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tall, slim, funny looking - it's ROFFLE TIME !!1!1!11! paid in full - DRAW TONIGHT 20:30 MUCH EXCITE :)


gm

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Brilliant. These have recently appeared on my radar - one of the few actually interesting cars of the last 20-odd years. Really nice to see one with an interior in a colour, and is the paint very dark metallic green? Lovely combo, but I'd need that sweaty seat sorted before I could sit in it. We were looking at a very tidy blue one last year that was quite unassuming outside but had a remarkable powder blue cloth interior. Never seen another one like it, but I'd say yours is almost as desirable.

 

Might actually be interested when you decide to move it on...

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I reckon the interior should scrub up ok, but if it doesn't, the previous owner gave me a set of beige seat covers that she had bought and never fitted.

 

So, back to the mechanicals - as the brake wear indicator was effectively a thing of the past, I whipped the wheels off to check the state of the brakes. The front has almost new pads, the rear shoes still have a couple of mm on them. So I hit the drums with a wire wheel and a quick coat of wheel silver. (looks hideous now but will dull down ok, I hope)

 

post-4462-0-49277300-1527017209_thumb.jpg

 

With everything back together, I took it for a quick run up and down the street. When I got to the end, I pressed the brake pedal and the fucker hit the floor ! A couple of quick pumps stopped the car but something was obviously amiss.

 

Back on the driveway, a tell tale puddle of brake juice was forming around the near side wheel - bugger !

 

Tools out, drum off again, oh dear, oh dear. Looks like I was a little careless with the wire brush, the boot on the left side of that cylinder is split.

 

post-4462-0-04877500-1527017569_thumb.jpg

 

I've clamped off the flexi for now and will get a new cylinder in the morning, I suppose the shoes are now buggered too ?

 

Looks like it might be time for a beer :)

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....Neat, but what exactly is wrong with using hinges ? You know, like every other car in the world ?

  Aerodynamics innit, the removable bonnet allows tighter panel gaps over its hinged equivalent and therefore marginally less drag.

 

That's what Audi's engineers claimed anyway, which makes it possibly bollocks.

The other explanation I came across was that the non-opening bonnet lid was meant to prevent every Tom Dick and "gm" from mucking about in the engine bay, a job to be left exclusively and expensively to Audi main dealer workshops. The same thinking which underpinned the total lack of access to the engine of the Mk.1 Porsche Boxster.

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There is a bit of admiration for these...

 

https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/news/comment/2017-02/future-classic-friday-audi-a2/

 

A friend of ours has a ‘53’ plate one that has been ‘family’ owned from new and has coped with terrible abuse and still keeps going. He’s tried to scrap it a few times but has always found it cheaper to repair and keep on the road - excellent fuel economy helps too. He was astounded to learn that a good example may be gaining in value... his however, is not a good example..

 

Squirrel2

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Tools out, drum off again, oh dear, oh dear. Looks like I was a little careless with the wire brush, the boot on the left side of that cylinder is split.

 

 

 

What a pain but at least found and a relatively easy fix.  Interesting car, forgotten they existed.  Are they a completely aluminium body?

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Just be glad your's has drums at the rear! More than 75bhp? Discs it is.

Shoes should clean up ok.

I like these and have had half an eye out for a red, yellow or orange one for a few years. Shame they drive like a Mk4 Golf but having owned an old aluminium car for 4 years I am firmly of the opinion that all cars should have aluminium bodyshells!

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Having spent several hours this afternoon fighting with rear drums, I have to say I'd be much happier with discs. So many fiddly bits and those stupid springs are a nightmare. I got it all back together but the pedal is soft and the handbrake pretty feeble - I gave up at that point asmy mood was getting sweary.

 

To restore my sanity, I took the mx5 for a top down blast round the backroads, much better now :)

 

I'll dig out the easybleed tomorrow and get those brakes done properly, I can't see how the handbrake adjusts though.

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Having spent several hours this afternoon fighting with rear drums, I have to say I'd be much happier with discs. So many fiddly bits and those stupid springs are a nightmare. I got it all back together but the pedal is soft and the handbrake pretty feeble - I gave up at that point asmy mood was getting sweary.

 

To restore my sanity, I took the mx5 for a top down blast round the backroads, much better now :)

 

I'll dig out the easybleed tomorrow and get those brakes done properly, I can't see how the handbrake adjusts though.

ECP do a kit for these, shoes & springs pre-assembled, wheel cylinders included. A lot easier to fit! Just fitted a sense to Mrs Stoned's Polo. The Brakes are self-adjusting, the handbrake adjuster is under the plastic trim behind the handbrake lever.
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I saw that but figured 'how hard can it be to stick a few parts together ?' Lesson learned the hard way I guess? I'll have a look for the adjuster tomorrow, thanks.

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These are now on my radar for when I want a cheap to run smoll car at some indeterminate point in the future.

 

The interior on this one is interesting.

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804245880973

 

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post-19977-0-64463300-1527157098_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

I quite like this one, but it's a Cat D.

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201803244884986

 

post-19977-0-77398300-1527157136_thumb.jpg

 

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They really did make them in some interesting colour combinations! Very un-Audi!

 

Prices for them seem to be all over the place though: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201805126434732 :shock:

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That camo green one probably had a filthy beige interior like mine and it was easier to paint over it than clean the muck off ? Looks dreadful though, I shan't be following suit :)

 

I do like the 'streetwise' trim of the blue one - was that a special model I wonder ? Not unlike the larger Audi allroad models.

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Right then, a clear head and a bit of sunshine today means that the brakes are now sorted - I bought the easibleed kit years ago but, as it doesn't fit the mazda, I've never used it. I have to say I am quite impressed, I used a spare wheel to pressurise the fluid and watched with amazement as a ton of bubbles bled out from the valves. Or at least from three of them, passenger front is seized solid and was in very grave danger of snapping off, that can wait for now.

 

So back in one piece and a quick up and down the street, it's time to do something about that interior

 

Remember this ?

 

post-4462-0-74971800-1527184914_thumb.jpg

 

With a can of foaming upholstery cleaner that I don't remember buying, how about this for an improvement ?

 

post-4462-0-38703200-1527184979_thumb.jpg

 

It's not perfect but certainly a lot better, I'll give it a hoover tomorrow and call it job done :)

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The A2 is the last Audi I really like. I was surprised when Audi discontinued it as I thought they were onto a winner with it's green credentials in a mini MPV package.

 

I used to see a red one around with the black arches thought it looked really nice with the red and black combo.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update time : I transferred over the insurance on Tuesday and took the a2 for a decent drive. I've only driven the car back from the sellers a week ago go but today it felt quite sluggish. Pulling up at a junction, what's that smell ? Hmm, suspiciously like brakes - a quick look showed the rear drum was ready to melt :(

 

Back home, wheel off, handbrake fiddled about with a bit and the wheel is turning freely. I'll just remember not use the handbrake, that'll do for now.

 

Back out on another test drive, I pulled over to check the brakes, all temps were normal so I left the engine idling and had a quick look on autoshite. What's that smell now ? Sodding coolant :(

 

Bonnet off and the expansion tank is bubbling away, quite happily pushing coolant out through the vent. The gauge of the dash is showing nothing, presumed dead. The radiator fan is similarly lifeless, bugger !

 

With the heater on full on one of the hottest days of the year, I nursed it home and got the tools out again. First stop was to plug in the odb reader to see if it would report on coolant temp. Of course it wouldn't even connect to the car, neither would my ebay odb dongle - not a good start.

 

A bit of forum surfing turned up some good info, apparently (and I thought this was a wind up) if you have an aftermarket radio fitted, the ecu gets so confused that it won't talk to the odb port !

 

Right, let's have a go at that then

 

post-4462-0-16250100-1527936926_thumb.jpg

 

And look :

 

post-4462-0-96192100-1527936962_thumb.jpg

 

Too bloody clever for their own good, these modern cars.

 

So the coolant temp sender is working, must be a dud dash gauge then.

 

I had a go at the radiator fan switch, buried at the bottom of the engine bay - after a fight, I got the plug off and found the pins to be corroded. I gave it a quick blast of contact cleaner shorted the pins to test the fan which sprung into life. Ok, i'll order up a new switch, not too pricey from gsf.

 

post-4462-0-52498900-1527937240_thumb.jpg

 

Putting it all back together, I ran the engine for a while and watched the temp rise on the odb display. As it got above 70, the needle moved on the dash. Hmm, Interesting. Using an umbrella to wedge the accelerator, I kept the temp on the rise and watched in amazement as the fan kicked in. Maybe I don't need that temp switch that I ordered less than ten minutes ago.

 

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The coolant tank is still overflowing so I think I'll replace the pressure cap, with a bit of luck that will be job done and I'll get to use the damn thing.

 

Oh, and the abs pump keeps going a bit mental but i suspect that the hot coolant running down the wiring harness may have something to with that. I bloody hope so, or the fuse will be getting pulled on that.

 

More fun and games to come when the parts arrive :)

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From what I've read, the yellow ones are quite sought after (they have the more powerful engine) I quite like them, you definitely wouldn't lose it in the car park anyway :)

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quite possibly, I live in redding / polmont so you might have seen it around, although it's not been out on the road much with the various issues I've been sorting ^

 

are you local ? I think 'splitpin' is over bonnybridge way too

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It's not unknown for VAG diesels to suffer iffy cylinder heads. [/doom and gloom]

Don't say things like that - I want at least the summer out of it before it gets roffled :)

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The postie sneaked a little red card through my letterbox when I was on the bog so no coolant parts to fit today :(

 

Instead, I got busy with the important stuff

 

post-4462-0-15609600-1528126958_thumb.jpg

 

fitted my alpine stereo

 

post-4462-0-38776200-1528127059_thumb.jpg

 

phone holder and road angel

 

post-4462-0-53817400-1528127104_thumb.jpg

 

de-badged the arse end and fitted the AS sticker :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

ok, time for a bit of a progress* report

 

a bit of forum surfing has solved the mystery of what the "ECON" button is for - not aircon, as such luxury is not fitted, but, as the little diesel engine is so efficient and generates not much heat, those sneaky germans fitted a Webasto heater that kicks in automatically when the outside temperature falls below 7oC. The "ECON" button disables it in case you don't want to be wasting fuel staying warm. Fuck knows if it works but we shall see later on in the year :)

 

As for the cooling issues, a new pressure cap and thermostat seem to have done the trick, I fitted the fan switch too as I couldn't figure out gsf's return procedure. There is no more overheating but the temp still takes a while to get to where it should be on a decent drive - maybe the el cheapo thermostat from europarts is a dud ?

 

I've given it an oil and filter change, I suspect it was a bit overdue, the old stuff was manky. When I went to swap the pollen filter, I opened the hatch and found a big empty space. Having already purchased the new one, I just bunged it in without the holder, doesn't seem to have done any harm.

 

And then driven it to work and back for a few weeks. It's pretty good for a high miler, happiest at around 60-65 on the motorway, but has enough zip to overtake when needed. I quite like it, more than a commuting tool, it has a bit of character, and justifies an over the shoulder glance when parking it up.

 

Fuel economy is pretty good too - the first tank doesn't count as a significant number of miles were done with the handbrake stuck on ! And with dodgy cooling, the fuelling map was all to buggery.

 

The fabled 70mpg might well be possible on a steady run - I'll give it a go next time I'm heading down to see the folks in the north east.

 

post-4462-0-11330900-1530311158_thumb.jpg

 

I'm still filling the tank as often as the crv but it is costing half as much, not so bad, methinks :)

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