83 URQ resto-mod

The quattro likes to play games with me. :wtf: The large axle shaft seal gave me a bit of a scare. After I removed the old one I realized this seal doesn't really seat against anything in the housing. You can install it at any depth in the bore. Ok that kinda sucks but no big deal. I measured and marked where I wanted it. Glued the seal and the housing. Then I double checked it for squareness in the bore. To play it safe I even wiped on some silicone lubricant so the seal lip didn't ride dry. After all that, with the oil back in, I'm installing the diff and my wife says "I think it's leaking again.." Sure enough, oil is dripping from my new seal! So, out comes the diff and I remove the axle shaft flange to inspect. I paint the surface the seal rides on and install it back in. Give it a spin and take it out to see where the seal is actually riding. It's right on the money? :wtf: My quattro hates me I guess. I couldn't find a real reason for the leak so I try it again. I don't change anything, I just put it back in and strangely enough the leak is gone. :? I placed a bucket under the car that night and not a single drop. I drove it today and not a single drop. Frankie, this sorta shit aint funny. :slap:

Anywho... I've put just a hair over 200km on the car. We took it for a nice family drive tonight and didn't have any real issues. The sound of this engine is just incredible. My car may look like crap but it makes some beautiful noises.

ralleyquattro said:

I think it looks great!!!!... are you planning door rings, trunk decals and pin stripes?

Click to expand...

I'm better at taking pictures than painting cars Martin :wink: The car needs some decals but I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I know Chrissy would kill me if I reinstall the pinstripes. She spent forever taking the old ones off and hates them for that reason alone. :lol: I'm going to try and improve the paint finish before I stick anything on.

Still no oil leaks! :hide: knock on wood. I re-balanced the new wheels / tires at work and no more vibration either. I'm starting to enjoy the car more and more. The first time I drove the car it felt so strange but now I'm getting more comfortable with it. I'm slowly getting use to it and can relax while driving it. What's better is the whole family is getting to enjoy it. The kids ask to take it rather than our daily driver.

While it was on our hoist I snapped these pics for the archive.

More boost more problems :roll:

Since day one the car hasn't been operating with full boost. I finally installed a diagnostic pressure gauge and flashed some codes. If my memory serves me correct I had a 4442 stored. I checked my n75 valve resistance and it appears to be an open circuit. My pressure gauge confirmed that I was only peaking at about 6 psi of boost. Unfortunately new replacement n75 valves are expensive and not as easy to find locally. (at least the H versions) So what to do next? I decided to try a industrial solenoid coupled with an adjustable orfice. With some adjusting I was able to peak around 12.5 psi but found a much bigger problem. My clutch is slipping with the new found boost! :x It easily slips in 5th and can slip in 4th gear depending on load. It's been a bittersweet day.

So what's next? The boost control still needs to be fixed properly. My backyard fix isn't right and will likely cause more problems. Although, I considered buying a whole electronic boost control package to override the motronic. Next of course is the clutch. I have an aluminum flywheel that I assume requires a 200tq pressure plate and disk. :? Maybe I should just just swap in a stock flywheel and matching clutch to be safe. I really hate stupid issues. I was really hoping I was done spending money on the car... at least for a bit. So this sucks.

It looks like Frankie might make it to Carlisle this year. (knock on wood) :hide:

Two weeks ago we committed to the trip despite the fact I didn't want the stress of going. Frankie has only covered a little over 1000km since her "restoration" and she has more than a few issues. It had a slipping clutch, a lack of boost and has been flirting with overheating. Does bad paint count too? :slap: Anyways, we registered for the show and started ordering parts....

This project has had its fair share of bad luck. It's one of the reasons I didn't want the pressure of another deadline. If something can go wrong it often does. So with a new clutch in hand and only one weekend to install it...... it snows. Yup, freezing cold rain on Saturday and snow on Sunday. As miserable as the temperature was, I had to laugh about it. It's just my luck with this car. :roll: But make no mistake, I swore more than I laughed.

Long story short, the clutch is replaced and holding. Also, I'm getting some boost now with a new N75 valve. The gauge peaks around 14psi which is more than what I had. I'm not out of the woods yet though. The car has a misfire at idle when it's warmed up and it's seems to be running too rich. It's going to be a busy week. :wink:

Ves said:

I really like that you've broken away from the normal UrQ wheel setup. It feels like a lot of people fiercely oppose anything bigger than 15-16 inch. I'm very happy to see that the 17inch wheels look great considering that I am thinking about getting a 17x8 wheel set up as well.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I was worried how 17" wheels might look. The decision basically came down to tire selection. 15's are virtually impossible wrap which is a shame because I had the 8" wide ronals. Many people jump to 16's but even that size is starting to thin out. 17" just made sense to me. More selection and in many cases they are cheaper too. Next time I would like to try and fit a wider tire than a 215 but I didn't want to risk it first time around. As for the wheels, I think it's important to get a wheel with a decent lip or some dish to it. I've seen some urqs with 17's and no lip and it can look over wheeled.

On a side note, the car made the trip to Carlisle and back with no serious issues. Unfortunately I don't really have any pictures to prove it except of our small convoy heading back home. lol It was my first ever car show and it was great. First of many I hope. Actually, just tonight the family and I headed out to a local car show in Barrie Ontario. I almost forgot to take a picture there too! I'm always concerned that I'll get turned down at some of our local shows because nobody knows what the hell it is or might not even care. Typically it's all American muscle but tonight they had an Audi. I even had some curious people asking questions about it.

I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted here. To be honest there hasn't been anything worth posting. This last year I put the project on hold and spent more time driving it. In that time I've tolerated some stupid issues. With the Carlisle Import show a week away, I thought I should try and fix some of them. I always try to leave it to the last minute to maximize my stress. :slap:

The main issue is the car runs hot. The slow speed stuff around town is no problem, the upgraded 300 watt fan fixed that. My issue is the high coolant temps at highway speeds under decent load/boost. I know my civic half rad is too small and my overall coolant volume is pretty pathetic. I'm not giving up on my cheapo $150 rad because I like the idea of cheap easy to find replacement parts. My solution therefor is to add yet another rad, specifically, one from Chevy Malibu Hybrid. I searched for a long time before finding an off the shelf rad that could fit in this cramped engine bay. This particular rad was used to cool the electronics for the hybrid system and it's nice and small. Best part is it only cost less than $80. I should see an improvement but If that doesn't work, I'll try and improve airflow through the civic rad. Maybe this is an issue of a high pressure zone behind the radiator reducing airflow. Either way the road to Carlisle will be the big test drive.