2.8 V6 Cabby

[1781cc]

OK, so I have a f**king swimming pool in my car (yes, its blue full of water)

Everything on the passenger side is soaking, so I am going to have to take the carpet out to dry it and clean it up, interior is out, I am guessing the whole dash needs to come out as well in order to do this as I don't want to cut the carpet.




This is as far as I have got so far:



I know that the four bolts (two either side of the dash ends between the door cards) have to come out, and the steering column stalks taken off), maybe dash speakers to come out, what else after that?



All tucked up and being dehumidified:

[1781cc]

Well, its been testing that's for sure...

First water, I traced the leak back to the pollen filter seal from the scuttle panel, it had perished and was letting water in straight into the heater assembly and down through the air vents to the passenger and front footwells - quite annoying to say the least. But having taken the interior completely out and dried it properly (I also took the chance to shampoo the carpet) I was able to tackle a few other things that had been bothering me.





So I checked all the wiring that I could, tidied and tucked, and soldered and heat shrank any dodgy looking connections, replaced bulbs, deep cleaned, re-positioned the stereo cabling to the sub, etc...



New pollen filter has gone in, completely resealed, and for good measure, sealed over the top with black silicone at the top part of the scuttle panel/windscreen element - mainly because I don't ever want to do that again, but if I need to get in, the silicone is easy to pick off.





Sat in the for 30 minutes while I had a hose running over it and it was super dry. this prompted me to put all the interior back in, bar the passenger footwell items, passenger seat, door trim, glovebox, etc as I want to make sure on the next deluge that I take the car outside and sit in it to double make sure i've done it right!





Additionally, as electrics have been an issue for a while with the battery drain problem, I had an electrician strip out the old dead clifford, double check the wiring and fix the problem with the missing power to convenience features (see separate thread in electrical section) - this has all been sorted and was traced back to a problem with a P13 (I believe, I may have this wrong) join that was dry and had separated, killing the electrics internally.

Fingers crossed things are looking up and the car will behave itself now...

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Where did all the posts go between the 4th and today the 12th? Happy that you managed to sort the problem out as per previous posts.

[1781cc]

I think that was in the separate water thread, but thanks bud!!

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Yeah sorry my bad.

[elebrocq]

Hardtopz

hey mate, sweet ride dude. Where did you find the hard top from and is it a replacement for the canvas or just a cover?

Cheers
E

[1781cc]

hey mate, sweet ride dude. Where did you find the hard top from and is it a replacement for the canvas or just a cover?

Cheers
E

Hey, thanks for the compliments

The hardtop is an aftermarket thing, there is two types, an audi manufactured one (the one I have) and a weissman one (which has a more curved rear window)

These are very rare to find, let alone complete with the fitting kit (which has the clamps that mount into the soft top framework when its folded down under the cover, and the electrical interface which allows you to have the rear glass defroster instead of the useless audi rear fan)

To fit the fit, you fold the roof away as per a hot summers day, then this sits onto, clamps at the back under the flaps as above, and then the front slots into the grooves in the A pillar and locks into place making it super secure, wind/water tight and much warmer during the winter.

[1781cc]

May as well update this thread while I am here...

It chucked it down all day yesterday, and I went out to the car this morning and the carpet was a little damp underneath, my heart sank, however, I think I was too premature in thinking the carpet was completely dried, the reason I say this is because the floor itself was bone dry, as was the carpet at the front footwell and all other areas near the bulkhead/matrix/air vents, it was just a slight dampness in the rear footwell where most of the original saturation was.

Because I had lifted the carpet up to check, I noticed that some of the foam may still have retained some water like a sponge and pressing it made me feel the damp.

The surface of the carpet is dry though.

Fingers crossed I am right, but to be doubly sure, I have now dried the 4x1kg silica bags in on the radiator over the last week, so have lifted the carpet and put them in to suck out any of the final moisture, next downpour, I will wheel the car back out of the garage, removed the bags and check again

I really didn't expect the foam to take so long drying out, but it appears that the thinker bits (1.5" deep) really retain the water

[elebrocq]

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-audi-80-hardtop/k0

seems to be quite a few on here. almost twice as much as i paid for my car tho!

[elebrocq]

this one has a bloody sunroof!

[1781cc]

this one has a bloody sunroof!

well I never, that seems a little odd... surely if the sun is out enough to have a sunroof you would just take the roof off?

Thats a good link for people looking for a hardtop - but wow, serious wonga + shipping

[elebrocq]

should really have complied this into one post but oh well. Heres one with mounts, i really cant afford one right now so you might like it.

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/audi-80-cabrio-hardtop-wiesmann/426216958-223-3809

[1781cc]

Well, i've been away for a week, left the car parked up outside the house and its apparently been raining... oh yes, it has indeed, the footwell has water in it :wall:

What next to look for?

[elebrocq]

it flooded again!

[1781cc]

it flooded again!

not quite flooded, but enough to know it's not solved yet... gonna have to strip the whole interior out again