2007 B7 Cabrio progress

[tommyboy40]

Mods, please let me know if this is the wrong section.

As I mentioned in my newbie intro, I'm a first time Audi owner. I'm also a little obsessive about how I keep my car and really enjoy having it perfect.

It's still not ready for collection as it's having a clutch fitted (little old lady owned it from new) but I've been busy and found these. 

First job to do will be a serious clean and proof of the top followed by de tar and clay followed by a quick mop. I'll be updating they thread with some of the various stages of the process

 

 

[tommyboy40]

The garage is still waiting for the correct clutch to arrive so it looks a bit like this at the moment. Lots of evidence of a car that wasn't washed properly.

As you can see from the last photo, it's missing the black piece of trim under the bumper. Anyone got part numbers? Is there an online parts system I can check for free?

 

[tommyboy40]

So I decided to make a start on the soft top. It looks much worse in the photos than in real life. it looks like a waxy hand was rested in places when the car was cleaned. I'm using a 5:1 dilution of Gtechniq W2 and the smallest wet & dry vac ever. The large spray is for rinsing. I soaked the top with the W2 solution and gave it a gentle scrubbing with a soft bristled brush. I wasn't especially worried about the run off on the bodywork as I plan to mop the whole car. 

[tommyboy40]

I didn't mention that I gave the top a good vacuum first. I used the wet & dry to remove as much of the W2 as possible then drenched the whole lot with the sprayer and again, used the wet & dry. I repeated this several times until the water was mostly clear. Attached photos show a 50:50, the gunk removed from the first pass and a shot of the top when I was done. Obviously, soft tops always look good when wet so I'll have a look in the morning and touch up any remaining stains. 

[Steve Q]

Wow out have been busy! Not going to lie keep an older Audi on the road can be a costly affair but well worth it in my opinion 🙂

[tommyboy40]

3 hours ago, Steve Q said:

Wow out have been busy! Not going to lie keep an older Audi on the road can be a costly affair but well worth it in my opinion 🙂

The clutch is being done as part of the sale so it's not costing me anything. My last car had 16 spark plugs and cost almost a grand for a set of tyres and €1400 for a shock so this should be considerably cheaper. It has had the timing belt and water pump done in January. I also could never own a car without deep cleaning it and doing as much preventative maintenance as possible. on the subject, I've heard a lot about the comfort module being damaged by water ingress into the passenger footwell, something about the trim around the battery not being replaced properly. Could anyone clarify where the drain holes at the scuttle are and what to watch out for?

[tommyboy40]

Not a huge amount done today, I did compound the wooden trim by hand but it's difficult to photograph. I did however, run some autosol over the exhaust tips. There's a little tar on them but I'll get to that when I de tar the whole car before mopping

[tommyboy40]

 Maybe this is well known by all already but I found this site to find Audi part numbers

https://audi.7zap.com/en/rdw/

 

[Steve Q]

24 minutes ago, tommyboy40 said:

The clutch is being done as part of the sale so it's not costing me anything. My last car had 16 spark plugs and cost almost a grand for a set of tyres and €1400 for a shock so this should be considerably cheaper. It has had the timing belt and water pump done in January. I also could never own a car without deep cleaning it and doing as much preventative maintenance as possible. on the subject, I've heard a lot about the comfort module being damaged by water ingress into the passenger footwell, something about the trim around the battery not being replaced properly. Could anyone clarify where the drain holes at the scuttle are and what to watch out for?

Drain holes are under the battery. I've had this on my a6 as well as the pollen filter housing cracking. Both causing water into the footwells. Needless to say a new ccm is on my list of jobs. 

[tommyboy40]

48 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

Drain holes are under the battery. I've had this on my a6 as well as the pollen filter housing cracking. Both causing water into the footwells. Needless to say a new ccm is on my list of jobs. 

Cheers Steve. So battery needs to come out to check drains. How accessible is the pollen filter? I'd rather not have to replace the ccm module and would like to do all I can to prevent leaks. 

[Steve Q]

Pollen filter and it's housing are passenger side under the glovebox running to the bulkhead I believe

[tommyboy40]

Top has had a decent drenching with Gtechniq I1. It does stink a bit but shouldn’t need to be touched again until next summer. I’ll have it folded when I’m mopping the bodywork to avoid any splatter

Edited September 4, 2021 by tommyboy40
Double inage

[tommyboy40]

I know that this may not be to everyone’s taste, but I like it

[Steve Q]

I'm a wood man myself, but can understand why you'd want to change. Looks great 👍 

[tommyboy40]

1 hour ago, Steve Q said:

I'm a wood man myself, but can understand why you'd want to change. Looks great 👍 

We’ll the wood is actually going in! The order of the pics is wrong. I think that the wood transforms the interior 

[Steve Q]

34 minutes ago, tommyboy40 said:

We’ll the wood is actually going in! The order of the pics is wrong. I think that the wood transforms the interior 

Ah my apologies. In that case nice one! ☺️

[tommyboy40]

Well the wrong clutch has arrived again so my plans for today were stumped a bit. I did however, pull the wheels off and give them a polish and seal

The tools needed are simple: A polishing cone on a drill and some polish. The wheel was obviously cleaned first and then polished. After polishing, the wheel was cleaned with IPA and then a coating of Gtechniq C5 applied. Here's a before and after shot, the after is on the left side.

It's my first time using C5 and I must say that it's so simple to apply. Here's a couple of random pics of the results

Edited September 8, 2021 by tommyboy40
Random mistake

[Steve Q]

Great job 👍 my wheels could do with a refurb to be honest. 

[tommyboy40]

12 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

Great job 👍 my wheels could do with a refurb to be honest. 

These also have a couple of scuffs but I always reckon that if they’re shiny enough, no one will notice. Although the car is still on the garage lift, I’m hoping to start claying it tomorrow. 

[tommyboy40]

I did have my first Audi shock. If you remember I was looking for the small black piece of trim missing from underneath the front bumper. I would have expected about €25 but it’s €56. I’m determined to source one so if anyone knows any A4’s being broken, please let me know

[Steve Q]

1 hour ago, tommyboy40 said:

I did have my first Audi shock. If you remember I was looking for the small black piece of trim missing from underneath the front bumper. I would have expected about €25 but it’s €56. I’m determined to source one so if anyone knows any A4’s being broken, please let me know

My advice would be to look at eBay but either Germany or UK or elsewhere. 

[tommyboy40]

It’ll have to be eBay Germany. We can’t buy anything from the Uk without paying custom duties, it’s the same as buying from the US

[tommyboy40]

it always amazes me how people are willing to pay more than dealer prices for stuff. Here's the trim for sale on eBay. Someone wants €20 above dealer price

 

[Steve Q]

15 hours ago, tommyboy40 said:

it always amazes me how people are willing to pay more than dealer prices for stuff. Here's the trim for sale on ebay. Someone wants €20 above dealer price

 

That's crazy

[tommyboy40]

Still no clutch but some progress on the interior. If anyone is looking for aluminium trim fro a cabriolet, let me know