Jay's 1.4SE aka second chance

Could it be that what you describe as metall outer, actually is some compressable plastic material? (guess not but thought it worth double-checking)
 
Could it be that what you describe as metall outer, actually is some compressable plastic material? (guess not but thought it worth double-checking)

No, these are certainly metal.

I expected it to be tight and whilst it’s only 3mm when we try and put the bush in it slips off centre, even when we grease the bush and body of the axle


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Not sure if it helps but the axle beam bushings for the larger VAG cars (seat leon, golf iv, octavia i) are 69 mm OD. I cant find the measurements for the width though...
 
Cheers, probably not worth it but could they possibly be put in a lathe and made smaller?

I don’t think there’s enough metal there to be able to do that and still retain it’s properties, it was something I looked at


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No, these are certainly metal.

I expected it to be tight and whilst it’s only 3mm when we try and put the bush in it slips off centre, even when we grease the bush and body of the axle


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The bushes @philward shows seem to have a resin outer rather than metal and thats what I recalled hence my question.
But yours are definitely metal?
Puzzling.
 
Not sure if it helps but the axle beam bushings for the larger VAG cars (seat leon, golf iv, octavia i) are 69 mm OD. I cant find the measurements for the width though...

Yes I saw that on my travels but never went as far as getting a supplier to measure. You'd think there would be a good chance they'd be O.K. what with VAG using parts across several cars and all.
 
I’ve had the polybushes arrive today, they look like they are a far better fit than the febi ones.

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However.......there is a query.

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The bolt hole is offset on what I believe is the inside face of the bush, the outside face the bolt hole is central.

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I’ve measured it and it is equally central on the second pic.

So I need to orientate it correctly, I have looked at the febi ones I still have here and cannot see an offset.

Any ideas?


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This is the manual page. Mentions marks on the bush aligning with the arm also states conventional rubber bushes....


Perhaps some of the members that have recently overhauled their rear axles can shed more light?
 
Some progress at last

The polybushes left me with too many unanswered questions, especially regarding the offset bold hole on one side.

I still have the OE febi bushes on the shelf as well so started looking at them again with a view to having them milled down t fit.
It turns out they are not metal coated by it’s a nylon material that’s finished to look like metal. Speaking with a friend who is still in the trade he suggested we go with these bushes but apply a bit of heat to the prior to fitting in order to give them a bit more compliance.
With the good lady out of the house I grabbed one of her pots, filled it with boiling water so the bush was half covered when it was stood on its end and boiled the water for about 10 mins. Made sure that when I picked them up I had gloves on and one at a time tried to fit them.
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Success!!! And I am a happy bunny now.
The axle is ready to be cleaned up for paint, in the meantime the backplates have been built up
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And the new shockers all assembled as well, I’m glad I bought the bump stop kit
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I’ve also cleaned all the inner splash guards
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Hopefully over the weekend the axle will be painted and ready to go back in next week


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Could it be that what you describe as metall outer, actually is some compressable plastic material? (guess not but thought it worth double-checking)
Always worth double-checking ;), glad it came to a happy ending.
This might mean what I suspected, there is only one type of hole in the rear axle, and even though the 71/72mm bush appear yo be too big it is the right one.
 
Another busy day in the office/garage.......

With the axle bushes fitted and the old paintwork wire brushed back it was time for paint.

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There are still a few more coats to go on, it’s not 100%, however I’m not building a show car, if I were doing that it would have been shot blasted and powder coated.

Whilst the paint was drying on the axle I decided to strip the headlights to paint the silver parts of it matt black and repolish to headlight lenses .
Whilst I was looking inside the headlight I noticed how rotten the wiring was

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The wiring outer is badly perished and cracked and dangerous to use.
The other thing I noticed was the reflector was discoloured, almost like it was burnt

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Thanks to A2steve for getting another headlight sorted for me

The lens had been polished and lacquered in the past and it was looking very rough.
Starting with 1000 grit I then moved to 1500, 2000, 2500 and then 5000 before getting the machine polisher out and using a wool pad and cutting compound

This was after the 2500 grit
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And after the compound
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Again it’s not like new but it’s a massive improvement.
I haven’t lacquered the lens again I’ve found in the past that once the lens becomes stone chipped it deteriorates even quicker, instead I use a good quality wax to protect the lens from UV damage

Still in the paint process are all the headlight parts, hopefully I’ll be able to do the right hand one tomorrow


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At some point I may actually get to drive this car, with all the work I’ve done the only driving I’ve done has been getting the car in and out of the garage.


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Always worth double-checking ;), glad it came to a happy ending.
This might mean what I suspected, there is only one type of hole in the rear axle, and even though the 71/72mm bush appear yo be too big it is the right one.

I’ve been doing some digging on this and you could be right.
Audi only list a 72mm bush for the A2 and for my age of car only one axle, I believe there are only two axles available for the A2, drum or disc brakes being the deciding factor.


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Well it’s in!!!

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It went a lot smoother then I thought it would, the only issue I had was the final washer that sat by the axle bushes, it needed some persuasion.

The only thing I need to do now is to bleed the brakes and fit the wheel arch liners, before I do however I saw this today on the driver side rear inner wing

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It’s hanging there and looks like it should be connected to be something.
Looking up inside the arch all I can see is this
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It looks like it’s an overflow for the filler neck, however the hose that’s hanging down and the only outlet I can see are the same diameter. Can anyone confirm if that hose does connect to the back of the filler neck.

Back on the headlamps, this is the reason I don’t lacquer the headlamps

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The top of the lens has lacquer that’s starting to lift, the bottom of the lens is the same.
The centre of the lens is clear, the lacquer is missing, from experience in the past the heat from the headlights cases the lacquer to fail.
This one will be sanded back and polished during the week, updates to follow


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Regarding the drain pipe from the fuel filler cap mine was attached to the mount for the fuel tank with a metal clip it then runs back through a hole in the bit of plastic undertray that runs from the upper spring seat back to the rear bumper.
 
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