Project Hibiscus - (30v supercharged Ruby red cabriolet)

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:09 pm

I will become a proud owner of an Audi 80 cabriolet on Saturday Very Happy

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This is going to be a project and I've done most of the shopping already! Cool

The car is a '96 "P" registered 2.8 auto in Hibiscus red with white(ish) leather, power roof and air-con. There's some dodgy touch-up paint on the boot lid around the 3rd brake light and the usual cloudiness in the rear window. I paid £1300 and have a few pennies to spend on tidying and modifying the "tired" parts.

Major plan is to remove the 2.8 auto and transplant my 2.8 30v supercharged engine with a manual fwd box.

My trusty(?) 15 year old coupe has been a test mule for the engine and I'm happy that the engine is now running in good order and is ready for a new donor. The coupe is worthless on the sale front and is really only good for parting out and will be supplying a few parts for the conversion.

The cab chassis will receive new H&R Cup suspension and full Powerflex bushes, new top mounts, drop links etc.

Exterior bodywork will consist of RS2 front bumper + fogs/indicators. Porsche 993 teardrop mirrors and other necessary colour coding.

Wheels will be Keskin KT4 8.0x17 in 108 PCD so no need for the expensive 5x112 conversion! Smile

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:20 pm

this looks interesting! Keep the pics coming Wink

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:36 pm

I look forward to seeing this done.

You seen the coilovers Gav has for sale for the Cabby?

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:43 pm

Yes seen'em, was tempted but the budget dictates the money goes on other things unfortunately Confused

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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:23 pm

Looks like a good project, would be good to get some shots of both your cars, old and new, side by side etc.

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:25 pm

Nice one! Look fwd to seeing your progress Wink

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 8:05 pm

Indeed this is going to be awesome Cool

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:12 pm

so FWD and how much power!!! just as intriguing as the last one... going for a cabby, is this a sign of age! Although £1300 is a bargain.

The 30vS looks surprisingly roomy in the bay! Assume you dont have the same hassles with the dash etc all over agian?

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:19 pm

This car is going to be a weekend fun car when finished, it's was never going to be in the GTi league of road holding being a cabriolet but something a bit "special". The nice thing with the supercharger is it's progressive power and not a sudden mad injection of torque that will spin the wheels, it can be driven sedately as a 1.8 litre and if necessary a tyre smoking handful with the foot welded to the floor Twisted Evil

!!
I would like to get it finished by summer, it's a tight deadline! Laughing

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:19 pm

Some Porsche goodness has arrived....... Drool

LHD mirrors but beggars can't be choosers eh! Smile

I will probably need to buy a RHD driver's side mount. Right now I need to ask my Audi dealer for some Porsche to RS2 adapter parts... if still available!

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:22 pm

porsche to rs2 adapter parts?

which one's - if its the bases you need to go to porsche for them iirc £40 each for the brackets to hold them on the car, the base is £35 ish for the lhd to rhd one.

the wiring you cannot buy anymore unfortunately.

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:22 pm

I probably worded it wrong but I need the metal pressed bracket that screws to the aperture in the door. I will also need the mirror RHD right mount. I assume that Audi have these parts?...

http://www.s2power.com/porsche%20spiegels%20en.htm

I understand the mirror bases might need modifying to fit the contours of the coupe/cab doors.

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:33 pm

borrowed from a comment brian tonks did on s2forum.

the door needs one of the holes enlarging with a file to fit a coupe/cab door.

UltraUser Joined: Jan 30, 2003 Posts: 1743

absolutely fantastic project. Good to see another quick cab on the go.
The will definitely be a thread ill be keeping an aye on.
Word to the wise about the keskins, theyre very prone to laquer peel for some reason. The kt1's are the same. They seem to use a very soft laquer whch chips very easily allowing water ingress. The early keskins had the same problesm but that was due to the surface underneath being too highly polished and the laquer not adhering to it properly.
This is going to be superb
Gav

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 6:17 pm

Thanks for the support Gav Very Happy

, I did look at the Keskin KT1s as it happens but there was something about them that didn't look right for this project. I hope Keskin have improved their quality control as I've placed my order for the KT4 "new racer" wheels. I'll have to keep an eye out for problems!

They look amazing on this S8..... Razz

....and on this coupe too...

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:39 pm

Hi fast28,loooooovvvvvvee those wheels m8,i know its rude to ask,but,how much are those?

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:06 pm

They are £215 each. Not cheap but then again they are a major styling feature of this project. Cool

It was a decision of mine to either buy a nice final edition cabriolet for £3.5k or spend the same buying a cab a few years older and spending the same budget on creating something stylish and hopefully tasteful - well maybe in the UK!. I think the car was a steal at 1300 and it gives me a good wedge of the budget to update the handling and look of the car. In all possible cases I will be doing the work myself including painting. Smile

Here is some inspiration for the project...

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:28 am

yep those Keskins look great, and I LOVE that last cab pic, looks evil Twisted Evil

UltraUser Joined: Jan 30, 2003 Posts: 1743

the keskins are going to look bob on. the b3/b4 shape is crying out for some rims with a nice big lip.
Yours being a p-reg does it have the later rs2 style bumper?
Gav

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:24 pm

It's a '96 P so it just missed out on the '97-'00 final edition bumpers and other updates.

here's a quick snap..

But I do have the final edition bumper with the RS2 fogs & indicators on my coupe! Smile

ready to swap over. I shall be using a Reiger RS2 bumper skin with the inner section from my coupe front bumper which contains the fixings for the lights and chassis mountings.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:23 pm

Some progress on the Porsche wing mirrors Smile

I've managed to mount them on the coupe. Not an easy job and about 15 hours worth of fitting, cutting and fitting again! I had to create some brackets that bolt to the existing threads inside the doors and reshape the mirror mounts for them to look right, it was also necessary to file the existing door apertures.

Both sets of mirrors use the same motor mechanism but the wiring is slightly different as the Audi mirror uses a single common wire between the two motors for one terminal while the Porsche mirrors use separate wires....

Wiring at Porsche mirrors is as follows... <EDITED>

Brown - heater
Brown - heater
Red - motor - up/down
Black - motor - up/down
Blue - motor - left/right
White - motor - left/right

To connect the Porsche mirror wires to the Audi wiring looms for mirror control...

Driver's mirror
Brown - White
Brown - Brown
Black - yellow/black
white - green
Red + Blue - red/yellow

Passenger's mirror (same as driver's mirror)
Brown - White
Brown - Brown
Black - yellow/black
white - green
Red + Blue - red/yellow

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:30 pm

Would you be interested in making another pair of brackets for the mirrors as i'd be interested in a pair.

did you change over the base for the (iirc passenger side) mirror that droops down if not done.

UltraUser Joined: Jan 30, 2003 Posts: 1743

lovely colour, looks like an absolute bargain.
Good idea r.e the rs2 bumper. i bought one of the rs2 replica bumpers and the quality is excellent. Sadly had to sell it to fund buying the new red cab.
Mirrors are looking spot on, again (lol) i bought the lhd 993's for my other cab but again they were sold on for the same reason but ill be going down this route again at some point and the info youve put up already will superb.
Cant wait to see this in the flesh.
Fantastic work
Gav

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:06 pm

Acidburn, I used a 20x20 square channel steel extrusion available from most DIY stores and cut/drilled it to allow the anchor/wedge part of the mirror to hook under. It's by no means pretty and fashioned by hacksaws and files. The trouble is I found that the driver's side and passenger side needed slightly different brackets due to the odd asymmetrical mounting bases. I have for the moment gone with the LHD 993 mounts, I would actually keep the right LHD mount and buy a RHD left mount to match it as these mounts suit the door curve better and look correct from an original design perspective. The LHD mount I have mounted on my drivers side is also the same height and rake angle as the original Audi in my opinion too.

<EDIT>
After fitting the mirrors the best option is to fit a RHD right base and a LHD left base, that way the mirrors have symmetrical bases and the driver has adequate rear side views.

Gav, Yes she is a bargain but the previous owner took into consideration that the rear screen had gone cloudy and that there is some weird paint reaction around the third brake light on the boot lid which will need to be resprayed. 114K miles which isn't too bad but the suspension does start to get saggy on these V6 powered cars plus the added weight of the extra strengthening and hood mechanism all adds up over the years. I bet the auto box is on it's last legs too, not that I care Laughing

UltraUser Joined: Jan 30, 2003 Posts: 1743

i agree about the weight, has anyone got the kerb weights for all the different incarnations on cab? id be interested to see how much heavier my cab quattro is over a stock s2
Gav

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:55 am

They are £215 each. Not cheap but then again they are a major styling feature of this project.

BLOODY HELL... EACH, erm there goes the budget for everything else. then again i might let you off on the grounds that mechanically its already sorted. Have you gone for the deep dish ones as well?

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:06 am

Couldn't skimp on the rims Istoo!! Razz

The rims will be 8" wide so should be able to fit the front arches whilst being lowered. The H&R Cup suspension kit apparently lowers the car 60mm at the front and 40mm at the rear so any wider I could run into problems. At the rear I could of gone up to 9" wide maybe? If you see the coupe picture further back then I think they should look like those Smile

. The budget may already be blown by the news of a hardtop anyway! Twisted Evil

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:35 pm

hardtop is worth every penny. imho

Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:23 am

Brought the Cabrio home from Weston-Super-Mare today and she drives well, the 2.8 engine was one of the smoothest I've driven, real quiet and powerful, first Audi old skool auto box I've driven and it is exceptional at cruising. I can see why so many where sold as autos! managed a steady 28-30mpg on the M5 and M4 home.

Finally parked up...

I'm quite impressed by the spec too, it must of been one of the very last before the Final Editions came out. It has manual air-con, trip computer and the 3-spoke sport airbag steering wheel.

There are some areas in need of cosmetic attention as you would expect of a car of this age bought for 1300 notes and apart from the totally clouded rear plastic screen there is the issue of a carpark prang that has had amateur repairs and hence resulted in the eventual loss of value of the vehicle. The rear bumper will need replacing and resprayed plus attention will be needed to the boot lid where a respray around the 3rd brake light will be required plus it's correct panel gap alignment. On huge plus side there isn't a single dent anywhere ! Surprised

There is evidence of some sort of respray in the original colour as there are unusual "inclusions" in the paint surface that will require some wet'n'dry paper treatment to flat down to a smooth surface. A good polish and detail is required.
The hood is in great shape and the previous owner showed me the operation which looked okay but I'm no expert on how fast these thing operate but I noticed the electric windows operated a lot faster than on my coupe! Laughing

One thing I noticed was that the passenger side ellipsoid headlight had had it's glass replaced with that of a standard coupe glass! Confused

The interior which is light cream leather has had the usual neglect from care, it's creased, dirty, stained and is in dire need of a good scrub and dye treatment....

Another of the dash...

It's time this cabrio received some TLC! Cool

Oh, and I can't remember how to open the roof, I haven't got the owner's manual and I either haven't got the right sequence of operations worked out or I've busted the roof already! Embarassed

UltraUser Joined: Jan 30, 2003 Posts: 1743

looks really good for the money mate, defo still think you got a bargain there.
You dont fancy black leather instead of the cream/ecru do you? Wink

That looks like ruby red to me Embarassed

in those pics. Same as my old s2 avant. Beautiful colour Very Happy

So when does the fun begin with the engine swap?

Gav