1995 Audi 80 coupe

[dave j]

After selling my beetle a couple months ago and clearing some debts I was looking for an 80's or 90's VW for a couple of grand and couldn't find anything decent. 

Then I spotted this Audi for sale locally on Facebook. Been off the road for about 3 and a half years it needs some work before putting it in for an MOT. 

It was the colour that got my attention first! Love the shape of these cars and I can't remember the last time I saw or noticed one.

Just been delivered at lunchtime today so only had a quick look over it.  First job is to sort a leaky fuel pipe. The abs light was on when I viewed it but driving on and off the recovery truck has put the light out thankfully.

[Erebus]

Lovely colour and looks really tidy

[Supernaut]

Wow! That's lovely.

[dave j]

I should say it looks great in the pictures but up close it needs some paint. I've just ordered some touch up paint to help with the worst parts, namely the door mouldings and boot lid have some parts where there are large chips In the paint. 

[wesacosa]

I do like those. well bought 

[Matty]

What kind is it mister?

[inconsistant]

Nice buy! Proper Audi! I love the offset boot lock in the light cluster on these. But then I’m not left handed. 

[stuboy]

that looks all right that

[dave j]

36 minutes ago, Matty said:

What kind is it mister?

It's a 2 litre 8 valve front wheel drive.. so it's the base model of Audi coupes! About 115bhp so not going to win many races but still faster than the Beetle was!

[bigstraight6]

Nice one dude, looks really nice.

[Matty]

7 minutes ago, dave j said:

It's a 2 litre 8 valve front wheel drive.. so it's the base model of Audi coupes! About 115bhp so not going to win many races but still faster than the Beetle was!

I had that lump in my mk3 gti. 115 never sounded like much but it was a very willing engine that revved well and felt more than the sum of its parts. Nice torquey unit as well. 

[dave j]

Had a quick poke around after work. There is a metal fuel line underneath that's rusted through and leaking, central locking, screenwash and various lights not working.

There is some flaky underseal underneath but the car itself looks really solid.  The suspension parts all.look quite crusty but should clean up 

It's very damp in the boot so need to track down where it's leaking

 

[dave j]

3 minutes ago, Matty said:

I had that lump in my mk3 gti. 115 never sounded like much but it was a very willing engine that revved well and felt more than the sum of its parts. Nice torquey unit as well. 

I thought it sounds just like a MK3 GTi! Very similar looking engine but a different engine code

[N Dentressangle]

Nice. Nearly bought a 5 pot one of those near Chippenham 25 years ago. No idea why I didn't - young and foolish I guess.

[bigstraight6]

17 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

Nice. Nearly bought a 5 pot one of those near Chippenham 25 years ago. No idea why I didn't - young and foolish I guess.

I nearly bought  drop top one of these some years ago and wish I had, the moth eaten condition of the roof is what put me off but other than that it was a nice car and lovely to drive.

[Volksy]

@HillmanImp had a V6 one of these, quite a lovely car, however I think it's demise was a meltdown of the fusebox/wiring. 

IIRC these and a lot of VAG stuff from the period have the scuttle area fill up with water when the drain holes block. Leading to interior leaks and fubared electrics.

[HillmanImp]

Yeah, mine broke down with a broken crankshaft sensor or summink on the way for its MOT. As it wasn't taxed (I couldn't tax it with no MOT in them days) the RAC refused to take me home so it got dragged round the corner to the nearest garage who looked at it, said they'd sort it the next day once the part arrived and then left it outside the fuse box open, which filled up with water and fried everything. After much debating I  eventually dragged it to another garage who couldn't do anything with it and the original garage said the 2nd garage must've done it so I was boned.

There were some rubber pads either on the doors or on the body where the door closes on  on mine which went a bit hard and meant that water leaked in the back. The windows always froze to the rubbers in winter if it's parked outside so you can't get in. Other than that it was relatively pain free baring the occasional breakage, I think the ignition broke once and some bolts on the waterpump broke when trying to change it (the waterpump didn't get changed).

Not sure what the 2.0 is like but the 2.6 was terrible on fuel but was a really satisfying pull when you put your foot down, despite having the shortest first gear I've ever experienced on a car.

I'd happily smoke around in one of these again, it's one of my favourite ever cars both in looks and driving. Hope it goes okay.

[dave j]

22 minutes ago, HillmanImp said:

Yeah, mine broke down with a broken crankshaft sensor or summink on the way for its MOT. As it wasn't taxed (I couldn't tax it with no MOT in them days) the RAC refused to take me home so it got dragged round the corner to the nearest garage who looked at it, said they'd sort it the next day once the part arrived and then left it outside the fuse box open, which filled up with water and fried everything. After much debating I  eventually dragged it to another garage who couldn't do anything with it and the original garage said the 2nd garage must've done it so I was boned.

There were some rubber pads either on the doors or on the body where the door closes on  on mine which went a bit hard and meant that water leaked in the back. The windows always froze to the rubbers in winter if it's parked outside so you can't get in. Other than that it was relatively pain free baring the occasional breakage, I think the ignition broke once and some bolts on the waterpump broke when trying to change it (the waterpump didn't get changed).

Not sure what the 2.0 is like but the 2.6 was terrible on fuel but was a really satisfying pull when you put your foot down, despite having the shortest first gear I've ever experienced on a car.

I'd happily smoke around in one of these again, it's one of my favourite ever cars both in looks and driving. Hope it goes okay.

Shame about what happened to yours, I did think the fusebox was in a strange location! Someone has cut out most of the carpet in mine sadly (probably due to water ingress!) and it lives outside so I will be keeping an eye out for water leaks and trying to reduce them

[Zelandeth]

These really do still look a fresh design today.  Not the most inspiring cars to do drive, but these really did feel incredibly well put together.

Boot water ingress on at least one we had through the garage back in the day was around the wiper spindle.  

Which I discovered of course after blaming the tail light seals and changing all of them.  Though with how old the rubbers are all of the above are probably likely suspects.

[dave j]

Yeah doing some reading online they seem to leak everywhere! I noticed 1 of the rear lights has about an inch of water in it and is very wet inside so I definitely have an issue around the back lights that needs looking at. 

[bangernomics]

Classic bangernomics feature car those. Lovely.

[Westbay]

Top of my 'want' list ...

[Blake's Den]

Very nice! I had the pleasure or rescuing one of these last year in the same colour. All was good until it caught fire! 

 

[dave j]

24 minutes ago, Blake's Den said:

Very nice! I had the pleasure or rescuing one of these last year in the same colour. All was good until it caught fire! 

 

Oh no! What happened? Did you dump it back on the farm? Would be nice to rob some bits off it if it still exists!

This one is running and driving but I need to sort the metal fuel lines underneath as they have rotted

[Blake's Den]

3 hours ago, dave j said:

Oh no! What happened? Did you dump it back on the farm? Would be nice to rob some bits off it if it still exists!

This one is running and driving but I need to sort the metal fuel lines underneath as they have rotted

It belongs to my brother in law, he still has it.

The fire wasn't bad. Basically I had a back fire (or forward fire?!) through the air intake which blew a hole in the air box. There's a video of the moment it went bang on my channel. Luckily I had a fire extinguisher on hand to deal with it. There wasn't much damage, just the air box. It's fully saveable, the rest of the car is in good condition. I just need my brother in law to get his finger out and do some work on it!

 

[Westbay]

ooohh! that was spectacular !

[TrabbieRonnie]

Lovely car, well bought.  I think of ours as the ever-reliable, modern, turn-key motor!  

Good luck with getting it going, brilliant car 👍.

[dave j]

I have been doing some work on this when time allows. 

1st job was a fuel leak. The metal fuel line was leaking near the tank so as a temporary repair I have cut the pipe and extended the rubber hose from a 4" one to about 12" now. Long term all the fuel lines need replacing as they are a bit crusty. 

I've gone over all the brakes and made sure they are all free. The discs and pads all round were replaced not long before it was laid up so other than some surface rust they seem good. 

Had a poke and prod around underneath and not found any horrors yet. I got the wire brush out for some of the suspension components as they were looking a bit crusty. Nice to not have to be replacing sills etc!

The rear lights have been leaking - the bulb holder on one side cleaned up ok and got those lights working. The other side was much worse and part of the bulb holder fell apart! Trying to get hold of a replacement hasn't been easy but have a second hand one on the way from an Audi 80 coupe/cabriolet Facebook group

Just ordered service bits including a cambelt kit and a new radiator from Autodoc

Still loving the way it looks and the colour though!

[Lacquer Peel]

On 21/10/2024 at 21:01, dave j said:

I thought it sounds just like a MK3 GTi! Very similar looking engine but a different engine code

They have different engine codes for transverse and longitudinal mounting but they will be much the same engines. 

Good progress with the repairs, it looks lovely.