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My version of Fat Audi 80's wheel well sub woofer box. It's actually a Kicker 44KKP210, slim line enclosure and amp kit. I've added new face and top plates to fit the wheel well and profile of the body and carpeted accordingly. While doing this I wired in an Anderson socket to the face plate so I can hook up a battery charger without having to clamber into the car and lift the rear seat every time. The car gets driven irregularly so needs to sit on a trickle charge.
On to the rear speakers. Started by removing the disintegrating foam that covered the inside of the grilles. Found the cleanest way to remove it was blowing it out using the air compressor and blow gun.
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Then made plywood speaker mounts and bent the tabs down, trimmed and glued the mounts to the frame using FC Polyurethane and attached the speakers to those
Spent the last couple of days fitting mass noise liner in place of the old felt underlay. Not the easiest to work with and get contoured but I found careful relief cuts and gaffer tape helped quite a bit and it should settle under it's own weight with time. Also worked out how to remove the ECU in preparation for future mods and while it was out, installed a boost gauge. Got the front speakers in and connected too. The speaker grilles are some 3D printed ones I found on Etsy - not sure I totally like them but certainly more acoustically transparent than the originals.
Then I thought I'd take a look at seeing if I could fit the Recaro LXs I had in the garage. I had purchased some seat brackets online but on testing found several issues to deal with. First, the 415mm on centre holes in the brackets for the sliders wouldn't line up with the 405mm on centre mounting holes for the Recaros, so I had to weld in some new material to bring the inboard holes inward.
Then I found the centre brackets that slot into the pins at the front were out of whack and would have placed the seats at odd angles compared to the line of the steering wheel and passenger foot well, so these were removed and relocated. So after some fettling and messing about I finally got the brackets where I want them and the driver's seat placed just to see how it was shaping up. Now waiting for hardware to turn up to finish installation.
I had some queations when i was fitting boxster seats in mine. Apparently, the steering wheel and seats just aren't in line on these cars.... the closest i got mine in the end was about 20mm off. Supposedly about the same as original.
I had some queations when i was fitting boxster seats in mine. Apparently, the steering wheel and seats just aren't in line on these cars.... the closest i got mine in the end was about 20mm off. Supposedly about the same as original. It's a VERY un-german quirk lol
Haha. Indeed. I did wonder if that was actually the case but one of these was so far out, it pointed kind of across the line and the other was just wrong. I took pictures of these and other issue and sent them to the seller who replied, telling me that's all they could supply and thanks for the feedback.
I fear I may yet have some more head scratching and trial and error before I get these seats in...
Waiting for parts to arrive so I thought I'd get on with attacking the sticky plastic trims. After a bit of research I used a laundry oxy-clean product. Turns out the sodium carbonate in it breaks down the residue. Will treat with a protectant once dry.
That's a good top tip right there, they look to have come up really well. What protectant will you use on them?
Not sure - any suggestions? They are certainly a lot better than they were and best of all the sticky has gone. I've got Maguiar's Ultimate Protectant in the shed and it's worked well on the black trim. Thought I'd test it on the lighter stuff and see how it is.
1994 ABY Audi S2 | 1991 CQ20V - gone | 350bhp built Subaru Forester - gone | 2013 Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6
Gtechniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer might be worth a look, their products come recommended, but they are a bit on the pricey side 22.50 GBP for a mere 15ml! I haven't used this stuff personally, so you'll need to do a bit of research to see if you think it's right for you. You might find something better.
Do you think this stickiness has come about due to exposure to the strong Aussie UV rays you've got down there?
Thanks - I've used Gtechniq products before but not the Trim Restorer. I'll look into it.
My understanding is that the stickiness is caused by the plasticisers in the original plastics migrating to the surface. Heat, humidity and UV would certainly contribute to that and we've got heaps of all three! Combined with 30 odd year old polymers it's probably not surprising. On the up side, and having read about and seen the ways in which these plastics can go brittle, I'm not doing so bad.
After waaay more faffing about than I want to remember, I finally got these Recaro's in and where I want them. Not original, or correct colour I know, but right 90s period and I'm keeping all the original parts should the car ever be returned to stock. In the meantime, I'm going to take the stock seats to my go to trimmer and see if he's any ideas about improving their bolstering so I'm not sliding all over the place going around corners. Started giving the rear seats some Leatherique treatment.
I doubt the car will leave the family now though. My 15 year old daughter has already got dibs on it and expects it to be left to her in my will.
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So on to some minor repairs. I damaged one of the notoriously tight screws that have to removed to take out the back seats, so drilled it out and put in a nut insert - should do the trick.
Rescued all the A pillar trim tab clips from the interior A pillars and will now find a way to fix these to the inside of the A pillars ready for reinstallation once I've done the headliner and the windscreen has been replaced (still waiting for that to turn up from Finland)
Unhappy with the way the seat subframes protruded into the rear footwell, out they came again and I remounted them so the front member is forward of the centre pin bracket and moved the seats and sliders slightly back on the frames to counter. Subframes have been a royal pain all the way through - for the time and money they've cost, if I did it again I'd design new ones from scratch and have them fabricated.
Still waiting for the windscreen to turn up and have been busy doing other non car related things but managed to get around to installing a fuel pump relay ready for a bigger fuel pump. Wanted to try and keep the original block connector to the pump so after messing around with pin removal tools, extracted the relevant spades and wired them up with 25A cable.
Quick question - now I've come this far with preparing for a new fuel pump, am I OK to install a higher flow pump and run the car without further modifications in the short term? The car is headed for about 340bhp and therefore will be getting bigger injectors, turbo, coils, exhaust, intercooler, IM, EM, and map. In the meantime will the stock FPR regulate the potentially higher flow rate, or am I in danger of over-pressurising the system? Indeed, will I need a different FPR in time?
1994 ABY Audi S2 | 1991 CQ20V - gone | 350bhp built Subaru Forester - gone | 2013 Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6
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