Matt Danger's B5 S4 Owner Log

I borrowed a Porter Cable polisher from my friend Karlis and went to town on the car this weekend. I got most of the fine scratches out, but another pass is probably still required. The advantage of a silver car is that it doesn’t snow scratches or swirls as easily.

No pics now because of rain, but hopefully.

I’ve put almost 100 miles on the car so far and it’s been mostly great. My 7 year old stock battery bit the dust so I picked up a 15lb Odyssey battery. I also installed my extra power steering pump. Fuck pzp107.

The vibrations from the Stern transmission mounts were unbearable. I learned that the mounts I received were an early style that had a design flaw. The mounts have since been revised with a larger diameter bolt hole. Not sure how a flaw like this made it through testing (if there was any) but PureMS (where I bought the mounts and waited 1 month for them..) suggested I bore the hole out to 15/16″. Tonight I spent some time with a dremel and the difference that it made with the mounts is awesome. So much better now. There are some vibrations at idle and the cabin noise is louder on deceleration, but everything else is great.

I finished putting the car together today and took it out on its maiden voyage. It road very nice and there were no real hiccups.

There are two problems right now. First, the replacement power steering pump from pzp107 (Audizine) is very weak. I have another pump that I will swap in.

The second problem is that the transmission mounts are VERY harsh. I’ll have to see if they settle down and break in. Otherwise, I’m going to swap to something more street friendly.

Overall, it was a nice feeling  to drive the car. The Vast tune definitely feels more torquey in the low RPMs.

Today was rear wheel bearing day. I almost stripped the axle bolt but managed to break it free by slipping a box end wrench over the 14mm socket. The rest of the suspension was a challenge, but with a hammer and an air chisel it came apart. I took the knuckle to my friend Darrel’s shop to use his press. I almost ruined the new bearing when I pressed the hub in without supporting the bearing from the bottom. Oops. It went back together very smoothly though.

After that I plumbed the meth up and installed the new coolant tank. Then realized I didn’t have enough G12

Got some new crush washers for free from Holtz Audi. I can’t tell where the oil leak on the turbos are coming from, so I just redid the crush washers for all the lines. While I had the motor out I torqued the transmission to motor bolts that I forgot before. I also heat wrapped the inlet pipes.

I put the motor back in last night (all alone) and hooked up everything underneath and most of the wiring. I also managed to get the ARD bipipes to fit. The fitment is still poor but I think they’ll work for now.

I installed the electric fan but still need to find a source to wire the switching wire.

Started to reconnect parts under the car and noticed a small bit of oil on each turbo hotside. Looks like the oil feeds might be leaking

I sucked it up and pulled the engine out. Much faster this time, 2 hours and 45 minutes! The core support was already off.

One hitch: The ARD/Vast bi-pipes don’t fit. The inlet radius (intercooler side) is too tight and points upwards. Shot an email to Prince @ Vast about it.