The Dad Wagon - B5 S4 Avant

[kittenpuncher]

I am going to start splitting the wheel that needs the center refinished. But I have a dilemma. It will be 270 to have the one pitted face rechromed.

So the question is do I split the one wheel and pay 270 to have the face rechromed or... do I split all 4 wheels and powder coat all 4 faces for 400 bucks.

I **** splitting wheels but I had plans to powder coat the centers of these wheels next winter anyways...


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[philohlean]

Keep up the good work man, I love B5 S4s, and you're doing this one justice. As good as the fiftee52s looked, I'm glad you went with the speedlines.

If you planned to powdercoat them anyways I would not bother re-chroming the face, but I understand that splitting wheels is a bit like pulling teeth.

Could consider doing a brushed+clear finish? Can't say I've ever seen a set that combo on speedlines before, I think that would be a really classy combo for the black wagon. Maybe even colored centercaps? I know some stay away from powdercoating whenever able just because of the uncertainty of material property alteration when heating aluminum alloys. Some shops are really good about avoiding that, others just crank the heat to get more accomplished in one coat.

Either way excited to see where this goes

[kittenpuncher]

Keep up the good work man, I love B5 S4s, and you're doing this one justice. As good as the fiftee52s looked, I'm glad you went with the speedlines.

If you planned to powdercoat them anyways I would not bother re-chroming the face, but I understand that splitting wheels is a bit like pulling teeth.

Could consider doing a brushed+clear finish? Can't say I've ever seen a set that combo on speedlines before, I think that would be a really classy combo for the black wagon. Maybe even colored centercaps? I know some stay away from powdercoating whenever able just because of the uncertainty of material property alteration when heating aluminum alloys. Some shops are really good about avoiding that, others just crank the heat to get more accomplished in one coat.

Either way excited to see where this goes

Thanks man! These cars, especially avants are pretty rare these days and the herd is thinning. Mine is far from a show car but I just want to make it respectable again.

Its a work in progress every day I find something small that needs to be tweaked or addressed, so my list continues to grow.

I am really torn at this point on how to finish the centers, chrome is so unruly. A brushed clear finish would be really nice but I can't trust the chrome underneath to hold up, the lug holes in each wheel have a varying degree of pitting.

I have certainly considered your center cap idea. Since these wheels were designed for Porsche I am trying to find a set of these center caps but they are rare AF. They would match my brakes well.



I have a few powder coat ideas but not set on one particular.

A standard finish of silver with black bolts.



3 options which would give the car some pop. I prefer silver centers 9 out of 10 times but I have actually been considering a little color.

This dark cherry could look really good against the black car, polished lips, and gold bolts. My hesitancy is the red centers with Nogaro blue interior might be too much going on.



A mag blue that you can find on Japanese wheels but I would need to change the bolt color. Better match for my interior but against a black car not quite sure...



Finally root beer a decent neutral, good with the gold bolts and the black car.



Taking any and all suggestions except for gold/ copper finishes I feel like they are played out.


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[philohlean]

You're definitely right about that. I tried looking for one a few years ago and the pickings were very very slim.

As for the brushed centers, would the chrome not be removed fully prior? I can't stand chrome, it rarely holds up well in the long run and is a pain to remove either way. Those caps would look really nice.

The dark cherry centers, while a really attractive color, would definitely make it a little noisier in terms of trying to tie the overall color scheme together, especially with the sheer quantity of blue on the interior. I wrestled with the same challenge when I considered options for my ST, which has a blue interior, and a dark metallic gray exterior.

The blue would certainly be a nice choice in trying to tie in the interior, but that particular shade may be so dark that it is mistaken for black in most lights. That's neither here nor there really, some people want a color like that, others don't.

The standard silver is timeless, root beer is another good choice and the color has definitely been gaining popularity in the last few years.

Given the car's refined exterior color palette I think something like a brushed, silver, or maybe even black with gold metallic flake would suit the car well, working in blue accents where you can (lug bolts, centercaps, valve stems, etc.), so that it doesn't detract from the rest of the car. That's the conclusion I arrived at with my ST.

But that's just my .02! Excited to see what you do either way

[C2_mad]

cant go wrong with silve imo....

[kittenpuncher]

Thanks guys! I certainly see what you are both saying about the silver.

Brushed silver powder coat is certainly one of the finalist for the finish for the wheel centers. It would also be nice to coat the lips as well, making them super easy to clean. But, they are radinox brand. So they are super high quality and shouldn't be as much maintenance as some of their cheaper counterparts. So I am leaning towards keep them polished.

On to the interior. So I have a complete Nogaro interior- front seats, rear seats, and door cards. But, the rear seat back is out of a sedan thus making it incompatible with my avant.

So. I dropped off my avant rear black leather seat backs with a really good upholstery guy ( www.kdicustoms.com ). He will be unstitching the Nogaro rear seat covers from the seat back of the sedan seats and restitching it into the back of the black leather on my avant backs. Basically swapping the front of the seat covers and modifying the fabric ever so slightly to allow for the upper clips that latch into the rear pegs specific to avants. This will compete my Nogaro interior, which I am thrilled about.

Pictures of the ratty black leather seat backs that I was using currently. At least the foam underneath is in great condition.



This process should take him 1-2 weeks for a very minimal cost. He said assuming the leather isn't to brittle and doesn't tear it should be an easy process. I made sure to condition the leather for the Nogaro seat backs when I bought the car last year and I stored them inside so I am hoping this doesn't happen.

One more thing checked off the list.


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[kittenpuncher]

Standard Saturday, maintenance day, oil change to be exact.

I actually would like to proudly report then immediately go knock on wood. This was the first oil change since the stage 3 build and it has been an incredibly painless 5,000 miles.

Liqui Moly is my oil of choice for all my euros.






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[kittenpuncher]

The Dad Wagon - B5 S4 Avant

Started splitting the wheels. I forgot how much of a pain in the ass this was... it had been a few years since I had done my last set. Allowing me to forget that I never wanted to do this again. Too late now.

Tools used
8mm 12 point
10mm 6 point
Plastic wrap
Torque drill for easy removal once I broke the back bolts free.

They were built with m7 BBS RS Hardware



Pro tip, for polished or finished bolts, use plastic wrap inside the socket to do as little damage as possible to the finish.













3 more to go...




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[kittenpuncher]

The Dad Wagon - B5 S4 Avant

Nothing to report on my own car from the weekend. Did a stage 2 motor mount, trans mount, and dogbone with my buddy on his 2.5L bagged stance machine on 17x10 OZ futuras. I miss the simplicity of 2.5L Jetta but I don't miss the lack of power.









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[Bullydawg]

Nice build! Love the Speedlines! I'm building a set myself! I have 1.75" lips, and 6" barrels if you are interested in doing some sort of trading. I need 3" lips and larger barrels.

[kittenpuncher]

Nice build! Love the Speedlines! I'm building a set myself! I have 1.75" lips, and 6" barrels if you are interested in doing some sort of trading. I need 3" lips and larger barrels.

Wish I could help you out. I am set on my specs for now. Check this website out you can source radinox speedline lips for a very reasonable price.

The previous owner of my wheels bought all 4 lips from here - they are incredibly sturdy and the polished finish of the lips is perfect.

These are the same guys that make Schmidt wheel parts which are known for their quality. All parts are German TUV approved, we have no sort of standard that compares to that in the states.

http://www.felgenfuchs.de

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[Bullydawg]

Oh, I'm not worried about it. I already bought 4 lips from them... I have 2 sets that are spec'd to what I want... then I have a set of 18x8 laying around... yes I have 3 sets. Lol

Either way, nice ride man! I love wagons!

[kittenpuncher]

The Dad Wagon - B5 S4 Avant

Thanks man!

Sorry for all the low quality pictures in this thread I have a canon t2i I need to break out.

Nogaro back seat almost done, waiting on the last 2/3rds seat back section from the upholstery guy. Huzzahh. He ended up unstitching just the Nogaro centers from the sedan back and transplanting them into the the centers of the avant back seats. Pretty simple process.




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[Tonk]

Give us an update, sucka!

[kittenpuncher]

Well a lot has changed as I haven't updated this thread in over a year...

Ill see if I can summarize a few things, went through multiple sets of wheels, changed suspension, new control arms, new exhaust, new carbon fiber steering wheel, carbon fiber mirrors, euro hatch, new OEM s4 bumper $$$$$, had a bunch of things repainted, interior rear seats recovered... Still much much more to do.





Changed plugs from NGK BKR7s to Bosch side fires running a stage and a half colder than stock.

It could be any number of things I fixed while doing the plugs but the car is running incredibly. While doing the plugs - which none of them looked too bad, I also fixed two small vacuum leaks, and replaced my cylinder 3 coil pack. The car is running so smoothly at 18psi, best it has ever run since the build. Could be the vacuum leak fix could be the plugs, who knows but the car really rips again.

Sold the speedlines they were just too hot boi for my taste

I ended up getting the bolts powdered gold and selling them. Tough to let them go. I loved the look on the avant.



RIP



New wheels are in route from Virginia. I went with a squared set-up that were on an S3 shouldn't have any brake clearance issues. They are 19s. Which I am bit skeptical about. Hopefully I can lay it out, a lot of euro b5s4 guys have been pulling off 19s. They are 3 piece rotiforms with hidden bolts. I think they are Forged INDs. Brushed translucent gold centers and polished lips.

New wheels





S4 avant on 19s that inspired me to make the jump.



Now to decide tires they are 19x9 so I am debating either 215/35s or 225/35s leaning towards a little less "stantz" and going with the 225s.