Ibo's Garage - TTRS3GTR

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Front Bumper done with 3000. (Inlay too ;) )

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1000:
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1500:
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3000 done:
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Both done

:dopey:
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you know :lol:
 
Finally , finally

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Everything sanded flat (well except the mirrors, which I do when the car is in the shop, and the handles after the shop has reassembled them)

Now, I "drop-correct" these parts, resand those spots, resand it at 3000 quickly.
Then reassemble.
Headliner.
And it can go into the shop for german spec fittement :lol: , windows, oil change, new rims, getting the rear camber out,......)
 
Sadly this post will contain some medium bad news, the attempt to fix it, and the solution and plenty more

Starting off with, yeah no we continue sanding

The passanger mirror had some huge drops on it

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Whole front side had a "curtain"

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But I got there, eventually

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Then started the droplet pain correction, at this point I kinda knew I sanded through some parts, but didn't want to inspect it too closely, because who knows, maybe it would magicly disappear :lol:

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Started off with the parts that were good so only needed clear coat

Then the next day, colour and clear coat

Passanger side, extension of the arch, just on the edge, barely visible, just put some very fine line of colour on it, let it dry and overlapped a bigger spot with clear.

On all parts we talk about a line as thick as a pencil stroke and not very long

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Same on the front side skirt were a bit of colour was missing

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The inlay for the roof

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Here it wasn't sanded through, just some missing on the edge that probably would have been covered up by the lamps.

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Other side skirt

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Rear spoiler

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Fixed up the screw that clipped while mounting

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Then I rewent and applied a 2nd layer of clear, futher overlapping

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..... on all the parts (not going to post more pics of the disaster :P , it will kill your internet connection)

The drop on the front bumper was easy to grind off and recoat, No problem here

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So I came to the conclusion that I sanded through on places where the parts were less idealy placed, hard to reach.

Sanding the correction flat resulted in sanding through just just on the side of it...

The driver roof inlay, driver sideskirt, and both small covers of the sideskirt would have been good with the correction.
But as they shared the same bad position while painting as the sanded through counter part I wanted to be safe, not sorry.

For correcting these I think using an airbrush could yield some good results.

But I brought the parts, to the shop that gets the car soon, for a respray. Both sides. So it should be good.

Bad part = costs / Good part = I'm done with these parts :lol:

Then I sanded my droplets out, resanded with 3000 grid.

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And finally put all my sanding stuff away.

DONE

Now on the interior, discovering more faults from mechanics (albeit a small one)

Belt screw one side

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Other side

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:lol:


Pulled the driver seat out, B Covers off. Trying to get the carpet lifted enough to clean under it, because media blast.

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But turns out it's quite clean, a bit from the media blast on the exterior side, but middle is fine, so not taking the whole carpet out...

But turns out

There she is

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Step by step it's getting closer
 
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A wise man once said : Before assembling one must first disassemble


And so it continued

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Cleaning the interior

Carpet renewal

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:lol:

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Vaccumed and compressed air multiple times, under it, on it, around it
Then Cillit Bang or Vanish for the French,
and again multiple vaccumes and compressed air

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Looks and smells like new carpet :crazy::dopey::drool:

Also ordered my new rims today. Went for the Sparcos :eek::embarrassed:
 
Cleaning, behind

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Inside
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Outside, every part, put to pieces and cleaned

Shaving the carpet, sounds dirty, isn't though

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And everything put together

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One screw left though, but I found one under the carpet, don't know if it stems from my work or a prior one.
Not going to disassemble everything again (40+ screws) because of maybe one.

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Driver side, easy peacy

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The passanger side though,

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It has little plastics that go through the hole, 1 started to go through but then suddenly flattened like a pancake, leaving a gap.
Tried for a long time to pull it through with some pliers, but it didn't work, broke off.
It's hold by glue (stock). Gonna see what the garage will suggest to do,...

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Preping the parts to go away with the car

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Today I ordered even more new parts :lol:
Now I have found the rest that was missing, unavailable... took some time and searching.
Feels good to have everything complete (some unnecessary covers, but they were scratched)
Every seal on the car is now new (sunroof will be made by the garage)

And to really top everything, putting the cherry on the icing of the cake:
http://www.neidfaktor.com/

Will get my steering wheel rewarped by them. Probably black suede, silver stitching and a "rally ring" on top in a blurple shade :D
 
By the time you're done with this car it should be hermetically sealed in a glass box. Then given to a car museum as an example of the ideal.

So much work, sweat, and pain. Not to mention money, time and dedication, went into this car. It will almost be a shame the first time it's driven. You had better make a video.

Your hard work and progress has inspired me to attempt to paint my SVX myself... eventually... soon. I'll be spending alot of time reviewing your progress and making notes.

The effort you put into this car boggles my mind. This is by far my favorite thread on GTP. I keep thinking "he's almost done," over and over for months now. But your search for perfection keeps extending the time.
 
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^Thanks a lot mate. Really appreciate 👍

Oh don't worry, you will be flooded in pics and vids of the car.
And it's so close. I honestly think it will be in the shop before the 28th.

A good choice. Alone the learning curve and abilities you will master are so worth it.
If a question, don't hesitiate to ask for more detailed information.

I would never have thaught of spending so much time on it. I probably wouldn't have started if I knew :lol: But in the end it is all worth it.

The huge mad grin @CAMAROBOY69 taked about, has already started shaping my face. The feels :dopey:



-----

Let me open the GTR folder a bit:

Mine just sold. Writting the contract today :dunce:

I guess end feb, start march I go up and buy the droolworthy, museum grade R33 👍:P;)
 
I've been looking this thread for some time and I have to say, it's really nice to see that S3 getting closer and closer to being in road condition.
 
^Thanks 👍

Front Bumper, final steps

Polishing

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Mounted & demounted, because clearance :lol:
Handpolished the inlay

Then off to modding the lip

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Cut and screwed mounting holes (never intended for this car)

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Measuring so many times and no idea if 100%
My OCD senses don't tingle, thats that

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Bolted on, final cuts

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Who noticed the little bend in the middle of the lip?
The bars were not equally long (1mm) :lol: and not strait enough....

Corrected it

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No gaps anymore, no bends

Enough screws ??

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:lol:

Getting the inlay out of the sunroof.

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Took some serious headscratching till I found out how...
As it is a webasto, I show how in case anyone ever needs

Unscrew the 4 railsliders

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The sunroof glass and this cover are clipped together on the rail. At this point one should manually close the sunroof (allen key in the motor) Continue turning to incline it up. This gives a wider gap between the window and the backside of cover. Moving the window is the key to who hidden screws or clips as is inclining it. (some variants also have screws under the motor)

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When its clipped out, push them all the way back

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And out it is. :gtpflag:

Tissue already off, but their is a lot of residue, watt like, very painful to get off

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The headliner too

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Getting the glue and foam residue off will take some good scrubing and some elbow grease.

One last time
 
These babes arrived:
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Getting that foam, glue off, what a pain

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Iinstalled the front side windows

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On rewraping the parts....

So delicate, soo soo delicate

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This one is good. Finally. Already had it done yesterday and a c-pillar. This (sunroofcover) had on one single spot, soaked through :banghead:
C-Pillar was not good enough.

But the glue :bowdown: Oh my... I had a hard, really hard time getting the rewarp off. And that just minutes after applying it.

Cleaned it, which took some time, and today rewarped the sunroof and an A pillar

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The white is the chalk from the gloves. not glue :dunce:

Now I am out of glue :lol::lol:.

Waiting for the ebay seller to give me a transport price. Double what I had now should be plenty to get everything done.
 
^:lol:

Tomorrow if weather allows the car goes into the workshop

Really needs a rewarp

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After one seat

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Done

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Under and the seatbelt

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Sunroof back in with the rewarped cover

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A box full of holy grales, some of the parts are the last one available

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Better safe than sorry

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New vs old. The softpaint really took a hit

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The marks of the gone S3

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Bit-ch's gone

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:lol:

The reactions from the mecanics in the garage was cool.
And then they saw a Chrysler full with parts.
Amazed....

:lol:

We run into a little problem though : the steering wheel. I already had it in hands, when they asked themselves how to move the car now....
They gonna finish up the car, put it into a corner, then the wheel goes for an suede rewarp...

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Ohhh guys and gals,

the headliner

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Headaches....

Issue n1:
The OEM tissue is pretty elastic, which is great for the curbs and stuff. The one I bought is barely flexible. Thus not making it easier.

Issue n2:
On all the internet "tutos" I got told one should start at the end and work forward in stripes.
Because of the curbs, elevations, this is not the ideal way.
If I would do it again, I would start pin point in the middle of the headline and work my way to the edges.

Now I don't want to restart it. Fed up with it.

I am currently in search of a Upholstery that can do it properly. If I pay it needs to be perfect. It ain't cheap....

I am in talks now with 3 shops.
1 30km away (no price yet eta end march)
1 80km away (price okay, but only in normal tissue, no alcantara)
1 400km away (this is recommanded by my carbon guy, who is a nutty perfectionist)

Either way, this means delay....
2-3 weeks more
--------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
Just came back from the garage....

The car :drool: (no pic taken :( )
The Xenons (as seen 2 years ago while demounting) had clips that were broken by the incompetent garage.
Here they repaired it professionally 👍

They were doing the service (big one, timing belt, water pump,....) An engine mount was leaky. Replaced....

The boss there actually knows the 80km Upholstery. Vouched for the quality.
THe headliner now goes in this week and should be finished somewhere next week. All column covers included.

Now I just need to sell a kidney :lol:
 
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:lol:

Neidfaktor :lol:

I wrote an email that my steering wheel will come in late, so the garage can move the car around. Said that the new S3 they made looked awesome and I would need once holidays in Hamburg.

His reply is simply awesome : "Hamburg is dangerous. The owner of the S3 only wanted the headliner done, when he saw our RS6 he cracked" :lol:

RS6:
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S3 8V
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:lol:

Yeah I can see people crack :lol:

My whole headliner is in the shop already. Will be done in simple elastic tissue. Like standard. Won't look as exclusiv as above, but will be okay .... till I make a holiday in Hamburg :lol:

Also got the last 2 covers that were missing, needed replacement.

Hopefully my steering wheel can be send in soon, so I can get the car registered again.
 
Okay let's change things a bit, I give already a prewarning.

Tomorrow this is gonna be plastered shut with GTR Pics. Maybe a Vid :D :D :D :D

Going up tomorrow to make the contract. Talk GTR and mainly drive that badass car

Can't ****ing wait
 
And back to the S3 :lol:

It's nearly there, though we need to wait for the upholstery.

I know now the prices, all together with everything new it's near the price of the paintshop with the crazy price. But here everything is new, all the rust is removed and the whole car is serviced:

What in addition to my work was now done:

- Underbody rust cleaned and painted, new sealant
- Fenders adjusted to Audi specs
- Bonnet adjusted to Audi specs
- Bumper front, built up & adjusted to Audi Specs
- Fog lights restored
- Headlights all clips repaired (some had weakened plastics), new seals
- Sunroof new seal, adjusted, greased, water evac cleaned
- Side impact bars (the little painted exterior ones) fixed
- Doors built up and adjusted to Audi specs
Door handles built up, new seals
Window lifter rusted screws replaced, window adjusted to Audi specs
Side bars (ruby Black installed)
- Rear Hatched adjusted to Audi specs
- Rear window and seal all new
- Engine underbody covers removed, cleaned and adjusted to Audi specs
- New antenna, new antenna cables
- Rear & front link arms replaced
- Total geometry adjusted to Audi specs
- new wipers front and rear
....
3 pages of spare parts :lol:
....
- 4 new tires Pirelli P Zero Nero GT 225/35 ZR18 87Y XL
- Oilchange and all filters
- A/C inspection, new fluids
- Tension belt and tensioner replaced
- Engine mount replaced
- Quattro fluid change and filter
- new brake fluid and brakes cleaned
...........
and and and

So apart from the mecanics, that worked and still work flawlessly, it's a new car

Can't wait.

Will go in Monday to take some pics....

drooling_goku.gif~c200
 
:lol:

Neidfaktor :lol:

I wrote an email that my steering wheel will come in late, so the garage can move the car around. Said that the new S3 they made looked awesome and I would need once holidays in Hamburg.

His reply is simply awesome : "Hamburg is dangerous. The owner of the S3 only wanted the headliner done, when he saw our RS6 he cracked" :lol:

RS6:
Neidfaktor-Hamburg-NF-Audi-RS6-Avant-2013-172.jpg


S3 8V
Audi-S3-Sportback-Shooting-Star-Project-Neidfaktor-de-496.jpg


:lol:

Yeah I can see people crack :lol:

My whole headliner is in the shop already. Will be done in simple elastic tissue. Like standard. Won't look as exclusiv as above, but will be okay .... till I make a holiday in Hamburg :lol:

Also got the last 2 covers that were missing, needed replacement.

Hopefully my steering wheel can be send in soon, so I can get the car registered again.

Oh man I'd love that interior in my S4 :drool:
 
A lot on the list would be good fun.. :) I'd rather do plenty of that myself rather than repainting the car myself, hats off to you for the work you've done :)
 
^I could have done some of that work myself. But as I was blocked by the adjustement from the panels, I was blocked on lot of follow up work.
And as the car is in Germany, that would have meant, transport = costs....

Okay

Get a bucket in case of heavy drooling

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The key :drool:

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No rust on the whole underbody. For a car from 1997 with no sealant plastered on. Stunning. Simply in awe

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Spec3 :D

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Original Nismo Carbon Wing (+ covers)
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S3 (series duh) Xenons...

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It has a few minor problems. Like superficial rust on the front domes where the paint cracked. But it doesn't come from underneath, like a lot of others GTR. It's a touch up job

And it's not a V-Spec, but hey a non V-Spec in that condition, with full documents, everything dating from Japan to here....

The interior has (since Japan) some typical japanese mods, that neither of the owners wanted to remove because it would leave holes (tweeters are on the doors, not in....)

All in all minor stuff, that I will take care off in the coming years of my ownership.

HKS Oil cooler, HKS engine seals all around, dual plate clutch,.... (done last year),.... and so much stuff on it ...

And driving this :drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool:
Can't wait....

As the pics seem to have a problem with the GTP update, here's the link to the album
http://s1270.photobucket.com/user/Ibonibo/slideshow/GTR
 
I love R33s. As so many people who live in the US like myself I wish some Skylines were allowed here.

I'm not a huge skyline fanboy though so forgive me. What does V-Spec entail?
 
hahaha

I may recall not everything, but v-spec had a tad lower suspension and a electronic diff on the rear axle, though the diff was later on an option on non V-Spec. This car has HKS Hypermax suspension installed (over 1k, 8 months old, car wasn't driven for 6 months :lol: )
R32 can now be imported officially in the US I think.

The R32 is too unsafe for me. It folds like tinfoil. The R33 and R34 isn't that much better, but they are safer. Alone side impact is non existant on the R32. That changed on the later model due to japanese regulations.
The R34 are so expensive. I think they won't go down in price, but 60k for a V-Spec II is more than for a R35 ...
Plus the R34 looks awesome in pictures, but the rear is too cube-y IRL for me. I love the curves of the R33. That behind :drool:

There were a lot of 400R sold in the last months. I mean a lot. Like 5, which is a lot for such a limited car. Problem with the 400R is : No parts. If something breaks, the value (they are really expensive) of the car plummets
 
hahaha

I may recall not everything, but v-spec had a tad lower suspension and a electronic diff on the rear axle, though the diff was later on an option on non V-Spec. This car has HKS Hypermax suspension installed (over 1k, 8 months old, car wasn't driven for 6 months :lol: )
R32 can now be imported officially in the US I think.

The R32 is too unsafe for me. It folds like tinfoil. The R33 and R34 isn't that much better, but they are safer. Alone side impact is non existant on the R32. That changed on the later model due to japanese regulations.
The R34 are so expensive. I think they won't go down in price, but 60k for a V-Spec II is more than for a R35 ...
Plus the R34 looks awesome in pictures, but the rear is too cube-y IRL for me. I love the curves of the R33. That behind :drool:

There were a lot of 400R sold in the last months. I mean a lot. Like 5, which is a lot for such a limited car. Problem with the 400R is : No parts. If something breaks, the value (they are really expensive) of the car plummets

In lovely California the car has to be at least 38 years old to be exempt from the EPA(emissions)

So basically the 400R is a collector's item. :lol:
 
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