Been around AZ for awhile now since i had my '98 3.0CL


After 2 transmissions and a lot fo aggrivation, i decided it was time to let it go. I picked up a '98 BMW M Roadster and a '96 BMW 328i Sport to replace the Acura

Roadster before:


Roadster and 328i after:




Well after seeing how poorly the 328i handled in the Buffalo winter, i decided that i needed a better DD. And since i want to keep the roadster as nice as i can (it only has 20k on it now), i don't want to drive that all the time in the summer. So i decided to look for a nice AWD alternative that is nice enough looking to drive year round.

Enter a 2001 Audi s4 2.7TT with 38000 miles.

How she looked when i got her:









Since it was going to be a year round car, i decided to get a ncie set of Nokian winter tires on the stock 17" Avus rims.








On the car originally were 16" A4 rims i think. They were rubbing on the front calipers. And what i found under the front 2 wheels: :2fingers:






Since it was sitting for awhile until i got get some paint on it and make it all nice, it was time to focus on a few other parts. Next up was the interior. I needed to find a place to mount my Harmon/Kardon Drive 'n Play .. and since they have really no good spots for it i decided to put in in place of one of the vents:





This is going to be semi-temporary. I would like to eventually fiberglass the center vent and make it flush and nice looking. But right now i know nothing about how to do that, so it will stay like this for awhile.


Next since i had the winter tires all figured out, it was time for some summer rubber. Enter 18" TSW Kyalami with some nice Pirelli PZeros









NYS salvage inspection was this past friday so i pulled it out of paint for a few days. Sicne the side moldings were originally ripped off the car, i didnt want to drop $400 on new ones. So instead i decided to weld up the holes and ad a bit of uniquness to the car.

Took her out to get washed a bit before i dropped her off though...
















Currently its back at the shop getting wetsanded and buffed to finish the paint job. The title is going to take 2-3 weeks to get it, so it will sit until then. In the mean time i will be finishing up some cosmetics: Painting the calipers, re-badging, iPod controls, Bluetooth interface, rear window spoiler, a much needed drop, and a re-tint (current tint has bubbles and rips in it).

 

Also in the next year or so (depending on how soon i buy a house) i will be making it s anice stage 2+ (possibly a 3) with some nice K04's and a few RS4 goodies

 

Wow, you've got some great restoration skills

 

nice skills.

 

I love threads like this. Good job, looks great

 

Sweet!

 

wow thats awesome! You work at a repair shop, or do you do all the work in your own garage?

 

noice! good work my friend!

 

so you rebuild wrecked cars and resell it? how much did it cost to rebuild your S4?

 

looks good. so does that m roadster.

 

i rebuild, drive and want new ones :-P

but they are always salvage cars. As for this one i paid $5k, and put about $3k into it. So i would say on the good side of $8500 for it

 

Guys like you are true enthusiasts. Rebuilding/restoring a vehicle takes a lot of time, patience and skill. All of which you have. Congrats. And i may call on you to assist with my RX7 LS1 resto project.

 

congrats!

 

thats not bad at all. you can get two or three cars for the price of one

 

Nice

 

now that sounds like a fun project!

 

nice work

all that resto/repair work scares me, big up to you

 

me too. I find them inspirational but then i realize im broke so that ends real quick

 

Nice restorations! Any chance would you restore an older car like a Supra, 88-91 Prelude, or an older Z?

 

i did an '87 supra turbo a few years ago. but i just flipped that one for the CL. The CL was still the cheapest fix i did, and i had to buy 2 to piece them together. The car that pains me the most still is i had a '70 challenger R/T (plum purple with white convert and white interior) back when i was 15. but being young and not knowing anything about anything yet, i sold it and that person resorted it to beauty (looked like this when he was done ).

 

Nice work!

 

thats my dream... I want to buy some salvage car to rebuild it. I'm sure that you did this for joy not to make money. I give you madd prop for what you done to that s4. That is damn good price for the car...

 

yea, i'm never really in it for money. there are only a few that i did that were not my personal car.

Every one i buy and fix is with the planning of it being my driving car for 6+ months (atleast). Most have averaged out that way, but the acura was a few years, and the roadster/audi are going to stay for awhile.

 

Great work! I too always wanted to be able to restore salvage cars, but the real troubles for me are to finding what is missing and what goes where... Did you use factory service manual as your guide?

 

Nice Griff...what happened to the buick Good luck with S4 and that turbo

 

lol .. the buick is the grandmother's and the lexus is the mothers. none of those had work done though

 

Nice work! I envy your restoration skills.

What was the condition of the internals of the car and what incident declared it a Salvage title car?

 

I have an associate that has been rebuilding salvage vehicles for several years. Griff I know when someone is good at what they do and you are definitely good! Hard to believe you are 25, but then I was 16 when I started working in my Dad's body shop. Great lines; you purchased these vehicles with very little if any frame damage. Please let these guys here know that most rebuildables are a lost cause and will make you hate yourself and the vehicle due to unforeseen problems. Skilled rebuilders can inspect a vehicle in a very short time and determine if it can be rebuilt well, and at a good cost factor. Rookies in this profession pay, although sometimes they can get lucky.

Congrats for your hard work!!!!

 

damn griff, rockin that shit hardcore Good to see you on the boards again.

 

the interior is nearly perfect. only thing i saw wrong were a few burns in the headliner. but i see that going alcantra in a few months anyways.

this car was salvage because it was a theft. the BMWs and the Acura were salvage due to accidents though. they had a very small amount of frame damage and was very easy to pull straight. When i first started this though i used to get bit buy frame damage a lot. what i thought was pullable ended up not so much on a few cars. so you end up with whistling between the doors and body. only 1 car have i sold before fixing b/c it was a mistake to buy.

 

got her on the road with a new pair of shoes

 

looking good

 

I love it without the side trim. Great Idea.

 

yea, its growing on me as well