My very own update thread - AZ edition (picture heavy)

[BaseDrifter]

Sucks about your transmission, AGAIN. How are you disposing of all the dead ones? Graveyard out back?

How does my center bearing look compared to yours?

[Seerlah]

I have stern power ring with stern rear diff carrier mount bushings. No added noise for me.

[BaseDrifter]

Thanks Mitch, good to know. I'll probably give the power ring a shot in little while.

Today was the 8th annual Berkeley Marina Euro car meet, and just like last year, it got shutdown 15 minutes after I arrived. However this year that was two hours earlier than last year. Showed up, parked, cops rolled through and kicked everyone out so everyone met up on Treasure Island instead. Good group of guys, but I didn't take any pictures. I did meet a guy with a 034 tuned Tial setup on his B5 S4 who gave me my first ride in an S4. Hard to believe I've been working on these cars for nearly 5 years now and had never ridden in an S4. Needless to say it was a blast, even at 3/4 throttle. The owner was running real low on fuel and didn't want to push it too hard.



I came home from the meet and got my Apikol differential bushings installed.

Ass in the air. Nice shot of my horrendous rear bumper and exhaust tips, holdovers from the previous owner I still haven't fixed.



The target.



Stock 150,000 mile bushings.



Support removed.





My setup to press the old bushings out.



The hydraulic press sure makes life easy.



At least usually it does…the first bushing fought me on the way out.



First bushing popped out. Now to remove my socket that got jammed in against a piece of the old bushing…

[/URL]

Finally out.



Cleaned up the hole with a little 220 grit sand paper.



The second bushing was much more agreeable and came out in one piece.

New bushings installed.





Check out the amount of deflection present in the stock bushings, all but eliminated with the Apikol bushings.



I haven't driven the car yet, so I don't any feedback on them right now. Tomorrow is a football day, but Monday I'll be going to pick up my new RSB bushings so I'll give them a test drive then.

[RENOxDECEPTION]

yep, was amazed at how soft the stock ones were also.

[BaseDrifter]

You sold the A4?! Nooo. Really sucks about your first S4 though. And uninsured for theft? Double ouch. New car looks good though.

Don't forget about us over here in the lowly A4 section. ;)

[JJ.]

You sold the A4?! Nooo. Really sucks about your first S4 though. And uninsured for theft? Double ouch. New car looks good though.

Don't forget about us over here in the lowly A4 section. ;)

Yeah sold it, I always wanted an S4, got one and got stolen. But after that I even got a nicer one, insured this time and a proven gearbox lock.
Thanks, I'll keep watching this section of course, still a b5 you know :)

[ray4624]

did you drive it with the new bushings?
How did you know yours were bad?
Im trying to figure out everything i should replace while my car is torn apart this spring.

[BaseDrifter]

Not yet, I just put the new rear sway bar bushings in. I'll be going out shortly to get a burger for dinner though.

The new RSB bushings aren't nearly as flashy as the blue Apikol bushings. My old ones weren't in that bad of shape, but I figured I'd replace them while I was working on the back end of the car.



Old vs new.



Installed.

[Seerlah]

Upgrade to the 034 rear bar. Makes a huge difference. I run Hotchkis front and rear, but def would have run just the 034 rear if I didn't have any. Picked my Hotchkis up before the price hike and got them for like $430 shipped to my door brand new.

[BaseDrifter]

I absolutely will be when funds permit. I'm running an S4 rear bar right now which was a big improvement over the stock non-sport bar, but I'm sure the 034 bar is orders of magnitude better (and therefore so is the price.)

[RENOxDECEPTION]

I absolutely will be when funds permit. I'm running an S4 rear bar right now which was a big improvement over the stock non-sport bar, but I'm sure the 034 bar is orders of magnitude better (and therefore so is the price.)

I can't wait to run ANY anti sway bar again, right now I have none because I just fixed my rear subframe, and as soon as I can afford the 034 brackets, I'm going from no anti sway bar to a 22mm solid one.

I did a quick 1-2-3 pull and the car feels very solid. I'm looking forward to getting the 034 SD motor mounts which I'll be picking up this saturday at the 2nd annual WinterFest at 034's shop in Fremont. Right now I've just got stock (but new) Meyle motor mounts.

I raised my idle from 800 to 900 or 1000 because of the SD mounts, what really bothered me was when the A/C compressor kicked on my idle was affected and you could feel the motor bog, and the car would shake. Raising my idle fixed it though.

The last thing that I need to address for my driveline is the driveshaft center support bearing. Still undecided on whether I should get the 034 replacement and try to do it myself, try to find a good driveshaft with bearing at the junkyard, get the support bearing and have a driveline shop or Griffin replace it for me, or wait and save up the $ to get a single piece driveshaft and eliminate the bearing all together.

this guy had one fail

[Seerlah]

When it comes to anti sway bars, every mm counts. Hotchkis had the thickest rear bar before 034 made theirs. They now have the thickest one on the market.

[adam044]

It's all about that thickness...

[BaseDrifter]

So my first impression of the Apikol bushings is nothing profound. If I didn't know a part had been changed on the car I wouldn't have suspected there was any difference. That said, I feel like it's a bit tighter in the back end, but it's really hard to say. The good thing is that I noticed no increase in NVH. I just went a couple exits down the freeway and did some city driving but I didn't feel or hear anything I could attribute to the new bushings. The loudest thing I've got going on is the JHM delrin shifter bushing, transmits a ton of gear noise into the cab. I've grown used to it though, and it almost sounds like a supercharger whine, so it's kind of cool. I might try Seerlah's idea of putting a nylon washer in there though to quiet it down.

I did a quick 1-2-3 pull and the car feels very solid. I'm looking forward to getting the 034 SD motor mounts which I'll be picking up this saturday at the 2nd annual WinterFest at 034's shop in Fremont. Right now I've just got stock (but new) Meyle motor mounts.

Oh and Ray, I didn't notice anything that made me suspect mine were bad, my stock bushings weren't ripped or anything. This was just an upgrade I had read a lot about and wanted to try.

[ray4624]

good to hear there were no nvh issues.
ill have to inspect mine and see what they look like. for now, the money will go towards motor,snub and tranny mounts.

[adam044]

You didn't feel the added 10 HP!?

[BaseDrifter]

good to hear there were no nvh issues.
ill have to inspect mine and see what they look like. for now, the money will go towards motor,snub and tranny mounts.

Yeah I was expecting the worst, read some reviews online that said there was a loud hum at freeway speeds but I didn't notice anything. Definitely work your way back. I did the snub mount first, then motor mounts, 034 SD transmission mounts, and now the rear diff. I'll probably get the PowerRing in the next couple of weeks.

The last thing that I need to address for my driveline is the driveshaft center support bearing. Still undecided on whether I should get the 034 replacement and try to do it myself, try to find a good driveshaft with bearing at the junkyard, get the support bearing and have a driveline shop or Griffin replace it for me, or wait and save up the $ to get a single piece driveshaft and eliminate the bearing all together.

You didn't feel the added 10 HP!?

The 10hp increase from the bushings will be nothing compared to the stainless steel acorn nuts I just got for my valve cover.

[ray4624]

Yeah I was expecting the worst, read some reviews online that said there was a loud hum at freeway speeds but I didn't notice anything. Definitely work your way back. I did the snub mount first, then motor mounts, 034 SD transmission mounts, and now the rear diff. I'll probably get the PowerRing in the next couple of weeks.

The last thing that I need to address for my driveline is the driveshaft center support bearing. Still undecided on whether I should get the 034 replacement and try to do it myself, try to find a good driveshaft with bearing at the junkyard, get the support bearing and have a driveline shop or Griffin replace it for me, or wait and save up the $ to get a single piece driveshaft and eliminate the bearing all together.



The 10hp increase from the bushings will be nothing compared to the stainless steel acorn nuts I just got for my valve cover.

i am doing the snub and motor mounts while the engine is out...the trans mounts are another 100 so i should probably just do them while its out of the car for the clutch.

i am also getting stainless acorn nuts for my valve cover to set it off when it was black. I found small spikes but they looked kind of tacky with the rounded valve cover.

[BaseDrifter]

Copycat! Great minds think alike..but yeah I'd avoid the spikes. It's not a harley. :P

[ray4624]

Copycat! Great minds think alike..but yeah I'd avoid the spikes. It's not a harley. :P

i grew up around 18wheelers and harleys...every nut/bolt etc had a chrome cap.
there are still a million floating around in my garage that i try to use for random things.
there is a store in New Hampshire called berube's....its like a candy store for truckers...everything chrome/stainless imaginable...i used to love trips to that place lol

[BaseDrifter]

I can't wait to run ANY anti sway bar again, right now I have none because I just fixed my rear subframe, and as soon as I can afford the 034 brackets, I'm going from no anti sway bar to a 22mm solid one.

You're welcome to take my stock non-sport bar off my hands and run that in the meantime. Better than nothing and you can toss it when you upgrade, I have no use for it. I'll bring my ramps and we can install it at 034. ;)

I raised my idle from 800 to 900 or 1000 because of the SD mounts, what really bothered me was when the A/C compressor kicked on my idle was affected and you could feel the motor bog, and the car would shake. Raising my idle fixed it though.

My car already shakes at idle when I turn the AC on, probably because of the SD tranny mounts. I've learned to just live with it. I turn my AC on so infrequently that I don't think it's worth raising the idle permanently. When I put the motor mounts in I'm going to make sure to leave everything loose and let all the mounts settle at idle.

this guy had one fail

Link doesn't work.

i grew up around 18wheelers and harleys...every nut/bolt etc had a chrome cap.
there are still a million floating around in my garage that i try to use for random things.
there is a store in New Hampshire called berube's....its like a candy store for truckers...everything chrome/stainless imaginable...i used to love trips to that place lol

Nice, Ace Hardware is my go-to store for SS hardware. They always have a nice selection, except for today of course. They only had two acorn nuts in the size I need. Hopefully they get some more in Wednesday otherwise I'll have to shop around, need to get the nuts before the meet on Saturday.

I have a bit of a dilemma with the acorn nuts though. The whole reason I wanted to use them was to cover up the ugly top of the valve cover stud.



The problem is that I have three different length studs sticking up from the valve cover. We'll call them short, medium, and long.

The short ones work perfectly with the acorn nuts.



The medium and long ones are too long though. So I have two options, I either cut the stud shorter to match the short studs, or I use a spacer of some sort. I picked up a couple black nylon spacers, but I don't really like how it looks. Looks funky. What do y'all think? I don't think it would be too hard to cut the studs and chase them with a die, but that means taking them out of the head and a risk of breaking a stud.

Medium.



Long.

[bhusted]

I don't like the spacer at all. Could you remove the studs altogether and use some SS button head bolts instead?

[RENOxDECEPTION]

trim the stud with a dremel

[BaseDrifter]

I'd think that would make lining up the valve cover properly when reinstalling a pain in the butt. I'd rather stick with studs for now. Seems like shortening the studs is going to be my best bet. Anyone have tips on removing the studs? Just throw two nuts on and spin them out right?

Edit: Not sure I'd have room to get a dremel in there, might be worth a shot though...

[bhusted]

My V8 valve covers are only bolts. No issues getting them lined up. Two nuts together should be enough to get the studs out. They make a special tool for it, but you probably wouldn't be able to get one in there.

[BaseDrifter]

^The Ziex have been good all around tires for the price. They do pretty well in the corners and are still M&S rated. I've only taken one trip up to the snow with them, but they did well enough. I will eventually be switching to a dedicated summer and snow tire setup with the spare set of 16" wheels I have (or whenever I upgrade the wheels from these 16" 5 spoke wheels.)

Thursday night I cut down the valve cover studs to properly fit SS acorn nuts on them. It took a lot longer than I expected, about 4 hours all said and done. If I had to do it again I don't think I would, but it's done now and it looks nice enough.

I like seeing a nice clean valve cover when it comes off the car.





My measurements for how much I needed to cut off each stud. I ended up having to cut another 1/16" off the front left stud as the acorn nut bottomed out on that one.



My setup to cut the studs down. I used a C5 collet block to hold the stud, spun a die down the stud, used tape to mark the cut, and hacked it off with an air grinder cut off wheel. After the cut I spun the die up the stud, filed the edge of the cut and was good to go.



Cut stud.



All done.



Today was 034 Motorsports Winterfest 2. I showed up a little late but had fun kicking it with Memo and watching the dyno in action.









In other news, the backlight for my odometer stopped working. This happened on my old cluster, but at least it would come back on by knocking on the cluster, no such luck this time around.

[BaseDrifter]

034 Motorsports Street Density motor mounts arrived today. Might try to get them installed tonight.

[MetalMan]

034 Motorsports Street Density motor mounts arrived today. Might try to get them installed tonight.

Should be fun. Are you planning to loosen/remove the nub cage bracket and lifting the engine by the oil pan?

[BaseDrifter]

I think I'm gonna try removing the brackets first rather than trying to slip the mounts out. Looks like I'd have to lift the engine a good 4-5" to clear the studs on the mounts to slip them out.

[MetalMan]

I think I'm gonna try removing the brackets first rather than trying to slip the mounts out. Looks like I'd have to lift the engine a good 4-5" to clear the studs on the mounts to slip them out.

If that doesn't work out, don't be afraid to trim the studs shorter - IMO they really only need to be long enough to fit the nuts. I had my 2001 in service position (turbo replacement), and still trimmed maybe 1/4-1/2" off the top studs. Granted that was using the lift-the-engine technique.

[BaseDrifter]

Lord knows I've got enough experience trimming studs after doing all the valve cover studs to fit the acorn nuts.

I'll try to follow this DIY.

[RENOxDECEPTION]

nevermind.

[BaseDrifter]

My brother went to the PnP today to try and find a fender for his car (his B5 got hit and run a couple nights ago), but the car he was looking for was gone. He did however find this set of facelift HID headlights. They seem to be in great condition, except for the fact that the bottom two mounts are broken. All of the upper tabs are there, but the two lower tabs are broken off. I have both heard of this being a problem and not being a problem. I know that I would not be able to utilize the larger mount more towards the back of the light without swapping to a facelift core support, but what about the lower tab that is next to the radiator? I have heard not running any lower mounts can cause the headlights to bounce up and down. I can always try to fab something up to hold them in place as well.

Another possible issue is that the connector on the headlight side for one of the lights is cracked and no longer a watertight seal. I may see about buying a new connector if I can't find another. He was able to get all four pigtails though, so wiring them up should be pretty painless. Both HID ballasts are there, but I don't know if they work. It's missing the HID bulbs and I will probably have to replace both turn signal bulbs, haven't looked at the high beams yet.

The price listed on PnP's website is $26 per headlight, but because these lights have the turn signal built in they charged $42 and wouldn't budge. After the environmental fee and tax, they came out to $100 out the door.

[ricekikr]

The price listed on PnP's website is $26 per headlight, but because these lights have the turn signal built in they charged $42 and wouldn't budge. After the environmental fee and tax, they came out to $100 out the door.

Whats the website? Been wanting to replace my Depos

[coolgraymemo]

Swag.

[Halfrican]

Thanks, this reminds me that I need to hit the local junk yards to find a driver-side head light. It has been given me trouble lately.

The change from 2-piece headlights to 1-piece headlights is a very subtle touch for early pre-facelift cars. You wouldn't happen to be planning on removing the amber corners would you?

[BaseDrifter]

I think it will be quite a drastic change for the car. New headlights is something I've wanted to do for over 3 years, just never got around to it.

I will probably end up clear cornering them, but not at first. First step is to just get them installed and working properly. Need bulbs, need to cut the fenders, re-do the wiring, repair a broken connector, possibly fab up a new lower mount. Once all that is done I'd consider clear cornering them and switching to a bi-xenon morimoto projector with clear lens.

[MetalMan]

switching to a bi-xenon morimoto projector with clear lens.

Excellent choice... huge improvement over the projectors that come with the headlights. I even sold off the old xenon projectors to help cover some of the Morimoto Mini cost.

[fR3ZNO]

I would definitely look for a way to secure the headlights since the lower mounts are broken. The pass. side mount on my core support got messed up one time and when I went over bumps I could see the beam of light bounce up and down whereas the other one was solid.

[bhusted]

FX-R or EVOX-R projectors FTW. I love my retrofits.