The Project

Last few S5 specific mods done on the grill and front end.

This included some last mods to the centre stay including a reinforcement at the bottom and an M6 weld tab in the lower rad support to bolt it to.

Then some mods to the bumper bar, including some swaged holes to stiffen it and a small section on the rear lip removed to create some clearance with the grill.

Finally with the bumper back on I was able to create an S5 part that is rarely seen on any ex-works cars… the two small brackets that hold the bumper grill corners in place.

I’ve only seen these on R14 WRC, now in the STI headquarters in Tokyo. I have been told by a very reliable source that although these are shown on the official S5 parts list, they only ended up on a handful of cars… R14 being one as it’s a showroom piece.

Anyhoo, that’s enough obsessive nerdiness for one post 🥴

#555

Following on from my last post, were I’d made the 4 parts to the frame… next up was to place it around the grill and get it all aligned for welding. Have to admit I was pretty pleased with how it all fitted up.

Then I’d the tedious job of welding in all the corner infills on the rear face… and final alignment and weld the 4 corners of the individual parts.

Initial mock up on the car with the 4 upper weld tabs in place, looked spot on 😁

More to come…

#555

Another important S5 specific part ticked off the list. If I’m honest. This front grill has tormented me for years… 6 to be exact 😖

I only just realized that Nick from kindly passed on dimensions of an original to me back in 2020 (many thanks again!!)

Soon after, I managed to source the stainless welded mesh needed, which is a 1.6mm wire with a 10mm spacing.

But it was literally only last year, that I figured out how I was going to create the frame, to be as close to the original as possible.

In the end, I chose to use 0.5mm stainless steel as it was easier to fold.

The frame was made in four main sections, clamped carefully to a 2.5mm steel former, and then folded and hammered over the steel former to create the U-channel on all sections.

I have to say… It worked a treat. All the countless hours of planning, CAD work, testing sample materials, really paid off!

The following photos show the initial folding and making of the frame and initial cutting off the mesh… at the crucial 45 degrees!

More to come shortly…

#555

Here’s a photo dump from over the last few weeks, after I finished dry-fitting all the panels.

When I began building this car back in 2010, there were very few options out there with regard to suppliers of S5 WRC panels. At the time I ended up having to source poor quality, GRP or Kevlar panels from multiple suppliers, with nothing matching or fitting correctly.

The level of frustration and the amount of money spent trying to get the best of a bad bunch, was what led me to the decision to develop an offering unlike anything else that had come prior.

In total, there was well over 1000 hours spent by me fitting and fettling poor quality panels, before I could consider getting them molded.

What I ended up with after they were meticulously molded by my partners , was the best fitting and highest quality carbon S5 parts out there.

It’s taken a long time since the release of the panels back in 2017, to get the fabrication and S5 specific mods done to my shell. I’m so delighted to now have the panels finally dry fitted to the car and to see how all the effort ensuring that the fit and fitment was 110% perfect, has paid off.

If you’re thinking… or longing… to build an S5 WRC replica, we have the best quality panels available on the market to make your build as easy as possible.

Please contact us, as we’d be more than happy to advise and help build your dream car.

#555

Doesn’t look like much, but a good bit done over the last few nights with final fitment of the headlamps… followed by the side lights and bumper indicators.

I also managed drill and fit the M6 rivnuts in the front bumper for the bolts that holds the fog light covers in place.

Oh yeah, and the new rear lights fitted too 😉

#555

Loads of little jobs done over the last few weeks…

First off… Re-routing and securing of the boot release cable. I’ve no longer got a key barrel in the boot lid, but I still want to ensure the boot is not solely reliant on boot springs to keep it secure.

I also begin drilling the front fenders to fit the headlamps. This was much easier with the little tool I made for ‘blindly’ finding the holes behind the fenders.

I then modified the headlamps by removing the obsolete OEM grill locating tabs. This is an actual S5 mod required to make them fit with an S5 bumper.

Finally I mounted the badge holder which has two M6 rivnuts mounted in to the bumper bar underneath the bumper…

Loads more to come!

#555

Following on from the last post, here’s the mounting of the two support brackets.

With the front fenders and front bumper fully mounted, the new mounting plates and brackets were offered up in their final position - marked up and clamped.

Then the mounting plates were tacked in place and the brackets bolted on and the fenders and front bumpers drilled for bolting them in place, by using an M6 rivnut in the bumper sides.

Final welding of the mounting plates will happen later on when it’s back on the rotisserie.

Countless hours of work, but happy with the outcome 😁

#555

Okay, so this one’s not an S5 specific part, but I’ve been tormenting myself for months trying to come up with a solution for brackets to support the front of the fenders and the sides of the front bumper.

I weighed up loads of options… some proved too complicated to make and would not have been quite as supportive as the final design I ran with.

This was an absolute pain to develop… I had specific place that it needed them to mount on the inner flitch, but this meant they needed to drop down 20 degrees and offset backwards to meet the fender/bumper mounts… and I wanted it to have a solid mount for the twintex liner too. I also didn’t want holes going through the inner flitches to bolt them to, so came up with some captive mounting plates to weld on, that they’ll mount to.

The usual countless hours of taking dims, CAD work, card templates and then final laser cutting…. Followed by some difficult folds to get right, welding… etc etc.

Another massive rabbit hole to have gone down and I appreciate they are completely over-engineered… but they do the job and look well.

More to follow on mounting them to the shell...

#555

Another 1997/98 S5 specific part designed up and fabricated over the last couple of weeks.

These are the rear ventilation components that run from the parcel shelf to the rear pocket for drawing out hot air from the cabin.

There are two main parts… the 2.5” duct that is riveted to the underside of the parcel shelf and the cowl that attaches to the OEM plastic vent in the rear pocket.

Lots of time spent spec’ing this up in CAD before being laser cut, shaped, welded and then dry fitted to the shell.

#555

Fun times ahead!! 😁😁

Shell is back off the rotisserie and on stands, so as to accommodate final dry-fitment of panels.

Weeks of work ahead with this, but looking forward to it!

#555