Thought I'd intro myself and my newly acquired Quattro. Just got it a couple weeks ago and the goal is to make it mechanically reliable as a unique daily driver. My last vehicle (sold 9 months ago) I had the same goal for was a 1987 Vanagon Syncro which I dragged onto a trailer in Georgia and 2 years later drove out of the garage fully mechanically restored and freshly painted.

3 years ago I saw this in traffic in a city an hour away - a great shape 20V with older owner. Stopped him and he was not interested in selling but took my business card. 2 weeks ago he called me and 24 hours later it was in my driveway.

It is now on jackstands and surrounded with boxes of new parts. I am a stock kinda guy so there are no smoked taillights, or ceramic brake pads. Last week I pulled the front end off to do the timing belt and last night a buddy who's a talented tech came over to assist me for lining up the timing marks and ensuring I got this critical part right.

So after a week of pulling it apart, tonight (sat) I begin putting it back together. I am excited to get this unique girl back on the road. Fantastic interior condition, very good exterior and mechanically it seems also to be in excellent shape. All the boots have been replaced regularly and are in good shape, oil every 3k, and my buddy pulled the front camshaft cap to check for wear and pronounced it clearly has had fresh oil all its life. He could still see machining marks from the factory. The timing belt we replaced was in good shape, the water pump we replaced was a fresh factory Audi part (with metal impellers!), no slack in the valve train, etc, etc. A fine example and worthy of the care I will lavish it.

The engine will go back together with new seals and gaskets, the well reviewed 034 fuel injector conversion (sitting on my bench - beautifully made), and the correct Pentosin steering fluid, coolant and such. I love factory spec fluids. Oil is Rotella synthetic T6, Wix filter. The trans and rear diff was drained for a week and filled with Redline (MT90 for trans).

When I first pulled it in the garage, I drained out the steering fluid and put correct fresh Pentosin G50 (think that's the number) in after sucking the system as dry as possible. I have another can on the shelf and after a month will do the same thing in an attempt to clean out that valuable pump and system as well as possible.

New plugs, cap and rotor, and air filter (wow that air filter is going to be a pain to change). The headlight washer tank had a crack as if it froze sometime. I roughed up the crack, applied epoxy, applied a vacuum that sucked it through the crack and filled it, then applied another layer atop that.

Anybody have suggestions as to what else I should do? One area is I would like to clean out the ISC (Hitachi) and the MAF and throttle body. Looking for advice on how to do this without damaging (suggestions on cleaner type and method). Anything else?

Thanks,

DougM

 

These cars are so rare, I would feel bad making any significant changes to it. I believe the value will be higher later, the closer to stock (externally) it is. Besides, Audi has always had great taste in their design.

I've learned to research parts thoroughly for this car; in searching for a knock sensor I found the one-piece OEM replacement at $230, or a bolt-through VW sensor for $60 (plus bolt). I've come to find that most parts suppliers, and even local european techs, cannot be relied upon entirely (more or less) to source parts.

How do you feel about mechanical customization/upgrades? I can't help but feel this 7A is not realizing its full potential, so once I fix a few more maintenance issues I plan on adding a few goodies. Until I am ready for the 034 stage 2 (bigger MAF housing, chip remap), I was considering tearing out the airbox and installing a conical/cold-air intake with a heat shield. I've read the stock MAF housing will fit any 3"(?) air filter. I like the aggressive sound of a custom intake, and am hoping for an increase in gas mileage.

Have you checked the crankcase breather hose? Mine is shot, I'm ordering a replacement from 034 tomorrow.

How many miles does it have on it, and how much did you pick it up for (if you don't mind)?

I'm pretty stoked to have someone to compare notes with as maintenance and upgrades are performed/installed.

cheers!

 

Yeah, great to have another one in this quadrant of the world! Will be curious to see how yours turns out. No, this will stay stock and factory though I agree the engine's construction leaves a ton of headroom for power upgrades. The physical block and engine can handle well over twice the output of our normally aspirated 20V setups, so no concern to express there.

I paid under $1000 for mine because it seemed the guy wanted it to go to someone who would honor its heritage and his care of it. He didn't advertise it - just called me and invited me to come see it and we yakked a bit. Nice guy.

As for the cone filters. If it is the one made by the company who advertises power claims, etc I strongly urge against it. I'm sure I will bend a few noses on this forum for saying so, but you are most likely going to let more dirt into your engine and the power claim may or may not be true. The intake ducting of a modern car is tailored for the engine's displacement, torque and power curves and a myriad of other physics level flow dynamics. Like eliminating exhaust backpressure on a car designed for it, changing the size and length of the moving column of air into the engine randomly (essentially what this is) will have an unknown effect in reality. Maybe you'll get more output over 6000rpms, but less in every engine RPM below that for instance. I used to be Worldwide Powertrain Planner for GM. I strongly recommend against those conical filters by a certain much advertised maker.

My crankcase breather is the upgraded metal one you'll be ordering. It's a great permanent replacement for the rubber one. Mine does not have the little cap on the small rearward facing tube, however. It has been dripping oil all over the engine for some time now and I will be looking for a cap for it. Check that yours comes with one.

Mine is a sandstone metallic with tan interior. It has a recent factory ($!!!) windshield with the antenna wires in it. I am going to install a windshield protective film on it to protect it from our areas flying stones.

No project is complete for me without a screw up and this one is no exception. I always clean out the headlights on every project car as I'm a stickler for good lighting. However, while doing these, the silvering on the reflectors simply disintegrated. Wups. So I am in the market for a pair of 80/90 headlights and ordered some but have not gotten the usual shipping confirmation. Hmmm.

DougM

 

agree on the cone filter, i would not recommend it for the reasons already listed. is you want to mod your intake, STFA for airbox mod.
whats this windshield film your talking about? :-D btw,looks like your doing a grait job man, got pix?

 

The windshield film is by ClearPlex in Utah. It's spendy and on this particular w/s shape it will be difficult to install. But I've driven for several years with it on various vehicles and it does its job. Heading out to start the reassembly this afternoon.

DougM

 

I do not disagree with you in that changing the intake will alter the dynamics of the intake charge, but who's to say Audi had the chance to thoroughly research and tune the 7A? As for air filters, I understand there are less desirable brands with overstated benefits, however they are not the only options.

 

I would say that Audi had plenty of time to design their intake system to optimize it. Speaking frankly, I would say that is a far more likely scenario than to say that an aftermarket company who does intake filters could out engineer Audi, and every manufacturer for which they offer a product.

Today I buttoned up the timing belt, water pump and valve cover. We broke loose the crank bolt with a rod inserted into a notch in the fly wheel (you can see it through the little half moon when close to TDC #1) and torqued it to the spec using the same strategy. I looked for the special crank holding tool for a bit but glad I did not waste time as it was simple. Techs urged me not to use the transmission because a gear tooth can get damaged since you are applying over twice the torque the engine is capable of.

The valve cover gasket was a bit fiddly. I used a smear of RTV at the rear half moons, and the corners of the front end where the part over the cam gear rejoins the flat deck.

The thermostat was tough to get out. I finally resorted to prying it out with a screwdriver, bending the crap out of it in the process and hoping it did not suddenly snap. New sparkplugs went in without a hitch, with anti sieze. Cleaned out the bottom of the sparkplug holes with paper towels and a long bamboo skewer. I hope to get the engine together tomorrow and start putting the front bumper and bits together. Freshly rebuilt starter is on the floor next to the Quattro looking spiffy. Got the chunk of the broken Hitachi injector out of the fuel rail. It had a split in it above the spot it broke which I noticed only on getting this part out. So these injectors were truly finished and disintegrating.

Chickened out on the fuel filter the other day. I'm going to need to replace the soft line from the pump so I can pinch it off without breaking the line.

DougM

 

Hope this isn't getting boring to folks. Maybe this thread will give some others a sense of what is involved and that it is not too intimidating - just a bunch of steps and a bit of planning in ordering parts.

Today, I got the front of the engine reassembled, new belts, the rebuilt alternator mounted, and naturally added one item that totally ended up blowing the day's progress. The 6 inch hose coming off the hydraulic brake/steering pump reservoir behind the left headlight has been leaking and creating quite a mess. Foolishly, I mentally thought "that's a half hour well spent." Cough. 2 hours later when I buttoned it up and sat back, I was wiped for a bit. Here's what happened.

With the headlight out (easy 4 bolts if you do this) you can easily get the forward end off the hard line. Just suck the reservoir dry, the release the hose clamp on the metal line behind the grill and you can pull and pry the metal line out of the short hose you're working on. Then the other end. I tried pulling it, rotating while pulling, prying with a screwdriver while pulling and rotating all to no avail. Finally decided to slit it with a thin razor knife with the tips you can snap off. It's the only thing you'll get down in there. Loosen the radiator reservoir and you can unclip it from the charcoal canister and shove the canister out of the way enough to get in there. I was amazed that I had to slit it over an inch before it finally relenquished its grip. I was pulling the other end with pliers and really reefing. I replaced it with some 5/8" hose from napa that is designed for oil and chemicals. It was stiff, so I brought a pot of boiling water in the garage and soaked the end destined for the tank's nipple to make it flexy. As I pulled it out of the water, I gave it a quick dab of dish soap, then slammed it all the way home in one move. Nice. O crap. Forgot to put the hose clamp on. More fiddling. Then put the hose clamp on for the hard line end and that end got a dab of soap as well and went right on. Reinstall the rad reservoir and charcoal thing and you're done. Topped off with fresh G11 hydraulic mineral oil.

After that fiasco, I started installing the front structure, then the bumper. I cheated on the bumper and put some dabs of grease at the rear corners of the bumper where it has to snap together. The grease made that an easy fit vs dried plastic. Then the grille and its sensor, and I went to work on the Idle Stabilizer, and the Mass Air Flow assemblies. Ran fuel injection cleaner in and through them (take the sensor off the IS assembly), poured out several pours of brown oily crud till it cleared. On the MAF, I simply sprayed the screen with fuel injection cleaner (brake cleaner is too harsh). Then I cleaned the throttle body. You want to clean the edge of the throttle valves, and the place they meet when closed so there is a good and accurate air seal. After cleaning, a drop of oil for each end of the two valve shafts to ensure smooth operation. Now they are all drying on the bench for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I need to pick up some more brake cleaner spray to finish cleaning the gasket surfaces on the intake. Then that gets bolted on, followed by installation of the new 034 injector upgrade which I'm excited about. Then I need to put the above assemblies on successfully without breaking any of the air shrouds or that pleated rubber elbow I hear is hard to find.

Then, I pour in Pentosin coolant, T6 synthetic 5-40 oil, and the new oversized battery and see if she'll fire up!! Hope so. I want to take her on a test spin.

Regards,

DougM

 

So today started well and ended in disaster. Got the intake on, and successfully got the air cleaner assembly in without cracking that fragile boot. Then I happily grabbed the new injectors and billet adapters from O34 and started putting them together. What's this? The injectors won't fit into the adapters - the O ring seems too thick. I tried for an hour, then drove them to the Honda store where I know the techs. No dice - they couldn't get them. Then the Mercedes store where I also know them - same result. So, kinda frustrating.

O34 had impressive customer service. I was able to speak with the same guy each time and he was earnest and helpful, even making a video of himself installing the adapters onto the injectors.

I will see if the local Mr. Injector franchise has some slightly smaller O rings to fit onto the injectors.

In the middle of all this, the headlights that were expected to arrive tomorrow suddenly vanished into thin air. The vendor claimed they shipped them. UPS could not find the tracking number the vendor gave me Monday and said they have no evidence a package with that tracking number was ever picked up. Then a couple hours later the vendor sent me a nice impersonal email that the item was on back order. And apparently in 2013 this took 6 days to establish, yet they took my money, and when I called several days ago they told me it shipped. Yeesh - this has never happened to me before and I order a lot of stuff online.

So, with 90 minutes of work to fire up the Quattro this morning, I'm stymied on the injectors, and now at least a week from getting headlights even after I resolve that. And of course that means that my 30 days to register a vehicle will expire Friday and I'll get a penalty from the county for exceeding 30 days. The worst part is looking at that nicely cleaned and resealed engine sitting there waiting for the open road!

Hope you guys are having a better day! If anyone has input on my headlamp thread I would appreciate some guidance as the vendors seem as confused as I am when the headlamps on my 1990 were updated - 92? 93?

Thanks,
Doug

 

So, the Mr. Injector guy is 6'3" and he could not mate the 034 injectors and adapters, either. No way, he said. So, he put some slightly smaller O rings on and STILL had to fight to get them in. I'm happy, and hopefully will fire up the 20V tomorrow for the first time.

DougM