very nice work

 

Looks good.

 

What kind of problem were you having with drillingthe aluminum?

 

The drill wouldn't make a hole in it...it got so hot so fast that the bit just ended up polishing the shallow dent that I had made. Maybe I just needed to push down harder, but I was already putting a lot of pressure on it...enough that the wood beneath the metal started bubbling then smoking.

 

Next time, try drilling a smaller hole first and then the size hle you really want. Or, start by using what's called a center drill, they come is a bunch of sizes and drills a small pilot hole and a countersink at the same time. they might not be too easy to find though. Better off to just drill the smaller pilot hole. Use some sort of coolant or light oil on it too. Aluminum will take a pretty high rpm. If you care, 4(cs)/d. A typical cs(cutting speed) for aluminum with a hss drill bit would be 200.

 

EDIT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_speed

 

We should hope they work better the first time as apposed to your lowers.........I kid, I kid

 

excellent work, wish i had your skills when i owned my A4 (or at least the time and patience)

 

Really, I think it is time and patience. These DIYs are pretty thorough, so for the most part, as long as you can follow instructions and get a little creative when they fail you, it's all doable. Although, on this particular project, I had a lot of really, really indispensable help from UpstateNYA4 (my new hero) who has done the same thing on his car.

 

There's really nothing to say to that except maybe...ouch. You really know how to cut to the quick .

But whatever, I have fogs now!