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66K views 934 replies 80 participants last post by  LT1M21Stingray 
#1 · (Edited)
TO DO LIST:


  • [*] New Starter install
    [*] Repair rear seat-heater plug
    [*] Upholster bottom of seats
    [*] Re-upholster wheel well to black
    [*] Undo the modded cluster
    [*] install undertray
    [*] Install new air box
    [*] Determine what the random wire is in the door

    [*]Metal diverter valve (PSH PSH PSHHHHH)
  • right hatch light is out
  • windshield wiper hoses+wiring
    [*]mfts sensor plug wiring
    [*]fuel system clean+flush
    [*]only one speaker functions (front passenger)
    [*]034 Fuel battery relay install
    [*]wheel well repair + install
    [*]sound deadening in rear (wheel well and floor)
  • stromung exhaust
  • complete bushing replacement on everything
  • ceramic+powder coating of turbo+downpipe
  • wiring cleanup + heat shielding
  • wheels (ENKEI RPF1 looks like it is the ticket)
  • Possibly an IR to RF conversion
    [*]Clean and repaint intercooler (not black enough)
  • patch hole in passenger side fender -- possibly find replacements
  • find and bolt on an injector cover
    [*]relocate/shield the LS2 coils
  • find a rubber boot for hatch wiring
    [*]fix all temperature/pressure gauges
    [*]replace clock with boost gauge (in cluster) - booooo this sucks
    [*]re-mount ECU (it's not bolted in)
  • Windshield replacement
  • register the car
  • drive car


So I am finally delving into the project car realm. I'm not too scared of things breaking, more concerned with buying a 1995 Audi in general. SoldOverSticker was a complete gentleman and went and looked at the car for me and I decided to pull the trigger. I know 2Bennet is the go-to for parts for these things, and the guy I am buying it from is heavily involved in the California racing scene so it's got all kinds of goodies coming with it.

Any of you ever own a URS6/4? Teach me about them. Enjoy the ride.




 
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#107 ·
UPDATE

New goodies:






Fit is pretty good! Almost perfect -- the only thing that would make it perfect is it the car wasn't molested for 25 years.

Next up: Some undercarriage shots.


absolutely DESTROYED motor mount.





Two horns, one disconnected, and the other doesn't seem to work. Fun!


Axle leakage. This is the passenger side axle @ the front diff


Driver side front axle for reference



So, I was cleaning up the back seat area and noticed a tiny bit of surface rust in the battery tray. I started cleaning it up with the wire wheel when I accidentally brushed up against the seatbelt base. Well, a spring shot out at mac-5 and scared the bajeesus out of me. Now I need to figure out how to get this back together.





Ordered a larger tap and die set because the tap set I ordered was one size too small for the wheel hubs... In the mean time, I think I am going to take the hubs off and let them sit in krud-kutter, including the brakes. Anyone know if this is going to absolutely destroy the integrity of them? The brakes have just been sitting so long that they have rust all throughout, and I don't want to replace otherwise very nice drilled and slotted disc brakes.
 
#111 ·
So, I was cleaning up the back seat area and noticed a tiny bit of surface rust in the battery tray. I started cleaning it up with the wire wheel when I accidentally brushed up against the seatbelt base. Well, a spring shot out at mac-5 and scared the bajeesus out of me. Now I need to figure out how to get this back together.

Did you fix this?

I like the current wheels but went looking for Turbo Twists on a C4, found this instead. I think they need big spokes like these, since the design is "heavy." A multi-spoke or something with dainty spokes just won't work:



Couldn't find any 996 C4S/Turbo style Turbo Twists on a C4, just the 993/986/early 996 turbo wheels:

 
#109 ·
UPDATE:

Ordered some things, did some things, etc.


First: Exhaust had to come off. The muffler was already removed in an earlier post but now I am removing everything up to the cat. It's just wack, frankly. The v clamps were rusted and heat welded on so were a paint to get off and it was just all very unclean.

Eventually I will be putting on an actual exhaust.




Hanger is a little less ghetto this time.


Because of this removal, this is how we sit currently:




Hmmm, that won't do. I have two choices -- either I put a downturn right there as it sits (From the downpipe), or I throw on the test pipe and put the downturn on that. Either way, it is going to obnoxiously loud and smelly. Guess it's a good thing we don't have emissions laws in Washington anymore!

This is what I ordered:




---

On to the interior:

I mentioned cleaning up the battery box of rust. I removed a little box that I imagine controls something because it has wires going into it. This also removed the foam seat (where it sits) to protect it. This gave me more access to the box to remove some more surface rust and paint over it.


I used a wire wheel and some sand paper and it turned out decently. There are some hard to reach places that will just have to get sprayed over, but nothing rusty.

I sprayed it one coat of Rustoleum 2 in 1 Sandable primer, then one coat of regular primer. I'll go over the top of it in black. FYI, this picture was a little bit before painting, and I cleaned it up a little bit more. These pictures were about half-way through cleaning (and I had already done the main box).






---

Back to the exterior:

I got the tap kit in but once again it was the wrong size. I'm starting to think maybe I should measure? Anyways, I decided to just go for it and install the new wheel studs and get the car back sitting on the ground (or dollies in this case).

Check out how nasty these things are... I'll get new ones in the future most likely.








I only had problems with one thread on the hub, but it worked itself out. I also removed the front spacers which made a solid difference in the look of these wheels on the car.




Check out the brake clearance -- you reckon this is okay? Its about 5mm I'd say.







---

I also tried tackling the O2 sensor wiring again, but I just got even more frustrated. There are three options for making it work that I see:


Option 1) Find an OEM insulated (clipping preferably) space terminal for each end. This would make switching out the O2 sensor for myself and a future owner much simpler as they wouldn't have to wire the O2 sensor in with a new connector.

Option 2) Rewire it the way we had planned with the deutsch connectors and then make one piggyback for the O2 with a spade terminal (and aforementioned clipping insulation). This would make it so everything else was the way we had planned but the O2 sensor is removable easily with the stock connector. This introduces one new failure domain as we have introduced another connector.

Option 3) Wire it the way that was originally recommended and have me/future owner wire in the connector each time they change the O2 sensor.
 
#110 ·
I see the project, referred to as "wax on", but when will the wax be removed?
 
#113 ·
As an update, if you want the hollow spoke Turbo look, the wheels you want are the Turbo Look II in 18x8 (part number 996.362.136.01). These are fronts. Rears for Turbo Look IIs are too wide (18x10) and the real hollow spokes are expensive and are even wider in the rear (8x11).

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk
 
#114 ·
UPDATE:

Well, this has been overdue. I haven't done anything too major, just a lot of little things. No upgrades yet.

First off, I wanted to sort out the exhaust issue. I did a lot of grinding and such to the booger welds just to make it less terrible. Some of these welds were just embarrassing, but I am not one to talk.











I hesitated to go much further, but did clean it up a tad bit more after this.














----

I cut the end of the exhaust that was on there off. It had a massive, heavy magnaflow muffler with a flap inside that jiggled and was obnoxious, so for now we're just deleting it. I did try just going downpipe > atmosphere but it sounded like a tractor and just about deafened the entire neighborhood on startup.



This was how it looked like from the downpipe. Nope.


Now. Slightly better, but mega low. It was this low when I got it, but it is a pretty terrible design. Car is just about at its limits on lowness, which a couple inches from exhaust to ground.


It sounds okay ish. I haven't driven it yet as I am still getting it up to snuff. In the future i'll get a Stromung for it.

---

Next Up: Fuel

So the fuel gauge did not work and was annoying. PO said it is either the gauge or the fuel sending unit. Conveniently, he provided a used sending unit, so I decided to swap it out!





With the new one in, plumbed, and wired up, I did not get to even test it for two weeks! Reason being: paint.


---

hole

You ever just buy a car with a hole in it? I did. I didn't know about it... you'd think it would be something a seller would mention. This one has a hole in it. I asked about it, and he said the male model cut it out. Probably a speed hole? No idea.

Anyways, it is just a wheel well. Nothing too crazy. I have one on order for the low low price of $600. I attempted to get one from a used car online, but the guy mangled the hell out of it when cutting it up and got mad when I decided not to buy his mangled wheel well.

While I wait for the new wheel well (hopefully it fits...), I decided to clean up the hatch floor. It was filthy from years of not having a floor and dirt sticking to the sound deadening.



Before



I grinded the metal down and cleaned up some of the rubber coating. Didn't get it all, but there wasn't any rust, so it was really overkill to do this anyways. I just wanted to do it while I was there and had the free time.

Next up: Primer. I did it with sandable primer, but there wasn't much to sand anyways. Rustoleum brand.





Finally: Black. Rustoleum brand black paint, no gloss. Worked well. Pretty hard to paint while standing in a car hole, though.




foot

I also cleaned up the wiring a tad bit (re-wrapped with new electrical tape in the same method as stock). There is a spare red cable that I believe I have traced back to the hatch side-panel that has a speaker/sub connection. I think so, at least. There was a subwoofer cable back there, and I know it is wired for speakers.



Plus, I put the trimp all back together-ish! Still some pieces to add, like the floor. The hole is simply covered by the floor cover for the meantime.



---

MORE PAINT


Okay, so I also wanted to fix the green painted bumper trim pieces that I have. These go under the headlights. I am a very bad painter, and these will later get re-done when the car gets repainted... if ever. Done with glossy black paint. I ordered a bead-blasting kit but it did not show up yet so I just grinded the thing down.








stop looking at my feet



Also did the hood mounts, as they were pretty beat. I think that's the last of the paint I am going to do for a bit. Eventually the suspension pieces will likely be powder-coated black, but that is for another time..

---

Between all of this, I also fixed some of the cabling in the rear hatch, but the soldering iron I had was insufficient, so I will be redoing it all properly with heat shrink and crimps, as recommended by a buddy over at Cobb tuning. I'll be doing the same thing for the O2 sensor.


Oh yeah, and the fuel gauge works, wooo!!!




---

To come:

  • Rewire trunk cables
  • find/order and install a battery tray + hold-down.. this one has none
  • get one of the three radios that came with the car working. Not sure which one will work, but allegedly all of them do.
  • Hood latch complete replacement
  • Driver door latch fix -- waiting on mounting clips
  • Dash back together
  • Brake flush
  • fuel system flush
  • oil flush
  • drive??
 
#117 ·
Maybe the hole contained a huge subwoofer and he took it with him when he sold the car.
 
#120 ·
Dude yes. Love love love this.

Keep it up!!

Also. Maybe I missed it. Did you figure out wheels?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#123 ·
UPDATE:

Well, it's getting to the point where I am doing so many little things and it is hard to remember where I left off.

First off, I got the thing started. I initially tried starting it up and had it running for a few minutes when all of a sudden I heard a noise and the starter no longer worked. Turns out that was a stuck relay/ignition. So basically the starter was on the whole time the car was on and burned out the solenoid. Haven't replaced that yet, but luckily in my parts bin I had a spare starter. Got it installed and working.

I changed the brake fluid completely and bled it, ran some oil cleaner and changed the oil, changed the oil filter, then started it up again. Or... didn't. I switched the spark plugs out and when I put the plugs back on, either I put them on wrong or they were wrong from the get-go. Either way, the car was not starting, so in troubleshooting I realized the plugs were all wonky, so I put 1-5 labeled on the coils to 1-5 in a row. Hope that's right, but I should probably ask someone...

After this, I noticed a few other things. Oil temp and coolant temp both show nothing. Ruh roh! Tested to see if it was a stuck gauge by giving the dash a little punch, but nothing. So doing some research, it seems like the MFTS is a very common failure point on this era. Ordered a replacement and it arrived. I will be installing that today. I really need to do a better job of taking pics of these things.

I noticed that the engine also has an insanely quick warm-up time, as in I can feel the radiant heat within just a few minutes. I don't believe that is intentional, so hopefully this MFTS sorts it out. I am also going to be flushing the coolant system.

---

So what did I actually fix? Well, the hood latch has been sorted out. I ordered a part from FCP Euro which said it would not fit for $9. The "fitting" latch cost $100+, so I am glad this worked out. It was a major pain in the ass getting it installed. The little hooks and knobs and fiddly bits that can cut you are everywhere. I now have the hood back on and am happy to say that it opens. I also got all the clips in that I needed. Once again, just like the inner door (which now also opens and closes), the clips did not fit in the body with any strength so some gorilla glue sorted that out.

I noticed an exhaust leak somewhere under the car, so I will try to snug that up too.

---

FLOOR

I have sourced a floor, which I will be attempting to cut out of the donor car on 4th of July weekend. A drive across the state and some sketchy car in a random field plus some grinders; hopefully I do not end up dead. I should be able to get the windshield out of that car as well which would be nice because mine currently has a massive crack.

Here are some pics and such of some random things along the way.







exhaust leak




Movement!!


Old dirty plug



New plugs



.... Future problems, under the dash.


Ass pic
 
#126 ·
For sure. When I saw it in person I let him know it's a pretty big project, and the electrical would put it past what my shade tree skills would allow me to do. Yet, every time I check in, I see him hammering right along. Glad he pulled the trigger on it, as it'll be awesome when he's done. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
#127 ·
As expected, MFTS was fubar.





More wack ass splices.


Apparently very common, actually.



Mad corrosion


Will need some more of these.


I also need a 30mm or 31mm socket as the imperial sockets I have are one size too small and one size too large for the MFTS fitting, lol.


This article is incredible and has walked me through diagnosing this: https://forums.quattroworld.com/s4s6/msgs/22584.phtml


It is incredible hard to get to, as the MFTS it is under the intake manifold. I almost want to just replace all the sensors while I am down there, but meh, we'll do one at a time for now.



I also found out that the oil pressure sender is not hooked up at all. Fantastich!

Also, I drained out all the coolant and ran a few 10 gallons of water through it and pressurized the system with an air hose. I am pretty sure there was probably a blockage in there or something based on how long it sat.


The oil drain is a fumoto drain plug, which everyone must try. It's so fantastic.
 
#129 ·
Awesome car man! I've always wanted an avant. Currently have a 93 S4 which has a similar setup to yours (3071r, big brakes, coilovers, ls2 coilpacks, etc.)

I am currently changing mine up and kinda going overboard on a few things. Rewired the entire thing & added an ATL fuel cell, MaxxECU, bucket seats...never ending project.

Anyways, keep it up! They are really fun cars when sorted out. Chasing misfires is a pretty regular occurrence. Make sure all the coils/sparkplugs are good, check for boost leaks, etc. Also voltage regulator on the alt.
 
#131 ·
Would love to see some pics of yours!

I am going for more of a comfortable cruiser/weekend car. Funnily enough, I originally purchased this as a daily driver for winter. What was I thinking?

---

I just replaced the sparkplugs, but it probably should get some new plug wires. Since you have the LS2 coils, would you mind confirming the plug order for me? I am pretty sure there will be a boost leak or two, but the biggest issue right now is probably the air box that is missing two retaining clips, so it is open on one side.

What do you mean about the voltage regulator? Common to go bad? I've noticed the electrical system on this thing is fantastic, despite all the **** that has been wired/spliced into it in the past. I left the doors open for 2 weeks and the car started right up!
 
#133 · (Edited)
I had a bunch of trouble like that with the MFTS in my 2B 200 20V wagon. After sorting out all the electrics I think I realized there was some flaw in the intake manifold surface preventing the sensor from sealing correctly, so who knows how long the car had been dripping coolant down into the electrical connector (and boot) before I'd owned it. What a pain that was.
 
#138 ·
UPDATE:

Few things. First, the boring stuff

Some fiberglass sleeving came in so I can fix up the wiring semi-properly. It is going to take some trial and error to get it right, but there seems like a LOT that can go wrong in my particular engine bay due to heating. I also plan on getting a heat shielding fabbed up at some point for the coils as they're right above the turbo downpipe.

Apikol urethane snub mount came in, so at some point before driving the car I'll get that installed. The other two motor mounts are 034 rubber mounts which saves me a lot of time and money... now I just need to replace the other 500 mounts and bushings in the car, but haven't found a company that I like yet producing rubber mounts. Probably just have to go OEM.

Still waiting on some repair wire as well as the MFTS sensor plug so I can fix up that mess. I also found out that the oil gauge temp sensor that I thought was unplugged may just be a holdover from a different model (URS4). No wires can go to it and there's another sensor to the left of it... I need to do some advanced digging on this...




You can see the two prongs unplugged there.

I guess this model only has a "dummy light" for oil temp, but I definitely have an oil temp gauge, so not sure what the deal is with it not reading.

---

Decided to get the coil plug cover done-ish. I grinded it using some wire wheels and sanding discs. Turned out okay-ish but obviously was just a very quick job to make it not totally scaley. I was worried that it wasn't going to fit but it turns out it fits just fine. I need to get a few plug guides to make them neater.












Now I just need an injector cover. There's a shop in Sweden that does carbon parts for these but I am not in a position to purchase them yet. I'll probably get the carbon plug cover, injector cover, and timing cover.

---

big progress!!

I found a floor. Yes, that's right, flintstone car is going away... eventually.

A fine gentlemen on the coast let me cut out the spare wheel well from his parts-car URS6 avant (black), so I loaded up the Mercedes and drove over. Apparently not the best thing to do during 4th of July weekend, but it wasn't bad until I hit Tacoma. His property was pretty dope. They had 17 cars apparently, consisting of almost entirely oldschool Audis. They were enthusiasts through and through, and it was a family affair with the father and son being completely infatuated with these machines. Loved it.



His Quattro


HOME!! Got home just before sunset.

All that for a wheel well. DOH.


The goods:







I cut it out with an angle grinder. Took 6 disks and went through two batteries, including one 60V Max battery, which kind of surprised me. I also cut into the top of the fiberglass here and there because it's really ****ing hard to cut out a spare wheel well from a car sitting in a field with nothing but an angle grinder. But it's almost perfect. There is one hole from something.. I think manufacturing defect or something. I am either going to figure out how to lay fiberglass now to repair some spots or hopefully find someone to do it for me for cheap, because I do not want to do that.

Also note that the camera's lens is making it look curved. It's perfectly flat on top. Thank god these were fiberglass and not metal because the entire bottom of the car was powdery rust (being from Colorado).

While there, I conventiently forgot to grab the interior cover for the damn thing so now I have to get that some other time somehow from him. I also forgot to check for a spare battery box, which he has, so i'll have to get that as well. Finally, I was going to grab the windshield from him, but he was reluctant to pull it because it would likely destroy the seal. I think maybe he just didn't want to sell it, I don't know. He is going to have a more experienced person pull the windshield. While I don't need the windshield, mine does have a rather large horizontal crack across most of the screen, and the mirror is loose, so doesn't stay put. I'm sure there's an easy fix for that... right?

Sorry for not getting a picture of the box getting cut out.. I was dripping sweat with a respirator and goggles on and a disk blew up on me once or twice, so I wasn't in the picture taking mood.



---


LASTLY,

I took some pictures to hopefully identify some plugs that are undone in the passenger side footwell. Also, a picture of the old and new MFTS sensor.


I believe this goes to the glove box, possibly






 
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