# 85 URQ Joins



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Hi, my name's Paul Eddleston and I finally got round to introducung myself to this group. I recently took delivery of a beautiful 85 quattro that was previously owned by an Audi friend. I thoiught I'd start a journal-like thread about it and post some pictures 

[Edit] SORRY some of the early pictures have been moved so the links are broken but go to the latest pages for current pictures and activity.


















































I know a few members on this forum already but some of you may know me from by business venture: Team Illuminata Motorsport, also known as TIM but not to be confused with the URQ owner Tim in the UP of Michigan. http://www.teamilluminata.com/

I grew up in England watching Rallying on TV but really got into the sport around the time the Group B monsters were arriving so you can imagine why I'm here now and why I'm so excited to finally have my quattro. I race a Subaru in RallyCross and autocross and do some track days too and I also crew at rallies for various teams if I'm not in the vendor area flogging our products.

Hope to see you and your cars at some events soon.

































































So here is what I know about the car: 

"One of the best examples of the classic ur quattro available. Very rare Canadian car. Original Tornado Red paint with black leather interior. 1 of only 17 quattros imported to Canada in 1985! Desirable and rare non-sunroof version. 167,000 KM. Clear Michigan title. Retains original metric instruments - I did not convert anything when I imported this car to the USA. 

Over the course of the past 3 years, this car has been totally sorted out by Phil at Auto Europe in Birmingham. Phil was an Audi mechanic back when these cars were brand new. I basically gave him permission to check and correct anything that needed attention. The car was great when I bought it, but it's even better now! New hard fuel lines, clutch and slave cylinders, hydraulic bomb, alternator, starter, water pump, timing belt. tires, battery, master cylinder, rear differential bushing, center driveshaft bearing, etc., etc. The car has a modified head and a modified ECU to allow use of the Euro wastegate spring. A joy to drive. This must be what it was like to drive one of these cars brand new. No rattles or squeaks. Strong performer."

Certainly couldn't take issue with any of that and I've known Curt for a few years as a customer at my shop and when I worked at Auto Europe. I was just starting to think about buying a classic when this showed up. I thought I might import an Opel Manta from Europe. That's the car I had when I moved to the US around 20 years ago. I thought it was time to get one back. But then I saw this and it was obvious this was the car I should have. I grew up watching Group B rally in the forests in England and the quattro has always been my favorite Group B monster. Just the noise alone is enough to get my heart racing. Indeed, as I like to tell people, this car is why I now own a motorsports business and race RallyCross, autocross etc. Plus, it would be good that the car stay in Michigan where Curt could keep an eye on it.

I’ve had the car here for a couple of weeks now and driven it a couple of times. My goals for the car are to keep it in its original condition while fixing some of its issues and not-quite-original features. My list is already long but does not reflect the condition of the car but my mental condition of list making and nit-picking. Here are the highlights of what needs attention IMHO:


Restore leather seats
Hot starting issues
Small dent in hood
Should it have Center console?
How much clutch is left?
Oil change
Passenger door lock inoperative
Driver’s window seal loose
Handbrake boot fits poorly
Fuel leak smell
Passenger window sticks at 2” drop
Pass seat adjuster loose
Vent broken center
Passenger door pocket coming away
Rear diff damp-reseal
Right rear wheel creaks
Wipers slow
Gearbox play, mounts?
Rust spots, leading edge of hood, and fender in engine bay
Wrong headlights
Door bars missing
A/C removed engine bay, replace
Trunk carpet screws missing
Engine under tray missing right side
Radio too new and blingy
Upper front strut mounts loose 
Rear brake lines rusty
Front ball joints
Lower control arm bushings iffy
Left front cv boot getting brittle
Volts-volt and oil temp meters behave oddly
Door carpet coming away
Non-original steering wheel
Trunk strut inoperative.
Key fob light
Exhaust crooked
Jack missing
Speaker cover loose
Non-original speakers


I might need help with some of these. Prepare yourselves for many questions. Obviously some of these are urgent and necessary, others trivial nit-picking but you can’t beat having a list. I’m sure it will grow rather than shrink even if I do check some off.

I still find it immensely ironic that, considering that I’m so into rally, have a rally related business and love to drive sideways that I bought a car that I can neither drive in the snow or on the loose. I guess I’ll have to limit my fun to wet roundabouts, the three or four that exist in SE Michigan. I may do the odd autocross in it or maybe a track day. Do they have track days for classics? I already took it round Waterford Hills track at the recent track day but only during the parade laps at lunchtime. Twas quite fun. Probably, this is what I’ll do most with the car. Just take it to local motorsport events and shows so people can enjoy seeing it. I am going to slap some BRAID wheels on it and a discreet windshield banner in white “BRAIDUSA.com” though as it has to earn it’s keep somehow.

These are the wheels that are on a boat in the Atlantic right now. What do you think? 











I chose them because they are very reminiscent of the works wheels used on the S1, at least in my opinion. I ordered them in the same specs as the originals. I’ll use the Kumho 225/50-15 tires that came on the OE Ronals. Curt also gave me a set of BFG 215/50-15 which was the OE size but I’m not sure what to do with those yet.

Hopefully I’ll remember to update this page with news of the car's development and outings. Meanwhile, if you have any questions or suggestions let me know. I’m all ears, as some of you already know.


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## rayrabbit (Jan 10, 2010)

*urq*

My friend, this is a dream come true, enjoy.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Wow, very nice! welcome.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks guys

It's a nice dream.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Congratulations!!!
Beautiful car, I've seen that one around before...always lovely.

You have quite an extensive list of to-do's

You may already well know this....

The lamps are yes "incorrect" but are correct for all of the Quattros everywhere else on the planet besides North America.

If you're going to try to go with the stock lamps for an '85, best of luck finding a set in good condition. They are extremely rare as they only came on North American '85's...and the light output from the stock units is quite horrible compared to the H1/H4's you currently have.


Would you mind sharing the last 4 numbers of your VIN? I like to keep track of other '85's out there, to see if any are close in build # to my car.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

..ohh..and the wipers are always slow on these cars!!!
And there is no center console past the shifter...just carpet where the e-brake lever is.
The center vent can be found on any 85-87 Audi 4000, or Coupe. Dirt cheap.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> ..ohh..and the wipers are always slow on these cars!!!
> And there is no center console past the shifter...just carpet where the e-brake lever is.
> The center vent can be found on any 85-87 Audi 4000, or Coupe. Dirt cheap.


Thanks Sepp. I'll PM the VIN to you later. Don't seem to have it here.

Good to know about the wipers. I've been told one can "rebuild" them. The suggestion being that the grease gets old in there somewhere. Know anything about that? I learned about the center console from another owner. My 1/18 '85 has one but apparantly that model is not so accurate. Does the vent come out easily or is it a full dash removal exercise? I don't think I want to replace the headlamps. I agree that the originals are not as good and look ugly but it would be nice to have a set in case they become an asset for the car one day.

So where can I find out information on your car?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

My new BRAID wheels come in on Monday along with a couple of hundred others.










I'm not sure what tires to put on them. Currently I have some Kumho AST 225/50-15 on the original Ronal aloys and a set of unmounted BFG in the original size of 215/50-15. The easiest thing to do would be to put the BFG on the new wheels then I'd at least have two working sets available. The "proper" thing to do might be to put the 225 on the BRAIDs and the 215 on the Audi wheels for "originallty's" sake. However, both sets of tires are going to age out before they wear out so one set is just going to be sat there wasting away. Perhaps I should get rid of one set but which. 215/50-15 are quite hard to find now but I like the look of the wider 225.

What to do?


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> Thanks Sepp. I'll PM the VIN to you later. Don't seem to have it here.
> 
> Good to know about the wipers. I've been told one can "rebuild" them. The suggestion being that the grease gets old in there somewhere. Know anything about that? I learned about the center console from another owner. My 1/18 '85 has one but apparantly that model is not so accurate. Does the vent come out easily or is it a full dash removal exercise? I don't think I want to replace the headlamps. I agree that the originals are not as good and look ugly but it would be nice to have a set in case they become an asset for the car one day.
> 
> So where can I find out information on your car?


Mine are slow, but not so much that it's a problem vision-wise..even up here in the PNW.
The grease makes sense. You can confirm proper voltage to the motor to make sure...
"85's don't have the wiring issues the earlier cars have, but it doesn't hurt to check.

With the vents, (working from memory here) there's 4 clips that hold it onto the dashboard, and it slips right over the ducting. So, no need for a dash pull, but it's a bit challenging getting the piece out. I usually pop one side out, and work the other side, as I only have two hands.

If you have a replacement vent on hand, and your sure it's the correct piece, you can pop out the grilles with some pliers(on the broken unit), and that will give you better access to the retaining clips.

And just the opposite of you, my car is US Spec, and is currently in Canada!!
I'm still awaiting enough $$, and time to get it shipped across the continent.
I was doing a restoration (the 2nd), and was transferred across country super last minuet....so it's far from pretty.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

..if you're smelling gas in the cabin, it could be two things that I've already BTDT.

First if it smells like gas in your trunk, you can check the fuel tank vent hose.
Its a rubber hose, and has a cloth covering. The rubber is 26 years old ,and mine had some very small cracks in it.
I easily found a replacement at the local auto parts store.

Here's a picture of where it is.
You'll have to pull out all of the carpeting, and side panels in the trunk to access the fuel tank.

Please excuse the shoddy photoshop....but you get my point.









If you get a strong gas smell with the windows down, you might have a disconnected hose that runs to your charcoal canister, located underneath the passenger front fender.
Again, the hoses are rubber, and tend to crack at the connection point..and easily pull off over the years.

The car in the pic is stripped down, to show the exact location.
You'll best need to jack the car up, and remove the tire to gain proper access.
There should be plenty of slack in the hose to trim a bit off, and re-connect.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks man. I did look at that hose briefly and it seems awefully soft. Can you still buy the riginal replacement? I'm trying to keep the car as original as possible.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

I'll look up the part number...you never know what's avail. from Audi these days.
Sometimes they surprise me.

if not, you can still locate the fabric covered hose from a specialized vendor.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

please disregard this post in its previous state.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Had the car detailed by Ray's Auto Detail in Pontiac this week. It was already clean by my standards but now I understand what really clean is. After using his clay bar Ray made the paint as smooth as a baby's bum. I've never owned a car I had to keep clean; my other car is a rallycross beater. I don't even own any cleaning supplies or equipment except for a bucket! I have a lot to learn.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Looks great!!!

And must sound really good running it around inside that building.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

It sounds good anywhere but bridges, tunnels and industrial buildings are where it excels.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> It sounds good anywhere but bridges, tunnels and industrial buildings are where it excels.



I totally agree!


..and not to hijack your thread, but your car, with the country of origin sticker where it is gives me flash backs of my car when it was red!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Nice. What color is it now? That looks just like my car!

I thought the "D" stood for "Detroit" !


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Yes! Detroit! :laugh:

It originally was Graphite metallic. And I did a quickie resto on it, and converted it over to T-red..that was supposed to be just a 2 year paint job, which stayed on the car for 8 years!
Right now, it's white (to keep it from flash rusting) and plans are to do a bare metal respray in Oceanic Blue...


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Well the wheels finally came in and I immediately slapped some tires on them and bolted them on the car. What do you think? 










Then I took it out to the lake for Memorial Day. 




























In case you're curious the wheels are BRAID Serie 6 R 3 piece, 15x8 with 225/50-15 Kumho tires.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sorry chaps, it's been a while since I have had chance to update this thread. I'd like to think that since putting the BRAID wheels on the car our sales have gone through the roof and I have just been too busy fulfilling orders to post. Well, that's only half the case, I've also been kept busy keeping cars on the road. None of my four cars, including this one, have been behaving themselves so far this summer but at least it gives me plenty to write about here. So what's been going on? Well: 

The first hiccup of the season became apparant when the car became hard to start. I'd noticed lately I'd had to turn the key a little more "aggresively" sometimes but then it became impossible to get the car to turn over at all. Thankfully it did this at the shop and not 1000 miles from home. It was clear contact was not being made in the ignition switch and all kinds of horrors about getting a new one and taking apart the steering column went through my mind. As it turned out it was surprisingly simple to sort out on both fronts. First off, my local O'rielly's had the switch on the shelf. God knows why but bless their little Irish souls non the less. Now, to put it in. I approached with trepidation but needn't have. AllData give pretty explicit instructions. 

Remove the steering wheel, column shround and indicator stalks. Then pry off the spring washer that holds on the spring and you are left with this: 









Then you remove that pinch bolt and the ignition switch housing slides up the column and lands on your bench: 









Just remove that small phillips head screw to relaese the switch and pop in the new one. Needless to say, assembly is the reverse of disassembly but getting the spring wash in place was a little tricky. I used a 19mm impact socket and a hammer to drive it home. You don't need a lot of force, probably because you are supossed to use a new washer but once the steering wheel is back on it can't go anywhere. 

Job done. Car's good for the summer but maybe I should just change the oil first. How hard could it be? 

So I put the car on lift and look where the oil filter should be and bloody hell, there's two of the buggers! I was so stunned I forgot to take a picture! So off to the store to find a second filter. Apparantly it's for the turbo. Why ddin't you guys tell me about this? Well, just before taking off I decide to have a look around under there and WTF is that all over my nice new BRAID wheel? 










CV grease. That's what. 









Oh man. Ah well. new axle, 20 minutes of a job. How hard could it be. Well, I couldn't find an axle but I did find a CV boot. No, not at O'rielly's this time but my friends at Auto Europe hooked me up with one from Worldpac. Not OE but something appropriately German. They even slapped it on for me once I got the axle out which was a bit of a trial due to the lack of space to manouver it around. 

Undo these at the tranny end 









Take of the brakes and axle nut 









then realise there's not enough room for the axle to slide out of the wheel bearing. 









Have a cup of tea and then get creative with the jack. 









Voila. Off to Auto Europe with you. 









Strip the old boot. Remove the C clip and hit it with a BFG, gently of course. 









Put on new boot. Run back to shop. Forget to take photo. Installation was the reverse and simple but being in there did inspire me to take on refurbishing the front suspension. So went on a quest for upper strut mounts, anti roll bar bushings, lower ball joints and even some strut inserts. 

Drove the car home that night to celebrate. Look, it even made it. But there is a reason it is on the street and not up the driveway. 









More on that later. I need a rest.


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## Quattro Krant (Sep 15, 2004)

team illuminata said:


> Drove the car home that night to celebrate. Look, it even made it. But there is a reason it is on the street and not up the driveway.


 The oil line going from the oil filter to the oil cooler let go


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Quattro Krant said:


> The oil line going from the oil filter to the oil cooler let go


Haha. nice guess. Something totally unrelated though a common issue, apparantly.

More later.


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## Quattro Krant (Sep 15, 2004)

Throttle cable bushings?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

No. shift linkage bushing disintegrated. I can only find 3rd and 4th. I have two new bushings: an OE and a 034 Motorsports but it looks real tight in there so I may just take it in. I can still get 1st and 2nd when it's cold but reverse is MIA.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So, to continue the saga, the reason the car was sitting on the street instead of in my driveway was that I couldn't get reverse, nor, for that matter, 1st or 2nd! It was allright when I left the shop but by the time I was nearing home, about 20 minutes, 1st became 3rd and I kept stalling at the lights 'cause it don't like to set off in 3rd. Shift lever was feeling a bit woolie too.

I nursed it back to my shop the next day, got it on the lift and found the shifter bushing, #27 in the picture below, had distintergrated. This must have hapenned gradually over a number of years and I guess, with the elevated temperatures lately, it just crossed the threshold of being able to move the selector shaft enough to find the outermost gears. Once I fix this it should feel like a short shifter compared with the long throw that I thought was normal.










The bushing is, of course, no longer available but I found out that 034 Motorsport are making them and I also picked up an OE one from a guy on ebay UK along with some other goodies (see below). Now I have a lifetime's supply.










Apparantly, the short rod, #35 often fails and they are NLA too. Mine seems fine thankfully. The ball on the top of #33 can come loose too but again, mine seems good. It was a little tight in there above the tranny and after finding water in my basement last night I said "Sod this" and booked it in at Auto Europe. As much as I like to work on my cars I just don't have time to tackle this fiddly job with all the other stuff crumbling around me right now. Thank god my Jeep's fixed; and the Subaru moves under its own power too now, sort of.

Some stuff I dd take care of myself though:

I managed to get a gas strut for the trunk. Apparantly it needs two to support the weight of the trunk and that huge spolier and if you only have one like I had it will crash down on your bonce while you are deep in conversation with your spare tire. OUCH!. Couldn't find an OE one at a decent price so went with a Stabilus to match the other side. So much nicer than the stick I was using. Much more civilised.

I've been trying to track down a fuel smell for some time now. It was often there but seemed to be worse with the windows open and after taking some corners, particularly left handers. It was worse the more fuel was in the tank too, I think. Initially I suspected the long breather pipe that goes from roughly the middle of the tank to the filler neck. The original one was very soft so I thought it might be sweating if not actually leaking. I replaced it with a bit of basic hose temporarily and thought it made a bit of a difference but later realised that might have been wishful thinking. I may yet put the original hose back on.










Later I discovered that the gas cap was getting wet with fuel after spirited drives so I replaced the fuel cap gasket with an OE one from the dealer. So far (not very far actually) so good. Fingers crossed. No picture; it's a round piece of rubber with a big hole in the middle. Use your imagination.

When I initially test drove the car the passenger side window stopped working. Well, not completely. It would just go down a couple of inches, make a horrible grinding noise and stop. Fortunately it decided to go back up so I bought the car anyway. So I finally got a chance to get inside the door motivated by the increasing temperatures and lack of air conditioning in the car. Door card came off easily once I located all the screws and clips (didn't braek any either  )









I was happy to find that the wire that pulls the window mechanism had come derailed from the bottom pulley and with a bit of effort I managed to get it back on there. It works now but does make some funny noises sometimes. The same noises the driver's side makes so I figured they are factory. Job done!









While I was in there I took the opportunity to have a look at the door lock mechanism. The button was going up and down when I operated the driver's side lock but the key was doing nothing in the passenger side, not that one ever uses the key in that side. It did cross my mind that perhaps it was a design feature then I realised, why would they have a lock. Anyway, brain back in gear it soon became apparant that the little plastic ear on the back of the lock had become detached from its actuator rod. Two minutes and a skimmed knucle later it was back on and working as Audi intended all along. Look:









While messing around in the cabin with the various knobs and switches I found out that my blower fan goes to ELEVEN. Well, it goes to four but that's amazing as the the panel only indicates 3. It works too; fan goes even faster! I can't for the life of me figure out why the switch goes to 4 while the panel only goes to 3. What were they drinking in Ingoldstat in the mid-eighties?









I put back the undertray that giudes air to the intercooler. It came with the car but not actually attched to it. I had to do a bit of rally-rigging with some zip ties as it's missing a couple of screw holes now.









Part of my ebay UK haul was a pair of new sun visor clips in more or less the original color. A snap to swap out but they totally transform the car. Handles as if on rails. OK, they hardly made any difference, even to the visors, but it feels good to have replaced more broken stuff.

















More UK parts: dash vents, middle and sides. Only my middle one was broken but it's good to have spares right?

Broken vent. All flippity floppoty:









New vent. All nice and together. You can see the tabs that hold it in place too....









....so I know where to stick my screw driver.









Maybe I should just leave it like this:









Nah!









Man, that was a lot of venting.

In the category of interesting aside did you know, Wikipedia says "The Illuminati, a Bavarian secret society, was founded in Ingolstadt..." and my business is called Team Illuminata Motorsport. Coincidence? I'm saying nothing. Schtum!

Now, off to Auto Europe with you Stiggy (Hmm. I think I just named my car)


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Just got the car back from Auto Europe and it now shifts beautifully 

Thanks to Kenny who did a great job and worth every penny to let a professional fiddle with it this time. Here's what came out:










26 year old German rubber. Yuk!

Kenny said the short rod #35 was OK but getting a little worn. I should start looking for one but they are NLA of course. Anyone have one or want to make me one?










When I went to pick the car up they had it parked next to a Corrado. Interesting comparison don't you think?



















The Corrado almost looks like a next generation quattro more than the one that actually followed it.

Now the shift libkage is sorted I've started thinking about a suspension rebuild. Have all the bushings bought but Kenny also gave me some NEW Bilsteins for the car. They are actually from a later car but might fit. Anyone know?




























Also, it looks like my gas cap gasket has solved my fuel smell issues too


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

ohh jeez..the fuel cap issue...
I had the same, but worse. Take a sharp left turn, and the side of the car is wet with gas... 

New gasket (home made), and good to go!


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> While messing around in the cabin with the various knobs and switches I found out that my blower fan goes to ELEVEN. Well, it goes to four but that's amazing as the the panel only indicates 3. It works too; fan goes even faster! I can't for the life of me figure out why the switch goes to 4 while the panel only goes to 3. What were they drinking in Ingoldstat in the mid-eighties?




you might want to pop that piece off, and check for a date stamp on the backside... your's should look like this!

I won't know if I have a spare one of these from an '85 car, until the fall...if you're looking for a replacement.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> ohh jeez..the fuel cap issue...
> I had the same, but worse. Take a sharp left turn, and the side of the car is wet with gas...
> 
> New gasket (home made), and good to go!


I used an OE. What did you make yours out of?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> you might want to pop that piece off, and check for a date stamp on the backside... your's should look like this!
> 
> I won't know if I have a spare one of these from an '85 car, until the fall...if you're looking for a replacement.


Interesting. Do you think mine was replaced at some time or built like that?

Oh, and how does it "pop off" ? Does one just pry it our with a screw driver or dismantle the console? I intend replacing the radio soon. Maybe that's when this should happen.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

the take cap on my car had a thin rubber gasket, that had indents from the years...so I found a similar roll of rubber sheeting (that we use to make gaskets out of at work), and copied the pattern.
Pretty easy.

With the vent control plate, it's been a few years since I've taken one off.

I do remember is that the lever knobs pull straight off, as well as the fan speed knob.

On the back side (after you remove the plate, there is a plug that goes to the AC rocker switch, and a lamp that is the back light. 

It's a tough guess if someone replaced that at a later date....but it looks like it.
The date will be stamped on the back in typical German fashion. stamped in blue are the part numbers, and the build date. Mine 11/84


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> the take cap on my car had a thin rubber gasket, that had indents from the years...so I found a similar roll of rubber sheeting (that we use to make gaskets out of at work), and copied the pattern.
> Pretty easy.
> 
> With the vent control plate, it's been a few years since I've taken one off.
> ...


Yes, I'd like to replace it though it's not a top priority. I rather like the idea that there is a secret "4". I'm probably not going to mess with it unless I have an replacement to hand though.

I think it is quite interesting that as well as the additional speed the ac swicth is reversed and the design of the hot/cold. red/blue bands are different. Oh, and the legend "AIR CONDITIONER" have been added. Nearly missed that one.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

hmm...let me double check the part number on this piece.....

I found it in my spares box. It _might_ be from a vw...


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Some updates:

I bought an OE steering wheel off eBay UK. Seller said it was in great condition and he was not wrong. I like the Audi Sport one that came with the car but it has always bothered me that it is not original. It's indicator cancel tab was offset too so the left turn signal cancelled too soon and the right too late. Swapping them was easy but you have to pull the cover harder than feels right to get it off. I like that I never need a steering wheel puller on this car 

Before:










After:











I know most of you would prefer the Sport one especially as it's chunky and 14" vs 15" for the OE but I actually kind of prefer the way it drives with the ugly one.

Replacing the steering wheel cured my intermittent horn issue too. I also seem to have fixed the spare tire leak. Well Auto Europe did by remounting it. Gas cap is still leaking despite the new gasket  maybe I'll try a new cap next.

Of course I had to road test the car with it's new steering wheel so I took it on a tour of local car events. First off was a car show someone gave me a flier for at Cars and Coffee yesterday. Lots of muscle cars and old domestic stuff as you might expect but a few import gems namely a rather nice black Testarossa, a BMW 850 coupe and a 90's Mercedes but I don't know my Mercedes like I should. The quattro would have fit right in there but I'm not sure I'm cut out for car shows. Seems like you park the car then sit next to it for five hours. Sounds boring. Is it?

Next up was a autocross at Belle Isle. A bautiful setting if you ever get the chance. The events are held on the newish cement paddock they poured for the Detroit GP we had a few years ago. I didn't mean to run, the car's not up to it and cones make a mess of paint but I did hope to do a fun run or two at the end by way of a demo as many people said they wanted to hear it run. Alas, it was not to be. Apparantly you had to have run the event to do fun runs so off to the Motor City Mayhem event at the Silverdome in Pontiac just round the corner form our shop.

I didn't know much about this thing except that seemed to involve some drifting and a time attack event along with other crazy stuff. Mayhem is a good word as reports at the autocross were that the previous iteration was a bit chaotic. I got there n time for the drifting and was ushered into the "Display" parking are as I had such a nice car. There were a lot of strange cars there let me tell you but plenty of spectators so maybe we should get involved in this mayhem one day. car was well received especially as the Michigan Gumball rally finished there while I was in attendance so some slightly more normal car people were around.










Then I took the car down Woodward but nobody was out as it was still a little early in the day.

I did discover that I have no brake lights which is a little disconcerting. They are on the same fuse as the horn interestingly but that works. Bulbs are fine too seemingly. Any known issues with these?


----------



## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> Some updates:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You can pull the quick disconnects on the rear lights. 
I've seen two problems with these.

A bad ground, and overheating due to a poor connection.

both are caused normally by the tongues (on the light housing side) being corroded, and not making a good connection.
On my car it seems the right side was always troublesome, until I cleaned up the contacts really good, and used some conductive grease.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> You can pull the quick disconnects on the rear lights.
> I've seen two problems with these.
> 
> A bad ground, and overheating due to a poor connection.
> ...


Thanks Sepp. I had this problem with a turn signal last week too and on landscape lighting when I used to be involved with that. Actually what happened to the turn lamp and what used to happen on landscape lights was thet the nub contact on the lamp base would flatten over time from heat and no longer make good contact. I'll have to check these.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

team illuminata said:


> Thanks Sepp. I had this problem with a turn signal last week too and on landscape lighting when I used to be involved with that. Actually what happened to the turn lamp and what used to happen on landscape lights was thet the nub contact on the lamp base would flatten over time from heat and no longer make good contact. I'll have to check these.


Just had a fiddles with it and got them to come on. Seems to be the wire going into the bottom of the driver's side bulb housing. if I tug on it they come on again. They are working right now but obvioulsy I'm going to have to get in there and rectify this properly. Can't have people rearending the car.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Yep, the quick disconnects....

It's easy to remove the lamp housings, while leaving the lens on the car... they are held in place by a squeeze clip.

The lamp housing side is male, and the plug end is female.

Once I cleaned the males up real good with a wire brush, a little grease on the female side..no problems in 9 years.

I'll post s pic in a few minuets.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Am I missing something, literally?

I noticed my front grill was a bit loose along the bottom so had a fiddle with it. All the top clips are in place but I'm not sure what is supossed to hold it in place along the bottom. It seems like it might latch behind the bumper via some tabs but they don't reach high enough. There is evidence of one potential securing device roughly in the center but it may be broken. Can't believe that's athe only means of securing the grill so how do the 85 grills attach, anyone know or care to probe theres?

Some pictures to illustrate:


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I've been driving the car quite a bit recently, mostly aolng Woodward Avenue, the venue for the upcoming Dream Cruise. For those of you who are not familiar with this crazy event check out this web site. Basically, Woodward, which is a mile from my house, hosts the biggest car event on the planet next week and has been building up to this climax for the last couple of months. The street is the ultimate car guys hangout during the summer months. I spend way too much time here but the car is a big hit and it can't hurt business. I will skip the actual cruise itself as I'll be at a RallyCross but by then it is so far out of controll as to be not worth it. The preceeding week is the best IMHO with every conceivable type of car on display driving right by you. Here it is taking on two modern iterations of the theme:










So as a result of all this hanging out on Woodward a few issues came to light. First of the car cut out as I was leaving a prime Woodward vantage spot last Friady. I popped the hood/bonnet and fiddled with the ignition equipment looking for anything obvious. The only thing I found out of place was the connector on the side of the distributor which had come loose. The screw holding it on would not thread back into the distrubutor body so I zip tied it in place in proper rally fashion. Car started right up and has been fine since.











I got it into the shop the next day but could not get the screw to tighten up. It seems as if the threads have stripped so we are sticking with the zip tie for now. I broke the bracket in the process too  I have no idea what this connector is for or if it could have caused the engine to cut out like it did but it seems to run fine now.

I did notice the rotor arm seemed a little worse for wear when I looked at it so I cleaned it up with a bit of sand paper for now and ordered a new one for next week.




















I also had some issues with the driver's window. It wouldn't go back up a few times. I had had this happen once before but disproved it later when it slid up nice and smooth but this time it definately needed some assistance. I've since figured out that it only does this if it's raining or I've jsut washed the car. Seems as if the guides are a little loose so the window can wobble in them and if it's wet stick. Are the guides adjustable or do you have to replace them? I did try to have a look in the door but failed at the first hurdle: I couldn't get the door handle off the door card! Oh, the screws came out OK but I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the wires from the power mirror switch in the handle. I couldn't even create enough slack to rotate and release the top mount so I could see the connector so was doing it blind. Any trcks here or can anyone tell me how it comes apart?


I also need to replace a breather shown below as it it perishing and looks about to fail. Of course it is no longer available new and the generic pipe I had in the shop was too small.




















Why do I have two heated window switches? Neither of which seem to do anything anyway. The top one even feels broken as it does not flip on or off positively. Why two and what do they do? Are they readily available and easy to replace?












I found this relay on the floor under the driver's seat.










Anyone have any idea what it's for?

See you on Woodward this week?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks to some tips from some helpful Audi owners I got into the door again yesterday. The switch does just pry out of the handle and is easy to unplug with the help of a screwdriver:



















Then it was easy to get the door card off and find out what is causing my window to stick.










Here's one obvious issue. Two of the isolator studs that hold the motor to the door have sheared so the motor flops around under load. Can't be ideal.



















Fortunately there was a threaded hole in the motor that lined up with the big hole that I assume was for a hand crank on lesser models. I used a big washer and secured it in place. I couldn't locate it where it wanted to be as it wouldn't clear the big aftermarker speaker that a previous owner added. maybe this is the cause of the shearing.










Hopefully that helps though the window still felt loose in its guides. To help I shoved some large cable ties behid the guides to push them out a bit and take up some of the slack. It work somewhat.



















I tried to replace my rotor arm but was supplied with the wrong part. Hole is too small.










I did mange to find a self tapping screw to hold my hall sensor in place though. no more cable ties. Looks almost OE.










I had a go at my over-abundance of heated rear window switches too. I loosened the bezel but it wouldn't come off without removing the steering wheel and indicator stalks. Fortunately I still had enough room to pry out the switches and blank and this is what I found taped up:



















Looks like someone nearly had a fire. This might explain the two HRW switches and why one was iffy. The undamaged one wasn't connected to anything nor were there any extra wires back there so I suspect a prevoius owner bought a new switch to try to fix a non-funtioning HRW and just left them both in place when he found the melted mess. Im not sure if I'm going to deal with this one either.










I am wondering if there is a short in the HRW wiring somewhere. I had a quick look in the under-hood fuse box but didn't find a relay for it.



















Maybe one day when the dash is apart I'll splice in a new HRW connector for that newer switch.


----------



## Quattro Krant (Sep 15, 2004)

I've never had any of the switches out of my Ur, but, on my 4kq, ALL the plugs look like your melted one-SUPER common issue. The headlight ones do it SUPER bad, especially as the wiring gets older. I was lucky enough to find a PERFECT harness, have it soldered in place, and got a good switch. I want to have it relayed to reduce the draw. You can touch the switches and feel them get warm, actually hot, when they are all messed up. Glad to hear that you got the panel and handle off.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So a couple of weeks ago now (I've been on vacation) I took the car to a RallyCross. before you get too excited, no, I didn't run the car, just took it out there to see the new Detroit Region course and hang with my RallyCross buddies most of whom haven't seen the car yet. Parked it right in the middle of the paddock for maximum exposure but was soon joined by another red Audi:










On the way there I tried the cruise control as I was on a freeway for about 30 minutes. I was very impressed that it still worked but even more impressed how it held the speed rock steady over hill and dale. Awesome.










No. that's km/h not mph. I beleive this represents exactly 70mph 

The last 15 minutes to the event was on the smoothest dirt road I have ever seen. The car thought it was at Rally Finland!










I booked it out of there before a big storm rolled through but had a great time doing ride alongs with some of the competitors. Glad I took my helmet. I was quite pleased with how the car drove and that it didn't, for once, break any parts or show any previously hidden issues; or so I thought. This is what I discovered the other day:










Yep, broken exhaust hanger. Anyone know where to get one of these? Car is still serviceable thanks to the wonders of cable ties.










No wonder they call these a rally icon. There's more cable ties on this than my rally car now!

I'm still struggling to find the correct distributor rotor for the car. The first had the same electrode as the current one but was too small to fit over the shaft. The latest (#3) fits but the electrode is smaller. Can I use this one?










Still need a new gas cap too.

Cars and Coffee at Kart 2 Kart tomorrow.

Later


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

You can actually get new hangers, with a chain inside of them, to help deal with the very heavy Quattro exhaust.
I'd have to search for some sellers, but they are the same size as the VW's of the same era have.

I'm pretty sure I'm running a rotor arm like the narrow one....no running issues.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> You can actually get new hangers, with a chain inside of them, to help deal with the very heavy Quattro exhaust.
> I'd have to search for some sellers, but they are the same size as the VW's of the same era have.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I'm running a rotor arm like the narrow one....no running issues.


Thanks Sepp,

I picked up a hanger from Francois over the weekend. OE rubber same as the original. Should work for a while. I'll try my rotor arm and see if it blows up.


----------



## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> Thanks Sepp,
> 
> I picked up a hanger from Francois over the weekend. OE rubber same as the original. Should work for a while. .


Should last another 26 years!!! :laugh:


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

..and some folks use a heated window switch for the use of turning on/off (added in) front fog lights, or driving lights as it's easier to find a WH switch than a fog light switch.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Time for an update. Been doing a bit of driving and a bit of maintenance. Car has been behaving itself lately too. Took it on a 3 hour round trip to Northern Ohio a few weeks ago: 










Though it was daylight I ran it with the headlights on both ways as a test. Someone, perhaps on here, had mentioned how the headlight switch can get really warm and sometimes can melt the connector behind the switch. I thought, with Fall approaching, it might be an idea to see if they would survive and indeed they did but, I must say, the switch did get alarmingly warm. In fact I would go as far as to describe it as "hot"! So when I got back I put it on my list to investigate the wiring with a view to maybe adding some relays. 

It was during this process that I decided my main beams weren't working as I couldn't get the inner-most set of lights to come on. Later, with the car in the shop I could clearly see the main beams change from low beam so was a little puzzled. Once I got the lights off the car I realized that it has dual filamet H4s or something and they are wired up and work but the innermost high beams are not wired up wihch is why I didn't see them come on and why I thought they weren't working. In the daylight I couldn't see the H4s change to main beam. This must all be a consequence of the Euro headlight conversion the car underwent sometime in its past. So, I am going to rewire the headlights and all main beams to function using the headlight switches to control relays powered directly from the battery. I think I can create a harness for this that will just plug into the existing wiring without doing any cutting or splicing too. We will see. 

I did discover that the headlight adjusters are missing too. Apparantly these were automatic motorized jobbies on the Euro cars but manual ones can be used too. Anyone shed any light on this? 










I also discovered a bit of rust behind the right side headlight. I'll have to get a bit of stop-rust on that later. 










While I had the lights out I thought it a good idea to have a look at the air filter as it seems impossible to get at it from above. Look: 










I manged to pry the lid off enough, but just enough, to ease the filter out. 










It was really tight and the clips were hard to reach. In fact it looks like the previous owner managed to pinch one of the pleats between the lid and housing last time it was replaced. Probably wasn;t sealing too well I bet: 










Turns out it has a washable K&N filter so I washed it, oiled it and put it back 










After checking the filter I thought it might be a good idea to check the spark plugs especially as they are so easy to get at. hey were all in pretty good shape but were of the triple electrode type from Bosch. I thought these were a bit hokey so went in pursuit of some replacements only to be told that these are the correct ones the car came with. Is ths right? 



















I tried the new narrow contact rotor arm on the run to Ohio. The car ran fine but didn't feel as powerful so I have swapped back the wider one. Feels better again. I have found a Porsche part number for the wide rotor arm and endeavoring to acquire one through our local Porsche dealer. The pld w one is not in bad shape but a new one can't hurt. 

My brand new gas cap came in too and proved successful during the Ohio trip. I can now run a full tank withought is pouring down the side of the car. 

On the way back through Canada last week I swung by the previous previous owners shop for a visit. I had hoped to be in the quattro but those plans fell through but still, it was good to visit with Rob and share stories of the car. I snagged a few original parts to such as the quad lights and ac parts. perhaps I'll put them on one day.Thanks Rob. 



















I'm trying to drive the car as much as possible rather than working on it as winter is approaching but I still have a few things I want to do sooner rather than later such as the headlight relays, rotor arm, breather hose and radio though I must say I am enjoying my 80s Duran Duran albums lately.


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## StormChaser (Jan 3, 2000)

Maybe I'm confused, I thought 84.5+ didn't have the quad headlights?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

StormChaser said:


> Maybe I'm confused, I thought 84.5+ didn't have the quad headlights?


 I don't know but this car certainly had them.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

All of the North American cars had the Quads.. 

The only thing with the '85 cars..and the single '86 car was the "sloped" front end. 
The grille matched that of the 4000/CGT, and the headlight surrounds were redesigned for that year only. They are sloped as well, to match the slanted grille profile. 

I'm not sure why they didn't go with the 1 piece 4000/CGT lights the final year....left over parts?  

Regardless, the sloped headlight surrounds are mondo rare, and quite expensive to find.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> After checking the filter I thought it might be a good idea to check the spark plugs especially as they are so easy to get at. hey were all in pretty good shape but were of the triple electrode type from Bosch. I thought these were a bit hokey so went in pursuit of some replacements only to be told that these are the correct ones the car came with. Is ths right?


Originally, back in '85, the car came with Bosch WR 5 DS

According to the owners manual, these can be alternates.
Beru RS 39
Champion N 6 Y

Nowadays, the guy/gal behind the parts counter will give you more choices, with the new advances in technology.

The electrode gap should be 0.028 + 0.004 inch


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> Originally, back in '85, the car came with Bosch WR 5 DS
> 
> According to the owners manual, these can be alternates.
> Beru RS 39
> ...


So this one then?










I'm a bit confussed as someone on another forum had said mine were the correct plugs. I guess the ultimate question to as is which are the best plugs for my engine?


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

I've actually run both.
The tri-electrode do work great...maybe better than the originals?

Not sure. 

The car didn't seem to have any gains/losses with either.
My 5cyl S4 LOVED the tri electrodes....

I'm currently running the original single electrode. (the pic above)


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

OK, good to know. I'm leaving my tri-electrodes in for now then.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Not much URQ action lately, mostly because we bought this:










Which means having to fix up this :










so we can sell it 

I did find an almost new radio on eBay though 










to replace the bling thing that's in it now:










I may have an opportunity to drive the car this week as a friend of mine wants to barter a drywall job for a drive in the car! Not a bad deal hey?


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

An original stereo! Nice!

I've never had mine "on" even once in 10 years!...but I'm glad it's there, and original nonetheless.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Took the UR quattro out for one last blast today before I put it away for the winter. Strange concept for me this. Not used to it at all. Car performed flawlessly again and was a joy to drive  I took it to say "Au revoir" to Francois' URQ which is off to Maryland then home to say "Bonjour" to our new A3. Not much family resemblance here IMHO.






































After this little rendevous I filled it with gas, added a bottle of Stabil, took it back to the shop and gave it a good wash. Tomorrow I will wax it and put it away  As it will be down for a fair few months I intend to do some serious work on it. Stay tuned for developments


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

They are a total blast in the snow, but yours is so nice, I wouldn't drive it in the wither either!!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

How about trailered to an ice race in an enclosed trailer? Safe?


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Ohh yeah, I'd do that. :thumbup::thumbup:

I would just stay off the streets because (as you well enough know)
Salt
Other drivers

Salt did a number on my poor car. Luckily it's all weld-able.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I tried putting the new-old radio in before I put the car away but got flummoxed by the unusual (to me) mini DIN speaker sockets on the back of the unit (top left)











Apparantly the plugs that go into them look like these:





























But of course, mine are long gone, replaced by some fatter, after market speaker wire. I did get the thing to power up and make noise by touching bare wires to the terminals so that's a good sign.


We had a bit of fun before we put the car away, test fitted an 18" BRAID Winrace A off a customers A3. I think it looks, er, interesting. Offset is all wrong and the tire is an inch to tall but it looks kind of cool IMHO




















HEY, WHERES IT GONE !!











Ah, there it is. I think this is called "hibernating"











I also been doing a bit of "aquisition" on the parts front. Snagged this huge workshop manual and lug bolt covers from eBay UK.




























Did these cars come with lug nut covers? Lug nut heads are certainly ugly affairs. Still need a removal tool though.


My sister made me this lovely canvas of the car for Christmas











and then I bought myself this to get me through the long, dark winter nights


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

*Put some snow tires on my URQ*

Not much URQ action lately though, with the current weather conditions I am tempted to sneak it out for a play. Just have to move too much dead car out of the way to get to it or I believe I would. I did take the dust cover of for a little wheel test fit photo shoot last week though:

































































They look kind of OE don't they? What do you think? Tires are a re a little tall. These are BRAID Winrace A 17x8 with +45 offset. I used some 20mm spacers on here to make them effectively +25, almost stock. They have winter tires on as they are my wife's A3 winter setup. Hope you don't feel too lead astray by the heading for this post now LOL. Before I played with them on the URQ we had them on a friends S4 for a week as he and another friend were kindly tearing around northern Michigan last week spectating at the Sno*Drift rally with their cars resplendent in BRAID wheels and decals. Maybe you saw them.











We also had a four car team and provided one of the lead cars as well as displaying at all the service areas.:


































































Here's the wheels in their final resting place. They are quite dizzy by now.











I also received some more inspiration in the mail from ebay. Not quite the right color but way closer than my black one. Anyone want to buy that BTW?



















I also bought all Francois's spare parts after he sold both his URQs earlier this year.










I'll have to go through them and see what I can use. Getting excited about getting the car on the hoist to rebuild the front and rear suspension but first I have to work on our Jeep, Sprinter and race car. PHEW!


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## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

lucky sod for finding that original stereo. I want something aswell, but at the same time PO installed aftermarket 6x9s...

Never seen a typ 85 with lugnot covers, sorry. Not urq, sport or rallye cars - only the centercap from Ronal.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

WAUOla said:


> Never seen a typ 85 with lugnot covers, sorry. Not urq, sport or rallye cars - only the centercap from Ronal.



Same here! I've only seen lug nut covers on 5000/100's and only with Fuchs wheels.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> Same here! I've only seen lug nut covers on 5000/100's and only with Fuchs wheels.


Really? I'm surprised. The lug bolts seem to be the same ugly black one's Audi currently use and I've always seen covers on the more contemporary cars. Now I'm in two minds.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

team illuminata said:


> Really? I'm surprised. The lug bolts seem to be the same ugly black one's Audi currently use and I've always seen covers on the more contemporary cars. Now I'm in two minds.


I'll try to find a pic of an original car (brochure)
They could exist, I've just never seen them! 
(and I don't know everything!) :laugh:


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

And so it begins, pre-season refurb. Just a few items to take care of before spring gets going (even more):

*Detail
*heat stuck on
*Ps fluid-replace
*Relay head lights & Main beams
*Ignition rotor arm
*Perished breather hose
*Check timing
*Radio reception
*Radio replace
*Upper strut mounts front & rear
*Rear brake lines
*Replace coolant
*Replce ball joints
*Lower control arm bushings
*Dampers
*Timing belt cover reinstall
*Washer aim/function
*Aim lights-adjusters
*Gear box play, mounts?
*Wipers slow
*Cold starting
*exhaust leak
*oil Leaks

Perhaps I should have gotten started sooner.











First task, finish putting an original radio in. I found some old style speaker connectors on eBay and spliced them into the aftermarket speaker wires, Works too even with the tape adapter playing from my Iphone but only 80s music comes out. Rear speakers appear to be blown. No bass but front work fine.










Next I turned my attention to rebuilding the suspension. Soaked all the fasteners with PB Blaster. Started by removing the front anti-roll bar.











Maybe I didn't allow enough time for the PB Blaster to work as I broke one of the end links. Where can I get a new one?










I felt this was enough progress for the first evening especially as I am now fully committed to replacing the suspension components rather than driving the car round in its compromised condition. More to follow..........


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Slammed it:











Everything in the front suspension is loose and ready to come off:











Except this:










Non of my pullers or presses could get a purchase on it. I tried heat and hammers to no avail. Need more tools.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Something from this box should work











Like this perhaps











BINGO!











All gone











Now I have to tear this apart.











The parts haul so far











I also discovered that my right side engine mount is collapsed so that will have to be replaced too. And, my right side hub is very loose in int housing. Is that normal or should I be doing wheel bearings too?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

More unbolting today.

I was advised to remove the tie rod ends so I could free up the adjusters as I will need an alignment when I'm done.











So I did, then sprayed it with PB Blaster.











This is where it bolts to the rack. Interesting arrangement.











I took a gearbox mount off to change it but it looked new so I bolted it back on and crossed it off my list.











Have an exhaust leak from here. Had to cut the bolts with a hacksaw blade. Going to need a new donut.











Drained the coolant and flushed the system.











Removed the heater valve as I have constant heat. Seems to close though. I think I will replace it anyway.











Monday I shop for parts and do my taxes.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Disassembled both front struts today. Wasn't too hard. 











The only problem is the free Bilsteins I have aren't going to fit. They are off a later model. So, I need some inserts. Koni or Bilstein. Can't seem to find them in stock anywhere. Anyone have any sitting around?

Need quite a few parts before I can put this thing back together. namely:

Blue upper mounts
Dampers, Koni preferred
Front 86-2086 sport 2-6 weeks
Rear 86-2087 sport in stock at Koni
Front Strut bellows
End link
Wheel bearings
heater valve 
coolant G12 or regular green stuff?
Exhaust donut


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Koni inserts are on their way from a fellow URQ owner. Thanks Martin. I've found nice German top mounts and wheel bearings and most of the other parts I need. Still looking for the anti roll bar bushings and I'm not sure if I want to spend over $200 on an OE ball joint.

Took my struts and control arms to see my Freind Mat at MCE Tuning. He pressed out the wheel bearings for me no problem.











Old worn out bearing on the floor.











Inner race stayed on the hub! Mat got ot off.











Then cleaned up the wheel bearing hosings so the new bearings will go in nicely.










Next I start working on getting the control arm bushings out.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

With parts sourced over the weekend it's time to tackle the rear suspension but I'm clearly not going to get at these from the trunk. Not with an impact gun anyway.











Had to take the back seats out. Looks like a race car 











Had to use my bendy and impact gun to get the strut nuts off.











Everything loose, legs hanging. Had to use the ball joint tool kit again but now I'm an expert they just fell off.











My quattro is now "legless"! 











The wheel bearings are better than the fronts but I think I'm going to change them anyway. Ball joints and tie rods seem ok so they can stay. Not excited about removing the strut inserts on these though. A lot rustier looking than the fronts were  The left handbrake cable looks a little worse for wear but I have a pair on the way.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I got the rear struts apart yesterday. They were not as bad as I thought. I held the nut in a vice, applied heat and hit the steering arm with a hammer till it came loose.

People have suggested powder coating all the suspension components while they are off the car. I have been reluctant to do this as I am trying to not restore the car but maintain its originality. However, looking at the surface rust on the rear struts I feel I must at least POR15 the springs, rear struts and top hats just to preserve them. 











With that in mind I degreased them with Marine Clean yesterday after removing loose rust with a wire brush.










Today, if I get chance, I will prep them and paint them with POR15 black.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Started the POR15 rust inhibition project today. Prepped with POR prep stuff.











First coat of POR15 applied. Of course I managed to get some on my hands and face.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Huge parts haul today. Coolant, front wheel bearings, top mounts, handbrake cables. Control arm bushings etc.











I think I may be starting put the car back together. After installing the new heater control valve I added coolant and put the steering arms back in the car today.










After that I dropped off the control arms and bushings at a friend's so he can attack them with his new press.

Have a good weekend.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

It's KONI time in the shop this week! 










Time to start putting this car back together but one question to resolve before I do that is where to set the adjustable KONI inserts. I like a responsive ride, my other car's a race car, but don't want to ruin the ride quality especially as you have to take these buggers out again to adjust them. So where to begin, #1, #2, #5?. Anyone have any experience with these?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I started to re-assemble the front struts this afternoon. Pressed in the wheel bearings. 




















Pressed the hub on and inserted the Koni inserts. 











Need to decide on settings before I install the springs. Currently on 2 out of 5. Anyone know where these go? 











The POR15 was a bit glossy so I went over the top hats and springs with some flat black. 











I also re-installed the control arms and new right side ball joint. If I get chance tomorrow I'll install the springs then put the front struts back on the car!


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Semi productive day today. I was hoping to have the car back on its wheels, maybe even driving but alas, I was thwarted by a wrong part. Seems I have a ball joint for a 4000 instead. Bugger! 

Still, I got all four struts assembled and the Konis set. I went with 1 turn on the fronts, 1.5 in the rear. If I don't like it they are easy to adjust.....NOT! 

Installed all but the right front strut on the car. Even that is technically on the car. Just hanging from the upper mount for now. I ordered a TSW ball joint from Rock Auto as a back up. OE versions are very pricey. Tomorrow I will search locally for a decent one. If I can't find one I'll wait for the TSW one. That's what's already on the left side anyway. 

Hopefully, if I get time tomorrow I'll drop the rear on the ground and tighten all the bolts, put the rear seats back in and maybe, if I can find some, replace the blown rear speakers. I guess I could also drop and tighten the front left too. I can also install the new catalytic converter gasket and cinch that up so I can start the engine and burp the coolant. Then an alignment and we drive it. Damn, wish I had a ball joint.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Looks like a car again. At least this side does. 











This side's still missing a leg! 











So, thirty years ago a small, select group of Audi engineers sat down together to eat pizza and hatch a cunning plan. "I know..." proffers one 
particularly sneaky engineer "...... let's build a 4wd turbo car that looks just like the Coupe GT but uses non of its parts. NONE. This will really 
mess with their heads in about thirty years time. HAH!" 

See, it wasn't about rally at all. It was just a German practical joke!


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

It's funny what you'll do while your waiting for parts. I decided to have a look at the aftermarket speakers on the rear parcel shelf. They are ugly and sound really tinny.











Oh my! How do we improve on this situation? What is the OE configuration like? Anyone have an original parcel shelf? With speakers?










I tried some other speakers in there but they were too bg and still sounded tinny. Maybe my acoustic issue lies somewhere else.

Still no sign of another (probably wrong) balljoint so I decided to pull out the passenger seat. Why? Severe case of wobble-bottom due to suspected worn slider bushings. BTW easiest seat extraction ever!










Or non existent slider bushings.











Oh, here it is. Hiding in the slider rail. Yuk.











and here's the new ones I surreptitiously picked up off eBay. Yes, I did buy two sets but the driver's seat is not so bad just yet. maybe, when my wrong balljoint gets here I will decide it is aweful and swap them too.











Here, that's better.











Then, really desperate, I downloaded this to play through my new OE stereo.










AUTOBAHN (Kraftwerk) - self made music video - YouTube​
I wanna go for a drive


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Look what Postman Pat brought me yesterday. 











It fits too!










OK, I know, it's not OE and will probably wear out in about 10,000 miles but it's a tenth of the price!

So here it is, finally, back on all fours.











So i fired up the quattro and backed it out to get it up to temperature. I needed to burp the cooling system and test my new heater valve. Heater valve works but still runs a little warm at full cold. It is not closing fully though it did on the bench. I think a small cable adjustment should take care of things.











Then I took it out for a test drive. I must say the Kraftwerk worked perfectly. Exactly as described. New suspension's not bad either. Initially the new dampers seemed crashy over small bumps but soon settled down. I was a little surprised that the dampers did not feel stiffer as I set them around half their range. I couldn't really get on it though as the front anti roll bar is still off and I only have an eyeball alignment. I'm sure I'm going to be very happy with it once it's aligned and fully together next week.

I put the old speakers back in place but didn't reconnect them. The front are fine for now. Would love to get a replacement parcel shelf and original speakers though. Anyone?

I also installed the new cat gasket/donut but I think it's still blowing a bit 

So I'm done for now. There's quite a few things on my original hit list that I didn't do yet and a few new ones but it's time to drive this thing.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Awesome stuff!!!!!

Thanks for sharing!!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I took the car down to Auto Europe for an alignment Tuesday.



















My eyeballed alignment was way off as you might imagine but Charles whipped it back into shape.










So i've only put a few dozen miles on the car and the front anti-roll bar is missing but this beast has been transformed. No more boings and rattles from the loos suspension, goes where you point it and is very responsive. Just rolls a bit in corners as you might imagine. So everything is good. Not quite..........radiator started leaking yesterday. just a little froom the top seam:










and maybe the core










Can this be fixed, perhaps in situ? I don't want a new radiator as I love the look of the aged brass top.

I also have a small leak now from the power steering regulator but haven't yet isolated the source.

It never raiins but it pours (or weeps) with these cars.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

For the radiator, not in car repair, but I did get mine re-cored...keeping the ends.

It looks as if your coolant is green.

This can be bad.
I only use the blue VW/Audi coolant, as it has no phosphates..and it's less corrosive than most of the green stuff.

Just need to fully flush the system out before adding the blue..as it's been known on occasion to turn to jello if one mixed colours.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> For the radiator, not in car repair, but I did get mine re-cored...keeping the ends.
> 
> It looks as if your coolant is green.
> 
> ...


Thanks Sepp. This seems to be the consensus.

The car had green in it when I bought it. Last month I flushed it and refilled it with pink Audi (G12). Now it looks brown. When the radiator gets repaired I'll flush it again and use pink . Maybe it will stay pink after that.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Quick radiator removal. This should be easy right? 











It has more hoses going to it than my heart has arteries. 











Finally got it disconnected and out of the car. 




















Uh, oh! Where's the isolator mount? Is this replaceable? 




















Off to the radiator shop for a re-core. Hopefully they can use the end tanks and side brackets. 


Finally found a replacement for that decomposing breather hose. 











OE exhaust bolts. How concientious is that? 











Can't wait to get the radiator back for the shop and start driving this thing.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Recored UR Quattro radiator. I asked them not to paint it but now have to decide what to do to it. I was hoping to retain the original look with some of the black paint still on the top with the aged brass showing through but it rather got cleaned off in the process. Do I need to paint the core or can I leave the whole thing raw? 











This is what it looked like before and what I hoped to retain:


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So I decided not to paint anything, just threw it back into the car and drove it to the local track event by way of a shakedown. I hope everyone's cool with that. 




























Next on the list is to figure out why my washers don't work anymore. Low flow, just dribbles out. I also need to get the anti roll bar back on, detail it and rebalance the wheels. Then, hopefully, I can enjoy the car for a few months, so long as the clutch lasts. It feels awefully high on the pedal lately.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Good Luck!!! 

and niiiiiice Mk1 Cortina!!! :heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> Good Luck!!!
> 
> and niiiiiice Mk1 Cortina!!! :heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:


 LOTUS Cortina!


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Green strip is dead giveaway it's such (or a replica)
I nearly got a Mk2.

Fab cars. :thumbup::thumbup:


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Well, looks like I haven't updated this thread for a while. I'm going to use the excuse that I have been driving the car instead of working on it. Who'd have thought?

I did finally get the anti roll bar back on. Had to order parts from the UK. I couldn't find OE bushings so had to settle for upgraded poly versions. I'm sure they are better but are a bit blue.



















I also had to buy a pair of anti roll bar endlinks with bushings from the UK to replace the one I broke during disassembly. The very fist nut I tried to remove during the suspension rebuild.




















I did put the original wheels back on for the summer










so my friend Tim could put them on his as he was headed to Pike's Peak.










Not a bad bit of exposure for the brand.

I managed to snag a replacement clutch in case mine gives out on me soon. It does feel quite high on the pedal now but is not slipping.



















So with the car pretty much back together I have enjoyed driving it around for a few uneventful months and parking it next to other interesting vehicles (apparantly).









































































I didn't park it next to these two beauties but I did get to see them in Europe, and about eight others just like them. Yes, they are real, unlike Tim's replica above. I even touched them!











So next on the agenda is to fix the washers as they are quite lame and this one leak.










OE gasket came in today. $3! must be the cheapest quattro fix ever.

Hopefully the car will stay together till winter when I think we may be putting a clutch in it. How hard could that be?


----------



## MattFueh2234 (Apr 19, 2006)

Great car, Paul! Thanks for sharing.

I just had my A3 serviced at my neighbor's repair shop here in Philadelphia and what do I see? A white ur quattro sitting there getting dusty. I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw it. With white wheels like yours, too. Now, days later I can't stop thinking about it!! D'oh! 
Damn I want that car. :banghead:

Back when I was a kid (in my 20's) I had a '87 Coupe GT and always wished it was a URQ. I got rid of the CGT in '99 when it wouldn't pass inspection. 2 different shops gave me a laundry list of things wrong including cracked exhaust manifold with a price around $1700 to fix. That was it for me, I gave it to a VW dealer and bought a brand new Jetta. It was time anyways since after 7 years of daily driving the CGT was getting old to me. When I got the CGT it had 99k miles. When I was done it had 250k miles on it! All-in-all it was good to me. I remember I spent about $1,000 a year to maintain it.

Anyways, if luck has it go my way maybe I'll have a great white URQ in my possession sometime on the near future. If I do I will definitely share!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Buy it. Or tell me where it is. I have friend looking for one.

$1700 is a cheap repair bill on a URQ.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I think my BRAID Serie 6 RC wheels look much better on my mate Tim's car than mine.



















So i'm thinking of getting some Serie 4 RC instead.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Here's another option. I could get BRAID to make some 9x15 RONAL replicas like these:










Of course they'd have to make more than one set. Anyone else interested?


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## vulpi (Sep 22, 2009)

Love your work! 

Could you have the Ronal R8 reps made in 16 inch so we can get tires for them? 

I would buy some sixteens for sure!


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Let me know if you plan to do a run, and I'll run a story on the site and push to social media. You might also contact 2Benett as I bet they could sell more than a few sets of 16-inch Ronals.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

vulpi said:


> Love your work!
> 
> Could you have the Ronal R8 reps made in 16 inch so we can get tires for them?
> 
> I would buy some sixteens for sure!


Probably, if there were enough interest. Need about 100 to make it viable. What size tires would you run on 16s?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> Let me know if you plan to do a run, and I'll run a story on the site and push to social media. You might also contact 2Benett as I bet they could sell more than a few sets of 16-inch Ronals.


Will do George.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

team illuminata said:


> Probably, if there were enough interest. Need about 100 to make it viable. What size tires would you run on 16s?


8" or 9" wide?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

OK, it's a GO. I'm getting some 15x9 Ronals!

We have teamed up with HANSPORT in the UK and BRAID Wheels in Barcelona to offer classic Audi replica rally wheels in the original specs starting with the 15x9 Ronal originally used on the Sport quattro.

















These wheels will be heat treated cast aluminium, 15x9, ET12, 5x112 with a 57.1 center bore, white powder coat finish. Other colours will be available at extra cost.

These wheels will be sold exclusively through Hansport. Team Illuminata Motorsport, through our subsidiary BRAID USA will manage the project. Price is not yet set but expected to be around £500/$800/620€ each. Available as a minimum order of four wheels with no maximum. Delivered anywhere in the world. 50% deposit due with order, balance before delivery.

The main thread for this project will be http://www.quattroforum.com/index.p...could-be-back-on-the-cards.17945/#post-159948. Please post any questions and orders there or contact Hansport or myself direct.

BRAID  have been making high quality, competition wheels in Europe since 1978. They offer a full range of competition wheels for all forms of motorsport and classic cars. BRAID wheels are specifically designed for competition but, of course, are equally at home on the street. Many of BRAID's are cast from lightweight aluminum and heat treated for maximum strength. Others use forged or flowcast technology. BRAID already produce many ultra-high quality replica wheels for customers including Porsche 911 Fuchs, Ferrari F40 and Lancia 037.

























Hansport was founded by John Hanlon in 1996 to restore, prepare and provide on-event support for an ever increasing personal collection of historic competition cars. The HanSport Team combines the talents of engineers who insist upon excellence, have a true understanding and passion for motorsport, together with it's history. Over the years, HanSport have prepared cars which have subsequently been piloted by many World Championship Winning drivers, such as Hannu Mikkola, Michèle Mouton, Stig Blomqvist, Jimmy McRae and Harald Demuth; to name just a few. HanSport currently own the largest collection of factory Group B Audis in the world and are based in Manchester, England; my home town.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Not much interest in 15x9 Ronal replicas. 

How about 16x9?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Finally got the car out now all the salt has washed off the roads. 

So, I drove all three of these today, not at the same time, and, after pondering over a cup of tea I think I have concluded that, at least on the street, I prefer to drive the Quattro! 



















Here's some pictures of the meet we took the cars too:


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Nice! and I agree.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

The Quattro has been running like a champ so not much to report. That and the fact that I am currently obsessed with our 911 RallyCross project means that all I have are pictures. Still; PICTURES. 

I took the car to watch the local autocross at the Silverdome in Pontiac. It prefers watching (and being admired). The guy with the CL500 was very excited and followed me into the venue to chat about the car. 











A week later was a invitation only car gathering at Carl's Cabin in Plymouth for "Interesting Vehicles". We took three. Had to fill 'em up first though. That wasn't cheap and I had to buy my drivers lunch too! Still, we had a great time. 























































As much as I love driving this car it is almost as pleasurable to watch it being driven. 




















Then last week a car show; my first. Motorstadt 10. I hung out with the chaps from Audi USA who brought some more modern icons along. 










Won something too. Not sure exactly what. Best red Quattro perhaps? 











I have a Cars and Coffee thing tomorrow. Maybe something will break so I'll have more interesting posts next week. 

Have a great weekend.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Here's an excellent video Winding Road Magazine's Chris Amos made of our UR Quattro.


http://youtu.be/UCaySv1Blok


Unfortunately I think this was about the last time the car would idle. Doesn't seem to matter if it's cold or warm, just dies, but not all at once. It takes a few seconds then it will start right up again. I can keep it running with my foot but once I let off it splutters to a halt. I think this as been coming on all year. In the spring it would die when cold if left it running a few minutes to warm up. I tweaked the throttle stop screw as a temporary fix but I think it might be time to get greasy.

I took the plugs out and cleaned them but that didn't help.





















I took the cold idle valve off the back of the head and sprayed some brake cleaner through it. Also tested it's operation with 12V. Closed up after about a minute. Put it back on but no different.











Took off the alien's head and checked the position of the air sensor plate. Seemed fine. Cleaned out what little dirt there was inside.




















Pulled a couple of injectors, maybe three. At least one has a bad seal. Not replaced them yet. Is it easy? Could this cause bad idle?











I have been reading up on the K-Jetronic fuel injection. It seems quite straightforward but lots of vacuum hoses and other components. I'm thinking of just refurbishing the whole thing. That feels like a winter project so for now I'd just like to get it running some so I can drive it a few times before we run out of season. 

Any suggestions?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

After ordering some new (correct) spark plugs and injector seals I brought the car into the main shop and started a concerted poking around to try to figure out why it wont idle. You'd think this might have something to do with it. air temperature sensor.











I removed the throttle body and cleaned it out paying particular attention to the air bypass screw which I think allows it to idle.




























I made some interesting observations:

There's a hole in the throttle plate.
The air bypass screw was fully closed
The arm that actuates the idle and full throttle micro switches was loose. Wouldn't operate the full throttle switch at all. I peened it firm with a small hammer.
Both switches appear to function as intended and are wired correctly.

I put it all back together but it didn't make any difference to the idle, even after backing out the air bypass screw a full turn 


.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I had a little time yesterday so I pulled the injectors with a view to installing new seals. Here is what I found:

#1









#2









#3









#4









#5










I was surprised only #2 was really torn up though the rest look quite done. Of course the most alarming discovery was on #4 which is missing a tip! Looking at it it may have been off for some time but where is it and how long is any bodies guess. If it fell off into he intake port it can't be good right? Could it get past a valve into a cylinder. Out again and into the turbo? Pass right through without doing any harm?

I did install new seals and, perhaps foolishly started it up to see if they made a difference. I hoped it was safe based on how aged the area where the tip had been looked. It still didn't idle and I don't think it made any strange noises.

Next step?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So I had another look at the odd injector over the weekend and it turns out to have the same part number as the other four: 0 437 502 041. All the pictures I find of it show an end cap (air shroud) so now I think I must have one floating around in my intake or stuck at the end of the inject insert. I don't think it's in the insert as that one injector has quite a lot of lateral play when inserted so is at least not locating in the cap.

So now I feel I should take the intake manifold off or the head or even the engine out. I f I take the engine out I could also fix a lot of leaks, replace engine mounts, clutch etc. Maybe I can even get it to idle again!

What do you think?


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## impretzle (Jul 19, 2008)

If you take the engine out you'll just have to build it completely. Big turbo efi etc


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

impretzle said:


> If you take the engine out you'll just have to build it completely. Big turbo efi etc


No thanks. No big turbo for this one. Needs to remain stock.

I've was told a while ago that if I ever take the engine out I will quickly be bankrupt!


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## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

team illuminata said:


> No thanks. No big turbo for this one. Needs to remain stock.
> 
> I've was told a while ago that if I ever take the engine out I will quickly be bankrupt!


A little uncertain whats actually on mine, but getting newer K24 turbo from i.e. S2 is a nice treat if having the old K26. :thumbup:


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## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

Neat shortmovie on Youtube Paul :thumbup:


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Back from Europe and inspired to get the Quattro running again. 

Before I went away I had my Friend Werner look over the engine and we agreed the best course of action was to totally refurbish the CIS system as it has been messed with over the years, is not as Audi intended and looks to have some very dodgy vacuum lines. We thought the best approach was to remove the engine to do this as I also want to take the head off to find the bits of missing injector and replace the clutch. But first, and today I did a compressions test:











At least I now know the head is coming off. Hopefully the problem is with the valves on #1 as I have a refurbished head already. Just over 100,000 miles on the block so that should be OK.

I found specs online that suggest stock compression should be from 100-130psi so the rest of the cylinders look pretty good.

So here we go with the next big project. Hopefully it wont take too long as I'd like to drive the car this season. Here is the scope and issues I hope to resolve in the process:

*starting and idling issues
*Injector holder
*Coolant leak
*Boost issue
*Shifter link
*Alignment 
*Tune up
*cat joint leak
*engine mounts
*Drive line shunt
*clutch
*Belts
*Check timing
*Timing belt cover missing
*Cracked exhaust manifold?
*Oil Leaks
*Hot starting
*Plastic pipe broken engine bay
*spark plug wires wrong
*Fuel pipe orientation wrong

Wish me luck.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

And so it begins. Spent the afternoon draining fluids, removing the radiator and disconnecting about a thousand wires and vacuum hoses. Tomorrow I'll start disconnecting the same around the transmission.

Engine and transmission could be out Tuesday!











I don't know what it is about this car but I'm already missing two nuts, a bolt and the accelerator cable clip. When you drop Audi fasteners on the floor they make one sound then evaporate


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

OK, well I didn't exactly promise it would be out Tuesday did I?

Due to wheels sales keeping me busy and the ridiculous complexity of detaching everything necessary to drop the engine and gearbox they are still in the car. The hardest component was the clutch slave cylinder. It took me over an hour just to find it. Then I still couldn't see it. I was supposed to remove it to keep the lines sealed but it is held in in such a ridiculous fashion that I finally gave up and detached the line. Hopefully I can bleed it later, in situ and blind!

Some pictures of progress so far:





































So, If I have found everything only the subframe is holding it all in. I'm going to try to drop the engine, transmission, subframe and front suspension in one go. Just have to figure out what to drop it on and how. Maybe today. No promises though.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Here goes......











and it's out.





























That was tight. Going to be fun getting it back in. Wish I'd known this was still attached. Would have been a whole lot easier. DOH!











Right side engine mount fell apart.












SO next is remove sub-frame, split engine and box, Asses all the leaks, clean, remove head. That will be next week as I'm busy over the weekend.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Some progress today . I removed the subframe and dragged it to one side of the shop:



















Was going to split the block and transmission next but was thwarted by one wastegate bracket nut so decided to remove the intake and exhaust plumbing first.





























Discovered a few issues of course. One is that almost every fastener I have removed so far seemed very loose. Is this normal? Also these:





























What's this?











Broken connector on the diff lock actuator:











If I get time tomorrow I'll split the block and trans


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

They're under starter's orders......













Ready............











Go!











YUK!











Not too bad











Clutch slave cylinder off. Replace?










Borrowed this to test fit. Will it fit?











Today I might get to power-wash everything and take off the clutch.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Quite a bit of progress these past few days. I think this is the furthest this car has been from being drivable since before it was made!

Got the clutch off. What do you think?





























Doesn't look that worn.











Bought some supplies and cleaned the sub-frame and box.





























Got the flywheel off and mounted it on the engine stand.




















Next, off with it's head!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Got the head off. No problem with any fasteners or anything. Took me a while to figure out hoe to slacken the timing belt though. Never seen that before.

Here are some shots of the pistons and valves:





































































































And the valves:










I filled the head with gasoline but couldn't see any leaking past the valves.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So yesterday I did as suggested: flipped the head, filled the combustion chambers with gasoline and aimed compressed air at the valve seats from below. Results can be seen in this video.

URQ Intake and Exhaust Valves Check - YouTube






As you can see, almost every cylinder has an issue. The worst is #1 though which is the one with bad compression. I think we'll be putting the new head on when we put this back all together.

I also did a similar thing with the piston rings. No compressed air though. I just poured some fuel into each to see if it leaked by fairly quickly. I have no benchmark for this test but in my opinion they leaked down very, very slowly. I'm thinking the pistons are OK but I need a better way to prove this before reassembly.

One thing I'm not sure about, how to remove the large pulley on the front also seems to be called "vibration damper". Big central nut or four Allen screws or all five? 9, 10 and 12 below.










Any suggestion for stopping the crank rotating?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

How about locking the crank off the flywheel, like this?











The four Allen screws actually came out very easily.


So an air impact gun should free the center bolt up then?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Took the oil pan off yesterday. All the screws were very loose. That's been a feature of this project so far. Hope it extends to the crank bolt. Some screws were even missing!





























While it will be nice to check the bottom end out the main reason for taking off the oil pan was to wedge the crank in preparation for the dreaded crank bolt extraction.











So I tooled up and crossed my fingers.











I needn't have worried. Came off like butter.











It certainly wasn't loose but I doubt it was fully torqued.


So, relieved, I put the kettle on for a well earned brew and then dug through my boxes of spares and pulled the reconditioned head I bought earlier in the year to see if it matched the old one.










Slightly different part numbers:



















What's this tube sticking out of the side for?










Different boss arrangement on the left side. Problem?










And the cam lobes look smaller in the refurb head.

Shall I use this one of fix the old one?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I just found this quote from the ad when I bought the car a few years ago:

"The car has a modified head and a modified ECU to allow use of the Euro wastegate spring."

What do you think they did? Maybe I should contact the previous owner.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I disassembled the turbo, manifold, down pipe and waste gate over the weekend. It put up a bit of a fight but nothing a bit of heat and an impact gun couldn't handle.





































The manifold is cracked. Need to decide whether to repair it or install the later Audi "fix" manifold.

There is a little play in the turbo bearings so I think I should have it rebuilt. Any recommendations for a rebuilder?

Should I rebuild the waste gate too? I've been told they wear over time and bleed off boost.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Progress is slow. Please stop ordering wheels so I can work on this car more LOL. Oh, I meant "Please order more wheels so I can afford parts for this car".

Today is brought to you by the letter Oil Pump.



















and Cleaning pistons. I used gasoline and a soft wire brush. A lot of grease from my elbows helped too.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I went through my parts stash over the weekend. It's amazing what I have. Am I missing anything though?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So I'm ready to start putting this engine back together but I'm still not 100% convinced my refurbished head is correct for the WX engine. Are the 38mm intake valves and slightly smaller cam lobes stock for the WX?

Of course I will need a head gasket and apparently new head bolts for this job. I assume these should all be OE right? Any suggestions where to buy (USA preferably). I'll obviously need a few other seals and gaskets but I might have them in my parts stash already. If you noticed anything that wasn't pictured above let me know.

Time to turn the corner on this project.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Oops, sorry. I forgot to post these two pictures. First one shows the oil and coolant passages on both heads, To me they seem identical.











I'm a bit concerned about how some of the oil and coolant passages were seemingly blocked (red) or partially blocked (yellow) by the old head gasket. Is this normal?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

It looks like my refurbished head has hydraulic valves after all so it was decided to refurbish the head that came off. To that end I ripped into it. Not sure it's going to work out though.















































Can it be salvaged?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So I took the refurbished head apart to see if it really has hydraulic lifters. Indeed it does as you can see in the pictures:

Old head:










New head:










You can see the hole for the oil feed that doesn't seem to be present in the old head so it looks like this head is also setup for hydraulic lifters and didn't just get them by mistake. As all the oil and coolant passageways line up with the block it should work right?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So I've been thinking about using this hydraulic lifter head in place of the mechanical lifter head and what might happen. The way I see it everything needed to make the hydraulic head function should be contained within the head especially as it is exactly the same physical shape as the old head. It should bolt right up. The only thing it needs to function is oil pressure to operate the tappets but almost everything else in there needs oil too. There's going to be oil regardless. So then it occurred to me that this oil may get to the tappets via an oil passageway that was blocked off by the mechanical head's gasket and if I just use the same configuration gasket I could be blocking off that oil supply that it will now need. So I thought, if I place the head on some paper towels and squirt a little brake cleaner down the oil feed hole for each tappet I will be able to see which passage way through the gasket it flows through, right? I'll try it today if I get to the shop.


Now for some progress because there has to be progress, no matter how small. It's important. As it looks like this project is going to take waaaaay longer than I'd hoped I thought it wise to at least free up the hoist by bolting the sub-frame back on. Should be easy to push without an engine and transmission but impossible without a sub-frame.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

More head research. I wanted to make sure the rebuilt head would get it's required oil feed if I just bolted it on to the block to I back-fed brake cleaner through a few of the lifter oil supply holes and guess what? It feeds through an existing port which is common to the cam bearings. Therefore it should get the oil feed it needs, right?










Now I just need a gasket and bolts. I checked the head thickness by the way: same as my old head.


I also acquired a third head for the sake of research. This was bought by a friend for use on a "10 valve turbo" engine but of unknown origin. He had it rebuilt but it doesn't have a cam. Intake valves are 38mm for what it's worth.




























The part number (casting number) and in fact the head itself are exactly the same as my rebuilt head. Researching the part/casting number produced a few hits suggesting it belongs to an Audi 5000 turbo. Interesting no?

So I think I'm ready to commit my rebuilt head to the block. I guess I should check that first though eh?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sorry about the lack of updates. Been busy with domestic stuff and wheel sales. I did manage to cobble together a list of parts. Some of the part numbers might be right.










If you have any of these or any correction or even something I've missed please let me know.


----------



## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

team illuminata said:


> I also acquired a third head for the sake of research. This was bought by a friend for use on a "10 valve turbo" engine but of unknown origin. He had it rebuilt but it doesn't have a cam. Intake valves are 38mm for what it's worth.
> 
> The part number (casting number) and in fact the head itself are exactly the same as my rebuilt head. Researching the part/casting number produced a few hits suggesting it belongs to an Audi 5000 turbo. Interesting no?


Hi,

I believe the common part numbers with the 200/5000 is no coincidence, as the engine for the urquattro was inherited from the typ 43 Audi 200 to begin with, and overall, there has been very minor changes to the 10V upper half over the years (except rallye items I presume).

I was however a little curious about what you find of valve sizes in US. You guys mainly had the "GX" engine, right? I may be off, but believe the header is somewhat alike the Swiss "WX" head. And maybe just a mistake or a rumour, but picked up someone talking about the valve sizes being bigger over there. OEM in Europe I believe it is 38,2 mm intake and 33,3 mm exhaust valves.

Then looking at the 034 motorsports page, I believe they had something stating bigger valves for WX engine, but cannot find it now.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I've ordered around $1000 of parts from Jeff at Sunset Porsche-Audi and ECS but I'm missing a few hard to find NLA type pars. Perhaps you can help?


clutch slave cylinder 1	
hall sender 1 035905065a 
intake manifold bolt 1	N0147112
subframe bushings rear 2	857199419B

Anyone have any of these or a source let me know. Keen to slap this thing back together.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Uh oh, parts list just got bigger due to ECS's overly ambitious inventory system.

Now need:

clutch slave cylinder 1 
hall sender 1 035905065a 
*intake manifold bolt 1 N0147112
subframe bushings rear 2 857199419B
*cam belt cover rear 1	035109143
*head gasket 1	035 103 383 J
* lower cam belt cover 1	069109110

Parts marked * are going to hold me up 

Anybody have any ideas?


----------



## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Did you check with Rock Auto?
They have a pretty impressive selection of Quatty parts.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Sepp said:


> Did you check with Rock Auto?
> They have a pretty impressive selection of Quatty parts.


No I didn't. I'll give them a try. Thanks for the tip.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Parts are starting to show up now. Going to be out of excuses soon.

Unfortunately I think these injector holders and the one injector are going to be wrong for this head.











But all this stuff is going to be appropriate.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Uh oh. One these things is not like the other.











The old engine mount on the left is 431199381N. The new one I ordered is 431199381J

Which one should I be using?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I may be back on Quattro duty! The brief disruption to service was caused by us taking on more space and building a new home for the cars. There's space for a red Quattro too:










That done I got stuck into the Quattro this week. Cleaned up the injector holders, added new seals and reinstalled the cam. Whatever next?






































Rigged up idler pulley puller. Very effective.











Installed new seal and pulley and reinstalled the oil pump.




















I couldn't find any marks to line up right now so this is a close to #1 at TDC as I could eyeball:











and with #1 valves all closed that should be close enough for now right? Head is on but not torqued down yet.











Missing some parts so will have to work on other aspects of the project over the holiday. Is it true it's best to use TWO crankshaft seal cover gaskets to move the lip of the seal out of the old wear groove?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I've been thinking about how to set valve timing on this engine. The manual says to align the mark on the flywheel with the indicator on the bell housing and the mark on the camshaft pulley with the top of the head. I really don't want to have to install the gearbox before I can set timing; is there another way? There is also mention of setting the mark on the crankshaft pulley with a boss on the oil pump but I have read this can be unreliable. Does anyone know the number of teeth on the belt between the two marks once the cam belt is on?











One more question: does the black seal go on the plastic or on the brass?




















I did make some progress this weekend but got distracted by some bright and shiny things that turned up:




















Once that bit of fun was over I started to refurbish the engine's tin ware. Degreased, wire brushed and treated with rust eater:











Tomorrow I'll source some POR15 and finish them in black.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Made a little progress today but before we get to that a little housekeeping: I have been hosting most of my pictures on Facebook for this thread but I've recently noticed that they a not loading. It seems that they are still on my Facebook page but the urls have changed! There is no way I can go back and re-link them all so if you want to see them try my Snapfish account instead.


Now then, back to the business in hand. I torqued down the head bolts today. Boy, what a lot of effort. I hate torqueing head bolts. I always expect one to strip but they never have, yet. No pics; it looked just the same afterwards, sorry. I did paint the tinware though. Used Rustoleum instead of POR15. Way cheaper and probably fine for this application.










Tomorrow, if time permits, I will try to get this and the timing belt on. Or maybe the oil pan, or perhaps the valve cover. Something will get bolted to something.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

So, true to my word, I did bolt some things to other things today. Got the cam belt cover on. I would say "back on" but the engine didn't have one before!











and the cam pulley, crank pulley and cam belt.











and the valve cover











and even the oil pick up tube!











However, I'm not sure the timing is right yet so everything is still loose. What do you think, close enough:





























I'm thinking maybe 1 tooth off on the cam end. Will it still turn safely one tooth out?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Got some new engine mounts yesterday. These should do the trick.











Bolted the oil pan on. Had to replace a few missing screw!











Then bolted some things onto the left side











and then to the right side











I'm going to try to make one of these heat shields because I can't find one anywhere. Does anyone know what color they were painted?










Last thing today I moved the car off the hoist and staged it in our showroom. The 911 that was there needs transmission work and has to be running soon so it's time to switch focus. I do intend getting the intake and exhaust mounted and mating up the transmission first though. If nothing else just to make some room in the shop. Cars in bits seem to take up a lot of space.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I made this heat shield today. Still needs paint. Silver or black?


----------



## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

Do you by any chance have idea on the sleeve diametre that is on your car's master cylinder?

IF painted, go satin black style.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

WAUOla said:


> Do you by any chance have idea on the sleeve diametre that is on your car's master cylinder?
> 
> IF painted, go satin black style.


I don't, sorry.

Went silver for better heat reflection.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Much progress today:

Painted the heat shield and installed it. Yep, went with silver for more heat reflectance.











Replaced the seals in the transmission while the paint was drying.





























Installed the exhaust manifold and turbo.











and the down pipe.











I tried to install the waste gate but I'm going to need new studs. They don't semm to have part numbers though. How do I order them?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I had a very productive afternoon then suffered what may or may not be a major setback. Read on.

I installed the intake manifold.











engine mounts











Then was installing the chains to lift it off the engine stand when it suddenly spun over and knocked off the down pipe!











As you might imagine I was quite devastated but upon inspection I think I may be alight. There's a slip fit and a weld just after the turbo which is where it broke. I think I can get it welded back together. The orientation is critical though so I left the rest of it bolted to the turbo. I'm going to wait till I get the hardware for the wastgate, dry fit it all then mark the orientation before having someone weld it up. Hopefully.


I had a cup of tea then carried on. Installed the flywheel next











then the clutch











followed by the clutch release bearing











Fortunately I got my chain lengths just right so they lined up pretty well.











and slid together without much of a fight.











I checked the timing marks and it was spot on 











so put the timing cover on for the first time since I have owned the car.











So, I have now bolted together as many parts as I could and so I'm going to take a break for a few weeks while I fix the transmission in my 911. More broken German stuff!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

OK, so a few weeks turned into a few months. It happens. Would really like to drive it this summer so cracking on. Today replacing the prop shaft seal.





























Once this is back together this is all that's left on my list:

15	Rear trans seal 
16	Refurb power steering system
17	Refurb CIS
18	Clean engine bay
19	Replace brake line
20	Refurb strut tops
21	Fix down pipe
22	Install waste gate
23	Trans oil
24	Attach subframe
25	Install engine, trans, sub frame
26	Reconnect ancillaries
27	Fire up
28	Test drive
29	alignment

Piece of cake.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Replacing the diff lock actuator today I managed to brake the clip that attaches it to the actuator rod. NLA but ECS say they have one. We will see.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm thinking the next phase should be to refurbish the hydraulic system before I pt the engine back in. It powers the steering and brakes and seems to be wet in its entirety. What is typically replaced. Should I refurbish the steering rack too?


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## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

Typically? Maybe actuator and master cylinder, together with bias valve or what they're called.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I was going to replace the rear brake line yesterday then this happened.




















So I said F-it and went to the track instead. I did come back later and straightened my spool of exotic Audi brake line.











Need to make it look like this somehow:






































I guess i'm going to need some new tools; and a new tool box.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Heavily invested in brake line tools now. Worked though. I just need some more brake projects to justify the investment.











I started at the master cylinder end and taped the new line to the old line as I went. The flare went well but I couldn't get the first bend as close to the fitting as the factory but it looks OE enough in my opinion.











I'm glad I replaced the rear brake line as it fell apart after it saw it's replacement and cried tears of brake fluid.











To my surprise it actually fir very well. I mean, it should right considering it was virtually a copy of the original. Things like this generally do not go this well for me though. I had to replace a few clips with new unfortunately.











Me bleedin' bleed nipples are bleedin' rusted to buggery in the rear and as I replaced the rear brake line I now have to bleed the buggers! #URQuattroFun




















Later; I need a break from brakes. Next up: Transmission linkage stabilizer which is NLA, of course and then the hydraulic system.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Time to address the shift link stabilizer. Number 35 in this diagram. The plastic sockets on the ends wear and it is NLA (No Longer Available). 











Mines a little loose so let's build a new one.





























Now it's NPA (NO Problem Anymore)


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Decided to take out the steering rack, hydraulic pump, accumalator and reservoir en masse. Seems as if every bit of it is leaking. 


Steering rack






































At brake master cylinder











Et voila!











Now what?


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

I've done the same thing.
A lot of my hose ends were leaking.
I got new ones locally.

Best of luck!


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## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

Is that 811 622 10x part the master cylinder?

Just asking, as my Swiss WX'ed car came with 23,84mm accepting brake servo, and not the 25mm version as many other late urquattros.
So, it made me think about maybe the low power urquattros had the typ 81/85 setup with 23mm masters.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

WAUOla said:


> Is that 811 622 10x part the master cylinder?
> 
> Just asking, as my Swiss WX'ed car came with 23,84mm accepting brake servo, and not the 25mm version as many other late urquattros.
> So, it made me think about maybe the low power urquattros had the typ 81/85 setup with 23mm masters.



No, that's actually the steering rack; the end that bolts to the inner wheel well.


----------



## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

team illuminata said:


> No, that's actually the steering rack; the end that bolts to the inner wheel well.


I see! Do you know the setup of master cylinder on your car (23,84 vs 25mm) ?

It doesn't make sense Audi selling 25mm master for a special 23,84mm brake servo as only listed option under ur & Sport, and then tell that's not the corret part. :facepalm:


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

WAUOla said:


> I see! Do you know the setup of master cylinder on your car (23,84 vs 25mm) ?
> 
> It doesn't make sense Audi selling 25mm master for a special 23,84mm brake servo as only listed option under ur & Sport, and then tell that's not the corret part. :facepalm:


I have no knowledge about the brake master cylinder on this car. I'm just happy I know where it is and it's not leaking.

Sorry.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

My apologies, it's been a while since I have updated this thread and that's because it's been a while since I worked on the car. My wife's A3 booted the Quattro off the hoist a while back and I've since been too busy with the parts business to get it back on. Well that change this weekend when I found the hoist vacant along with my schedule. So on it went, again.











I am waiting for a friend to figure out how to replace the hydraulic hoses while using the original fittings so I thought I'd tackle bleeding the brakes which, of course required freeing up the rusted bleed nipples in the calipers. Well I only broke two off, left front and left rear!











How do I fix these? I imagine it involves removing the calipers which I managed quite easily on the left front but the left rear is fighting me. I managed to unhook the handbrake cable from the lever but the outer sheath looks like it's fused to the caliper in it's seat.




















I'm also struggling to get the brake union on the inner fender separated.











I left them soaking in PB Blast overnight. Think that will work?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

More progress but nothing picture worthy, sorry. I managed to free up both the handbrake cable and the brake line union yesterday but was less successful with the brake calipers. Unless you count that I was able to remove the rear caliper and place it on the bench that is.

So I cut a slit in the front caliper's bleed screw, or at least what was left of it. The stub was protruding about 4mm so there was quite a bit to work with. I had hit it with PB Blaster again when I got there so that had had an hour to soak in. I heated it as much as I could with a propane torch then with CFC Freeze Off and then heated again. I then hit it with my impact screwdriver and guess what? No, it didn't come right out; it broke right off flush with the caliper 

Needless to say I didn't move on to the rear caliper.

So what's next, drilling it out and re-tapping, reverse drilling? New car?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I found a few hours to work on the car today. I basically pulled off more parts. Gotta start installing parts.

Tried EasyOut on one of the seized bleeders. FAIL











So turned my attention to the CIS injection system because you can never have enough parts on the floor.















































Then started thinking about getting the downpipe welded back together. If you remember it separated after the engine stand let go and allowed the engine to rotate! This meant reassembling everything on the engine so I could mark the orientation which might be important.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

SUCCESS! Las night, with a lot of help from my mein Freund Werner and some Rojo Red lubrication we drilled out the seized bleeder screws from the brake calipers.

We first established a pilot hole all the way through the bottom of the bleeder then chased that with a tap drill being carful to stop once we reached the end of the threads.










Because the tip of the bleeder was smaller than the tap drill it was left loose in the bottom of the hole and after cleaning out the threads was easily extracted.





























Obviously a lot of debris found it's way into the piston chamber, especially as we cleaned out the other threads too, so we dismantled them with a view to giving them a thorough cleaning and any needed replacement parts. Right now they look to be in good condition though so I'll probably just reassemble them.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

While waiting for parts to come in I decided it might be a good idea to take inventory of all the spare parts I already have and make a list. This was prompted by the realization that I have recently ordered parts that I already have in my collection of parts bins! Let the list making begin.

Used parts:











New parts: (yes, we sell Corbaeu seats)











Take offs (used to be on the car)











Turns out I have a lot of spare parts, 129 separate items if I include take offs and lumping together most of the removed AC stuff. I tried to figure out part numbers for everything and got pretty close. I did discover that about a dozen parts I inherited from the PPO (previous previous owner) aren't actually for a UR Quattro so that was good to know.


----------



## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

Nice progress! 

Co-member of local Audi club mentioned rear calipers benefits from a lubrication nipple, to avoid so much PITA servicing needs on them.
If you're ever around it, could you check if you cylinder head is given 034 103 351 G or what?  I need to continue projecting the 400hp 10V thingy...


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

WAUOla said:


> Nice progress!
> 
> Co-member of local Audi club mentioned rear calipers benefits from a lubrication nipple, to avoid so much PITA servicing needs on them.
> If you're ever around it, could you check if you cylinder head is given 034 103 351 G or what?  I need to continue projecting the 400hp 10V thingy...


That would be for the handbrake mechanism right? I've seen that on another thread. My handbrake works well and the car will never see salt again so I'm going to leave it alone for now.

I'll try to remember to look at the head's part number next week.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Finally got my Unicorn clips from Germany. AKA actuator clips. I only need one but got a few spares.











All the bits needed to make the center diff actuate.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Installed


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

WAUOla said:


> Nice progress!
> 
> Co-member of local Audi club mentioned rear calipers benefits from a lubrication nipple, to avoid so much PITA servicing needs on them.
> If you're ever around it, could you check if you cylinder head is given 034 103 351 G or what?  I need to continue projecting the 400hp 10V thingy...


Old head:











New head:











Hope this helps.


----------



## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

It sure does! Thanks a million. :thumbup:

Will also try to get hold of some basic info on Gr 4 and Gr B, and then we're talking machine planning.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Popped the waste gate back on the other day. Doesn't seem to use a gasket!











Then this arrived. Can you guess what it is?











Repaired down pipe curtesy of Thompson Racing Fabrication (TRF)











I don't know much about welding but it can't be easy to weld stainless steel to cast iron. Apparently Audi didn't do a good job the first time.










I'm not installing it yet as the engine will want to lean on it while it's sitting on the dolly.

I did remove the leaking coolant reservoir though Yep, the more parts I install the more I remove. Even with the engine out Audi found a way to make it difficult to remove. This is leaking from the seam around the top. Any ideas about repairing it or does it have to be replaced. Can it be replaced?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I took the subframe back out so I could clean off thirty years of oil and grime from the engine bay with a toothbrush and some degreaser.











The photos really don't show the difference but it is quite a transformation. Before:




















After:


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Inspired by the clean engine bay I thought I'd go parts shopping. First thing to show up was this new hall sensor for the distributor. The old one broke the connector off during engine extraction but was marginal anyway. This one is meant for a Ford but seems to be a match. Not ready to disassemble the distributor right now though.











I managed to find a used coolant reservoir locally. This is after I cleaned it out. It is a slightly different shape on top but has the same part number. At least it's not in-your-face-shiny-new looking.











I thought it might be an idea to pressure test it so enlisted my bike pump. Gave it 22psi and a bath. No bubbles and it held that pressure overnight. I guess we pressure tested the pump too.





























I sent off the steering rack for a refresh to Jorgen Automotive. They seem to be the authority in these matters and are only 45 minutes west of me. Sent it Monday, got it back Wednesady! Amazing turnaround. I specifically asked them not to bead blast the body as I wanted to retain the patina. Normally they would be like new when they are done.





























I also sent out the turbo for rebuild but that won't be back till next week at the earliest.

Not sure what to tackle next. Might refurbish the wiper mechanism as it's slow and I can stand in the engine bay to work on it. I could open up troubleshooting the CIS system but that's probably too a big job for my current schedule, or I could add some relays to the headlights as they are a lot more accessible with the engine out. Damn, everything is a lot more accessible with the engine out on this thing.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I took the wiper mechanism out of the car today because it was running slow. Typical of this car: you can see it, can remove the bolts but have to jiggle the crap out of it to extract it! Will be fun putting it back.





























The theory is that the spindle bearings and joints seize up over time. I sprayed the joints with grease and greased the pivots. I couldn't say that they were seized but I believe they are now free-er at least.











Another theory is that the gear lube gets old and dry but I have to drill out rivets to get inside. Not sure about that yet.











I then installed the replacement coolant reservoir.


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I reassembled the wiper mechanism today and put it back in the car. Seems to work.

https://youtu.be/6jk4rw96TQw


As I had to remove a couple of relays to make enough room I cleaned the fuse box and coated all the relay contacts with dielectric grease.










Inspired by my electrical prowess I might tackle adding relays to the headlights tomorrow. I seem to remember reading about a simple plug and play kit that was available. Anyone have a source?


----------



## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Oops, seems like tomorrow turned into two months. Sorry about that. Got a little distracted by wheel sales, 911 mods and this:










An 83 that looks like it wants to be a rally replica build. I'll post a link to it's buid thread once we get stuck in. But first we have to finish this one right?


So what did we do lately in that regard? Well, we received our rebuilt turbo. Like with the steering rack we asked them not to bead blast the housings.




















Then we tackled replacing the Hall sensor on the distributor as ours had brocken it's connector.






































We did add the headlight relay kit we got from Germany but we haven't tested it yet so perhaps we'll address that in the next update. Hopefully not two months from now.

Happy New Year!


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I didn't test the headlight relay kit today as I thought better of it. With so many wires detached from there things I didn't think it a good idea to introduce some live electrons. I did put back the lower console hiding the relays etc. and lubed the hood/bonnet pull handle so it no longer makes that awful noise.

What I next was take stock of what's left to do and what I need to do it. I'm actually close to the point where I will be stopped for lack of parts, some of them apparently hard to find. Here's what's still to do:

28	Refurbish CIS
29	Refurbish hydraulic system
31	Refurbish front struts tops, bellows
32	Install down pipe and turbo
33	Engine Oil
34	Transmission oil
35	Compression test
36	Attach sub-frame to transmission
37	Torque crank bolt
38	Clutch slave cylinder line
39	Install engine, trans, sub frame
40	Reconnect ancillaries
41	Bleed brakes
42	Hydraulic fluid
43	Fire up
44	Test drive
45	Alignment


and what I'm still missing:

CIS vacuum lines and god knows what else
Hydraulic lines, being remade by a friend
Strut Bellows	2	431412135
clutch slave cylinder hose 1	431721465 NLA 
subframe bushings rear 2	857199419B discontinued
belt alternator 1 055903137G 9.5x850
front brake line 2	433837400A

any suggestions on where to get this stuff? Would prefer original Audi.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

As I'm starting to run out of chronologically logical tasks I'm going to be jumping around a bit. First such worm hole leap: sub-frame bushings. Not all four though, just the front two. The rears are NLA and I haven't sourced an alternative yet. So here we go.....




















Drill











Cut











Pry











Succeed











Sleeve still in 











More cut and pry











Squeeze











Fail











Succeed a bit then fail











Win











Repeat.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

After lots of back and forth and soul searching (as well as part searching) we made some part-ial progress:
*
CIS vacuum lines and god knows what else*
I printed out four parts diagrams from vagpart.com and marched them up to the shop with the plan that I would go through each one and highlight (with a hiliter) everything that I wanted to replace. This would mostly be vacuum lines and clamps but there are quite a few different sizes and types so I wanted to make sure I got the right ones and didn't miss any. Well, guess what? I could barley even match the diagrams to my car! It's like the car and the diagrams are for two different cars, not even the same manufacturer. I found one common part; a bubble shaped vacuum bottle, and followed it's line back into the engine bay and at the first connector it departed from the parts diagram completely! We are going to have to rethink this approach. This is one of four vacuum line diagrams vs the real world.

















*Hydraulic lines, being remade by a friend*
Still waiting on these. Might be a while.

*Strut Bellows	2	431412135*
I found they match a Porsche 944 part so ordered a pair from one of our customers: Pelican Parts. Will see next week if Porsche and Audi were on the same planet back in the 80s.

*clutch slave cylinder hose 1	431721465 NLA* 
I got close but quit. I found an ATE hose that matched but it proved to be a unicorn. Couldn't find one anywhere. Then I got a quote from our local fancy custom line shop for braided stainless made from my original fittings but baulked at the price ($140) and the lack of originality, then decided the original one was in good enough shape and installed it on the clutch cylinder.

*subframe bushings rear 2	857199419B	discontinued*
A friend pointed out that I could used the Audi 80 M12 version with a 10mm sleeve so I went on a quest for those. They proved only marginally less rare than what I need so I orderded two proper ones from Audi Tradition. They have to be shipped to my friend in Germany and then to me so probably 2017 before I see them LOL

*belt alternator 1	055903137G 9.5x850*
This can wait. I'm tired.
*
front brake line 2	433837400A*
Hours more research and all I could find were aftermarket braided stainless or some really inexspensive rubber ones from Centric. I've ordered both. The centric ones look like the real deal apart from not having the rubber dongles on though it does have two mounting grommets. The OE mounting grommet should slide off over the ends if one of these doesn't work but there's no way the big rubber dongles will. I have a few spares from our 83 so will cut one and see if it is possible to glue them back together over the Centric lines.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Finally got chance to install the rear subframe bushings. To be fair I did have to wait for them to come from Germany. I might havre to wait for another one now. Read on.........

Easily removed the old bushings and cleaned up the holes.









But my previous method of pressing them in failed










So got the press out but that didn't help











Now the bushing is all squished











It seems that a) these bushing won't squeeze into a hole the same diameter as the body and b) why did the front ones press in so easily?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

This didn't help










But this did








[/url]

Now I just need to order another one from Germany


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

It's been over a month since I updated this thread so, even though not much has happened I will document it anyway. Actually, looking at my Flickr album there's been quite a lot of little incremental progress 

First off I received a new and spare bushing from Germany and wasted no time pressing the last one home. You just have to make sure it is being pressed true then squeeze with confidence, after first lubing the sh*t out of it.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then I replace the front strut bellows which arrived the same day as the bushings. Incidentally these are for a Porsche 944! Same part though.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


More bloody squeezing. GGRRR

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then I installed the turbo, manifold and down pipe.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Need to find a suitable hanger for here.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


This stainless steel beauty from Vibrant should do the trick.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Next job is to attache the subframe then it's ready to go back in the engine bay. However, the engine bay is not yet ready to accept it as I still need to reinstall the steering rack and refurbish the CIS system. I may reuse the existing hydraulic lines as my supplier's are not in production yet and I want to be driving this in April.


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## WAUOla (Apr 15, 2005)

Nice work!

Where did you get the bushings?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

WAUOla said:


> Nice work!
> 
> Where did you get the bushings?



Thanks

I got them from Audi Tradition in Germany. Had to ship them to a friend in Germany as they wont ship to the USA for some corporate BS reason.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I went through my parts bin to see what still needs to bolt on the engine before it goes back in the car. I was worried I might miss something and I was right. Found this heat shield

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


and a temperature sensor that goes in the back of the refurbished head but this plug won't come out and I'm afraid of rounding out the Allen socket. Worst case I have to drill it out and retap it but then the head would have to come off!

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Tried this to no avail

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So resorted the the impact gun which thankfully worked. I forget how effective they can be.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then I celebrated by reinstalling the subframe.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Bought some inspiration over the weekend.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


It inspired me to go on a spending spree. Ordered air box grommets/mounts and filter.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Oil can gasket

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Bomb mounts

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Trans oil

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


and about $300 worth of vacuum hose, clips and copper washers!

As I can now see light at the end of the tunnel I also turned the engine round on the hoist so it's ready to go in. A little optimistic perhaps?

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

I thought I'd check as many sensors as I could before popping the engine back in. Seems like a reasonable plan. There are like twenty separate temperature sensors on this engine! OK, there's six but still........

Fortunately Audi stamped the range or trigger point on them. Well, most of them.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

I didn't check change over temperature. I just had hot water or no water but I think I proved they all do something so I'm going with that.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


This one tested good too but didn't want to go home 

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Need to find a seal washer for this one. How hard could that be?

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

It's the little things that take the most time. I thought I hadn't made a lot of progress but when I looked at all the photos I've taken lately I realise I've done a lot of small things including spending hundreds of Dollars on tiny pipe clips, vacuum hose and aluminium sealing washers! But first...

I installed the ground cable after stripping the threads and fixing with a Helicoil

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then went to install the steering rack but found one of the bulkhead plugs (top one of the three) and previously been pierced and bunged up with some sort of putty!

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So I had to source a new one. Thankfully they are still available as Audi still use them.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

I realized it would be a lot easier to attach the hoses to the steering rack on the bench but how to determine the orientation so they line up later? It helps to have a 83 quattro project in the other bay to reference!

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then hooked up the steering column inside the footwell. I think I may have got the steering wheel 180 degrees off but it was always going to need re-clocking anyway.

I think the next job is to replace all the vacuum hoses and clips but maybe I can find something else to do.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Replacing the vacuum hoses and clips is a PITA so I found something else to do. I replaced the air box mounts.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Of course that didn't take very long so it was back to replacing vacuum hoses and clips. Step one, I think. Is to figure what hoses and clips to buy from Audi. Just look at the parts diagrams and the car and figure out what applies. How hard could it be? How about "Bloody impossible!"? OK, not that bad but quite a lot does not match my car. I think I'm going to order as much vacuum line and hose clips as I think I need and just start replacing what physically matches. Of course allof the shaped rubber hose are NLA.

The parts diagrams:

ACTIVATED CHARCOAL CONTAINER by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

4. VACUUM HOSES; VALVE HOUSING; BREATHER VALVE by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15. AUXILIARY AIR SLIDE; COLD STARTING VALVE by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

1320. VACUUM HOSES WITH; CONNECTING PARTS; FOR PNEUMATIC DIFFERENTIAL; LOCK by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


and the car:

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


This should be interesting.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

In a moment of inspiration I found this on the underside of the hood. Doesn't help.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


I marked up the parts of the diagrams that resemble my car and went for it.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


The approach is going to be to reinstate everything that's missing in line with the parts diagrams, replace everything thats still there in line with the diagrams and just replace everything that's not in line with the diagrams with the best guess parts and assume it's right as it worked before.

Started with the vent flap as it was the most accessible and matches a diagram. The adjacent lines I tackled next do not match anything. It seems to help disconnecting them if you first cut the old tube along its length to free it from the fragile plastic connectors.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Et voila! Piece of cake.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Inspired by my success and the fact that I appear to only have purchased a fraction of what is needed I decided to tackle the charcoal canister. This appeared to want to be on the bench though so, not wanting to annoy it I obliged.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


of course I'm missing the clamps so progress has halted, again.


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## Sepp (Dec 10, 2002)

Great to see the progress...
I like the detail of your pics, as they show a lot of parts your car has....that mine is missing. :laugh:


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

More tubes, more clamps, more money, more time. The four rings of (old) Audi ownership. 

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Still, I think we are done with vacuum hoses 

Charcoal canister is back on/in the car  and replaced most of this:

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

The "S" shaped hose is NLA as is the little stubby that's actually a reducer, so I left those in place. 

This section is all done too:

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


And I finally figured out the arrangement for the warm-up regulator after referring to and stealing some from my 83. Not sure why I didn't think of this before.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


What shall we do next; put the engine back in maybe?


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Decided to curb my enthusiasm and fix a few more things before impetuously throwing the engine back in. Someone had spliced in a new piece of wire at some point; quite poorly.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Fixed that.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


This, however, can wait. It sits on top of the intake which makes it easier to repair in situ.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Found we are missing the heat shield over the right engine mount; the one that had failed. Of course its No Longer Available.

88d8fca54b29730e841a7e7696536fcc by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


This is what it looks like in the flesh; OK on Google.

857199386a_857199386a_1 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

$_1 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


The we had a great idea; let's steal the one off the 83 in the corner. It was impossible to see but we managed to removing the mounting hardware, surprisingly. Even more surprisingly we managed to extract it without having to remove anything else!

Then, even, even more surprisingly it looked like this!

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Obviously a cobbled together facsimile. What is odd, beside the strange tube is the fact that what's left of the original is still encased within. Obviously not going to work on the 85. Off to Audi Tradition to get reamed again.


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Waiting for parts (drums fingers on desk)

Decided to find some things we will need to do before the car is ready to fire up. Getting ahead so to speak. The hydraulic "bomb" mounts need replacing as the leaking oil has softened them up and they have started to split. Fortunately we bought some new ones a while back. A good time to replace them.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Fortunately the nuts weren't too rusty and didn't put up a fight. Sometimes leaky hydraulics has benefits.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Uh oh! this must have happened in storage DOH. Let's hope they bend back without breaking off. Perhaps we should order a new one anyway.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Old vs. new. A couple are still serviceable. We'll keep them for spares.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


And back together.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


And on the engine. Yes, it surprised us too. Well, we had to put it somewhere and the dodgy spade terminals we bent back into place will be safer here than back in the parts box. It shouldn't hinder engine installation and one more thing done 

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


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## team illuminata (Apr 27, 2011)

Another update in less than a week. You guys must be feeling rather special now eh?

Just trying to find things to do while those damn heat shields arrive from Germany. Rummaged through the parts bins and found the old front brake lines that need replacing. Couldn't find any OE so decided to make these Centric ones look like OE by transferring the rubber rings over. What do they do anyway?

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


We actually had some we pulled off the 83 car. That one's getting stainless lines so we just cut the old ones which made getting these off quite simple.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


However, getting them on the new lines was not so easy as they didn't want to expand over the fittings. Never mind, nothing a utility knife and some glue can't handle.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Wheel leave them to cure for a while eh.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


We only need one holder ring so we cut one off. We decided to use the Centric one as our original ones are already falling apart.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr



Oh, is that the DHL truck?

.


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