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Audi A1 by mgpdoc ••

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
Had some snow time

Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

And then

I washed it like i should

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Here is where i first collected my car from

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At last received my OSIR floormats mounting aluminum clips - as the ones i made didnt clip to my standards.

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So befores.

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Afters

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Also did a service on these, although the factory doesnt require service every 7500km. However, I do.

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Also cleaned and re-oiled my air filter.

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On another note here is a teaser of the steering wheel which is getting ready any day now . . .

Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Cheers

Mike, @mgpdoc over on instagram
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
I don't know where to begin from.

Let's see. Let's start with activating the OEM parking sensor radar which was a thing i hadnt ticked off the list

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The settings part, and then the visual presentation

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Then, if you recall, i had purchased a new OEM interior mirror, equipped with both the auto-blur/dark as well as high beam assist function, which for those who dont know what it is, you just turn your high beam on, and when it sees a car coming from the opposite direction it turns them off automatically and when you pass that vehicle, turms the high beam back on. Very very usefull feature for me.

So, this is the mirror and wiring

DSC_0041 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

DSC_0044 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Removing the old mirror

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Watch as you rotate, to not break the glass

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

New mirror and the wiring, to the canbus along with coding went on

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Then, knowing me, i couldnt leave the led being green, and the other one being red when lights went on, so i knew i had to open it, and change the leds. I was very careful cause it is very hard to open, and very easy to scratch. Taped it, and used these tools, as well as old credit cards.

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Handle with care

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Now we are talking

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And here is the indication it is working as it should

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Cheers more to follow
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
Next part, some changes made both to the interior's light colour, as well as the appearence. The changes were

1 -Defi BF meter needles converted to white

Before

DSC_0949 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

During

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Testing it and looking great

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

2 -Audi Q3 needles retrofit converted to white

Audi A1 needles removed

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Audi Q3 needls converted to white

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All done

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Then . . . .


3 -Custom gauge cluster faces, with different colours, and different font

This is where the inspiration began

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Red option tacho

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Speedometer in Grey colour

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Yellow option tacho

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Let's begin disassembling

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

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During

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Red all done

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The Red option as seen at night

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Yellow all done

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Yellow as seen at night

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Kept this for now, although i cant decide, i really like them both so much

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

(steering wheel is missing, i will explain why in a post later on.....)

Cheers, more to follow
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
Then, it was time to give my leather seats a quick clean

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Amazing brush from Meg's

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Looking fresh

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Then, it was time to remove my winter wheels' setup

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Time for the summer setup

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However i had not summer tires, as i moved my Yoko Paradas to my Golf.
So I had to buy some new ones for the A1. I went for Michelin Pilot Supersports in 225.40.18 . The reviews were great. Let's see

Meaty with a touch of stretch

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Touched the ground

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Lets see some finished pics of the fitment, but . . .

first i had to wash, dry and seal the winter setup, as you can imagine

Really dirty and tired

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

After a quick rinse

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Snow foaming the inside

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Dirt came of easier than expected due to the wax i had applied the previous season

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Then the faces

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Came out perfect

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

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I love how it sits

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Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

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Best grocery getter

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Cheers guys
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
To who ever may help me on this issue i am having for the past 6 months. That is half a year.

-I found, a guy on instagram, named kcarbon, aka, Michael Ratcliffe, who was doing cf skinning parts.
After talking with him on some ideas, we agreed on doing parts for my Audi A1. First one, was the steering wheel i had retrofitted from an Audi TTs (8S), that we agreed i would ship to him in order to do the following.

-Cf top and bottom
-Alcantara sides with red stitching
-Alcantara retrim of the already trimmed airbag
-Cf airbag cover
-Paint the airbag ring in gloss black.

All these were agreed for a certain price, so i sent my steering wheel to Stockport, Cheshire where he is located.
He received the complete package. Then, I put the first payment through paypal so that he can start working on it. We are now at 16 November 2018.
He supposedly started working on it, and then on 21 of January 2019 he claimed the things were about to be ready, so asked for the second payment so as to complete. Again, no questions asked, i sent the payment again via paypal.

So my payment was complete on January 2019.

He sent me some pics of half-assed job on the steering whereas the other items were not done, and he said on the emails they are ready and i cannot see clearly. Whereas items were NOT touched. After enormous amounts of lies, on April, about 5 months later, i decide that i cannot take up any more lying, which included from hospital health issues, to family problems, to photos of the items that a guy with a dslr has, i file claims through paypal for my payments.

When payment number 1 is issued back to me, he then remembers to do the items, to a very bad level of craftmanship, and demands money back in order to ship them. I have the second claim on paypal pending. After months of lying, i simply cannot send money again to this guy.
There is a huge wave against him on instagram, from guys cheated and victims, known guys in the uk scene, with Audi R8s, Audi TTs, many many guys not having their parts and their money. I asked that he sent me the items ready, and a paypal invoice, but he simply wont go for it.
So he is threatening me that he has my steering wheel, which you know how much it costs.

I will probably get the full refund i paid for the service, but what i am asking from the UK car community is some help with this situation, someone living nearby, or being able to help in any way. It is very sad for us car enthusiasts to be scammed like that.

I have talked with my country's police, with eu consumer services, and Uk Action Fraud and have filed reports.

Please guys, if anyone can be of any help, please let me know. I appreciate it.

Cheers

Mike
 

drval85

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NJ
Thats terrible. I wish you luck in getting your wheel back. Some people are just bad people. What a shame. Makes the whole community more untrusting and negative.
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
So I had some changes to the car's badging just to freshen things up a bit and customize the look even more.

First inspiration was given by my other car, the blue Audi. It had this badging upfront on the RS4 Oem grille which i customized

Untitled by mgpdoc, on Flickr

So i thought i would keep the them on my little daily driver Audi as well given the grille was a bit naked.

Purchased a generic RS4 badge from ebay and threw away the lettering.
Left up with this which i would modify

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Painted the studs in black

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And trimmed the back plate to meet my grille openings

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Final Result was this.

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Which I like very much

Excuse the dirty car

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Then, I took inspiration from the new Audi A1 2018, which has from factory gloss black logos at the trunk , and also the new Audi badging for their models. Which is a little weird and hard to understand. So i looked further into it, and 40 TDI, means, 165 to 198hp, and ofcourse TDI engine.
I liked the idea that this car didnt have this badging back then, and also that gloss black would not pop out on the gloss black trunk that I have at that specific area. What is more, it was gloss black from factory, which as we all know, doesnt look cheap, or chipped away like most of the time painted chrome does on these things even with a good prep. Downside was their price, which was out of this world. Guess they have hidden gold flakes in that paint, i dont know. At least I hope they do.

Then, having debadged my car the first day i got it, like i always do, i didnt have measurement of where the badges go, which can drive me crazy if they are not where they should. So i asked the dealership body shop to give me some templates to use just to glue the new ones on. As expected they didnt have any, and told me they measured out of another car each time they would put badges on . I was like wtf. So i decided to make my own templates from a friend's Audi A1.

First i had to remove this

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Started like this, with markings on standard places like the tailight

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Went to this and wanted to make some removable and re-usable

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There

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Now i would transfer it onto here and cut where the logo is

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Like this

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All done passenger side

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Driver Side

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Done

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Both done

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Passenger side, transferred and tape as a guide

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Installed

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Sit back and enjoy

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Exactly the look i was going after

Driver side next

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All done

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Barely visible, like debadged even, yet it is there. Very subtle.

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Cheers guys I hope you liked this as well

Regards

Mike
 

bertha

New member
Location
mexico city
Nice car!love the car
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
So something that i had been wanting to do for a very long time, but never went for it, simply because i hadnt found a company i could trust, due to safety issues, is the following task.

I will let pics do the talking.

How I received them.

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Amazing quality, they sent me my old web back as well all intact.

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Guess some shops in UK live up to their names, and their nation's honesty rather than being a fraud. Amazing quality, and what is more, they sent it, and requested money to be paid not later than 30 days after receiving the items. I mean, who does that. Amazing service.

Lost no time and started installing them, after having used the car for about a week or so with the racing scroth harnesses.

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Mounted the seatbelt correctly this time, through the seat, like this

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

All done

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

And this is how they look in the Golf, in the colour i chose for that interior.

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Cheers guys, I hope you like them as well

Regards

Mike
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
So, after more than half a year, but less than a whole year, which i guess is a win, having dealt with this guy, i managed to get my steering wheel back.
And by managed, I mean, accomplished it via, claims, refunds, police and eu consumer protection involvement, as well as friends from the car community that stood up and went there in person to collect items and only then give cash in hand.

Even then, quality of work was very poor, as expected, no surprises. So things needed to be redone, as all photos the "seller" sent me, were from meters away from the item so as not to see the imperfections. What is more there were no pics of the rear side, or side photos. I mean, if you cannot see it, it's not there, is it?

Currently i am happy enough to use the steering wheel , but it will be modified again in the future, when i retrim the alcantara which will be redone due to wear either way sooner or later. Some pics for now.

Cheers to all and thanks for the help some of you offered to give.
I hope noone has to deal with guys like these, and car community gives them what they deserve. That is, zero money, and zero tolerance on fake excuses.

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

June 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Cheers

Mike
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
So i have some more, major and sadly not cheap updates i have to show you.
Let me start with the more simple and straight forward ones.

First, the MMI surround. A fellow A1 member, Wilmer, pointed out that i can change the surround with the newer HD, piano black one. So, yeah u guessed it, I ordered it immediately, I had no idea this could be changed.

Removed my MMI surround

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

new one arrived from Germany

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Mine, VS the HD one

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Installed

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Looks great, very happy with it.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Then, another little touch, was the light switch. Wilmer, pointed out, that on the TT mk2 (8J) the light switch can also have piano black material. So onto finding one. Even better though, he sourced one for me. Awesome guy. So, onto pics.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Removed mine

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

One next to the other

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

However, if you recall, i have changed all my interior lighting to white. So this new switch, could not be let having red light.
So, yes, swapping the boards was next.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

I love these little jobs. Take your time, and a good cold beer.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Seems like we did something right

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

All done.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Cheers

More on the drivetrain changes, in the next post.

Let me throw some pics of how the car was at that point

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Cheers, hope you enjoyed this as well

Mike
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
So time to throw some money into maintenance.

Despite the 60k kms, the brake feel wasnt what i wanted.

So car went up in the air for some changes.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

New stuff

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Nothing crazy, just regular quality stuff for new discs and pads

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Old ones seemed tired, however there was much life left in them. Either way they were thrown away, pads and discs.

Old ones

Fronts

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr


Rears

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

New Fronts

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

New rears

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

And I also machined these on the lathe, because they would rub against the top mount chassis and i thought they stressed the system while cornering.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Installed in place

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

More on that later, on the next post.

Cheers

Mike
 

mgpdoc

Ready to race!
Location
Greece
So, i had some issues with noises and crack sounds while cornering, even standing still. The sounds werent nice and were becoming worse. uppon inspection we found out the top mount front suspension bearings were cracking. We changed them, issues was fixed for a while, and then again the same, and after removing bearings, they were again, you guessed it, cracked.

Here is how they looked each time.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

New ones each time

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

After having changed almost every single part with new, we also changed these. Which were forgotten stock.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

However, no, it was still a no.
Then the shop suggested that my suspension shocks had way too much play in them, and decided that this was the fault. Indeed there was play that shouldnt be there.
I could remove the suspension and ship to our authorised dealer here in Greece, Jamsport that not only rebuilts Bilstein suspension, but also, custom manufactures ones from scratch to your specifications, and has done in the past my suspension both in the Golf, and in my Audi A4. However this being my daily, i thought I would order two new front ones, and rebuilt my old ones.

However, Bilstein Germany, asks for your two front suspension components, more money than for the whole lot, on all four corners. Or that's what the shop told me anyway.
Long story short, i ordered my suspension again, new from factory. It was a revision compared to my old one, that had roughly 55k kms, about 35k miles. And then, i would decide if i want to sell my old suspension or rebuilt it , to possibly different specs.

Here comes the new suspension.

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Out with the "old:

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Suspension was very very soft, you could push it all in by hand very easily.

In with the new

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Ready for touch down

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Then, I cleaned the old suspension, and packed it nicely to send it very soon to the dealer to have it all refurbished and done to my specs.

It didnt come out too bad after some tlc - before andd after pics of them

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Needless to say, all problems were fixed :)

Now time to work on my Golf which is making complaints

July 2019 by mgpdoc, on Flickr

Cheers
 
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