Are these NLA now ?

[S2central.net]

Just found four of these in the garage...

841 601 165

Tis the black plastic hub cap that works on the old 16 spoke Ronal wheels as per Type 85 Coupe. They aren't perfect by any stretch, but look OK from a distance and I don't want to bin them if they are suitably rare.

Paul

[Acidburn]

I'm not sure if they are NLA now but they should be worth something, I sold a few on ebay in some spares I found last year, worth trying them on there or something. Someone must want them and make use rather than binning them.


makes you laugh how we have more spares than audi does for the old cq's and urq's

[S2central.net]

What sort of money is on them ?

Sticker price new on the family album is about £2.50 plus tax but I dunno.

I wouldn't have given it a 2nd thought except as you say - if Audi doesn't have any, then they might be very hard to locate. Its not really the money I'm interested in here - just that it would annoying to bin them then discover later they might have helped someone else.

[shark_90]

Do you have a picture Paul? I think I've just bagged a set of those alloys and I'm not sure if it had the caps with them or not (as my mate has them).

[Audi Parts Guru]

Paul, they are £3.04 inc vat each and they are still available from Audi

[S2central.net]

OK - I'll just bin these then... Better safe than sorry... Unless someone really wants them FOC ?

[s2_bo]

On the subject of NLA,

S2 3B Hub to Strut bolts are now NLA these are stretch bolts and 'should' be replaced every time (8 required).

[S2central.net]

Thats a bloody joke - how can a safety critical non replacement bolt like that just be NLA - FFS Audi you are really pissing me off. Is this for real ?

Anyone located any alternatives - or do we have to go looking at aftermarket fastener suppliers for some suitably high tensile bolt ?

[s2_bo]

Thats a bloody joke - how can a safety critical non replacement bolt like that just be NLA - FFS Audi you are really pissing me off. Is this for real ?

Anyone located any alternatives - or do we have to go looking at aftermarket fastener suppliers for some suitably high tensile bolt ?

Nope, its for real.

The next option it to drill out the hubs and struts to M14 ABY/ADY size and fit the none shouldered M14 stretch bolts instead with a washer each end like on on the ABY or ADY cars.

Best get some drill bits in on wholesale because that metal is tough!

[Acidburn]

Some of the stuff thats now going NLA is stupid:

avant load covers have been gone a while
pretty much anything for a type 81/85 coupe
clutches for a 20v 7a

[S2central.net]

Here's what cracks me up... A mate of mine is getting a fantastic old muscle car restored in the states - its a 67 Camaro of some special type - rare homologation special job, but anyway. There are only three parts of the chassis that he had to get from the original vehicle - one of those carries the VIN of course... The car was a complete basket case but he can get absolutely everything for that car brand new often from multiple vendor choices in the states. Everything from headlights to bodywork to brakes, gears, engine parts, glass, trim etc etc... All manufactured in the US by specialists - often with tooling that is licensed by GM.

The really hilarious thing - its gonna cost about $30-40k to have that thing built - and the build starts by hand on welding jigs to create the chassis. With the right attention to detail (colour matching the original stated on VIN and the correct/rare engine) it will be worth $100k apparently... Which is a joke really as its not so much a restoration of an old car, but creation of a completely new one that has absolutely no provenance at all (beyond three old chassis legs, the engine block and a VIN plate).

And here we are in Europe with cars a quarter of that age and all we can see is a mountain of pain in respect to parts of these old Audis. People are carving up perfectly serviceable cars to rape them for rare parts as they know its a matter of time before supplies dry up completely...

[Prophet_dlx]

don't think you will convince anybody of VAG being wrong on their spare parts stock policy by explaining how "well" the busted american car manufacturer handle it.
It is way more impressive how serious BMW and Merc takes care of their "old" cars, without running towards bankruptcy twice a year

[S2central.net]

That is my point ... I don't want Audi to copy that US model... As you say I want them to give a **** about their heritage and people like us keeping it rolling, shining and in good health for many years to come. If they copied the MERC/BMW way of things it would be great - better chance of that than them licensing out tools to 3rd parties.

I don't know how best to handle this and approach likes of Audi UK or HQ with some sort of plea and/or signed petitions from forums like this.

[mcandmar]

I restored a 71 BMW 2002 a few years back and there were only a handful of parts that were NLA.

I can remember buying parts from a main dealer and finding a bunch of mechanics in the car park looking over the car with genuine interest. Never in a million years would that happen in an Audi garage.

[Prophet_dlx]

the VAG old cars (<2001) communities should be the most powerfull in Europe going from GTI's to audi S cars over seat cupras, that's 100 thousand's of poeple we are talking about, with communites publishing magazines and complaining every month. instead of being strong we can't even replace clutches anymore. Might be great if a VAG comunities union/syndicate started right here.