RobClubley

More urq pr0n

Some epic photos coming in from the Wookies event. I'm wearing my "I'm driving a quattro on a volcano" grin.

Wookies in the Wild Episode IV - Return to Ohakune I've promised to take my quattro to a Wookies event four times, and each year I have failed and attended in my daily. This time I was determined to make it, with my project car. It was with great excitement and some apprehension that I set off on the weekend trip to Ohakune in Rusty, knowing that I still had an oil leak from the back of the engine somewhere, and having only driven about 300km since Wellington European did lots of work - new oil pump and gasket, cam and crank seals, sump gasket, boost leak fixed, fuel filling issue looked at, new coolant, oil and filters, leaking brake line replace, the list goes on... First stop was to meet up with the Wellington Wookie crew at BP where I put in $175 of 98RON and stopped before the tank was full! It was way easier to get fuel into the tank than before but there's quite a strong smell of petrol inside the car so I still have something to fix there. The rest of the trip went mostly well, Rusty cruising nicely along the highways. I discovered it has a flashing warning on the dash after 2 hours' driving to tell you to rest. Pretty advanced for 1985. The car has a strong tendency to tramline, following the slight ruts in the highway made by heavy trucks. Something modern cars seem to have overcome. I do have lowered springs, big wheels and harder bushes, so probably doesn't represent how a standard ur might feel. It does make my car pretty tiring to drive. We had planned a break in Mangaweka, about 2.5 hours from Wellington, and by then Rusty was holding back on acceleration over 4k RPM as though I had a boost leak again. After 20 minutes or so of cooling off, I had a look around the engine, but couldn't see anything amiss. I slightly tightened the wastegate banjo bolt as that had been the source of the previous boost leak. The rest of the way everything was back to normal, so either it was a heat thing or that bolt. We arrived in Ohakune in plenty of time for the evening meal and to reconnect with Wookie driving friends. Next day was the main Wookies event: a relaxed breakfast followed by a cruise up the mountain from Ohakune to Turoa Ski Field. Then back down, around to the other side of the mountain, lunch by the chateau at Whakapapa village, up to the Whakapapa ski field, then back to camp for a barbecue. Interspersed with lots of parking up, taking photos, laughter and socialising. Driving up that first tree-lined twisty road was a sublime experience. The 80kph limit is plenty to have a great time in an old sports car. Leading the pack up the hill, the inline-5 on song and the turbo whooshing, wastegate chattering, blipping the throttle on downshifts, taking pleasure in timing it just right. Awesome. The quattro is front-heavy and has a tendency to understeer, which you can combat by being on the throttle sooner than you would in other cars. I soon found the rhythm of it, revelling in the feeling of grip, power down all the way around the corners. Not worrying how delicate my old car might be, just going for it and loving the experience. It was here that I discovered another feature - the rev counter flashes to warn you to change up All too soon we were standing at the top, enveloped in cloud, shivering in the icy wind. The rest of the day was a similar blur of driving and socialising. Great times, great roads and great people. This event is a great concept - pick a place where where everyone has to make a trip to get there. Then just spend the day doing nothing but driving and socialising. Friendly, relaxed, no silliness, no racing or anything like that, but some excellent roads for a cruise. I'm happy to say the quattro made the whole trip with no real issues. I've expanded my list of things to fix - rattles, creaks, dim rear light bulbs etc etc, but everything important was good. When warm it drips - brownish-gold, looks, smells and feels like oil, but none of the fluid levels are reducing. So that's a mystery. It doesn't smell unpleasant enough to be gear oil. 850km driven, 750 or so on state highways, 100 up and down twisty mountain roads up to 1600m elevation and back. About 12l/100km consumed. On the Sunday I popped out for morning coffee and to take a photo with the Ohakune carrot. It was a beautiful clear morning and on a whim I decided to take one more drive up Mt Ruapehu to Turoa Ski Field. Not an opportunity to miss especially when it was so quiet. I was in quattro heaven on the twisty empty road, windows down listening to turbo and 5 cylinder noises when suddenly there was a blue Ferrari 328 on my tail! How could this get any better? I pulled over on a straight section and he howled past me with a glorious wail. At the top I found not one but a whole group of Ferraris and other sports cars. I joined in their group at the end, subtle like. It was a Wellington car club on a weekend run. Absolutely awesome! Then back down the hill to breakfast and to say goodbye to the Wookies crew before driving back to Wellington.

Trip prep:

Another drive on Sunday and everything seems pretty good. When it gets warm it leaks oil from the rear of the engine. I've decided to leave it alone until after the Wookies meet in Ohakune in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed https://fb.watch/5glOwzwZIp/

Great drive yesterday with the VW guys. 270km over the Remutaka Hill to Lake Ferry. Gorgeous day and Rusty ran beautifully. Unfortunately when I checked the drip tray this morning we have a new leak. Sigh. Everything Wellington European did is dry and good, looks like maybe the rear seal. Always a challenge, this car.

Nice little drive followed by a wash. No problems at all, lots of smiles from me. Nothing broke. All fluids stayed in their proper places. Really happy with Wellington European's work. A mate and I had a good feel around the carpet and it is damp underneath the passenger side carpet. So something’s definitely leaking there and it must be the source of the musty smell. I will put up with it for a little longer, don’t want to strip the interior out yet as I have a couple of events to go to in the next few weeks.

Wellington European sent me the first pic this afternoon. At 5pm after work I was there to collect Rusty! Before immediately parking it in town and going for dinner with my wife. The drive home was great! Smooth, good noises, happy driver. No obvious drips when home after a spirited drive up the hill road.

Sigh. Oil pumps! Mine is pretty munted, needs replacing. My parts diagram says 134 105 115A The pump on the car is 134 105 109 Search those numbers on Ebay and everyone seems to say that 134 105 115 A,B,C,D are equivalent. Autewo.de have a 109 for 400 Euro ish delivered to NZ. But They say it's also 134 105 115C. Confused. If I have to pay $700+ for the right part I will but if I can get one for a third that I'd prefer to.

I've moved house and now have a rather spectacular view.

FedEx wins!

Waiting for parts... Parts on their way today from FCP Euro in the US, Autewo.de in Germany and K-Jet Killers in Poland. UPS, DHL and FedEx, who will win the battle of the big couriers? FedEx is winning so far. They're in Honolulu, UPS in Warsaw, DHL in Cologne.

After my first drive... School run Ran a few errands this morning then back to Wellington European I'm really happy with the work so far. The suspension knock on full lock is gone, and it feels better to drive. Boost cut issue is solved, and they've corrected the timing so it runs much more smoothly than before, and revs all the way up to 6000+It feels more responsive and sounds sublime. The main oil leak was from the rocker cover - it was a little warped and needed persuading back into shape. Bad news is that an hour's driving and fully warming things up highlighted a couple more oil leaks from the sump gasket and oil temp sender. It's also slightly leaking power steering fluid, which is a new feature. I have a new gasket which I'll give to WEEU to fit. Have dropped the car back to them today. We're getting there!!

Rusty has been at Wellington European for a couple of weeks, I dropped it off with a list, which grew slightly as they started work. Suspension knock on full lock was caused by the subframe polybush metal inserts being slightly too long so I had torqued the bolts against the insert, not the body itself. This left play in the subframe. They're shortened now. The high pressure line from the brake booster was slightly leaking, so that line has gone off to have a replacement made locally. They're looking at the oil leaks now. But the big news is that it's finally boosting as it should, no more 4k rev cut !! It was caused by corrosion inside the wastegate making it stick, plus the banjo bolt connecting from the intake manifold was corroded, meaning it was tight but leaking and causing a vacuum leak. I'm so excited now about driving the car again.

Have ordered one of these kits... https://kjetkillers.pl/en_US/c/audi-5cyl/45 In other news Rusty is at Wellington European. Diagnosis so far - the brake high pressure line is leaking slightly, will be replaced, and the wastegate doesn't seem to be working correctly. And front subframe bolts had started to loosen - the polybush metal inserts were slightly long meaning when I tightened the bolts they weren't sitting properly.

What could these be for I wonder?

Quattro and cat butt.

Changed the rocker cover gasket. I wasn't sure if it was leaking or not, or if it was related to my boost issue but I had a spare and it's a quick job. No difference to the drive. Out at the shops. New garage for Rusty after a house move. Not so much space around the car when parked but there is a workshop space next door for, er, activities? Car parts and tool storage? Morning coffee.. Still dailying the quattro after 10 weeks waiting for the Merc to be fixed. It's more practical than you might think!

Found an old-school friend in the car park.

The dog belongs to Piers, the owner of the RS4. Love his colour choice.

Out and about in Wellington. I noticed a hissing from the footwell by the ECU - turned out the replacement braided rubber vac hose I did a couple of years ago had split at the end. I've replaced it from the manifold with silicone hose and that fixed it. Better replace all the ones I did in the engine bay too.

Rusty looks so good on track! And in great company. Photos by https://www.instagram.com/haydouken/ Hope he doesn't mind me lifting the shadows slightly to bring out the rear end details on Rusty!