Project OEM (2002 Azure Blue TDI AMF)

[2work]

Afternoon All,

As promise recently after @A2Steve rightly pointed out that there is a lack of project threads being published whilst we know there is probably quite a lot going on with our Aluminium Friends, as some of us find ourselves having a little more time on our hands. I’m certainly one of the people with a bit more time on my hands so have been working on my latest A2 to make it even more enjoyable when I get back on the road and return to work.

It was purchased in March as my old trusty stead, Ebony Black 1.4 Petrol @256k miles gave up on the way home in February. Quite devastated as it had pretty much everything possible fitted to it to make my 122 miles commute every weekday more refined and pleasurable. More annoyingly I hadn’t taken any pictures of all the work that had been done along with not producing a write up on it either. Too late now as it sits on my drive way stripped of all the parts and looms I needed along with what has been sold via PM etcetera. There is nothing to take a picture of now.

So my latest A2 is a 1.4 TDI (AMF 75) in Azure Blue with Twist interior. A truly stunning combination which has quickly grown on me, normally only a Black Audi sits on my drive. It came modestly equipped with OSS, Bose, Jive Double DIN Dashboard, Heated Twist Leather Sport Seats, Rear Electric Windows, Winter Pack, and had in the back of the car ready to be fitted a complete Twist False Floor kit.

I became aware of this A2 after 2 failed attempts of obtaining a TDI due to Trade Sellers not honouring their word of waiting for me to view with cash in my hand, so I thought I’d try listing a desperate thread here on the Forum, I was saved by @A2Steve who pointed me in the direction of @Jellybean, Rob thank you so much for allowing me this excellent A2. It is running great and has been a joy to drive, not that its getting many miles right now though. Here are the pictures that I was sent which got my off the sofa, gather the family up and made a quick dash to Gloucestershire to view the A2. A 200 mile round trip which turned out to be so so worth it:

You can see that in the pictures that it does look very nice, it didn’t come with those 17” wheels, it was sat on Standard 16” SE wheels with no centre caps which were quickly swapped to 15” Pepperpots wearing Dunlop BluResponse.

Having only test driven TDIs before, I had not had time to enjoy these great engines, although I was worried that it was running a little rough it pulled beutifully, suffice to say I enjoyed every minute of the 100 mile return journey home.

I have loads to add along with pictures which I will continue to get to you over the weekend. This is just the start of a rather long thread as this amazing A2 has been given some proper lockdown refinements.

Stay safe everyone.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Evening again,

The following morning after the purchase it gave it a good clean down inside and out. Inside, the headlining was rather damp and the textured material had come away from the foam, the latter still being bonded to the headlining biscuit itself. I knew this at the time of purchase and it didn't bother me as Ive retrimmed headlining many times in XJS' and Classic Saab 900's. There will be a question later in the thread as to which colour I should retrim the headlining in.

As the inside was wet I investigated to see where the ingress point was, immediately thought the OSS as it was reported to me it was a BSS, but couldn't get it to leak during rinsing the car down with the Karcher. Its been water tight ever since and never did find the reason. Boot and all 4 foot wells are dry and don't look to have had water collected in them. The main issue I have is that the door card fabrics are mouldy all over. This will be tackled later with the Karcher and some cleaning agent whilst they are removed from the doors. With the current weather its a perfect opportunity to thoroughly clean them and get them perfectly dry before refitting.

Whilst the car was drying and awaiting a good claying and polishing I went straight into the luggage area and removed all the trim. This was in preparation to install the false floor kit, spare wheel kit, solder in twin rear fogs (only done this as I see a previous owner had attempted it with a Scotch Lock and it wasn't working anyway) and wire in the second luggage compartment light. The aperture for the second boot light was cut before the trim panel was fitted.

Here a few images of how it looks now with all the work done:

You'll notice that there is light coming from the right hand side also, the second luggage area light, although not to everyones taste, really does help me out as I ofter have piles of work stuff in there and it does assist in finding what Im after in the darker evenings.

The spare wheel kit was an easy install as this is a 2002 model and still had the bolt threads present which I understand were removed in late 2003. If they were not present I would have just removed them from my old trusted stead.

Yes it could do with a clean and yes it has been used..... Exactly what it was intended for. Ill clean it up one day and get a ratchet strap around it to fully deflate it but for now it awaits to serve its purpose and is out of site.

The above retrofits were completed after I had finished with the polisher and bringing up to a brilliant shine.

Not content that I was ready to use the car for commuting after the weekend I went ahead and fitted a few other things that I had removed from the dead A2.

First was to remove this:

To be replaced with this:

The Symphony Unit is actually quite good as I don't mind the retro look. For about 2 years I was living with my Chorus Tape/Radio in the last A2 along with a Xcarlink to bring it up to date. The RNS-E is yet to be fully pushed home as I need to connect the Gala Cable to the instrument cluster and struggle to remove it with my cheap aftermarket stereo keys.

During that afternoon the family didn't see much of me as I continued to remove parts from the old A2 and place them into their new home.

Next was the TT Pedals as I think they just look and feel right in the A2 footwell.

Still yet to be content to be driving this up the A46 to work I went ahead and fitted the Platinum Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror. Another simple fit which will need to be correctly finished off by you know who when he can get to me when it is safe to do so. For the time being it has been booted up with one of these, @timmus look away before your blood boils and you break the curfew and every speed limit to Coalville:

It does the job for now and looks ok. I do have a Twist version en route from USA which also has the addition of the digital compass.

Its yet to be connect to the interior lighting as well as the reverse feed, another job for Tom when he gets here.

That's it for now... More to follow as this glorious A2 is older thus arrived with older inferior parts fitted.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Continuing on...

Late on in the first weekend of ownership I changed all the interior light to LED as I do like the brighter cabin. These were previously installed in the dead A2 and were purchased from a well known auction site as recommended by @Birchall a few years ago and still going strong without flickering. With the brighter Twist headlining (even though it has dropped) and pillars it really is bright in there.

The same evening I swapped the standard 16" SE wheels over the the 15" Pepperpots clad in Dunlop BluResponse. A very comfortable ride with the sport suspension. Whilst I was there I also fitted the OEM mud flaps which I purchased a few years ago when an eBay seller found a NOS stash hidden away. These are now reserved for a member when I get the Votex painted and fitted.

Couple of shots from this evening, it had been fully detailed on Thursday but has succumbed to being parked below a 250 year old Oak Tree which is shedding pollen and the like:

As stated earlier it is from an older generation thus came with the earlier style wiper arm and washer jets. It has the bonus of the Winter Pack and I just happened to have heated twin washer jets on the old A2. Arm swapped along with afore mentioned twin washer jets:

Whist the bonnet is off, I only yesterday received my 'new' engine cover from @A2Steve, it went straight into the bath with some fairy liquid then set outside to dry. Once dried it had a coat of satin black log burner paint which I always have in stock for when I get told MY log burners look scruffy and need attention.

Now looks much happier keeping the engine wrapped up.

Continuing in the engine bay, not many pictures of this unfortunately as didn't want to handle my newish XR whist covered in years of engine grime. Ive had the washer jet scuttle off again to remove the EGR Valve (now I don't use foul language that often but I think I filled the jar during the removal) as I had the gulping noise every time the accelerator was touched. As I thought this was a failed EGR Valve I purchase a replacement and fitted it, this made no change to the gulping/popping noise so after a chat with @depronman he advised me that there was a simple solution and I hadn't needed to replace the Valve itself. What he did recommend is that I send him my old EGR Valve for him to sprinkle his fairy dust over it. At the same time I thought Id send him my ECU, again for him to do some kind of rain dance on it to mate it work better than stock. Paul if you're reading this I cannot thank you enough for you services as the improvements truly are great!
Picture of me getting my hands dirty:

Whilst I was using precious gloves I thought I'd fit an uprated Alternator as I thought I had a power problem which turned out to be a failed CCCU, more on that shortly. The alternator pulley had also failed so it was either replace the pulley or get another alternator. I done both, replacement alternator and fitted a new pulley to it. Thank you @timmus for the information regards obtaining the correct 140 Amp Alternator. An eBay item for just £20 which can only do good to the battery for the additional power hungry items being added. Tom you are a legend! New belt fitted whist I was there.

When I had the passenger footwell up to remove the ECU for Paul I noticed that I had the P CCCU and knew I had AF version in the old A2. That was swapped over and also managed to programme an 8E0 837 220 E ket to it, this E version newer style key now looks to be in addition to the K version @Birchall worked out to be compatible to the AF CCCU. A great find as it was in box of spares from quite some years ago. To my amazement the battery in the key still worked, battery replaced now though. I even managed to remove the immobiliser transponder from the original ket without breaking it. Winner! Its a job I've only done once before and failed.
AF CCCU fitted:

You may have read that I had a power issue where my battery was going flat over a day or 2. I first thought that it was the Symphony unit but the problem still existed after the RNS-E fitting. I also had the luggage area light constantly illuminated, again our friend Tom said it was probably the CCCU. All the gremlins disappeared with the CCCU change.

Getting late now so will continue the thread in the morning.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

OK I'll keep going, the Gin hasn't run out yet!

Im sure most of you will have seen my results with the Twist Volico Paint on the fuse cover recently, if not here’s some pictures of my findings:
This is the paint I purchased from Germany which arrived very quickly.

I needed to recolour this fuse cover which was originally Swing and had been repainted to look Twist, great painting bit just not the correct shade.

This is what it looked like after a previous owner recoloured it. It was making my CDO (OCD in alphabetic order as it should be) set in and annoying me constantly.

Under 30 minutes later it looked like this.

A remarkable improvement which made me think I’d tackle painting my Swing Rear Cup Holder. That is no longer going to happen as I have since sold it on here and will be ordering a new Twist Rear Cup Holder from Audi Tradition.

Whilst we're looking in this area I might as well show you what else has happened a foot above:

I know its not to everyones taste but I really do like the Auto Headlamp Switch. More so the Bluetooth version as it is so much easier to adjust the settings (CFA iPhone App), especially if you're trying to get the lights to come on at the same time as the Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror. I remember messing about twisting the knob try to get both auto items to work in unison, absolute pain if you get annoyed at the smallest of things. The below pictures are after 30 minutes of using the Dremel with the metal cog wheel to cut the old icon ring out. I didn't have perfect control of the Dremel and slipped a few times which scratched the soft touch of the trim/switch housing. A quick masking of the 2 white icons to the right of the switch and 2 coats of Lidl Matt Black Paint as recommended by @A2Steve a couple of years ago and heres what I managed to achieve.

Correct illumination for the front fog lights.

Same again for both front and rear fog lights. The rear fog light is actually more orange than in the picture. This picture was taken at dusk and the flash has brightened it so.

One of the very first retrofits was to remove the cruise control from the previous commuter and fit it into this one. Very happy with an hours tinkering.

Apart from requiring another deep clean, its coming on really quite well.

One of my latest additions is the A6 Tiptronic Jive Sport Steering Wheel. Its an 8Z part and uses the same airbag. This again is a job for Tom to see what the art of the possible is to get this to function as a pseudo MFSW. Tom another job to the list please.

Rob (@Jellybean) I hope you see that your old A2 is in good hands and agree that it has been tastefully improved whilst trying maintaining some originality. Its was great to meet you and hope to catch up at future events.

Thats all for now folks. More to follow over the coming days/weeks...

 

[dj_efk]

Nice! Coming from a petrol, what are the noise levels of the diesel like on the move?

 

[2work]

Nice! Coming from a petrol, what are the noise levels of the diesel like on the move?

Very good question.

After commuting in the 1.4 petrol for 5 years (122 miles a day) it was completely different. I thought the noise was that loud that on the way home in the first week of ownership I took a rather long detour to visit Rob and Marcus at WOM Automotive (@chumsofmanutd) for them to investigate and diagnose. Marcus jumped straight in and took it for a drive and pushed it through all gears at high RPM to work out what I was complaining about.

The report was that it was running fine and the engine noise is totally normal. I was then reassured and have not really noticed it since as I have got used to it, I must say that I did think it was overly noisy, but no more so than my 2012 A6 TDI, the only difference is that the A6 has better sound insulation.

My TDI didn't have the engine cover fitted at the time and still is yet to have an insulated under tray fitted. Im confident that with these both fitted that the engine would appear to be quieter. Hopefully a long term TDI owner can confirm this.

Since Ive used @depronman ECU/EGR services it think its a little louder but that might just be me wanting to hear the increased noise with the improved performance as my foot is wanting to be heavier now!

I must admit the petrol engine is very quiet as I sometimes pick someone up and he used to think that it had start/stop as he couldn't feel or hear the engine when we were at traffic lights etcetera.

The TDI hasn't been used that much really as the lockdown was only a matter of weeks after the purchase but Im used to it now, the real question is would I go back to a petrol...? Absolutely not, the minimal Tax, increased MPG and absolute grin factor of that little turbo is great.

If you're able to economically use a diesel where you live I'd say go for a TDI.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[dj_efk]

Just noticed from your signature that’s it’s done 170k miles!! It looks like it’s done less than half of that.

Here’s to its next 170k, which I have no doubt it’ll do with perhaps, a replacement oil pump chain / guide etc.

 

[2work]

Morning All,

I hope you’ve enjoyed the thread so far. As stated a few posts above, the headlining is hanging down and looks awful. I think it annoys me more as I know retrimming a headlining is well within my capabilities as have done this many times on the Jaguar XJS and Saab 900 Turbos. Here's what it looks like right now, but not for long, just need to decide what to do:

I have a few options here to tidy it up as follows:

Option 1. Quite simply I could just replace it with the standard Platinum headlining which was removed from the old A2 for OSS and SideGuard removal. Although it is the easiest course of action to solve the untidy sagging headlining it will probably annoy me as all the pillars and remaining interior items are in Twist/Swing (Jive), I don't normally go for the easy option!

Option 2. I could retrim the headlining and A,B & C pillars in black as this is a project I preparing for the old A2. I think it would look great in an A2 with a Soul interior but not sure about Jive. Here is where I got to at some cost as the correct OSS button in Soul was quite difficult to find when I first thought about doing this.

This started out as a standard Platinum OSS Light Switch Pack, I took it apart, painted it with the old faithful Lidl Matt Black Paint and replaced the buttons with those from a Mk1 TT I think. The actual OSS button took me an age to locate but eventually I purchased it from eBay which was shipped from France. I could quite quickly finish off the remaining roof furniture (have 2 new tins) to have a complete black set ready for a black headlining, just not sure it would work so you might find this black OSS switch pack in the market area before long.

Option 3. This, at the moment is my preferred option but has some variables which I am happy to receive input from you all. I'm wanting to keep it original as possible by retrimming the headlining in the same coloured textured material, the pillars will also be done at the same time to totally refresh the cabin. The problem Im having is locating the correct fabric, you'll see the company that I use for such fabric in the following pictures, their products are great and I have used them with perfect results for over 15 years but they just don't do Audi Twist.

The following shots are of the best matching colours I have found so far...

Option 3.1 Jaguar Oatmeal. Colour match isn't great and not a fan of the brushed look, prefer textured.

Option 3.2 Mushroom which isn't a bad match but again its brushed material which Im not keen on.

Option 3.3 Vanilla is probably the worst colour match but I do prefer the textured finish. It just looks too light next to the Twist painted plastic on the sun visor.

I really am stuck and just cannot decide which option (or sub-option) to go for. Id be happy to read your thoughts on what you'd do if you were in a similar situation.

What would be even better is if someone could point me to the correct Audi Twist fabric, point to note, the 3 variations of cream and including black would see me only paying £80 for the kit to complete this task.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

After recently adding items to my new(ish) A2, today it was time today to do some removals: Namely the Rear Cup Holder, shame as I really liked this accessory but just couldn't bring myself to paint it. This was the closet it got to being recoloured:

Today it started it journey to its new owner @Oett83.

It has left a rather large void in the cabin, truly gutted, what can I do with such a hole?

Fill it with another one of course! Pictures when it arrives, really hope they send the correct colour as so far had a 100% failure rate on getting the actual colour I paid for.

I still have a couple of tins of the Twist paint. There are a few trim items that need a little refresh but there might just be enough to do these:

I have some old tatty sacrificial Twist floor mats that can be cut and fitted into the inset carpet areas. The carpets have already been in the washing machine on a 60 to release the fibres away from the rubber backing. The wife was not happy when she caught me removing 4 floor mats from the not so old Miele I tell you.

Following on from what I done, or actually didn't do to the rear cup holder, you may find both of these in the market area before too long so I can gather some funds for a pair of nice new Twist Space Floor Boxes. Painting these would be the cheaper option though as I don't think I'd sell these for more than £80 each which is around half the price I'd pay to get a new pair delivered here. Keep watching the market area as you just never know.

As @A2Steve (thank you Steve) recently passed on the measurements I required to cut the hole for the 12v Luggage Area Socket and I removed as much of the original handbrake area 12v socket loom to almost near the fuse box in the driver footwell (removing metres old loom tape on a warm evening is not fun), it will be getting fitted over the next couple of days. The new 12v socket/loom will be run in parallel to the standard 12v socket thus using the same fuse as Audi intended, again @timmus thank you for you guidance, it would have been far too easy to just marry it to the battery. I don't think I've removed the false floor kit this much in such a short time ever.

So the next time you'll see this:

It will lose its boring granite background and look quite at home surrounded by contrasting Twist trim.

Thats all for today as have a family video quiz at 18:30.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Afternoon all,

In the last 5 days I’ve not managed to get much done on Project OEM as I’ve been taking the spare room back to bare brick to give it a total refresh.

You may remember (as per above thread) that I needed something to fill the void left by selling Crew Audi’s last Rear Cup Holder, which I purchased circa 2 years ago, to @Oett83.

Well today I had a package arrive, I was very excited at the same time as worried that I may yet again receive the incorrect colour:

Moment of anticipation:

Just as anxious but looked promising:

The moment of truth, was it Twist or another colour, part number looks good but I’ve been here before!:

Absolutely over the moon. It looks even better in this colour. Very impressed with the 5 day delivery as I ordered it on the Sunday of last weeks bank holiday Weekend.

It didn’t stay on the kitchen island for long before it was placed into its awaiting brackets:

I’m pretty confident that I’d of done quite a good job of recolouring it which would have save some £60, but after seeing it fitted I am very happy.

Just need to deep clean the whole interior now so all colours match better after the grime of washed away.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[dj_efk]

Nice!

Where did you source it from?

 

[2work]

It was sourced from Audi Tradition.

I think the rear cup holders are in page 22.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

You may have noticed that I ordered a new fuse layout sticker.

So after not being content with the brilliant outcome of the fuse box cover recolouring, I just had to paint the inside to make it look perfect and in keeping of the Twist interior:

Then finished off the transformation with the sticker that just arrived with the beautiful Twist Rear Cup Holder:

I’m so so impressed with the results of the Volico Paint, especially when I’m just a complete novice with a rattle can.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[Proghound]

That cupholder is a thing of beauty in a lovely interior ... I do like a Twist car

I suspect I wouldn't like the extra cleaning involved so much though! Which is why I settled for black floors and centre console, also the armrests and pockets on my Cobalt car. This was also with a view to matching my existing rear cupholder and BOSE grilles, and making it a lot easier to source other rarities like the various trim items for rear electric windows.

 

[2work]

That cupholder is a thing of beauty in a lovely interior ... I do like a Twist car

I suspect I wouldn't like the extra cleaning involved so much though! Which is why I settled for black floors and centre console, also the armrests and pockets on my Cobalt car. This was also with a view to matching my existing rear cupholder and BOSE grilles, and making it a lot easier to source other rarities like the various trim items for rear electric windows.

I completely agree Ian. I probably wouldn’t have chose an A2 with a Twist interior if I wasn’t in a rush like I was when I purchased this one. That said I do really like it and it’s growing on me fast. Especially now it is sporting its new rear cup holder.

I’d like to have this colour interior in an Ebony Black TDI with aircon and OSS. Everything else could be brought up to spec. Maybe a project for further down the line. For now I’m really happy with the way my daily commuter is coming along.

The next big question I need to answer is do I recolour both Platinum Space Floor Boxes or do I sell them at a loss and purchase new Twist ones.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[TomA2TomAh2]

This is lovely, and a good read, thanks

Although it does make my Azure Blue TDI look very scruffy indeed! What tyre size did you end up going for with the Pepperpots? I've just purchased a set myself and am leaning toward 195/55/15, but whatever you have chosen look great.

 

[2work]

Hello Tom,

I went for Dunlop Sport BluResponse, 185/60/R15 84H, kept the pressures as per behind the fuel flap:

These tyres have been in use for about a year and have plenty of tread left. Quite impressed with the long life they’re looking to give me. Previously I was a budget Landsail tyre user which lasted quite well also but very happy to have a better brand on there. Absolutely no complaints regards the Landsail items though. I went through 2 sets in 5 years @27k a year commuting.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Afternoon everyone,

Just a quick note to show just how good the Volico Paint is, here is my recently painted fuse cover on top of my very new rear cup holder. You can see the new paint is exactly the same as the new item.:

You’ll also notice the difference between the 2 and the handbrake area which is older and needs a very good clean.

OCD has set in and now attacking the interior with vinyl and rubber care.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[TYP 8Z]

Afternoon everyone,

Just a quick note to show just how good the Volico Paint is, here is my recently painted fuse cover on top of my very new rear cup holder. You can see the new paint is exactly the same as the new item.:
View attachment 65094
You’ll also notice the difference between the 2 and the handbrake area which is older and needs a very good clean.

OCD has set in and now attacking the interior with vinyl and rubber care.

Kind regards,

Tom

The colour matching is truly impressive

 

[Joga]

Looks really good with the new rear cup holders.
A daft question, are they in the way for folding the rear seat in any way?