Jardine Motors Audi

Our team at Jardine Motors Audi have been tasked with the challenge of raising money for our charity Whizz-Kidz by restoring an old Audi to its former glory.

Whizz-Kidz work hard to transform the lives of disabled children by providing the vital equipment, support and life skills they need to reach their full potential; therefore we wanted to help them.

We began our journey by looking for our ideal car. The car we wanted to buy was an original UR quattro. Clearly as this is such an iconic car with immense demand, buying one proved more difficult than expected.

We were fairly open minded when deciding what to buy but two essential features were that the car was right hand drive and had the iconic Mars Red paintwork. After contacting multiple classic car dealers, owners clubs and spending hours and hours searching the web, we thought we’d hit the jackpot.

We came across the perfect looking car which wasn’t too far away. We decided to go and see it, however, we noticed that the chassis number didn’t match that of the V5. The search continued without much luck; several cars came along but all with a story, write-offs etc. At this point, we were close to giving up on the idea of restoring a car for the Audi Division.

Out of the blue, team member Phil came across a car and let us know straight away - it had only just been advertised, so we gave the seller a call immediately and secured it over the phone. It didn’t seem like the smartest thing to do, but at this point we were desperate.

Thinking back to it, we were really lucky as the man selling told us that his phone was ringing non-stop with people who wanted to buy the car. Thanks to his enthusiasm and interest in our project, we sealed the deal and will be sure to keep him updated on the vehicle’s restoration.

Our extensive search concluded that the car is both rare and special, therefore finding one that hadn’t already been restored or was far too damaged to salvage proved to be more difficult than expected.


The car:

A 1984 UR Quattro in original Mars Red, packing some punch from the classic and iconic 2 litre, 5 cylinder engine. The car looked stunning - it’s not something you often come across, but for a 30+ year old Audi it didn’t look too shabby.

The first drive was interesting to say the least, a combination of fairly good performance with very little braking power. It seemed the car had been idle for a while and had therefore seized up somewhat, but it didn’t take away the fact that it was still such a special car to drive.



Stripping down:

The car arrived back at Tamworth Audi and after initial inspection, we all knew we had a big job on our hands. We began stripping the car in the following order:

Wheels and brakes

Front and rear suspension

Rear sub-frame and differential

Front sub-frame

Interior

Wiring loom

Engine and gearbox

Remaining trims and door electrics


Initial complications:

Surprisingly, there weren’t many! Nearly all nuts and bolts came off trouble-free, so no need for cutting off rusted bolts. It was a huge relief as this particular part of the process could have been much more time consuming than it was.

Our main issues occurred when we attempted to remove the wiring loom and interior trims. As a result of them being over 30 years old, the plastic had become particularly brittle and embedded. At the moment, we’re not 100% sure of the extent of the damage to the wiring loom but we may need to source a new one.

As well as trying to get hold of a wiring loom, we’re currently finding it very difficult to source the smaller parts: interior trims, seat fabric, roof linings etc. If anyone could help by pointing us in the right direction for these, we’d be massively appreciative.


What’s next:

Engine strip and access damage – currently the engine looks to be in a good shape but further inspection will tell whether there is additional unseen damage.

Deep clean on all engine components – 30 years of dirt and grime to remove through steaming and sand blasting.

Body shop – paint and bodywork look relatively okay; small areas of rust may lead to further complications, but we won’t know until the car has been stripped back to the bare metal.

Sourcing parts – we are struggling to locate rare original parts for a reasonable price.




That’s it for now - we’ll be posting weekly to keep you updated on our progress. If you have any questions then please let us know, or if you know anyone who could help us (especially when it comes to sourcing parts!) that would be great.

Jardine Motors Audi

Hello all,

We’ve been hard at work on our quattro restoration and have been making some really good progress for our planned completion date at the end of June.

We have had both manic days where all hands have been on deck and others where we have been waiting around for parts to come. All in all, it has been a good journey so far and we look forward to sharing our recent progress with you.

In our last update we mentioned what’s next:

Engine strip and assess damage – currently the engine looks to be in a good shape but further inspection will tell whether there is additional unseen damage.

The engine has successfully been stripped and rebuilt. We’re surprised at the condition of this - it’s remarkably good. In terms of pieces that needed replacing, these were the following:

• Injector Seals
• Manifold Gaskets
• Intake Manifold Gaskets
• Engine Seals

All of these have now been fitted and replaced - the engine is beginning to look great!

Deep clean on all engine components – 30 years of dirt and grime to remove through steaming and sand blasting.

A deep, DEEP clean was needed. Again, this has been done and everything has scrubbed up really nicely. We’re very pleased with the outcome of this. Although time consuming, the outcome is so satisfying.

Body shop – paint and bodywork look relatively okay; small areas of rust may lead to further complications, but we won’t know until the car has been stripped back to the bare metal.

Body work has all been inspected and repaired, with smaller sections replaced where necessary. Luckily, the rusted patches didn’t add too many complications and the body work is really beginning to come together. We can’t wait to get it in the booth.

Sourcing parts – we are struggling to locate rare original parts for a reasonable price.

Possibly the most difficult part of the entire build. Trying to source parts for a 30+ year old car has been more than difficult but we’re getting there and pulling the last few pieces together.

What else have we done?

Fully cleaned the drive shaft – nice and simple to clean this up.

The replacement of all CV boots was necessary – looking much better; the CV boots were ‘past the sell by date’ to say the least.

Painted all drive shafts – we went for a black paint on these after they had been cleaned.

Cleaned and painted remaining engine brackets and parts – these look much, much better now and will make a big difference when the engine is tucked up in the bay.

Carried out various repairs to wiring looms – again, this was another very tricky and skilled aspect of the restoration, but thankfully now in good shape.

Ordered injector seals, manifold gaskets, intake manifold gaskets and engine seals – these are all now fitted and looking great!

Radiators and intercooler have come back from ‘City Radiators’ all refurbished, tested and re-cored where necessary. Unfortunately, this was more of a specialist job that we had to outsource, but we’re very pleased with the outcome.

Steering wheel has been completely re-leathered – very pleased with the finish on this, it looks great and has a lovely original feel to it.

Parts have arrived back from power coaters – some of the parts that needed painting have been powder coated i.e. sub-frame etc.

New shock absorbers have been fitted to suspension struts – these should offer a much better ride than the old ones.

The dashboard has been sent for repair – this has some large marks and scratches on, which we believe should be able to be tidied up and repaired.

Below are some images to share our recent progress with you.
Let us know your thoughts or send over any questions you may have!

Jardine Motors Audi

We are now 6 weeks into our quattro restoration and there are no signs of slowing down. We’ve achieved a great deal already in such a sort amount of time and we are looking forward to letting you know what we’ve been up to within the last week.

We’ve been waiting around for our new sub-frame bushes to arrive which have finally come. We took out the old ones as they weren’t in good shape and have fitted in the now ones which now look much better.

Next we begun to part assemble the suspension. The car is currently still in the body shop however as we have such a tight deadline to fit to we’ve tried to build up as much suspension as possible so this should speed up the process when the car arrives back.

We’ve also reassembled the differential which is much tidier now and looks like it just came from the factory and plumbed this back into the sub-frame.

As we already had discussed the dashboard was battered and scarred and needed some work. We’ve sent this off to repair to have this returned to its original condition. We’re looking forward to this coming back as it should look amazing.

We have been working hard to give all remaining engine ancillaries a deep clean. Removing dirt and grime from the last 30 years has been one of the most difficult parts of the entire build. However the satisfaction of a clean finished part is amazing.

Another major problem that we’ve has is sourcing a second hand headlining for the car. When our car was purchased one of the only things which wasn’t right was an aftermarket sunroof which had been fitted. Due to this being fitted the headlining had been cut to allow for this.
As we decided to repair this and remove the sunroof and put it back to original the headlining needed repair. We’ve spent many hours searching for a second hand headlining for the car and we’ve already had this sent off for re-trim.


We’ve completely finished on the engine rebuild now and we’re really happy with the finished product!

Below are some images to share our recent progress with you.
Any questions let us know, we’d love to answer them!

wego0002

Hello,

did you paint or powder coat the components?

I just stumbled over this post, very interesting to see so many people involved.

More detailed pictures would be very interesting to tel yo what you are doing right or wrong.

Ciao

Werner

Jardine Motors Audi

We’re now 9 weeks into our restoration of the quattro and things are really starting to come together, which is pretty exciting for the entire team.

The last few weeks have been particularly busy but we wanted to share with you what we’ve been up to.

On our last update we did the following:

• Re-bushed the sub frame
• Suspension Assembly
• Differential Assembly
• Sent dashboard for re-trim
• Engine Clean
• Sent headliner for re-trim
• Began Engine Rebuild

Here’s what we’ve been up to more recently:

The cars seats have now been completely re-covered using factory original cloth which looks amazing. Fortunately our local trimmers managed to source the cloth which we’re really pleased with.

The headlining has now also been finished. There was extensive damage to this so it was something that we were quite anxious about, but the finished product is amazing.

The engine has been another time consuming part of the rebuild but it’s really satisfying to see this coming into shape. The engine has most recently had new valve guides fitted along with hardened valve seals which will allow us to run unleaded fuel.

All seals and sensors have been replaced where damaged or worn. We’ve skimmed the cylinder head and replaced the gasket, along with the cam belt and water pump. A lot of the seals themselves were difficult to locate as these are not often come by.

We also removed and extensively cleaned the fuel injector and replaced all the seals when refitting it. To add finishing touches we either powder coated or painted all engine mounting brackets to aid visual appeal and protect the components.

We’ve now drained the gearbox of all fluid and given this a thorough clean. To finish, we gave it a lick of paint and some fresh oil. The clutch wasn’t in great shape, so we’ve fitted a new clutch and release bearing.

Brake lines have all been either cleaned or replaced. Fuel lines have been cleaned and rust-protected as these were in a remarkably good condition so it made sense to keep these original.

We’re currently still putting some working into restoring the fuel pump and mountings and adding in a couple of nice shiny braided hoses where needed.

The callipers are currently with a specialist for a complete overhaul and powder coating to make these match factory original specification.

The remainder of our exterior plastic trims, including wing mirrors & grills, have been treated, repainted and textured to make them look like the original.

We’ve had all four wheels refurbed and restored to factory-original condition and painted Zermatt Silver. New tyres of the original make are on their way.

We’re in a great position in the restoration and everything’s coming together nicely. The car is currently still in the body shop but we’re in a position where as soon as the car is back we should be able to start the rebuild very quickly.

Keep an eye out for further updates and if you have any questions let us know!
Alternatively, if you’re interested in the purchase of our car click here: Audi UR quattro Restoration | News | Jardine Motors Group