Dust Dodging

If, after my last post, you guessed that I was going to find something to do other than sanding old paint off of Zed, you were right. I just can't get myself fired up to do that. I think I'll just have to put in an hour here and an hour there or it will never get done. Seriously, I thought after the rain we got recently I would get all fired up, but... nope.

Passenger Side

It started with something so simple. I was sitting on my front porch, surveying the herd while sipping a beer as the evening turned to twilight. Like a beacon, the white trash-bag taped over the front passenger window of the A4 shined in the dwindling light. Yeah, that just had to get fixed.

So, off to the junk yard we go. I hadn't been to the yard for a while; long before the CoViD-19 thing hit. The scene is a little different now. Of course, lots of folks have masks on, and there's the safe-distancing stuff on the floor near the check-in / check-out counter. But, more than that, it seemed like the folks pulling parts were pulling parts for other people more than for themselves. I say that from partially overhead passing conversations. Regardless, there's something about the junk yard that I really enjoy. Sure, the conditions need to be right. The car you're looking for has the parts you want, and they aren't trash. Ideally, it isn't super cold or wet. When you hit those conditions, it is downright fun to pull parts. Today was that kind of day. I found a black 1996 Audi A4 Quattro that hadn't been picked over too much. Most important, it still had the front passenger window.

Removing and Installing A4 Window

window in

For all of the usual over-engineering that German cars suffer, the front window on the A4 isn't one of them. This is actually a very simple operation. The inner door card needs to be removed. It is held on by 2 small screws (one front, one rear) at the top. Usually, there are a pair of screws inside the door grab, hidden under a pop-out panel. Since the card in the donor and in Nemo had both been removed previously, these screws were gone. Once the screws are out, the door card lifts straight up, and then pulls away. The door holds the card with a cable connected to the inner door opener. This removes fairly easily. I did not have to touch this for the window R&R. Once the card is far enough out of the way for you to put hands on the window tracks inside the door, you're ready. Force the window slightly lower, like 3 or 4 inches. The bottom of the window needs to pass the inner structures enough for you to see where the window attaches to the tracks. Depending on the year, the window is held on with either Phillips bolts or Torx. One last item worth mentioning: shop-vac all of the broken glass out of the door and the floor. The floor part is obvious, but if you don't vacuum the door, it will have a cheap rattle of the glass bits every time you open and close it. Spend the 20 minutes and vacuum. You won't regret it.

The window removes and installs from the outside. When removing, lift the rear out first, with the front corner trailing. The install is the opposite, lead with the front corner and settle into the window lift-clamps equally. As you tighten the clamps down, pull/push down on the window to make sure it stays fully seated. Once installed, I decided to remove the after-market tint. I regret not doing it when it was out. I had to clean the window a lot after that, starting with peanut butter and then window cleaner but it looks like a normal window now.

While I was at the yard, I grabbed the front side lights, since Nemo has been missing his since T bought the car. I found a pair of fog lights from a slightly later model that I took, thinking I'd slap them into either Nemo or K'Lack later. Last, I pulled the front grille because the one on Nemo was painted flat black by a prior owner. Since leaving the yard, I have thought about going back for the hood since it is in such nice shape and the hood of Nemo has no sheen on it. Both the no-sheen and the black grille can be seen in the picture below.

Removing and Installing A4 Front Marker Lights

front marker in

Again, I was surprised at the lack of German car-maker hassles when it came to removing and installing the front side marker lights. First, open the hood. Above each of the 2 lights there is a small round hole in the front steel top that runs directly under the hood at the front. Slide a basic slotted screwdriver into that hole and find the small plastic tab jutting rearward from the light fixture. Press down on the tab and with your free hand, pull the light forward. It pulls out about an inch and then needs to slide a little bit to the outside, and then pulls the rest of the way forward and free. This makes replacing that bulb super easy. In my case, it was a very simple case of installing matching front side-markers. Once wired up (socket clicks in and is held with 2 small plastic tabs), the install is the reverse. No, really, it is. Set the housing into the hole, slightly to the outside, but oriented as it will look when it is in it's final position. The tab that you pressed down on above needs to find it's way around a vertical plastic bit. Then, the housing sets deeper, sliding towards the inside. Set the pins into the alignment holes and set it all the way back. It should "click" to let you know that the tab has reset.

Just like that, the A4 looks way better. There are other things Nemo needs, like finding the oil leak and fixing the trunk (latch broken). But, the easy stuff is done, and now it is complete. So, in theory, I can leave it alone and shift focus onto Zed. But I think you and I both know that just isn't going to happen. I just don't want to.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along.

If You Love... Set It Free

Weird post today, but it IS car-related. Before I begin, today is the birthday of my lovely wife of 7.75 years. Boo, you are amazing, an inspiration and the love of my life. So glad we found each other, and we can enjoy this life together, laughing through the good times and leaning into each other through the hard times.

If You Love Someone (or something)

So, In my last post, I mentioned how T is leaving Eugene for music school in LA (well, Burbank, actually). Similar to my barely-escaped-disaster departure from southern Nevada when I was his age, he had to sell his car for money for that new life. So, he had to sell Nemo. But, in another twist for how to make money for music school, he got hired by a forest fire fighting crew.... and got sent into the bush. So, how does someone sell a car when they are nowhere near it? Consider too, that he is effectively homeless, having vacated the house, and crashing on a friend's couch when he's not fighting fires. The answer? Your dad buys it from you. Yeah, I'm a big frickin' softy, and I bought that A4.

Set It Free

The decision to buy it was actually the easy part. Then, we had to figure out how to get it from Eugene back to the corral. I say corral, because now I have an absolute embarrassment of riches in terms of cars. I mean, this is ridiculous. It's a good thing I have a long and somewhat hidden driveway or my neighbors would be rightfully wondering WTF is going on over here. It was almost like Nemo didn't want to be set free. He did everything he could to stymie our efforts. First, he got his passenger window smashed in... twice, and had the stereo and T's new forest-fire fighting boots stolen. Then, he popped the charged air hose off the intercooler, stranding T. Last, he started leaking oil, leaving spots everywhere, but also forcing regular pull-overs on the drive from Eugene to Beaverton to top off the oil. After an Odyssey worthy of epic poetry, T arrived with Nemo, packed with stuff we'll be holding for him until fire season ends. Oh, did I mention that part? Yeah... my once-viable-as-a-shop garage is now full of not-my-stuff.

If They Come Back

At this point, the expectation is that fire season will end or the start of school will arrive and T will come back to Beaverton for his stuff. That won't include Nemo. As for Nemo, I will be fixing the smashed window, and fixing the oil leak. I may have to do other things, but eventually I'll be selling him... I think. I don't know. Now that he's in the driveway, Boo thinks he looks pretty darn good. With the upgraded suspension, turbo and intercooler, it is a super-fun sled. T did the timing belt and the clutch as well as the master/slave clutch hydraulics and replaced the sunroof while he had it. I did the head gasket, and a few random things over the years, so we have gone through a lot of the expensive stuff already. So.... maybe we will jettison a different member of the fleet.

He/She/It is Yours

Which brings us to what am I going to do with all of these cars. While I may not be at "Rust Valley" level, for a suburban cul-de-sac, I kind of am. For posterity, this is what is currently in the corral:

Hapy - 1972 VW camperbus (TDI transplant from '98 Beetle, Riviera top, '79 westy bits)

Oliver - 1978 MGB (Mikoni side-draft carb, stainless header-back exhaust, new interior)

Zed - 1979 Datsun 280ZX (still in pieces, still not ready for paint)

K'Lack - 2004 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (Boo daily-driver car)

Flash - 2001 VW Jetta TDI (my car, tho with CoViD it hasn't seen tarmac since June)

unnamed - 2006 Subaru (C's car)

Nemo - 1997 A4 1.8T Quattro (up-rated suspension, turbo, intercooler)

Yeah, that's 7 cars. All in one suburban driveway. Again, like my complaints about having that house in Eugene, this is just too far into first-world problem for most folks, and I apologize for any who are offended. I'm a little offended. Like smelling myself after a particularly good hot sweat. Yuck. So, what's the shower in this metaphor? I think it is selling off or long-term lending out cars that we don't use, starting with Flash. Then, finish the Zed and sell it. Last, make a decision on Nemo.

If They Don't,

Years ago, I set out to get a $1000 car for each of my boys when they were entering high school. I figured that they could learn about cars and we would have something to work on together. In many ways, that was true. Psychologists believe that one great way to connect with your kids is to do something with them. While their hands are busy with whatever that something is, you talk about stuff. Before you know it. you're maintaining a relationship through the awful puberty high school years and maybe they learned something about cars. In all of those ways, this worked. I was wrong in one significant way, though: I thought that by putting this time into a car, they would love it more, and want to keep it, drive it carefully, etc. Nope. Instead, I just put my $1000 in a 0 percent-interest account for a few years, so I could spend that same $1000 later, to buy the car from them to finish.

They Never Were

Ultimately, they learned that ...having an unreliable car is a major pain in the butt. ...not having a car at all is preferable to breaking down on the side of the road and then having your window smashed in because you didn't get it towed soon enough. ...having a car in pieces in the garage for years at a time is not really the same as actually having a car. ...choosing between food and car parts is not a choice they want to make. So, C saved all his money for a reliable car that will require no more than routine maintenance. And T? He sold me Nemo and has decided that he won't have a car in Burbank.

That's it for today. As to the house in Eugene, Boo and I have finished the work down there. Our road trip got cancelled, so I will be shifting focus back onto cars. It is hard to imagine the rainy season approaching when it is 37*C (100*F) and clear skies, but I know my time is limited. So, even though I could probably thin the herd faster by getting Flash and Nemo ready first, I will probably focus on Zed so he can possibly have paint before the cold wet arrives in mid-October.

Thanks, as always for following along. I guess the break wasn't as long as I thought it would be. That's what happens when your life-partner works harder than you do, and you both are 100% focused on the same goals. More when there's more-

So Starts the Long Break

I have not been working on cars for a few weeks, so today's post brings to light what has been distracting my time. This may be the last post for a while as I have absolutely run out of old material to post and the distractions are hardly post-worthy. We have a road trip late this summer, so I'll post on that when we get back. So, this break may be only a few weeks.

T Changes
If you remember a post from October of 2018 (See Let's See), Boo and I bought a house in Eugene. T moved in around Labor Day that summer, and lived there with different friends while they all did the university thing. Well, classes come and go, and before long people are graduating. Now, T is preparing to relocate to Los Angeles for music school. We are, of course, very excited for him ( and a little CoViD-fearful), but that leaves us with a now-vacant house in a college town where the school will be closed to in-person classes in the Fall. Or, at least we expect it to be.

Eugene
If you are not familiar with the city of Eugene Oregon, it is super-chill. The house is in the Friendly neighborhood, which isn't exactly close to University of Oregon, but it is a great neighborhood all the same. It's walk-able to food carts and shops, etc but unlike the greater Portland area, even the "busy" streets can be empty of cars for minutes at a time in the middle of the day. That's quiet.

House
So, this house was in amazing shape, albeit dated, when we bought it. Since I spent all of my savings on the down-payment, I had nothing left for any updating, but it was solid, so we left it be while the students lived there. When I say solid, this place is 50 years old and there is not a single squeak in the floors, the windows and doors all work easily, etc. Contrasted to the house we live in, which is half as old, there are all kinds of squeaks and the windows don't work all that great. Now, 2 years later, that delayed maintenance on the Eugene house is needed. The carpet, while top-end and nice when it was installed, looked to be from the early 70's; we concluded that it was the original carpet. The walls needed paint. The yard needed a clean up. Etc etc etc.

I re-allocated the vacation time that I had set up for now-cancelled music festivals to instead be used for a week in Eugene working on the house. Even after a week there, its not done. So, while I thought there would be a lengthy pause in interesting blog content because I would be sanding the Zed for weeks on end, instead there will be a healthy pause because I'm driving to and from Eugene on the weekends to get a house all tidied up.... to rent out, presumably. The challenge with that is in the current economic climate, and the low housing demand due to the closed university, I don't know if I can even find a renter after I put all this work into it. I realize that of all the problems in the world, this is so far into the first-world-problem definition, some folks might be offended by my concerns about a second home when they are having trouble simply paying rent and staying fed. I am not insensitive to that, honest. I'm just writing about where I'm at, and why there won't be regular updates while I finish this house, and then get back to Zed's paint prep.

Car Content
For today's obligatory car content, C has acquired a car for himself. He and I came to an agreement ($1000US) on the Zed, so it is now mine to complete. With those funds plus his own considerable savings, he bought a 2006 Subaru. It is not a turbo, but it has pep and a stereo that seriously cranks. Now, he has a nicer car than Boo either or me, and it is 100% paid for. Nice job, C. It looks as though he will be moving into his own place at the end of the summer, so more moving kids, more parental helping kids move.

So, I guess that's it. I'll be completing that house stuff this month, taking a road trip later and then shifting back to the Zed after Labor Day. I would love for the Zed to be on the other side of paint before the weather turns in mid-October. I expect I will be trying to finish it as the rains return, however. As always, thanks for following along, and if you know someone groovy who is looking for a place in Eugene, I'd love to meet him/her/them.