gag4o

Well done man. You put so much work on the car...
I bought used rear loudspeakers from UK because mine were so bad.
Also on the black bottop part of the car, the rear and the fron bottom par and the front grill I used "Mothers Back-to-black" paste. It has amazing result

I can help you on some of the parts you need

I think I can find you the right frond fog light as well as the rear tail light. As I understand you need the big section, with the push button for the trunk, right? Not the corner end...
An exactly which gauge cluster?

Baumeister

Time for a bit of an update...
1. replaced my antenna with an aftermarket unit.
2. installed the interior air filter housing(sourced new from Jim Ellis) with a carbon filter.
3. Used my Pneumatic fluid extractor to pull a few litres of ATF out of the transmission and replace with some leak stop and new fluid. Drove a few hundred miles over a few days and no longer have puddles under the car. Shifts are smoothing out. I haven't checked but I still smelled it burning(but no smoke)
4. Couldn't figure out the true ATF level, so decided just to pull as much ATF as I could out, and refill with another 12 oz of seal sweller and Mobil1 ATF this time. I'm not sure how much I pulled out, but I put a bit more than 3 litres total back in. Hooked up VCDS to get the ATF temp right(60 degrees C) , ran the car through a few gears and running in neutral. The ATF was a bit warmer than that, maybe 74. I wound up pulling 4 ounces or so out to get it to the top of the dipstick line. Shifts continue to improve, the 3-4 chirp is gone. No fluid on the ground but I still think it's dripping on the Cat.

May or may not do a filter change...this transmission is coming out in a few months for a manual. I'm just trying to gauge if this 097 will work well enough to put it in another car or if its gonna sell for core value only.

I have a few more parts on order...fixing little things as I go. I'm curious what's missing in this picture(water diverter over fuse box) and if anyone knows a part number? I can't find it on any diagram.





Missing cover?

Baumeister

Oh, I also jacked up the front end and did a quick inspection of the front suspension. Nothing loose or broken was immediately apparent, other than the strut bump stops. I've got new ones on order along with a full set of Bilstein TCs. New Strut top bearings as well.

Hoping I can get those installed on Sunday if nothing else gets in the way!

Rusty Spokes

That area is open by design..the plastic piece under the wiper above the fusebox diverts water.

Not the best design..check your fuesebox and be sure it is sealed/clipped firmly around the cover.

Rusty Spokes

Be sure and inspect the "A"arm bushings..they get some workout when driving and can get sloppy. Easy to remove the "A" arm..and more challenging to press out the old bushings. The "A" arms should be forged on the Cabriolet rather than pressed metal..don't swap-out the forged "A" arms for the aftermarket pressed metals assemblies out there.





Compare the two "A" arm types:







If you do need new bushings, don't get Meyle or some of the others available..look around (RockAuto) and use Lemförder.

If you take the "A" arms off or loosen the two pivot bolts for any reason (you need an off-set 17mm box end wrench to get to one of the nuts..as I recall)..be sure and have the front wheels loaded with the weight of the car when tightening the pivot bolts..if you let the "A" hang or the front end is at its lowest point and the then tighten..the bushings will tear once back on the road. The amount of rubber bushing deflection is important..they are meant to be very firm.

Rusty Spokes

I would change the automatic filter and pan gasket. Those filters seem to get contaminated and cause shifting problems. Might be the reason so many failed early..Audi said the fluid was "lifetime" and the transmissions never needed to be serviced. Your ATF leak could be the pan gasket too.

A bit fiddly to remove the automatic pan..you have to loosen the power steering line brackets that run in front of the pan and squeeze the lines forward out of the way.

My ATF filter after about 90k miles:







The transmission pan inside and ATF filter were filthy and the magnet inside the pan needed a big time cleaning. The old pan gasket was cracked and non-elastic..though it was not leaking.

Baumeister

Thanks Rusty,
kinda odd about the openness right there...I saw the hinge looking **** on the one side of the deflector and figured something was missing.

Since this car had been sitting for at least a year or two, I wanted to run some fresh fluid through the transmission for a few hundred miles to hopefully dissolve some of the varnish before changing the filter. I checked the pan gasket very carefully and know its not leaking at all.
Good tips on the control arms. I ordered some FEBI/Bilstein bushings (and a heater core) from RM European and was surprised to see "Made in China" stamped on both boxes. I just got the RA tonight to send 'em back.

I had forgotten about preloading the arms, I had to do that on my '88 BMW as well. I think I needed the same offset wrench, even.

I've been keeping an eye out for Lemfoerder stuff.

Rusty Spokes

RockAuto has them: LEMFORDER Part # 1012701 {#893407181} Steering Type: For control arm (Only 12 Remaining)

Sold in packs of two..Price $13.63 each..with shipping about $65 for all four for the Cabriolet.

Baumeister

Thanks Rusty, I did order those from RockAuto.

What do you all think for a brand of Ball Joints? Mine look tight but I figure if I've already got the control arm off...
RockAuto has Flennor for one side and that's it. Curious about Moog? That's a Federal-Mogul brand IIRC.

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

im a bit late on this post, but i would recommend Control Arm Bushings, Delrin, Large, Small Chassis - 034Motorsport | Performance Parts for Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen
they provide allot batter life span, hold the geometry much batter under load and are pretty good on the road noise level.