Project Annie - Making an A2 Sicily Proof

I'm sure it's illegal but you can put the car on sorn in the UK, then register it in Belgium. When you want to sell in the UK you just change number plates lights etc and get an mot. Hey presto it's suddenly a UK car again. I have done this in the past.
 
VonB said:
Sell it in the UK then source a petrol model once in Belgium I say.
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…just to add in case you’re already thinking about it: from experience - importing a car from Germany is expensive. Firstly the car prices are high then the tax and paperwork on top make it an expensive process. If y out can wait - better to hang on and wait for a good one in Belgium.
 
Yesterday, I finally started the process of importing my A2 to Belgium. I sent all the relevant documents to a customs agency who then sent them to the actual customs office (not sure why I can't do it myself, but those are the rules). With a bit of luck, I won't have to pay that much and the UK Mot will stay valid in Belgium, so I only need to have the Belgian one done by the end of the year. If all goes well, I should have my import plates within two weeks after which I can apply for the proper Belgian plates. In the meantime, the car will also get a service, new cambelt and waterpump (I can't believe I have the car that long that I will be on my second cam belt) and in all likelihood a new set of brake disks and pads (these have been an advisory on the MOT for a couple of years now). I have found a good local independent VAG specialist who has been taking car of a few other A2s.

I will keep you updated :)
 
Again another update: the car has cleared customs (no import taxes or VAT :)) - The coming week I will send all the relevant paperwork to the insurance company and with a bit of luck the car might be Belgian by the end of the week.

Also had a service down, along with a new rear brake caliper and new timing belt + water pump. So, I am good to go again. Furthermore, I managed to get a table top freezer to stand upright in the boot. The guy I bought it from was truly impressed with how spacious the tiny car is.
 
All official now :)
 

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Disaster struck yesterday. Arrived home and neatly parked my car in reverse. As I wanted to drive the car a bit forward in 1st gear, it wouldn't allow me to get out of reverse. I have had this issue before, but usually it would unstick itself after a few seconds with a bit of movement on the gear lever. Yesterday, however, that didn't work. I had to move the car as it was standing outside of a parking bay, I finally managed to get into neutral and into first. But a horrible sound was coming from underneath the gear lever. I also couldn't manage to get the car in second gear (or fourth or sixth for that matter). Managed to limp the car in first gear to a proper parking spot. Today, I wanted to try again. Same issue. Had to reverse out of the parking spot, got stuck again. Took ages to unstick it and shifting into first really difficult and a crunching sound coming underneath the gear tower. Managed to get into a better parking spot which doesn't require me to reverse out of it... But now I have lost all gears. Car stuck on neutral but not able to put onto any gear.

I thought I'd check here first before calling the local AA, but I fear the issue is serious.
 
Difficulty selecting at its simplest could be something relating to the cable tensions - either the cable end has slipped or the outer is no longer working correctly for the bowden principle (which would obviously be a problem). Trouble shifting from odd to even gears would suggest it is the fore-aft motion of the gearlever affected, which result in rotation of the selector around the plane of the shaft, so I would start by looking at the cable that is attached to the radial connector rather than the one that goes to the bell crank that moves the mechanism vertically and see if you can move this from gear to gear by hand or if it is just as restrictive but independent of the cables.

Edited : re-reading your post again, you say the horrible noise is underneath the gearlever itself? ie, related to movement of the gearlever inside the car, not crunching at the box? If this is the case then perhaps cable bushings underneath the gear lever may have failed so the cable is itself not being moved effectively. See the dieselgeek videos on Youtube for a better view. Would need to roll up the leather skirt to the gearlever and have a look underneath in case there is any obvious debris, but then also a proper dismantling of trim around there to release the gear-lever mount would be necessary.

In a worse-case scenario, issue with the selector gubbins inside the box? When my EWQ box died it was something to do with moving across the box that had failed : I could select Reverse, 1st and 2nd quite smoothly, but there was an invisible wall preventing me moving the gearlever across to the plane of 3rd/4th and higher suggesting that something had snapped inside preventing the selector shaft from moving vertically beyond that point. Cables were absolutely fine. Luckily had a spare GPK 5-speed box at the time that was a direct swap.
 
My car is at my local mechanic at the moment, the issue seems to be a broken gear selector cable. Not sure whether these are still available either from Audi or as OEM.
 
Oh man! Try WOM I think they carry stock you may have to go there. OTherwise wanted ad on here may get lucky.
 
Seriously thinking about selling the car now, as the replacement part will be as old as the original... Not sure how long it will last.

Thankfully it happened right at my front door. Imagine if you're on a road trip and from one moment to the other you lose your gears.
 
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