The Project Pad

PRY4SNO wrote:This front skid plate... it's going to bolt right up to a stock Cq, RIGHT??!!

Well... not really, sorry :-/ My plan is that it is going to attache to some brackets off the front subframe and come under the front plastic bumper and attache to the lower part of the tube bumper. It is not going to be massive, just enough to protect the oil pan and front subframe from getting nailed.

I figured.

Can't blame a guy for holding out hope though...

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

OK, time for some thoughts and ramblings on engine & gearing options.

In current format the car runs and drives great, but in my limited adventures so far (playing in a construction site with some good steep dirt hills) I found myself wanting for a low speed/high torque gear as I was essentially revving up the engine and dumping the clutch to get over some obstacles. In considering my options I compiled the following data from around the web:



basically the 1st and 2nd gear from a b5 1.8T 01a transmission is only very slightly shorter, and 3-5 are identical. When you calculate out the difference it comes out to a delta of 3 MPH at 6,500 rpm which hardly seems worth the effort. Without doing something radical like having custom gears and shafts made for the 01a or trying to adapt a full set of subaru running gear with a real transfer case, I am left looking at other combinations of engine and transmission which would be better suited for the intent of this car.

It just so happens that the day after playing with this car in the dirt, I was out in my V8 swapped CQ playing on the street. Naturally I started thinking about how amazing it would be to have that kind of torque in the lifted car. Then I looked at my spreadsheet with the total cost of that swap and quickly put the idea out of my head. LOL

OK, so if not a V8 then the natural next ideas were (in this order) 5 cylinder 20vt, 2.8 VR6, or 1.8T. AAN/3B is fairly simple but also becoming harder to find and pricy even for a stock motor. 2.8 vr6 is completely do-able but heavy, somewhat more complicated and expensive with adaptation, wiring, engine mounts, etc. That leaves me with thinking about an AEB 1.8T on stock engine management. The AEB is cheap, plentiful, makes great torque (especially with a basic chip tune), and a complete b5 donor car would be very easy to source for ~$500 where I live.

Thinking further outside the box, I think this car is likely one of the rare times when an automatic is actually more fun and a lot more functional than a manual transmission. An automatic will allow me much better control at low speed and I can tune lockup to the motor by using a higher stall torque converter if needed. This is all pretty important for technical driving in challenging conditions and should help smooth out normal/daily driving with this thing as well. Win-Win.

Wanting to make sure I wasn't going crazy and missing something, I called Scott @ Advanced Automotion for some expert advice. We had a long conversation and he confirmed that had already found the lowest gearing available in compatible audi gearbox. He also posed out the idea of using the a 30v 2.8 V6 from a b5 for powerplant since it makes good torque and is quite reliable, but is about 40-60 lbs heavier than a 1.8T. Scott also gave me some great insight on the 5-speed auto gearboxes from the b5, saying that with just a simple fluid change and new seal kit in the valve body I can expect it to be reliable, robust, and not a complete slush-box. Encouraging.

Ultimately we settled on what seems like it will be the best option: chipped 1.8T, 5 speed tiptronic transmission, and a custom higher stall torque converter from Scott to exploit maximum torque output of the 1.8T at torque converter lockup. As you can see in the table posted above, the gear ratios for the auto box are near-as-makes-no-difference identical to those of the manual trans, and actually even has a slightly taller 5th gear for freeway cruising. I think this is a good plan.

Now to start looking for cheap donor cars without my wife killing me.... I may need to wait a little while and let her forget that she didn't hardly see me for the last 4 months while building this thing to where it is now

Why not just swap the V8 from the Red CQ into the white one and do an 07k on the red one?

But in all seriousness, I support the auto idea, would be great for off roading.

Took the lifted coupe for it's first true test: a 3-day backpacking trip in the North Cascades over the long 4th of July weekend. This meant a 400 mile drive round-trip, with ~40 miles on forest service roads. The coupe did awesome! It cruised comfortably at 80 MPH on the freeway and dealt with the moon crater sized pot holes with ease on the forest roads to the trailhead. On the way out after 5 hours of hiking in the rain, we were bombing down the forest roads splashing through mud puddles with the heat blasting and butt heaters on when my wife commented "this car is pretty sweet". After me, she is typically my toughest critic, so this was some sweet validation. I couldn't be happier.



On the way home I stopped in Bellingham and scored the rear seat back and trunk carpet I was missing for this car. It's grey, so it looks like I will be learning how to dye automotive leather upholstery.

Try color plus for leather dye. Car is looking awesome, you're going to make the lifted truck crowd scratch their heads when they see you up on the trails

I just read all 8 pages. Not sure how I missed following this project, but it's awesome!! Coolest build on the tpp.

ringbearer wrote:Try color plus for leather dye.

Thanks for the tip! I haven't heard of that one but it looks good! I already ordered a kit from Leather World Tech, but if it sucks I'll try out the Color Plus. The only one I knew of before was Leatherique, but I couldn't stomach $200 just to do the seat back.

ringbearer wrote:Car is looking awesome, you're going to make the lifted truck crowd scratch their heads when they see you up on the trails

Hahaha thanks! that is my hope!!

Audilard wrote:I just read all 8 pages. Not sure how I missed following this project, but it's awesome!! Coolest build on the tpp.

Thanks Darin, I'm glad you like it! I'm enjoying my oddball projects.

I realized this might be one of my "fastest" projects too. I picked the car up in CA on February 16th, and drove it (for real) for the first time on about March 30th. 6 weeks! Not too bad

...of course that said, I didn't take it on a long drive until this last weekend, so maybe that makes it more like 6 months if we are being honest. LOL

It's been a few weeks so I guess I should update this with recent progress. The most significant thing accomplished has been finishing up the rear seats + trunk carpet & trim.

I shampooed the grey rear carpet I picked up as well as the original black trunk floor carpet using fancy dog shampoo (left by the previous owner of my house), a scrub brush, and a hose in my driveway. It's amazing how much brown water I rinsed out of these.

After letting them dry a few days, I dyed the grey carpet black, as well as the carpeted backs of the grey rear seat backs. Those came out looking great. I masked off the plastic instruction plaque to keep it looking factory.





Next up was dying the leather. I ordered a kit from this company (VW black color) because it was the most economical one I could find that seemed legit. It's half the price of Leatherique dye and I have to say the result it fantastic. This is by far the nicest leather in this car now. LOL

http://www.leatherworldtech.com/Volkswagen-Leather-Dye-Colors-s/1867.htm

For the dye process, I followed the directions that came with the kit with one exception: After cleaning the seats with the leather cleaner included in the kit, I did a second wash/wipe down with acetone to remove any grease or wax on the seats. This also removed quite a bit of the original grey laquer dye. They recomend 3-4 coats of dye for a color change, so I did 4 + a protective coating layer.

One coat of black vs. a grey bolster:


Three coats:


Four coats:


Installed in the car with carpet and trim! Woohoo! Now all I need is the flip-up trunk cover and a sunroof control panel and I will have a complete interior!



In other items, I had the MFTS fail so I replaced that:


While I was at it I replaced the coolant reservoir with a nice one I had:


I also swapped the JHM short shifter with a good stock one I had from my red car. With all my other cars being 6-speed, I instinctively tried to shift into 6th on the freeway and got a rude reminder that this is a 5-speed. I don't think I did any damage, but I decided having a reverse lock-out was worth the extra shifter throw.

And finally, I scored a decent set of Rockford Fosgate dash speakers at the junk yard for free so the stereo is sounding MUCH better (previously only had rear speakers).

Other than that, I have just been driving it. This this is awesome!

Great progress!!

Seats and carpet bits look terrific

I want this car to have a diesel with a smoke stack so badly...

OK- so here is a question for those who have replaced their Multi Function Temp Sensor (MFTS):

What OEM cross reference PN did you buy and use? Is the 7a MFTS the same as the one for the v6 and 20v cars of the era? The one I got says PN 034919369C which is what I see listed by GAP and others, but in the product application it lists only Audi 100, 200, 5000, & A6. Specifically, this is the one I ordered from Amazon (purely out of convenience): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJH6OXK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With the old temperature sensor, my reading while cruising was almost always low (~70* C) per the image below. Only when sitting still or in slow traffic would the engine heat up to about the 90* C (thermostatic temp) line. The reason I replaced the MFTS was because it started giving the engine temp warning constantly.


With the new MFTS I installed yesterday, the coolant temp warning issue is resolved, but the dash gauge now reads MUCH higher as well. Cruising down the road, it is now indicating a coolant temp of up to 105* C but I don't really believe that.

Thoughts?

I would check the hose temp near the sensor with an IR gun. Should read ~5-10C lower than the actual temp I would think.

On my 200 the Behr MFTS is the only one that will indicate the correct temperature. Meyle and cheapo Chinese brands will show high temperature, just like you are seeing.

dalspaugh wrote:I would check the hose temp near the sensor with an IR gun. Should read ~5-10C lower than the actual temp I would think.

Yes, good suggestion thank you. I need to do this to validate my assumption that the sensor is reading incorrectly. I'll probably probe the radiator with a thermocouple too to get a direct reading as well.

GTJeff wrote:On my 200 the Behr MFTS is the only one that will indicate the correct temperature. Meyle and cheapo Chinese brands will show high temperature, just like you are seeing.

Thanks for the input, this is pretty much what I expected. I think the one I got actually said it was German on the package (surprisingly), but who really knows. I found one made by Hella which says "Behr Thermo-Tronik" so I'll try ordering that one. Thanks!

Thank you for posting that graphic- I have always wondered what those lines designated!

Took the lifted car on it's first real 4wheeling adventure this morning in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie wilderness area. It was me and my wife in the white car, and two friends in a bad ass tricked out Xterra Pro-4x.

SO. MUCH. FUN.

I'll let pictures do most of the talking.

The rigs:





Now on to the fun:
















Mini tripod




Mega tripod















And of course, with all the bumps and vibration I broke a plate in the battery and killed it halfway through the day, which meant lots of bump starting and two jump starts to get through the day.



Other than breaking the battery there were no mechanical issues. I did however confirm that I NEED more power and an automatic to really enjoy this thing to it's full potential. I punished the hell out of the clutch getting up and over some stuff out there. I should also get my skid plates installed on this thing.

A few shots of the Xterra:








Videos to come!

So awesome! You might be the first Audi Quattro owner who has ever said he needs an auto to really enjoy his car!

Flippin' awesome!

And here is a video:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-IMGbFn_jQ[/youtube]

Audilard wrote:So awesome! You might be the first Audi Quattro owner who has ever said he needs an auto to really enjoy his car!

I think you're right!!

needs a diesel and an intake sticking out of the body and running up to the roof.


so with a 1.8t and auto, you realize it is an allroad mini, right? You could just buy an allroad with 2.7t and auto for cheap, and still have a lot to work on, you know?
the uniqueness of the cq is cool though.

O love it!! Dyno batteries out in Balard has been my go to. If you can I recommend the quick tour of the place and overview of the process.

pkw wrote:needs a diesel and an intake sticking out of the body and running up to the roof.


so with a 1.8t and auto, you realize it is an allroad mini, right? You could just buy an allroad with 2.7t and auto for cheap, and still have a lot to work on, you know?
the uniqueness of the cq is cool though.

I had a 2004 4.2 Allroad. In my opinion there is no comparison.

heartlessnomad12 wrote:O love it!! Dyno batteries out in Balard has been my go to. If you can I recommend the quick tour of the place and overview of the process.

good thing I work in Ballard- I'll check them out. Thanks!