Audi 80 Saved from the scrapheap...
Discussion
A small update. The Audi has been getting on with the job it was designed for, munching rather a lot of motorway miles.
A couple of weekends ago I had two conventions to go to and a run down to Wales and back to drop my son at an army cadet camp. The Audi, fresh with its new tyres, was pressed into action.
I felt a tiny bit guilty, as in the course of a long weekend it was going to rack up more mileage than it had done in the previous year, but I figured a long distance shakedown was precisely what the car needed to blow out the cobwebs and stretch its legs a little - and, perhaps, reveal any other maintenance that might be required after its long sojourn.
Kent to Wales, Wales back to Heathrow, Heathrow to Manchester, Manchester to Wales and then finally Wales back to home. A distance of just over 1,000 miles.
Which took only two tanks of fuel.
The Audi did rather come into its own on the long drive. It's not much of a car to hustle around country lanes, nor is it really ideal for the cut and thrust of city driving, but get the old dear out on the motorway and she cruises at 75 (despite the rather low gearing) quietly and happily all day long.
Even better, that seemed to suit the engine well too. I managed an indicated 509 miles on a tankful of unleaded, just a smidge over 40 mpg, which I think as about as good as it will get.
The Audi didn't miss a beat all the way, passing the 85k mark on the last leg, unfazed by the long journey.
Apart from getting stuck in traffic at one point, where some of that new-fangled air-conditioning might have been welcome, and the lack of cruise control which did cause my right foot to ache a bit after 3+ hours non-stop I have no complaints.
The car is quiet, smooth, refined and a pleasant place to while away the monotonous hours, though the replacement stereo is a godsend.
You have to plan your overtakes, as 100 bhp and acceleration that is best described as 'relaxed' isn't necessarily what other drivers anticipate from a 4-ringed vehicle.
It's also not a 'head-turner'. No one notices it at all. I think it still blends in to the rest of the traffic, its 25 year old design innocuous and inoffensive, just another rep-mobile making its way to the next appointment. Just another Audi.
So far, so uneventful. Vorsprung Durch Technik, as they say in Kent, Wales, London and Manchester...
Cheers,
Drew.
A couple of weekends ago I had two conventions to go to and a run down to Wales and back to drop my son at an army cadet camp. The Audi, fresh with its new tyres, was pressed into action.
I felt a tiny bit guilty, as in the course of a long weekend it was going to rack up more mileage than it had done in the previous year, but I figured a long distance shakedown was precisely what the car needed to blow out the cobwebs and stretch its legs a little - and, perhaps, reveal any other maintenance that might be required after its long sojourn.
Kent to Wales, Wales back to Heathrow, Heathrow to Manchester, Manchester to Wales and then finally Wales back to home. A distance of just over 1,000 miles.
Which took only two tanks of fuel.
The Audi did rather come into its own on the long drive. It's not much of a car to hustle around country lanes, nor is it really ideal for the cut and thrust of city driving, but get the old dear out on the motorway and she cruises at 75 (despite the rather low gearing) quietly and happily all day long.
Even better, that seemed to suit the engine well too. I managed an indicated 509 miles on a tankful of unleaded, just a smidge over 40 mpg, which I think as about as good as it will get.
The Audi didn't miss a beat all the way, passing the 85k mark on the last leg, unfazed by the long journey.
Apart from getting stuck in traffic at one point, where some of that new-fangled air-conditioning might have been welcome, and the lack of cruise control which did cause my right foot to ache a bit after 3+ hours non-stop I have no complaints.
The car is quiet, smooth, refined and a pleasant place to while away the monotonous hours, though the replacement stereo is a godsend.
You have to plan your overtakes, as 100 bhp and acceleration that is best described as 'relaxed' isn't necessarily what other drivers anticipate from a 4-ringed vehicle.
It's also not a 'head-turner'. No one notices it at all. I think it still blends in to the rest of the traffic, its 25 year old design innocuous and inoffensive, just another rep-mobile making its way to the next appointment. Just another Audi.
So far, so uneventful. Vorsprung Durch Technik, as they say in Kent, Wales, London and Manchester...
Cheers,
Drew.
Drew, what a lovely story!
I just found your thread and read through it in one go, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I even recounted your story to my wife, who is as unpistonheadish as you can get and she was equally impressed.
So, please continue adding to this story and I will gladly keep reading!
I just found your thread and read through it in one go, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I even recounted your story to my wife, who is as unpistonheadish as you can get and she was equally impressed.
So, please continue adding to this story and I will gladly keep reading!
drewwa said:
A small update. The Audi has been getting on with the job it was designed for, munching rather a lot of motorway miles.
A couple of weekends ago I had two conventions to go to and a run down to Wales and back to drop my son at an army cadet camp. The Audi, fresh with its new tyres, was pressed into action.
I felt a tiny bit guilty, as in the course of a long weekend it was going to rack up more mileage than it had done in the previous year, but I figured a long distance shakedown was precisely what the car needed to blow out the cobwebs and stretch its legs a little - and, perhaps, reveal any other maintenance that might be required after its long sojourn.
Kent to Wales, Wales back to Heathrow, Heathrow to Manchester, Manchester to Wales and then finally Wales back to home. A distance of just over 1,000 miles.
Which took only two tanks of fuel.
The Audi did rather come into its own on the long drive. It's not much of a car to hustle around country lanes, nor is it really ideal for the cut and thrust of city driving, but get the old dear out on the motorway and she cruises at 75 (despite the rather low gearing) quietly and happily all day long.
Even better, that seemed to suit the engine well too. I managed an indicated 509 miles on a tankful of unleaded, just a smidge over 40 mpg, which I think as about as good as it will get.
The Audi didn't miss a beat all the way, passing the 85k mark on the last leg, unfazed by the long journey.
Apart from getting stuck in traffic at one point, where some of that new-fangled air-conditioning might have been welcome, and the lack of cruise control which did cause my right foot to ache a bit after 3+ hours non-stop I have no complaints.
The car is quiet, smooth, refined and a pleasant place to while away the monotonous hours, though the replacement stereo is a godsend.
You have to plan your overtakes, as 100 bhp and acceleration that is best described as 'relaxed' isn't necessarily what other drivers anticipate from a 4-ringed vehicle.
It's also not a 'head-turner'. No one notices it at all. I think it still blends in to the rest of the traffic, its 25 year old design innocuous and inoffensive, just another rep-mobile making its way to the next appointment. Just another Audi.
So far, so uneventful. Vorsprung Durch Technik, as they say in Kent, Wales, London and Manchester...
Cheers,
Drew.
My 2008 A4 convertible 1.8t is best suited to relaxed driving. So glad it's got the small wheels, big sidewalls and softest springs. A couple of weekends ago I had two conventions to go to and a run down to Wales and back to drop my son at an army cadet camp. The Audi, fresh with its new tyres, was pressed into action.
I felt a tiny bit guilty, as in the course of a long weekend it was going to rack up more mileage than it had done in the previous year, but I figured a long distance shakedown was precisely what the car needed to blow out the cobwebs and stretch its legs a little - and, perhaps, reveal any other maintenance that might be required after its long sojourn.
Kent to Wales, Wales back to Heathrow, Heathrow to Manchester, Manchester to Wales and then finally Wales back to home. A distance of just over 1,000 miles.
Which took only two tanks of fuel.
The Audi did rather come into its own on the long drive. It's not much of a car to hustle around country lanes, nor is it really ideal for the cut and thrust of city driving, but get the old dear out on the motorway and she cruises at 75 (despite the rather low gearing) quietly and happily all day long.
Even better, that seemed to suit the engine well too. I managed an indicated 509 miles on a tankful of unleaded, just a smidge over 40 mpg, which I think as about as good as it will get.
The Audi didn't miss a beat all the way, passing the 85k mark on the last leg, unfazed by the long journey.
Apart from getting stuck in traffic at one point, where some of that new-fangled air-conditioning might have been welcome, and the lack of cruise control which did cause my right foot to ache a bit after 3+ hours non-stop I have no complaints.
The car is quiet, smooth, refined and a pleasant place to while away the monotonous hours, though the replacement stereo is a godsend.
You have to plan your overtakes, as 100 bhp and acceleration that is best described as 'relaxed' isn't necessarily what other drivers anticipate from a 4-ringed vehicle.
It's also not a 'head-turner'. No one notices it at all. I think it still blends in to the rest of the traffic, its 25 year old design innocuous and inoffensive, just another rep-mobile making its way to the next appointment. Just another Audi.
So far, so uneventful. Vorsprung Durch Technik, as they say in Kent, Wales, London and Manchester...
Cheers,
Drew.
Hi folks.
The Audi continues to carry on with the job of being a 1990's compact executive with a minimum of fuss. Very little to report. The car has been faultless. We've been working on the paintwork over the last few days. It's getting better with machine polishing and G3 compound.
Unfortunately Audi Driver Magazine is no longer being produced (the company behind it - Autometrix publications - went into receivership just before the article was going to press) so the Audi won't get its magazine feature.
I did the write up myself, so I thought I'd post it here, as folks are interested in the car and it will get some appreciation. Interspersed are the pictures that were going to be used. Some of it is a bit of a repeat of bits of this thread, but it's presented as it was written. Hope you enjoy it.
Cheers,
Drew.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Audi 80 – L835JCF
I must admit, I’d rather forgotten about the Audi 80, you don’t see them about much today. The car doesn’t have much of a club following, unlike the high performance S2 and RS2, or the huge diversity of classic VWs of this era. The last 80 rolled off the production line back in 1994, when I was a graduate fresh out of university, only two years into my first job.
I remember my late father had one new back in 1986 though, a B3 series 1.6. He was very proud of it, as it was his first ever company car. It did seem a cut above the contemporary Vauxhall Cavalier and Ford Orion of the time, with its flush fitting windows, fully galvanised body shell and the odd inclusion of synchromesh on reverse gear.
It turned out that my step father also had one, a more modern B4 version, bought new in 1994. It lived most of its life in a garage down in Devon, venturing out for the occasional trip back and forth to Buckinghamshire, living the pampered life of a second car.
As time went by the 80 was used less and less. Age has now caught up with my stepfather and he’s no longer driving. Eventually it was given to his daughter who ran it for a couple of years. Then the car developed ‘electrical problems’ and was left on her driveway, SORN’d, and hoping for better days.
At the end of 2018, as my step father’s house was being sold, the ‘old car’ came up in conversation. It had now become something of a nuisance, taking up space on the driveway and immobile. Knowing that my son Mark (a trainee mechanic) has an interest in cars, it was offered to us if we could remove it, otherwise it would be scrapped. A check of the history showed it had done a mere 82,000 miles, with the MOT having expired the year before. It had to be worth a shot.
Unsure as to whether we’d be able to get it to run, and knowing it would certainly not be road legal even if it did, I corralled Mark, and my other son Joshua, into a hired van with a twin-axle trailer and we drove to Gloucestershire to retrieve it.
The car did look forlorn. It had been sitting for a while, the paint covered in dirt and every panel gap showing mixture of rotting leaves and moss. The interior was damp, with a distinctly pungent aroma, with mildew everywhere, though a collection of spiders evidently thought it was good enough for them.
A welcome cup of tea after the long journey from Kent allowed us to have a quick look through the, reassuring lengthy, set of receipts that came with the car. It had been well looked after in its life with regular £500 service bills in evidence and a full Audi service history up until October 2016.
A twist of the ignition key spurred a few dashboard lights into faint glimmers. We didn’t even try to turn it over. On the plus side, everything seemed to be intact, straight and a look under the bonnet revealed a very tidy looking engine bay, with just a little rust around the radiator.
The brakes were seized on, but a little judicious rocking back and forth soon had them free. The driveway was on a hill, so with a bit of a push we were able to roll the car down to the waiting trailer and winch it aboard. After securing it we set off back to Kent. It was dark by the time we returned, so the car was offloaded and left with the battery on charge overnight.
The next morning, we were out early to see what we had. Charging the battery had done nothing, it was clearly dead beyond recall. Mark quickly extracted the battery from his own pride and joy, his first car - a 1988 Mk2 VW Golf CL in metallic Gambia red, and plumbed it into the Audi.
Now we had ignition! The dashboard lights illuminated correctly. An ABS light winked on and reassuringly off again. A cautious poke around the filters and oil level revealed everything seemed to be in order. Time for a crank.
The starter whirred smoothly and two seconds later we were rewarded with the engine firing up as if it had only been switched off the night before. The idle settled down immediately and the engine was purring happily away. The car moved under its own power back and forth on our driveway, clutch and gearbox appeared to be operating as expected.
But there the good news ended. Headlamps: not working. Wipers: not working. Interior fan and electric windows: not working. ‘Electrical Problems’ indeed.
We checked the fuses, but they were fine. Earth straps seemed good and solid too. It was something of a mystery. Another cup of tea and some head-scratching ensued. The engine came up to temperature as expected, the horn worked and the interior and side lights came on when requested. We switched the engine off to have another poke around, leaving the ignition switched on.
Which fixed the problem! All electrics present and correct all of a sudden. The issue turned out to be the ignition barrel. Either it was worn or gummed up. When starting the car it wasn’t returning to its proper detent, interrupting the electrics.
The mileage was as indicated, with only 10,000 miles being covered in the last decade. The car had barely been used at all. The cambelt had been changed only 4,000 miles before, but that was six years ago! The tyres had perfectly good tread, but the youngest was 8 years old. All parts were stamped Audi or the appropriate OEM manufacturer. The car even sported its original dealer fitted number plates from Rye Mill Garage, London Road, High Wycombe – which remains a VW dealer to this day, now “Citygate High Wycombe”. We may take it back there for a photo or two. (Ed- Which we did on it's 25th birthday - see the thread!)
So, after all our efforts, what did we have? This was one of the last of the 80s, a run out model prior to the introduction of the first A4, featuring a fuel-injected version of the venerable EA827 engine in 1595cc guise. It has a catalytic convertor and is rated at a 100 bhp. It’s finished in Volcano Black Pearl paint (LZ9U). No Quattro here, just straight forward front wheel drive. Standard equipment for the time included ABS, power-steering, immobiliser, central locking, electric door mirrors and headlight adjusters.
This car was also an ‘SE’ model, which meant it had 15” ten spoke ‘Speedline’ alloy wheels, front sport seats, a very attractive three spoke steering wheel, electric front windows, a set of auxiliary VDO gauges in the centre console, a rear screen aerial and a rather angular raised boot spoiler.
Better still, all these items were present and correct, and they all still worked. The car was in completely original condition. A thorough wash and vacuum worked wonders, particularly on the interior, which responded well to a good scrub and the eviction of the spiders. The paintwork on the outside is less good, with a lot of fine scratches and scrapes which will be the subject of work in the future. (Ed - Currently being dealt with)
The car now has a fresh MOT, the only significant work in advance of that being a complete change of discs all round. There were no advisories from our local garage other than ‘use it’.
The drive home revealed the car to be a curious blend of old and new. The mechanical milometers and the gauges are from a time long gone, as is the original Sony XR-4409 Radio/Cassette player, but the dash design remains contemporary and eminently usable. The gear change is smooth and positive and the engine pulls earnestly, though 100bhp isn’t very much for a car that weighs 1,230kg. Despite all that, the car’s virtues shine through. It’s remarkably quiet with a very smooth ride, doubtless down to the aerodynamics and the 205/60R15 tyres, which do look very small to modern eyes.
A check online reveals only a few hundred of these cars are left on the road, with a similar number SORN’d. Too new to be a venerated classic, too old to be mainstream and too ordinary to be special it’s a car already in its twilight years, forgotten by most. It’s never likely to be worth much or become particularly collectable, but as a piece of family history and a worthy machine in its own right, it was worth rescuing. It’s a lovely reminder of when buying an Audi was, perhaps, just a little left-field and out of the mainstream. It's from a time before the internet and mobile phones were ubiquitous.
It has a quiet sophistication, along with a reassuringly solid feel and a sense of quality that you don’t get in many other cars. Its shape has aged well in 25 years and it still has all the virtues it possessed when it was new.
Our plans are to keep it that way, use it regularly as a daily driver and allow it to do the job that it was designed for. A service and a new cambelt will be done as a precaution (Ed - Done!). The stereo has been updated to a modern unit, along with the original paper speakers being changed to modern component types in the original mounting points. A smattering of worn or missing trim pieces will be replaced. Other than that we plan to keep it standard and take it along to a few enthusiast meets to see what people make of it.
As the brochure that came with the car states - “The sleek, understated lines of the Audi 80 make the car not only a pleasure to drive but a pleasure to be seen in. You can tell at glance that this car is worthy of the four rings of the Audi marque.”
Here’s to many more miles of classic motoring, Audi 80 style!
The Audi continues to carry on with the job of being a 1990's compact executive with a minimum of fuss. Very little to report. The car has been faultless. We've been working on the paintwork over the last few days. It's getting better with machine polishing and G3 compound.
Unfortunately Audi Driver Magazine is no longer being produced (the company behind it - Autometrix publications - went into receivership just before the article was going to press) so the Audi won't get its magazine feature.
I did the write up myself, so I thought I'd post it here, as folks are interested in the car and it will get some appreciation. Interspersed are the pictures that were going to be used. Some of it is a bit of a repeat of bits of this thread, but it's presented as it was written. Hope you enjoy it.
Cheers,
Drew.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Audi 80 – L835JCF
I must admit, I’d rather forgotten about the Audi 80, you don’t see them about much today. The car doesn’t have much of a club following, unlike the high performance S2 and RS2, or the huge diversity of classic VWs of this era. The last 80 rolled off the production line back in 1994, when I was a graduate fresh out of university, only two years into my first job.
I remember my late father had one new back in 1986 though, a B3 series 1.6. He was very proud of it, as it was his first ever company car. It did seem a cut above the contemporary Vauxhall Cavalier and Ford Orion of the time, with its flush fitting windows, fully galvanised body shell and the odd inclusion of synchromesh on reverse gear.
It turned out that my step father also had one, a more modern B4 version, bought new in 1994. It lived most of its life in a garage down in Devon, venturing out for the occasional trip back and forth to Buckinghamshire, living the pampered life of a second car.
As time went by the 80 was used less and less. Age has now caught up with my stepfather and he’s no longer driving. Eventually it was given to his daughter who ran it for a couple of years. Then the car developed ‘electrical problems’ and was left on her driveway, SORN’d, and hoping for better days.
At the end of 2018, as my step father’s house was being sold, the ‘old car’ came up in conversation. It had now become something of a nuisance, taking up space on the driveway and immobile. Knowing that my son Mark (a trainee mechanic) has an interest in cars, it was offered to us if we could remove it, otherwise it would be scrapped. A check of the history showed it had done a mere 82,000 miles, with the MOT having expired the year before. It had to be worth a shot.
Unsure as to whether we’d be able to get it to run, and knowing it would certainly not be road legal even if it did, I corralled Mark, and my other son Joshua, into a hired van with a twin-axle trailer and we drove to Gloucestershire to retrieve it.
The car did look forlorn. It had been sitting for a while, the paint covered in dirt and every panel gap showing mixture of rotting leaves and moss. The interior was damp, with a distinctly pungent aroma, with mildew everywhere, though a collection of spiders evidently thought it was good enough for them.
A welcome cup of tea after the long journey from Kent allowed us to have a quick look through the, reassuring lengthy, set of receipts that came with the car. It had been well looked after in its life with regular £500 service bills in evidence and a full Audi service history up until October 2016.
A twist of the ignition key spurred a few dashboard lights into faint glimmers. We didn’t even try to turn it over. On the plus side, everything seemed to be intact, straight and a look under the bonnet revealed a very tidy looking engine bay, with just a little rust around the radiator.
The brakes were seized on, but a little judicious rocking back and forth soon had them free. The driveway was on a hill, so with a bit of a push we were able to roll the car down to the waiting trailer and winch it aboard. After securing it we set off back to Kent. It was dark by the time we returned, so the car was offloaded and left with the battery on charge overnight.
The next morning, we were out early to see what we had. Charging the battery had done nothing, it was clearly dead beyond recall. Mark quickly extracted the battery from his own pride and joy, his first car - a 1988 Mk2 VW Golf CL in metallic Gambia red, and plumbed it into the Audi.
Now we had ignition! The dashboard lights illuminated correctly. An ABS light winked on and reassuringly off again. A cautious poke around the filters and oil level revealed everything seemed to be in order. Time for a crank.
The starter whirred smoothly and two seconds later we were rewarded with the engine firing up as if it had only been switched off the night before. The idle settled down immediately and the engine was purring happily away. The car moved under its own power back and forth on our driveway, clutch and gearbox appeared to be operating as expected.
But there the good news ended. Headlamps: not working. Wipers: not working. Interior fan and electric windows: not working. ‘Electrical Problems’ indeed.
We checked the fuses, but they were fine. Earth straps seemed good and solid too. It was something of a mystery. Another cup of tea and some head-scratching ensued. The engine came up to temperature as expected, the horn worked and the interior and side lights came on when requested. We switched the engine off to have another poke around, leaving the ignition switched on.
Which fixed the problem! All electrics present and correct all of a sudden. The issue turned out to be the ignition barrel. Either it was worn or gummed up. When starting the car it wasn’t returning to its proper detent, interrupting the electrics.
The mileage was as indicated, with only 10,000 miles being covered in the last decade. The car had barely been used at all. The cambelt had been changed only 4,000 miles before, but that was six years ago! The tyres had perfectly good tread, but the youngest was 8 years old. All parts were stamped Audi or the appropriate OEM manufacturer. The car even sported its original dealer fitted number plates from Rye Mill Garage, London Road, High Wycombe – which remains a VW dealer to this day, now “Citygate High Wycombe”. We may take it back there for a photo or two. (Ed- Which we did on it's 25th birthday - see the thread!)
So, after all our efforts, what did we have? This was one of the last of the 80s, a run out model prior to the introduction of the first A4, featuring a fuel-injected version of the venerable EA827 engine in 1595cc guise. It has a catalytic convertor and is rated at a 100 bhp. It’s finished in Volcano Black Pearl paint (LZ9U). No Quattro here, just straight forward front wheel drive. Standard equipment for the time included ABS, power-steering, immobiliser, central locking, electric door mirrors and headlight adjusters.
This car was also an ‘SE’ model, which meant it had 15” ten spoke ‘Speedline’ alloy wheels, front sport seats, a very attractive three spoke steering wheel, electric front windows, a set of auxiliary VDO gauges in the centre console, a rear screen aerial and a rather angular raised boot spoiler.
Better still, all these items were present and correct, and they all still worked. The car was in completely original condition. A thorough wash and vacuum worked wonders, particularly on the interior, which responded well to a good scrub and the eviction of the spiders. The paintwork on the outside is less good, with a lot of fine scratches and scrapes which will be the subject of work in the future. (Ed - Currently being dealt with)
The car now has a fresh MOT, the only significant work in advance of that being a complete change of discs all round. There were no advisories from our local garage other than ‘use it’.
The drive home revealed the car to be a curious blend of old and new. The mechanical milometers and the gauges are from a time long gone, as is the original Sony XR-4409 Radio/Cassette player, but the dash design remains contemporary and eminently usable. The gear change is smooth and positive and the engine pulls earnestly, though 100bhp isn’t very much for a car that weighs 1,230kg. Despite all that, the car’s virtues shine through. It’s remarkably quiet with a very smooth ride, doubtless down to the aerodynamics and the 205/60R15 tyres, which do look very small to modern eyes.
A check online reveals only a few hundred of these cars are left on the road, with a similar number SORN’d. Too new to be a venerated classic, too old to be mainstream and too ordinary to be special it’s a car already in its twilight years, forgotten by most. It’s never likely to be worth much or become particularly collectable, but as a piece of family history and a worthy machine in its own right, it was worth rescuing. It’s a lovely reminder of when buying an Audi was, perhaps, just a little left-field and out of the mainstream. It's from a time before the internet and mobile phones were ubiquitous.
It has a quiet sophistication, along with a reassuringly solid feel and a sense of quality that you don’t get in many other cars. Its shape has aged well in 25 years and it still has all the virtues it possessed when it was new.
Our plans are to keep it that way, use it regularly as a daily driver and allow it to do the job that it was designed for. A service and a new cambelt will be done as a precaution (Ed - Done!). The stereo has been updated to a modern unit, along with the original paper speakers being changed to modern component types in the original mounting points. A smattering of worn or missing trim pieces will be replaced. Other than that we plan to keep it standard and take it along to a few enthusiast meets to see what people make of it.
As the brochure that came with the car states - “The sleek, understated lines of the Audi 80 make the car not only a pleasure to drive but a pleasure to be seen in. You can tell at glance that this car is worthy of the four rings of the Audi marque.”
Here’s to many more miles of classic motoring, Audi 80 style!
In some ways I think the styling of the B3 was even better. The nose of the B4 looks a little contrived to me, whereas the B3 is simplicity itself.Lovely thread (and very nicely written article - shame it wasn't printed)
I spent a very fun couple of weeks with some good friends on tour in Devon in one of the chap's dad's K-reg 1.9 TDI, some time around 1997. I seem to remember it went quite well and thinking it was very modern. I don't know what his dad said when he got it home with the boot stinking of cider where a big 6-pint milk container of it had split
I spent a very fun couple of weeks with some good friends on tour in Devon in one of the chap's dad's K-reg 1.9 TDI, some time around 1997. I seem to remember it went quite well and thinking it was very modern. I don't know what his dad said when he got it home with the boot stinking of cider where a big 6-pint milk container of it had split
A few issues have now surfaced. Not bad after 5 months I suppose.
First was an easy fix. I was getting a weird scraping/shimming sound when turning right. Wheel off to have a look and there's a plate behind the disc which had bent slightly (not sure how) and was lightlyrubbing on the disc. Bent it back and sound gone. Yay!
Also have a noticeable clunk from the right hub assembly. Driveshaft I suspect as there is no CV or bearing noise and it happens once each rotation. Can't hear it from in the car, but it was noticeable as we were diagnosing problem 1 above.
Also sounds like the clutch release bearing is near the end of its life too, getting some noticeable notchy sounds with the clutch being pressed up and down in neutral with the engine running. No problems with gear selection at the moment.
Nothing too serious, but will start investigations soon. Pic for attention (taken today after a wash).
Cheers,
Drew.
First was an easy fix. I was getting a weird scraping/shimming sound when turning right. Wheel off to have a look and there's a plate behind the disc which had bent slightly (not sure how) and was lightlyrubbing on the disc. Bent it back and sound gone. Yay!
Also have a noticeable clunk from the right hub assembly. Driveshaft I suspect as there is no CV or bearing noise and it happens once each rotation. Can't hear it from in the car, but it was noticeable as we were diagnosing problem 1 above.
Also sounds like the clutch release bearing is near the end of its life too, getting some noticeable notchy sounds with the clutch being pressed up and down in neutral with the engine running. No problems with gear selection at the moment.
Nothing too serious, but will start investigations soon. Pic for attention (taken today after a wash).
Cheers,
Drew.
Spinakerr said:
Of all the companies I wasn't expecting Audi to send a birthday present to one of their older cars!
Lovely to see it doing what it was meant for - any improvements on the horizon?
I don't think there is much I could do to improve it other than keep working on the paint and overall presentation. Can't improve the power without major surgery under the bonnet, can't put bigger wheels, lowered suspension on it without potentially trashing the ride. Lovely to see it doing what it was meant for - any improvements on the horizon?
It's odd in that way. Rare and a bit unusual on one hand, but dull and boring on the other. It's not really worth anything (they occasionally show up on autotrader/gumtree for under a grand) so totally a 'shed' from that perspective. On the flipside it has all its history, bill of sale and it is utterly original other than service parts.
Its just a reliable, old and extremely well screwed together car. All the time it stays that way it's a keeper (I don't do many miles) - if something serious does go bang, then I'll have a bit more head scratching to do.
It's not a car I would have bought for myself... as the thread shows I sort of inherited it - since it's a family car I can't really part with it.
Cheers,
Drew.
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