First, the question; How many still plan on getting a pulley to me by the end of the week for lightening? Reason I ask is if there's more I can leave the CNC powered-down and "parked" at it's current setting and not have to re-find it's "zero" starting point for these pulleys when/if more pulleys arrive. If all pulleys are here then I can "un-park" the CNC, forfeit or cancel-out my LW pulley "zero" starting point and move on to some other projects. I don't want to cancel zero if I'm not finished with pulleys as it takes over an hour to reinstall the pulley fixtures on the CNC and get zero back once lost/cancelled.

All of my in-house exchange pulleys and outright sale pulleys are finished. A total of 45 in-house and 16 "customer-supplied" pulleys so far in this GP. Barring any additional sales of "my" pulleys there will be 5-6 remaining after the dust settles.

The earliest orders for these will start shipping today. That includes outright, exchange and customer-supplied pulleys. Probably 18-20 will ship today. A similar size shipment tomorrow and the day after. Additional pulleys received this week will be batched/ganged with other late arrivals and machined in as large a number as can be achieved. Pulleys recieved as late as Friday, March 21, the cut-off date for this production-run will be ran over the weekend and shipped ASAP the following week. People that haven't transferred their refundable core deposit monies yet will have their orders batched & shipped with other pulleys going out near the times their deposits were received.

Feel free to e-me with any questions "off-forum."

Thanks,
M

...I don't think its going to make it by Friday.

They (Canada Post) could only promise 7 business days; &amp; I couldn't "upgrade", as that required <i>your</i> phone number (it's a U.S. security thing apparently, who they gonna call if it blows-up?). As long as I send it more slowly, they don't need your number. Umhmm. Your tax dollars at work.

Mance, if I don't make it, thats fine. Next time perhaps. I certainly don't need this in a hurry. I'd just discovered this donor A4 5V on Sat. Car was buried &amp; I had no tools.

Returned today, un-bolting was no problem, but pulley was seized on the pump shaft. No "sub 5 minute job" this one (perhaps I should have asked what the second tool was in this "2 tool job"? Only penetrating oil &amp; patience (about an hour) got it off. Just kept rotating it &amp; applying light pressure &amp; more oil. It didn't look like there was any room for a puller, nor any easy way to remove the whole pump. Luckily the weather was perfect.

Cleaning just the red rust out of the centre-bore hole (it actually looks as though it was punched, not bored) required the most gentle of fine filing. What a lovely piece, looks like it was anodized perhaps. Looking at the edge detail, where the belt grooves meet the un-machined sides of the pulley rim, that edge width appears slightly un-even as you slowly rotate the pulley. Therefore, the grooves where machined after the pulley itself was either stamped or forged, I wonder which?<ul><li><a href="http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/unorthodox-racing-6-rib-ps-pulley-polished-audi-s4-0003-pi-6147.html">I like the French OEM look &amp; your price better than this one...</a></li></ul>

The U/O pulley is actually heavier than the stock alloy PS pulley but lighter than the OEM steel pulley.

If your pulley arrives too late there's still another option. If I have remaining pulleys when your's arrives I can swap you one of my "pre-machined" units and you pay the additional $10 between the $55 for doing yours and the $65 for doing an exchange pulley with no deposit. Then I just add your pulley to my exchange pulley pile.

The "2nd tool" in pulley R&amp;R is the wrench to relieve tension on the serpentine belt tensioner. Cars that are "on-the-road" daily don't have problems with pulley's seizing like junkyard motors sitting on the ground hood or in a car with no hood like in junkyards.

Be V-E-R-Y careful in removing ANY material from the aluminum pulley shaft bore as that is designed to be a snug "zero-play"/interference-fit to the pump pulley shaft. The bore is the ONLY centering device for the pulley!! PS pulleys are "hub-centric" and CANNOT center via mounting bolts alone!

...I guess we'll have to just wait &amp; see if:

a.) my pulley gets in the door under the deadline;

b.) you have pre-machined ones on hand, if it arrives afterward; &amp;

c.) I've "filed" my pulley under "D" for door-stop. I did remember your previous remarks on both (lack of) cleanliness of parts you receive; and hub-centricity of the power steering pulley when I did this.

The Scotch-Brite, varsol &amp; Brake-Kleen wouldn't cut it, so I used a curved fine riffler file to just "draw file" only &amp; only the red rust. Because the file is curved, both in profile &amp; along its' axis, it only has point contact which allowed me good control of the affected area. Let me know if I've pooched it.<ul><li><a href="http://forums.audiworld.com/12v/msgs/66298.phtml">2nd paragraph re hub-centric...</a></li></ul>

IF i cant find one in time do you still have any that you sell outright avaliable?

tho soon after the next TB GP I'll likely lighten all my PS pulley cores at some point so that I have them in Pre-made/ready-to-ship inventory. After my latest purchase of even more of these things I'm feeling a bit guilty about keeping 40+ stock PS pulleys in a box that can't be sold until/if lightened.