The big experiment - amateur 3B shenanigans

[Acidburn]

Your learning so much about how to work on these cars, tbh honest if someone who has done this was there it would be good for speeding up the process but you'd never learn how to do half of all this just watching, I always enjoy doing stuff like this especially if it would be something on this scale. Just wish I had the space to do it.

[Knight Rider S4]

Speed sensor?.........ABS sensor on the stub axle?.....to safe yourself the bother with that follow the wire into the inner wing and you will see plug connector and just take off there and slip through inner wing and easier for installing onto the new shell as well

I must come down for a day looks so much fun ..when are you intending taking the engine/gearbox out?

Cheers

Steve

[Nj]

fackin 'ell. those bolts can be a buggr eh?

Got down stupidly early the last couple of mornings for a bit.

steering arms came off ok, although they're awkward with the engine still in (wanted to get them onto the other shell along with the steering wheel so i can move it in an out of the garage).
Got the front struts off. serious work on the bolts holding the struts to the erm.. wheel/hub/things. one side came off ok but the other side I could only loosen the nuts 80% of the way and then had to get the old reciprocal saw out to cut them off. Any top tips for taking off the nuts if the last inch seems to be bereft of any thread?

actually that same difficult side was a ****** to get the wheel speed sensor off. almost had to chew it off.

[Nj]

cheers sal. i bow to your disassembling wisdom.

[sal_s2]

Noel, if all the prop bolts are out, hit the ends with a hammer to free them up, theyre just stuck in place, it should drop down with diff and box still in place.

[Nj]

sweet baby jebus! haha. that's some shopping list. i'm trying to keep my purchases spaced apart so as not to draw too much attention [casual whistle]

[Fat Audi 80]

err yup likewise mate, i found a gem who for the most part doesnt mind me throwing money at a 15yr old metal box

As for the order, umm more a case of what didnt' i buy

1 x front pass side wheel arch liner 895 821 171A @ £14.34+vat

If they are that cheap, I am going for a couple, mine are stone chipped to hell etc!

Hijack over.

Cheers,

Steve.

[s2driveruk]

haha. what did you buy mate?
I have to say with hand on heart that my missus (despite the odd gasket blowing) puts up with my crap a lot. she was even happy for me as I skipped out the door last night to take delivery of the 2nd broken S2. Or happy to see the back of me. one of the two.

err yup likewise mate, i found a gem who for the most part doesnt mind me throwing money at a 15yr old metal box

As for the order, umm more a case of what didnt' i buy

1 x front pass side wheel arch liner 895 821 171A @ £14.34+vat
1 x pair of s/s rear brake lines £26.00+vat for the pair
1 set of the coupe door rubber trims £74.00+vat
1 x pair of front metal drop links 8A0 407 465C @ £24.84+vat each
1 x 3 pin temp sensor (MFTS) 034 919 369C @ £35.00+vat
1 x oil pressure sender (the larger one of the two) 035 919 561 @ £46.72+vat this is the bigger 'can' type one on the side of the block.
1 x breather system regulator valve 034 129 101B this is the round plastic one at the side of the block @ £7.61+vat
3 x oil filters 06A 115 561B @ £3.25+vat
driveshaft to diff flange bolts (I think N90668201 can u confirm?) enough for both sides (12?) correct !! they are 60p +vat each
2 x gaskets between driveshaft cv (inner) and diff flanges (i think 8D0407309A) yup! @ £1.98+vat
4 x washer N0115278 @ .22p each +vat
nuts bolts and washers for attaching hub to strut (fronts and rears)
Fronts
N 906 244 01 bolts x4 @ 64p +vat each
N 021 2253 nuts @ 44p +vat each
Rears
N 906 244 01 bolts @ 64p +vat each
N 021 2253 nuts @ 44p +vat each
proshaft gaskets 8D0 407 309 @ £1.98+vat x2
prop to g/box & rear diff bolts N 019 9261 @ 40p +vat each x12
4 x rear wishbone bushes (i think 8A0 407181)
4 x blue top mounts
The other sensor on the water rail (not the MFTS) one but the small 2 prong jobbie
1 x new oil filler cap
t shaped power steering return line for a 3B too: 893 422 891T @ £66.55+vat

[Nj]

Thanks for all the info lads. It does make sense now on how to undo the driveshafts. The difficulty in actually getting them out of the diff and gearbox does concern me a bit though.

See the propshaft... how can it drop down if either end is in the diff and gearbox? I know it's hinged in the middle but surely not enough to get the ends out? I disconnected the centre mount but it only drops down a few degrees because the ends are in the diffs. should I be undoing the centre pivotal point?

I bought a crane/hoist so I should be OK for controlled lifting/supporting of the engine when it's coming out. I'll weigh up the odds of me wrecking the turbo versus the odds of me knowing how to put it back on again

Sal, I'll be going for your method of dropping the back and maybe for the front too. Certainly makes a lot of sense. I decided to leave the back until I have the engine out after the car pivoted on a point disturbingly far forward.

Hendo - another man with spanner welcome mate. i'll give you a shout.

No pics of the new shell just yet cos It was a tight squeeze getting it into the garage and I need to get the steering arms on if i'm going to roll it out and in again. I'll get a couple of shots when possible. Looks very much like the first car before I started pulling the poor buggr apart.

[Hendo]

Ooooooo. Just noticed this.

If you need a hand spanner ****ing I'll join in. Need to get to grips with the basics if I'm going to own one.

[80Quattro]

hmm, ain't that the truth, just trying to remove my rears from the flanges and they dont seem to want to budge, any tips apart from some tactical treatment with the hammer

Cheers
David

It took me a whole afternoon to get 1 of mine off. The drive shaft simply would not come off the diff, I had everything locked so that it didn't just spin and tried for at least an hour to twist it off with some channel locks but with no luck. In the end I pulled the drive shaft off leaving the outer race of the CV still attached to the diff but I really wouldn't advise this unless there is no other option as they are a nightmare to reassemble. I thought it would come off easily having done that as I could put a couple of bolts in just enough to try and lever it off but still no luck. Eventually with 3 of us trying to get it off (2 twisting it with a bar and me hitting it with a lump hammer) it went. I think possibly beating it with a large hammer is your best option as I had to get all the ball bearings back in the CV after doing it that way which wasn't easy.

[s2driveruk]

Also, I found the drive shafts were very well seized to the diff flange when I removed mine.

hmm, ain't that the truth, just trying to remove my rears from the flanges and they dont seem to want to budge, any tips apart from some tactical treatment with the hammer

Cheers
David

[sal_s2]

Engine can go in complete, no need to take anything off if you have a hoist.. It only needs to be lifted up a little and pulled forward.
Remove the rear wheels and you'll see the centre bolt in the hub, 24mm I think. That is for the driveshaft. Loosen these before disconnecting brakes etc just in case theyre really tight. Remove the rear suspension legs. Lower the complete rear cradle by undoing the 4 subframe bolts then once its on the floor you can disassemble it if you need to.
You could do the same with the front assembly aswell, i.e remove suspension legs, loosen driveshaft bolts, disconnect brake lines, gearshift mechanism, clutch slave pipe, then lower complete engine, gearbox and subframe in one go

[Knight Rider S4]

How much can I leave on the engine when i'm removing it and putting it into the other car? downpipe looks like it will have to come out but I assume I can leave the turbo on?

If it was me i would be taking turbo off as when you split the engine from gearbox there will be rocking of the engine and the turbo is not hard and a few cracks off the inner wing could end in tears........Take the alternator out of the road as well to give you a bit more room

Cheers

Steve

[Acidburn]

How much can I leave on the engine when i'm removing it and putting it into the other car? downpipe looks like it will have to come out but I assume I can leave the turbo on?

What the hell was I thinking and will I be still at this at xmas, given that I'm trying to be a family man for large parts of my weekend?

Following on:

If you can get access to a hoist and have all the wires disconnected and the front driveshafts taken off,downpipe unbolted from rest of exhaust and gear box unbolted from everything else (apart from engine) I don't see why you can't just chain it up remove the bonnet, un-do the mounts and take it up and out.

At this rate your probably be putting most of it back together as you've had good progress. Got any pictures of the new shell?