TrabbieRonnie Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 Bit more scrubbing off old waxoyl has revealed only solid steel underneath the Trabster, so only a bit of tidying up topside required this year. Back brakes have been tested now, and are working well, so my issues are as suspected, up front. I think the nearside has stuck, now unwilling to grab at all, after being unwilling to let go when first moved. Did remember however, that I had ordered a set of wheel cylinders with my last TrabantWelt order from Germany (couple of years ago now), which had been sitting in a huge box in the loft ever since. Why would a set of wheel cylinders be in such a huge box you say? Well, because the main order at the time was my NEW TRABANT BUMPERS!!!! I know, right?!!! Any Trabant lickers will know that the older cars had much nicer details than the later ones, such as the old wavy bumpers, originally of course in chrome plated steel. I waited a long time for the suppliers to get around to making these fibreglass reproductions, and I am in love... They suit the lines of the car much better in my opinion, and are much lighter for racing/agility points too. The plan is to wrap them in chrome vinyl, they are only mocked up for now. More pics... A pal at work gave me this badge for the front a few years back, the Butlins Babe... anyone else seen one of these before? Trabant front panels come off without tools, allowing better access to the engine, and especially the carb, which is right down low at the front... My genuine DDR driving lamps don't work by the way, they were taped up for an MOT test ages ago, and I just left it on. Wouldn't mind some rally covers for them actually (or maybe even fix 'em?!). Anyway, the powerplant... The engine is under the wee 'soundproofing' blanket under the air filter housing. As you can see, it has a coil for each cylinder, and one on it's own can power the car along in a sort of early 'limp mode'. Cooling air is blown across the finned cylinder barrels and exhaust manifold by the ducted fan on the left hand side, which is engine driven via v-belt. This (now warmed) air is then blown along two corrugated pipes, into the heat exchanger and the big black chamber on the right. The air that enters the heat exchanger is warmed further by the exhaust pipe that runs through the middle of it (a pipe within a pipe), before entering the same chamber, which then leads to a box on the firewall. This box contains a mixing flap, allowing any variation of engine heated/fresh air to warm the cabin/demist the screen. It all works pretty well, but obviously the velocity of the airflow is directly dependent on engine speed. The fresh air enters the mixing box by the long straight rubber pipe running up the middle of the pic, the only hole in the fake front 'grille' lines up with this pipe. The rear underside... Nice view of my stainless exhaust here, and the suspension arrangement. Trabbies are suspended by two transverse-mounted leaf springs, with a damper at each corner. As you can see, the original factory underseal is still doing it's thing! The front spring is mounted a bit higher up behind the engine, you can see the end of it here where it joins the hub carrier/kingpin thing. The front dampers just mount straight on to it... Note actual grease nipples! Cockpit... Fairly simple dash...! The controls pictured, from left to right, are the screenwash (hand)pump, headlight switch, hazard light button/indicator, and then a two position pull switch, that gives you rear foglight and driving lamps (red and white indicator bulbs above it). The left hand stalk is indicators and pull for high-beams, but horn if you push forward. Silver stick on the right is the column shift. Speedo binnacle houses indicator lights, and a (lack of) charge light, should your alternator fail. Wiper switch is off to the extreme left, not pictured... no intermittent setting on Rosie, even though she is an 'S'! Will hopefully be buzzing around again soon, some random pics of her life with us so far follow, cheers all... As bought, 2009... Experimenting with racing colours... The obsession bites, Keith arrives...! wesacosa, garethj, Rust Collector and 15 others 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticvandan Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Personally I think the bumpers would look great in body colour,I always find chrome somehow wrong on eastern bloc cars,a bit too decadent and a waste of valuable resources lol LightBulbFun and TrabbieRonnie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 55 minutes ago, plasticvandan said: Personally I think the bumpers would look great in body colour,I always find chrome somehow wrong on eastern bloc cars,a bit too decadent and a waste of valuable resources lol You're probably right, but we found an old chrome Renault 4 (we think) bumper in the woods a while back, and it looked really good cable tied onto the Trabbi! Pics further up this thread I think.... Imagine what they'd have made of a stainless steel exhaust! Edit... No pics here, soz! Will find on the pc and post up! Was sure I posted them on here somewhere.... Edit 2... https://autoshite.com/uploads/monthly_02_2019/post-27060-0-53193600-1549129260.jpg LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooSavvy Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 @TrabbieRonnie.... Your steering wheel is fab!! I dumped the jelly splodge on my Suzuki for a Mini wheel.... You can see how much less 'cluttered' the dash view is. Trabbi lookinn good TrabbieRonnie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 Those early curvy bumpers are way better than the later lumps. I reckon they'd work well either in chrome or body colour if they don't wrap well. TrabbieRonnie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 Hey all, I should be outside engaging in the now long-running battle with Rosie the Trab's hub... I have adapted my removal tool and am girding my loins for a final, 'do or die' push. (Who over-torqued his hubnuts last time? Yep, this guy.) Anyway, instead of that, I'm here. Thread update required as I have found my DREAM CAR... Spotted after a detour on the way home from today's driving lesson with my eldest 'shiter, behold! I know nothing about these, I hasten to add, but just look at it!!! 'W' is 1981 I think...? And has obviously been sat for a wee while, waiting for some idiot to come along... The Scottish winters have taken their toll on the sills, arches, probably floorpans, etc... why don't I care? Why is the want so strong?!!! Pictured with our own mighty conveyance, the 323... possibly a scene to be recreated on my driveway following sensitive negotiations with the garage owner, and my long-suffering life partner! (Early signs are not good... "that is horrible", and "just, no" were uttered...!) That ass tho... oooooft! 808 Estate, BL Bloke, Dirk Diggler and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Hey all, STILL procrastinating over the trab's hub removal... it's difficult, so did jeep stuff instead... Roughtrax supplied me with a pair of Monroes' finest dampers, as the old girl was feeling a bit dead at the front end. I already suspected the steering damper had gone, so I had that ready in the shed(dy). Turns out the original Toyota units had indeed damped their last... stand down soldier: Both sides were pretty much as above, although the nearside definitely felt the worst while driving. A tad overdue replacement perhaps! Anyway, very easily replaced, just a bit gutted at losing the Toyota adjustableness that she had when new. A wee solenoid sat on the top of these shocks, turning a valve inside to alter the firmness of the ride. I had to grind them off due to corrosion, but they were perfect internally and this feature actually still worked until very recently. The new ones were £100 a pair, Toyota originals are £186 each, so that's that. Removal... Replaced... plenty of wirebrushing and 'make it better' spray too. It couldn't really be any easier to be fair, apparently possible with the wheel still fitted and on the ground(!), bolt at the top, one at the bottom. Front suspension is by torsion bar, so no pesky spring in the way. Next up was the steering damper/idler. This mirrors the steering box on the driver's side, and locates the track rod end. It is also supposed to dampen the vibrations/wobbles inherent in an old style off road steering set up. Again, the old one had done it's work, and was very floppy on removal... New ones come with a grease nipple, so should last longer than the Toyota originals (yeah, yeah!). Removed... Replaced... I like working on this old thing, everything's chunky and accessible-ish. The improvement in handling is noticeable (unsurprising given the condition of the components), and so on she rolls. Cheers all. CreepingJesus, Dirk Diggler, Rust Collector and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Test drive... https://youtu.be/ex5VGgqlWO4 A productive Sunday afternoon! 808 Estate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 Further Surf works have happened... Have been experiencing some judder on braking, and whilst driving with the back window down the other week, I could hear a rubbing from the rear drums. These have never been replaced in my ownership, and maybe never ever, so a complete set of drums, shoes and springs etc. were ordered from good ol' Roughtrax. I did take pics of the replacement process, but my phone appears to have eaten them or something... They were badly worn, rusty, heavy... now all better. Flushed with this deccelerative victory, I pushed on to try and remedy the back window sitch. As any mk2 Surf owner will know, this is a weak point on these fine vehicles, now afflicting all of them to some degree or another. The rear glass motors down into the drop-down tailgate, a nice feature useful for sitting on while wistfully gazing at mountain sunsets, or moving big sticky-out things like sideboards etc. That is, until the motor stops working. The latch to the rear door will not unlock until the glass is all the way down, and the glass will only motor up when both door catches register 'closed'. Ours had gotten to the point where you had to pull the glass up and down manually, but of course you couldn't put it down so far that there was no glass to grab to pull back up, meaning the tailgate would not unlatch... Like I said, a weak point. So, like many Surfers before me, I engaged in battle with the most complex machinery known to man, a Toyota window mech... (just noticed that the four finest vehicles in the fleet are all in that shot!) Complexity level: NASA... The wee motor is pictured below. I spent about an hour stripping/un-jamming/cleaning and re-greasing this bad boy, had it running in my hand, only for it to let me down when finally re-fitted. Not fun, especially as I had gone to the trouble of cleaning up and repairing the teeth it engages with on the runner! Long story short, I now have a window that flies up and down smoothly and easily by hand (security not much of a concern here fortunately), and a disconnected 'window all the way down' switch, meaning that we can now at least open and shut the rear door too. Result!?! Anyway, as always in these situations, I like to wash the old car concerned and go for a drive somewhere nice (supposed to be fun ain't they?), so that's what we did. rainagain, Split_Pin, Tickman and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted June 26, 2021 Author Share Posted June 26, 2021 Nice day pottering on the cars today, first off the Coupe... I fitted a new rear wheel bearing earlier this week, but it started droning again by the time I got to work. I hadn't wanted to do it up too tight, so ended up with it too loose. Anyway, tightened up this morning and all good so far. Then washed the big Audi... This thing is going well. I have a pair of front wheel bearings in stock for it as I have a very slight drone now (nobody else can hear it), so will change them when I can be bothered. I also have a second hand rear light cluster coming for the offside, it's very faded and cracked. They're a bloody fortune new, so taking a chance on a breaker. Shiny. Next up was the Mazda 323. It's had a couple of mods... First and most importantly... Avant-garde placement by my eldest, looks good though. The other side sports this wee snippet... Not that ironic, as it handles ok actually! Also fitted a period correct(?) JVC head unit off of eBay, which looks and sounds good. Tape deck for maximum retro style points, and a six cd changer in the boot, all boxed with manuals for £25! Good times. Dick Longbridge, BL Bloke, rainagain and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 Hi all, Mixed results on my new old rear lamps... the guy had sent the offside outer, but the nearside inner. He's going to send out the right one, and I'm sending the wrong one back so we'll get there. Anyway, couldn't resist seeing the difference so here are the pics... Before... And after... Huge difference, and really shows up the inner one now! Hopefully won't be too long in coming. They all seem to really suffer with water ingress, but only the offside had faded/cracked, nearside (originals as far as I can tell), are fine... Minimad5, Vantman, Split_Pin and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 Wheel bearing works today (kept getting interrupted by rain... it's July, WTF?!)... Bit of effort and thinking got me thus far; The hub had corroded into the strut, and had a pretty good hold. I spent about an hour trying to separate them, damaging the mounting face a wee bit in the process. I was concerned about clouting the bearing mount near the lugs as I thought they'd be easily deformed. Realised (after watching a Youtube vid) that the new bearings come with that bit anyway. Should have looked in the bloody box beforehand. Took a bar and hammer to it then, sort of spun it out by hitting the lugs... much better, and quite therapeutic! So now I have this... The old bearing will need to be pressed off the hub, and the new one pressed on. The plan is to use the workshop at work tomorrow, once I've got the the other side off. Should be quicker now I know the method. Old one feels very loose compared to the new, but they always do, we'll see what difference it makes when fitted. I always feel like I'm beating this car up when I'm working on it, every job seems to involve the hammer and a big stick at some point! As a bonus, I found that the clip had come loose on the CV joint gaiter, so it was worth a look just for that! Glad I've had a go at this job, but tbh it's just on the edge of 'one for the garage' I think, a few special tools needed, and I'd be annoyed at it if I was needing the car back on the road desperately. I'm off work though, so fairly happy. In other news, we took the wee Mazda to a local car meet, where it garnered it's fair share of attention. A very relaxed affair, with every thing from a Subaru 22B, an A30 van, and a beautifully original giffer-spec Sunny. Lovely. The Fiesta below belongs to my assistant at work, and somehow generates 275 horses from it's 1.5 litres?!! The BMW is more my style, however, phwoarred a bit over this one... Cheers chaps. Dick Longbridge, Saabnut, gm and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daviemck2006 Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Wheel bearing works today (kept getting interrupted by rain... it's July, WTF?!)... Bit of effort and thinking got me thus far; The hub had corroded into the strut, and had a pretty good hold. I spent about an hour trying to separate them, damaging the mounting face a wee bit in the process. I was concerned about clouting the bearing mount near the lugs as I thought they'd be easily deformed. Realised (after watching a Youtube vid) that the new bearings come with that bit anyway. Should have looked in the bloody box beforehand. Took a bar and hammer to it then, sort of spun it out by hitting the lugs... much better, and quite therapeutic! So now I have this... The old bearing will need to be pressed off the hub, and the new one pressed on. The plan is to use the workshop at work tomorrow, once I've got the the other side off. Should be quicker now I know the method. Old one feels very loose compared to the new, but they always do, we'll see what difference it makes when fitted. I always feel like I'm beating this car up when I'm working on it, every job seems to involve the hammer and a big stick at some point! As a bonus, I found that the clip had come loose on the CV joint gaiter, so it was worth a look just for that! Glad I've had a go at this job, but tbh it's just on the edge of 'one for the garage' I think, a few special tools needed, and I'd be annoyed at it if I was needing the car back on the road desperately. I'm off work though, so fairly happy. In other news, we took the wee Mazda to a local car meet, where it garnered it's fair share of attention. A very relaxed affair, with every thing from a Subaru 22B, an A30 van, and a beautifully original giffer-spec Sunny. Lovely. The Fiesta below belongs to my assistant at work, and somehow generates 275 horses from it's 1.5 litres?!! The BMW is more my style, however, phwoarred a bit over this one... Cheers chaps. Ahhhh the infamous Deveron Coaches. The last full size coach I ever drove came out of that very yard. I was a macduff driver really but often did jobs in Buckie.Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk TrabbieRonnie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 11, 2021 Author Share Posted July 11, 2021 So, in the latest installment of my tinkering thread, the breaker guy came through with the correct inner rear lamp... I disassembled and cleaned it, before fitting the innards from my working but faded unit. Before/afters... And on the car... Has genuinely taken years off the thing, very satisfying job. Also, wheel bearings replaced now without further bother. Very slightly better feeling to drive, maybe? Not really. Maybe front CV joints past their best, maybe I'm obsessing... Weather has been really poor here this week, so decided against the run out to Inverness for a Cars and Coffee meet this morning. Coupe was all washed and ready though, so took her for a blast on the Grantown to Tomintoul road... mmmmm... twisty. Dramatic Highland scenery bonus... Exhaust blow has returned following my pre mot bodging, I'm off next week so will need to get something sorted. Actually fancy a Rorty one this time, we'll see what I can get away with. Cheers all. Tickman, SRi05, Saabnut and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRi05 Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 That Audi Coupe is such a nice looking car , love it. tooSavvy and TrabbieRonnie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooSavvy Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 "..Exhaust blow has returned following my pre mot bodging, I'm off next week so will need to get something sorted. Actually fancy a Rorty one this time, we'll see what I can get away with.." I scored a VW T4 centre section for only £35..... Straight through + some nice pre bends too! TrabbieRonnie and MJK 24 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 Hey all. Changed my mind about giving Rosie the Trabi some attention, as I realised my old Iveco was really starting to look unloved... It has sat since I decided to not be self-employed anymore (about three years ago!), mainly used a a work bench or parking spot... shame. I don't think I have discussed it much on here, but it is a much loved member of the fleet, especially (and unusually for old chod) as it brings various vehicles within range and can actually EARN MONIES!!! Best pics of it are actually earlier in this thread when we picked up my son's 323 from Uncle Fester of this parish. She (for a Spanish Señorita she is) is fitted with the next generation 2.3 turbo with immense pulling power, an all-steel deck of 16', lovely ally ramps in the built in storage, and an old but gold 6.5 tonne Superwinch (remote controlled too... I know!). A fine motor indeed. In my time she has hauled countless wee hatchbacks, the Subaru (clutch failed on holiday), tonnes of wood etc, and generally provided good service and good times. Currently, and undeservedly, she sits as pictured... Rusty wheels/brakes... Tyres seem fine anyway, fronts were very recently replaced. Rusty deck... Surface rust to chassis, but tough and will come up fine... Started 1st turn and ran fine (90,000 on the clock which really is nothing for these), but almost zero braking effort. She was pretty sketchy last trip to be honest, so that's the first job. First obstacle to this will be getting the wheels off, the nuts have already claimed my beloved breaker bar. I have a new knuckle coming, and an 800nm rattle gun... which will hopefully get 'em off without mullering something! Instead then, today's sunshine provided ideal shite bodywork conditions. She needs a bit of tidying/smartening up, so I have started at the front. Pics... Not too bad, no holes or anything (she's no Transit!), so a rub down, Vactan and quality* paintjob ensued... Next level masking skills. Day turned overcast as soon as I started, obvs.... Laldi's finest topcoat, not a bad match actually... And the end result, definite ten-footer! Will update further progress. This is part of a nebulous overall plan to rationalise the fleet. Plans are to eventually lose the wee Qek caravan and possibly one Trabant, and the Audi Coupe. I need the space, and the truck can maybe help facilitate their sale, given our fairly remote location. I have a second young shiter coming up as well, so he'll need a slot on the drive for a 90's project too! Cheers all, Ronnie out. Coprolalia, LightBulbFun, Dyslexic Viking and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 Eventually found the Mazda pick up thread, one of the Iveco's last missions... https://autoshite.com/topic/37095-ex-roffle-323-in-its-new-highland-home/?tab=comments# SRi05 and Dyslexic Viking 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Audi Coupe is quality, looks grand in white. Hope you get the exhaust fixed, my bodge lasted about 10 seconds on mine! TrabbieRonnie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 7 hours ago, Split_Pin said: Audi Coupe is quality, looks grand in white. Hope you get the exhaust fixed, my bodge lasted about 10 seconds on mine! Thanks man, it's still perfectly driveable... sounds pretty good tbh! Was supposed to be getting sorted this weekend, but the guy's gone quiet on me... Have been looking at pipe benders online, may have a crack myself! Split_Pin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 Front end tidy up complete, only sixteen feet of rusty back end to go! GMcD, LightBulbFun, Dan302 and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackers Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Looking good. LightBulbFun and TrabbieRonnie 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 Hi all... Finally got the wheels off the Iveco today, after many soakings in WD and a bit of heat. Never had so much trouble undoing wheel nuts in my life, but to be honest I've never had the back ones off this truck. It already broke my best breaker bar, but my new rattle gun got 'em in the end. As I mentioned before, the brakes became pretty sketchy last time out... I'm ashamed of the following image... Both sides the same. They seemed to rapidly degrade, suppose once they get down to a certain thickness the heat just breaks them up. Thankfully, the pistons seem fine, pushed back in smoothly, and new pads are ordered. Turns out the rear axle/hubs and leaf springs on my truck are from the 6.5 tonne model, no wonder she never looked overladen! Hubs cleaned up nice and even the discs will come up with a but of flapwheel action. Really shouldn't have left this thing so long... Got a test section of bed wirebrushed off and vactanned. Think I'll paint over this, with a bit of sand in the mix for grip... Hopefully be trucking again after another few weekends work, cheers all. LightBulbFun, Saabnut, Tickman and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 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. Tickman, LightBulbFun, BL Bloke and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 3 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said: 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. That's lovely. Not in a million years would I have ever imagined Pentas would sit so well on something very non-German. Great choice! TrabbieRonnie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 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? Dick Longbridge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 1 minute ago, TrabbieRonnie said: 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? Interesting. I guess most popular wheel designs are imitated by other companies, so inevitable I suppose. TrabbieRonnie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 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. captain_70s, Isopon, Dyslexic Viking and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted September 4, 2021 Author Share Posted September 4, 2021 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. Dyslexic Viking and captain_70s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrabbieRonnie Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 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. Dyslexic Viking, Tickman, Split_Pin and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now