team illuminata

Look what Postman Pat brought me yesterday.

422136_2000573830525_1728951275_995113_541621899_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


It fits too!

OK, I know, it's not OE and will probably wear out in about 10,000 miles but it's a tenth of the price!

So here it is, finally, back on all fours.

tumblr_m8s09vR4o01rxkf1vo1_1280 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So i fired up the quattro and backed it out to get it up to temperature. I needed to burp the cooling system and test my new heater valve. Heater valve works but still runs a little warm at full cold. It is not closing fully though it did on the bench. I think a small cable adjustment should take care of things.

535988_2017390170923_1728951275_1002577_1870749776 _n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then I took it out for a test drive. I must say the Kraftwerk worked perfectly. Exactly as described. New suspension's not bad either. Initially the new dampers seemed crashy over small bumps but soon settled down. I was a little surprised that the dampers did not feel stiffer as I set them around half their range. I couldn't really get on it though as the front anti roll bar is still off and I only have an eyeball alignment. I'm sure I'm going to be very happy with it once it's aligned and fully together next week.

I put the old speakers back in place but didn't reconnect them. The front are fine for now. Would love to get a replacement parcel shelf and original speakers though. Anyone?

I also installed the new cat gasket/donut but I think it's still blowing a bit

So I'm done for now. There's quite a few things on my original hit list that I didn't do yet and a few new ones but it's time to drive this thing.

team illuminata

I took the car down to Auto Europe for an alignment Tuesday.

alignment1 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr, on Flickr

alignment2 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

My eyeballed alignment was way off as you might imagine but Charles whipped it back into shape.

So i've only put a few dozen miles on the car and the front anti-roll bar is missing but this beast has been transformed. No more boings and rattles from the loos suspension, goes where you point it and is very responsive. Just rolls a bit in corners as you might imagine. So everything is good. Not quite..........radiator started leaking yesterday. just a little froom the top seam:

149482_2096564350228_435952445_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

and maybe the core. Can this be fixed, perhaps in situ? I don't want a new radiator as I love the look of the aged brass top.

I also have a small leak now from the power steering regulator but haven't yet isolated the source.

It never raiins but it pours (or weeps) with these cars.

team illuminata

Quick radiator removal. This should be easy right?

383539_2116836537020_1728951275_1045952_1886760539 _n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


It has more hoses going to it than my heart has arteries.

522133_2116834936980_1728951275_1045950_1537324561 _n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Finally got it disconnected and out of the car.

581542_2116831776901_1728951275_1045948_1372789897 _n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

535833_2116828936830_1728951275_1045947_636945106_ n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Uh, oh! Where's the isolator mount? Is this replaceable?

574555_2116826936780_1728951275_1045946_322766283_ n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

528808_2116822816677_1728951275_1045944_328959328_ n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Off to the radiator shop for a re-core. Hopefully they can use the end tanks and side brackets.


Finally found a replacement for that decomposing breather hose.

580592_2116819456593_1728951275_1045943_1717992450 _n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


OE exhaust bolts. How concientious is that?

534765_2116812296414_1728951275_1045942_107804296_ n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Can't wait to get the radiator back for the shop and start driving this thing.

team illuminata

Recored UR Quattro radiator. I asked them not to paint it but now have to decide what to do to it. I was hoping to retain the original look with some of the black paint still on the top with the aged brass showing through but it rather got cleaned off in the process. Do I need to paint the core or can I leave the whole thing raw?

318167_2121916344012_1728951275_1048302_1766787067 _n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

So I decided not to paint anything, just threw it back into the car and drove it to the local track event by way of a shakedown. I hope everyone's cool with that.

528595_2125897683543_1728951275_1050505_414035124_ n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

318238_2125899483588_1728951275_1050506_112661901_ n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr



Next on the list is to figure out why my washers don't work anymore. Low flow, just dribbles out. I also need to get the anti roll bar back on, detail it and rebalance the wheels. Then, hopefully, I can enjoy the car for a few months, so long as the clutch lasts. It feels awefully high on the pedal lately.

Rhwins

So your home track is maybe Waterford Hills? I am near Kalamazoo, so I may drive at GingerMan or Grattan.

I am just refinishing converting my 87.5 C GT special build to front coil-overs. Let us know your lap time and what tires you use!
Very good looking Ur Quatro.

Rich Winslow

das2.7t

Great read. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

team illuminata

Well, looks like I haven't updated this thread for a while. I'm going to use the excuse that I have been driving the car instead of working on it. Who'd have thought?

I did finally get the anti roll bar back on. Had to order parts from the UK. I couldn't find OE bushings so had to settle for upgraded poly versions. I'm sure they are better but are a bit blue.

I also had to buy a pair of anti roll bar endlinks with bushings from the UK to replace the one I broke during disassembly. The very fist nut I tried to remove during the suspension rebuild.

I did put the original wheels back on for the summer

sig by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

so my friend Tim could put them on his as he was headed to Pike's Peak.

quattro243666_4383413866293_516756617_oserie6r by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

Not a bad bit of exposure for the brand.

I managed to snag a replacement clutch in case mine gives out on me soon. It does feel quite high on the pedal now but is not slipping.

10433139_4612404484659_3911560420178835334_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So with the car pretty much back together I have enjoyed driving it around for a few uneventful months and parking it next to other interesting vehicles (apparantly).


IMG_0492 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

IMG_5636 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

IMG_0491 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

IMG_0533 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


I didn't park it next to these two beauties but I did get to see them in Europe, and about eight others just like them. Yes, they are real, unlike Tim's replica above. I even touched them!

IMG_9266 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So next on the agenda is to fix the washers as they are quite lame and this one leak.


OE gasket came in today. $3! must be the cheapest quattro fix ever.

Hopefully the car will stay together till winter when I think we may be putting a clutch in it. How hard could that be?

team illuminata

I think my BRAID Serie 6 RC wheels look much better on my mate Tim's car than mine.

quattro471244_4383417786391_2046218046_oserie6R by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

quattro170412_432676573444519_738068279_oserie6r by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

quattro243666_4383413866293_516756617_oserie6r by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

So i'm thinking of getting some Serie 4 RC instead.





What do you think?

team illuminata

Here's another optoin. I could get BRAID to make some 9x15 RONAL replicas like these:



Of course they'd have to make more than one set. Anyone else interested?