Baumeister

Top now working!

I don't know what was keeping the T-handle from turning 180 degrees. I had my 6yo 'helping'...started the car and let it run for 5 minutes, tried again and it fully unlatched.

Ran the top a few more times, filled reservoir, got it running consistently and fully. Went to top up the reservoir one more time and....

DROPPED THE DAMN TOP FILLER CAP UNDER THE PUMP. Must have taken me 45 minutes to retrieve it. Let the 6 and 8yo make their own dinner(wife's at work til 8pm).

Filled it up, put the trunk back together, cleaned up a bit just as the wife pulled up...was able to demonstrate a nearly fully working top(still need to fix the headliner so it tucks away properly.

And while I was going nuts over the T-Handle, I managed to replace the courtesy light between the visors so that's now working. Are there other interior courtesy lights? Still no power to glove box light or trunk light.

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement. Still wondering about the A/C low side valve/sensor location?

And hoping against hope that the reason for the extremely low fluid level is that it was drained? Guess I'll find out in the next few days if one or more of the rams needs resealing(or worse). Top seems to work evenly now though.

gag4o

I am in Coastal South Carolina area. My engine with 130K miles for now is awesome (AFC '97) I will buy engine with 0 miles on it. Brand new. I want my drivetrain to be zero miles I just need to find manual gearbox and someone to swap it.

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

good luck with finding an engine and a trans with 0 miles

gag4o

I found brand new AFC... now I need any gearbox that fill fit.. I will try to find some from Europe maybe. Or something as low miles as possible. I found cabriolet 97 wwith 13 000 miles in Georgia. 13! and I checked it. Its 13 000.... but its not for parts

Baumeister

Just checking in...been busy and was out of town for awhile so slow going on this project. Have made a lot of progress in the past 24 hours though:

1. Fixed my 4-3 downshift issue. VAG-COM lists a TPS intermittent signal issue so I wanted to start there. But on the way to the bottom of the throttle body, I discovered the kickdown switch, and that it wasn't engaging on full throttle. Further investigation revealed that whoever worked on the car previously didn't put the throttle cable adjustment clip anywhere near where it was supposed to be. Guess I'm lucky that it was still there as it was dangling on the bare cable. Got it adjust properly and now have 4-3 kickdown, in addition to about a 1/4 more pedal from where WOT used to be

2. Replaced faulty rear defogger switch with eBay sourced switch, rear blower now works.

3. Replaced left rear window switch with eBay sourced switch, now operational from driver's door switch cluster(previously could only raise with the master switch.

4. Replaced the driver's side seat track plastic and rubber bits with the kit from ECS Tuning. Drilled the seat frame and inserted a well-placed screw to take up the slack of the stretched seatback release cable. Still need to do the passenger seat, may try the knotted cable fix or drilling a new end point for the cable.

5. With some driving, the transmission is, thankfully, leaking less than before. Unfortunately it's not the pan gasket...haven't steam-cleaned yet to figure that one out yet. Will probably live with it until the manual/TDI swap.

6. Installed a new Pioneer Headunit to replace the Alpine that wasn't wired correctly. Right rear speaker still non-functional, both wired through pre-amp or amplified output. I'm guessing the mismatched wiring fried it. I bought a set of 5.25" speakers but they're way too small to mount? What size fits?

7. Fixed the courtesy light between the visors, still no light in glovebox or trunk

8. Took apart the power antenna, big gear is worn out and mast cable broke. Ordered a new unit from www.AntennaMastsRus.com

9. picked up some cheap floor mats from NAPA.

Next up:
1. Find speakers to fit(under orders from the wife!)

2. Fix passenger seat track and seatback release.

3. Clean leather and condition(back seat has been progressing well)

4. Replace instrument cluster lights(only one out, but I have a full set of the 2w bulbs)

5. De-grease/power-wash engine/transmission.

6. Install pollen filter housing(on order right now)

7. Figure out the lights for trunk and glovebox.

8. Inspect front suspensiong/steering and figure out what needs to be replaced there(slight shimmy and just not as 'tight' as it should be.)

9. Keep topping up the top pump reservoir...no leak evident yet?

10. A/C temporary re-charge? It's slightly cool right now, I have to break it open when I swap the engine so I'm just looking for a quick fix to get through the l

Further down the road:
- Replace all vacuum lines. (While fixing the kickdown switch, I broke the vacuum line nipple on the check valve 4A0820675A that feeds the A/C flap solenoid valve.) I have it kludged with a WD-40 spray tube right now, that valve is $100, wondering if I can replace with a newer version(without the right angle top) that's only $10 or so.
- Replace top fabric and re-sew headliner attachment points.
- Adjust driver's side door (slight sag)
- strut insert/shock replacement. Looking at Bilstein TCs all-around.
- TDI engine/5 speed swap. Have most of it figured out except the instrument cluster, exhaust, and A/C hoses.

Parts wish list:

- right front fog light
- right rear inner tail light lens(likely left as well)
- vacuum check valve 4A0820675A
- Tan front leather seat swap?
- center console gauge cluster

Baumeister

Well, finally done for the day.

1. Fit some low-end Pioneer 6.5" speakers in the back panels without any trouble at all. (ran new wiring). Twisting the old speakers out of the metal mounting plate was one of the tricks that helped. Sounds pretty good, the dash speakers are definitely the weak point now.

2. Figured out that the trunk and glovebox lights only come on when the parking or headlights are turned on.

3. Removed passenger seat and drilled new end points for the Bowden cable. Installed the new plastic/rubber mounts. Cleaned that one seat with Leather Master Super Remover, their Dye Transfer Cleaner, and their Strong Cleaner. It's going to take a few more tries to get all the dirt out. In the meantime, conditioned with Lexol-NF.(overnight).

Rusty Spokes

After all the hard work..lets see the Cabriolet

Rusty Spokes

Audi A4 A6 Quattro VW Passat Vacuum Check Valve 07C 133 529A 07C133529A L4 V6 | eBay

Got the vacuum valve off the Bay (link above)..very well made unlike the last vacuum valve I got that fell apart quickly. The plastic on the prior valve was brittle.

Both the intake hose and vacuum service side are larger..not a problem on the back service side...but requires a larger fuel line with the vacuum hose off the engine put inside and secured with some "shrink wrap"




The A/C on my car was marginal..even when the system was charged..fan output was poor and not very cold...The recirculation vacuum valve was not working..which did not help matters. To replace the recirculation vacuum valve ($200!! from VW) requires the dash to come out of the car.





I discovered the air flow control flaps had lost all of the foam insulation while I was in there. That means the A/C cold air was mixing with warm air from the heater core all the time..so, bit the bullet..remove the air box and reseal the air flaps with 3M 3340 HVAC aluminium duct tape..replace the heater core (Nissens $45), new receiver dryer from NAPA ($29) and evaporator (on sale VW $79)..I don't want to go back and do this job again for a long time.

Baumeister

I'll get a few pictures up later today. Had a nice commute yesterday in it, despite the front suspension/steering work needed. Pulled into the driveway, turned it off...2 minutes later coolant is dumping from the vicinity of the expansion tank.
Haven't examined it yet, but ordered a new Febi/Bilstein tank last night, will be sourcing a new cap and bottom hose. Checked the prior work(by previous owner), the radiator was re-done and those hoses were replaced last year , but they didn't touch anything near the expansion tank.

Rusty, that's the valve I was thinking would work. I'm familiar with it, I broke the same nipple on it replacing vacuum lines in our 2003 VW TDI.

I do fear that I'll also be pulling the airbox. I'm only getting marginal cool air out of the middle dash vents. The air from the side dash vents is always warm. There seems to be more heat than there should be in the driver's side(LHD) footwell. When I replaced the airbox fan & resistor I noticed the degraded foam on the air supply flap.
I do happen to have an OE $79 evaporator on order. I just ordered it because of all the leaves, valet tickets and crap I encountered cleaning out the air supply screen. And all the crap that blew through the vents when I turned the new fan on high for the first time.

So I've got big jobs coming up:
1. Front end suspension refresh
2. Top fabric replacement
3. Engine & Transmission swap
4. A/C fixes.

Baumeister

Pulled over on my daily commute to snap a few shots. Eddie Murphy's former home is somewhere in the background.





Have owned for nearly a month, haven't had a chance to scrub down those wheels yet. Mismatched tires front/rear, but all in 215/60/15. Fronts have a date code of last year, the back ones are 5 years old.





Rear decklid re-painted.





new antenna is on the way.





Both taillight lenses are cracked, not too badly, though.





Amazing lack of door dings, just a slight sag in the driver's door. And the paint on this side looks like a brillo pad hit it.





Rear seat has responded well to cleaning and repeated leather conditioning. Need to re-glue the tabs on the speaker cover and re-install.





Wish the front seat looked as good as the back.





Everything works...lots of wear/sun damage on the steering wheel though.