Resurrection of my CQ20V

[Bowie69]

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Been on holiday all week, journey home tomorrow, 150 miles, taking in the final sunset before some rest overnight.

[John.]

[K Simmonds]

As I said to you in that text, that really is a practical classic, good to see the car being used to it's full capability's, that's a fair size rig you tow!!!.

[Bowie69]

450 miles in a week, ~320 of them towing, no dramas.

[Lago Blue]

Lovely shot of your car BTW Bowie69 .

Quattros make great tow vehicles, slightly sporty quattros even more so.

Aside from the tow bar itself, a list of the up-rated components included in a typical factory optional "towing package" is often a lot like those in a "sport" package, each needed to achieve increased levels of capability in similar areas throughout the vehicle. The goals being similar (having to comfortably deal with higher energy through-puts, and the need for improved vehicle stability and reliability) in that the aim is to deliver a confidence-inspiring and yet still comfortable driving experience in the face of increased driver and vehicle demands.

In fact, these days, one could argue many of those same upgrades (to brakes, suspension and even engine performance and reliability) to systems which can provide for the ability to shed more heat, more easily, when called upon (and often discussed here on the forum) are more justifiable for safer towing at ordinary speeds; than for faster sport driving.

Certainly the full-time loads of towing any distance can remind one of the need for powerful balanced brakes, good fuel economy, low air resistance, cross-wind stability, balanced weight distribution, light weight components, excess cooling systems capacity, etc., things we more often normally ascribe to the sport driving realm. In either case consider that with both increased loads (towing) or speeds (sport driving), the vehicle needs to perform such that it unloads the driver of the concentration required to pilot it intuitively, as those speeds/loads are increased, in order for the driver to have the mental head-space to safely do that piloting. Hence serious sport and tow vehicles often feel less comfortable when not towing/not at speed. Part of that what can be excellent intuitive steering and suspension response in our cars is dependent on the oft neglected metalastic steering and suspension bushings.

(Modest plug follows: Even in normal day-to-day commuting sans remorque, humble (and entirely excellent briefly when brand new!), but unfortunately un-reinforced OEM top-mounts and A-arm bushings (which can be made to provide years of silent "sport/towing" service) overheat, soften and too quickly fail. As they fail, these bushings cannot transmit either energy or steering signal as before, subtracting from the overall vehicle performance and the driving experience. Whatever one's requirements, this infers two mods I need not even name, that one might consider to be a standard part of your package.)

[Bowie69]

Yes, for sure the polybushed all-round chassis makes a huge difference to the secure feel of the tow package, coupled to quattro, and Bilstein B6s it really is a very stable ride, even under heavy braking when you find yourself coming up against a 1950s Morris truck doing 20mph on the A30... Still, the red stuff pads did their job, as did the trailer brakes. Strut tops, I am still finding good success with Meyle HD, I replaced them with the overhaul, but the new ones looked no different, so.... not sure

The 20V engine, as many will know, isn't all that great in low down torque, and some of the Cornish hills on the A30 meant third gear and lots of revs to even maintain 50mph, but normal cruising was 65mph, a place where exhaust resonance is minimised...

MPG is unchanged compared to normal, as lower speeds and longer drives mean slightly better efficiency

Here's the full set up BTW, about 800Kg, at a guess, maybe a touch more:

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[K Simmonds]

That's one smashing set up you've got there Peter, what a great way to get the most from your car, which I have to say sounded very healthy the other day.

[Bowie69]

Sooo..... May have mentioned the rear diff was weeping a bit of oil, left hand driveshaft, well turns out it was a bit more than that

Presume it was damaged when I fitted it, also, looking more closely, and referring back to when I fitted it, it needs to be set in a bit, I removed the flange from my spare diff and measured the inset -8mm.

So, driveshaft bolts out, bottom ball joint out and remove drive flange and old seal.

Refitted seal, this time set in properly:

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There was some scratches on the inside of the casing where the seal sits, a smear of silicone will hopefully stop that from being a bother - I did smooth it with a file, so no protrusions.

Only done 4 miles, but seems like that solved it

[Bowie69]

So a few months have passed, acquisition of another very fun project has meant work on this has pretty much ground to a halt.

That said, why would I work on something that has essentially been flawless over summer, did three trips away with the folding camper on the back and nothing much to report....

There's not much, but here we go anyway:

• There's a weird engine-speed-related high pitch rattle I'm yet to track down, think 35mph in 4th, can easily be heard from inside the cabin -any ideas?
• Not 100% sure the rear diff leak is solved, I suspect I may have blocked the breaker while painting the diff -well I hope, I know there is still oil in it, and will look at it eventually.
• Drivers door window dropped -door card off and found the bolt that clamps the cable to the lift mech had come loose and worn the cable to a bit of a fray -testing it all and it won't interfere with the rest of the mech/pulleys so did it up, adjusted the window position and put it all back together. The motor/cable assembly is looking a bit worse for wear, but will do for a while yet (I have a spare cable in stock for when it does fail....)
• Radiator fan switch failed -replaced today with a new Lucas part, took the opportunity to flush the system (without removing the stat) and put new Febi G13 compatible coolant in it. I don't car what anyone says, these new coolants go brown much quicker than the old bluecol type stuff.

So that's brought you up to date, nothing very exciting, but when a car works most of the time, there's little excitement by nature.... the V8 land rover above however is a lot more exciting

[John.]

Sadly can't see the very fun project on the LR4x4forum, at least you'll be able to get ALL the bits you ever need for a Landy....unlike the CQ !

I've only ever put bluecol in my 7A ?........and yes it's always looked blue.

Good to hear it's been faultless over the summer

[Bowie69]

Ah must need to be logged in....

Sadly LR parts is a complete lottery, pay out for what you think is good and receive utter rubbish at times, or you end up with something unexpectedly good for an unknown reason.

As you can't see it there, here is a snap of it:

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Ex-Comp Safari racer, based on 1976 RRC, wheel base shortened, chassis overhangs lopped off, full cage, fuel cell, custom body work (only standard-ish things are some 90 wings and the bonnet. 3.5 V8 with a series manual box when I got it, now running a tweaked 3.9 with auto and LT230.

All up weight is less than my CQ20V.... so it is quite the rapid thing.

And yes, those are Bowler stickers, but I am still unsure if it is actually a Bowler, but is almost identical to someone else's very early Tomcat, so there is a chance.

Such fun

[Bowie69]

I've only ever put bluecol in my 7A ?........and yes it's always looked blue.

:

Was under the impression it wasn't suitable for the 7A, but be very happy to be corrected....

[Bowie69]

A couple more, from after the engine/gearbox conversion:

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Proper stripped out as you can see, the speed holes in the bonnet will be addressed with a Tomcat fibreglass bonnet, probably.... issues only arisen as the whole bodywork sits about 8" lower than what you would expect a Defender to... in fact the whole things is tiny, 90" wheelbase and basically no overhangs.

.... as such only a 25L fuel cell, with a V8

[K Simmonds]

I like the Landy project, looks like a lot of fun, not my first choice of tarmac transport, nor I doubt anybody else's but that thing will be great fun off road.

As for the hard to place noise on your Coupe, kinda sounds like the clutch release bearing has just started to wear out, but then it should go away as soon as you touch the clutch pedal and I'm pretty sure you'd already of tried this? Possibly loose/rotten exhaust heat shields.

[Bowie69]

Yep, landy is LOUD! Great fun for shorter distances, and of course off road. It may be that I take the roof off in the spring, open top V8 motoring

Yeah, Audi noise is weird, it's a new 3-piece clutch, so would really hope its not the release bearing. And as you say, it doesn't change with clutch pedal pressure. Noise definitely from the front, which is where it has me stumped.... I should re-check v-belt tension I guess... timing belt and tensioner, water pump etc all new....

Only other thought is a UJ, but there's no discernable driveline wobble, plus it sounds more up front than that. Also definitely not road speed related, but engine so....