atb

As I was removing my old radiator to make room for the new 928 Intl unit I decided to remove my front front flaps ('87-89 S4/GT only) since they were non-functioning and because the linkage broke I had to have them wired open.
First off, I really like the design and engineering of the flaps (designed to close at high speeds to aid aerodynamics of the car) I realize that they were deleted from '90 on, but just as a design testimate I think its a cool gizmo and if my car weren't modded I would have fixed them. But since that isn't the case, out they came.

The nose come has to come off the car. There are other threads that explain that process, I'm starting with the assumption that you've got it off the car.

From there its a matter of removing the four 5mm allen bolts (2 per side) which hold the shroud to the front bulkhead. The shroud has two plastic ears on each side that the bolts go through:






This pic shows where to get access for your wrench. One is above the frame rail, the other is below:




Sorry about the poor pic quality. It was a last minute WYAIT decision, and I only had my phone with me.





There are 4 sheet metal screws that come through the top. The phillips heads are under the wiring harness that runs along the front bulkhead.:




There are two clips that anchor the bottom of the flap housing that need to be spread with a flat tip:



The center support has two bolts on its face that must be removed, one up top and one down at the bottom. These are small. My 6mm was too big, my 5mm too small:




Lastly, there is a pin at the bottom of the center structure that needs to be pried clear of the metal guard that has the receiving hole:




The flap motor has three 10mm bolts holding it on located right under the hood pin receiver. A 10mm shorty ratcheting wrench and a mirror on a stick made short work of it all.

There are four screws that attach the flaps to the shroud which I removed, but I don't think I had to do this while it was on the car. These are located behind the aluminum bumper. You can reach them with a shorty phillips by reaching under the bumper, but looking on from above.




Mine is a ratcheting unit which helps considerably. The housing is the aerodynamic form which creats the funnel to the radiator. I'll probably be putting this back on the car to keep the flow of air directed through the raditor.

heinrich

I was able to get my entire flap unit removed without the nose off the car. Not easy but totally possible. Key is to just drill out the bolts where you can't reach them.

Chris

You are keeping the housing that the flaps are located in, right ?. The 91 and up still kept the housing just with the horizontal flaps deleted.

The housing and that flimsy plastic thing in front of it help direct air at the radiator.

Chris

IcemanG17

Adam
That was alot of work! Of course the easy way is to cut them out with a hacksaw blade.....not that I was thinking about doing that of course! I just zip tied mine in place

atb

Cool Heinrich, that would make it a lot more attractive of a mod to those who want to go for it.

Chirs, I was going to put the shroud back in, and it has a center support, but are talking about the actual rectangular frame that the flaps are mounted in? Does the frame have to go back in with the shroud?


Mine were the same for many many years and worked fine. I was just looking for a more permanent fix. There's some weight savings to be had there too, those flaps have some heft to them.

Chris

All I remember is that the flimsy plastic shroud mounts to the rectangular frame that the flaps were in, I could be wrong or mine could be different. I do remember looking at my 91 when I ripped them out of my 87 and seeing the only difference was the motor and horizontal flaps were gone. The rest of the infrastructure was still there.

Chris

whitefox

Any idea on what it weighs?