The Project Pad

Working on brakes now finally

Step one is to 5 lug swap the car. I have urs front hubs coming from Issam and I finally was able to get rear b5 a4 hubs today from a yard. I started to harvest them out of 4 different cars and had to stop due to rust each time. Today I finally found a non-rusty car in the yard and was able to get them out. Of course I had to buy the whole knuckle assembly and tie rod since I couldn’t get either off in the yard.

So next is the brakes. I am going 17z brakes for the front. The hope is that B5 A4 Apikol brackets will work with the B4 front knuckles and URS hubs. I know that Brydon used to make an exact bracket for this but alas - no more.

For the rears, I was considering just leaving them alone and also considering B5 S4 rears but I found some info that says I can use B7 S4 calipers and rotors plug and play on the B5 rear end - which is the exact same as the B4 rear end. I found a cheap set today online and they’re on the way to me too. I can run a much larger rear rotor with those.

As for wheels, I found these fellas on Audi Tradition — 18”


they are listed in ETKA as A8 W12 Winter wheels
Photoshopped on the car:


Anyway, those are coming through Issam as well - big thanks to him for being our Audi Tradition connection!

Just keep in mind that the B5 rear hubs are 10mm wider than B4. My B4 has a B5 rear subframe assembly.

When I did the Quattro conversion, I used the B5 front calipers. Bolted right up to the struts. However, my car used to be 2.0 FWD. Could not use UrS hubs because my hub carriers are 75mm, so had to use A6 C4 2.3 hubs. If your car was V6 you will probably have the 82mm.

Brake parts have started to arrive:





These 17z are really huge! That's good!

I have a rebuild kit for the 17z already, and will need to figure out the best strategy for cleaning / refurb

the rears are B7 S4 and I cleaned them all up, painted the calipers back to black - someone had poorly sprayed them red. they'll let me run a considerably larger rotor and I hope everything fits as I have read that it should.

I think I'm going to pull the front knuckle off a cabriolet at my local yard so I can test fit the front setup ahead of the wheels showing up. I'd prefer to keep the car off the road for a minimal amount of time once all the parts are here. It will cost me two wheel bearings to do so as I'll have to press one into the 5 lug hubs to really test fit.

A couple other things I’m working to solve -

I have heat only occasionally from the HVAC - I’m assuming I just have a bubble in there somewhere and need to bleed the coolant system better but I’ve done so a bunch. Not totally sure. The Auto HVAC system shows 90* or so on channel 51 in the diagnostics so it dumps cold air into the cabin. Coming home from the airport today in 20 degree temps I had to have the seat heater cranked and the climate control set to off.

I have excessive play in the steering wheel. Seems like I can move the wheel quite a bit left and right on the highway before anything really happens. Bentley shows a way to adjust but I’m not totally sure I understand.

Lastly, I think the 01E I have needs a rebuild. I drove my 012 swapped cabriolet and had forgotten how silky smooth it shifts. It made me realize I likely need to rebuild the current 01E in the car. I’d love to swap in a tall 6th gear at the same time.

Meanwhile, hub and brake parts keep arriving. Hoses, wheel bearings etc.

Does your car have the bleed caps at the firewall, passenger side? Where the lines go to the heater core. Or at the radiator? That (minute) difference in elevation can trap air bubbles in various bends along the way, which can be stubborn without a pressurized flush. Regardless, I'd keep trying to purge the air from the system. If you've been doing so with cold coolant, try it at operating temps (and vice versa).

Regarding the steering rack, you're talking about the adjustment bolt on the rack? Clean it really well and mark with a Sharpie (cap screw and flange) so you can gauge how much adjustment you've applied. If squeezing that down doesn't do it you may need a rack rebuild. Mine started at a couple degrees off centre, to a full three inches of slop either way before I could source a replacement rack. That was a fun winter.

I do have the bleeder cap on the PS hose. I can and have opened it and bled there a few times.

Yesterday when I got home I opened up the bottle with the engine nice and warm. It did gurgle a little bit and dropped in level 1/4-1/2". I'll keep doing that.

As for the steering rack, I knew I should have had it rebuilt while the car was apart! It was just one more thing I didn't want to mess with. I'll check that bolt today. hopefully there is a difference. If not, I'll grab another and send off to Jorgen. They did the rack on my V8 coupe and it made a big difference

thanks!

Yeah the rack is not a fun job. Forced to do it again, I'd just remove the head instead of the whole engine. Think I've heard of others removing neither but I cannot conceive of how that's done. There just isn't the space.

I was able to do it without removing anything beyond the intake on the V8 CQ - I think the valley was in just the right place

I'm working on the brake rebuild for the B7 S4 rear brakes I'm going to use and I'm stuck trying to put the dust boots back on.

I've tried with the boot starting on the piston, with the boot starting in the caliiper. zero luck.
Anyone have tips to replacing these? I'm at my wits end





One good thing though - Sourced a leather E-brake handle from a final edition UK cabrio
adds 65 hp

This method seems to be the best option but I can't make it work:

Man, that e-brake handle is niiiiice.

Gonna have to add that to the round-to-it list, thanks. That's your fault.

Grillage wrote:This method seems to be the best option but I can't make it work:

The video isn’t working for me.

Weird. doesn't work for me either!

Here's another link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StNGwDH ... u.be&t=446

One of the biggest problems with rebuilding brakes is getting the piston seal back on.

What I do is put the seal part way up the piston, stretch out the seal a little and put a zip tie on the upper part of the seal around the piston. Make sure the lower part of the seal sticks out past the lower part of the piston. Slip the lower part of the seal into the bore making sure it is in the groove in the bore. During this time, the zip tie has prevented the seal from slipping down. Now you already have the seal around the piston and work the piston pass the groove in the bore. Takes a time or two to get it right, but it does work. Like having the 3rd hand you don't have.

Greg W.

Zip Tie! great call

I am jealous of your ebrake handle - nice.

themagellan wrote:I am jealous of your ebrake handle - nice.

It’s funny the little stuff that makes us happy!

I got the brake seals on yesterday - It was a pain but I’m glad to have rebuilt them!

I didn’t get the carriers when I bought the calipers but I have them on the way. They appear to be required.

I also dropped the 17z’s off for cleaning, blasting and powder coating. I really liked the finish on them as I got them - the dark grey with white script - and I’m going to do something similar. I chose a satin dark grey for the powder coating and I’ll use a white PORSCHE decal when I get them back.

Also, I found a large air bubble and dealt with it. I opened up the brass 14mm bolt on the top of the radiator and found my bubble! I used a syringe and squirted about a quart of coolant in there until it started to overflow and I believe I’m good now! No heat issues any longer

I’ve almost never had a Bleeder on the heater core line but this method has worked for me every time .
•get the car to full temp until thermostat opens, top off level until full
•shut the engine down
• ( carefully ) remove the radiator cap , and let the car cool down with the cap off.
By taking the pressure off of the system at this temp it allows the air out. Almost always you will come back later and see the level dropped quite a bit on the first one or two times .

While I wait for the 5 lug stuff hubs and wheels,and to get the brakes back from the powder coater, I'm tackling something that has bugged me for a while.

The intake with the Cold Air Intake cone filter is super loud. Here's the current setup:


When I did the V8 swap on my old Coupe Quattro, I used a B4 air box and modified it to breathe better.


So I set about doing the same here.
This however, requires a bit of work - namely, the relocation of the fuel pressure regulator. So I made a little bracket and mounted it to the strut tower support.
Then, the other issue is that the "foot" of the airbox, the only part that actually is bolted down, is tricky. I had to bend the receiver for that bolt down to make the EFR turbo fit:



I think I may just end up zip tying those two holes to each other and I will be okay.
The bottom of the airbox is great - it will work just fine, but the top is a different story. The V6 MAF goes to the firewall side, I need it to go to the front of the car to enter the turbo.
So I'm going to make a blockoff for the MAF flange and I ordered a 2.5" flange that I'll mount to the front of the airbox. Should just fit
Here's the new setup - I need a new 2.5" 180* silicone piece as well since I've trimmed mine and it has a hole in it to receive the breather hose. I tapped a 3/4" barb fitting to the back of the airbox that will get that breather hose now.



This is a much cleaner, more OEM setup and I think it should be quieter as well.

Lastly, I'm wrapping the airbox with heat reflective material to keep it cool

I agree %100. Looks like it was meant to be

All Right -- got everything in the mail today and did the work.

Got a bass speaker port, trimmed it and installed in the airbox opening after wrapping the bottom side with heat shielding:

https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-c ... d--260-480









Then I built a block off for the V6 MAF and silicone gasketed it nice and airtight

Then I found a 2.5" flange that I could mount to the front side of the airbox top:
http://www.himni-racing.com/turbo-flang ... 8r-gt2860r

Then lastly a 180 degree 2.5" silicone elbow that needed a bit of trimming:
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/180-sili ... p-665.html

Oh, and threaded a 3/4" barb end hose connector on the back for the breather system





A little bit of heat shielding stuck to the topside of the airbox and that's it!

looks good. I hope it sucks!

Drove this car to work today and the cone filter whistle is GONE

thank god.

I can hear the 5 cylinder rumble again!

Looks really good. I like it a lot better than the cone filter.