Pearl white coupe revival

[ottawa coupe]

Pretty clean inside for 250ish k kms.... 20240316_164352.jpg 20240316_170012.jpg got a good break finally on this project i think lol

[ottawa coupe]

All the engine gaskets n seals ordered. Timing belt tool found. Cheapest i could find is for a 30v so i'll hafta cut it down to work. Last thing to get is a crank bolt.

and then alllll the degreaser in the city lol.

The hope is to have all the goop cleaned up before i go on vacation next week so that when i get back, i can put it back together and pack it away in the corner.

Cabby will stick around longer than i (or my wife!) Would like as a result but in the end, probably best to keep it in tact vs all the parts piled up in a mess in the shop.

[ottawa coupe]

Another productive day at work allowed me to get into the shop this afternoon and get at the engine a bit more. I think she's got a couple oil leaks!!

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On the bright side, all the bolts were well lubricated and came off easily lol. Looks to be the valve cover gaskets as the main source. While the steering rack leaks like a sieve, the pump seems downright acceptably leaky for 240k. Ie, i won't replace it.

Will look into those mods. If i can get it to a nice round 200ish hp that'd be nice. But really, i'm not gonna stress much about it. Looked up parts today and all the gaskets and timing belt adds up to a whopping $400.... my wallet approves. Of course it looks like another 400 in deagreaser at the moment lol. You are right in that i shouldn't turn down my nose at it, it's not terrible. I mean it could be the gutless 8v my mom had in her 80 way back in the day lol.

[Ryan80]

Dont go running down the v6 too much, its a great engine if treated right. Never going to win any drag races compared to the turbo motors, but loads of torque and very smooth.

the 12v v6 discussion forum on Audiworld https://www.audiworld.com/forums/12v-v6-discussion-52/ has a world of knowledge for fixing any issues.

If you've the valve covers off for the gaskets its worth looking into the ski pole mod.

You can take off the inlet manifold and perform a world of simple cheap mods to it to help increase horsepower, including gasket matching the injector ports.

[ottawa coupe]

Couldn't sleep last night so said screw it....

20240311_175441.jpg 178 uninspiring but "free" hp on the stand. It seems the valve cover gaskets are the main source of the goo on the engine. The only troubling discovery is a very mangled bolt for the throttle body, and a partially broken hole in the body itself. I suspect it will be a situation where if i touch it, the throttle body will desintegrate or at the very least will be a big vacuum leak....

A lot of leaking fluid to clean up today and then i will poke away at the rest of the cabby parts in the coming weeks. Basically taking everything from the b pillar forward then figuring out what's in the best condition to use and scrapping the rest with the shell. Hopefully no more than a month from now.

while the idea of the aah sucks, the fact is that on top of all the other stuff i need to do, a 4.2 swap is just a step too far for my wallet for the foreseeable future. I DO have a 3.6 vr6 sitting on a shelf as a spare for my racecar but it needs bearings etc.... plus the trans adapeter and flywheel stuff ($$$$). Apparently, i can use my 7a clutch n flywheel on the v6 and just pull the timing pins.... i suspect though i will have to make new mounting brackets on the frame rails for it. Basically, i need to re gasket this engine, throw a timing belt at it and get a new clutch (current is worn to the rivets). My estimate is well under $1000 for that. What may change that eqution is the exhaust. The pipework is fine, but all the joints are corroded to hell. Getting those sorted i can see being big money.

[ottawa coupe]

Had a shockingly prodictive morning for work so get outside this afternoon.

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I dunno bout you but it would seem to me that the steering rack leaks "just a little bit" lol

20240311_133734.jpg with luck, the boat anchor of a trans will be off and the engine on a stand tomorrow.

[ottawa coupe]

Gearbox is a lot less slimey now.

20240309_172206.jpg Took a few mins this evening before it got too dark... goal for the week will be get the engine, hood, fenders and doors off.

The engine is a greasy ball too of course so that'll need a cleaning before i touch it much lol

20240310_185929.jpg everything is coming off the cabby well which is nice.

[ottawa coupe]

So, final stages before putting this on pause for a bit. Front axles refreshed and first stab at cleaning up the gearbox. The writing on the case, are those from the factory? Or has this box come out of a salvage yard at some point?

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And it's resting place for the time being

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[ottawa coupe]

Weird question: on later v6 models, is there a heatshield for the front left side inner cv joint as there is on the right? I can't find schematics showing either side.

[ottawa coupe]

Should have the s6 wrapped up in a couple days so i got to organizing myself for the last of the mechanical jobs on the CQ parts this evening.

First up will be to deal with this ball of goo. My guess is that the vast majority of it is from the rather porous steering rack.

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The last items on the list before i basically push it aside for the summer will be refreshing the axles and steering rack. I need to deal with the propshaft too but i think i'll give my credit card a rest for now instead.

At some point soon i gotta start harvesting from the cabby and get it scrapped, i hate having junk lying around (and so does my ever patient wife!!!!)

[_ShurikeN]

Got the shift linkage joint from tractor dave the other day (thanks again!). But i am gonna hafta take it apart and transfer the guts in the end. The keyway in the joint that bolts to the trans is in the wrong spot. Shouldn't be too be a huge task....

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These linkages/joints are different for 5-cylinders and 4/6-cylinders somewhy (893711613A and 893711613).

[ottawa coupe]

The part numbers are the same, though what you sent was an A suffix, the coupe had a B suffix. The internals swapped over fine, i have it 99% sorted. i just need to get some screws to hold the 2 halves together again. It's good and tight though, no more slop in the mechanism. The next worry will be how sloppy is the gearbox lol.

[Tractor Dave]

Oh no, that's annoying. Auto Doc have a habit of selling me lhd parts that don't fit. Could it be that they have sold you a rhd part?

[ottawa coupe]

Got the shift linkage joint from tractor dave the other day (thanks again!). But i am gonna hafta take it apart and transfer the guts in the end. The keyway in the joint that bolts to the trans is in the wrong spot. Shouldn't be too be a huge task....

20240225_123933.jpg

[ottawa coupe]

image_88974.jpg Back on it's wheels.... sorta.

The misc 5x112 stuff i have kicking around barely fits. The odd rear wheel rubs on the strut. I have all my spacers in so it's as good as it can be for now.... i hafta get the winter rollers off the racecar when it's warmer and i should have a much easier time rolling it around.

Will get the steering back in it tomorrow hopefully so i can get it outside and get the dust off of it. In a cold spell at the minute but when that's over, may start pulling panels off the cabby in order to complete the body on this and have a complete idea where i need to go with it.