It was all a dream - Stage 3 S4 Avant Build

[avant1987]

Well we can't get Audi RS2s in the states just yet and they are also way out of my price range even if we could. So I purchased the next best thing in my book that I could get my hands on in the states.

I have always considered a b5 s4 avant to be the ultimate wagon and a Brilliant Black six speed popped up on my local craigslist, AoA only imported 172 of these to the good ol USA. Becuz Amricans **** station wagons anyways...



It needed some(read: alot) cash tossed at it to run right(read: faster) but it was priced slightly under market and the bones were good. After some haggling I ended up buying it.

It has a few modification, and a lot of issues that needed to be fixed. Part of me wanted to buy it just to save it from a teenager, or someone who would poorly modify a cult car blow it up and leave it in a junkyard. The other part of me wanted to buy it so I can keep it forever, only time will tell.

Next came the parts, and man did I order a lot of them-

Engine / Trans
-Frankenturbos with bored inlets
-Bosch 550cc injectors
-Custom CNC fuel rail spacers for the new injectors
-Bosch "040" drop in fuel pump
-OEM Coil packs
-Every gasket under the sun/ cam plugs/seals
-Eurodyne software
-Evolution Raceworks intercoolers
-034 Silicone Hose Kit
-034 motorsports engine mount/ trans mount/ snubmount/ solid subframe bushings
-Clutchmasters fx400
-Clutchmasters flywheel
-Hitachi 85mm MAF
-Manual boost controller ran in-line with the n75

Other stancey things I ordered-
-BFG G-force all season 225/40s
-1552 Tarmacs

Eventually I hope to pick up dynatech carline cm6s because they are one my dream wheels.

Things the avant came with
-Downpipes
-JHM Short Shifter
-JHM Trans brace
-Custom "backyard special" 3in exhaust system (going to have to figure this out)
-Sport Nogaro interior
-Real blue weave rs4 carbon fiber trim
-ST Coilovers (not blown)
-A terrible replica rs4 bumper of some sort, it needs a good burning.
-rS4 grill
-2.8 heads

So that's it. I'll have pictures shortly hopefully it will also be on the road soon.

I am happy to own one of my personal top 3 VAG cars of all time. Even knowing the immensity of the bills and problems that come with B5 S4s.

[88ninety9]

Sounds like you have your ducks in a row!

B5s4 avant ftw

[jolio1994]

Badass join date

[avant1987]

Badass join date

Hahah, what a coincidence.


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[vavJETTAw36]

Aaaah scratch what I said. You got the #55's do maybe they'll idle better.

[avant1987]

Oh yeah, here are pictures of the weekend car that was sacrificed for the parts purchase for the avant so I wouldn't have to touch "real money" just yet.

I will most likely regret selling this guy, but everything has a price.

Really clean big bumper mk2, VR swapped with lots of goodies BBS, Recaros etc.









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[audi-hammer]

Was this that one down by your area for a good price? Was a solid pick up but I heard there was a discrepancy of the mileage and possibly a title issue? The dudes friend went psycho in the FB page when someone posted about it. Did it have a matte black bumper? Either way it was a good deal and avants never come cheap, hope you get it sorted out and back to its formal glory like it deserves!

[avant1987]

Was this that one down by your area for a good price? Was a solid pick up but I heard there was a discrepancy of the mileage and possibly a title issue? The dudes friend went psycho in the FB page when someone posted about it. Did it have a matte black bumper? Either way it was a good deal and avants never come cheap, hope you get it sorted out and back to its formal glory like it deserves!

Yes it was, I was hesitant to buy it for multiple reasons, the odometer issues did exist and I didn't really care to be honest.

The ODO reads 80 something K he said the miles are actually 122K (The PO switched it due to pixel issues. I think he is actually on here he had the avant in CO tried to save it , plasti dipped it, gave up and sold it. The only good thing was that plasti dip appears to have saved the paint fairly well for a year or two). These cars can have 50K on them and have all the problems in the world, or 200K and have stock turbos and run like a top. I bought the car knowing most of the aged parts were being replaced anyways. There was no title issue, the title was clean.

I was more concerned with the fact that the trunk didn't seal properly, the install of the heads was shoddy at best, the headliner looks like hell, there was plasti dip in all the wrong places, and a slew of other small bothersome things (missing/cracked plastics, missing trim pieces etc, it leaked oil from every orifice, but at least the oil was clean and metal flake free) ...All these things will add up to a lot). But those things are all fixable with time and patience.

Like I said the bones were good and with these 15 plus year old cars that's really all you can evaluate and hope for, the body was really straight, it hadn't been hit in the rear so the hatch not sealing properly is a bit of a head scratcher but it will get worked out.

It didn't hurt that my buddy who is mechanic and works on these cars very regularly as an audi specialist is excellent with these cars. He spent an hour on his hands and knees with a flashlight and looked over everything he could conceivably reach without use of a lift.

We will see if there are any hidden skeletons when we rip into it next week.

[88ninety9]

Avants don't have trunks

Most of these cars have mismatched mileage in one place or another. My car has 145k but the motor has 115k

[avant1987]

Avants don't have trunks

Most of these cars have mismatched mileage in one place or another. My car has 145k but the motor has 115k

Haha, my apologies "hatch". ^Thats is exactly why the mileage discrepancy didn't bother me

[audi-hammer]

Avants are always worth it man, good luck!

[Hyphy]

enjoy

[avant1987]

Avants are always worth it man, good luck!

Thanks man, I think so too.

enjoy

[GramCracker]

Welcome to the Avant Club

[MikeyB3]

Avant FTW. Also please post photos.

[avant1987]

Welcome to the Avant Club

Avant FTW. Also please post photos.

Thanks guys! I will hopefully have some photos this week, I have been traveling alot for work. At this point you could probably mistake it for an imola yellow avant thanks to all the pollen gathering on it.

[avant1987]

Solid Craigslist find the other day I picked up a set of Thule aeroblade 7502s, now to find an inno shadow 13.

Yes, these things will serve a purpose I have a newborn and two dogs. So naturally the newborn will be in the backseat and dogs in the hatch, everything else in the roof box.

[avant1987]

Been waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for the turbos from frankenturbo, I guess I cant complain because the pricing he gave me was pretty insane. I should have them this week.

In the meantime I have picked up a few things
-a front bumper, its OEM but its in rough shape (washer caps are shaved though). I am going to paint it myself because it wouldn't be worth the cost of a professional paint job and then I will look for a nicer one once I get more important things taken care of
-oem front grilles
-oem hood latch
-stripped plasti dip off of the rs4 grille and mirror caps
-oem antenna mount (mine was missing)

hopefully I will have progress pictures soon, I realize a thread without pictures is pretty boring.

[avant1987]

Still waiting on turbos

Found a source for OEM Nogaro alcantara fabric, so I will be able to have the back support portion of the rear bench wrapped to match the rest of the interior. It currently has black leather and nogaro suede front seats, door cards and rear bench along with real blueish carbon fiber trim on all doors, dash and center console. I am very excited about this.

[zatch_303]

pics of avant

[Cgoon009]

Where in Maryland are you located? Im local too.

[Bordom]

Still waiting on turbos

Found a source for OEM noagro alcantara fabric, so I will be able to have the back support portion of the rear bench wrapped to match the rest of the interior. It currently has black leather and nogaro suede front seats, door cards and rear bench along with real blueish carbon fiber trim on all doors, dash and center console. I am very excited about this.

Link for OEM Nogaro Alcantara

Everything graciously mispelled by Android

[avant1987]

Link for OEM Nogaro Alcantara

Everything graciously mispelled by Android

For sure, it's saved on my work computer. I'll post it tomorrow.


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[avant1987]

pics of avant

I know I know.. portraits or it didn't happen. I hope to have photo updates in the thread soon. So much work to do.

Where in Maryland are you located? Im local too.

I am in Baltimore, Canton to be exact.

Link for OEM Nogaro Alcantara

Everything graciously mispelled by Android

Here you are kind sir. I know "OEM" is a bold claim but it appears this is the "real-deal" based on the last sentence of their description.

http://overland-designs.com/products...cantara-panel/

[Bordom]

Here you are kind sir. I know "OEM" is a bold claim but it appears this is the "real-deal" based on the last sentence of their description.

http://overland-designs.com/products...cantara-panel/

Holy shit.$100 per yard? I might just walk into a local fabric store and buy something closely resembling that lol

Thanks

Everything graciously mispelled by Android

[avant1987]

Holy shit.$100 per yard? I might just walk into a local fabric store and buy something closely resembling that lol

Thanks

Everything graciously mispelled by Android

Yeah i guess I didn't blink at the price because I only need about 2 yards to have the bench done.

[avant1987]

Dropped by the shop to check in on progress now that the turbos were finally delivered after 8 weeks of waiting. A good buddy of mine, and probably the only person I would trust to do this work is going over the motor with a fine tooth comb and I am sure glad he has... He has gone above any beyond inspecting every component, bolt, crush washer, plug, tensioner, belt etc...

Alarming things he found when he ripped into the motor... it was missing the lower and upper engine covers, the motor was out of time to the tune of 15 degrees, it was missing a few valve cover bolts, every single one was torqued to a different spec, upon dropping the sub frame the motor mounts each fell into two pieces, the timing belt had been replaced but none of the tensioners were replaced nor the camshaft seals nor the crackshaft seal, the clutch and flywheel were roached, the front bumper rebar had been hacked to pieces and the bumper was held on by two zip ties (thank god I had hoarded a spare in new condition) one of the headlights had every single tab broken and was held in by zip ties... I could keep going but I have lost track of everything both small and large he has found and had to correct.

I couldn't be happier that it is being done as correctly as it is this time around.

The 034 solid subframe mounts were pressed in, new motor mounts were mounted, the replacement flywheel from clutch masters was resurfaced (I had bought it used in good condition).

The motor should be going back in the car today. I want to document the maintenance that was done independent of all of the upgrades, simply so I can illustrate to the extent the drive train was fully overhauled.



...and yes hopefully I will have pictures soon, things have been too hectic to even think about snapping any, plus the car has about a quarter inch of dust on it so it is in an embarrassing state.

The end of the week and finally driving this car couldn't come soon enough.

Also, I apologize for the most boring thread without pictures ever but that will change...

[avant1987]

Regarding performance... for the stage 3 portion of the build here is the list of what is being run if anyone has input/suggestions or additions feel free to share

-F21s w/ bored inlets
-ER Intercoolers
-FX400 clutch and flywheel
-Bosch 550s
-Bosch drop-in fuel pump
-Catted Ssac downpipes (these were on the car when I purchased it) to a 3inch catless "random exhaust shop" exhaust
-034 silicon hose kit
-2.8 heads
-Eurodyne Maestro software


The MAF is still a bosch MAF but being that they are hybrid turbos I didn't see the need to upgrade just yet, but please chime in...

[Corradovolksb]

Sounds like your car is in good hands. That's a good stage 3 list but you need to upgrade your Maf or else you will max out your stock one and your upper rpm fueling won't be correct. You can run a rs4 Maf if you want to stick with Bosch or you can switch to an hitachi sensor with an 85mm housing. If your dead set on keeping the stock one for now make sure you take some logs on while your tuning and keep a close eye on MAF g/s and voltage. If your getting close to the 5v range your maxing out the Maf.

Who will be tuning it?

[zatch_303]

sounds like this is nothing more than a dream if there are no pics of the avant.

[avant1987]

Sounds like your car is in good hands. That's a good stage 3 list but you need to upgrade your Maf or else you will max out your stock one and your upper rpm fueling won't be correct. You can run a rs4 Maf if you want to stick with Bosch or you can switch to an hitachi sensor with an 85mm housing. If your dead set on keeping the stock one for now make sure you take some logs on while your tuning and keep a close eye on MAF g/s and voltage. If your getting close to the 5v range your maxing out the Maf.

Who will be tuning it?

Good info on the MAF upgrade thank you, it will be added to the second list of things I will alter after the car is finally running. The shop I am using will be doing the initial tune using the Eurodyne Maestro software. They have tuned a few S4's and have a shop stage 3 b5s4. I trust their abilities, they know their way around fast euros, they have an impressive mk2 VRT that puts down over 700hp easily. They also build a few VRTs a year from the bottom up and have built a few frankenturbo audis as well. I will let you know how it goes. What is your recommendation from a tuning standpoint?

sounds like this is nothing more than a dream if there are no pics of the avant.

Touche

[Corradovolksb]

Ok cool sounds like they know what they are doing. Keep the thread updated with the progress. I'm a fan of VRT's they can make some great power.

I have never used maestro so I don't have any input on that software.
I use tuner pro and winols for tuning and Nefmoto software and kess v2 for flashing. I would go with an 85mm hitachi Maf because F21s won't max it out. You will be good with 24psi but you can spike 26 and taper to 23-24 by redline with the new style F21's. You will want bigger injectors if you want to run e85 I'd go 630cc or bigger to keep your injector duty cycle below 90%

[avant1987]

Ok cool sounds like they know what they are doing. Keep the thread updated with the progress. I'm a fan of VRT's they can make some great power.

I have never used maestro so I don't have any input on that software.
I use tuner pro and winols for tuning and Nefmoto software and kess v2 for flashing. I would go with an 85mm hitachi Maf because F21s won't max it out. You will be good with 24psi but you can spike 26 and taper to 23-24 by redline with the new style F21's. You will want bigger injectors if you want to run e85 I'd go 630cc or bigger to keep your injector duty cycle below 90%

Again, super helpful. I will report back with my experience with maestro. I won't run an e85 file just yet. It will be my daily so I'll be running 25psi on pump gas. Doug with frankenturbo recommended the 550cc based on my goals with the car.

However it's good to know the benefits of running larger injectors if I wanna run e85. I am just glad I went with Bosch injectors over Siemens after a fair amount of research.

What turbos are you running on your setup currently?

As an aside, yes Redline is great and their builds are very cool, good buddies of mine and even if they weren't, nationally renown NGP is just as close to me as Redline and personal relationships aside I would trust Redline any day over them.

Here is an mk4 r32t they wrapped up a few months ago.




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[avant1987]

A motor finally ready to go where it belongs.




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[avant1987]

Sounds like your car is in good hands. That's a good stage 3 list but you need to upgrade your Maf or else you will max out your stock one and your upper rpm fueling won't be correct. You can run a rs4 Maf if you want to stick with Bosch or you can switch to an hitachi sensor with an 85mm housing. If your dead set on keeping the stock one for now make sure you take some logs on while your tuning and keep a close eye on MAF g/s and voltage. If your getting close to the 5v range your maxing out the Maf.

Who will be tuning it?

85mm hitachi MAF came in, it will be tuned from day 1 with the larger MAF.


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[Corradovolksb]

Right on I'm looking forward to seeing your results.

[avant1987]

Just a potato teaser pic for now... Almost there.




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[avant1987]

It's an ecu and only an ecu away from turning over. Potato photos launching from the potato gun.



Big brakes peaking out.



And the interior





Carbon fiber because race car.









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[avant1987]

Just picked up the needed stock "M" box from an AZ member. Thanks AZ!


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[avant1987]

So remember that frigged up s4 replica bumper that the car came with... well it wasn't fiberglass so I had it painted, for a $100 professional paint job it was totally worth it.

Apparently there were two coats of plasti dip different colors of course and then two coats of paint underneath that.



Bam peanut butter and jaaaam


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