I got the silicon (white, blue and black) + OE braided hoses from ECSTuning. It would have been a tad cheaper to get bulk hose from AZone or OReillys but I didn't like at all their IDs (either too small or larger than the OE).
From AZone I only bought a long piece for the larger hose that goes from the Throttle Body to the Purge Valve area.

 

Thank you for the referral for the tubing. I'll hop over there and place an order. Hope to see this thing up and running by the weekend though this may be too ambitious. . .

 

Here's a few pics of my R&R of the A6 @8,000' elevation! Great fun! I'm ready to install the intake manifold and am wondering about the tightening and torque sequence. Any advice would be appreciated. . .

 

I bet you had lots of fun torquing the head bolts, eh?
Boy, aren't those heads looking gorgeous? I feel ashamed now that I didn't clean and milled mine... (By the way, if you're in no hurry, you can remove and clean that valley pan cover ) Did you get new camshafts too, or they look "untouched" from the cleaning process?

Anyway, for the manifold there's no special sequence posted in Bentley. I just went with a cross pattern. The torque if I remember right off the top of my head is 15 ft lbs, but I need to double check and the freaking EBahn software doesn't want to open right now (some ntdl.dll error)...
I'll get back to you on the torque.

 

head bolts are 44ftlb, then 90 degrees, then another 90 degrees. You MUST use new ones as they are 'torque to yield' bolt and can only be used once due to stretch.

Here's a tip, let 10 mins pass between the first and second 90 degrees to let the bolt 'set' and get a true torque.

Second tip is.. see that lid in the valley? pull that and remove/clean/replace the check valves in there.. they help keep oil in the head during startup and idling.

 

The intake-to-head bolts are 15ftlbs...

 

Man That Audi sure left you out in the COLD! Sorry to see that hope that heater keeps you warm.

 

Thanks to each of you for your input which, as before, has been most helpful and encouraging. Question: If I pull and clean the Valley Pan, would you recommend a site to purchase the gasket? Thanks, again, for the input!

 

Dont need one.. make your own with good rtv or Permatex 'The Right Stuff'

 

Thanks, Jim! Yup, I could do that but, in the interim, I did chase one down via AZ parts (or whatever they're called!) for about $9.00. I'm doing a final parts inventory and purchase, probably from them to simplify shipping. Chefro, do you happen to have the proper i.d. or o.d. dimensions of the vacuum hoses you purchased? That would save me some time and perhaps error with measuring diameters. . .
-1 degree out there as I write. Think I'll wait 'til it warms up a bit before going out and tackling more of the job!