Project Refurb - After 15years of ownership - Completed and with pictures

mustoes

Member
Well, this story started in August 2005. My wife (then girlfriend) needed a new car and we bought a lightly used (28,798 miles) 1.4Tdi (AMF) 75bhp Sport. It was first registered in April 2003.

It had a minor (no fault!!) front end bump in November 2005 which was all repaired by Audi. Roll on one year to 2006 we got married in the July and then emigrated to Dubai in the November for an intended couple of years. We gave my brother and his then girlfriend (now wife) the A2 to use and ‘look after’ while we were away. One added bonus was that my brother took the A2 to visit Vince at Stealth Racing in January 2009 (with the A2 then showing 66,768 miles) for a remap. The dyno from that day showed a healthy 108bhp and 179 lb ft after the remap.

Our adventure in the Middle East ended up being not 2 years but actually 13 years. We returned to the UK with our 3 children (all born in Dubai) in December 2019. A couple of days after our return, the A2 was (as always planned) back in our name and on our driveway.

Over the 13 years the A2 was always well maintained by my brother, but after 156,000 miles it was showing it’s age cosmetically and a little mechanically. The lacquer on the bonnet and wings was peeling (I suspect a legacy from the repair in 2005.), the 3rd gear Syncro being a little tired, a control arm looking worse for wear, a little lumpy when starting on cold days, Kerbed alloys, a cracked lower front grille, weak boot gas struts and a worn windscreen, wiper arm and wiper. The refurb started at this point and is definitely a labour of love mixed with sentimentality and a pride in keeping cars in a top notch condition, it is definitely not an decision driven by economics ?

Before we arrived back in the UK I had arranged for all 17” alloys to be refurbed at MS Alloy Wheels in Milton Keynes. Not only were they kerbed but it was found that they were also buckled. The wheels were straightened and nicely refinished. The refurbed wheels are still their boxes, awaiting installation when the rest of the car is befitting of removal of the steel wheels and showing off with its alloys. In January the A2 was swiftly off to Mark Tempest in Welwyn Garden City who replaced the control arm, changed the gearbox oil (to see if the shifts improved) and added an earth strap to cure a lazy wiper motor. I also replaced the weak boot gas struts.

With lockdown slowing the plans for the A2, there has been a bit of a pause. However the next stage begins tomorrow. The A2 is back off to Vince at Stealth Racing. It will be there for around 2-3 weeks while it has some open heart surgery to...

  1. Replace oil pump chain, tensioner and all 4 sprockets
  2. 3x new glow plugs
  3. Replace water pump (metal impeller), timing belt and tensioner
  4. Replace alternator belt and tensioner
  5. Full service including fuel filter, oil filter and air filter
  6. New clutch
  7. Gearbox refurbishment
  8. Full Health-check and dyno plot
  9. Bonnet and wings resprayed (By Greg Howell at Southam Bodies)
  10. Car fully mechanically polished (paint correction) to remove swirl marks (By Greg Howell at Southam Bodies)
  11. Headlight polishing (By Greg Howell at Southam Bodies)
Remaining on my to do list is:
  1. A2OC number plate holders - INSTALLED
  2. New number plates - INSTALLED
  3. New headlight switch due to failing soft touch plastics - INSTALLED FROM https://www.lllparts.co.uk/en/
  4. New drivers door electric window switch and surround - INSTALLED FROM https://www.lllparts.co.uk/en/
  5. New lower front grille - INSTALLED FROM https://www.lllparts.co.uk/en/
  6. Key refurbishment - PENDING
  7. New drivers side air vent (broken adjuster) -INSTALLED 2ND HAND REPLACEMENT FROM A2STEVE
  8. New wiper arm (rusted pivots) - INSTALLED REFURBISHED PART FROM DEPRONMAN
  9. Exterior detail - COMPLETED BY https://ocdprodetail.co.uk/
  10. Interior detail - COMPLETED BY https://ocdprodetail.co.uk/
  11. New 17" summer tyres - INSTALLED Hankook S1 EVO K107
  12. Steel wheels refurbed and powder coated black & new winter tyres - PENDING
  13. New windscreen - COMPLETED (Insurance replacement due to large crack in top O/S corner)
  14. New wiper blade - INSTALLED
  15. Heated mirrors - PENDING
  16. Cruise control retrofit (Timmus) - PENDING
  17. Replace existing full DIS with colour DIS. (Timmus) - PENDING
  18. Replace fuel filter drain screw (due to weeping and difficulty starting) - Pending from DEPRONMAN
I’ve added some photos taken just before I started the drive down to Stealth Racing.
 

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That's a great story and I hope your A2 continues to serve your family for years to come after refurbishment.

I can see your order for the number plate holders in the Shop and should be able to despatch them tomorrow.
 
What a find! After having had (my remaining) A2 for 14yrs and having difficulty finding another that is fully loaded (knew I should have bought the one with the 6sp gearbox etc on eBay at £5k about 6 months back I'm now contemplating going the same route and a full refurb. Mine's already had the Stealth re-map by the previous owner so I'm some way there.

PS: Did anyone on here buy that A2 with the 6spd conversion, Stealth re-map, upgraded suspension, RNS-E, multi-fucntion steering wheel etc etc
.? If you want to sell it I'll take it ;)
 
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Interesting story, thanks for sharing.

My situation & recent history has certain similarities to yours: Having spent the last 8 1/2 years in Singapore, a move prompted by my Wife and I taking a hedonistic six month honeymoon travelling around Asia - and having only intended for it to have been a 2 or perhaps 3 years posting originally, with two boys and as of next week, a girl being born here; it will be time for our repatriation later this year.

You sound like you are blessed with fairly sensible close relations when it comes to cars, given your A2 has survived this long in their hands: My wife and I left her beloved Peugeot 106 in the hands of her sister, but sadly neither she Nor her oxygen thief (thankfully now ex) husband ever bothered to lift the bonnet, hence the slightly weepy radiator was left unchecked until one day, not even 8 months after we’d entrusted them with it, she fried the engine and popped the head gasket- then they scrapped the car without letting us know and proceeded to waste 3 grand on an absolute lemon of a used car from a dealer and lost a bucket load of money (far more than the £5-600 getting the 106 fixed would have cost) and heartache on that....

Luckily my BMW CS coupe has spent the time we’ve been away safely stored in my parents’ garage - where it has appreciated in value by a factor of 3! Hence it will provide us with a nice little nest egg when sold later this year.

Nice to hear you’ve decided to give your A2 a new lease of life, I’m sure the work you’ll be doing will give it a nice refresh back to a smart looking car you can rely on.
 
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PS: Did anyone on here buy that A2 with the 6spd conversion, Stealth re-map, upgraded suspension, RNS-E, multi-fucntion steering wheel etc etc
.? If you want to sell it I'll take it ;)
It used to be owned by someone well known to many club members, however when it was sold it was to a new owner outside of the club as far as I know.
 
Before and after deep clean and metal polish to the wheel centres
 

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And here are a few photos following the interior and exterior detail by OCD Pro Detailing.
 

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Looks fantastic doesn’t it. If you need an ASR panel to get rid of the sticky stuff give me a shout.

Hi Steve, well spotted! It’s been like that since 2005! The previous owner must have superglued a phone mount there ??‍♂️

How much for the panel and how easy is it to install?
 
Hi Steve, well spotted! It’s been like that since 2005! The previous owner must have superglued a phone mount there ??‍♂️

How much for the panel and how easy is it to install?

Let me check that the one I have is immaculate otherwise it won’t be worth doing. If it is it will be £5 plus £3.65 postage. Nice easy job to change, about 30 minutes work if you haven’t done it before and I can help you with instructions.
 
Let me check that the one I have is immaculate otherwise it won’t be worth doing. If it is it will be £5 plus £3.65 postage. Nice easy job to change, about 30 minutes work if you haven’t done it before and I can help you with instructions.

that’s a deal then!! Fingers crossed it’s immaculate. Thanks in advance for the instructions.
 

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Its a flexible foam inlay and surprisingly sturdy if its anything like the one that I bought for my first Audi TT mark 2 in 2008. I was still using it on my 3rd Audi TT RS in 2015 when I traded it in and it was perfectly fine - 50 Euros though seems quite a lot for it given the TT one cost just over 20 quid in 2008.
 
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