Car-go-round

As we hit Summer, I find my attention going in 100 directions at once. When you have many cars, each with small problems, and a house in mid-rehab, that scatter is probably that much worse. With the rehab work going on, I will have limited time to work on cars, but Boo has asked me to think about setting aside one day a week to it since I take such pleasure from it, and life can't always be about to-do lists, home construction and your job. So, today's post tries to bring some order to the car-chaos, with a hope that I will have some time to clown on one or more of these open items this summer.

Oliver

Oliver is the 1978 MGB. Some may look at Oliver like he was my mid-life crisis car. In truth, he was a car that could fit in the super-small garage I had and needed work. He was something I could work on that wasn't Hapy, the 1972 VW bus, and I could be out of the rain when I did it. Oliver definitely met that goal and I really needed something other than Hapy to wrench on for a while. The goal Oliver has not yet met is passing DEQ. So, he is not legally drive-able. Oliver's list of incomplete items is fairly short, though. I believe, he could pass DEQ today if the carb is adjusted right. He just needs another run through DEQ to see how close I am. He got a new battery for the move to the NewOldHouse, and since then he has sat under one of those 5L car covers with the battery disconnected.

Beyond DEQ, the heated seat circuit did not get completed, and there remains a leak under the windscreen on the passenger side. Perhaps most importantly the brakes are still spongey and I think it is because the brake master cylinder was not bled prior to install. I asked the guys at Les Schwab to do it when I bought a set of tires from them. They sold me the tires, failed to bleed the brakes, and that's why I now buy tires at Firestone. Anyway, I bought a brake bleeder kit, (and will document my process) and hope to get him to DEQ before this top-down season has really started.

Zed

Ah Zed, the 1978 Datsun 280ZX. After a spring and summer of bodywork, Zed still needs a lot. I won't rerun that history, but there was a lot of sanding and shaping. Then, I had that heroic drive from oldHouse to NewOldHouse, sitting on a toolbox for a front seat (See Zed Moves). Once parked, he got a 10x20 to sit under while we worked on the house. Well, the weather had other plans, lifting and tossing the canopy multiple times, putting multiple rubs and deep scratches into the paint (See Hello Windstorm, My Old Friend). So, Zed will need another round of sanding and painting. Now that I have seen the Eastwood 9mm in the sun, I am not as enamored with it. I see a slight olive green in that dark grey and the pitted finish is not to my liking at all. So, I will probably sand down below the paint to some degree, re-shoot the black primer and shoot a different color. Of course, the body kit is installed and it's not coming off. So, I will need to get creative to get good coverage down low. Now parked next to Oliver with a matching 5L car cover, they are twins. I do not expect to do much of anything on Zed this Summer.

 

Hapy

In the Phil and Friends post (See Phil and Phrends Road Report), I mentioned a few things that needed attention before the next drive in Hapy, the 1972 VW camperbus. The most glaring was the loss of the brake booster. I removed the hose from the booster and tested the vacuum on the booster unit. I applied 15 pounds of vacuum and over the course of a few minutes, it decayed a couple of pounds. To me, that is satisfactory. Then, I tested the vacuum on the hose I had just removed. It held no vacuum. So, I acquired and installed Gates vacuum hose. One quick test drive later, the brakes are good. I installed the cage for the stereo so it is well locked into the glove box install location. I also affixed a mount for the UltraGauge on the steering wheel support so the UltraGauge is directly below the speedometer now. I do not expect Hapy will have meaningful work done to him for the rest of the Summer. Instead, he will be set up for DrivewayFest between trips so we can enjoy our clubhouse-on-wheels. Hapy has been used a few times since we moved as my daily-driver when Boo needs to take Toyotruck somewhere. Every time, since we moved to the NewOldHouse, he has started right up. I mentioned the saga about towing him here. The starter swap-out was easy and the right fix (See Hapy Lives Again).

Nemo

Nemo (1997 Audi A4 Quattro) has left the fleet, enjoying a new lease on life in Idaho. See Fare Well, Nemo.

GoRo

GoRo (2009 Audi A4 Quattro) had a series of issues appear over last winter. First, the outer driver handle stopped working. So, to get in, you needed to reach through either from the passenger side or from the rear seat to get the door open. What a pain. Then, the battery started to misbehave, not holding charge. While looking for the charger studs, the hood latch broke. So, GoRo sat for most of the winter, until Boo got the hood latch repaired (she hired our friend Courtney at MobilePDX). Even Courtney doesn't want to touch the outer door latch, so we're not sure what we are going to do about that. I need to get the battery replaced, and then maybe I'll take it on. Either way, we are going to sell GoRo. We figure it hasn't been driven since last December, and we have been just fine without it.

ToyoTruck

Recall that Boo and I bought ToyoTruck (2005 Toyota pickup) from her sister. We had agreed to the price before the ice-storm sent the truck into a pole, damaging the passenger front corner. I replaced a bunch of things, but did not shoot the paint. The top of the truck has suffered sun, wind or seaside damage to the paint as well, so when I paint the replaced bodyparts, the top half of the truck (at least) needs paint as well. This truck has minor dents on a few panels as well, so before I shoot anything, I'll work those dents out first. ToyoTruck is our true daily-driver. I hope, once GoRo is gone, and Oliver is legal, perhaps we will drive Oliver and Hapy around, leaving the truck home more.

When I can get away from house construction projects, I will be getting after this stuff, starting with Oliver. He is such a fun ride, and it would be a shame to lose another Summer to something like DEQ. I know I have not been posting much, basically since we bought this house. That day, car work mostly came to a halt, and house construction is much slower and frankly less interesting to post on. I will make me next post a catch-up on what's happened here since my April post.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Fare Well, Nemo

Brief post today.

Nemo Departs

This past Spring/Summer, I thought I had sold Nemo (1997 Audi A4 Quattro) to our friend Garry. After repairing the driver rear bearing and replacing the axle with it, the power steering blew a hose and he lost interest. So, it came back. Truth be told, Nemo never left the driveway; Garry did the repair here. I figured I would do what was needed to get Nemo through smog and then figure out what to do. So, I repaired his exhaust, replaced the catalytic converter, downpipe and O2 sensor. I was ready to take him to Oregon DEQ when  the NewOldHouse purchase happened and so Nemo just kind of sat. Fast forward a few weeks and I get a text from Garry, now living in Idaho. His friend expressed interest. So, I shot some pictures and video with my phone and sent them on. 2 days later, he is here, with a friend, a truck and a tow-dolly. They crawled around on Nemo for a while, took him for a drive.... paid me cash and drove away with him. Just like that, the herd is thinned my one.

Mom Moves

With my Dad's rather sudden decline and then final departure early this month, my Mom lost the person who had eyes on her 24/7. Her health has been an issue for some time, so having her living alone in a somewhat basic assisted-living facility was no longer safe for her or the facility. So, she is moving to a stepped-care facility 4 blocks from here. That move is today (29-Nov). Since her space is significantly reducing, we will move her and her most treasured belongings to the new place. Everything else is moving here, so it can be gone through with heat and beverages and comfortable seating.

NewOldHouse Update

Since my CoViD battle ended, I have returned in earnest to the restoration of the NewOldHouse. When the flooring guys were here last Summer, they removed all of the 1/4-round. As they removed it, they clumped it by room and taped the clumps together. Unfortunately, some of that careful work was undone, and some of the 1/4-round went to the dump. What remains is semi-documented. I have been puzzling-out which pieces go where, re-marking them and then shooting them with BIN primer. Once dry, I set the pieces where they will be re-attached to the baseboard. Prior to priming, they get the nails removed and then a good cleaning. I have a small pile of un-matched pieces and a larger pile of not-yet-attempted pieces. I will be continuing this game next weekend.

Other than playing with 1/4-round, I resolved the canopy catastrophe, consolidating 2 damaged canopies into one viable one. You can see things are back to "normal" in the picture on the right, with the "Jerry" canopy restored. If you look closely, you can see stacks of 1/4-round under the canopy on the left (Phil). I have also cleaned, rust-converted and painted the heat vents. We decided that the original vents could be salvaged, and if they were painted a color that roughly matched the floor, they would sort of disappear into the wood floor. For the most part, this turned out to be correct, though I don't have a good picture to share.

The bathroom progress was temporarily halted by the discovery of the sub-floor damage. Boo crawled back under the house to see how extensive it was.. and it is really quite contained. There are 3 1x4 (sub-floor) boards that rest between the top of the beams and the wood floor which need to be replaced. But even then, the section that needs replacing is only between 2 beams, and the beams themselves are in great condition, showing no damage from the leak.

As part of the preparation for a bunch of mom's stuff appearing here, I tore down the living room stereo equipment and moved it out of the way. While this isn't terribly interesting stuff, it does further prove that life is either Tetris or Monopoly, and today it's Tetris.

With each passing day spent at NewOldHouse, it feels more and more ready for occupancy. Sure, we don't have a functioning bathroom yet, nor will we have a functioning kitchen for some time. Still, we believe that we will be moving into NewOldHouse by the end of January. I guess that's it for today. I know there isn't much car content these days; that is also true of my life, and I feel it. The sooner the house is ready, the sooner I will be back wrenching on Hapy. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Nemo Time

Remember Nemo? He's the 1997 Audi A4 (B5 body style) that T bought and wrestled with for a few years, replacing the clutch and brake master cylinders as well as the clutch slave cylinder and repairing so many other things. I also did a TON on this car (just what I posted on), so the fact that he needed more was a little, well... frustrating. When T moved to LA, he signed Nemo over to me, and then we thought we had sold it within the family, after replacing the driver-side rear axle and wheel bearing. Only to have the power steering fail... ending that transfer. So, Nemo has sat in my driveway. He has many little issues: a water leak into the driver's footwell, a broken front passenger window regulator, a big hole in the exhaust, a sunroof that won't open, some other little missing bits, and, of course, the failed power steering. Today's post covers my efforts to resolve enough of these items so he can be registered and driven again.

Before I begin, the sanding on Zed continues. I will post an update next week, hopefully, with some meaningful progress. In the meantime, I have slowly crawled along with Nemo over the last few weeks, so I thought an update was in order.

Water Leak

Schmidty sniffing the ECU box

I believe I solved the water leak when I discovered that the plastic box that holds the ECU was not entirely attached. There is an obvious nut on the outside, near the driver fender. There is a second nut inside the box closer to the engine, back near the fire wall. Underneath the ECU, is a large (like 1 inch by 3 inch) rectangle opening into the footwell. This hole has a gasket, but if the box is not held down firmly enough to engage the gasket, water which finds its way under the box (which is a for-sure here in rainy PacNW) will run straight into the driver footwell. In Nemo's case, the inner nut was simply not there. I found one, and snugged it down. Problem solved. I hope.

Accessing the Exhaust

big old rusty dirty cat

The big hole in the exhaust has been a major pain to solve. The aftermarket cat-back exhaust installed by a prior owner did not have any support between the end of the header and the rear axle. It did, however, have a section of flex-pipe immediately after the header, creating the car's lowest point. So, when the car drove over speed bumps or dramatic driveway transitions, it was the flex-pipe which hit the ground. Eventually, that flex-pipe failed. With the failure came a Check-Engine-Light (CEL) preventing a DEQ pass. To resolve, I removed the catalytic converter, downpipe and mid-pipe so I could replace the failed flex-pipe. This removal is challenged by the usual issues with exhaust hardware, but the Audi has additional things, like heat shields, in the way. So, the air box needs to come out, and the passenger front wheel comes off so you can access everything. Even then, Audi engineers seem to like to use different fastener types and sizes pretty much everywhere. Of course, the owner plays a role here too.

Cat Away

cat out

After trying a wide array of tools, I ultimately needed a hacksaw blade to cut through the rusted bolts between the catalytic converter and the down pipe. The PO had used regular steel fasteners to attach them, and even after multiple days of spraying Kroil on them, they were rusted tight. I cut the bolts, sending the hacksaw blade between the opposing flanges, at least far enough for the bolts to snap in half when I applied torque to one end with a socket-wrench. This took some time and patience, and because of how the bolts are oriented in the engine compartment, I was only able to sever 2 of them. This loosened the connection enough for the downpipe to rotate on that last bolt, allowing me to pull the 2 out the top of the engine as a unit. I cut the other bolt off, separating the 2 pieces, on the driveway. Holding the downpipe still with my boot, I cut the lip of the flex-pipe from it using my angle grinder.

Before I started, I ordered a brand-new catalytic converter, thinking that the one that was on there was 10+ years old, and of unknown working condition. After spending many hours cutting through rusty bolts with a hand-held hacksaw blade, I do NOT want to do this R&R again even if the fasteners are new. So, I'm grateful I made that purchase decision. After I got the cat on the ground I could see the Audi symbol on it, so either it was replaced at a dealer a long time ago or it was the original. Either way, at almost 300k miles, it is unlikely that catalytic converter was still doing its job well. Well enough to pass Oregon DEQ? We'll never know. Besides, the old bolts are rust-attached to that old thing, so re-install would have been considerably challenged.

new cheap hanger

On the other end of the hole in the exhaust, I removed the mid-pipe (2 bolts), cut off the remains of the flex-pipe with the death wheel and re-installed the mid-pipe. I added a support immediately behind where the flex-pipe-to-mid-pipe joint will appear so it is held up and away from the ground better. For the support, I got one of those cheap bolt-on hangers, attaching to the rear of the transmission through an unused bolt hole in the rear of the case.

Cat In

Moving back up front, I installed the new cat first, re-introducing the original O2 sensors as I went. To the cat, I added the down pipe and then finally connected the down pipe and mid-pipe with the flex pipe, fitting things together with clamps and exhaust dope. 

I got Nemo back on the ground to take him for a test spin around the usual neighborhood track. Before backing him off the ramps, I checked the exhaust for leaks, and it looked good, with a little puff of smoke coming out the tailpipe. The exhaust sounded much better, and it doesn't leak. So, around the block we went. It still hangs low, but it is fairly well tucked up under the body compared to before. The rear end ride height is so low, there is a near-constant threat of bottoming out. I will need to resolve that soon. He drove great; plenty of pull from the turbo, and the exhaust was much quieter than he had been on the last test drive. Clearly, the noise and smoke is going out the tail now. I thought I might have heard the rear passenger wheel bearing, though, so there may still be more adventure coming. And, yes, you can drive a car with failed power steering; you just need forearms like Popeye if you need to turn the wheels when the car is not in motion.... like to maneuver it out of a shop bay into the driveway through a 9 point turn. 

Oh Two

Oh Nemo.... O2

Unfortunately, the CEL is still on, with a code (P0134) indicating that the upstream (before cat) O2 sensor is bad. When I considered the smoke puff out the tailpipe when it was sitting on ramps, this makes sense: if the computer doesn't know the air-fuel mixture sent from the O2 sensor, it sends a richer fuel mixture to protect the engine from being too lean, which is why a failing O2 sensor is a DEQ auto-fail. So, I ordered a replacement upstream O2 sensor and now I'm waiting on shipping before I take another test. Since the error code did not include a code for the downstream O2 sensor, one might think that the old catalytic converter was still working. As I pondered this, I picked it up from one end, and I could hear dust settling through it. So, even if it wasn't toast, it was soon to be. When the new O2 sensor arrives, I'll slap it in, clear the code and go for a spin. If the CEL doesn't return, we may take him through DEQ before the next update. 

That's it for today. Like I mentioned at the top, the sanding on Zed continues. After sanding him smooth with the 320-grit, I did not like some of the orange-peel effect I found underneath, so I sanded the primer end-to-end with 320-grit again. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Nemo Re-Assembled

I think this will be a quick post. In my last, rather lengthy, post about Nemo, I described the effort to get him running again. Today, I cover the electrical mop-up and the other little bits to get Nemo ready for regular use... by someone. While this is barely post-worthy, the wiring fix did take me a few hours, so in a way this is just documenting how I spent a Saturday. Besides, the weather has turned too cold to spray primer or paint, so Zed sits waiting.

Car-Toys Vent

I will start with a predictable slam on the hacks at Car Toys. Recall that when they replaced Nemo's stereo, they were directly asked/told not to cut up the wiring, rather to use a pigtail. With a generic response of along the lines of "we'll do it right" wink/finger-point, they did exactly what no one wants a radio installer to do: cut wires off of a harness plug and then direct-wire a new stereo into those bare wires. So, I give them a "that's not right" glower/different-finger-gesture. All-told, they cut the 8 speaker wires, switched and steady power, ground, power antennae and illumination. The part I don't understand is why they do not have a cache of pigtails for common cars. All VW's and Audi's from, like, the mid-80's thru modern cars use the same 2 8-pin female plugs... one 8-pin plug for the speakers and one 8-pin plug for the power, illumination, etc. The corresponding male pigtails run for, like $10US on eBay, and since they plug right in, the install is faster, while also cleaner: at a workbench, the custom pigtail for the new stereo can be wired into the Audi/VW standard male pigtails. Then, you take the stereo head-unit and the cable to the car, plug in each end and you're done. Cleaner, easier, faster. Instead, Car Toys does it lazier, longer, stupider and uglier... and much harder to undo.

Stereo Wiring Un-Hack

With the center console fully opened up, I had great access to the great wire hack. I started with the speaker wires, mostly because bits of the CarToys wire-extensions (1 each purple, grey and green) were still attached to a few wires post-theft, so I could tell what they used to be used for. Once those 8 wires were sorted, the remaining wires were much easier to isolate. The only difficult pair were the switched and steady power sources, because both were plain red wires. A simple voltage test (one had 12V and one didn't while at rest) resolved that. Yes, there was a hot wire bouncing around back there. Once the pigtails were wired up, I zip tied the wires into a cable on either side of the wire butt-joints so any gentle pulling would not cause a wire joint to separate.

Climate Control and Console Re-Assembly

With the loose wires sorted, the center console already looked 100% better. I continued the re-assembly by plugging in the climate control unit. While this has 4 plugs, they are each slightly different sizes so they can only go in one way. Once plugged in, I slid the unit into place and threaded in the Torx bolts to hold it in. Then, the console cover can snap into place. 2 8mm Allen head screws later, the center console is together again. I take satisfaction in seeing the stereo plug through the hole where a stereo should be. I may pick up a cheapy clearance stereo from Crutchfield to completely close the loop... and that hole.

Kick Panel and Re-Lo

All that remained was putting the lower dash panel back on. This panel is held in place by 3 screws: one at the bottom of the fuse box frame and 2 in front of each of the driver's knees. The fuse box frame screw is easy to get to and easy to manage. The 2 in front of the driver's knees, however, require some gravity-defying. I do not know what kind of fastener was originally used; Nemo has slotted bolts. These bolts need to be balanced on the end of the driver and then tilted over about 30* to find the hole in the panel, and then the matching hole in the dash. While this is not hard, it can be frustrating. Once bolted tight, the holes are covered with small plastic bits that snap into place.

Just like that, an interior that looked like it was at a junk yard is re-assembled and looking sharp again. I juggled cars at this point, moving Nemo into a more remote spot, out from under the carport. As before, he started right up like he hadn't been un-start-able for weeks. The juggle created the space needed to get Oliver out for some Summer driving. I did discover, however, that Nemo's front passenger window I replaced also had the front window tracking mechanism damaged when the window was smashed in. So, the window does not go up and down anymore. I will need to hit the junk yard again, to source a replacement window track thing. Neat. I do like going to the junk yard, though, so maybe I'll find some other stuff we need while I'm there. In the meantime, Nemo's air conditioning blows nice and cold, so a stuck window doesn't mean discomfort.

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

More A4

Today's post gets us that much closer to being done with T's old A4, Nemo. I still have to replace a button and mess with the hood, but after today's post, I am very close.

Before I begin, a couple quick personal notes. First, T is fighting forest fires around Oregon this Summer. If you are not tracking the fires in the news, this is one of the worst fire seasons on record. So, having a son out in it, makes this all the more scary. It makes working on his old car quite surreal, of course, with the air quality this past week, I haven't been working on anything. Second, yesterday was the 1-year anniversary of our dear brother Travis' motorcycle accident. In an odd twist, we just long-term loaned Flash to his niece. We really miss you, Travis. One year later, we think of you every day.

We are living through some strange days, between police behavior, the protests, the violence, the CoViD, the anti-maskers, the widespread fires, recurring power outages and brown-outs, and the lead up to the election, I greatly look forward to some semblance of stability sometime soon. 2020 has been emotionally exhausting; 2021 can't arrive soon enough.

A/C
If you live somewhere hot, having Air Conditioning (A/C) is pretty important. Here in the western side of Oregon, A/C is nice to have, but not as critical for the hot weather. The system's ability to remove moisture from the cabin is much more important. I have lamented this before, but our temperature likes to float around the dew point. This leaves moisture hanging in the air and residing on surfaces. This includes the inside of your car's windows. This moisture is quickly removed by flipping on your air conditioning as your car warms up in the morning. For this reason, I felt it was very important to get the A/C working. All I needed to do was charge it.

The instructions on the A/C charge bottle are fairly accurate. First, get your engine running with the A/C system on full. This is to get the system pressurized. In my case, the air blowing out the vents was quite warm. Under the hood, locate the 2 A/C lines. The thicker one is the lower pressure line, and that's the one you want to work with. Thread off the protective cap, and connect hose from the recharge bottle to the nipple. The gauge should show you current pressure in the system. On the A4, it was negligible. Disconnect the hose from the nipple and shake the bottle. Adjust the target pressure based on ambient temperature by rotating the cover on the gauge. The ambient temperature is on the bottom and the target window is between 2 lines on the pressure-read side of the gauge. Then, re-connect the hose to the nipple, and while shifting the bottle from an upside-down orientation to horizontal, pull the trigger to dispense A/C charge into the system. I counted slowly to ten while holding the trigger and then releasing so I could see how the pressure responded. It took 3 pulls like that to get the pressure into the target pressure zone.

With the engine still running and the A/C still on full blast, check whether the temperature coming out of the vents is any better. In our case, the air was nice and cool. Solved!

Trunk

lid where latch goes

The trunk lid on the A4 used to work. The button on the trunk lid used to open it, and the button on the dash used to work as well. At some point, they stopped. Then, the trunk wouldn't stay closed for a while. T would hit a bump and the trunk would flap open and shut. Most recently, the trunk wouldn't open at all. It was effectively locked shut. Loading your trunk through the rear seats is not really viable. T had purchased a replacement lid from a junk yard, but it was gold, rather than high-gloss black.

We start our efforts by removing the carpeted inner skin of the trunk by crawling into the trunk from the passenger compartment and removing the 10 +/- Phillips head screws holding the skin to the lid. There are 2 hiding in the pull handle. Once all are removed, the panel will flop down, exposing the latch. Using a screwdriver to save my fingers, I pushed against the latch workings to get the lid to pop.

old on top

Once open, we can see what's what. It appears that there are 2 styles of latch mechanism on these trunks. The one on Nemo lacks a key-lock. The latch on the donor has one. The part that actually latches, however, is pretty much the same. And, that is the part that was not operating correctly on Nemo. The button under the dash didn't work regardless, and the button on the trunk still doesn't work, but it was the latch that was the real problem. The latch is held to the lid with 2 13mm nuts, and is activated by a lever which moves the mechanism from right to left to unlatch. In the upper picture on the right, here, you can see it's rusty end protruding from the left in the little hole. I discovered that the actual mechanisms are slightly different beyond the key / no-key difference. The point at which the lever attaches to the mechanism is not in the exact same place, so I had to re-locate the activation motor about 15mm to the left in order for the latch, when at rest, to remain closed, and open when activated.

Since the activation motor had been mounted with bolts threaded through mounting holes in the trunk, I felt uncomfortable just boring holes. Instead, I set the bolts aside and used cable-ties to set the activator in the right spot. I threaded on the replacement latch mechanism, connected the lever and set the motor. Once the cable-ties were taut, I confirmed the activation of the latch by jumping across the wires that connect to the broken-and-removed trunk switch on the dash. Several tests were followed by multiple trunk closing/opening trials before I was convinced that I had it right. I decided to leave the cable ties in-place because the right-hand bolt hole for the activation motor was over a natural hole/gap in the trunk so I couldn't effectively mount it with the old fasteners. The right edge of the hole is visible on the left edge of  that upper picture. The cable-ties should hold for a good long time as-is, even if it does feel a little janky. With the inner skin back in place, you can't see the new latch or the janky-installed activation motor, so it's all good. And, it works. I just need to replace the button on the dash. I'd like to get the button on the trunk lid to work, but there is some mystery wiring in there, and getting to that button is fairly difficult. It is possible that it is shut-out because of some lock somewhere that I haven't been able to find. German engineering strikes again.

Hood

trunk card

The hood on Nemo is the last big visual issue I wanted to improve. This is T's second A4, so I can't remember if we replaced this hood or if it was on his old one. Regardless, this hood was painted with what looks like black primer. There was no sheen. None. The rest of the car is a high-gloss black color, so the hood didn't look that great. Additionally, the front grill was also painted flat black, but over the course of many miles of driving, some of the paint had chipped, both on the grill and on the nose of he hood. It looked bad. So, off to the parts store I go to get some paint. The card in the trunk says the paint code is LY9B. The duplicolor paint-match sheet didn't have a reference to that paint code, so I got the one they DID have for black.

The hood removed very easily. The hood stand is held on with a little C-clip, and then the little post slides out. I set my tool box on the engine intake to hold the hood up, and then removed the front 2 bolts from the hinge (13mm). I loosened the rear ones before carefully removing them all the way with my fingers so I could keep control of the hood when the last bolt gave. It surprisingly didn't shift around. I moved it to a pair of sawhorses on the lawn, and proceeded to sand it with 250-grit sandpaper. I got all of the weird anomalies off, and then washed it to get all of the dust off. I felt ready to paint.

I blew 2 cans onto that hood, but the color just didn't get as dark, nor as shiny as I expected. Audi offered 2 colors of black, and the one I needed was a super-deep super-shiny black. The one I got, however, was more of a dark charcoal and sort of satin finished. I will need to paint it again, with a different, blacker, paint. Before I repaint it, I will play around with 1000 grit sandpaper and maybe a buffer to see if I can get this paint to look decent. I figure this is an opportunity to practice buffing new paint, so I will take the opportunity before painting over it. Who knows? Maybe I can get the it looking good enough that I don't re-paint it... but I doubt it. Currently, it looks like a carbon-fiber hood, which might work for some, but not most, drivers.

I think that's it for today. If the sanding buffing experiment becomes a thing, I'll post on it. Otherwise, I will probably be reverting to the Zed (1979 280ZX) after I have Nemo's hood installed. As we move deeper into September, I am feeling the pressure to get the body-filler spread and sanded. Wet season is coming! Thanks, as always, for following along.

Nemo Rides Again

Returning to the Nemo work, today we button everything back up and test things. In the first of these 3 posts (See Sadist Engineering), we diagnosed and removed the head. In the second (See Nemo Head Install), we took the head to a shop, had it tested and decked and then installed it back onto the engine. So, we start with the head and engine back together again, and torqued down.

Intake and Turbo

With the head on, next came connecting the turbo: slip a new gasket between, then slide the other 2 bolts through. I held the turbo from below and got those 2 bolts to thread in by hand. Once I was able to get them tightening down with a spanner, I could get the bolt closest to the head through to the turbo and finger-thread in. Tighten to spec. The intake was a bear to remove, but it was actually kind of easy to install (with a new gasket). I did not need to replace that one bolt, either. In fact, upon inspection, I couldn't easily distinguish it from the others. I was able to get them all snugged down tight. Torque spec was lower than I expected (like 20 pounds or something), so these were on too tight when I removed them.

Timing Belt
The last big/hard piece was the timing belt. Luke had really cleaned the head, so there weren't any paint-markings on the gear on the cam sprocket when I got it back. So, getting the belt in the exact same spot threatened to not be the simple case I had expected. I did know, though, that the engine hadn't moved and the head was at TDC, so I just needed to get the belt perfect-tight on the left side (front-is-front) and make sure I did not shift the engine timing when the belt was tightened. It turned out that I was smarter than I thought, and had put the head cam mark on the belt where the timing dimple appears on the gear. So, the alignment was actually a snap. That's one to grow on: mark the belt based on the timing mark and the shop can't erase them on you. I was able to re-use the belt tensioner (belt was replaced less than 20K ago) by slowly re-compressing it in a vice and sliding a paperclip into the hole to hold it compressed during install. Put on the tensioner roller, put on the tensioner verify everything is right and pull the pin. There are much better instructions with the belt kit than I could provide in this space. Regardless, once the belt is on, it is recommended to rotate the engine one full rotation by the crank and then verify that the timing marks are still spot-on. I apologize for not taking any pictures along the way, here. I got going and kinda forgot to.

Accessory Belts
After the timing belt is on, the lower timing belt cover is added and then the lower crank pulley. At this point, I put on the accessory belts, and the belt tensioner for the longer serpentine belt.

Hoses
With the timing belt and corresponding covers on, the hoses were next. Since I did not swap any hoses, and I removed as few ends as I possibly could, the hoses flopped back to where they were, and it was rather simple to plug hoses onto nipples. Getting the evil outlet flange on, though, was it's typical challenge. I used 10mm bolts instead of the Allen-keyed bolts and found them much easier to start and torque. I consider this an upgrade. Before I switched from cooling stuff, I mounted the overflow bottle.

Vacuum
Once everything else was in place, the vacuum lines just flopped into place. I didn't expect that, but I had only disconnected a few of them. I needed to find one that simply disappeared: the line from the intake manifold to the fuel pressure release. This is only about 4 inches long, and I had thought that maybe it wasn't on there when I started tearing things down. Turned out, I simply dropped it and found it on the tarmac after we moved the car. By then, I had put on a fresh hose.

Electrical
Re-installing the spark plugs was next for me. I could have done this earlier, but I got to it now, when I needed something that didn't require me to be bent over because my back was starting to flare up. So, I gap'd the plugs (.028) and installed them. Then, I plugged in the coil packs, bolted down the related grounds and verified everything I could reach was plugged in. I noted a few that could only be solved once the front end was re-attached, but that was becoming a very short list.

Front End Assembly

test ready

And just like that, I was ready to put the front cowl / radiator support back on. This would have been much easier with a helper, but I started with the passenger side, getting one of the upper bolts by the fender loosely threaded in. Then, I repeated the driver side. Now, I could arrange the large steel bar which runs behind / below the radiator and the lower mounting points of the cowl. Held in place with my knee, I set first the passenger side, then the driver side bumper supports with a single bolt. Bouncing from one side to the other, I threaded in the other bolts, and then tightened them down.

With the front end mounted, I could complete the hose connections to the radiator and confirm the route of the charged air. I swung the A/C condenser around and mounted it to the radiator and then added the large front inter-cooler. I plumbed the large pipes for the inter-cooler, and then checked for missing connections and not-plugged-in things. I plugged in the horns. I mounted the headlights and plugged them in. I found and plugged in a small green plug below the radiator and the sensor just above the lower radiator outlet. Or is it an inlet?

Test
I had run out of time and daylight to do anything else, but I knew the next step was to fill the system with water and test fire it. I wanted full daylight for that, and a night to sleep on it so I could come back and inspect with fresh eyes. The next morning, it passed visual tests and T dropped by for the test start. I filled the system with plain water.. yes, I know that's not a good thing to do long-term. This was simply to see if it started. I figured if it didn't I would be draining the system to fix it and didn't want to waste good coolant for that. We hooked up the battery and turned the key. Vroom-vroom.

We let the car sit and idle while the temperature came up. There were no drips so I ran my gloved fingers around the various coolant components. The gloves came back without moisture, so we took it for a spin. We drove for 15 or 20 minutes and watched the engine temperature rise and fall as we pushed it and let off. When we returned, we backed Nemo back into the service parking spot and let it idle again. No drips, no coolant loss. And, the temperature sat still.

Road Ready
We turned off the engine and did our little happy dance. The next day, I drained the coolant system and filled it 50/50 with G40 coolant and water. Once the system was burped of air bubbles, it was ready for T to take back home.

So, that's pretty much it for Nemo. I replaced a couple of fuses for the tail-lights, and the registration has expired, but otherwise, the car is ready. T collected the car, drove home to Eugene without incident and has driven it on errands and fun-runs multiple times since. We'll call that a win. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Nemo Head Install

Recall my prior post about Nemo, T's 1997 Audi A4 (See Sadist Engineering), I had exhausted all alternatives and had taken the plunge to remove the head to replace the head gasket. Today's post covers the re-install.

Head Shop

No, not that kind of shop, though I am in Oregon.... This head shop does work on the heads and block of your car. I looked around and found a small one-man operation 15 blocks from my house: Wilson Cylinder Heads and Machine. I figured that if he did good work (like according to the reviews), it would be really great to have a machinist so close. Keeping the money in the neighborhood is very important to me too, as you've probably noticed. Anyway, I dropped off the head and we talked a little bit about it. Since the car had not been misfiring nor throwing codes, he was not angling towards a rebuild. We turned it over and he could see that the center 2 cylinders had suffered coolant leaks, and figured that was caused by a head gasket failure. Remembering that the head bolts were none-too-tight, I was starting to think that the head was redone at some point by the PO and it was not torqued down properly. Recall, the PO did upgrade the suspension and the turbo, so maybe the head was redone at the same time? Anyway, Luke (the owner-machinist) went through the head, looking at the cam shafts and valves etc while he did the pressure tests and tests for cracks and other failures. The head came back clean. So, with a complete gasket kit in hand, but only a small subset really needed, I picked up the head and set to re-installing it.

Exhaust to Head

After the troubled removal, I decided that I would install the exhaust manifold (with a new gasket from that kit) to the head before putting the head into the car. While the head was at the shop, I scrubbed the manifold with sandpaper, freeing it of rust and then shot it with flat black header paint. It looks much better now. Before mating the manifold to the head, I put the turbo bolt which sits closest to the head through the manifold. It won't go through after it is attached. I installed all of the fasteners (random so they may be) and torqued them to spec. Once attached, the head is heavier, which is saying something because a fully loaded head is already pretty heavy already. I verified that the head was still in TDC position by setting the valve cover on, and checking the dimple on the gear aligned with the dimple on the cover.

Prep Engine
None of the online advice I have seen specifies the use of any liquid sealant for the replacement of a head gasket. It appears that this was popular in the past, but gaskets have gotten much better and tolerances have gotten much tighter, so if you are doing this and think you need a sealant applied to one side or the other (or both), double-check with the manufacturer of the gasket. It didn't look like the old gasket had any goop on it (not that you could really 100% tell), and the head and block surfaces were totally clean when separated, so I concluded that no sealant was used before. So, I also did not use any.


I did, however, need to clean the block mating surface. Using a razor-blade, I scraped off every tiny anomaly. I verified that the surface was clean by running a new blade around the surface, holding it completely perpendicular to the surface. Any resistance or even a change in the sound lead me to something that needed to be removed. This takes a long time. You can't rush quality, and spending the time here will pay dividends later.

Head Meet Engine
With a heavy head in hand, I thought about how to get the head to line up without damaging the head gasket. I tried putting a chop-stick into one of the head bolt holes in the block, but that only sort of helped. It did help me get my bearings, but, ultimately, I pulled the stick out before the real attempt. I found that random hoses or other things kept getting in the way, so I had to remove a couple of things I had not removed for the head removal in order for me to get the head to set. Most memorable was the removal of another coolant hose and pipe that wrapped around the rear side from the driver side to the front passenger side.

With the impediments removed, I could ease the head onto the gasket/block. I set it down gently and wiggled it lightly to make sure it set squarely on the 2 pegs on the exhaust side. I checked 2 of the head bolt holes with a chopstick, and confirmed that the stick set all the way through to the block. Knowing the head was aligned, I set new bolts through the head-holes. I finger-tightened them, then torqued to 30 pounds, 40 pounds and finally 44 pounds. With my breaker bar, I did 2 1/4-turns (spec says 1/2 turn past 44 pounds). I put a little dribble of oil on the cam lobes and a little dribble into each spark plug hole. I replaced the vale cover gasket and installed the valve cover.

This post got super long, and the content creation has taken most of the last few months. Why? Well, remember how I'm slow? Yeah, someone says it will take 2-1/2 hours. For me, we double their number and increase it a measure, so 2-1/2 hours means 5 days for me. That's 5 full days, like 40 hours. If you spread that out across weekend days, it takes a long time. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but have you read this blog? Anyway, I'll post back on this soon.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Sadist Engineering

I'm taking a quick break from the TDI install retrospectives for a rant, and an update on the A4 efforts. We'll be back to our regular posts next week.

With modern cars, the effort to wedge more features and power into a steadily shrinking engine compartment makes maintenance increasingly difficult. Back when we had the Saturn (Dude), we learned that in order to change the light bulb in the speedometer, the dashboard needed to be removed. What? Yep, that's right; we didn't bother. There are plenty of examples of this, but today's post comes from the efforts to get to the head gasket on a 1997 Audi A4 1.8 Turbo.

1.8 Turbo Head Job
Once I ruled out all other possible causes for the coolant losses in T's Audi A4 1.8 Turbo, I started trying to find someone else to do the work. After 4 months of attempts, and numerous rejections, I finally got a quote from someone: $1250US. Since we paid less than that for the car, I couldn't do that, but we are unable to use or sell the car in it's current shape either. So... into the darkness we go. We start with the usual internet searches for steps and find very lengthy descriptions. Unfortunately, many how-to's neglect to mention key points in a timely manner (I'm sure I'm guilty of this too). For example, the best step-by-step I found did not mention that you needed to disconnect the fuel pump relay and run the engine to depressurize the fuel rail. So, once you got through 15 or so steps and you were told to dismantle the fuel rail... you couldn't. There's 100psi of fuel in there, and no way to safely depressurize it now because the timing belt is no longer on the engine, and the front end has been completely removed.. Sweet. So, rather than follow bad directions, or release fuel all over the engine bay and shop space, we get to go our own way where the fuel rail is not disturbed.

This is when we discover just how sadistic the German auto engineers really are... or were in 1997.

1.8 Turbo Intake
The intake manifold is held on with 10 fasteners: 2 10mm nuts, 2 10mm bolts and 6 5mm Allen bolts. The 10mm nuts and bolts are on the ends and the Allens are between the intake runners. Of course, they are also mostly obstructed by the fuel injectors, so, again, if you want to remove the intake, it is best to dismantle the fuel rail. Grr.. With a wobble-head attachment on my 3/8" ratchet, I was able to crack all of the bolts except one. That one bolt eventually broke free after throwing various bits at it. I will need to replace at least that one bolt for re-install.

1.8 Turbo Exhaust
With the timing belt off, the evil coolant flange removed and the intake separated from the head (with shop towels covering up all openings), we shift to the exhaust side. The exhaust manifold is held on with 2 13mm nuts, 2 12mm nuts (yes, that's right. we've got both kinds of nuts) and, on this car, 3 6mm Allen bolts and 3 13mm bolts. I say that because someone swapped out some of the 6mm Allen bolts and replaced them with hex bolts. Now, the car is usually equipped with a heat shield which is held on with Allen and hex bolts. This car did not have the heat shield but all of the bolt holes were occupied with hex bolts which were in place nice and super-tight. Ugh. Love PO's. Regardless, the nuts are on studs at either end of the head, making them hard to get to, driving you to using old-skool spanners especially near the firewall. Once removed, I shifted focus onto the Allen bolts, and things got interesting. The exhaust manifold is very short, wrapping into a turbo that sits almost directly in front of the lower mounting bolts. So, from above, you need to thread a long Allen key between everything and torque the bolts free. Penetrating oil and long-stemmed Allen sockets recommended. Even then, you can't reasonably get to all of the Allen bolts under the exhaust manifold.

The best solution is to remove the turbo from the exhaust manifold and pull the head with the manifold still attached. Then, you can get after those Allen bolts. The turbo is held to the manifold with 3 17mm bolts. These bolts point straight up and have a slight recess around them in the manifold. Water likes to build there when the car is parked outdoors, so what do you get when you leave water standing on iron? That's right. Rust. Enter the penetrating oil again while you think about how you're gonna get a socket onto those bolts. Realizing you can't, again, you go old-skool with a spanner. I was very grateful for my penetrating oil comparison (See Hammered Rims Part 1) when I discovered the Kroil. After a few days of spray-and-wait, those bolts came off with very little extra coaxing.

Head Out
With the intake off, all the other little bits remove, the outlet flange off and now the turbo released from the exhaust, there was nothing more in the way. Except the valve cover and the 10 mystery head bolts hidden within. The valve cover is held on with a bunch of 10mm nuts and bolts. Once removed, the cover should just lift off, but nah. I applied some convincing with a rubber mallet and then with a pry bar on each corner. With the pry bar, I made sure to apply very light pressure so I didn't crack anything. With the valve cover off, we could see what king of fastener held on the head. After the swap-about on the exhaust, I couldn't just assume based on make-model-year. Turned out the bolts were the 10mm RIBE-style, so they could have been original. Regardless, these are typically sold as part of head gasket kits. With a bit in hand, I made to remove them and this was my first indication that the head had been removed at some point. I put my torque wrench on, and they required very little effort to loosen. By "very little effort" I mean I put my torque wrench on there and gave it a good bump with my hip and they broke free. I should have needed a breaker bar.

With the bolts all loose, I was able to wiggle the head. So, I put fingers into the coolant outlet, and my other hand around the belt tensioner and pulled straight up. It came free, and dropped the head gasket out as the head lifted out. What I saw was very interesting. The coolant passages rising up from the engine block met the gasket, but the hole in the gasket wasn't the same size as the hole in the block. The gasket has a little pin hole and the block was a decent-sized triangle. While I thought this was the application of the wrong gasket, according to Fel-Pro, it isn't. This is by design to correctly meter the coolant through the engine.

I will be taking the head to a shop to get pressure tested, decked and otherwise refreshed while I clean up the block face. The coolant passages look like some build up occurred behind the gasket, so I'll clean that up with a pick and a shopvac (so no bits fall deeper into the engine). I'll return to this effort blog-post-wise once I have the head back and the install is happening.

Thanks for following along. More next time-