Thursday, November 20, 2014

Isolated

A PO had gotten creative in the distant past with the isolators that dampen vibration from the air cleaner mounts.


The one above wasn't too too bad, but close examination revealed a VW/Audi stamp on the rubber. Horrors!

The other two were made of 1) a small piece of hose and 2) five or six regular metal washers.

For some reason I dawdled for years in getting these right but now they finally are correct for the car and the engine bay continues its journey back to a semblance of stock.


One of the fresh ones, a bit crusty but still new.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Parcel Shelf Speaker Delete

At last!  The nasty speaker holes are gone from the parcel shelf and it is back to its proper color, shape, and size.


I don't want to even think about what it looked like when I bought the car, but if anyone is interested here is what it was:


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Armrests Regrouped

Broken lower armrests are a common feature in these cars. I am not really clear on why this would be but I see evidence of the problem frequently in pictures online.  Here is what the result looks like:


Surprisingly these plastic lower rests are still available in Europe, although not in the braun color of my interior. It's an easy matter to spray paint them to the correct tint with Rustoleum rattle-can paint, however.  I found the exact color match by buying a bunch of cans in a local big-box store and taking them out to the parking lot to match the color on the can to the interior upholstery. Last step was to immediately return for refund the examples I didn't need.

I have replaced the armrests on both sides. Wresting the arm rests apart demands patience; they are secured with odd metal flanges on the top sections that slide into slotted holes built into the bottom pieces.


One more fix to cross off the list and forget about.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

New/OId Oil Pan

Another improvement, this time a surprise. I was having my oil pan gasket changed by Patrick at Midnight Motorsport, and he graciously installed an oil pan freshly pained and in far better condition than the old one.  That particular item had either been hit, or otherwise dented by someone attempting to lift the car using the pan as a base.

OLD




NEW






A vast but infrequently seen improvement.