The Project Pad

Hey I've got one more question for the gurus out there. I'm not usually defeated by stuck fasteners but I went to change the fluid in the rear diff and neither of the fill/drain plugs is willing to budge! Anyone got any tricks for this?

I've got a pretty decent tool, it's this one:

...but it couldn't move those two plugs.

It's an audi Eric, you will have to tear the door into two pieces..... Like the progress, esp the saab relay box. Hard to beat manufactures build quality. I can't wait until you have this driving again. I need to run some wires out to my knock sensors before I throw the head back on. much easier to get to when the head and intake manifold aren't in the way..

I haven't ever had any problems with drain and fill plugs on these cars, but I also have a 3 foot snap on breaker bar that helps with stubbornness, you might also want to try a little heat around the plug.

Yeah, sufficient force isn't the problem, the tool was starting to turn in the plug - I stopped before too much of that happened. I suppose I could heat it, but hate to do that with oil in there.

I suspect what my ex-boss who's an Audi tech would do is weld a bolt head into the plug and wrench on that...

Get the fill plug first trust me. If you get the drain and strip the fill you're effed

I'm not talking red hot, just throw some heat at it it will be fine , and I agree with Jonathan.... fill plug first..

You should see my oil drain plug on my oil pan..... I welded a cv nut on there.... much easier to change the oil now.....

JonathanL wrote:Get the fill plug first trust me. If you get the drain and strip the fill you're effed

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Actually if I could get the fill plug open, I could probably siphon out enough fluid to make it worthwhile.

This 80 seems to be coming along great! :-) You're really laying down the law on this thing.

I Like the buckaroo banzai quote too......

Heh... I was wondering if anyone would notice that! :-)

elaw wrote:Heh... I was wondering if anyone would notice that! :-)

Do I have to admit being old enough to recognize it?

Oldness or sci-fi-geekiness - it's a toss-up which is worse!

savagerocco wrote:I can't wait until you have this driving again.

You can't wait... I can't wait!

The exhaust on this thing is really kicking my a$$. I had this wonderful urquattro mid muffler that actually wasn't so wonderful - the pipes were in great shape but the muff itself was junk. So I cut it out and replaced it with a Magnaflow and getting the angles right on everything was a killer. Then I got that pretty much right and discovered I'd lost the donut that goes between it and the rear muffler. Got a new one of those and everything goes together but the pipe between the front box and the cat really needs a little tweaking... what I'd give to own a pipe bender right now!

Bender schmender..... besides he drink all your beer and steal your women... I just use madrell bends and cut and weld...

So for the 1673rd time during this project, we have a problem. This one isn't huge but is pretty stupid.

Today I was in the process of putting the wheels on the car and noticed the hubcentric area of one of the wheels didn't look like the others. Mounted it up anyway, and sure enough this particular wheel isn't hubcentric any more!

As you can see, there's a gap large enough to drive a truck through (a really really small truck) between the hub and the wheel. All four of these wheels have the same partnumber stamped on them and appear otherwise identical, but the other three fit fine and this one has this problem. I think some f**ktard previous owner machined them to fit on another car possibly? Or maybe he just felt left out because he didn't have hub centering rings like all his friends. Anyhow, it looks like either I'll have to find myself another Fuchs, or get a hubcentric ring machined up to make this thing fit... assuming the hole is even round and properly centered in the wheel. :(

But all the above notwithstanding, I passed a big milestone today: I lowered the car about a foot by getting it off the jackstands and onto its wheels!


Last night the car and I had something in common...we were both exhausted! Getting the exhaust to fit on this car wasn't nearly as easy as I expected, but it's more or less done. There's still a little tweaking to do, but it's tight and hanging more or less properly and has a great sound to it.

This thing is getting very close to able to be driven... it's now in the garage, and got there under its own power! :woowoo:

And... it's time for another "question for the gurus"!

Tonight's topic is master cylinders. Now that I've got the G60 brakes in the front, the pedal is a bit mushy because with larger calipers you really want a larger master too. Does anyone know if there's a larger (diameter) master that's a bolt-in for this car? Will a CQ or 90 20V master work with my vacuum booster?

The 90Q 20V is larger than the 20v (~24mm vs 22.2mm)... the CQ is larger than both (25.4mm). From my reading they all bolt in place of each other.

And here's another question: the black goop that's used to seal taillights and such... does anyone here know exactly what that stuff is and where to buy it?

ETKA actually gives a partnumber (AKD 397 010 04) but I checked a couple of online dealers and they don't show that partnumber as existing. Plus it's for a 10-meter roll so the cost is probably crazy...

Pm frosty. He just used a 3m product with great results.

I dont remember the PN, but I bought a large roll of it from Genuine a few years ago. Its the OEM stuff used on the 4k tail light housings, so its probably the same as the B3's. I couldnt get the PN you provided to pull up, though. I have also used some 3M strips which worked well. When I got the roll from Genuine it wasnt too shabby at all, maybe 40 bucks, but well worth it, IMHO.

Car looks great with those wheels.

3M Strip-Calk... used a ton of this stuff doing restorations.

http://www.tptools.com/p/3345,186_3M%E2 ... ealer.html

Way, way off topic, but do you have any Grateful Dead dacing bears stickers in the window of your Saab? My girlfriend and I were in Amesbury recently visiting my aunt and you or your Saab's twin parked next to us at a bagel shop on Rt 2. Yeah, I know there are a lot of Saabs up there, even my aunt has one, but it would be kinda twilight zone if that were you!

elaw wrote:
I think some f**ktard previous owner machined them to fit on another car possibly?

BINGO! These were pretty popular with the Vanagon Syncro crowd. I have come across entire sets that had been machined to fit the larger hub bore of the Vanagon.

ur20v wrote:Way, way off topic, but do you have any Grateful Dead dacing bears stickers in the window of your Saab? My girlfriend and I were in Amesbury recently visiting my aunt and you or your Saab's twin parked next to us at a bagel shop on Rt 2. Yeah, I know there are a lot of Saabs up there, even my aunt has one, but it would be kinda twilight zone if that were you!

Nah, that wasn't me! I don't have any stickers on the Saab, and haven't been to Amesbury recently. That's a nice area though!