The Current Driveway...

[TrabbieRonnie]

Car just sitting at work, cheering me up...

[TrabbieRonnie]

Got a new toy!  Rosie was employed for testing duties...

Bloody marvellous thing, you can see-saw the car end for end by hand.  Feels nice and solid too, my driveway is a tad* uneven so I've had to put plates down for the wheels to roll on.

I bought it second-hand off a colleague, but it doesn't seem to have been used much.  I've set it up for wider than he had it, the Trabbi just sits on the pads and no more, but it should take the 323, Coupe and maybe the RX8.

Chuffed to bits!

[Rustybullethole]

That's going to make so much stuff easier. Am more than a bit jealous. Great purchase.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hi all,

Couldn't resist the opportunity to tinker on the Trabi while she was up, so have had a good day's scrubbing and re-oiling...

Will need to attend to this rear panel again soon, really is looking scruffy now.  Even that'll be easier with the lift though.

Here's a pic for Zelandeth, shows the difference between my old-style hubs and his fancy new-fangled ones...

They're pretty much the same both ends, the front drums have cooling slots in to handle the massive heat build up on re-entry to the village obvs...

Spent the day wire-brushing, then painting and or oiling everything that moved.  I even scrubbed and re-painted the wheels (inside and out!), a perfect day.  My youngest was doing the same on the old jeep, will update that when we get it back together.

More pics...

Can't believe the original underseal has lasted so well, god only knows what it's made of!  The car is actually older than registered, built in 1983 (they were often returned to the factory, rejuvenated and re-vinned, then sold again apparently, hence the '89 reg).  So yeah, not bad for forty-one...

And down.  Still needs a wash and hoover, but I'll do that in the morn, weather permitting.  I plan to commute in her as much as possible now, it'll let me get a bit of a tidy up on the white Audi (needs a bit of paint now) this summer.  

So, she's running well, and I feel better having undone some of the salt damage she endured standing in during the A8's abs saga.

Just before we came in, we slid the lifter under my eldest lad's 323 (actually had to lift it by the arches to get it through, because racecar apparently!).  We'll see how that lifts up tomorrow too.

 

[Matty]

God I'd love a trabi. Couldn't happen unless the Austin goes and that isn't happening. I'll have to keep living vicariously through your updates!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Should have updated the sitch on the wee Mazda actually...

Did get the thing serviced, replaced the cambelt and front discs and pads last weekend... Took about three hours all in, brilliant thing to work on, plus I know my way around it a bit now!  

It's hitting the ramps purely for assessment/repair of some rear wheelarch blebs.

[TrabbieRonnie]

3 minutes ago, Matty said:

God I'd love a trabi. Couldn't happen unless the Austin goes and that isn't happening. I'll have to keep living vicariously through your updates!

They really are great wee things, good fun and easy/cheap to keep.

I too am maxed out for space now, I see loads of stuff I'd love to own, but can't bear to part with anything I've got!

[Matty]

3 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

They really are great wee things, good fun and easy/cheap to keep.

I too am maxed out for space now, I see loads of stuff I'd love to own, but can't bear to part with anything I've got!

Hundred percent know that feeling. I only buy things I want then fall hopelessly in love 🙄

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, I feel it's a bit boring writing about the same cars all the time, but the fleet seems to have stabilised at its current membership so I have no choice!

The Audi Coupe had its turn up on the new tilty-ramps today, to let me at the broken front spring.  It lifted the pretty nose-heavy old thing no bother... with the front end pointing skyward, the rear wheels are touching the deck, but only just.  I stuck an axle stand under the subframe just in case she wanted to play see-saw.

The offside spring was broken at the top, meaning the coil had jumped up past the shock cap and was hard against the inner wing.  This meant I'd have to compress it before pulling the strut out...  This seemed like quite a faff, so instead I cut the spring up with the angry grinder... much easier!

I really should look into getting the proper tool for undoing strut top nuts...

That's my brand new 22mm socket getting abused already.

I cleaned everything up, wire-brushing and treating the strut to some Fertan (German Vactan), it's marinating now under the bonnet...

It takes longer to go off than the Vactan, eventually turning black.  It's the favourite amongst boaty types apparently, and I couldn't see Vactan on eBay any more?

I'll give it a coat of chassis paint before reassembling with the new spring.  I'm waiting, however, for more new bits as unbeknownst to me the nearside strut top rubber has left the building!  I'll replace the pair, it didn't seem to have any impact on the driving, but was just floating about as soon as the weight came off it.  I'm on lates tomorrow and Sunday, so might get the other side dismantled if I'm energetic in the mornings (unlikely...).

Anyway, at the other end of the driveway, good progress was made by my youngest on the old Jeep.

It has been wire-brushed, treated, and painted and/or oiled up as required, in the front offside wheel-well anyway.  He's replaced the track rod, and upper and lower ball joints, which should tighten up the steering a wee bit.

He'll finish up tomorrow, re-install the damper and split-pin everything up.  The brakes are in a shocking mess, they're not even old, 'Kavo' branded and truly shite.  Roughtrax now stock genuine Toyota though, so a new set of discs and pads are en route.

The plan is to do the same on the other side, and then get her down off the truck, for fitment of all the 'new' doors and wings.  That should see her good for another few years I reckon, mainly carrying mountain bikes up into the hills.

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

SIGNIFICANT ESCALATION OF WORKS ALERT!!!

Shouldn't be surprised by now, these 30 year old motors are never straightforward!  Whilst stripping out the strut for spring/top mount replacement, I found a bit of rust...

Vigorous poking and prodding revealed the full extent...

It's a weird place for it.  Seems like the water running down the wing top gets to this point, gets stopped by the wing bolt, and then runs down the seam.  Maybe a brake fluid spill in the distant past or something compromised the paint.

Anyway, the cereal box came out, and a patch template has been formed...

It's a bit of a compound curve job, but should be do-able with a bit of tacking and whacking.  I'm in work later on, so can't be arsed getting the grinder and welder out today, but weather permitting, will do so tomorrow.

Old cars, who'd have 'em?!

[Split_Pin]

The only place I found surface corrosion on my cab was the front suspension turrets which was weird as I thought they were galvanised. 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Yes, it's odd.  I can only assume damage was caused at some point... the other side is perfect!  

Anyway, more to the point... how are you enjoying wafting around in the A8?

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

how are you enjoying wafting around in the A8?

It's absolutely fantastic. I feel like royalty when I'm in it and it's got a real road presence that you just don't seem to get even with a larger SUV.  The quality is like nothing I've ever experienced before as well, especially the seats. Best of all it gets 44 mpg!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Fantastic, glad you're enjoying it... I am jealous of your 44mpg's!

[TrabbieRonnie]

As I am on late shift and rather under-employed at this hour, I have amused myself by plugging my fleet details into Scotland's ULEZ checker... Results of my surprisingly low emission friendly shite below....

'06 Iveco Daily (2.3 diesel)...  Not Allowed.

'93 Audi Coupe (2.6 petrol)...  Not Allowed.

'92 Mazda 323 (1.3 petrol)...  Allowed!

'03 Audi A8 (3.7 petrol)...  Allowed!

'93 Toyota Hilux Surf (2.4 diesel)...  Allowed!

'04 Mazda RX8 (Wankel, 20mpg-ish)... Allowed!

'93 Toyota Hiace (2.8 diesel)...  Allowed!

And last but certainly not least, famous for it's exceptional emissions...

'89 Sachensring Trabant (0.6 petrol/oil)...  ALLOWED! 😂 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hi all, 

My youngest has been giving me evils... he's about ready to get the ol' jeep down off the truck, and ze Coupe is in the way.

So, today I broke out the welder-up machine for a go at turning my cardboard design into metal...

The story in pictures...

Bit of a tricky shape, so required the weld-whack-weld method.  I've tried to match the original, so my first go at plug welding along the back seam was first... I could then hammer the rest down into shape as I went. 

I have stuck to the method I used in the Mazda, cutting a smaller than required hole out, bending the edges away slightly to let the new piece sit in, then welding up.  It leaves an extra bit of old metal on the back, but careful dressing back of that gives a neat finish, and the weldings easier as it's then lap welds as opposed to butts.

This was much easier than the RX8... Better steel, new gas (hobbyweld) in the welder, and a bit more experience I guess.

Anyway, rain stops play so I'll dress, fill and paint another time, then new springs on and back on the road!

Cheers all.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Bit more progress today... bloody work doesn't half get in the way of the car stuff!

Pics...

This is post dressing up the welds a bit with the flap disc, and the application of some Fertan:

Hard to see in the pic, but came out quite neat, and even the plug welds show good penetration.  Had a good scrub around the area, pulled off some loose factory underseal but didn't find anything else dodgy.

Planning a skim of filler over the patch on the inside, as it's visible, and I don't want to remove too much of my weld to make it smooth.  Again, splashed a bit of Fertan around as a preventative.

I then set about the inner arch with Tetroseal thinned down a bit with oil, before fitting up the strut...

...with a new spring and top mount... fancy!  Not quite done yet, the bloody CV joint has popped off the shaft.  I'll faff around with it tomorrow,  as rain again stopped play today.

All going well apart from that though, so hopefully tomorrow can see her back down on her wheels (no welding required on the other side!).

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Better...

All buttoned up again, we think very slightly lower at the front?  Does feel a lot better, the steering is much smoother, with a stronger 'return to centre'.

I started this work in order to change a broken offside spring, and ended up discovering that the nearside was also broken, and both strut top bearings had collapsed.  Amazing that the old girl still drove fine!

Anyway, 'still to do list' comprises of replacing a torn inner CV boot (which would have been easier to do while the strut was out, but I I only noticed it when putting everything back together!), and the filling/painting of the welded inner wing.

I feel better knowing that the front wheel wells have been wire-brushed and re-oiled up too.  My wife will enjoy cruising around in the coupe this summer, while I (hopefully) thrash around in the RX8 (next to ride the tilty ramp).

Big Audi going well, I have the kit in for a cambelt/water pump/thermostat change, which looks like fun*.  Washed it yesterday with my new ceramic car shampoo... bloody nice shine on it for just a quick wash.

 

Now the Coupe's out the road, the jeep can be coaxed down from her perch, after many hours labour by my youngest on the front offside.  Will update properly with pics once we get it a wee trundle up the lane.  We've just the nearside ball joints and track rod to do before fitting our fancy new doors and generally titivating her rusty old carcass.

Summertime old car mojo is building!

[Split_Pin]

I like that Coupe, smart cars those. I thin the inner wings were the only place I saw surface rust on my old Cabriolet, the rest I think was glavanised.

You've been lucky with the big Audi, it's given good service to you. Mine has worked fine for a few weeks and since then I've been able to drive it for about a week as its sat immobile waiting for parts. 

[TrabbieRonnie]

11 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

You've been lucky with the big Audi, it's given good service to you. Mine has worked fine for a few weeks and since then I've been able to drive it for about a week as its sat immobile waiting for parts. 

It has done 40,000 miles under my ownership, and for the money it's been absolutely fantastic...  The ABS saga was a really dragged out nightmare though, I spent many weeks waiting for the correct part, and a lot of work fitting incorrect/faulty bits.  

Totally worth it though, I bloody love the thing!  Hope you get sorted soon bud, I know your pain!

[Split_Pin]

Ah I remember the ABS story now, mine is a breeze in comparison then! 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hi all.

Massively enjoying the sunshine up here in the Highlands, the long evenings for car sorting are much appreciated, cheers universe 👍.

The Coupe is going great guns, still to paint in the inner wing repair detailed previously, but I  will do so whilst I've got the rattle cans out on my other sporty little number, the RX8.

It's been laid up for the salty months, as I fear it may actually dissolve if exposed!  My fears are well founded, there is more 'weight reduction' to sort, but will get into that closer to MOT time. 

I'd actually forgotten to SORN the old girl, and realised one sunny day that I had a road-legal rotary weapon just sitting ready to enjoy... or so I thought!

I nicked one of the jeep's batteries (it starts fine on one), and hooked it up.  The engine started well, and I hit the road in Scotland's roughest RX8.  Within a few miles, a misfire reared it's head though... no acceleration to speak of was available.  It felt like when an old two-stroke bogs down, not good.

Got home and sputtered back into the driveway, defeated...  Googling RX8 issues is depressing, it's one of those cars where even it's own enthusiasts seem determined to do it down, or put people off bothering with them (I find the Trabant forums tend towards this too). 

Anyway, I stopped looking at that, and started on the car.  Pulled the passenger front wheel off for a gander at my spark plugs... always a good indicator of engine malfunctions.  The RX has four, a leading and trailing plug for each rotor, pictured below...

Handy access...

The eagle-eyed will have spotted one odd lead in the top picture, the trailing plug of number 1 dorito.

This is because, when I removed the original lead, I found a perfect spark plug, and a totally vapourised connection!

That's all there was, there was nothing touching the plug inside the boot!  I've never seen it before, and the other three were fine.  I butchered a new lead I had in the shed (bought for an ill-fated e28 many, many moons ago), pulling off and re-crimping the Mazda ends on.

It worked perfectly!  Turbine smoothness and general rapidity is restored, better than ever really.  Chuffed with such an easy and cheap fix, she will now get the welding work required before the MOT in a couple of months. 

Not this weekend though, this weekend will see her washed, polished and thrashed!  Rough or not, she goes and sounds fecking awesome, and reminds me why I bother with old shite in the first place.

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Post wash, clay bar(!?) and polish... the very best she can look at the moment, a definite 20 footer!

Had a good couple of hours run around today, bodge fix seems to be holding.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, had a bit of a grump regarding car insurance...

My youngest shiter is seventeen, theory test booked and first lesson with a professional coming up too.  I contacted my insurers with a view to putting him on as a provisional named driver, to get him some practice at the helm of his brother's 323... the perfect learner vehicle in my eyes.

Anyway, not so says Admiral... "You do know that car is over THIRTY YEARS OLD sir?!!!  It doesn't even have power steering!"

After explaining to the experts that the wee Mazda's directional changes are indeed power-assisted, they were still 'not for turning'.  Bugger.

They insured my eldest as a provisional driver on said vintage vehicle, and if course still do as a full licence holder.  It must have passed some arbitrary age limit...

So then, what to do?  I cast my eye over the current fleet, and landed on the only other manual gearbox, snugly encased in the RX8...  

This is ok by Admiral (in fact took mere moments to arrange online) and very much ok by my youngest!

In actual fact, the car has become better to drive than ever with the plug lead repair, it's still a fairly heavy clutch, but the engine is much smoother and more tractable at low revs than it was last year.

I've been dailying the blue streak for the past week, bloody great it's been too.  In a lot of ways it's not as stupid a learner car as it seems at first... the feel through the controls is telepathic, and the brakes are incredible.  Visibility for parking ain't great, but if he can manage it in this he'll surely do ok in the instructor-mobile?!  He can already drive anyway, I just wanted some miles out on the big world.  Strange how insurance works, but there you go.

 

In other news...

Jeep repairs continue apace, this week saw two doors and both front wings replaced, and the front end put back together.  I then set about removing the rear wheelarch trim to rub down and paint the sill end, which wasn't really very 'there'...

I don't even think about it anymore, just off with the rust, and out with the cardboard/welder/bits of random steel...

Cobra Beer packets definitely* are best for template purposes.

None of this is particularly pretty, but it is fine and strong, and the vast bulk of it is covered by the plastic arch trim anyway.

Anyway, weve had much fun testing out the new ball joints, steering arms etc...

And just sort of hooning around...

 

Cheers all.

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, it's starting to look like a Surf again, new doors on one side and front wings looking fresh...

We're loving the Toyota sump guard that was included in the spares haul...

Bit of bling, currently cable tied on.  Also went (just) off road...

All systems seem to have survived her protracted spruce up, so won't be long now.

 

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Currently relaxing in the actual Highlands,  on holiday before the madness of the distillery summer shutdown works...

This old beast has once again proven it's worth, wafting us around lovely...

The boot is absolutely massive, we had everything for us four, the dog, and the front wheels of the bikes in there.  Really nice to not have stuff rammed in the cabin with you, very civilised!

I got one of those suction bike racks, as there is nowhere to affix any brackets...

Was a bit nervous of it at first, but after a few hours with it on it seems to be rock solid.  It should fit any vehicle in the fleet too, £150 from ol' Jeff Bezos.

As luck would have it, a vehicle dismantler 20 minutes away from our holiday home has an RX8 in... It is the wrong colour, but has no appreciable rust...

Can the big Audi squeeze in a set of Mazda front wings too?  I am pondering over a beer, watching the neighbours...

Not the worst dilemma to be grappling with.

 

Cheers all.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hi all,

A bit of expense has been suffered here at Trabbi Towers, unexpectedly at the hands of the 323!

Having flown through the MOT last year, this one saw it fail.  The handbrake function has become poor of late, but as we were off on holiday, I had asked the garage to adjust as necessary to pass the test.  However, the shoes (fitted by me a year or two ago, Bosch's finest*) had come apart and the adjusters seized solid.

Sorting that, dosing the fuel system with magic potion to bring the emissions into line, and four new tyres came to £750... I so seldom pay for labour at a garage these days that I forget how quickly it can add up (plus the dreaded VAT of course).

But, it's back on the road and going well.  Bit of bodywork required this summer to stop the blebs becoming worse, and possibly an exhaust replacement, another advisory on the test.

In order to cheer me up after that surprise, we cleaned up and even polished the driving school RX8...

It's going well too, the engine seems to have got smoother and more tractable from low revs as the mileage goes up.  I've given it a dose of Cataclean already, with another planned just before it's test next month.  Zero two-stroke oil going through between now and then also, if the wee 45mpg 323 struggled to get through, this things going to need every bit of help it can get!

Driving it daily has allowed me to accurately monitor engine oil usage (a small amount is injected nto the combustion chamber to lubricate the rotor tips), so I'm quite happy that the system is working as designed.  Two-stroke in the tank is now a commonly used back-up measure, but obviously detrimental for the emissions.

I have had an EML flash up, the VCDS diagnostics read this really well thankfully, so I know it's the post cat oxygen sensor.  I took it out for a clean, and discovered it has taken a whack at some point, the mounting position is ridiculous, sticking down lower than the already very low exhaust pipe.  A replacement is on the way, £18.  Apparently it has no input on fuelling etc, but just confirms converter operation.

The welding work required has been scoped out, so I'll get to that nearer the time also, for now we're just enjoying the car.

The eldest of my young shiters has expressed a desire for a bigger car, so I'm keeping half an eye out for something 90's and estate-shaped, to replace the 323.  We're not in a rush, but their band is taking off a bit, and the wee Mazda's not big enough for the amps/guitars etc, and the band.

He really likes the look of the Audi 80 estate, and I think after a couple of years good driving since he passed, that he could handle one ok.  We'll see what comes along, he's saved up a bit, and I'm sure the 323 would sell ok to somebody retro-friendly (following the aforementioned tidy-up)...

Cheers all.

 

 

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hello all.

In today's episode of "Why Audi, Why?!!!"...

Might I suggest that the back light clusters in an A8 are maybe a touch over-complicated...?

The above job has come about due to the gradual failure of the offside rear indicator.  It started acting up on holiday, so obviously everyone just assumed I was a Audi-driving tourist twat*, never bothering my arse to signal right.  

 

*...they may be correct.

 

Anyway, I do usually signal my intentions, and was getting sick of the gesticulations, beeping and general abuse from behind (oooh, err).

Much fiddling and faffing, and cleaning mysterious components with eLeCtRiCaL cLeAnEr, resulted in an unchanging illumination situation.  I then remembered my much-maligned policy of hoarding even the seemingly most broken car crap, and retrieved the old original cluster from its carefully labelled shelf in my workshop storage area (aka, kicked under an old, forlorn Trabant).

Below is the borked units' innards, looking freshly-minted by NASA...

And here are the innards from the car's original cluster, looking freshly salvaged by Oceangate (too soon?)...

This one worked perfectly when hooked up, so I swapped inners and outers (regular readers will remember I changed the usually-very-rare-and-sought-after cluster due to the condition of the lens)...

And ended up with a working A8 again for zero credits of the realm!  

Which was nice.  Next job is the suspension compressor, she's started to get slow at getting up in the morning, a lot like myself.  I have the rebuild kit in, looks like a couple of o-rings and a DT50 piston ring, which should give her some puff back.

New chinese-ium lambda probe has landed for the RX8 too, so much fun yet to come!  However, I'm in back-shift work this weekend, so currently enjoying my last evening of freedom, and the old cars can do one for a bit.

Cheers all.

 

 

 

[Split_Pin]

Apparently A8 rear clusters are worth more than their weight in gold so well done on fixing the ones you have.

Everyone on the A8 FB pages comments on my mixed-bag rear light clusters, can't say I've ever taken notice of them 😂

[TrabbieRonnie]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Apparently A8 rear clusters are worth more than their weight in gold so well done on fixing the ones you have.

Everyone on the A8 FB pages comments on my mixed-bag rear light clusters, can't say I've ever taken notice of them 😂

Well, I didn't like to say....! 🤣🤣🤣