Today I.....

Today I woke to snow on my pride and joys
It was the same here in Lincolnshire although only a dusting & I only took the winter wheels off Yesterday afternoon.
Just need to clean & polish them before putting away for the summer.
 
Today I finished phase one of the cheapy 2003 TDi refurb. If all goes to plan it'll be flying the A2 flag at Rusty Towers.

Jobs in this phase (done over last few weeks of evenings etc)

Timing belt, water pump, tensioner, serp belt.
Thermostat
Free off seized bonnet release.
Refurb front top mounts (strip, clean right up, check ball condition, build back up with new grease £0-£4 the pair).
Replace lethal front hoses (split right down to inner layer).
Paint all front suspension including pressed front arms.
Cavity wax front arms.
Replace missing undertray attachment points, fit new tray.
Paint charge pipe and engine cover.
Bleed brakes.
Lube gearchange at gearbox tower.
Oil and filter change (genuine).
Strip rear brakes, de-lip, clean and paint drums.
Replace rear bumpstops and shrouds.
Strip and paint rear shocks.
Paint rear suspension.
Fit faux flaps all round.

Next stage is to sort phantom open boot, get the blower working, replace naff RS 2 badge with correct A2 one, new number plates.

Stage after that is external cosmetics, then with warmer weather, interior out valet and de-soft-touch in several areas.

No pics this time as there's nothing new to see really.
 
Today I fitted the correct Akoya silver wing mirrors as when I got the car it had black mirrors fitted. As a nice wee bonus there were genuine heated mirrors already installed. Also a pair of new Michelin tyres to replace the cracked Falken tyres on the 15" Pepperpots.
 
Had the Cambelt and water pump done and the oil and filter whilst there after the hassle I has with the sump bolt at home. £380, a bit more than I hoped but one less thing to worry about.
 
Today I took stock of the condition of my A2 which has not seen any real love since my spinal surgery in February 2019. Last wash was pre Christmas and it is a far cry from the fastidious person that I am or the affinity in which I hold the car. COVID-19 and the absence of socials have also not helped muster the strength and energy needed. Condition is disgusting.

Searching through my photos and I found one or two that have been an inspiration to get her back to her best. So the Today I for me is a pledge to do so before summer, get her MOT’d and serviced and hopefully back to her former glory in the hope of a social before year end.

My inspiration
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None of us can help whats happened in the world, but what we can do is inspire and help each other to get back on our feet when it's all gone out the window through no fault of our own.

I've got two litres of gear oil to change before the weekend is out, wish me luck!
 
.. i was going to change the oil. The car's on axle stands in the warm garage, but I got distracted. I do have the filter, the Helix Ultra 5w40 and the sump plug, though, so it should be pretty fast. Also have a couple of new screws for the bumper to go back on and only have to replace one bolt from the washer reservoir - that was rusted to hell and back an brought the rivnut out with it. So off to find an m6x25 or so A4 Stainless tomorrow with a nyloc nut and washer to go with. Then new stainless bolts for the number plate and we should be good. Gotta do that while the bumper's off the car as the whole setup is bolted to the aux lamp support...
 
Little bit more progress on the cheap TDi (although at the rate we're going, that's not going to be a long lasting name).

1) Fitted temp sender (Febi Bilstein) in hope of seeing some temp gauge action after new thermostat saw no difference. It was to no avail: gauge stuck on 60, so will fish out VCDS over weekend to see what readings the cluster and the ECU can see. Odd for two senders not to produce a reading: wiring?

2) Got the heater fan working. Started by removing it, adding oil and attempting to run it up. The odd fitful rotation and that was that. I managed to remove the motor from the housing which gave slightly better access. Turned out that one of the brushes was barely making contact with the commutator. Try as I might, I couldn't quite get it to work without external assistance. In the end I used a couple of small blue elastic bands (non conductive you see) to gently assist the brush into position. OK not a ten year fix, but it's back in, working perfectly, cost nothing and proves the rest of the climate control is working fine.

3) Sorted the phantom open boot for now: it was the wiper that should activate the microswitch in the boot latch mech. It was worn just enough to fail to operate the switch. For now I managed to melt a bit of plastic (from a trim clip), applied via hot screwdriver, onto the wiper and amazingly it's working. My backup plan was to simply leave the latch disconnected which would leave me with all functions but bootlight. Anyway, like the fan above, it proves everything else is fine and I'll pick up a good latch when I see one.

4) With above sorted, no dash warnings so celebrated by activating mini-DIS. Car said thank you by producing appalling initial economy reading this evening. I suspect that takes me back to the temp sensor issue.

5) Started to muck the car out: outside is quite presentable now, inside not so much, so did first couple of hours of basic cleaning. Lots more to follow.

It's off on something of a maiden voyage tomorrow as I'm working 70 miles away fitting an E-Type bonnet, so will risk any temp reading issues and let it absorb some of the Esso premium diesel as a semi Italian tune up.
 
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Today I discovered I have lost the brand new bargain MAF sensor I was going to fit this evening in advance of another round trip to the southeast and back ?

I really can’t wait to move out of my outlaws’ house and into my own with its large workshop with plenty of storage space so that everything will have its place!
 
Today I took stock of the condition of my A2 which has not seen any real love since my spinal surgery in February 2019. Last wash was pre Christmas and it is a far cry from the fastidious person that I am or the affinity in which I hold the car. COVID-19 and the absence of socials have also not helped muster the strength and energy needed. Condition is disgusting.

Searching through my photos and I found one or two that have been an inspiration to get her back to her best. So the Today I for me is a pledge to do so before summer, get her MOT’d and serviced and hopefully back to her former glory in the hope of a social before year end.

My inspiration
View attachment 78615

View attachment 78624
Never mind your inspiration, that rear 3/4 shot was what got me through the Devon car's restoration. Still one of my favourite A2 images.
 
(Yes)today I took the silver TDi for maiden voyage. It's had years of being pottered around the back lanes of Kent. With this in mind I fed it some premium Esso diesel (£1.50 a litre!) and gradually drove it harder on the first 70 mile leg.

No temp reading until I came to Reigate Hill on the M25. I gave it some beans up there and all of a sudden noticed the temp had limped up to 70 or so, only to drop back with in a few miles. Now suspect new thermostat is duff. Was a known aftermarket brand (Borg and Beck I think), but it'll have to come out and be tested in the saucepan of doom.

Other things to report: suspect tracking out as tyre pressures good but wheel a fraction off and it doesn't seem to coast quite as well as expected. Will get the Dunlops out and check.

Really nasty rattle from underneath and really hard to tell from which end. As front will be up in the air for thermostat I'll just go from front to rear checking everything, which is never a bad thing to do on a 'new car anyway.

Economy looks poor but see thermostat and tracking above. Pulls ok so confident my timing is alright.

Overall though, I really like it: it has an old used car honesty about it: sold to me 'shame to scrap it' for £300 so expectations healthily low.

Pics to follow at some point ...
 
(Yes)today I took the silver TDi for maiden voyage. It's had years of being pottered around the back lanes of Kent. With this in mind I fed it some premium Esso diesel (£1.50 a litre!) and gradually drove it harder on the first 70 mile leg.

No temp reading until I came to Reigate Hill on the M25. I gave it some beans up there and all of a sudden noticed the temp had limped up to 70 or so, only to drop back with in a few miles. Now suspect new thermostat is duff. Was a known aftermarket brand (Borg and Beck I think), but it'll have to come out and be tested in the saucepan of doom.

Other things to report: suspect tracking out as tyre pressures good but wheel a fraction off and it doesn't seem to coast quite as well as expected. Will get the Dunlops out and check.

Really nasty rattle from underneath and really hard to tell from which end. As front will be up in the air for thermostat I'll just go from front to rear checking everything, which is never a bad thing to do on a 'new car anyway.

Economy looks poor but see thermostat and tracking above. Pulls ok so confident my timing is alright.

Overall though, I really like it: it has an old used car honesty about it: sold to me 'shame to scrap it' for £300 so expectations healthily low.

Pics to follow at some point ...

Have you checked the temp reading in vcds engine and instrument cluster for correlation?
This generally proves the temp sender unit as healthy or not as it unusual for both sides to fail to the same degree. Expect 1to2 deg difference is ok anything more and the sender unit is toast
Much easier check than thermostat out and in the pan of near boiling water
Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
(Yes)today I took the silver TDi for maiden voyage. It's had years of being pottered around the back lanes of Kent. With this in mind I fed it some premium Esso diesel (£1.50 a litre!) and gradually drove it harder on the first 70 mile leg.

No temp reading until I came to Reigate Hill on the M25. I gave it some beans up there and all of a sudden noticed the temp had limped up to 70 or so, only to drop back with in a few miles. Now suspect new thermostat is duff. Was a known aftermarket brand (Borg and Beck I think), but it'll have to come out and be tested in the saucepan of doom.

Other things to report: suspect tracking out as tyre pressures good but wheel a fraction off and it doesn't seem to coast quite as well as expected. Will get the Dunlops out and check.

Really nasty rattle from underneath and really hard to tell from which end. As front will be up in the air for thermostat I'll just go from front to rear checking everything, which is never a bad thing to do on a 'new car anyway.

Economy looks poor but see thermostat and tracking above. Pulls ok so confident my timing is alright.

Overall though, I really like it: it has an old used car honesty about it: sold to me 'shame to scrap it' for £300 so expectations healthily low.

Pics to follow at some point ...
Hi Rusty911,
Sounds promising I would check the rear drums & handbrake adjustment re the coasting I also changed my top & bottom rear spring seats for new febi items & it eliminated the annoying rattles the car has had for sometime.
Cheers
Keith.
 
Have you checked the temp reading in vcds engine and instrument cluster for correlation?
This generally proves the temp sender unit as healthy or not as it unusual for both sides to fail to the same degree. Expect 1to2 deg difference is ok anything more and the sender unit is toast
Much easier check than thermostat out and in the pan of near boiling water
Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, will do that, thank you. I have to say it's a new thermostat and a new sender (Febi) and gauge is no different to before so clearly there's a curveball in there somewhere!
 
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