I’ve got a few bits done this month, but the most exciting is I finally have my wheels on the car!
The purists will be disappointed, and some will think they look too big, but I’m really happy with them, I think they look epic. And I won’t be getting rid of the original wheels, they’re always there as a backup.
The wheels are Azev Type A in 18″ x 8.5″ and I went for 215/40 tyres, which appear to be a fair bit taller than the originals, despite my careful calculations. Hopefully everything will ride okay!
Before I got the tyres fitted I gave my freshly powder coated wheels to Chris at Finer Details NZ. He prepared them with CarPro DLUX then coated them with Cquartz Finest Ceramic coating. This coating gives a silky smooth, glossy finish and will protect the paint from brake dust and dirt. The whole car will eventually be coated with it, and it can only be installed by approved professionals.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the paint coated with this stuff!
Of course it didn’t all go to plan as I forgot to check the wheel nuts. The factory ones were curved and the new wheels have cone-shaped holes, and slightly longer nuts were needed. I had to wait a few more days while a new set of nuts and locking nuts arrived. I also bought a handy wheel hanging bar thingy, which I’m told you get with newer Audis, to make fitting and changing the wheels much easier!
The day before the wheel nuts arrived, Wellington had a 7.8 earthquake. The next day I went to check on Rusty and this was the only incident in the garage.
I was so lucky! The tyre hit the bumper, leaving no marks, and didn’t fall on the wheel face like it easily could have. Phew!
DLUX is rapidly becoming my favourite CarPro product after I tried it on the boot plastics. I think the results speak for themselves.
The mirrors were next.
Then it was time to re-install the passenger seat, after cleaning it up with Carpro Inside and Leather Cleaner
I got the tail lights, brake, reverse lights and indicators working, so I re-installed the boot carpets.
The reversing camera is working, and GPS tracker installed. And the remote locking also works.
Starting to get somewhere now! I installed a little fuse holder as a distribution board for the various switched live connections I need for extra bits I’ve fitted, and tidied the wiring a bit. The big tangle isn’t un-tangleable because of the way they originally terminated all of the connections. At least it’ll be covered.
I had another setback – the passenger door handle lever snapped!
I got a brand new one from Ebay and it looks the same, but but my lock barrel won’t fit into it, and it catches, so will need some modification.
And finally, I connected up some pipe and got the windcreen washers working.
So all-in-all a pretty productive few weeks.
I still need to get the indicators to flash, and the headlights aren’t right yet – only working on full beam so I need to re-check the wiring. I realised one brake caliper sticks, so the brakes will need to be sorted before thinking about taking it for a Warrant of Fitness. I’m thinking I might as well get the brakes and suspension all cleaned up, new bushes etc if I need to take them apart anyway.
Follow the full Project Rusty build here.
