Today I.....

I'm getting the AC system evacuated to change the condenser, expansion valve, receiver dryer and magnetic valve on the compressor over the weekend. Hope that gives me a cool breeze in the cabin again!
 
Hi Stuebydo
Can I be a little rude and ask how much your clutch change cost you? And how long it took in workshop time ?
Mine will need doing soon and I would like to have a rough idea what it's going to set me back.
Many thanks, Colin
 
Darren C said:
Today I did a bit of work on Matt's lovely A2, by streamlining his DAB aerial... ;)

Seriously, a great picture of a lovely car that deserves to look its best. One for the album Matt and hope you don't mind my editing your original.
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Haha, that's brilliant Darren ;) Looks much better without the aerial. :p

Thanks,

Matt.
 
... I put a second coat of Collinite on the A2. Looks pretty OK now... might try and get out to take some photos, but just walked back in the door from a cancelled gig :/

- Bret
 
TDIaholic said:
I'm getting the AC system evacuated to change the condenser, expansion valve, receiver dryer and magnetic valve on the compressor over the weekend. Hope that gives me a cool breeze in the cabin again!
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And all parts are in! The condenser was a pain as the connections were seized pretty good, but a bit of grinding solved that. Now I need to wait until Monday morning to get the system recharged and tested.
 
Today I was trying to source a pair of Lupo GTI front wipers for my on going Lupo project. I tend to message every person who is breaking one to track a pair down (they are pretty rare). Unfortunately on this occasion I neglected to check who the seller was. Sadly it was one of "our friends" and look what response I got. What a set of prats!

How does these people manage to trade with an attitude like that?
 
Today I changed the rear bump stops on the TDi. Dead easy. 40 mins per side including pressure washing the liners/trailing arms and wheels.
 
It's my impression that since someone decided to make this thread sticky the rate of posting has dropped off - which is a shame!

Today I made some rollers for Gustav to try as a repair for his door check strap;

P7150715.JPG

Simon.
 
sco said:
It's my impression that since someone decided to make this thread sticky the rate of posting has dropped off - which is a shame!

Simon.
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Making a post sticky has no negative effect on the number of postings, it just keeps it at the top of the section so that it is even MORE visible.

New posts still cause it to be visible, so there is no negative effect caused by making it sticky. Threads sometimes go quiet for one reason or another. I think it is probably the busiest thread we have on here and even the busiest threads have busy days and quiet days.

I personally think it is the best thread we have ever added on here!!!!

So thanks!!!!

Steve B
 
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Yeah I understand all that - I think there might be a psychological effect where people maybe think a sticky is more important somehow and are thus less inclined to post 'trivia'.

Simon.
 
I think I've asked before and quite a few people view the forum by using the 'whats new' function so it would make little difference whether it was sticky or not.

Just to add my 2p worth....Today I made arrangements for the fitting of my Votex kit :)
 
Birchall said:
Today 1...... Did something very stupid. I test drove an i3 at a BMW dealership!!!!

BIG mistake, I now want one even more!!!!

The acceleration was superb (0-60 matching an M3 apparently!!!)

The ride was great too, firm but comfortable.

I like the way that as you lift off the throttle it slows you down (due to the regenerative brake recovery, in other words the battery is being charged and that causes the slow down a bit like F1 one cars do with DRS).
It needs you to change your driving style slightly, but it has advantages. I did the whole test drive without needing to take my foot off the accelerator and brake (apart from when the guy in front decided to turn without indicating)

I parked it next to my car and they were almost identical in length and as we all know, they are quite similar in shape and proportions.

I WANT ONE !!!

Steve B
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And the new model has a 96Ah capacity battery. It will get me to work and back easily.... I specced one up to £38000 2 days ago. Too Expensive. I'm going to have a shufty this weekend. Very tempted though.

Chris
 
KekseKaempfer said:
And the new model has a 96Ah capacity battery. It will get me to work and back easily.... I specced one up to £38000 2 days ago. Too Expensive. I'm going to have a shufty this weekend. Very tempted though.

Chris
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I looked through the lease companies and you could have one for two years and give it back at the end, total cost aroiund £7,000.
I went to BMW, they quoted me £15,000 down and £200 a month and same deal, give it back then, total cost £20,000 !!!!!!!

So shop around for a deal with a car leasing company, you might get a pleasant suprise!

I get bored of any car I own after a couple of years and so ownership, as opposed to leasing, never works out for me.

Steve B
 
Birchall said:
I get bored of any car I own after a couple of years and so ownership, as opposed to leasing, never works out for me.

Steve B
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Same here, I've had 50+ cars in my 16 years of driving. It's easier for me to name the cars i've not owned :)

The funny thing is the boredom hasn't happened with the A2 and of all the cars I've owned, on paper the A2 wouldn't have been the keeper.

My bug hasn't stopped as we have had 5 different family cars in the last 3 years and yet the A2 has remained a constant.

No plans to ever sell the A2, which is completely out of the norm for me and can only go to show just how good the A2 is and how great it is to be part of this club.
 
Just got back. Looking for finance. 95% buy in from the other half too.

Down side, is that she has never really liked the A2, so if we traded, it would likely have to go.

Edit. Just got back from collecting Jules with a fresh MOT, so no need to go mad and buy an i3 after all. £160 of diesel a month is still waaaay cheaper than >£350 finance.
 
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I fitted new Front shocks today, got them from FK in Germany Part number FKZZVW22 they are incredibly cheap at just over 6 euro each, the delivery actually cost more than the parts, but even with delivery they came in at just over £23 for the pair, which must be the bargain of the year.
I was going to get the adjustable ones at 9 euro each, but they only have one in stock and advise that they will not be getting any more in stock. I get the feeling that they are so cheap because they are end of line, so if anyone else is interested buy them why you can.

They have gone onto my 280,000 mile TDI, to say that the original shocks where well worn would be a big understatement, they had no 'push' left in them. Once the spring was removed and you could pull and push on them you could see how worn they where, very little resistance. The new ones felt much stiffer and had a notable push outwards.
The top mounts where the original Audi ones and went through the MOT fine a week ago, I asked the MOT tester to give them a good looking at, but he couldn't find any play in them. I stripped them down, clean out the race ways and all the balls, re greased with molly greased and put them back together, no play and really smooth, very good for 280K miles.

The near side was easy to get to the strut mounting bolts, I did this one first and all was completed in about 2 hours. The drop link bolt came undo OK, and a good inspection of the drop links revealed no play, so I will leave the new ones in the jiffy back :) The Bottom mounting pinch bolt was well and truly stuck, the nut came undone OK, then lots of hammer blows / penetrating oil latter and it started to rock a little, rocking and more oil and few more hammers blows and it came out. Tapped an old flat blase screwdriver into the gap and the old shock was released.
You need a 7mm allen key which is a none std size, but I had one that I made from an 8mm allen key and a surface grinder some 30 years ago :) Spring compressors fitted and spring compressed, top nut removed, top mount removed.
Rebuild is 'as the manual says' a reversal of the strip down steps, new nuts and bolts fitted of course.

The off side was a bitch, firstly you have to remove the MAF and then push all the pipes out of the way, undo the bolts attaching the Aux heater and the brake fluid reservoir, easier said then done as some of the bolts spun the inserts. An hours or so latter and I could see the strut mounting bolts, great I thought nearly there. The back two undid fine, the front one spun the nut out of the top mount. At this point there was a LOT of swearing done :) and a fair amount of head scratching. Out came the 4" angle grinder and the head of the bolt was ground away, this released the strut from the car, finally !!!
Same procedure as the other strut, except the stuck bolt was removed, this mount is now attached to the car with the original two back bolts and an 8mm allen bolt, head under the car and a washer and nut in the engine bay. All went well when reassembling as I had also replaced the spun inserts with new ones (I new that insert tool I bought on ebay a few weeks ago would come in handy)

So all in all it didn't all go to plan, but it is all back together some 8 hours after I started, the MAF was also stripped and cleaned with Isoproponal alcohol, It should run better now I have removed all the crap out of the MAF. I also checked and topped up the gear box oil, 1 litre added (I don't think the previous owner ever checked it, no leaks, but I guess at 288K miles some of the oil will have escaped through the seals), new air filter fitted (the previous one had been in there for FAR too long, it was black and rotting away)

I checked the rear shocks last week when I changed a broken spring and they felt good, much better than the front did, maybe the rears have been changed at some point, or they don't get the same hammer as the fronts do. I couldn't find any labels on the rears, but the fronts said AUDI on them so I am sure they are originals.

The good news is the ride as been transformed, it rides pot holes and road imperfection like a goodun.

I am placing an order for another pair of shocks for my Petrol A2, but I may leave it a couple of weeks before fitting them


Loving getting me hands oily again

Cheers,
Paul (Depronman)
 
Great write up and thanks for your time and effort. You have done a great job doing it yourself, something I would love to do but confidence alludes me at this moment.
 
johnyfartbox said:
Great write up and thanks for your time and effort. You have done a great job doing it yourself, something I would love to do but confidence alludes me at this moment.
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Same experience here Paul. Passenger side was fine, Drivers side was a nightmare. My full suspension rebuild included dislodging the return pipes for the brake master cylinder, having to strip the scuttle panel down, bleeding the brakes and having to replace the wheel cylinders = almost 20 hours in total with a few other jobs. Have done other cars (non A2) in about 5 hours total many a time.
 
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