Resurrection of my CQ20V

[Bowie69]

So a bit of an update, I dropped off the subframe to the blasters on Friday, and was told a 3 week lead time(!). I suggested if they could get it done in a week, that would be fine, and left it with them for a chance to shine. Yesterday (Monday) they rang to say it was done(!). So all good, went and picked it up this afternoon. £25 well spent, nice and clean, ready for Electrox.

So.... some of you may have seen on the 7A clutch thread, I have the gearbox out -oh for a 2 or 4 post lift!

Clutch off, first look at the clutch cover, I don't think this is too bad, no?

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and the flywheel, again, not terrible?

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Do say what you think, I am not precious, if you think I have somehow rooted it, then just shout

There's no discernible lip, so I think it is probably good to go again.

Next, a bit of a look at the clutch friction material..... Not so good, I think:


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So, on one side of the disc, the grooves are entirely worn away on the edge, which is a bit weird, there's one small finger-nail sized piece missing on the edge (not captured on the pics), and a couple of smears of moly grease (oops, put it down where I shouldn't have).

Reckon this is dead, essentially worn out in about 70K miles. Hmm.

So, one of the things I wanted to address was the massive oil leak coming out between the gearbox and engine. I say massive probably not that bad, but was enough to do this:


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I knew it was a bit mucky in there from when I had the starter off, but wow.... that's a new level of skunge.

I forgot to take one of the gearbox, but the bellhousing is similarly splattered, in fact even more so than the back of the engine -I think I have leaks from both the input seal on the gearbox, AND the engine rear main seal. Good job I am swapping the gearbox then....

I had planned on the rear main seal replacement, so have a new Elring one in stock ready to go (and the one above is already removed).

Regular readers will remember I am replacing the steering rack as well, as I was convinced it was leaking. I am not so sure now, as, when peering around under the car, I could see the oil drips hanging off the rack rubber boot, and they were clearly yellow, and not green (plus, I am not losing pentison), and of course if it was engine oil, it would be quite brown. I am now hypothesising that the oil from the gearbox input 'seal' was running down the input shaft, release bearing, onto the clutch cover (it was wet with oil), and then being flicked out of the timing hole on the top of the bell housing, and thereby getting onto the rack end. Hard to test now, of course, but reckon it is plausible.

Other jobs done.... rack out (what a pain releasing from the column from inside!) and front subframe off, which will get a good clean(no real rust on it), and maybe some paint before being fitted up with the gearbox, including 930 engine mounts to replace the gearbox mounts.

...and yes I know the heater hose take off is rough! Will be replaced when I get the engine out next year at some point.

[Tractor Dave]

I like Rustbusters and Bilt. I mix and match between the two. I've also recently used Fertan and very impressed. The good thing about Fertan is that you can power wash under the car and apply directly to the wet surface. Leave for two days and power wash again. Let dry and apply your chosen underseal (Rustbusters techshield), job done. Recently done the boys Polo and wife's Passat in this way.

[steve briance]

I'm a fan of the Rustbuster products.

Used a epoxy 121 quite a bit now and it is great tough but a little flexible and covers so well with decent film thickness possible. It is just about spray able with a 1.8mm tip and some thinners and looks the biz.

I'm going to try some of their protect UVR epoxy next for an engine bay refresh...

It's got all the protection and toughness of 121 but is UV stabilised and glossy. The bonus for me at least is they do a colour match service so I can paint my engine bay in glossy indestructible body colour paint.

It's also available in black.

[Bowie69]

That's extremely encouraging, Steve, and yes, I am planning on getting it blasted, so the Electrox has maximum chance of working 'galvanically'

With a top coat of something, it should last even better

[steve briance]

I like the electrox. As much bare metal prep as possible (maybe at least get it blast cleaned by someone?) you probably already know but the zinc galvanic protection doesn't really work unless it is in contact with bare metal.

The brackets I painted under the bonnet with electrox were dip in citric acid then brush cleaned. They still haven't got any corrosion now 4 years or so on and that's without top coat. Not as an extreme service environment as under the car but a good show non the less.

[Bowie69]

Yes, definitely not powder coating, too many horror stories and no real corrosion protection except the barrier.

Paint is likely to be bilt hamber electrox, which is 93% zinc in a paint, effectively doing the same as galvanising. Their site has details, following by a good epoxy top coat.

I would galvanise, but with lockdown and this wanting to be back on the road in a couple of weeks, there just won't be time.

[John.]

I had mine dipped and galvanised a few years back then I painted with black epoxy. I don't expect to do these again unlike my experience with powder coating.

+1 for galvanising .......and yes, had similar experience with powder coating.

[steve briance]

Good spot re the ARB link. I've not spent a penny on my cq20v this year other than service costs, reckon i can justify a black Friday deal for the rear subframe!

On the subject of rear subframes, have you considered galvanising? I had mine dipped and galvanised a few years back then I painted with black epoxy. I don't expect to do these again unlike my experience with powder coating.

I don't know what paint you have lined up but it would have to be special to outperform a layer of zinc that becomes part of the metal itself...

[Bowie69]

For thos interested in saving themselves ~£40, Whiteline have 25% off their ARBs at the moment:

https://ukwhitelineperformance.com/

[Bowie69]

Much easier to fix when there is actually something to weld to

[simons2]

Yeah , I keep putting mine off but I know I have to tackle it sooner than later

[Bowie69]

Thanks!

Not really wanting to repeat, it seems a small thing, but was about 5 hours work yesterday, which is why a good one is so expensive, I guess....

[simons2]

Nice work , do you fancy doing my rear subframe ?

[Bowie69]

So, time to look at the rear subframe corrosion.... After a pressure wash to remove the thin film of dried mud (I live in the country...) I had a prod and a poke, and then whipped out the angel grinder to allow me access to the bits I needed. This is probably all very familiar rust spots for a lot of people, but will reprise them here anyway.... I will say, I had this off about 6 years ago, and had it blasted, and I treated it with (not enough) ZG-90 paint (I was poor at the time!). I will say it did a pretty good job, compared to a lot I have seen on here, the rust is not that bad. I'll also admit to not having my welder at the time, so all the rust spots you see here were there then, I just couldn't fix them. The ZG-90 definitely helped, you could see the physical layer of zinc when you wire brushed it down.

So, to the rust....

Rusty hole one:

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After slitting the bottom welds, I scored the corner so as to bend it bad more easily, and hopefully not distort the bend too much, after I will run a bead of weld down it.

Rusty hole two:

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Not too bad this side, though, there was a drainage slot at the bottom of the closing panel, on the other side this didn't exist.

Some time later, with a finger sander:

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Meh, another hole I hadn't really seen.... Oh well, I have gas, steel and a welder.

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Repair patches were made, and let in flush, then ground flush, uprights folded back and welded into place, leaving something a lot stronger, even if it is not my best efforts at welding:

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On the other side, there was a small hole, I clamped a copper welding spoon behind it, and filled it with lead, I mean weld. #timesaver :

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Then came the anti-roll bar mounts.... not too good. After some poking and finger sander action:

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Then some small patches let in and ground flat:

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....and now it looks like this:

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Subframe will get blasted, and then treated to some very special paint so I never have to do this again.


Also cleaned up some other parts for some new paint, these were painted before, but needed a touch up, especially against what will be a spangly new subframe.

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Will get new boots, but the bushes and joints (original) are absolutely fine, adjusters too (I copper slipped everything when I put it back together last time).


Depending on weather, I may get the gearbox out this coming weekend, just want dry, I don't mind cold, but cold+wet is miserable, and yes, all this is happening outdoors, no heated garage for me.

[Bowie69]

So.... literally half an hour after getting the car back to the workshop, I started work pulling bits of it apart, in about an hour, we had this:

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You can see the Whiteline ARB , and the Porsche 930 mounts quite clearly (the only two clean bits(!))

Subframe and wishbones are fully polybushed, and they are in great shape, the subframe itself is a little crusty, I had it blasted about 6 years ago , and painted it with not-quite-enough zinc paint, though it has held up quite well really. There's a small hole in one of the bits of webbing supporting the rear diff bush, and a small crack near it as well. The subframe will get repaired, blasted, and then coated with Bilt Hamber 'Electrox', which is 93% zinc, then top coated. I would like to see it try to rust then.

Little time later, we had this:

IMG_20201113_152410.jpg ...and this:

IMG_20201113_152427.jpg The diff actuator bracket looks surprisingly good, so will go with the diff, when/if I sell it.

Plan is to get the subframe cleaned up, painted, and refitted, and anything else I may want to pain along the way. I am resisting doing the struts, as they looks really quite crusty, and I want to knock this and the gearbox out within the next couple of weeks, assuming everything comes together correctly.

I am going to try the stock rubber rear diff mount, and see how it fairs, the one that can with my replacement diff was pretty new, so thought I would try it. Never regretted polybushing the rear diff, but I know some think it too harsh, so I am experimenting.

Also, having said these diffs are black from factory, mine isn't! The replacement was painted back even on the inside, so not sure what changed, was even from the same age CQ20V.

More to come after the weekend, for sure.