cars original bottom end which I know has only done 115K and the bearing shells still look like new despite the top end locking up due to oil starvation. The oil pump is fine and I think I even fitted a new pick up as TPS still had them back then.

Anyway, I'm doing a couple of jobs for customers this weekend so will ponder whilst I'm doing the work on them. I've got a 7A cambelt to do as well as all new brakes and a service on a B6. Doing a bit of varied mechanical work will get my brain functioning more logically as well as earn me some welcome extra cash.

I've just treated myself to a complete set of OE 1998 B5 RS4 blue weave carbon trims for the doors and dash. Got a set with a couple of tiny imperfections which will probably polish out with a seriously cheeky eBay offer...

I've never been a fan of the silver trims, one of which is missing so I thought sod it as I've just had a nice insurance payout.
I was going to paint the originals satin black but having the proper carbon items for £100 was too good a deal to miss out on.

As it's now quite a rare model I'd really like to retain the half leather seats, partly for originality but I also like the appearance and feel of them, they're really comfortable. I've removed all parts of the rear seats and the lot is knackered, even the side bolsters are cracking. All the leather has gone brittle and is falling apart especially at the bottom.

Getting it re-trimmed is out of the question, it would probably end up costing the thick end of a grand as the seat backs are really complex due to the deeply recessed head rests. Thankfully the door cards are still okay, just, the nearside one is damaged but is responding well to leather feed and will recover, the offside one is fine and just needs a clean.

The breaker I got the carbon trims from has got a complete mint set for sale which I'm watching and the price is slowly coming down. I did ask if they'd split it but that was a resounding "no"which I completely understand.

I can make the C6 heated S-line seats fit really nicely, the rear seat backs are virtually the same dimensions as the originals, even the catches and mounting points are in the same place or within half an inch. I can make the super comfortable fronts fit fairly easily but it would mean permanent modification. The airbag wiring is all the same which is handy but I'd have to get a pin out diagram to workout how to wire up the heating which would be a nice feature.
.
Regardless I'm going to list the C6 leather door card's separately on eBay this weekend to recoup what I paid for the complete interior. I've checked sold listings and they sell for well over £50 a shot the drivers one being worth closer to £100. and I've seen the arm rest which I don't need sell for around the same amount.

My other and probably more logical option for seating is to pick a set from a B5 S4, they're fairly common and not expensive, I have my eye on a mint set on eBay for £300 and I've seen them sell for as little as £200. Obviously they would be a straight fit and be more in keeping with the car.

That said I've always personalised my cars and those C6 S-Line seats are not only lovely and comfortable they're also mint and the range of adjustment is amazing, they go very low which makes fitting them practical though as I say permanent .

They're also not particularly heavy should I decide to put them in my B3 80. And if at the end of the day I decide not to use them at all I'll double my money by splitting the set up to sell on.





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