85 UR quattro

[team illuminata]

Just got the car back from Auto Europe and it now shifts beautifully Thanks to Kenny who did a great job and worth every penny to let a professional fiddle with it this time. Here's what came out: 26 year old German rubber. Yuk! Kenny said the short rod #35 was OK but getting a little worn. I should start looking for one but they are NLA of course. Anyone have one or want to make me one? When I went to pick the car up they had it parked next to a Corrado. Interesting comparison don't you think? The Corrado almost looks like a next generation quattro more than the one that actually followed it. Now the shift libkage is sorted I've started thinking about a suspension rebuild. Have all the bushings bought but Kenny also gave me some NEW Bilsteins for the car. They are actually from a later car but might fit. Anyone know? Also, it looks like my gas cap gasket has solved my fuel smell issues too

[team illuminata]

Some updates:

I bought an OE steering wheel off eBay UK. Seller said it was in great condition and he was not wrong. I like the Audi Sport one that came with the car but it has always bothered me that it is not original. It's indicator cancel tab was offset too so the left turn signal cancelled too soon and the right too late. Swapping them was easy but you have to pull the cover harder than feels right to get it off. I like that I never need a steering wheel puller on this car

Before:



After:




I know most of you would prefer the Sport one especially as it's chunky and 14" vs 15" for the OE but I actually kind of prefer the way it drives with the ugly one.

Replacing the steering wheel cured my intermittent horn issue too. I also seem to have fixed the spare tire leak. Well Auto Europe did by remounting it. Gas cap is still leaking despit the new gasket maybe I'll try a new cap next.

Of course I had to road test the car with it's new steering wheel so I took it on a tour of local car events. First off was a car show someone gave me a flier for at Cars and Coffee yesterday. Lots of muscle cars and old domestic stuff as you might expect but a few import gems namely a rather nice black Testarossa, a BMW 850 coupe and a 90's Mercedes but I don't know my Mercedes like I should. The quattro would have fit right in there but I'm not sure I'm cut out for car shows. Seems like you park the car then sit next to it for five hours. Sounds boring. Is it?

Next up was a autocross at Belle Isle. A bautiful setting if you ever get the chance. The events are held on the newish cement paddock they poured for the Detroit GP we had a few years ago. I didn't mean to run, the car's not up to it and cones make a mess of paint but I did hope to do a fun run or two at the end by way of a demo as many people said they wanted to hear it run. Alas, it was not to be. Apparantly you had to have run the event to do fun runs so off to the Motor City Mayhem event at the Silverdome in Pontiac just round the corner form our shop.

I didn't know much about this thing except that seemed to involve some drifting and a time attack event along with other crazy stuff. Mayhem is a good word as reports at the autocross were that the previous iteration was a bit chaotic. I got there n time for the drifting and was ushered into the "Display" parking are as I had such a nice car. There were a lot of strange cars there let me tell you but plenty of spectators so maybe we should get involved in this mayhem one day. car was well received especially as the Michigan Gumball rally finished there while I was in attendance so some slightly more normal car people were around.



Then I took the car down Woodward but nobody was out as it was still a little early in the day.

I did discover that I have no brake lights which is a little disconcerting. They are on the same fuse as the horn interestingly but that works. Bulbs are fine too seemingly. Any known issues with these?

[team illuminata]

Am I missing something, literally?

I noticed my front grill was a bit loose along the bottom so had a fiddle with it. All the top clips are in place but I'm not sure what is supossed to hold it in place along the bottom. It seems like it might latch behind the bumper via some tabs but they don't reach high enough. There is evidence of one potential securing device roughly in the center but it may be broken. Can't believe that's athe only means of securing the grill so how do the 85 grills attach, anyone know or care to probe theres?

Some pictures to illustrate:

[team illuminata]

I've been driving the car quite a bit recently, mostly aolng Woodward Avenue, the venue for the upcoming Dream Cruise. For those of you who are not familiar with this crazy event check out this web site. Basically, Woodward, which is a mile from my house, hosts the biggest car event on the planet next week and has been building up to this climax for the last couple of months. The street is the ultimate car guys hangout during the summer months. I spend way too much time here but the car is a big hit and it can't hurt business. I will skip the actual cruise itself as I'll be at a RallyCross but by then it is so far out of controll as to be not worth it. The preceeding week is the best IMHO with every conceivable type of car on display driving right by you. Here it is taking on two modern iterations of the theme:



So as a result of all this hanging out on Woodward a few issues came to light. First of the car cut out as I was leaving a prime Woodward vantage spot last Friady. I popped the hood/bonnet and fiddled with the ignition equipment looking for anything obvious. The only thing I found out of place was the connector on the side of the distributor which had come loose. The screw holding it on would not thread back into the distrubutor body so I zip tied it in place in proper rally fashion. Car started right up and has been fine since.




I got it into the shop the next day but could not get the screw to tighten up. It seems as if the threads have stripped so we are sticking with the zip tie for now. I broke the bracket in the process too I have no idea what this connector is for or if it could have caused the engine to cut out like it did but it seems to run fine now.

I did notice the rotor arm seemed a little worse for wear when I looked at it so I cleaned it up with a bit of sand paper for now and ordered a new one for next week.






I also had some issues with the driver's window. It wouldn't go back up a few times. I had had this happen once before but disproved it later when it slid up nice and smooth but this time it definately needed some assistance. I've since figured out that it only does this if it's raining or I've jsut washed the car. Seems as if the guides are a little loose so the window can wobble in them and if it's wet stick. Are the guides adjustable or do you have to replace them? I did try to have a look in the door but failed at the first hurdle: I couldn't get the door handle off the door card! Oh, the screws came out OK but I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the wires from the power mirror switch in the handle. I couldn't even create enough slack to rotate and release the top mount so I could see the connector so was doing it blind. Any trcks here or can anyone tell me how it comes apart?


I also need to replace a breather shown below as it it perishing and looks about to fail. Of course it is no longer available new and the generic pipe I had in the shop was too small.






Why do I have two heated window switches? Neither of which seem to do anything anyway. The top one even feels broken as it does not flip on or off positively. Why two and what do they do? Are they readily available and easy to replace?





I found this relay on the floor under the driver's seat.



Anyone have any idea what it's for?

See you on Woodward this week?

[team illuminata]

Thanks to some tips from some helpful Audi owners I got into the door again yesterday. The switch does just pry out of the handle and is easy to unplug with the help of a screwdriver:





Then it was easy to get the door card off and find out what is causing my window to stick.



Here's one obvious issue. Two of the isolator studs that hold the motor to the door have sheared so the motor flops around under load. Can't be ideal.





Fortunately there was a threaded hole in the motor that lined up with the big hole that I assume was for a hand crank on lesser models. I used a big washer and secured it in place. I couldn't locate it where it wanted to be as it wouldn't clear the big aftermarker speaker that a previous owner added. maybe this is the cause of the shearing.



Hopefully that helps though the window still felt loose in its guides. To help I shoved some large cable ties behid the guides to push them out a bit and take up some of the slack. It work somewhat.





I tried to replace my rotor arm but was supplied with the wrong part. Hole is too small.



I did mange to find a self tapping screw to hold my hall sensor in place though. no more cable ties. Looks almost OE.



I had a go at my over-abundance of heated rear window switches too. I loosened the bezel but it wouldn't come off without removing the steering wheel and indicator stalks. Fortunately I still had enough room to pry out the switches and blank and this is what I found taped up:





Looks like someone nearly had a fire. This might explain the two HRW switches and why one was iffy. The undamaged one wasn't connected to anything nor were there any extra wires back there so I suspect a prevoius owner bought a new switch to try to fix a non-funtioning HRW and just left them both in place when he found the melted mess. Im not sure if I'm going to deal with this one either.



I am wondering if there is a short in the HRW wiring somewhere. I had a quick look in the under-hood fuse box but didn't find a relay for it.





Maybe one day when the dash is apart I'll splice in a new HRW connector for that newer switch.

[team illuminata]

So a couple of weeks ago now (I've been on vacation) I took the car to a RallyCross. before you get too excited, no, I didn't run the car, just took it out there to see the new Detroit Region course and hang with my RallyCross buddies most of whom haven't seen the car yet. Parked it right in the middle of the paddock for maximum exposure but was soon joined by another red Audi:



On the way there I tried the cruise control as I was on a freeway for about 30 minutes. I was very impressed that it still worked but even more impressed how it held the speed rock steady over hill and dale. Awesome.



No. that's km/h not mph. I beleive this represents exactly 70mph

The last 15 minutes to the event was on the smoothest dirt road I have ever seen. The car thought it was at Rally Finland!



I booked it out of there before a big storm rolled through but had a great time doing ride alongs with some of the competitors. Glad I took my helmet. I was quite pleased with how the car drove and that it didn't, for once, break any parts or show any previously hidden issues; or so I thought. This is what I discovered the other day:



Yep, broken exhaust hanger. Anyone know where to get one of these? Car is still serviceable thanks to the wonders of cable ties.



No wonder they call these a rally icon. There's more cable ties on this than my rally car now!

I'm still struggling to find the correct distributor rotor for the car. The first had the same electrode as the current one but was too small to fit over the shaft. The latest (#3) fits but the electrode is smaller. Can I use this one?



Still need a new gas cap too.

Cars and Coffee at Kart 2 Kart tomorrow.

Later

[team illuminata]

Time for an update. Been doing a bit of driving and a bit of maintenance. Car has been behaving itself lately too. Took it on a 3 hour round trip to Northern Ohio a few weeks ago:



Though it was daylight I ran it with the headlights on both ways as a test. Someone, perhaps on here, had mentioned how the headlight switch can get really warm and sometimes can melt the connector behind the switch. I thought, with Fall approaching, it might be an idea to see if they would survive and indeed they did but, I must say, the switch did get alarmingly warm. In fact I would go as far as to describe it as "hot"! So when I got back I put it on my list to investigate the wiring with a view to maybe adding some relays.

It was during this process that I decided my main beams weren't working as I couldn't get the inner-most set of lights to come on. Later, with the car in the shop I could clearly see the main beams change from low beam so was a little puzzled. Once I got the lights off the car I realized that it has dual filamet H4s or something and they are wired up and work but the innermost high beams are not wired up wihch is why I didn't see them come on and why I thought they weren't working. In the daylight I couldn't see the H4s change to main beam. This must all be a consequence of the Euro headlight conversion the car underwent sometime in its past. So, I am going to rewire the headlights and all main beams to function using the headlight switches to control relays powered directly from the battery. I think I can create a harness for this that will just plug into the existing wiring without doing any cutting or splicing too. We will see.

I did discover that the headlight adjusters are missing too. Apparantly these were automatic motorized jobbies on the Euro cars but manual ones can be used too. Anyone shed any light on this?



I also discovered a bit of rust behind the right side headlight. I'll have to get a bit of stop-rust on that later.



While I had the lights out I thought it a good idea to have a look at the air filter as it seems impossible to get at it from above. Look:



I manged to pry the lid off enough, but just enough, to ease the filter out.



It was really tight and the clips were hard to reach. In fact it looks like the previous owner managed to pinch one of the pleats between the lid and housing last time it was replaced. Probably wasn;t sealing too well I bet:



Turns out it has a washable K&N filter so I washed it, oiled it and put it back



After checking the filter I thought it might be a good idea to check the spark plugs especially as they are so easy to get at. hey were all in pretty good shape but were of the triple electrode type from Bosch. I thought these were a bit hokey so went in pursuit of some replacements only to be told that these are the correct ones the car came with. Is ths right?





I tried the new narrow contact rotor arm on the run to Ohio. The car ran fine but didn't feel as powerful so I have swapped back the wider one. Feels better again. I have found a Porsche part number for the wide rotor arm and endeavoring to acquire one through our local Porsche dealer. The pld w one is not in bad shape but a new one can't hurt.

My brand new gas cap came in too and proved successful during the Ohio trip. I can now run a full tank withought is pouring down the side of the car.

On the way back through Canada last week I swung by the previous previous owners shop for a visit. I had hoped to be in the quattro but those plans fell through but still, it was good to visit with Rob and share stories of the car. I snagged a few original parts to such as the quad lights and ac parts. perhaps I'll put them on one day.Thanks Rob.





I'm trying to drive the car as much as possible rather than working on it as winter is approaching but I still have a few things I want to do sooner rather than later such as the headlight relays, rotor arm, breather hose and radio though I must say I am enjoying my 80s Duran Duran albums lately.

[team illuminata]

Not much URQ action lately, mostly because we bought this:



Which means having to fix up this :



so we can sell it

I did find an almost new radio on eBay though



to replace the bling thing that's in it now:



I may have an opportunity to drive the car this week as a friend of mine wants to barter a drywall job for a drive in the car! Not a bad deal hey?

[team illuminata]

Took the UR quattro out for one last blast today before I put it away for the winter. Strange concept for me this. Not used to it at all. Car performed flawlessly again and was a joy to drive I took it to say "Au revoir" to Francois' URQ which is off to Maryland then home to say "Bonjour" to our new A3. Not much family resemblance here IMHO.










After this little rendevous I filled it with gas, added a bottle of Stabil, took it back to the shop and gave it a good wash. Tomorrow I will wax it and put it away As it will be down for a fair few months I intend to do some serious work on it. Stay tuned for developments

[team illuminata]

I tried putting the new-old radio in before I put the car away but got flummoxed by the unusual (to me) mini DIN speaker sockets on the back of the unit (top left)




Apparantly the plugs that go into them look like these:








But of course, mine are long gone, replaced by some fatter, after market speaker wire. I did get the thing to power up and make noise by touching bare wires to the terminals so that's a good sign.


We had a bit of fun before we put the car away, test fitted an 18" BRAID Winrace A off a customers A3. I think it looks, er, interesting. Offset is all wrong and the tire is an inch to tall but it looks kind of cool IMHO






HEY, WHERES IT GONE !!




Ah, there it is. I think this is called "hibernating"




I also been doing a bit of "aquisition" on the parts front. Snagged this huge workshop manual and lug bolt covers from eBay UK.







Did these cars come with lug nut covers? Lug nut heads are certainly ugly affairs. Still need a removal tool though.


My sister made me this lovely canvas of the car for Christmas




and then I bought myself this to get me through the long, dark winter nights