Seats are well nice

Looking at your pics on the spiders, it looked spot on

Are you going to have a silencer in the exhaust this time Alex? Was rather loud last time I recall!

Ok, so a massive thanks to Kev for being a star today for sorting the rear seats today  The legend even made me tea & toast, and gave me a cookie!!! His dog is pretty cool too ha ha! I have promised him a DA polishing session on his car in return like I did for Dan.... best get myself down the gym then

 

Took lots of pictures today. Won't post them all up as there's too many! The problem with the rear Audi A1 seats is that the split back sections have both their mounting points in different locations. So as mentioned above, I bought a pair of poverty spec rear seats so that we could use their bases as donors. The aim was to cut the mounting points off the Fabia bases and weld them onto the Audi ones. Then put everything back together and fit them

 

 

The Fabia base for the shorter split section was taken apart and then had both the end and centre mounting points ground off...

 

 

 

 

The Audi foam was peeled back and then the small tab on the ends had to be cut off to allow the Fabia sections to be welded in...

 

 

 

The Fabia mounts and Audi base were ground to shape so that they would be able to be welded into position. They were then tacked in place so we could test fit the seats in the car...

 

 

 

 

The original Audi mounting now had to get the chop...

 

 

 

Seats were test fitted in the car and lined up perfectly ...

 

 

 

 

The mountings were then final welded into place and given a coat of black paint to tidy them up and help prevent corrosion, then left to dry in the sun...

 

 

 

 

The same procedure was then undertaken with the larger split rear section. This picture shows the clear difference in mounting points when comparing the bases. Fabia base is on the bottom, Audi on the top...

 

 

 

This side was slightly more complicated and needed a section cut out of the metal beam in the frame to allow the larger mounting point to fit on...

 

 

 

 

After this side was completed and the paint dried off, the corner of pulled up carpet on the backings was stuck back down before we put the seats back together. We also had to trim the foam slightly and make 2 new holes in the fabric to allow for the new mounting positions on the side...

 

 

 

The base section (what you sit on) is one piece on the Audi. All that needed doing was the standard Fabia mounting clips opened up with a screwdriver slightly. The Audi base then clips in place with a little bit of persuasion!

 

 

The end result ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little indents in the leather are just from fitting and the seats being stored, and will come out in no time.

 

 

I'm well pleased with the end result  The process is fairly straight forward so long as you take your time to make sure everything is aligned correctly, and obviously if you can use a grinder and a MIG welder! This took about 6 hours in total, and all that went wrong was a few 'incidents' with the welder, that nearly made me dive around screaming 'FIRE FIRE FIRE' like Manuel!!!

Edited 10 September, 20178 yr by alex_e3

Are you going to have a silencer in the exhaust this time Alex? Was rather loud last time I recall!

 

I loved the noise to be honest! Not good for potentially getting on track though ha ha!

 

I have been to enquire about a custom exhaust fitting today. I'm going to be opting for a turbo back system with 1 silencer in.... but it will be a side exit    I want a bit of volume again!!

 

Now I just have to work out the logistics of when the turbo, exhaust and mapping can get done 

Those seats look lovely!

Those seats look lovely!

Second that ^^^^^^^, i REALLY REALLLY want some myself!! I need to calm down with the spending though ha!

Saw these on eBay the other day and couldn't leave them there....

 

 

 

 

Got all 4 LCR calipers and all 4 discs (with virtually no wear) for a steal - £395 delivered!

 

 

These front calipers are huge! I'd seen plenty of pictures before, but didn't realise how large they were until I saw them in the flesh...

 

 

 

Next plans are to strip all 4 calipers down, send them for powdercoating in green (same colour as original calipers), then fit new seals and clean everything up. Some decent pads and Super Blue brake fluid will be fitted at the same time.

 

In the meantime I now need to get some 17's back on the car so they'll fit at all!!

Edited 10 September, 20178 yr by alex_e3

I've got a link somewhere to a company in usa for Brembo seal kits ; )

 

They are a rip off from uk suppliers, well they were for my Evo's Brembos.

Purchased some KW V1's a couple of weeks back. So went about fitting these today. I used to run JOM's, so decided to go a bit more up market this time with comfort in mind.

 

First issue was 2 out of 3 top mount bolts on the driver's side were seized solid into the captive part within the top mount and were just going in circles. So after much faffing around trying to drill them out, I had to bring my best mate out to play... the angle grinder! Ages later and quite a mess...

 

 

 

So by this time Danham had arrived to lend a hand. He started stripping the old suspension down on one side whilst I did the other. I had a good chuckle at Dan's attempts to remove the strut with spring compressors in place in-situ!   I'd built everything up nicely with new top mounts and all greased - height was set up at a guess. Struts fitted...

 

 

Turned out my guess at a height was a good one

 

 

Moved onto the rears today. I took Dan's advice and cut out a couple of holes in the inner arch liner to get to the bolts, as I'm sick of taking the whole thing out every time I want to remove the strut!...

 

 

My guessing wasn't quite as good on the rear, so had to adjust it later to suit.

 

 

Before...

 

 

 

 

 

After (not quite on level ground)...

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so pleased with the car on this suspension! I will be keeping the car at this height whilst on these alloys. I'll lower further when I get my hands on some 17's again. The ride is absolutely sublime considering it's been lowered a fair amount. I genuinely can't even begin to express how much better than cheap coilovers these are!

 

Also fitted my Team Heko's back on. Had to clean them up with a Stanley blade and some tar remover first. Then did things right this time and used a fair amount of double sided foam tape. No annoying clips used this time, and they're already set solid

 

 

Next on the list of to-do's was the elephant mod. I'd done this before but sold the setup. I'm down for a Miichi catch can for Lloyd's next group buy, so decided that this is a good interim until that arrives.

 

Pipe routing...

 

 

 

Neat outlet just behind the console bush. Cable ties used to secure...

 

 

 

All done...

 

 

 

 

So a fair amount done this weekend. My Airtec kit should be arriving this week, so I will hopefully be fitting that next weekend, along with a new LCR splitter again. I also want to get the widemouth done.

 

I must also really machine polish the car soon. It's a complete mess, and I seem to be doing everyone else's other than my own recently!!!

Edited 10 September, 20178 yr by alex_e3

Car looks much better lowered!

Also no sore face for me today or black eye! :( those springs compressors don't half have some force

Spring compressors can indeed be dangerous things... :-/

 

At least the standard stuff is never going back on now!

Suffice to say, I'm going to have a busy weekend  ...

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Rob at W8 for an excellent price and service  This kit really is top notch!! So much better than the Forge I had on previously.

 

 

This also arrived...

 

 

I also have a stick on number plate that arrived today so that I can do the widemouth.

 

 

So... provisional list for this weekend:

 

1. Machine polish front bumper.
2. Remove bumper and cut, trim & finish for widemouth.
3. Trim and fit LCR front splitter.
4. Cut mesh to size and tiger seal in.
5. Remove front crash bar.... permanently!
6. Cut front panel to accommodate intercooler and brackets.
7. Fit intercooler.
8. Trim any panels that foul new pipework.
9. Remove all pipework and clean what is to go back on the car.
10. Wax exterior of new pipework and then fit.
11. Trim rear of bumper to fit new cooler.
12. Re-fit bumper.
13. Cut down new plate in work this week, then fit once bumper is back on.

 

Quite the tasks this weekend. Doubt I'll get it all done to be honest...

Edited 10 September, 20178 yr by alex_e3

Knew you wouldn't be disappointed with the KW's

 

Cooler looks good, be interesting to see how well they fit.

Do like the kW v1's even on a pod holed airfield they performed well and better than oem.

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Remove front crash bar.... permanently!

.

Really?!

You can get one off a Ibiza that's a lot slimmer and should fit around the FMIC. JoshH did this.

Your car is going to be Awesome!

Joe

You can get one off a Ibiza that's a lot slimmer and should fit around the FMIC. JoshH did that.

DanHarper might have one going spare too

Would like to think of the possible damaged caused by not having one.

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Yeah Kev, they are fantastic!   One of the best things I've ever done to the car to tell you the truth! As John says, I actually prefer the way it rides now to how it was as standard.

 

 

Cheers guys! I really want to show off the full cooler as much as possible though. I hate the fact that the crash bar would be hiding a lot of it. Plus better for efficiency!

 

What would be interesting is if I could cut the centre section of the crash bar out and then reinforce it along the top and bottom edges with an extra plate. You would still be able to see the majority of the cooler then...

Yes mate, I'd cut some holes into the crash bar rather than removing it completely. I had to do my top mounts too this weekend. All of the captive nuts had failed and were spinning.

Cars looking great

Busy weekend!

Look forward to seeing the results.

The coilovers are a great ride! I'm highly jealous!

Hmmm busy weekend! Shame I'm all tied or I'd have popped down to assist and take the ****!

The KW's were by far the best mod I ever did to my car and was well worth the £800ish that I forked out for them.

Car is coming along nicely, should be a bit of a beast once everything is fitted

Spent 2 hours on the car this evening. I thought I best get as much time on it as I can with everything I have to do!

 

Fitted the new front splitter. The last one was scuffed, but still managed to easily sell it! So because I already had the holes in the bottom of the bumper, this one was more of a pain to fit. In the past I've just transferred the holes from the old one to the new one.

 

So I first ground off all the tabs and cut the middle two lugs off and took a bit of material off. I carefully drilled new holes using the old ones as a guideline. Once I got everything but the centre done, I first trimmed the edges carefully with the grinder (easier than a knife!). It was then taken back off so that I could fully sort the height of the two centre lugs. On the splitter went again and drilled the final holes. This time I used some M6 bolts, washers and nylock nuts to secure the centre part.

 

Pics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm hopefully getting the widemouth done this weekend, so I'll cut the two centre bolts down.

 

 

Finished...(just enough light left for pics!)...

 

 

 

 

Edited 10 September, 20178 yr by alex_e3

Looks good mate

I might be free Sunday afternoon if you need an extra pair of hands

Cheers mate! Drop me a text if you're free Sunday and I'll let you know what I'm doing