This is an enthusiast's guide for those who enjoy their 8L A3. Some aspects of the guide may apply to Volkswagen's Mk4 Golf and Bora as well as Audi's Mk1 TT.

My name is Raymond and I frequent a number of forums both local to Australia and global as rayray086. I've created this blog for me, as I'm a bit OCD in keeping all the info I need in one package. As of July 2011, my A3T is my daily driver and it is stock standard. I came out of an 8V Mk3 so there's plenty of power for me from the stock 1.8T. I'm mainly interested in the suspension and aesthetics side of things currently. I'm a part-time student currently and have no mechanical qualifications, just a passion in all things automobile.

I'll eventually use this as an outlet to document my build, so I'll be using the appropriate tags/labels to make them easy to find.

As I add info/articles/blogposts on, I hope you guys who make their way to my blog will find the information helpful! Don't be afraid to comment away either - I like getting feedback and knowing that people are reading this.

07 October, 2011

Airride - Random install pics (exposed setups)

Exposed setups.  The coolest but least functional...

 Leather-matched!

 An exposed setup I wouldn't mind doing.

 Hanging tanks.

 Air lines routed from the rear of the tank.

 Leather straps!

 Raw-finish tank, polished copper hard lines, polished brass fittings, perfection!

 Military-inspired install.  Compressor housed in ammo container, reduced noise levels too.

 Simple hard line install with air line fitting for tools.

 All exposed, virtually no room for anything.

 Vintage suitcase-inspired.  Tank was painted!



 Snap-ons so the enclosure won't move!

 Another cool hard line setup.  I like the gauge but I would place the water traps closer to the tank.

 Symmetrical is nice.

 Good use of space regarding the tank and compressor, too bad about the sub box though.

 Hard line exposed setup with the compressors under the false floor.

 Mmm, polished tank and copper hard lines.  Not sure what that hard line connecting one end of the tank to the other end is supposed to be for.  Perhaps just for looks.

 Hanging tank with stainless hard lines!

 Tank ports on the other side of the tank.  Sleek look.

 Simple exposed hard line install.

 Not so simple exposed hardline install with multiple tanks... note the compressors with mini pod filters.

 Another simple hard line install, this time with a gauge on the side.  Black fittings look pretty cool too.

 Accuair eXo mount install.  Looks like it's all floating.

 Very cool hard line setup though.

 A bit complicated but the extended hard lines allow for the compressed air to condense before reaching the tank so it's filtered out by the water trap.  Great for reliability, but looks too cluttered.


Links:
"Air management pic thread" of VWVortex
"Show me your trunk" thread of VWVortex
"Air ride boot installs thread" of Edition38
AirSociety forums

Airride - Random install pics (frame setups)

I got bored doing all the reading for all the previous articles, so I've checked out many, many build threads and hatch/boot/trunk pic threads and picked out some pics I liked and/or were of some interest/relevance to my own build.

Here's the first bunch, FRAME SETUPS.

Provisions for tank, and compartments for compressor, valves etc.

The 8L doesn't have a donut wheel well, so a simple circle cut-out would suffice.  

Side-mounted tank (might be difficult to drain?), sound-deadened, bulkheads.

I think this is a Mk4 hatch, very similar to the 8L.  Not sure if that's a 3 gallon or a fat 5 gallon.  Either way, that with dual compressors and valves all fit comfortably in the wheel well.

Side mount tank on removable supports (notched to fit like a jigsaw).  Plenty of room in the wheel well with the just compressors and VU4.

This guy kept the spare wheel.  That's a small 3 gallon.  Space-efficient setup but very convoluted and I don't really care about the spare wheel.



Sweet air + ICE install.  I think I've got a pic of it with the top on and it's all hidden except for the sub and a slight tank peep.


Using the original spare wheel clamp to hold down floor.  Could work loose as the compressors start up and vibrate the shit out of it.

From the same setup as above.  A lot of dead space in the wheel well, making the false floor unnecessarily high...

... but a peeping tank salvages whatever hatch space there is left.

Compressors and tank on a separate frame...

... to the rest of it.  Allows it to be taken out in a jiffy.  Round cut-out sits around the wheel well, using as much dead space as possible.

Same setup as above, but just the view from the rear seats...

... and with the false floor on.  Clean.

Mk4 setup.  Again, a fat tank inside the wheel well with two compressors.  Valve setup mounted separately though - individual valve setup makes it look very messy.

Plenty of room left though, with a shallow false floor.  Note the split in the middle - two-part false floor for easy removal.

Simple setup, but why leave the spare wheel in there? There's no way to get to it, unless you undo the air lines and power lines and remove the floor altogether.  More trouble than calling a mate to bring a spare wheel down.

Harness connectors.  I suppose that should make the disconnecting easier.

Compressor leader lines routed around the outside of the false floor.  Cleaner look, and also increasing the travel length of the compressed air to the tank.  Allows any moisture to condense and reach the water trap.  Reliable setup.

Super neat setup!

VU4 making installation so fuckin' easy compared to the individual valve setups seen above.  Note grounding location and P-clip brackets
RidePro setup.  Note two tank setup with different volumes (5 gallon + 3 gallon?).


The above all covered up.

Simple and clean setup.  Smart routing of wires too.

Above setup with the false floor on top.

Dual 3 gallon I think.  Spare wheel well not utilised though.

Maybe just me but I don't like how the tanks peep over in this one.  Clean setup nonetheless.

Not sure what the stuff is below the tank.  

Sub box below the floor, and compartment for a hydraulic jack and other stuff?  Pretty cool.

Wicked false floor setup.  May be fibreglass bumps over the tank there.

Simple removable frame.

Good use of space.

Accuair's eXo mount system.  Mounts compressor and VU4 to the tanks.  Super clean, super simple.

Undercarriage frame. 

Links:
"Air management pic thread" of VWVortex
"Show me your trunk" thread of VWVortex
"Air ride boot installs thread" of Edition38
AirSociety forums