TrabbieRonnie

Hey y'all. Nice sunny but cold day here today, so thought I'd swap out the A8's abs sensors. Have had an intermittent fault for a wee while, which affects many things in this car, traction control, the parking brake, abs obviously, headlamp levelling (?!), and eventually the speedo, speed-sensitive steering and even the smoothness of the shifting. Vcds points me in the direction of the left hand two, and although it always resets on startup, and can last a good while before coming back, it's still annoying. Easy fix anyway (!), one wee bolt and out they come, right? No. Bolt out, and half the sensor! The long bit is firmly stuck in the hub... Does explain why it was faulting out at least, looks like they're original and have just gone brittle. Too cold now, so have left it jacked up for the morning. Access isn't great, I have tried screwing in to the remains to pull it out that way, but no dice... I still have a CV joint to do on this side (is ok, but did the driver's side and always meant to do the pair...) so will just pull the shaft out tomorrow which I think lets me see the other end of this sensor, maybe the bearing has to come out too. Once I'm at that stage I could just drift the sensors' remains right through, grab and twist from the inner end, or just drill it all out I suppose. Bastard. Gradually replacing a lot of the running gear on this car I suppose, that's all the wheel bearings, drop links, cv's, tyres, control arm bushes... None of it has stopped progress though, and it has really racked up some miles at the same time. Passed the MOT no bother at all too, and I'd really be lost without it now. It's just too comfy and easy, must be going soft in my old age, need some Trabant miles! Cheers all.

Thanks SP. I have a fabricator friend, I wasn't going to push it as he's a new Dad, but he's keen to do the job... As you say, the normal suppliers here weren't very helpful, and certainly not cheap! He's a car nut too, and a very very good Tig welder/pipe fitter, so it will be to a high standard. Plan is to get her up on the truck again, remove and give him the old exhaust, he will copy it in stainless, possibly minus the centre silencer(!), and I'll refit over the winter. I'm sure the villagers will love it just as much as the Trabi...

Well done Doc, watching with interest. Being your neighbour would be like living in a small-but-perfectly-formed car show! Great stuff 👍

Hello again all, Very little time for the motor's as it's harvest time, and work has been mental... Big Audi... Did do my clicky CV joint myself in the end, t'was easy enough to remove the whole shaft. This gave better hammer access, and the old one popped right off. No hub dismantlery required either, with full lock applied, the CV shaft can be wiggled free no bother. As is the way of these things, the blue beast rewarded my efforts with a grumbling rear wheel bearing. Proper full-on Lancaster bomber soundtrack developed pretty rapidly, so I ordered a pair from SKF. I'd already done the fronts, so couldn't be arsed with these ones. Garage did them and the MOT this week, and peace has again descended. The brakes feel amazing now too, will have to speak to my mechanic, I hadn't asked for anything to be done with them, but pedal feels better now? Anyway, have some V8 revs from the old fraulien... Mazda 323... This wee thing has just become an absolute bastion of the fleet, racking up many miles both with Junior (theory test booked for next month), and Mrs Trab at the wheel. Everyone just loves it! Comfy, dependable, chuckable and looks great about the place. Gold wheels still undergoing a protracted repaint, might just send them away for a proper job as his Christmas present... Surf... Pressed into daily service this past week whilst waiting for A8 bearings, revealed a bit of wayward handling at the front end. She recently got shocks, but the bottom balljoints are pretty goosed, I have them here, trying to muster enthusiasm as we speak... Otherwise running an absolute dream. Audi Coupe... Back box delete carried out by Mother Nature last week, rusted through and dropped into the rear beam. Thankfully stayed there for the trip to work and back, so has been stored in the boot. The council have started leaving wee piles of salt at the side of the roads now, so her hibernation is imminent anyway. Stainless custom (maximum fruitiness) job coming soon, never had a proper boy racer exhaust... mid life crisis maybe?! Anyway, that's my rather boring update, off to peruse all yours, Cheers all.

If you're ok with VAG stuff (vcds a good buy I would say), I don't think the Audi A8 would miss the mark? Great to drive, real V8 power, and the interior is just beautiful. I'm getting 30-32 mpgs, but that is all A roads, town driving would be different I think! Also, real bargain prices out there, and I've found parts easy/reasonably priced. I've always fancied the ls400 too, but they rust... and once you've had an aluminium bodied car, it would be hard to go back! Mine was £1500, with 130k on it. Has had tyres, front wheel bearings, anti roll bar ends, upper control arms, and niff naff jobs, but I have put nearly 20,000 miles on it in the past year, and I love it dearly for its effortless commuting abilities. Currently needs X2 abs sensors and a CV joint, but I think any 18 year old car could have needed this stuff by now, and they're not bad to work on. The stereo must be one of the best ever fitted to a car as well! Good luck with the search!

Well done man! Great find, looking forward to seeing it come back to life.

Hi all, I've had a week commuting in the Audi Coupe, as the A8 developed a coolant leak. The wee return pipe to the header tank had been flapping about and had split the spigot it pushes onto... eBay breaker job fitted today, a week and £40 later... Next on the list was the CV joint on the drivers side, typically it has started creaking just after I replaced the bloody wheel bearings.... anyway, got sidetracked by these wee doodads... Little bellows that alter the intake length in the manifold under different loads by vacuum. A line was perished and split, meaning the pivots hadn't pivoted in many moons. They freed up ok, and as the above pic shows, I now have plenty of suction(!). Replacement line was sourced from the ancient Aprillia RS50 in the garage, knew it would come in handy for something... This repair should mean greater economy and moar powah, although it was running fine anyway. Checked the cambelt while I was in there, looks lovely, but due soon (really racking up the miles in this thing), so that'll be fun*. Couldn't get the CV joint off the end of the shaft, and couldn't be arsed dismantling any more to get the whole thing out, so lashed in some new grease and will let the garage do them both. In other news, Junior's provisional licence arrived after many, many months of waiting, meaning the 323 can hit the highways of the Highlands under his command at last! A mere £112 got him insured on our existing policy, which was nice.

The Trabi handbook also describes the front passenger as 'assistant driver'!

The A8 is my perfect a-road commuter car. This goes against the grain a wee bit, as I have usually put character above all else. The big Audi does have some (V8 gives it something), but in the main it is just a very competent machine. I do look back at it once parked though... The inside is really lovely, and with an amazing stereo, the work stress really does melt away on the 25-mile road home. The wee Audi Coupe, just brings out the hooligan in me, it roars along and darts through bends lovely. When you park up and open the door, it reeks of hot engine too... bootiful. It's an auto, but not a fancy one, so you decide the gear with your right foot. The V6 can spin the front tyres whenever you want, and the leaky (awesome sounding) exhaust encourages this yobbishness too! However, I am truly happiest driving the Surf, and there is nothing better than trundling along at 55, boot full of bikes/dogs, sunroof open with your arm on the window sill. Fun for the summer, and unbelievable in the winter, and to my eye, the best looking 'jeep'. The interior is plain but really comfy, stereo still good... and it always just works. I wish it was less rusty, but wouldn't change anything else.

Can't comment for the whole Highlands, but there has been some shocking tourist behaviour round here... I think there's a lot of people new to campervanning, trying to stay in places without the infrastructure they were maybe expecting. 'Campers' are literally shitting all over the place, and leaving a right old mess. I'd never condone attacking people/property, but I've also never expected the local population to clear up after me afterwards either.

I feel your pain, good luck with it. Could be a good thing to learn to weld on? Plating up a chassis has to be strong but not necessarily pretty?

The Iveco crawls towards completion... New mudguard set up should stop loads of salty grit getting flung up into the bedrails... They are perfectly designed to hold it, but thankfully pretty thick C-section steel so holding up well anyway. Fifty-six quid a pair on eBay, delivered within a couple of days too, pretty happy here. Edit... pads replaced with Eurobrake's finest (no, never heard of them either!) and normal braking resumed btw.

Did the Scirroco go?

Thank you! However, they're actually a Drag 902 (made by Leonard Inc. as far as I can tell), inspired by the Pentas you mention. Apparently aka an Enkei 83?

Hi all, Should really have been de-rusting and re-braking my Iveco today, but in my defence I had a very cool diversion... My eldest has been waiting about 8 months for his provisional licence so far (thanks DVLA), so to reward his patience he gets an Autoshite pressie. We prepped the 323 for a jaunt down to the Kingdom of Fife, in order to pick up some wheels from a very inaccurately named member of this forum... behold the JDMness! Absolute pleasure to meet you DB, thank you very much, and as you predicted, the car does sit well on these wheels. Kind of mini-Impreza vibe going on! Car never missed a beat, very enjoyable day oot.