Audi B6 420-TS Avant - The Build.

Post any info regarding parts for conversion and swaps.
and any posts regarding swaps help.

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Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

I've noticed though my Avant is reasonably low for a stock car, it's got a slight reverse rake. The front sits slightly higher than the rear.

Obviously, this is due to the manual gearbox swap. The original tiptronic transmission is a lot heavier than the 6-speed manual, and of course, automatic cars have stiffer springs at the front. A quick solution would be to swap the front struts for those of the manual donor, but I don't think it's worth the effort, fitting 124,000-mile springs and dampers.

I'm not a fan of height-adjustable coilovers, so I'll be going with Bilstein Sport dampers, and Eibach lowering springs.

I've ordered H&R wheel spacers, with matching extended bolts - 12 and 15mm, that will address what my car's currently suffering from - a bad case of "Wheel Recession".


2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

I've been looking at dash options. I like the look of the Seat Exeo / Audi A4 B6/7 Convertible dash, it looks so much more modern than that of the B6/7 sedan and Avant.

I've made an offer on one, just waiting to see what the seller is willing to accept.
2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

I've been looking at dash options. I like the look of the Seat Exeo / Audi A4 B6/7 Convertible dash, it looks so much more modern than that of the B6/7 sedan and Avant.

I've made an offer on one, just waiting to see what the seller is willing to accept.
2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

Aircon all gassed up, and blowing Siberian cold:

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

I like the OEM 6-spoke 7.5"x17" alloy wheels, though with an offset of 45, they sit quite inboard of the wheel wells:

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
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Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

The inboard stance was soon addressed with a set of fairly beefy wheel spacers. 12mm fronts, 15mm rears. This will give an ET value for the front and rear, of 33 and 30 respectively.

There are some cheap items out there, that are not machined dead flat, causing a nasty vibration at speed, despite being hubcentric. I opted for H&R spacers, with the appropriate extended bolts, with the same "bowl" profile as the originals, for OEM wheels:

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And the resultant wheel position, in relation to the wheel wells:

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

Some random shots:

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

I think Denim Blue Pearl looks pretty good against the fall background. Blue contrasts nicely against the reds, browns, yellows, greens and russet golds:

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

I've been looking at styling options for my B6.

I love the Votex kit, and I wouldn't trade it for the more common USP kit. I was a bit hesitant and undecided about going the B7 RS4 route, as besides preferring the B6 front and rear to the B7, I want to retain the Votex kit. Oddly enough, a comment Old Guy made a while back, about losing the join between the Votex front and rear aprons and the bumpers, kind of decided things for me.

It's a big undertaking, making the front and rear bumpers one piece, a lot more complex task than doing the same on stock B6 bumpers. As the Votex kit is an underlay, meaning the lower section / valence of the original bumper will need to be cut away, to allow for a flush and seamless plastic welding, and smoothing of the Votex apron. The only concession to modifying the Votex rear apron, will be the exhaust tailpipe cutouts. They'll be reworked, to accept larger oval tails, but retaining the Votex design.

I was at my local Volkswagen / Audi Trade Outlet, and after casually enquiringly about B7 RS4 parts, I was surprised at how low the prices had dropped. I intend to go with the B7 RS4 bodywork, without losing the very essence of the B6 and Votex front and rear, albeit blended into the original bumpers, and the lowers widened to mate to the B7 RS4 arches. These are being "frenched" into the B6 rear quarter panels, below the swage line, retaining the B6 fuel filler flap. The rear doors will be reworked, to match the B7 RS4 flares. The B7 rear quarters will be fitted from the original B6 spot welds in the door shuts. The B7 RS4 front fenders will be cut up similarly, with the B6 fenders cut in the same areas, to accept the B7 RS4 bulges, starting from the trailing edge, by the front doors, again, below the B6 swage lines, to the lower leading edge, by the bumper.

I'm in the middle of a move, so it'll be after settling in my new location.
2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

The donor car was picked up, and taken away by the wreckers today. And is now on its way to the Vehicle End Of Life facility. Sounds horribly final!

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Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

Some may recall, I have been considering having a second option to pop the hood. Cable breakages are pretty common, and the thought of a locked hood, and very slim means of getting it open, is a major worry.

I've seen this happen in a dealership, after exhausting all options, the hood was destroyed with an angle grinder. This was on a 2004 B6 2.5 V6 TDI Quattro Sport. Very limited space to work in.

I have considered using an electric solenoid, and I still will. But in the meantime, I'm going with a second cable. The hood latch is common to both LHD and RHD cars, with the release lever on both sides. I have ordered a LHD release handle, and cable. I will install this, using the stock LHD holes for mounting the handle, and feeding the cable into the engine bay, through a grommet.

All the hardware should be with me tomorrow, and I'll document the procedure, it should be the same as adding a RHD hood release to a LHD car.
2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

As many on here already know, I'm purely an Audi 077-series V8 fan. I know that engine as much as many know the 1.8T - that is, intimately.

I am building a V8 turbo, for B6 420-TS. From the 3.0-specific thread I started, considering boosting the ASN / AVK motor, the response and reception that thread generated was interesting. There are mentions of the aluminium block, not being suitable to hold decent boost.

Well, the issue is not the aluminium block being the issue. It's the very internal design. The limitations are deep within the guts. The C5 RS6 block is aluminium, and copes well with updated turbos. What it all boils down to is this:

An aluminium block, that was originally naturally-aspirated, but with forged pistons, and the correct rods will hold boost fine.
A cast-iron block, that was originally naturally-aspirated, retaining the stock cast pistons and inappropriate rods will not hold boost.

The above applies to the aluminium 3.0 V6 and 4.2 V8.

I was lucky enough to purchase a short C5 RS6 (BCY) block. It came from a front-ended car, the impact was enough to tear the aircon compressor and left-hand engine bracket clean off the block, so the threaded mounting bosses are shot. My plan was to transfer the pistons and rods into a regular 40V block, and that plan is still valid.

However...I was going to use a D2 4.2 V8 40V motor as the base. I have worked with sw\aps, involving both the C5/D2 V8, as well as the D3 V8. They are similar, though in the course of my last B5 V8 conversion, I discovered the D3 block is very different to that of the C5/D2 blocks. It is based heavily upon the C5 RS6 motor, larger rear end, designed for a larger flywheel, thicker webbing, making the block stiffer, and the coolant passages are significantly different, similar size to that of the C5/D2 blocks, but with more metal, meaning thicker walls.

And this is where I have decided to make a slight revision. I've located a complete D3 4.2 V8 40V, from a 2005 car. I will be building this, using the C5 RS6 pistons and rods, but not the RS6 crank. I don't want the 10-bolt flywheel mounting boss, as this severely limits the flywheel options open to me. I will be rebuilding the heads, using OEM C5 RS6 exhaust valves, and stock 40V intakes. Intake manifolds will be custom. I do have a C5 RS6 single-stage intake, but I doubt I'll be using it.

Building my 2000 B5 A4 Quattro, with a D3 (BFM) 4.2 V8 40V taught me a lot, the block similarities to the C5 RS6, the head similarities to the D2 S8, including the same dual-stage intake, and very similar camshaft profiles. And, the machining and drilling required to bolt a C5 RS6 motor to a stock 01E 6-speed, without the need for a length-increasing adapter plate (RS6 guys, take note).

My D3 4.2 V8 40V motor. I'll be making a 554-mile round trip to pick it up next weekend. I'm hiring a van, I definitely wouldn't put that in the back of my Avant.

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
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Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

Well, the BFM engine didn't kind of work for me.

The seller wanted to strip most of the ancillaries off, which I was not keen on. He wasn't willing to come down in price either, so I let it go. I'm most likely going to purchase a complete running D3 4.2 V8 Quattro, as a donor car, that way everything I'll possibly want will be there. I'll also get my money back and some, when I part out the rest, leaving more than enough to purchase a cheap R&D B6 A4.

As for the exterior, I've started sourcing B7 RS4 Avant body panels. One of the most important aspects of bodywork, is finding a decent shop to work with. One that has a ton of custom cars that have been through their workshop, and turned out well. A shop that just does insurance / accident crash repairs may be good, but may not be interested in doing any work that's beyond stock.

I have located a shop, and I've seen some of their work, which is pretty good. They also have a handful of magazine-featured cars under their belt, one of these is a 2009 VW Golf V R32 clone. Built from a lowly 2.0 TDI, it's now AWD, and pretty much an R32 with a diesel engine. I looked at the welding, the seams, and they're pretty much like a factory car.

I'm going to see the shop owner tomorrow, and have a long chat with him. It pays to build up some sort of relationship with a shop's owner.
2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

Nollywood
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Post by Nollywood »

My B6 will be at 129,000 miles by the end of the week...

I was lucky enough to snag a set of B7 S4 aluminium alloy wheels, with tyres. The wheels are 8"x18" with an offset of 45, shod in 235/40x18 Continental Contact 2.

The wheels are all straight, though there's a bit of kerb rash. I was going to give them a clean, and fit them as they are, but i've decided to get them refurbished. There's a legendary wheel refurbishing firm here - Spit and Polish who's been around since 1984. I have used them in the past, during my Type 85 Audi Coupé Quattro, Ur Quattro and S2. They're simply the best. They also refurbish wheels for dealerships all over the country.

I'm kind of undecided as to what color to go with - standard silver or white. I think white will go well with the Denim Blue Pearl paintwork. I'll have the stock 7.5"x17" wheels refurbished too, but anthracite with the faces diamond cut and lacquered.

The good thing about Spit and Polish, is their collection and delivery service. Pick up on Wednesday, delivered on Saturday, or pick up on Saturday, deliver on Wednesday. I'm going to strip the tyres off, and get them picked up. Pictures once they're all fitted!
2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

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Post by Nollywood »

I had the tyres stripped from my B7 S4 wheels this arvo. They'll be picked up for refurb sometime next week. I'm still very much undecided as far as colour goes, though.

I guess I'll surprise myself. [;)]

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2000 Audi B5 420-R, Pelican Blue:Work In Progress.
2000 Audi B5 420-R DTM, Santorin Blue: Work In Progress.

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