Some guy's build log

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

Hello everyone. I’ve been reading here for a while and i have to say that i am impressed by the information and the “lack of bad information” that is tossed around on this site. I’m on other sites and i would like to bring my build log over here and share it will all of you. I’m not a professional mechanic. Not an Expert by any means. I don’t like regurgitating information from one place to another unless i know what i am talking about. I don’t like drama. I however have built several cars and am currently building my 2005.5 s4 so here it goes! Most of my build will be budget minded. I’m in the middle of buying a house so some of the stuff i’m doing will be redone in the future when i have the extra cash laying around.

*most of this is copied from my build log on another site

Well everyone, I have been on here for a little bit and have been slowly working my way into the audi scene. I have owned a couple and my latest one is a 2005.5 s4 b6/b7 Tiptronic. I wanted a manual, but the lady can’t drive one, so I figured why not.
A little back story and what led me to buying this particular car. Erlier this year I had a vw VR6 GTI. I basically replaced everything on the engine and suspension and then it threw the timing chain 52 miles from home. Bought a long block and put it in, sold soon after. Bought a Mercedes c230. The car had some weird issue when it was cold. Traded that in for a 03 rs6. Loved that car, but between the cost of un maintained parts such as the DRC system, brakes and rotors, and it being over due on the timing belt change. …it just looked like I was getting hosed. Then I get a call from the lot asking me to come in. Long story short, deal feel through, got the Mercedes back and almost immediately took and traded it in for a 2010 A4. Seemed more practical. I had that car for a few months until a lady lost control of her car and slammed into the side of me. Insurance totaled it.
The A4 was in such good shape and the only things I had to do to it were front wheel bearings ( got the car almost 4k under book because both he and I knew what it needed) and the battery. First car I’ve had that didn’t need anything haha.
So since the A4 turned out to be a good car, I bought my s4 from the same lot. No PPI ( my fault I know) BUT I did take it for like a 45 minute test drive and put it through the places, looked everything over. The dealer actually called me wonderingwheniwas coming back.lol. The only thing I didn’t do was crawl under the car. I noted oil burning off of the downpipes
, flickering h.i.d bulb, and a popping noise when turning. For some strange reason, I just had to have the car. So i signed the initial paperwork. I remember him telling me they had just put a battery into it. Well I brought tools, scanner, multimeter etc… with me when I went to pick the car up. And after signing the finalized paperwork, I get the keys, I go out to start it and it won’t start. Battery is dead. Jumped it and it ran fine, and the multimeter showed it was charging. ( he looked surprised that the car didn’t start (riiight) Dealer then informed me that the car “had a slight valve cover gasket leak”. I drove the car about 40 or 50 Miles home and the car dumped about quart of oil. …
And my timeline begins…

So here is my car. I fell in love by the dealer pictures:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-11-07-18-44-36_zpsljcbqin7.png


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-11-07-18-44-31_zpsvepw4wmb.png

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-11-07-18-45-04_zpswveccrco.png

In the ad it stated the car had a sun roof. Look at the last picture. Sunroof. My dumbass completely missed the fact that the car doesn’t even have one. Was to wrapped up in the car. I’ve been told it’s a good thing. Who knows.

So I ordered a bunch of stuff right from the get go

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151125_065814_zpslp7rpfef.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151123_225300_zpskfkd2vxb.jpg

And it begins:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20151119_200824_zpsfrtsnnn5.jpg

I had narrowed the leak down to the front of the engine and it ended up being the oil filter gasket and/or valley pan. It was leaking pretty bad. I ordered the parts and took some photos along the way and wrote a little diy. ( didnt know ecs tuning had one already. )I was still in pain from the accident so I didn’t take nearly as many the farther along in the process.
https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/680213-B6-B7-S4-Valley-Pan-Gasket-DIY&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwiK4qi4ldvKAhUH6mMKHQ2tBe8QFggEMAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHUObkew5Pb4bjBqKsFpAvb3c4zhw

There was also a power steering hose that was leaking pretty heavily so I bought some fluid and did a system flush and cleared all of the old fluid out of the system while I repaired the leaking hose.
At the same time, I ordered: brake fluid, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets, coolant, oil, filter, fuel filter, thermostat (received wrong one) valley pangasket, oil filter housing gaskets, oil pressure switch, (didn’t know about the oil check valves or I would have ordered them too), and intake manifold gaskets.

Out with the old…

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151205_135735_zpsxclmywgl.jpg

In with the new…

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151205_135859_zpswwkdmsfo.jpg

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160127_123908_zpshbg8j3an.jpg

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160127_123932_zpsvx9hj3fk.jpg

Threw some color on the valve covers for fun while I had them off. The paint on them was horrible.


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151206_131918_zpshu2ot8sy.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151206_224550_zpspyqnkixp.jpg

3 problems sorted out here in this picture:

  1. Stuck flapper.

    http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160110_210857_zps6jhxz4qp.jpg

    http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160110_210500_zpsju8b8fqz.jpg

Fixed

  1. Broken vacuum lines for the Combi Valves

    http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160110_211938_zps2m4lyc7l.jpg

  2. Upper intake manifold gasket leaking causing a slight lean condition. Sealed it up with my favorite black sealant.

I flushed out the cooling system with distilled water and mixed in the g13 coolant.

After that the car was good to go. I swapped out the headlight bulbs for some morimoto’s because of a flickering bulb. I also went and installed a new battery since the “new” battery that the dealer had put in the car was not even close to the right one. Or new for that fact. Go figure.

Next I ordered a copy of the navigation disk with the newer software so I could use an ax input. I then coded the RNS-E to accept the input and installed the aud cord

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151124_201932_zpsdzrojp4w.jpg

Changed the startup to make my brother smile

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20151207_222610_zps5ckejkec.jpg

Then 2 weeks later, the radiator blew out after the first time taking my new car out and giving her a little workout. Nothing crazy, nut obviously the radiator was the weak link. So I installed this

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160112_203913_zpsyvszdozb.jpg

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160112_214712_zpsbmmzktc8.jpg

Having a dirty interior drives me nuts. My friends think I’m super ocd, but that’s fine. I was going to detail the interior and saw ì quite a bit of dirt under the seat. So I loosened the triple square bolts and here is what I found.


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160203_163829_zps2issvesu.jpg

This is as clean as the car has been since it first left the lot


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160203_163847_zpskwdx4y91.jpg

Tonight I cleaned and conditioned the leather. I haven’t done the rear seats because it got dark and dinner was ready, but I’ll finish that up soon. Poor leather was probably never taken care of, it soaked the conditioner up like a sponge. Looks much better. Feels better too. I’ll try my best to bring it back! I’m going to remove the interior soon to wire the car for some aftermarket stereo equipment. I removed the alternator and installed a 0 gauge wire to the battery as part of the “big 3 upgrade” one thing I found interesting is that my alternator is newer. Manufacture date of august 2013 if I remember correctly. So that’s a plus because they aren’t cheap or easy to replace.

One question I have, is the cover for the ashtray only goes up so high. This just seems odd to me. You can feel it is obviously hitting something behind there, but my question would be is this normal height for the ashtray lid?


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160203_181921_zpsvoe0c0oz.jpg

New found treasure is going into my headers fund :wink:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160203_163833_zpswcdhxipz.jpg

I ran her through her paces. Just wanted to set some baselines for future mods. Not sure what the car is rated at stock, but I timed the runs using a stopwatch app while watching the playback (I know i know, I’m sure there is a better way haha) and the runs are 5 seconds or under. 4.7 4.4 can someone chime in if this is average? I’ve read elsewhere on it. …I’d just rather have real world data. (If that makes sense)

https://youtu.be/HLobuplkG6k

I’d like to be sub 4 seconds after mods NA…Wishful thinking?

Came home to these today:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160204_213814_zpsp0r44n0x.jpg

Still waiting on my led interior kit to go with it. I’m going to try and do a whole LED exterior (except headlights) and interior

So my fiancee is all excited about getting my car tuned because when I told her JHM was in California, she heard road trip lol I’m going to try and stash a few dollars and sneak a few things into the trunk (not sure if I can get the headers box by her haha)

One more thing. …when my car is cold, it runs stupid strong. I don’t beat on it when is cold, but I’ve had to pull out in traffic early morning around 30 degrees outside and wow. Am i getting Heatsoakmost of the time then? Lol Or is it because the car is not in closed loop and is just running it’s “set parameters” and it has some issue reading data from a sensor after it switches to closed loop? Like say a lazy o2 sensor or dirty maf sensor? I have experienced this before. Like having a slow reacting o2 sensor and a vacuum leak making it run lean.
Any other ideas?

#2

I went out tonight and removed the HVAC controls and the RNS-E and took the ashtray out…


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160204_225400_zpsje4civps.jpg

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160204_224438_zpsfefj5q08.jpg

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160204_223917_zpsdpghxt9a.jpg

and change is exactly what was stopping the lid from opening all the way. THANKS!


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160204_225458_zpscfaiw7fj.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160205_220715_zpsu2ocgqgh.jpg

Got the latest spending problem results in haha just a little sneak peak as to what is to come :wink:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160205_231432_zpswkxao6i9.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160205_231521_zpsk6hi8cdn.jpg

A little neo action next to my headers fund lol


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160205_231725_zpsjwhx73da.jpg

Counter productive from going fast, but it’s got to go in…

Tonight I was on the freeway and I saw HID bulbs coming up in my mirror. Had the Fog lights on. I thought to myself…that looks like my headlights! up next to me comes a silver b6 s4. It’s nice to see other S4’s in the wild

[QUOTE=marcmo60;11385442]Thanks for the info on the leather products!
[/quote]
No problem! Like I said, I haven’t tried other products so I can’t give a comparison. But it seems to work ok for me. I’m sure if I spent a lot more money on some better products, I will end up with better results. Which I might do in the near future, test a couple and see what looks better and post the results. If anybody knows of a very good leather cleaner and conditioner, please feel free to share your thoughts and leave a review. I will pick a few and do a comparison and post results.

So I received my LED license plate lights, and the LED interior package. I installed it today and took a couple quick before and after photos. I was very skeptical when I ordered them, because so many people have issues with error messages, flickering bulbs and having to deal with resistors. When I installed a set on my Mercedes, I had to turn around and order a set of resistors to get rid of the error message and the hyper flashing. So the set I bought claims to be error-free. And as far as I’m concerned, they work very very well. I was very surprised that the output of the license plate lights and the interior kit. My fiance is tells me it’s actually too bright and she tries to turn them off every time I open the door. The kit I got was a 21 piece kit. It did the entire interior of the car including the lights on the bottom of the doors and under the seats by your feet. The only bulb it did not include that I can tell is the trunk bulb but I’m not too worried about that. Ill order one or two just to have spares in case one of these goes out anyways. There is also a bulb in the ashtray, but I pretty much never open that thing so I’m not too worried about that.
Here are the dome lights before just looking pitiful:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_125850_zpsjaws1yfc.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_125757_zpsstcym8u1.jpg

Here are the new bulbs. In the daytime I wasn’t too impressed, but come night, holy cow they were bright:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_125823_zps232rhaz3.jpg

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_125643_zpsjn23lgsk.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_204123_zpsyiqwher2.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-02-07%2020.55.41_zpsj5bwpund.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_204133_zpsd25oczyv.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_130815_zpslvf3olrm.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_130819_zpspu8q0wyc.jpg

Somebody had asked for more pictures of the stuff that’s going in so I took a quick picture of it today. Many people may not know what it is, but the true audiophiles will recognize this…


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_205248_zps4hxfxfdx.jpg

Here is the amp that I plan on running my door speakers with. Nothing crazy, just a little guy.


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/Mobile%20Uploads/20160207_205255_zpsizksahvl.jpg

I plan on taking trips with the family and anytime we go on a long trip, or take the kids up to the mountains, I’m going to need my trunk. So the system will be set up to be removable. I’m going to make a custom fiberglass enclosure for the trunk. In effort to cut down on weight, Ill just do this instead of using heavy wood. There is no point in adding 200 pounds to your trunk for a daily driver. I have built some decent systems, but this one isn’t going to be too crazy. :wink:

EDIT: March 17th 2016

Well today i decided to bring my build over here. I have actually decided to go a different way with my stereo installation. I have already ordered a new head unit, backup camera, and stripped the trunk and threw sound deadening material in there. I’ll post up some pictures soon! I will be selling off the stock RNS-E, Stock sub and amp and the sirius XM controller.
Thanks Audirevolution for the warm welcome.

Vinny–

#3

vinny wow man this is great. Thanks for bringing this over here. I and several other guys just dont get onto the other site due to the drama. This is a true enthusiast build with lots of great add on stuff. I would love to know more on how to change that start up on the nav unit.

very cool build first time for me seeing this. Looks great. Your well on your way. Outside of what you have added the car looks fantastic I love the look of that year and body style

#4

absolutely! no problem. I actually feel more welcome here than the “other” site. lol
about the Lamborghini coding…i cannot off the top of my head remember the exact sequence, but you go into the coding for the unit and you change the 2nd number to one of the following:
0?xxxxx: Model
1 = Lamborghini
2 = Audi A3 (8P)
3 = Audi A4 (8E)
4 = Audi A4 Cabriolet (8H)
5 = Audi A6 (4B)
6 = Audi TT (8J)
7 = Audi R8 (42)
Forgive me if im wrong on that one, but i remember it being pretty easy. My little brother thought i actually bought a lambo when i sent him the start up screen.

yeah i really dislike the drama that other sites bring. Every single forced induction thread gets ruined. I just want advice and to be able to help other people when they have an issue.
i have a few other things to add to the thread, but this will do for now
vinny

#5

karma bump for you. Great helpful information.

#6

Awesome thread man!! I’m really curious where did you get all the LEDs for the inside? I’ve been wanting to change everything over to LEDs but just haven’t had a good direction to go and get a whole “kit”?

#7

I think you can order all the bulbs from ECS. It would be nice to have a link to all of the LED stuff to do a full change over.

#8

http://m.ebay.com/itm/21x-White-Interior-LED-Lights-Package-Kit-for-2002-2008-Audi-A4-S4-B6-B7-Sedan-/181915061383?nav=SEARCH

These are the ones I got. They are probably not the same quality as ecs but they work great for me for the price

#9

Exactly. I ordered my kit from ECS and it came with EVERYTHING to change over to LED for the interior. I also did the plate lights as well.

#10

How bright are the plate lights? Did they come with new screws?

#11

Well it has been a while since i’ve updated my progress. Things are getting kind of crazy at home. I’m getting ready to buy a house so most of my money is tied up in that. I have lots of things i want to do to my car, but unfortunately i have no garage at the moment. Sister needed the storage space, so now my garage is packed with her stuff.

There are a few things that need addressing on my S4 like the control arm bushings. I want to buy a nice kit with adjustable control arms, but right now i need the downpayment for a house, so i went cheap on suspension for now. The age old motto of “do it nice or do it twice” comes to mind. For right now i don’t mind doing it twice if it means owning my own house lol. SO! i ordered some cheap control arms and a set of lowing springs. My GTI was dropped on a koni cup kit with race springs and i’m trying to avoid that type of setup. As awesome as it was being so low, it scraped everywhere i went and rubbed on the fenders on full lock…even after i rolled and pulled the fenders and cut away the fender lining. The ride was so harsh as well. I like how my S4 rides and i want to keep it as close to stock feeling as i can at least until i throw some coilovers onto it.


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160310_092144_zps3jkfcc5s.jpg

Another thing that needs addressing is the audio. I just bought a new stereo and will be installing everything shortly.

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160310_214050_zpscmsv4yri.jpg

I have a friend that works in the HVAC field and he was telling me about this sound deadening material he can get ahold of. I quizzed him on it and from what i can tell it is very similar to Dynamat brand sound deadening material or “Damplifier”. It is a butyl rubber material that has a layer of foil on it. They use it to seal HVAC ducts and add mass to the metal to reduce vibrations and lower the Resonant Frequency of the metal. Perfect. He got me a few rolls of the stuff along with some other material such as 1" thick closed cell foam sound deadening material.


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160315_235124_zpsjgctuilu.jpg

So i went ahead and lined my trunk with the sound deadening material and am putting in a lot of the closed cell foam. I have a goal in mind, and a reason why i am doing the stuff i am doing. Most, and i reiterate, Most, people would not go to the extreme that i am going on my stereo build, but its one of the few things in life that i get pleasure from and it is going into my car which i love to drive. Audi from the factory thought it to be a good idea to only throw a few pieces of deadening material to the trunk:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160315_213521_zps2frpxsne.jpg

There is one piece on the back where the bumper sits, one piece on each of the wheel wells and one piece on the rear quarter panel:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160315_213447_zpslalb6na9.jpg

#12

They were nice enough to throw a large piece above the rear axle, but in the end im covering the entire trunk. Part of why i am doing this and ignoring the “25%” rule is due to how my subwoofer setup will be. I had originally intended to build an 8cf ported enclosure out of fiberglass. It was going to be removable as my S4 is my DD but i was told that it “was not possible” and to “sell the sub and buy something that fits”
Well there it is there. Internet “experts” telling me i cannot do something that i am already in the middle of doing. so i kindly replied “well on that note, ill go ahead and make it work”. I hate peope not having an open mind and saying something will not work because they cannot do it. I do BGA repair and ic chip replacements on logic boards for a living. When someone tells me i cannot fix something that i know there is a way of fixing it, it makes me want to do it just because. Here is some of the things i do:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160318_114544_zps3hsrpmya.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160318_124028_zpskw3zfoqh.jpg

This was a PMIC (Power Management Integrated Circuit) replacement. It is a BGA chip that has a corroded contact pad that needed replacement. It was told to me that this is an impossible repair on this ipad. go figure.

Either way… I am building my trunk into a subwoofer enclosure that will be removable with just a few screws. I will post up more details and pictures of the install in the future. Yeah im sure i could have gone down to the local stereo store and said “build me something” but i have been building/designing systems for many years and cannot for the life of me pay someone else to cut wood and glue it together. That AND the fact that i want it to be light and not take up much trunk space. Good luck getting a decent non pre-fabbed enclosure that has any decent output.
so here are some more pictures of the trunk as im going along:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160316_163448_zps8tpu737k.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160316_163448_zps8tpu737k.jpg

So to add a little insight as to why i am laying this stuff in the trunk…
One of the reasons why guys with horrible sounding systems that rattle beyond belief, is because the stock vehicle panels have a resonant frequency that they vibrate at. You can demo this by simply knocking on a body panel. that hollow ringing sound is the panels resonant frequency. If this frequency is in the audible range and the speakers play this frequency, you will hear the panel vibrate. This vibration causes a loss in Decibels. They say that a 3 DB increase is in effect the same as doubling the amplifier’s power. I’m sure that is not a 100% exact statement, but either way, im trying to preserve the DB’s that i will achieve. The reason why people use thick MDF or Birch for their installs is because the wood is very strong and doesn’t tend to vibrate. We utilize bracing inside enclosures to help further eliminate the walls from flexing and losing some output. By adding mass to a panel, you can slow down the panel’s flexing and create a stronger enclosure, which will in effect up the Decibel output of the system. I am adding the mass to the panels for this reason. Not so much to eliminate the sound coming through the panels as some would assume the reason for adding sound deadening material. Its more of a function of stiffening up the inside of the enclosure. And since my enclosure will be the actual trunk, this is why i am doing what i am doing. I have removed the stock subwoofer and completely sealed the cabin from the trunk. My reasoning will be come more apparent as i continue with my install.

#13

One of the reasons why i am doing what i am doing, is i want the vehicle to retain that “stock” looking appearance when you pop the trunk. I will be losing a little trunk space, but i will have almost the entire trunk to use for my DD setup and when i want to go on a trip somewhere, i will be able to remove the subwoofer and have my folding rear seats and pass through. I have a DB goal in mind and i think i will be very close to achieving my goal. As i stated before, this is my DD and not a competition vehicle, however, i do want to have a nice stereo system geared towards SQ. Something that strait gets down on any tracks i throw at it.

Someone once asked me why i installed a larger alternator cable and am running dedicated amp wires to the trunk. well this is why i replaced the stock battery wires:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160228_230904_zpskoghxbmd.jpg

They just look small in comparison. The stock alternator is a Water cooled 190 amp unit. Most people pay good money to have a 200+ amp alternator, so im fortunate that my car has a newer alternator. I’m running 2 runs of 1/0 gauge wire (all OFC, some tinned in silver) from the front battery to the trunk and connecting into a xs power cell:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160319_192536_zpswv6npnjo.jpg

keep in mind that this was a test fit picture and not a final instillation.

I am going to keep the stock door speakers for now as they sound pretty decent…but for the stereo…that’s probably the only thing left untouched. I am running all new wires for the speakers. (the stock wires are sufficient, but i don’t want to use the stock wiring harness for this install. I plan on throwing some deadening material into the doors as well.

#14

Below is a pic of the lights AND better screws you can pick up from Lowes. Sorry to derail OP


http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g241/ifryrice/Mobile%20Uploads/20141104_193425.jpg


http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g241/ifryrice/Mobile%20Uploads/20130528_142716.jpg

#15

Not a problem. I encourage the information. It took me forever to find screws that would work. The more that’s out there, the easier it is for others to find! Looks good!

#16

Thanks, i actually keep that bag in my trunk and hand them out all the time when i meet people who bitch about how shitty the screws are.

#17

Holy dynamat Batman. Good stuff buddy. I want to venture down this road soon. Something similar to you. Plan on doing the battery relocation the the spare tire well while simultaneously cutting out the spherical metal that would hold the tire that way I can incorporate the battery and a sub at the same time with maybe not so much dynamat ifnyou know what I mean. But overall awesome posts man. I wish I would’ve taken the initiative to document my build pic for pic and step by step but life happens and engineering school happens so. It was brought [up]!!!

#18

Very cool. Those screws do suck. I always take extra time if i ever have to mess with mine or help someone. I like your replpacement idea and even more that you hand them out to people that know they suck

#19

yeah most of the time i would not add so much. This time i’m going all out because of the type of setup i’m doing. It will all make sense and come together soon. The important thing to remember is that you realistically only need to cover 25% of a panel to gain 95% of the benefits that a 100% coverage gives. Its more cost effective to go the 25% method, but i had this at my disposal for next to nothing so i snatched it up! Keep up the good work at school man! This is my first car ive done a comprehensive build log on. I built one of my cars pretty crazy, but i only took so many pictures of it. When the timing chain went, i was soo mad i sold it and deleted a bunch of the pictures lol (still have a few) so i figured why not document this build?

#20

So i finally got the Radio installed. It’s funny how i used to have as much time as i needed to do stuff. Then i grew up and that is a thing of the past. I only really get about an hour every other day to work on my car, so this is all i have to update today:

So i soldered up some battery cables. I have both the KnuKonceptz 1/0 ga “oversized” OFC wire, and some 1/0 ga 100% OFC welding wire. Both were like 4 bucks a foot, so either way, its not cheap. i have about 100 feet of it( yikes! don’t tell the lady i spent that much!) Some was left over from my A4 before it was totaled, but the rest of it i bought afterwards. So to show how wires SHOULD be soldered/put together, i put these together. The only real thing i would change if i did it again, would be to heat shrink over the ends of the tech flex for a little cleaner install, but whatever. It’s good enough for now:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_140145_zpsktvkhemq.jpg

here are the ends soldered and heat shrunk…ignore the dirt…haha :


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_140138_zpsubmyijfa.jpg

and then a layer of Tech flex:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_141252_zpswt85ywit.jpg

and you’re left with this:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_141247_zpshtcn1kwe.jpg

I have 3 fuse holders going in under the hood for now. One of them is to protect the upgraded alternator wire and the other 2 are for the 2 runs of battery cable that go from the front battery back to the rear battery:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_142538_zps8nk7uz1i.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_131308_zpsdznub4ph.jpg

I bought 100 feet of the tech flex and am wrapping most of the wires for a few reasons. 1: a much cleaner install and 2: much safer. The tech flex adds a layer of protection just like wire loom would. This just looks much better! and here is the battery all wired up and ready for more!:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160330_144327_zpsrlazymmi.jpg

Here is the radio after installation:


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160331_012948_zpsrdzzqdz7.jpg

I have some pictures of the wiring of the new radio but its only a few wires. This is what it looks like behind the radio before i cleaned it up:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160324_092433_zpsxmdp9u97.jpg

and here is what it looks like during and after instillation:

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160323_202956_zpsq34bb96y.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160323_201656_zps1eqnkcum.jpg


http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a479/vinnybuffone/20160323_224323_zpsp1vkmbyy.jpg

Since i will be getting rid of everything except for the stock speakers, i only needed a few wires from the stock wiring harness such as positive and negative. Everything else has been wired independently except for the stock wires (thinking about keeping them for simplicity sake)
When i add a little bit more i will update this thread. until then, enjoy the nice sunny weather!