am I nuts, 84 4000 quattro that mostly sat since 2004?

**onlyaudis** · 05-07-2012 11:22 PM

had a chance to spend some more time on the car today, and I decided to tackle the timing belt. the old one had about 30,000 miles on it, but had been on the car since 1998. The water pump was done a few months ago by the previous owner, and in their wisdom, they reused the 14 year old timing belt instead of just changing it when they had the chance. lots of old greasy caked on mess under the front timing belt cover from a long time front corner valve cover gasket leak that was fixed years ago, but never fully cleaned up. de-greased everything and blasted and painted the various timing cover pieces and pulleys. I am not very fast at these kinds of jobs and it took me almost the entire day, but at least I got the timing right and the car fired right up after wards. also replaced the heater valve. the A/C worked great until the car really warmed up, then it got weaker. I suspected the old heater valve was leaking a small amount of coolant by even when it was closed, and I was right. you could blow through it when it was closed all the way, and on the new one, you could not. i suspect the A/C will blow very cold now even when the car warms up--at least i hope so.

put some 10mm alloy spring spacers under the rear springs today, and it raised the back end up 2/3 inch and it now matches the front height better.

made a little splash cover for the A/C cowl area. used some 1/8 thermoplastic from Tap. you can heat it and shape it. i also found a cabin filter in the 4 X 9 inch size that will fit the inlet on the 4000Q. was from a mid 2000's Hyundai. going to rig it up so all that crap doesn't get into the car.

here are a few photos from today. even though the red valve cover looked decent in photos, in real life it was a tacky job and the thing was sprayed while still on the car. Had red over spray all over the place that i needed to clean up. decided to go with the classic wrinkle black on the valve cover, and i like the way it
turned out. looks clean and classy.

**AudiCoupeGT** · 05-08-2012 12:18 PM

Nice and clean!

**onlyaudis** · 05-14-2012 08:54 PM

took the car in for an alignment, and the place has the top of line Hunter machine. mechanic was young and new at it though, and he wasn't sure how to so the old 4000Q. I asked him if i could us the rack and do it my self, and he let me. spend about 1 1/2 hours playing with the number and got it really nice. the rear tie rod adjusters were really hard to brake loose. fronts were fine because we were just in there. I got all the settings to spec. about -1 degree negative camber front and rear, thrust angle near zero, and slight toe out front and rear. Castor reading looked fine too, even though its not adjustable on these cars.

Put a new Kenwood Excelon unit in the car and slightly larger rear alpine speakers, and the sound is quite good. wish there was room for a small powered sub, as that would really finish off the system, but don't really see a great place to put one. the gas tank location makes a rear mount difficult, and there isn't enough room under any of the seats.

**onlyaudis** · 05-17-2012 08:51 PM

changed your temp sensor recently? this is what i found when I pulled mine out. My O2 looked about like that as well. car runs better with the 2 new sensors installed. Idles better, engine just seems happier.

I was told the real Bosch ones are starting to get harder to find. I got mine here. check out the supposed discount. should buy two at that price.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sk...3-1624345.html

**onlyaudis** · 05-21-2012 04:02 PM

some more photos. got the new carpet mats in, and the restored now black Momo steering wheel that had been red.

**AudiCoupeGT** · 05-21-2012 04:23 PM

Car is looking great as usual. Where did you grab that steering wheel and those floormats?!

**onlyaudis** · 05-21-2012 07:57 PM

steering wheel is a Momo and was with the car when I got it. was a faded red color that turned your hands red when you drove the car. I used solvent to remove most of the red, and then re-dyed the wheel with some leather/vinyl spray dye.

Carpet mats are from lloyds. I put the Audi patches on there that i found on ebay.

Did a really tedious job today changing the reverse light switch. you need to pull the Cat to get at it, and I had to cut all 6 bolts off the cat. took forever, got the new switch in, and the reverse lights still don't work. its not the bulbs or a fuse, so I guess i am out of luck for now.

**JGarrigan** · 05-22-2012 07:12 PM

This car is Beautiful i wish my CQ was that clean! Not sure how the bulbs go in the tailights on these 4000's but my CQ had bad bulb trays that kept messing up my turn signals, Just a thought if this car has bulb trays.

**AUDILAC** · 05-22-2012 09:52 PM

That things badass

**onlyaudis** · 05-23-2012 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by JGarrigan

This car is Beautiful i wish my CQ was that clean! Not sure how the bulbs go in the tailights on these 4000's but my CQ had bad bulb trays that kept messing up my turn signals, Just a thought if this car has bulb trays.

Thanks for the comments on the car. it really is in amazing condition for a 1984, and to me it warranted some special work to bring the rest of the car up to the same level. The car gets a lot of attention when we are out in it. Classic Audis are so rare these days.

I checked the wire coming in to the tail lights from the reverse light switch and it is dead right now when the car is in reverse and the key is on. I am going to check to see if I am getting 12V on one side of the reverse switch when the key is on, and whether the switch is getting energized like it should when the car is put in reverse. No big deal to run a new key on 12V wire to the switch and/or another wire from the switch to the tail lights.. If the internal thing in the tranny isn't engaging the switch though for some reason, I am not going to tear the car apart to try and fix that though. Either live without reverse lights or just rig up a switch to turn them on manually.

**ElliottG** · 05-23-2012 06:42 PM

Beautiful car. What did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

**onlyaudis** · 05-23-2012 07:20 PM

Guy was asking $3500 and took $3000 for it. Car needed a lot of mechanical work--major brake work, front end work, A/C was out, had vacuum issues and a host of other minor things needing sorting out. It was in such good overall cosmetic shape though, and the engine, tranny, clutch, diffs, and rear suspension were all in great shape (no rust, no real body damage, interior very clean, trunk looks like new, original paint on most of the car still shines great, 1984 bumpers more or less intact) . I thought it was worth picking it up. Plus I am a sick man and actually like fixing stuff on cars and spending some money doing it.

Funny thing is, when these cars are in pretty bad shape, they can still sell for more than half that.

I found out why the reverse lights were not working today. The switch was not getting 12V, the tranny is not engaging the switch for some reason when the car is in reverse, and the wire from the switch to the reverse lights had a ground short in it. too much to try and sort all that out. I wired them up manually to a switch.

**onlyaudis** · 05-23-2012 07:24 PM

I may be selling those fully restored factory wheels with brand new 195 60 14 Falken ZE 912 tires. found some pretty cool and rare 15 inch wheels that I am going run instead. I also have hub centric H&R 10mm spacers I may not need, and some 20mm ones as well plus longer lug bolts.

**onlyaudis** · 05-27-2012 08:21 AM

Been driving the car a lot trying to get more confidence in it, and also shaking out some minor issues. Got lucky yesterday, as the brand new heater valve started to fail but didn't sprout a geyser until I got home in the garage. could have been a mess if it happened 30 miles from home. I hate the use of really cheap plastic in coolant system parts. I found an all metal heater valve in the same configuration from an earlier 4000 that should work and last longer than two weeks.

Got a chance to restore the rear spoiler and bumper this week. sorry I didn't take any progress photos--it was a messy job. the bumper had a lot of deep scratches and gouges, and the rear spoiler had a ton of paint on it and was covered with deep cracks and fractures in the finish. Had to strip the spoiler all the way down and respray with primer and paint with flex additives. Used a chem stripper, my sander, and the bead blasting cabinet to strip it. Was a pain getting it off the car with all the glue strips that are used to attach it. the bumper was repaired with plastic parts repair materials and sprayed with bumper coater.

still have an issue with the drivers inside door handle not wanting to open the door unless I pull up on the door lock. maybe an adjustment needed in there. lots of wind noise on the passengers front window I need to look into. Rear seat belts do not retract well-mechanisms may need to be cleaned

**teach** · 05-28-2012 06:35 AM

Would you post a link for the all-metal heater valve? Thanks.

**onlyaudis** · 05-28-2012 04:18 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_1760wt_952

That Audi original plastic one is pretty flimsy, and I think the current aftermarket $9.00 cheapo ones must be even worse (Meyle crap from IMC)

found and fixed the wind noise issue. someone had assembled the wing window catch wrong on the passengers side, and it wasn't pulling in the glass all the way closed. Of course, now that the wind noise is gone, I hear a new rattle somewhere under the dash area. have to remind myself this is a 28 year old car and is never going to be like a 2012 Audi as far as squeaks and rattles.

**onlyaudis** · 05-29-2012 12:51 PM

Here is a short video of the Hushpower muffler on this car

**onlyaudis** · 05-29-2012 02:47 PM

Drive by video taken by my son's new GOPRO Hero 2 camera.

**onlyaudis** · 05-30-2012 12:13 PM

spend a long time yesterday installing a key-less entry alarm on the car. really hard to get the drivers door 12V actuator piggy backed with the factory system and working as it should. It a basic alarm I found on ebay, but it works great. I mainly wanted the keyless entry feature, as i am spoiled by that convenience that most every modern car has had for the past 15 years.

**onlyaudis** · 06-02-2012 05:49 PM

did a car tour to Mt Hamilton / Lick Observatory today in the Quattro. really good shake down test for the car, and it performed flawlessly. it was in the high 80's, and no overheating issues. I could keep up with all the sports cars easily on the twisties too. Love driving this car. Most comfortable car I have ever done a car tour in.

**Jeremy Sawatzky** · 06-02-2012 09:30 PM

I am having a love affair with your car. The sound is just perfect!!! it looks incredible and for some reason the interior really gets me

**teach** · 06-03-2012 04:41 AM

Originally Posted by Jeremy Sawatzky

I am having a love affair with your car. The sound is just perfect!!! it looks incredible and for some reason the interior really gets me

Agreed. You have that thing looking and sounding (and it sounds like driving) great. Absolutely fantastic.

**onlyaudis** · 06-03-2012 01:11 PM

Thanks for the comments. Its been a lot of work dialing the car in, but this drive showed me it was well worth it. The car got a lot of attention on the tour--which caught me by surprise, as the main club that sponsored the even was mostly Alfa Romeo based . People were taking photos of it , and one guy that brought an old Saab Sonnet went nuts over it. He told me he had one in College and it was his favorite car ever. I got this short email today from someone else who liked it who was on the tour:

Subject: Audi!! "Congratulations! It was such a great nostalgia to see the 1984 Audi looking as it did back during the 80s era! You did a great job!

The only thing on the drive that didn't perform perfectly was the A/C, which struggled to keep the car cool when it got 90 outside.. someone sent me this link to an ancient thread at AW that ended up solving the weak A/C issue.

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=19158629

I was able to adjust the point where the compressor kicks off to a lower temp, and now the A/C is colder than on our newer Audi. Had to turn the screw CCW 3 X to get the lowest temps down to the mid 30's from the higher 40's where it was set. I think when you convert to 134a, you need to make this adjustment if you want the a/c to perform well.

**onlyaudis** · 06-03-2012 04:29 PM

two more things, I did get that all metal heater valve I showed above in this thread, and it fit and worked perfect. Way better construction and feel than the crappy plastic one.

My sway bar design had a small fault to it, and after the long hard drive, the bar shifted somewhat laterally. I ordered these clamps (in 18mm size to match the A4 bar diameter) to rectify the problem, and will mount them tight on the outside of both center brackets to prevent the bar from sliding from side to side again. always good to check on sway bar hardware after a few hundred miles, especially on a custom install.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/118/1169/=htlza4

**Extreme90path** · 06-03-2012 05:54 PM

Car looks fantastic man!

**Ruffiano** · 06-04-2012 07:58 AM

you should strongly consider coming to the "Battleborn Quattro" event in Vegas, http://battlebornquattro.com/?page_id=141

good fun event, mostly older quattros there and lots of good people, very laid back and friendly event.

**sa_seahawker** · 06-04-2012 08:46 AM

**onlyaudis** · 06-04-2012 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by Ruffiano

you should strongly consider coming to the "Battleborn Quattro" event in Vegas, http://battlebornquattro.com/?page_id=141

good fun event, mostly older quattros there and lots of good people, very laid back and friendly event.

Looks like fun from the photos at the link of past events. will see how things are looking in October and whether I'd be up for a 10 hour drive. there hasn't been too many local Audi get togethers in California, (more stuff for VW's--and mostly highly modded cars) and none that I know of that caters to the more classic cars. If they did in in Reno instead of Vegas, I'd go for sure.

**onlyaudis** · 06-04-2012 02:42 PM

just for fun, I went and re-read this thread from the beginning. I realized it has been about 2 months since I got the car. been quite an experience for me to harness the enthusiasm I had for this project and make my "to do" list for it shorter and shorter over the past couple of months. Except for one long expensive repair day at Tomas Sport Tuning, and the A/C 134 conversion, i have done all the work on it myself.

To answer my original question, I can say right now I wasn't nuts for getting the car. Even though I owned one of these cars for 4-5 years a while back, I never really did the hands on kind of work on that car I am capable of now (I am a late bloomer car guy). Got to get your hands a bit dirty to really get to know a car. After the hard drive to Mt Hamilton, my trust in the car went way up, and my respect for what Audi was able to build way back 28 years ago went way up as well-think about what most other cars were like that were being sold in the early 80's. Except for a rear sway bar, this car is all stock, and it is the most comfortable and responsive car I have ever done a hard drive like this with. An hour or 2 into the drive, I also realized I didn't even "feel the drivers seat" -no pain or discomfort anywhere in my body (and since it is cloth, i wasn't sticking to it either) They don't / can't make light weight all wheel drive sedans like this anymore, and I am planning on hanging on to this one. In many ways, it is a better car than my 02 B6 A4 1.8t--more comfortable, better visibility, and may even overall be a better handling car than the 800 pound heavier A4. It is certainly more nimble. My stage 2 tuned A4 is just way faster. a stock one wouldn't be that much actually.

One last major part of the project is due to be here tomorrow--some very rare 15 X 7 inch beautiful vintage wheels. I was happy with the factory wheels and will probably hang on to them, but when I found these, i had to get them. They are currently stripped to bare alloy and have been trued, but still need to be painted--which I am looking forward to doing.
here is a photo from the PO before they were stripped.. Wheel is an early 90's Compomotive CXN2 and looks a bit like the more modern BBS RC. It is a dual bolt 4 X 100 and 4 X 108 and has correct alloy 57.1 centering rings. all the 4 center caps are accounted for and in good shape too. aggressive 33 offset--I will not need my spacers i was running on the factory wheels. these were never sold here in the US, and the UK rep told the PO in an email exchange he knows of only one other set here.

**Ruffiano** · 06-05-2012 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by onlyaudis

Looks like fun from the photos at the link of past events. will see how things are looking in October and whether I'd be up for a 10 hour drive. there hasn't been too many local Audi get togethers in California, (more stuff for VW's--and mostly highly modded cars) and none that I know of that caters to the more classic cars. If they did in in Reno instead of Vegas, I'd go for sure.

there are quite a few guys coming from southern california, and even more from the SLC area (where i am), People come from sacramento and portland, and even seattle, very fun event, very good down to earth crowd, this is NOT like the "Wuste" fest in vegas that is just all about binge drinking and cars with bags.

Also I like the wheels, they are a nice vintage style wheel that will suit the car well!

**onlyaudis** · 06-05-2012 12:40 PM

Also I like the wheels, they are a nice vintage style wheel that will suit the car well!

Me too. i didn't think i would be able to find a 15 inch wheel more from that era that i would like, especially given the 4 X 108 odd ball bolt pattern. I was really lucky to find those--or actually they found me through a "looking for wheels" ad on Motorgeek.

Never been to Vegas, so if the car is still running well, we will see how it goes.

**onlyaudis** · 06-05-2012 10:31 PM

Worked on the wheels that arrived today. they were in really nice shape and were nearly paint ready, having been stripped and trued by a wheel place that the PO took them to. Had some small curb rash that I repaired with USC All Metal, which is a very heavy duty aluminum based filler that adheres well to alloys. It is the only type of filler that can be used on things that will be powdercoated, although i am painting these wheels, i wanted the small repairs to last. Primed with Transtar DTM gray Euro primer (DTM=direct to metal) painted with Spies Hecker base coat, Audi silver that they use on the newer cars, and a tough Upol 2 part Urethane clear. Painted the center caps as well.

These wheels are a 15 X 7 35 offset, and with the 205 50 15's i will be running, will have the same backspace as the stock wheels, so inner clearance will be no problem. the rears will fit fine and should be nearly flush but will not stick out any further than the stock wheels and tires with the 20mm spacers i had been using (will not need any spacers with these wheels--they may be for sale) . the fronts may stick out 5-10mm more than what is ideal, as they are about right now with only 10mm spacers, and will stick out another 10mm or so past that.. they should be fine on my stock ride height car, but could rub on a lowered car unless you remove that center protruding top screw in the wheel arch, and maybe roll the fender a bit.

polished up the decals and repainted the center caps. the finished product

**onlyaudis** · 06-06-2012 10:49 PM

Took the car to a classic Audi expert today to look at the A/C, but that wasn't what we ended up doing.

Steve Nechodom owns Karmakanix in Berkeley and is factory trained on the older cars. he worked on my 87 way back in the mid 90's when he had a one man shop complete with most all Audi factory specialty tools, and is one of the best Audi mechanics I have ever met. He doesn't do much hands on work anymore, but I bugged him to look at my car A/C issues for old times sake. Right off the bat, after just driving it into the shop, he tells me the I5 isn't running right. we get it in the shop, and he finds 3 things wrong with it right away. the distributor's vacuum advance isn't working at all and is broken internally, one of the vacuum lines was still run wrong, and the idle switch is not functioning. Looks like the A/C will have to wait.

he pulled the injecters and test fired them , and 2 of them had very poor spray patterns even after we cleaned them, and the other 3 were not that great either.. The seals were original black ones and totally fried. How did the car run as good as it did? At least the compression tests showed all cylinders were healthy with readings in the 190's

So far we rigged up a working vacuum advance from a used good 4 CYL distributor, took apart and serviced the distributor,(with the factory tiny little puller tool), set the timing, got new injector seals and insulators, ordered new injectors to put in tomorrow at a good price, got the vacuum lines sorted out, and rigged up a working idle switch from a later car and adjusted it to spec. we will put the injectors in tomorrow and tune the CIS afterwards.

when I told him I had done the timing belt a few weeks back, he told me the crank nut is nearly impossible to get tight enough without the factory tools. sure enough, it was not that tight and took a full 1/2 turn with the factory tightening tools. he has seen them come loose on a lot of cars over the years and cause damage. He said I had the timing belt adjustment too tight too,(its making some noise) and we will try to take care of that tomorrow as well and hopefully have some time to check out the a/C . he thinks its overcharged and also that the A/C shop may not have run the expansion valve's temp sender to the right location when they changed it out.

**teach** · 06-07-2012 04:39 AM

Originally Posted by onlyaudis

Took the car to a classic Audi expert today to look at the A/C, but that wasn't what we ended up doing.

Steve Nechodom owns Karmakanix in Berkeley and is factory trained on the older cars. he worked on my 87 way back in the mid 90's when he had a one man shop complete with most all Audi factory specialty tools, and is one of the best Audi mechanics I have ever met. He doesn't do much hands on work anymore, but I bugged him to look at my car A/C issues for old times sake. Right off the bat, after just driving it into the shop, he tells me the I5 isn't running right. we get it in the shop, and he finds 3 things wrong with it right away. the distributor's vacuum advance isn't working at all and is broken internally, one of the vacuum lines was still run wrong, and the idle switch is not functioning. Looks like the A/C will have to wait.

he pulled the injecters and test fired them , and 2 of them had very poor spray patterns even after we cleaned them, and the other 3 were not that great either.. The seals were original black ones and totally fried. How did the car run as good as it did? At least the compression tests showed all cylinders were healthy with readings in the 190's

So far we rigged up a working vacuum advance from a used good 4 CYL distributor, took apart and serviced the distributor,(with the factory tiny little puller tool), set the timing, got new injector seals and insulators, ordered new injectors to put in tomorrow at a good price, got the vacuum lines sorted out, and rigged up a working idle switch from a later car and adjusted it to spec. we will put the injectors in tomorrow and tune the CIS afterwards.

when I told him I had done the timing belt a few weeks back, he told me the crank nut is nearly impossible to get tight enough without the factory tools. sure enough, it was not that tight and took a full 1/2 turn with the factory tightening tools. he has seen them come loose on a lot of cars over the years and cause damage. He said I had the timing belt adjustment too tight too,(its making some noise) and we will try to take care of that tomorrow as well and hopefully have some time to check out the a/C . he thinks its overcharged and also that the A/C shop may not have run the expansion valve's temp sender to the right location when they changed it out.

I have a friend like that...he's forgotten more about those old cars than I'll ever know (mechanically, anyway). He doesn't usually have time for anything that isn't almost new, but has also come up with similar diagnoses very quickly. It sounds like this car will be better than "sorted".

**onlyaudis** · 06-07-2012 08:15 AM

it was amazing for me to be there as an assistant and see the way he goes about his trade. very methodical, he doesn't overlook anything, and he has fixed 100's of these cars over the years, and knows all their weak spots. I am very excited as to how it will run with a fully functioning, fully tuned CIS system. We found one new injector on the shelf, and when I saw the way it sprayed compared to the old ones, I ordered a new set that will be here today. perfect pattern, super fine atomization. almost has a musical note to it when spraying.