Das B*tch's Chronicle - '05 USP Avant content

[Molotov]

I've decided to create my build/timeline thread. It'll be great to have a full service record archived here. Also, today marks my 7th year on the forum.

I had a Dolphin Gray '04 1.8TQM sedan for several years prior to owning the Avant. I purchased the Avant from sleeperwagon in June, 2011.

A couple pics from the advert.



The vehicle was located in Ohio so I had it transported to Vermont, which appeared to be the last stop.


She currently has 123xxx miles on her, but there aren't too many parts that haven't been swapped out.

** - Previous owner's modification

Engine Modifications:
Integrated Engineering manual tensioner
Gates Racing timing belt
Fujita 3.0" F5-350S Super Flow High Performance Air Filter
Neuspeed turbo inlet pipe
3" adapter for GT28 series turbo
GT2871R Eliminator ball-bearing turbo
ATP exhaust manifold
EuroCode Tuning E-Pipe Test pipe
o2 Sensor bung
Treadstne 3.0" Stainless Steel V-Band Flange & Clamp Kit
Neuspeed Stainless Steel Cat-back Exhaust with modified lollipop
Racetec front mount intercooler with piping
034 Motorsports 90 Degree 50mm to 70mm Throttle body hose
50mm Stainless Steel T-Adapter
Forge 004 Blow off valve with spacer and yellow spring
Bosch 70 mm throttle body
SEM Motorsports intake manifold
70 mm throttle body spacer with methanol injection port
DevilsOwn Injections Stage 3 water-methanol injection pump
DevlisOwn 225ml nozzle
DevilsOwn Injections anti-syphon solenoid
Custom water-methanol pump bracket
SEM Motorsports Phenolic spacer
Coolant upper hard-pipe modification/relocation
NGK BRK7E Spark plugs gapped to .034 mm
Integrated Engineering billet coil pack adapter
OEM Red/Black 2.0T FSI coil packs
Integrated Engineering Billet Block Breather Adapter
Integrated Engineering Billet SAI Blockoff Plate
Air Snorkle and Airbox delete
PCV delete
EGR system delete
SAI System delete
Vacuum line and check valve delete
n112 Bypass
n249 Bypass
Optima Red Top 34R Battery
Modified ABS bracket
Mishimoto Universal Power Steering Cooler
Bosch 550 cc fuel injectors
Fuel injector plug adapaters
Modified fuel rail spacers
Ringer Racing Stage 4 cerametalic clutch
Clutchmaster 240 MM lightweight steel flywheel
OEM Throw-out bearing
USP full metal slave cylinder
Modified slave cylinder push rod
Stainless steel reinforced and shielded teflon clutch line
Innovate LC-1 AFR sending unit with o2 sensor
Self-tuned Maestro 7 engine control unit
JHM Extra short throw shifter with 38% reduction
JHM Gold (stiff) pushdown reverse spring
JHM Delrin 2-piece bushings
JHM "Solid" linkage

Suspension and Driveline:
034 Motorsport Track density engine mounts
Neuspeed snub mount
Stern transmission mount
** Bilstein shocks
** Eibach Pro-Kit springs
14mm x 1.5 wheel stud conversion - conical
4 conical wheel lock nuts
S4 full metal TRE
FCP front control arm kit
Updated swaybar end links
** H-Sport front swaybar
** Neuspeed rear swaybar
** S4 Calipers
**Slotted rotors
Motul DOT 5.1 Synthetic Brake Fluid
Goodridge SS Brake Lines
Apikol Rear Differential Mount (Red - Race)

Interior:
Boost sending unit
VEI dual digital display
Custom steering column gauge pod with water-methanol activity light
Hallman in-cab manual boost controller
DevilsOwn Injections boost referenced water-methanol controller
3M DiNoc Carbon Fibre vinyl wrapped trim
Headrest paperclip mod
Center console armrest cup holder delete
Add-A-Circuit Fuse Holder
OEM Monster mats
** ECS Tuning pedal kit
172 Gram OEM shift knob (156% OE weight)

Exterior:
Dieselgeek Panzer Aluminum Skid plate
Seat Cupra R Lip with aluminum brackets
RS4 Jack Pads
** OEM Votex GmbH upper front grille
Plasti-dip lower front grille
** OEM S4 aluminum mirror caps
Aero wiper conversion
** Enkei RPF-1 19" wheels
Custom 4 center caps
245/35ZR19 Goodyear Eagle GT
OEM S4 Avus 18" wheels
RallyArmour mud flaps
Modified hood clearance
Custom roof bars
DEI Reflect A Gold Heat Thermal Racing Engine Tape
VHT Wrinkle Red valve cover
VHT Nightshades tail light tint
** 30% Window Tint
ZIZA LED license plate bulb conversion
Debadged trunk

Maintenence:
J-Plug
Thermostat
Rear coolant flange
Valve cover gasket
Oil cooler housing gasket
IAT sensor
Brake switch
Clutch switch
Relays
Rear main seal
OEM Rear wiper blade
Fan Control Module
0W-40 Mobil 1 Synthetic
MANN Large Capacity oil filter
Liqui Moly 5W-40
New OEM steering rack
Bosch Starter

[Speed4Avant]

i like the blue fogs

[Molotov]

I was so excited when I took delivery of her that I didn't even go for a test drive. It had a K04, APR exhaust and other modifications.



Here's a pile of 'junk' parts an hour after parking it.





I was just about done removing parts at this point


I bought 034 Motorsport Track density engine mounts before receiving the car. Almost all of my mounts are upgraded so I figured I'd do the engine mounts while I was tearing it down. I had no idea the stock ones were toast.


Getting buttoned up!



Nothing a little Mother's couldn't take care of


And then she was alive


More to come

[DiertyEuroSpec]

Wow that's quite the car if I was PO I'd be hard pressed to let that go...unless the price was right of course.

[gmudan]

Looks clean!
Do you have a clip of the nuespeed exhaust sound with a good quality mic? All the ones on youtube are :/

[Samsonite]

Wow that's quite the Avant!

[Molotov]

Wow that's quite the car if I was PO I'd be hard pressed to let that go...unless the price was right of course.

Yeah, I still think I lucked out somewhat. I owe him this timeline as well; he wanted to sell it to an enthusiast who would take care of it.

i like the blue fogs

Me too, unfortunately the lamin-x or whatnot is peeling from the heat/weather/time

Looks clean!
Do you have a clip of the nuespeed exhaust sound with a good quality mic? All the ones on youtube are :/

I wish. I'm planning on archiving my car a little better. I always just dive into projects and forget to take pictures along the way. Definitely want to get some footage of it this summer. There's a long list of to-do's though.

[gmudan]

I wish. I'm planning on archiving my car a little better. I always just dive into projects and forget to take pictures along the way. Definitely want to get some footage of it this summer. There's a long list of to-do's though.

Haha all in good time. How do you like the exhaust. Loudness on a scale 0-10?

[Molotov]

I've had it for a long time, coupled with the test pipe. My car is loud in general with how solid everything is. I'm probably going deaf haha but it isn't too bad? I like it a lot though.

Here's a repost from the launch control thread. Not good quality. My friend should have put the phone on the ground or something...

[Molotov]

I decided to relocate my methanol pump to the stock SMIC bracket. I drilled and tapped the pump for some beefier bolts to keep it secure.




Slapped some 2.0T coils in with the Integrated Engineering spacers.



Installed USP Motorsports metal slave cylinder and braided steel line. You can see some JHM content in the back there.


I wanted to bring my spare valve cover and intake manifold back to life



Couldn't find the right sized allen socket, so I used a spark plug socket in reverse with a 1/2" drive. Worked perfectly


I brought these to work to sand blast, wash, dry blast, wash, soap wash, run through 3 DI water overflow tanks with megasonics and finally dried in an oven. I then vacuum sealed them prior to bringing them home.












WRINKLE RED!




All four coats dried/baked


Picked up some goodies


Removed the ABS bracket for modification.


All cut up and painted with some flat black enamel


Installed. So much room for more activities!


This brings me up to April 2012

[n7plus1]

very nice. i removed some material from my abs bracket while still in the car. i could never figure out how to fully remove it. any insight?

EDIT, nevermind, found your old post on how to do it.

[Molotov]

Yeah the ABS bracket is kind of a pain to remove.

April, 2012


Here's a little treat that I found December, 2012


The ECU cover had cracked in the back. Water was draining straight into the box. I ended up having to replace my ECU. I had a spare unit with Maestro loaded on it, but I didn't get around to it until August, 2013.

Instead, I spent time wrapping the trim in some 3M DiNoc Carbon Fibre vinyl.. for an inoperable vehicle






And of course I had to do the paper clip mod. I used a paper clip and pliers on my previous B6, but found a much easier way to complete the job.


The brain transplant - August, 2013


First time turning over


And this actually brings me up to date. My photo archive is currently weak. So, freeze frame from the 2-step video to cap it off

[BARRY]

sweet car!

[JAYINH]

Great looking ride!

[ShogunR32]

What did you do to the ecu to get the antilag to work? I used to have anti-lag in my tune but then I ran into an issue with my ecu because of it. I believe we need to do somehting physically to the ecu for it not to brick?

[viceprp]

Very sexy looking avant. Congrats on the buy and the build is very clean.

[7speed]

very nice work

[05 S-LINE]

We have a similar story. Had a Dolphin Grey sedan forever until I got the USP Avant I had been waiting for, for 5 years...

[bagged00]

some times I wish I had an avant. such a bad ass car. how bad are the motor mounts to install? 153k on my car, more than likely stock motor mounts. yikes.

[Molotov]

I forgot to add this from a couple days ago.

I decided to take a look at the previous owners handiwork on the ECS pedal covers. They have been loose for a while but remained secure. I soon found out that the clutch and brake covers were installed on top of the OEM rubber covers. That clutch cover is a bitch. I ended up just drilling the corners out and it popped right off. No pic of said corner drilling, it went straight into the dumpster.



I'm not sure how I never caught it since I've been under there countless times. Custom kick panel mods

What did you do to the ecu to get the antilag to work? I used to have anti-lag in my tune but then I ran into an issue with my ecu because of it. I believe we need to do somehting physically to the ecu for it not to brick?

I didn't do anything in particular. I enabled it through the Maestro ECU flash quick settings. I had it set to activate up to 50 mph so that I could build boost easily while rolling in second. I'm actually going to disable it because it kicks in during first gear pulls after I have already clutched out. It shouldn't be a problem with my clutch switch since it was replaced recently. Anyway, what I'm saying is, it was fun.. but not really worth the reduced life of my car.

very nice work

Thank you; means a lot coming from somebody with such attention to detail. Love your Avant

We have a similar story. Had a Dolphin Grey sedan forever until I got the USP Avant I had been waiting for, for 5 years...

Wasn't it worth the wait?

some times I wish I had an avant. such a bad ass car. how bad are the motor mounts to install? 153k on my car, more than likely stock motor mounts. yikes.

Engine mounts were easy for me, but I also had the turbo out among other things. Just watch the rear coolant flange when jacking the engine up.
http://www.audiforums.com/forum/diy-...cement-187215/

Thanks for the comments guys

[nefkntym]

Good looking Avant!!! Looking forward to updates.

[nefkntym]

Can you give more info, maybe post a pic of a center cap for your wheels? They dont look like the normal RPF1 caps. Thanks.

[trace1144]

Awesome avant. Slowly building up my avant. How are the 034 track line engine mounts? Been wondering about getting those for a while now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Molotov]

Can you give more info, maybe post a pic of a center cap for your wheels? They dont look like the normal RPF1 caps. Thanks.

Here's a picture off of my spare. I just google'd RPF-1 center caps, and these are definitely not them.

Awesome avant. Slowly building up my avant. How are the 034 track line engine mounts? Been wondering about getting those for a while now

Thanks! The engine mounts are great, however, I can't say how they are on their own. All other mounts are upgraded on my car.

And pic for click


The dirty girl is earning her name still. I found that my J-plug is slowly leaking. I called the dealership to find out that they sell it for $18 so it looks like I'll be ordering that online. I need to do something about my license plate frame and hardware as well.

[Molotov]

I got around to changing my leaky j-plug the other day. Here's a shot of the puddle that had formed on the block's lip



I grunted and cursed for far too long before removing everything to get a better angle on the plug. It would not budge. A clear view of my ghetto coolant hard/soft pipe as well haha. I will be fabricating a new hard pipe to clear my SEM intake in the future.



I decided to reuse my coolant at this time. Planning on doing my timing belt and coolant flush this spring. I filtered the used coolant through a shop towel and this is what it picked up... yikes!



There's also a distinct vacuum sucking sound coming from fuel injector #1. It isn't sealed very well at the intake manifold, so new top and bottom o-rings are on their way

[Molotov]

I installed my o-rings last week. No more vac leak at the injectors.



And I just placed this order today. My front left frame rail jacking point is busted, so bring on the RS4 jack pads!

[customa4]

Shoulda added a few of those remote buttons to the list. I bought like 5 and between my two Audis and my brothers A6 they're all gone! If you have more than one key you're gonna want moarrrrr. Im jealous of those jack pads!

[Molotov]

Started cleaning this guy up...





Hit it with some Mother's Mag polish

[Audi body]

Awesome hole!! Lol

[Molotov]

Haha, yeah... super classy

Got a box.


It also had this in it


Separating the key seemed to make button pad removal easier. I didn't want to mar the keyfob further




Oh, there was another box as well..

[texasboy21]

Great mods!

[Molotov]

Great mods!

Thanks! I just picked up some AMU pistons and rings. I'd love to throw in some 20mm IE rods to bullet-proof the block a bit. Been running 22psi for quite a while without incident, but I feel like I'm just asking for it eventually...

[Molotov]

I need to update this a bit. Back to 05-14-14.

It was clearly time to upgrade to some RS4 jacking points. My frame rail wasn't feeling the floor jack so much...


"Straightened out" with some vice grips


Rear jack being fitted and traced


Plastic cut and reinstalled


Drilled out




The tool


Well nuts and epoxy


Cheapo adjustable wrench used for install


Already being put to use


They hang down a little bit...


And some friends' B6's


This one just had some OEM 19" RS4 wheels put on. They poke out a little too much in the front but otherwise look good

[Molotov]

I wanted to see how much weight I could add to my shift knob with materials that I had laying around. I used a 1/2" drill bit, dremel with sanding attachment, duckbill pliers, wire cutters, aluminum foil, solder and soldering iron.



The cap fits snugly without clips, so those were removed.


Weight with some material removed. The unmolested knob weighs 110 grams. I actually drilled into the center and removed more material. I didn't take as many pictures as I intended to.


There are 3 slots that I stuffed twisted solder into. This added about 1.5 grams.


Final weigh in at 172 grams. That's a 56% increase in weight for free.


The weights were created by doubling up aluminum foil and fitting it tightly into the cap and the knob cavity that was created with the drill and dremel. I removed the foil carefully to not disturb it's shape. I then dropped solder into the foil with a large iron until it was full and let it cool. I probably could have been more meticulous with the material removal and dropped lead in for more weight, but I was just screwing around.

The idea is that a heavier shift knob has more kinetic energy, and when it is put into motion it will engage the next gear more easily. I gotta say, the JHM trio feels even smoother with just 62 grams added to it. I'm happy with the results

[Molotov]

06-17-14
Time to fix some RPF-1's

Cleaning them up


Can you spot the bend?


Found some treats from the PO when taking out the back seat




Loaded up and ready to drop off.




06-29-14
So this happened...


All of those self tapping screws didn't pay off. It was time to get serious.




Custom brackets tapped for 1/4-20 bolts. I got the aluminum bracket idea from tankdeerpat.


Bolted on with loc-tite.


I also thought it would be a good time to do my overdue oil change but the magnetic ECS drain plug had other thoughts.


It stripped with the correct 6 point socket. I hammered on another socket and put some heat to it. It stripped more. I then slotted it and tried a large flat head screw driver with a vice grip attached. The plug was so soft that the screw driver started to open up the slot.

No more fucking around time. Squared it off and vice gripped again with heat.


All that remains. Luckily I had the original drain plug to throw back in.


Topped off with some Liqui Moly 5W40 and finally put my Panzer Plate back on.

[JEENYUS]

Damn that doesn't look like the drain plug was of good quality. I can't believe you had to hack it up that much to remove it.

[Molotov]

Damn that doesn't look like the drain plug was of good quality. I can't believe you had to hack it up that much to remove it.

Yup. I'm not the only one who had to do it. It's a very soft metal. I found multiple threads on teh webz about the ECS drain plug stripping.

[Molotov]

07-25-14
Wheels are ready to swap, but what's that fluid?

I picked up my newly straightened wheels and headed home to swap them over. I completed the passenger side wheels and made my way to the driver's rear. It was apparent that something was leaking in a bad way upon removing the wheel. There was fluid coating the inner barrel of my Avus wheel.

The caliper was coated in fluid and the dirt that it attracted


The bleeder screw appeared to be wet. I wiped everything off and tightened the screw a quarter turn. This caused a faster leak.


The bleeder screw had stripped out the threads in the caliper.

So here I am with my freshly repaired wheels and a ruined rear caliper. So what do you do?

Buy more parts!


This wasn't the end of problems though. I found the driver's side tie-rod split. I also noticed that somebody had previously attempted to remove the pinch bolt, with zero success I might add.






I still have a full control arm set with upgraded swaybar end links and full metal S4 tie-rods, but seeing the pinch bolt like that had definitely discouraged me from attempting to install them. The tie-rod was also seized.

But wait, there's more!

I had to get new B5 S4 front caliper hard lines. The flare nuts on the original lines were also seized. They twisted the line and cracked it. The car was down for another week as the hard lines were not available locally.




New hard line and Goodridge SS line installed


New rear caliper installed with line

[Molotov]

I decided to change up my center caps while I had some down time with the brake issues.

Original Enkei racing center caps


Popped these out


Cleaned up


Found some rings laying around...




Drilled out the backs


Before and after heat gun. Too much curve for my flat caps


3M 1080 Carbon

[Molotov]

Here's a shot of my Eurocode E-pipe test pipe with AFR sensor bung and v-band flanges. Flanges were MIG welded on.


I found that my crankcase/valve cover dump had been rubbing on the axle and wore a hole through it. I cut it short and worm-clamped it out of the way.


Apikol Race rear differential mount vs. what I thought was a stock mount. Turns out the other mount was an old version of the Apikol street. I'm not sure what this is worth.


In it's new resting place.


08-06-14
I was nominated to drive to Saranac Lake for a camping trip. I had no way of attaching a canoe to the Avant. Luckily I only had to attach some cross bars to the roof rails. I fabricated these just for the weekend. They worked out well but I didn't get any pictures with the canoe on top.