GroupBwannaB

Dear Audi owners of the world,

I recently picked up this 1983 Audi coupe GT which has 84k miles on it. I am desperately looking for guidance with this car as to what level of restoration/level of reliability I am looking to achieve with this car. I would like hypothetically speaking to feel comfortable enough with the car to do long distance road trips. My biggest dilemma is I really dont trust any seal or gasket that is 36 years old. In reading my Bentley manual I'm not sure I feel comfortable replacing the crankshaft seals. I would think with so few miles the bearings should all still be good IMO and thus it wouldnt be monetary wise worth it to have the motor totally built from the top down. Does anyone have a feel for how reliable these crank seals are? Hate to have the motor stripped down and separated from the trans for the clutch job only to not go hypothetically one last step. At this moment the car does run (roughly). Here is my game plane that I have devised this far for the car and I would appreciate peoples feed back on it.
1) Do a head gasket
2) CIS has already been rebuilt by previous owner
3) New injectors
4) New clutch
5) Replace all bushing and joints on suspension
6)Timing belt replace
7) For performance increases on here I found someone recommending (install a 272 cam, advance the timing, new exhaust piping and put in high grade spark plug wires)
8) Lastly paint it

Thoughts???

wego0002

Hello,

if you go to the extend to pull the engine for a clutch job, you already answered all your questions!

In general, once the engine is out, replace it all, don't forget the water pump when you tackle the timing belt. You need all rubber parts for the injector seats.

Why do you want to replace the head gasket?

Have fun wrenching.

Ciao

Werner

GroupBwannaB

My background automotive wise comes from tinkering with Land Rovers. Head gaskets on Disco 2's are a common item that need replacing. I mean yes I would prefer not to replace but I just have such a hard time believing a 36 year old head gasket is still in good condition after all these years and 85k miles of use. I guess I come from cars with very finicky engines. D2's have head gasket issues and my L322 RR has timing chain guides that are known to fail. As a result a dont trust engines in the slightest and so I'm treating this car with a Landy thought process.

AudiSport4000

What kind of shape is everything in now? Does the car run and drive? It can be tempting to hop in and replace everything, but these are robust cars. If you can do a timing belt on one of these you can easily do the crank seal, fyi
Toss us more info so we can help!