Project Re-love

[PeteUr]

getting there slowly

And years before madwolf will

[terrybullwon]

School boy error

*Must try harder

[s2driveruk]

Thanks to Chef and his big tool we made rather light work of the cambelt change today...

Definatly right what they say about having the right tool makes for an easy job, was a total non event changing it. Having said that it was rated up to 1000nm and only needing 450nm hardly stressed it.

No real nightmares apart from the roller didnt want to let go, despite *****ing it a good few so it looked a bit beaten up by the time it did actually part company. Only real issue was one of the 4 capheads holding the pulley to the cam sproket, ended up having to try and drill it out and after some gentle persuasion with a hammer, it did finally let go. Having said that we couldnt believe how sh&t the cambelt sproket was...liteally disintegrated, even though the woodruff key looked to be in good shape.

Sorted out a few other gremlins too with the headlamp washer motor and a poor earth on the nearside xenon.

Cheers James for you help and the loan of the torque wrench - look fwd to getting mine on the road now and we'll have to hook up once yours is sorted

[4WheelDrifter]

So the cambelt is done? That didn't take you long.

[s2driveruk]

yeah nothing like a rush job Stu.

Drop me you address and I will return the locking tool, was thinkin about that this morning, infact the original belt i ordered from Vagparts going a) out of business and b) out of date kinda reinforced that view that it had been a while

[s2driveruk]

quick update on progress...mainly backward at the moment.

Spent the last few days sorting out the new fan and installing it which is a real space saver for the 3b i have to say. in operation it appears much quieter though there is a slight drum, hopefully this will have gone now i have the radiator supported and bolted across the 3 points.

Car has been really poor at starting and eventually after much head scrtaching and poking at things with a multimeter, decided to get the starter motor and battery tested. It ended up that the stater was fine but the battery was only cold craking with 90amps which is a bit shy of what was needed hence the lottery starting. New Bosch S3 battery installed and she fired up first time and with little effort. £75 for the new one but has more grunt than the previous Bosch Silver battery.

Managed to drive the car up the road and back and was great to finally have it alive aagin. so today set about changing a couple of small things and having a general poke about ahead of an MOT this week so i can start using it again properly.

First one was the ancient reciever/drier, got a new one from GSF a while back and thought i'd get it fitted. Typically the access is rubbish tucked up behind the drivers side wing and the connectors on both sides are siezed solid (looks like the orginal unit). Normally i wouldnt give a toss but with a month to the roadtrip and no doubt going to be hot, i want functional a/c. in frustration i decided to unbolt the hoses either side and then undo them on the bench. However i noticed that the ferrule on the one to the pump was split so i guess that was how the gas escaped last time - new hose needed

same as an old shape A4 one:


whilst trying to remove a p clip holding the other hose to the drier, suddenly noticed that the driver side front H&R has snapped....f**K i really didnt need that added to the list, however happy to have found it now rather than on the Ring!

found it on the strut like this:


Looks like it might hav been like this for a while:


Ended up taking a drill with wire brush to the struts to clean the surface rust up a bit prior to a prime and rust-coat paint



so what started out as a final inspection and tinker before getting it on the road has been stalled again....really need to get it on the road as its a month today until we head to Le Mans...getting tight already

forgot to post up a couple of pics on the way i aligned the prop a while back...

[Acidburn]

hope you get it sorted mate, keep me updated now you've got my number

[s2driveruk]

Pete - you're a lifesaver

Good to catch up and thanks for the H&R's and the other bits...looking fwd to getting it bolted up and also the sunroof deflector working again

Let you know about Friday.

Cheers
David

[Rusty]

Bad luck on the spring there David, bloomin' old cars, always need something doing to them! My HnRs were blasted, zinced and powdercoated and they're already starting to rust I think a set of custom springs is going to be the way forwards, have got most of what I need to get something that's actually worth fitting as an uprated option, rather than just an aesthetic upgrade. The car feels very odd at the moment, got a few theories but there's certainly some unwelcome wobble on direction change.

[s2driveruk]

i now have a set of avant front springs...noticeable increase in stiffness just compressing by hand and slightly shorter in then (less top side compression than the coupes so looking forward to seeing how they feel.

[Rusty]

2 pairs of Avant springs?

[s2driveruk]

front only

[Rusty]

Oh. With Coupe rears? That'll be interesting. Theory says it'll be a bit understeery...

[s2driveruk]

probably right....on the basis i leave these shores in less than a month and H&R lead times as they are, I really have to get the car MOT'd and some miles on....smell another drive to the Ring shakedown as per 2years ago otherwise and I can't afford to do that really.

If understeering is the side effect, i suppose that safer than snap oversteer Any thoughts on how to creatively dial some of that out if needs be? I guess stiffening up the rear arb?

[Rusty]

Yeah, stiffer RARB but you'll end up with one like mine that crashes over the bumps a bit, works well otherwise. Try it first though, could be interesting to see what happens TBH. Mine is feeling a bit poo on the HnRs, I noticed that the rears aren't fully bound on the tight coils doe to lighter rear, means that there's some wobble and the fronts are a little wobbly too, not much different to stock TBH.

When I'm back from a break, I'll be getting on with some custom coupe springs. I've spoken to an ABYer so if you wnat to test some on a 3B then all good. Won't be as low but will be a lot stiffer, ITR 300lb front and rear, perhaps with a 275lb front option.