Project RN53/RNSE (2004 Dolphin Grey TDI AMF)

[2work]

Depending on your budget and whether you would prefer new, the front discs and pads on my current breaker look to be relatively new. I could also help with the battery as the one on the TDI breaker is a good one, held its charge for at least 3 weeks. Let me know Tom.

Evening Steve,

Thank you for reaching out. Think we need to have a conversation at some point. I’ll be in touch once I’ve got a full list of parts required Sir.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[hoverdog]

Evening all,

Continuing with my findings.

The bad I’ve come across so far:

1. Requires 4 tyres and wheel refurb.
2. Requires brakes replacing at each corner.
3. Handbrake is vertical so guessing needs new cables.
4. Front suspension items failed and need replacing.
5. Aircon leaking so need to investigate which item(s) has(have) failed.
6. Starter motor slow and squeals.
7. Difficult to take out 5th gear so at least needs new gearbox oil and cable adjustment. Fingers crossed the tower is alright.
8. Reverse light comes on when in neutral unless gearstick held to the right, might be linked to point 7, but could just as easily be an issue with the tower.
9. All carpets wet so water ingress from doors probably.
10. Needs new battery.
11. Only 1 jacking point cover.
12. Exhaust needs welding attention.
13. CTS and thermostat failed.
14. Headlining starting to go so will look to finally have a black headlining and roof furniture I suppose.
15. Drivers door check strap need replacing.
16. Wiper arm needs a refurb. I’ll be in touch with Paul for this and item 15.
17. Requires black leather drivers and passenger headrest.
18. Full Votex removal and refitting.

Probably a few more but I cannot complain as it was acquired for a decent price.

Kind regards,

Tom

That list is more or less identical to the faults I found with "Barney" a 2003 dolphin grey 1.4 tdi sport which had been languishing in a barn for 6 years. £2000 later it is roadworthy. I can concur with points 1, 4, 6, 7 (gearbox had water ingress), 8, 10, 12 (cracked cat), 13 (dodgy temp sensor) and 16.

 

[dj_efk]

SE heated leather with lumbar? Think I’ve only ever heard of one other set of seats so spec’d. Nice score Tom.

 

[Erlingtheyounger]

SE heated leather with lumbar? Think I’ve only ever heard of one other set of seats so spec’d. Nice score Tom.

The ones a purchased Tonka with, now in a the very nice cobalt FSI, are that spec. Not that common though for sure. It was an excellent find I’d say.

 

[2work]

SE heated leather with lumbar? Think I’ve only ever heard of one other set of seats so spec’d. Nice score Tom.

Morning David,

Yes indeed a very nice find. There is a small repair required in the leather just below the headrest but should be simple enough with some Furniture Clinic products.

The story goes that they were in an A2 about to be crushed and already had the forklifts forks in the car, which is why there are no matching headrests and the small tare/imperfection around the shoulder area. The previous owner got here just in time to save them fortunately.

Just need to find some matching black leather headrests now, or recolour.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

That list is more or less identical to the faults I found with "Barney" a 2003 dolphin grey 1.4 tdi sport which had been languishing in a barn for 6 years. £2000 later it is roadworthy. I can concur with points 1, 4, 6, 7 (gearbox had water ingress), 8, 10, 12 (cracked cat), 13 (dodgy temp sensor) and 16.

Morning,

Wow that's some dedication, good on you.. Very well done for saving your A2, regardless of cost.

My fingers are crossed that this doesn't cost anywhere near as much as it will ultimately make it uneconomical to get it back to daily use. I'm trying my best though and will hopefully get some pictures soon enough. Every time I pop outside I see yet another niggle, thankfully most are within my ability and budget to solve.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[dj_efk]

Morning David,

Yes indeed a very nice find. There is a small repair required in the leather just below the headrest but should be simple enough with some Furniture Clinic products.

The story goes that they were in an A2 about to be crushed and already had the forklifts forks in the car, which is why there are no matching headrests and the small tare/imperfection. The previous owner got here just in time to save then fortunately.

Just need to find some matching black leather headrests now, or recolour.

Kind regards,

Tom

I wonder if Audi tradition has the headrests Tom - have you checked?

 

[2work]

I wonder if Audi tradition has the headrests Tom - have you checked?

Afternoon David,

I’ve not actually checked but do recall they had some in stock when I last went through the whole 30 odd pages of interior parts.

I’ll check now.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[A2Z]

Afternoon David,

I’ve not actually checked but do recall they had some in stock when I last went through the whole 30 odd pages of interior parts.

I’ll check now.

Kind regards,

Tom

Will probably cost more than the car did Tom ?

 

[2work]

I wonder if Audi tradition has the headrests Tom - have you checked?

Afternoon David,

A very good call but have just checked and it seems that AT don’t have any leather or fabric headrests. A few fabric items on eBay though. I’ll wait as something will turn up soon enough, any colour could be given some Furniture Clinic treatment.

Thanks again for the nudge to check.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Afternoon all,

So far I’ve failed to obtain front leather headrests but will continue the search. I know they can come up from time to time. Fingers crossed I’ll find what’s required soon enough to compliment the heated, black leather electric lumbar SE seats. So impressed with them as they’re starting to clean up really well.

To compensate the lack of correct headrests I thought I’d quickly move elsewhere and update the footwell:

Yes it needs a clean down there already.

The rear wheels have recently been off to investigate the vertical handbrake lever. I can report that I now fully locking wheels when the handbrake is applied and the handbrake lever no longer is vertical so that sees the rear brakes good to go for MOT, just the front discs and pads to replace now. I’ll get to them when I replace some of the suspension items.

The A1 MFSW that’s resided in both Project OEM and 250 has been handed down to this A2. I’ve not got an A1 airbag now as swapped it for an A3 8V type but they’re easy enough to come by when I need one for MOT:

Left hand button not fully fitted as it’s part of my heated MFSW testing kit.

The rest of the retrofit is now complete though but only for the Concert 2. It really is in need of a RNS-E PU fitting which leads nicely to the dashboard saga!

The double DIN dashboard conversion has commenced, but only away from the vehicle so far. Having a Jive double DIN dashboard spare along with a spare Soul single DIN dashboard made me investigate further what might be possible…

Initially removed the double DIN cage to transplant into the single DIN dashboard. As much as it’s totally possible I thought it wouldn’t be as perfect as I’d like and might be better to take a different approach. Namely painting the Jive dashboard.

Knowing how much you have to ‘handle’ the dashboard during carrying from the garage and during installation I thought painting the complete dashboard could easily see the finish spoilt so have chose a method that doesn’t see the whole item receiving a new coat of paint:

Jive double DIN dashboard

Soul single DIN dashboard

You can see what I’ve already done

Yes I’ve had the Mr Dremel out again, this time to remove the centre part from both dashboards (5 minutes removing the plastic melt fixings just like the rear cup holder dismantle guide) and will simply add the Soul painted Jive centre part to the Soul dashboard:

Of course painting the Jive item Soul before it’s perfectly/strongly adhered into position.

Less painting and less chance of compromising the newly painted finish. Just need to find a good paint and lacquer now. As much as I like the Volico product, I think it’ll cost around £60 (2x Soul 1x Lacquer) to obtain the finish I’m after so will ask James @jp.oog what products he uses for his hard touch refurbishment service as it might be a little more economical on the wallet.

There is now no immediate rush on this project as it looks like this is just going to be a spare vehicle to ‘play with’ when bargain desirable items present themselves for sale. I’ll retrofit as much to it as possible at rock bottom prices before I decide it’s destiny.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Afternoon all,

I have been outside playing with this ‘getting there’ A2 and am currently in the process of upgrading to a False Floor that I’ve recently purchased from Steve @A2Steve.

I’ve hit a stumbling block as I cannot remove the drivers side rear seat. The handle fell apart on first pull and have been trying everything I can possible think of this last hour.

Does anyone have an idea of a way to remove a locked down seat with no release handle. I can feel the black painted bar with the ‘U shape’ in it which the handle attaches to and tried pulling it with various DIY devices. It will not come out.

I’ll probably ask in the general area later on but thought I’d start within this thread to document the tinkering of this A2.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[Proghound]

You need to try to get the lower seat cover edging out of its groove, starting from the rear corner in the middle of the car. You'll be able to see exactly what's going on if you can get the seat foam far enough out of the way. That's how @alanfr managed to get his locked-in seat out, which had actually rusted together in places in the locking mech due to damp in his car.

 

[2work]

You need to try to get the lower seat cover edging out of its groove, starting from the rear corner in the middle of the car. You'll be able to see exactly what's going on if you can get the seat foam far enough out of the way. That's how @alanfr managed to get his locked-in seat out, which had actually rusted together in places in the locking mech due to damp in his car.

Thank you Ian,

This will be the next thing I try as everything else I’ve found on these pages has been attempted.

I’ll hopefully add pictures of the false floor fitted in the next few days.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[veedubpunkster]

Hi Tom, glad to hear you're looking after my A2!

 

[2work]

Hello Pete,

Good to see you back on our pages. You’ll see over the course of this thread that it’ll receive exactly what it needs to be put back to daily use. Probably with a few enhancements, some of which have already been mentioned or seen in recent posts.

If I find another bargain A3/5 FBMFSW then it’ll have that fitted but for now the A1/6 round MFSW will have to do.

I’m just waiting for a sunny day to take some nice shots of the coach work with a layer (or 2) of DodoJuice.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[hoverdog]

Morning,

Wow that's some dedication, good on you.. Very well done for saving your A2, regardless of cost.

My fingers are crossed that this doesn't cost anywhere near as much as it will ultimately make it uneconomical to get it back to daily use. I'm trying my best though and will hopefully get some pictures soon enough. Every time I pop outside I see yet another niggle, thankfully most are within my ability and budget to solve.

Kind regards,

Tom

I should have added that the £2000 spent on Barney has been worth it, it really is a brilliant little motor. The last job done on it was the coolant/thermostat/sensor change after I noticed that it was never reaching 90° on the temperature guage and consequently not achieving much above 50 mpg-I'm up to 60mpg now. I'm not convinced of the 75mpg achieved by other owners though. I'm a self employed surveyor and Barney is my official works car.

 

[2work]

Evening all,

Apologies for this thread having no real updates for a while. Whilst both Project OEM and 250 have been perfoming well this project has been untouched.

To rekindle it’s preparation for MOT, number 1 (tyres) on the to do list should be rectified in the morning. This A2 will be having the Sport 17” wheels removed and replaced with a very nice set of Pepperpots that I recently collected from @rosiedog, thank you very much Graham.

Whilst meeting up with Graham I also collect a GDW tow bar which might well make it’s way onto this A2 (not decided yet) if I remove the rear bumper to retrofit rear PDC.

Votex and tow bar? Decision decisions!

Still not managed to remove the stuck rear seat but will have another go in the morning.

It’s a slowly but sure project this one as the remainder of the fleet also need a little attention to keep them in good fettle.

Should get some pictures to you tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[2work]

Afternoon all,

As mentioned earlier in proceedings and by seeing a set of factory 17” Sport Wheels on the Market area, this A2 is now wearing an immaculat set of Pepperpots which were purchased recently from @rosiedog. Still yet to find the time to fully detail this A2 to get some quality pictures to you, any time I do find spare is spent continuing to rectify the small niggles it arrived with as it gets closer to MOT standard. Might even get a set of Bespoke Number Plate Surround this evening, also kindly donated by Graham but also available within the Clubs Shop.

Here’s a quick glimpse of it sat on Pepperpots though:

Kind regards,

Tom