The original paint had faded and the clear coat was almost non-existent on the car, the interior was in rough shape, and it sat like a monster truck. Oh well the car ran. It was on the short drive home I realized that this was the car I've been looking for, and later that night I started to part out the B5 S4.
Moving into the NY Winter Season, I found out quickly that the car's heater core was leaking and bypassed by the previous owner (He used and extended 14mm deep socket to hold the 2 coolant hoses together :roll: :roll: ).It only took me going out to the car at 6am when it was -2F for me to man up and just replace the heater core.
A couple of warm months later, I figured I'd try and paint the car myself... Now, I'll be the first to say, I'm not expert when it comes to painting. I took a 2 week crash course sponsored by the Marine Corps months prior and had only painted one or two pieces of equipment prior to this. Working 10+ hours a day was brutal, but I still managed to sneak a few hours of sanding a night in.
Started with 200 grit, then 300, 800, 800 wet sand, and finally 2000 wet sand. Skip over a few weeks and boom, cars ready for paint! Using the heated paint booth we have on base, I snuck in during a 4 day weekend and begin to paint
A day later the car was done. Installed some $30 smoked headlight markers from Ebay and let it sit. 3 days later I pulled it out of the paint booth and alas, the Cactus Green (Color of my first B5 S4) URS4 was done! I had made the mistake of using an HPLV I bought instead of the one I was taught on how to use. Yes there was Orange Peel, but it was a worlds difference than what the car had started out with.
The day after I rolled the car out of the paint booth, I took leave and drove 920 miles down to GA to see the family. Not a single hiccup (This car is awesome!) Pulled into the driveway next to my dad's Cactus Green B5 S4 (Identical to my Cactus S4) and his Stage 3 Silvaro S4. Man it was good to be home!
Unsure of the previous maintenance, I decided to spend a good chunk of change and started to get the car good!
-ECS Tuning Timing Belt Kit
-Valve Cover Gasket
-Magnecor Ignition Wires
-BKR7E Spark Plugs
-Rebuilt Calipers, New Rotors and ECS Tuning Red Stuff Pads all around
-Coolant Flush to get rid of the Autozone Special Green Coolant
-Yellow Koni's and slightly used H&R Greens
-Every Subframe Bushing front of the Carrier Bearing
-Rebuilt 01E 6sp Transmission my Father had lying around the house (Got a pretty good deal on it cough* cough*)
-OEM Starter
-OEM Altenator
-034 Short Shifter
-Harbor Freight Boost Gauge to see what was going on
-OEM Carbon Fiber Trim
Spent about 5 days receiving the parts and throwing them on as they came to the door. Got the know the UPS guys name... Harold I think it was?? lol. Cleaned up the interior and installed a set of OEM Cold Weather Floor Mats my dad also had lying around. Installed the stock radio (Man that was a b*tch), and out came the car good as new.
Over the course of the next year I've added more pieces on bit by bit.
2" Straight Thru Dual exhaust, DR.Beast Car 3" Downpipe, 034 Turbo Inlet, 034 Boost Hoses, New coolant lines all around, and other misc. items. I currently have every rear bushing on order right now so that'll be fun when the time comes... The hood I currently have has hail damage (LMK if you have one in lower NY area!) and upon receiving a new one, the car will probably be sanded down again and repainted again now that I have much more experience then when I first started.
Bought the car with 174,xxx and it currently has 199,921 miles... Car has never skipped a beat, but plans are in the works for increasing the power level when the time arises, and I find the engine or turbo needing a rebuild.
Snow donuts: https://youtu.be/jPgwamdKDbk
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