Schaefft's (transatlantic) Bargain Barge Extravaganza - Double the Trouble!

[hairnet]

2 auroras doh :)

 

[Schaefft]

56 minutes ago, hairnet said:

2 auroras doh

 

Yeah, the purchase of the second one was well documented here. No progress there yet as far as I know due to Corona. The funny thing is, if I had the first one I bought 3 years ago here at the house it might be up and running by now.

[RobT]

Love the Senator update.  One of my favourite cars on here.

[Schaefft]

Once again it is later. I'm still trying to catch up on all the few little jobs I've been doing over the last couple of weeks, this time there are some quick E39 updates.

So About 3 (jesus, its been long) years ago I took the 528i on a trip through Wales. A friend of mine coming over all the way from France was so nice to bring me a few parts for the Safrane I owned back then. Now Wales had fantastic roads and we really enjoyed our time there but not all of them were as even as we might have expected at first, some of them were closer to actual rollercoasters than anything else. Combine that with a set of heavy Safrane brake calipers in the boot and a crest taken too quickly and bam, your spare wheel tie down (which also supports the cargo floor) rips straight out of your boot floor.

3 years on and I thought it would be time to fix this issue as the thing has been dangling around underneath my car for far too long. I've found some JB-Weld in my kitchen cabinet that I must have bought for this job before so I was ready to go.

You can see where the boot floor has gotten rusty and couldn't support the weight of the cargo anymore.

First thing to do was once again removing all lose rust and crap and cleaning the area.

Im still surprised how much you can improve things by just doing that. Completely rotten metal can still be quite solid after all.  A Dremel and a few Chinese wire wheels later:

Some Kurust to convert whatever corrosion might have been left. I decided to not add any primer at this stage as I cannot imagine it helping with bonding the pieces together.

Time to mix some goop. JB-Weld was fairly easy to use and spread, an old butter knife was perfect for this. I made sure to use it generously so it wouldn't move anytime soon again.

I've used the chance to clean up a few minor surface rust areas around the boot, the battery tray needed a little love for sure. Please note the professional masking techniques from the Senator making a return.

Before:

After:

Goop all nicely dried and very solid. Primer on everything, this should last for a very long time. The underside of the car received primer and underbody sealant.

Naturally I was bored enough to polish the battery tie down.

Thats a little better. Probably wont stay like that for too long but ?‍♂️

All back together. Jobs a goodun and will last for years to come! I still need to find a little cap thats holding the wheel down, making sure that any load is support on the wheel itself but that'll be for another day.

I'm currently fixing some cracks in a sport rear bumper I've had lying around for this car for years. Its the first time I'm doing any bodywork repairs on a plastic bumper so we'll see how that goes.

In other news, I was finally able to order a new key for the S-Class that has been in my drive since the beginning of the lockdown, with the keys locked inside.  Being a secondary key without remote it was surprisingly cheap at around 22 quid, and they even come to your house to make sure it fits (and check the VIN matches the one in your V5...). That means there will be progress on the Mercedes somewhat soon, and I can do a few other things on the BMW and the new car as I can park them in the drive. Stay tuned!

[spike60]

Where's the key from at £22? I bought one one for my C126 last year which was £38 IIRC from MB Stockton, at the same time I bought one for the S211 which made me grunt a bit! 

[Schaefft]

10 hours ago, spike60 said:

Where's the key from at £22? I bought one one for my C126 last year which was £38 IIRC from MB Stockton, at the same time I bought one for the S211 which made me grunt a bit! 

Mercedes Benz of Newcastle, its officially called a secondary key so I'd assume its more than just a blade you are getting. It opens all doors and the boot, exactly what I wanted. I think we were all a bit surprised how cheap it was, the price with VAT was 27 quid though iirc.

[Schaefft]

The key for the Merc still hasn't arrive but there's other good news! Its new car reveal time!

Yes, it may be lockdown but that doesn't stop me from buying more cars I've been wanting for a long time, but have absolutely no need for. So naturally I had to jump on the opportunity when another bargain* popped up on Ebay, a car I wanted since I've sold my last one over 2 years ago. And lo and behold, its another V8 landyard.

So what we got here is a 2002 Audi S8 in a beautiful shade of Ming Blue, extremely well equipped and of course in need of recommissioning. WCPGW? Apparently the previous previous owner left the car at a garage where he purchased a new Golf. He then, erm, died and the car stood there for 4 years before the person who I purchased it from picked it up for 2 grand, threw new brakes on it, lost the keys and quickly dumped it on Ebay (shitty photos and all) after his wife got annoyed by it. As usual, I ignored all risks, contacted the seller, convinced him to end the auction early and bought the car sight unseen for a very, very reasonable price. Collection from Scotland was arranged a few days later and the car arrived in the evening.

All this happened a month ago, I've spent the last 5 weeks investigating what might keep it from starting. In the end all it needed was a properly charged battery, a few sips of petrol, a coded key and a relay. Total investment so far: about 70 quid. I am about to pick up a bunch of parts from a local A8 specialist breaker soon to make sure its cosmetically as pretty as it can be, mechanical repairs will follow.

But lets have a closer look:

Overall, the exterior of the car is in very good condition. The clearcoat on the front wings and bootlid has suffered from a very odd reaction I can't recall having ever seen before. I will save myself any paint related work and have sourced a replacement wing and bootlid in the correct color for 100 quid, I will sell the old panels which are otherwise in good condition to recoup some of my expenses. The bonnet was replaced by the previous owner. The S8 18 inch Avus alloys have some slight clearcoat flaking and the passenger side headlight trim is lose, but apart from that it is very presentable.

The leather/alcantara interior is in absolutely lovely condition. Naturally the car came with a bunch of trash and some interesting goodies:

These goodies included several packs of paper tissues and toilet fresheners. Now I dont wanna know what exactly happened in this car previously, but none of this eases my mind. On a serious note, the car most likely suffered from a water leak caused by blocked sunroof and wiper cowl drains. As we had incredibly nice weather over the last few weeks, I couldn't confirm whether the issues persisted but it was pretty clear that this was the case while it was parked up.

Being a very late S8, the dealership threw every option they had on this particular car, which included an Alcantara headliner, electric rear and manual side sun shades and as the headphones indicate, even a dealer installed rear seat entertainment system:

Yes, nothing says luxury like a brick sized LCD monitor hanging down the ceiling of your high performance luxury sedan. Xzibit would be proud. But wait, there is more!

What do my eyes spy hidden away behind the center arm rest?

Fuck yes, they are controllers for a Playstation One!! I absolutely love the fact that Audi would supply you with a rear entertainment system that includes one of these. Now I can turn laps on the racetrack while turning laps in Gran Turismo 2!

Oh yeah, there's a 360HP 40 Valve V8 as well.

Now that the car is running and I've had the chance to drive around the estate a few times, I have to say that I really might have made one of the best deals yet. There are no strange noises from the drivetrain, I cant hear a single knock coming from the suspension and while some codes indicate that it might need new O2 sensors and a few other bits here and there, theres not a single indication that there might be a problem with the notorious 5-speed tiptronic. I took a gamble but I think this might be another keeper. S8s like this are slowly rising in value now. Some might remember that I have owned a 2002 Final Edition S8 before. That car was in much rougher condition, only cost me 100 quid less and was sold within a day or two for a healthy profit (went to Germany where its receiving a total restoration and LHD conversion). I've been missing it since I sold it back in 2017 and I really think that I have finally found a worthy replacement now. Lets see how things go with this one then!

 

[Dave_Q]

Month after month, year after year, this thread continues to deliver on it's title.

Love that S8, the factory fit PSone is amazeballs.

[sdkrc]

Fuck. Same colour as my old one and everything. That was the most special car I've ever owned. Everything about it felt right until I had to pay to get the cambelt changed and it developed a misfire...and then the sunroof locked up and started to leak....

Much prefer these avus alloys to the final edition ones. 

I'm very jealous. Very, very jealous.

[hairnet]

2.8 alloys and badges ftw

you seem to know how to fettle these - lucky man

 

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, Dave_Q said:

Month after month, year after year, this thread continues to deliver on it's title.

Love that S8, the factory fit PSone is amazeballs.

Just doing my shiter duty!

1 hour ago, sdkrc said:

Fuck. Same colour as my old one and everything. That was the most special car I've ever owned. Everything about it felt right until I had to pay to get the cambelt changed and it developed a misfire...and then the sunroof locked up and started to leak....

Much prefer these avus alloys to the final edition ones. 

I'm very jealous. Very, very jealous.

While I think silver suits the A8/S8 well I'm glad I found one that had a darker color and a tan interior, its just a color combo that works for me. I have no history with the car apart from what I was told. Its seems generally well taken care of (until it was parked up for some reason) so theres a chance the cambelt was done, I do expect it'll need a change eventually though. And yeah, I was surprised when I found out those 20 inch wheels were OEM, the 18 inches are a little more classy on a car that had understatement  written all over it.

17 minutes ago, hairnet said:

2.8 alloys and badges ftw

you seem to know how to fettle these - lucky man

 

Haha, no plans for a sleeper here. A friend of mine has specialized on all kinds of coding for VAG cars so he was able to use the key that came with the car and make it work for 50 quid. I've still had my vagcom CD and cable from the last S8, that makes a huge difference. Other than that its no different to any other 90s car.

[Bren]

Looks lovely. I was looking at Audi S4's before I bought my 545 - too many tales of woe regarding timing chains completely put me off.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

This is mega, 20/10. I expect playstations to be fitted in Project Kahn Ranger rovers and barried-up escort vans, not these classy motors. What a great find!!!!

Would also love to know more about anyone who is up for converting one of these from RHD to LHD, they sound hardcore

[cort16]

Great purchase I love these cars.  From a time big german saloon had elegant simple designs.

Are those gearshifters on the wheel?

[Schaefft]

11 hours ago, Bren said:

Looks lovely. I was looking at Audi S4's before I bought my 545 - too many tales of woe regarding timing chains completely put me off.

Yeah, those B6 S4s seem to be hell to work on. I dont want to claim that this S8 is significantly better but at least the timing belt isnt on the backside of the engine...

1 hour ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

This is mega, 20/10. I expect playstations to be fitted in Project Kahn Ranger rovers and barried-up escort vans, not these classy motors. What a great find!!!!

Would also love to know more about anyone who is up for converting one of these from RHD to LHD, they sound hardcore

The person who bought it is just an S8 fanatic, he realized that these Final Edition cars were a version that only got sold in the UK (although there wasnt any performance increase), I guess the car needed enough work to justify ripping it apart entirely and converting it to LHD in the process. He works for Audi so that might help a little.

13 minutes ago, cort16 said:

Great purchase I love these cars.  From a time big german saloon had elegant simple designs.

Are those gearshifters on the wheel?

They are! Im not sure why you would prioritize putting them on the steeringwheel over say radio controls, as those would be more useful but thats what Audi did back then.

[paulplom]

Lovely motor. I've always wanted one. I nearly swapped one for an mx-5 a few years ago but I couldn't insure it reasonably.

[RoadworkUK]

This is mega, 20/10. I expect playstations to be fitted in Project Kahn Ranger rovers and barried-up escort vans, not these classy motors. What a great find!!!!

In a previous life the dealer I flogged Mercs at took a Bentley Arnarge in with what was tidy enough to be a factory PS2 install. As in wiring neatly finessed in rather than scotchlocked up and bound with leccy tape...

[sdkrc]

I've just posted this in the eBay that thread

 Would make an excellent pair of S8s

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164230456053

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, sdkrc said:

I've just posted this in the eBay that thread

 Would make an excellent pair of S8s

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164230456053

I've seen this one yesterday and was urged by others to buy it. Im literally surrounding by enablers? If someone is seriously considering an S8 right now, this seems to be an absolutely gorgeous example, I love the color!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That is glorious innit. What a beauty.

[GeordieInExile]

Please bring this to the next NE meet. Please.

 

Then take us on drives while we play Gran Turismo.

[Schaefft]

On 6/5/2020 at 10:02 PM, GeordieInExile said:

Please bring this to the next NE meet. Please.

 

Then take us on drives while we play Gran Turismo.

I'll definitely try to!

So I've finally managed to get my radio working as the unit was locked after disconnecting the battery. The procedure involves entering a four digit code, unfortunately it was not to be found in the car or the manual, and Audi would only hand it over after scheduling a service. So on Ebay I went and bought a shiny new code for just 5 quid.

To get there I first had to buy a set of radio removal tools as the ones I had didnt work on this model.

Once out you would find a serial number that was needed to get the code through my questionable Ebay source, which only took about 10 minutes in the end.

I would then have to wait exactly 1 entire hour with the ignition in the ON position before the radio would let me enter the code. And so I did, entered the code and was greeted with exactly the radio station your ideal previous S8 owner would listen to:

Now I was naturally curious whether the TV function would still work. Unfortunately that wasn't the case (it just shows a black screen), I did however have a go at the Audi's year 2002 SatNav function and it was as horrible as I expected it to be:

It took half a minute to render this screen, and would do so every time you zoom in or out... Also all addresses Ive entered, which were available in the directory, were greeted with a "the address you've entered is not in a digitized street" or something. I think I'll stick to my phone for a little longer...

This also gave me the chance to see which area of the country was the car's previous home as plenty of old destinations were still in the memory. Turns out it must have been in Scotland for quite a while as all of the addresses were! I bought it near Dumfries so it hasn't really left the area until recently.

I was wondering if there was anything that might have been left in the CD changer so I checked and:

Score! Lets see if we can find out more about the previous owner by evaluating his taste in music:

Uhm... The I love Dad compilation definitely is as bad as it sounds. How the Dubstep mixes match with any of the other things I have found in the car I'm not sure, but I guess I now know that I got some real value for my money there with these being included?‍♂️

I'm hopefully able to pick up a replacement bootlid and front wing tomorrow which should sort out some of the worst paint issues. There are a bunch of other things arriving soon which should sort some of the more obvious cosmetic issues. The next steps will be giving the car a full service, cleaning it properly and then see if theres anything else left before I can book it in for an MOT.

[Dave_Q]

Digital switch over I guess for the TV, can you get some sort of adaptor?

When I last had an Audi I was looking at this sort of thing, looks nearly OEM although it looks like the later version (RNS-E?)

https://xtrons.co.uk/audi-seat-various-android-9-0-octa-core-4gb-ram-64gb-rom-ib79aa4rp

[hairnet]

how much for the eurythmics cd

 

[hairnet]

tv

theres always a nerd somewhere (right @cms206 )

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/147393-How-to-convert-from-analogue-to-digital-tv

[Schaefft]

On 6/9/2020 at 7:22 PM, hairnet said:

how much for the eurythmics cd

 

1£ plus postage and its yours?

And thanks guys, Im really not sure if I'm too bothered by the oldness of it. I think getting an OEM looking android unit in there would be the easiest way to get things more up to date but I might not even drive the car often enough to make it worth it. I guess I'll just wait and see, good to see people already looked into solutions to get that TV going though!

A small update: I now have a replacement bootlid and wing with paint that is in much better shape. I paid 60 quid for the two panels as they had a few scratches that hopefully polish out, these alone should massively elevate the appearance of the car again. I wont even have to glue my S8 badge back on, how pactical! I was surprised by their lightness, being aluminium that wing weights pretty much nothing.

 

[Dave_Q]

I should stay away from this thread really, I'm well moist for these old barges and they are often on eBay for tempting prices.

Can you get them on classic insurance yet? I don't really drive anywhere at the minute for fuel costs to be an issue but a hundred quid or 2 for classic insurance vs many thousand for real car insurance would be the deal breaker.

[Schaefft]

41 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

I should stay away from this thread really, I'm well moist for these old barges and they are often on eBay for tempting prices.

Can you get them on classic insurance yet? I don't really drive anywhere at the minute for fuel costs to be an issue but a hundred quid or 2 for classic insurance vs many thousand for real car insurance would be the deal breaker.

You might be able to, Im fairly sure I cant as I cant even get quotes for my '92 S-Class, which sucks as most of these cars would be dirt cheap to insure. Might be because of my German drivers license, who knows. I'll have to check again when the time for an MOT comes closer.

[dome]

On 6/4/2020 at 12:42 PM, Schaefft said:

Yeah, those B6 S4s seem to be hell to work on.

 

I'm sure i don't know what you're talking about?

What this? Nothing to see here, just an oil change. Cough ?

That S8 is gorgeous. You truly are the king of barges. I dare say the days of a sub £1k Audi A8/S8 are long gone. Shame, but I'm kinda glad their time has come(he says through gritted teeth)

 

 

[Schaefft]

A little more progress on the S8. I've noticed with the recent rain that the passenger side foot well got a bit wet, something I knew was an issue on this car before and is generally a thing in A8s (and probably most other Audis of this era) due to blocked rain water scuttle/sunroof drains. I initially thought that something might be wrong with the sunroof drain on that side as the water was running down the side of the body, as if it was coming from the A-pillar trim. Well, all the drains were fine, I've checked every single one of them.

What was the problem however is a facepalm moment where you really need to wonder how a manufacturer as reputable as Audi could get away with such a dumb mistake in the first place. Turns out the body of the A8 has a hole located just underneath the windshield, an area that is constantly exposed to water whenever it rains. The hole is normally covered by a piece of tape (German engineering right there) which obviously wont last much longer than until the first rainfall, from which point on water can freely poor inside the vehicle's cabin and start to collect at the bottom of the floor. Now the hole is so well known in the A8 community that it was named after the user who must have identified it first, "Botang's hole". Uhm...

It didnt take long to find it, however not before I tried to take the entire ECU/Transmission control module box apart that was sitting right next to it...

There it is, there was still some tape loosely in place but a bit of screwdriver action got it out of there with ease.

Now as you can see below, accessibility wasn't great at all. Fortunately I just happened to have a can of silicone sealer for a DIY job around today, so off I went and sealed the shit of that hole. I totally forgot to take a photo of the aftermath but it was a mess...

Before calling it a day I've also checked the AC condenser/scuttle drains which were hiding behind some interior trim, as most of the disassembly work had been done before:

In the process of doing so, I've found this:

Its a nectar card from one of the previous owners! I'll be rich! Or not as its already gone into the bin.

The rubbery orange pipe basically directs the water underneath the car into the transmission tunnel. Apparently they like to clog up, I wonder why... Mine were fine, I cleaned them out anyway and stuck them back into the floor and connected them with the drain pipe coming from above.

I'm not sure what this connector was for but it was sitting in a pool of water that was collecting in the foam pad of the floor. Should you consider owning one of these cars, make sure to check your drains! Fortunately it wasn't completely corroded yet, bit of contact cleaner was enough.

I slapped it all together and sorted out the lose b-pillar trim on the driver side before I called it a day. For some reason the buttons of the trunk release and interior alarm deactivation are know to come lose. I've bought two of them for 15ish quid on Ebay (previous price I got somewhere else was 40...) and stuck them back in, the little vent was still in the glove box and popped right in. Unfortunately the screw that properly attached the pillar trim is just spinning in its thread so I couldnt glue the attachment point back together (otherwise Id have to break it again the next time it need to come out) but it was all firmly held together without it.

Before and after. No clue what the previous owner attempted to do there, he certainly didnt succeed.

Bonus fancy aluminium piece that is completely out of sight with all the trim in place...

Thats it for now. I've ordered a few other small bits that are still on their way. I can't do much more than small jobs at this point as the Mercedes is still blocking the drive, I cannot wait to rip off those body panels and replace them with the new ones, and give the car a proper clean, it would make a huge difference to the car's appearance. I think a proper service will be next on the list, the car really does need it, too.