Dad's retirement project - TT flavoured
Discussion
So, the TT is still here and Dad went home for a couple of days, so it left me the chance to just potter about... armed with my new wet vac i took the seats out and set too
Passenger side before
Drivers side before
The grey carpets had taken a beating from the years of use and no amount of vacuuming ever got the areas clean which the overmats didn't cover...
The colour of the water after the first pass was awful....
It took an age before the water hoovered up went clear, I spent over 8 hours on the carpets.... still the water wasn't as clear as i'd like.... but it was a 1000 times better than the first pass hahaha
Passenger side after
Drivers side after
the best thing for me is that it smells like a brand new car... the carpets have been totally deoderised....
The seats will go back in tomorrow once everything is dried.
Where the seat runners are there were a few grease stains
before
after
The boot area got attacked
despite it being a long job the end result is very satisfying, i'd say another going over and then repeated maintenance will keep the carpets looking brand new for ever...
and a finishing shot of Claude down on the wheels....
As today was spent soley on the carpets i didn't get any time onto redoing the wheel centres, that'll be tomorrows job, weather permitting....
The carpet cleaner will earn it's keep as the S5 is next and then the other half's A3 will all get cleaned....
Passenger side before
Drivers side before
The grey carpets had taken a beating from the years of use and no amount of vacuuming ever got the areas clean which the overmats didn't cover...
The colour of the water after the first pass was awful....
It took an age before the water hoovered up went clear, I spent over 8 hours on the carpets.... still the water wasn't as clear as i'd like.... but it was a 1000 times better than the first pass hahaha
Passenger side after
Drivers side after
the best thing for me is that it smells like a brand new car... the carpets have been totally deoderised....
The seats will go back in tomorrow once everything is dried.
Where the seat runners are there were a few grease stains
before
after
The boot area got attacked
despite it being a long job the end result is very satisfying, i'd say another going over and then repeated maintenance will keep the carpets looking brand new for ever...
and a finishing shot of Claude down on the wheels....
As today was spent soley on the carpets i didn't get any time onto redoing the wheel centres, that'll be tomorrows job, weather permitting....
The carpet cleaner will earn it's keep as the S5 is next and then the other half's A3 will all get cleaned....
Edited by 89forever on Sunday 23 May 20:33
The oil would contaminate the pads... and should always be removed from the braking surface prior to fitting with brake cleaner.
nothing special about the paint, just a simple UPOL satin black paint, applied very thinly to protect the unswept areas of the disc. The paint on the disc surface wears off incredibly quickly and i've never had any ill effects leading to pad contamination on any of the cars over the years, and i do take brake safety very serious.
It's not lashed up with thick coatings of Hammarite here...
nothing special about the paint, just a simple UPOL satin black paint, applied very thinly to protect the unswept areas of the disc. The paint on the disc surface wears off incredibly quickly and i've never had any ill effects leading to pad contamination on any of the cars over the years, and i do take brake safety very serious.
It's not lashed up with thick coatings of Hammarite here...
Woke up this morning (isn't that a song?) and went out and carpets looked great, however as i cannot leave things alone i redid the 2 corners on the drivers side.
I took the foot rest out so i had better access
It still brought some dirt out again
Now just have to wait for the interior to dry and get the seats back in....
Other stuff got washed and is drying as the car isn't going anywhere yet haha
I've made a start on the centre caps finally
We decided on gloss black centres with Audi Silver outers, just got to wait for the black to cure then i can begin the laborious task of masking it all up....
I took the foot rest out so i had better access
It still brought some dirt out again
Now just have to wait for the interior to dry and get the seats back in....
Other stuff got washed and is drying as the car isn't going anywhere yet haha
I've made a start on the centre caps finally
We decided on gloss black centres with Audi Silver outers, just got to wait for the black to cure then i can begin the laborious task of masking it all up....
Edited by 89forever on Sunday 23 May 20:33
In between the bad weather and waiting for the black to harden for a few days, today i decided to flat back the black, mask up the centres and get as far as i could until the heavens opened up......
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and i managed to get a couple of coats of silver on....
Now just need that to harden, flatten back and lacquer the s
t out of it.... then reassemble the rings and fit....
Small steps.....
and i managed to get a couple of coats of silver on....
Now just need that to harden, flatten back and lacquer the s
t out of it.... then reassemble the rings and fit....Small steps.....
finally got the bloody centres finished.... would have been far easier to buy new ones but then they'd just go cruddy again...
A reminder of what we started with
These were bought 12 months ago and have only seen about 3000 miles, brake dust was never left to sit on them, but they were only cheap Chinese ones....
Hopefully the painted ones will last a little long and at least they can be polished and ceramic coated.
So we left them for the silver to harden, once that was done the black was flatted again as the masking tape had left a tiny amount of imprinting (my fault as i'd left this on too long)
and after many coats of lacquer, which is now dry and i've placed the rings on as i need to rush these things.... lol I'll wait till it's fully hardened until pushing them home because fingerprints.....
Not perfect but 100% better than before.... Should keep Dad happy as he's been moaning at having to drive his news wheels without the centre cap on them hahaha
A reminder of what we started with
These were bought 12 months ago and have only seen about 3000 miles, brake dust was never left to sit on them, but they were only cheap Chinese ones....
Hopefully the painted ones will last a little long and at least they can be polished and ceramic coated.
So we left them for the silver to harden, once that was done the black was flatted again as the masking tape had left a tiny amount of imprinting (my fault as i'd left this on too long)
and after many coats of lacquer, which is now dry and i've placed the rings on as i need to rush these things.... lol I'll wait till it's fully hardened until pushing them home because fingerprints.....
Not perfect but 100% better than before.... Should keep Dad happy as he's been moaning at having to drive his news wheels without the centre cap on them hahaha
Dad came over today for a bit of car time....
Wheel centres got fitted, so that's another job ticked off.... hopefully will last a little longer being painted, time will tell!!!
Another job we wanted to address is the awful condition of the drivers interior grab handle.... like so many other TT's this one was scratched to buggery.... buying a new replacement was a no go.....
So we looked out into the world to see what others had done....
Saw the fantastic items Les makes and had a good look, what we didn't like was the pure stick on nature... there was no detail... so we discounted them. That is in no shape size or form a reflection on them... they have worked for lots of people.
A late night trawl on Ebay saw us find these...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GREY-CROSS-STITCH-2X-FR...
available in many colours etc and we thought the black leather with grey stitching would suit the interior brilliantly.
When we bought them we paid £25 delivered (they are now listed at £49.99 :lol: )
There is a brilliant tutorial on Youtube from the company and the quality of the item on that video looked fantastic, so we bought a set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmG9Lbb8ykA
I opened the packet and my heart sank.... they have clearly not been cut out to a pattern, the 2 straight edges were not straight...
I took a screen shot of the one in the video and look how different the shape of the piece is, the neatness and sharp corners as the stitching changes direction.
compared to what we were sent....
leather has a direction of grain, these had been cut so the stretch was up and down, which is totally the wrong way when you need to wrap around something... very poor manufacture, especially at the price point and what appears to be a professional UK upholsterer....
An email has been sent stating our dissatisfaction and we await a response
You may also notice in the video they use 3m double sided tape, what we were sent were 4 bits of paper, cut into strips... it wasn't even double side tape....!!! I spent an age sat there with a scalpel peeling back layer after layer and not one bit was adhesive.
Will see what the response is as everyone deserves a second chance...!!!
In other news we did some data logging the other day, considering all the boost hoses etc have not been changed yet (it did have a new DV when we did the cambelt though and all hoses were inspected then).
Boost requested against actual was all as it should be.... MAF readings gave a calculated BHP at 212 (using the divide by 0.8 method). Not bad for a 16 year old car.....
We have ordered a new set of Beru coils as we have a mixed set on the car with date ranges all over the place.
For peace of mind at some point this year i'll change the lambda, MAF and N75. Then over winter it'll have a boost hose refresh throughout... Intercoolers will come off and be pressure tested also.... but in the main she is very healthy.
Wheel centres got fitted, so that's another job ticked off.... hopefully will last a little longer being painted, time will tell!!!
Another job we wanted to address is the awful condition of the drivers interior grab handle.... like so many other TT's this one was scratched to buggery.... buying a new replacement was a no go.....
So we looked out into the world to see what others had done....
Saw the fantastic items Les makes and had a good look, what we didn't like was the pure stick on nature... there was no detail... so we discounted them. That is in no shape size or form a reflection on them... they have worked for lots of people.
A late night trawl on Ebay saw us find these...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GREY-CROSS-STITCH-2X-FR...
available in many colours etc and we thought the black leather with grey stitching would suit the interior brilliantly.
When we bought them we paid £25 delivered (they are now listed at £49.99 :lol: )
There is a brilliant tutorial on Youtube from the company and the quality of the item on that video looked fantastic, so we bought a set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmG9Lbb8ykA
I opened the packet and my heart sank.... they have clearly not been cut out to a pattern, the 2 straight edges were not straight...
I took a screen shot of the one in the video and look how different the shape of the piece is, the neatness and sharp corners as the stitching changes direction.
compared to what we were sent....
leather has a direction of grain, these had been cut so the stretch was up and down, which is totally the wrong way when you need to wrap around something... very poor manufacture, especially at the price point and what appears to be a professional UK upholsterer....
An email has been sent stating our dissatisfaction and we await a response
You may also notice in the video they use 3m double sided tape, what we were sent were 4 bits of paper, cut into strips... it wasn't even double side tape....!!! I spent an age sat there with a scalpel peeling back layer after layer and not one bit was adhesive.
Will see what the response is as everyone deserves a second chance...!!!
In other news we did some data logging the other day, considering all the boost hoses etc have not been changed yet (it did have a new DV when we did the cambelt though and all hoses were inspected then).
Boost requested against actual was all as it should be.... MAF readings gave a calculated BHP at 212 (using the divide by 0.8 method). Not bad for a 16 year old car.....
We have ordered a new set of Beru coils as we have a mixed set on the car with date ranges all over the place.
For peace of mind at some point this year i'll change the lambda, MAF and N75. Then over winter it'll have a boost hose refresh throughout... Intercoolers will come off and be pressure tested also.... but in the main she is very healthy.
Well it's not often we have to report of bad dealings but feedback has to be given and despite our best efforts to resolve the situation with the company we had no choice but to demand our money back.
The company JF Customs Ltd, as documented above sent us the awful product, the quality was absolutely dire... my 1 year old daughter would have made a far better attempt...
We contacted them to advise what they sent was not what we expected, they, to be fair, apologised and stated that they would send another out the very next day (after stating that they would resolve the quality issue), so we waited... and waited... nothing arrived, so we contacted again and they said it must have got lost and that they'd send another out, so we asked for an actual tracking number, which they asked for us to pay for... at that point we asked for our money back...
Absolute, utter waste of time sadly....
So the plan is over winter to get the door cards off and get them to the father in law for him to make them....
In other news, we ordered some new OE coil packs from Autodoc over in Germany, great price, great delivery times...
arrived with no fuss and as expected
so they'll be fitted when the patient next arrives.... and now something to keep me a bit more busy whilst the patient is not here... the original 3 bar grill is looking tired, the chrome on the rings has deteriorated and is flaking off, so Dad asked, can we buy a new one but "I want a shiny black one"... so i showed him the new price of one from a QS....
Sod that was the response... lol
The response was the same when i told him the price of a new set of rings from Audi haha
so i said i'll find a decent second-hand grill, with rings... to which Dad said was a good idea as "you can easily just paint it shiny black"... oh ok Dad sure... i'm not really busy, no problem....
I noticed in the for sale section on the TTForum whom had a range of stuff for sale and he had listed a grill... deal done, all delivered and a pleasure to deal with... it arrived as described... bit grubby and all complete and a decent set of rings fitted...
Just perfect for going into paint...
Many thanks for a deal done well...!!!!
The company JF Customs Ltd, as documented above sent us the awful product, the quality was absolutely dire... my 1 year old daughter would have made a far better attempt...
We contacted them to advise what they sent was not what we expected, they, to be fair, apologised and stated that they would send another out the very next day (after stating that they would resolve the quality issue), so we waited... and waited... nothing arrived, so we contacted again and they said it must have got lost and that they'd send another out, so we asked for an actual tracking number, which they asked for us to pay for... at that point we asked for our money back...
Absolute, utter waste of time sadly....
So the plan is over winter to get the door cards off and get them to the father in law for him to make them....
In other news, we ordered some new OE coil packs from Autodoc over in Germany, great price, great delivery times...
arrived with no fuss and as expected
so they'll be fitted when the patient next arrives.... and now something to keep me a bit more busy whilst the patient is not here... the original 3 bar grill is looking tired, the chrome on the rings has deteriorated and is flaking off, so Dad asked, can we buy a new one but "I want a shiny black one"... so i showed him the new price of one from a QS....
Sod that was the response... lol
The response was the same when i told him the price of a new set of rings from Audi haha
so i said i'll find a decent second-hand grill, with rings... to which Dad said was a good idea as "you can easily just paint it shiny black"... oh ok Dad sure... i'm not really busy, no problem....
I noticed in the for sale section on the TTForum whom had a range of stuff for sale and he had listed a grill... deal done, all delivered and a pleasure to deal with... it arrived as described... bit grubby and all complete and a decent set of rings fitted...
Just perfect for going into paint...
Many thanks for a deal done well...!!!!
Life sometimes gets in the way of stuff.... relocating to the other side of the country, new job, new house, Covid etc.....
Dad's TT has been being enjoyed and used and abused in that time and he's loving it.... he's been faultless.... (the TT, not Dad hahaha)
Armed with a little decent weather this weekend saw Dad trundle across..... some small jobs ticked off, with the larger jobs being left for another day....
New brake light switch installed
and then the coils swapped out.... 3 of the old ones appeared to be originals.... who just swaps out 1 coil FFS???
and all done
idles smoother now.....
Dad's TT has been being enjoyed and used and abused in that time and he's loving it.... he's been faultless.... (the TT, not Dad hahaha)
Armed with a little decent weather this weekend saw Dad trundle across..... some small jobs ticked off, with the larger jobs being left for another day....
New brake light switch installed
and then the coils swapped out.... 3 of the old ones appeared to be originals.... who just swaps out 1 coil FFS???
and all done
idles smoother now.....
Dad has been enjoying many more smiles per mile, the lockdown has been tough on him as it meant many jobs have been put on hold but Claude has proved very reliable, but there are some things which need addressing sooner rather than later.
Dad had started to say that the gearchange was starting to prove harder, so that needed urgent investigation, i was fearing the worst (not that it's a difficult job but that it would have been expensive for him.) It had all the tell tale signs of the clutch release bearing starting to go, not being local i suggested he come over last weekend for an investigation.
Thankfully upon investigation it was just the short shifter needing a tweak.
So minor strip down....
, whilst the cover was off a quick check to make sure all was still oil tight, which thankfully it was. I also dropped the oil and changed the oil filter as i wanted to check nothing nasty was happening inside, all's good....
dry as a bone...
and built back up....
Dad had said there was a wobble under braking from 70mph, so a test drive out and it seems that the rebuilt rear brakes are sticking, so parts have been ordered to get that sorted, hopefully the rear discs haven't been warped but if they have... will replace with new.
Short update but all's well with Claude... and Dad...!!!
Dad had started to say that the gearchange was starting to prove harder, so that needed urgent investigation, i was fearing the worst (not that it's a difficult job but that it would have been expensive for him.) It had all the tell tale signs of the clutch release bearing starting to go, not being local i suggested he come over last weekend for an investigation.
Thankfully upon investigation it was just the short shifter needing a tweak.
So minor strip down....
, whilst the cover was off a quick check to make sure all was still oil tight, which thankfully it was. I also dropped the oil and changed the oil filter as i wanted to check nothing nasty was happening inside, all's good....
dry as a bone...
and built back up....
Dad had said there was a wobble under braking from 70mph, so a test drive out and it seems that the rebuilt rear brakes are sticking, so parts have been ordered to get that sorted, hopefully the rear discs haven't been warped but if they have... will replace with new.
Short update but all's well with Claude... and Dad...!!!
So this episode is affectionately titled "Dad receives a bking...!!!"
why i hear you ask...? basically for not driving the TT hard enough...!!! especially the brakes, Dad's style of driving is to never use the brakes.... but first a back story
We communicate regularly as any normal Father/Son interaction goes... except ours are normally more car/work related.
So i get a text saying he has a "bit" of a wobble under braking.... to which i stated that everything has been replaced last year... we rebuilt the calipers, new discs pads on all 4 corners.
So i state, he needs to "drive" the poor thing hard occasionally.... and i get back "of course i do".
So like anything else, an inspection is required...
So Dad comes over yesterday...!!!
TT goes up in the air, rear first....!!! as i can already so an issue
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wheels off and as i'm doing that i state, i thought you said you are using the brakes...
.JPG?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds)
herein lies exhibit A, this is a brand new disc that is not being used and only light pedal pressure...
pad deposits and just not been bedded in... so, strip down and clean up...
calipers, carriers, discs etc all removed and checked that all arears move as they should, mating faces cleaned up
.JPG?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds)
same done on the fronts....
.JPG?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds)
and rebuilt and out for the test drive... wobble gone and a driving lesson for Dad on the correct use of how and when to brake in normal driving.... and fast road etiquette (he loves that bit hahaha, he's not a great passenger lol)
we also have a ABS light to contend with, in hot weather it appears...
.JPG?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds)
and is referenced to the G201 sensor on the master cylinder... we've previously purchased that and more brake fluid has been ordered so that's the next job...
future jobs... once i've got Dad's wallet open...!!!
Suspension
Remap and exhaust (plus all the other bits which will inevitably fail once power goes up)
Body work (sill covers etc)
but first it's MOT time next month...!!!
king...!!!"why i hear you ask...? basically for not driving the TT hard enough...!!! especially the brakes, Dad's style of driving is to never use the brakes.... but first a back story
We communicate regularly as any normal Father/Son interaction goes... except ours are normally more car/work related.
So i get a text saying he has a "bit" of a wobble under braking.... to which i stated that everything has been replaced last year... we rebuilt the calipers, new discs pads on all 4 corners.
So i state, he needs to "drive" the poor thing hard occasionally.... and i get back "of course i do".
So like anything else, an inspection is required...
So Dad comes over yesterday...!!!
TT goes up in the air, rear first....!!! as i can already so an issue
wheels off and as i'm doing that i state, i thought you said you are using the brakes...
herein lies exhibit A, this is a brand new disc that is not being used and only light pedal pressure...
pad deposits and just not been bedded in... so, strip down and clean up...
calipers, carriers, discs etc all removed and checked that all arears move as they should, mating faces cleaned up
same done on the fronts....
and rebuilt and out for the test drive... wobble gone and a driving lesson for Dad on the correct use of how and when to brake in normal driving.... and fast road etiquette (he loves that bit hahaha, he's not a great passenger lol)
we also have a ABS light to contend with, in hot weather it appears...
and is referenced to the G201 sensor on the master cylinder... we've previously purchased that and more brake fluid has been ordered so that's the next job...
future jobs... once i've got Dad's wallet open...!!!
Suspension
Remap and exhaust (plus all the other bits which will inevitably fail once power goes up)
Body work (sill covers etc)
but first it's MOT time next month...!!!
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