This month marks two years since I first saw Project Rusty up in Taupo, and couldn’t resist taking her on. My original timeframe was a year to get on the road, but that turned out to be highly optimistic. As did my original budget amount, which I watched sail past a long time ago. But I’m confident that I will drive this car soon, and that it will be better than I originally expected.
I’m gradually making progress on the underside. My to-do list is still growing but I’m also ticking things off.
I’ve got a little bit further this month, though it has been harder to motivate myself with the cold, dark, wet evenings! I bolted up the brake dust shields at the front and mounted the brake carriers.
I got out the new brake pads I bought months ago, and they were the wrong ones! It seems that most even though my car is a late 1984 manufacture it has the twin-pot front calipers which were fitted from 1986 onwards. This car has had an interesting past!
Speed.co.nz hooked me up with the proper ones for a reasonable price, and even delivered next day.
Of course when I went to plug in the wear sensor cables I found that the ones on the car had been chopped, so I had to make new connections.
Next was the rear. Re-fitting the rear subframe went well. I managed to do it on my own with a trolley jack.
I fitted the rear struts, then got out the rear brake dust shields I was planning to use fron the GT donor car, only to realise that because it was two wheel drive they were completely different. These are no longer available from Audi so I bought a pair of newly manufactured stainless steel ones from Quattro Corner in the UK.
I had some fun winding back the rear calipers as I didn’t realise until I asked someone that they needed to be turned as well as pushed apart.
Then I was able to get them fitted and connect up the new brake lines.
I added some fluid, bled the master cylinder and bias valve, then started bleeding the calipers only to find brake fluid dripping from the rear left caliper. It seems I failed to crimp the end of the line properly and it hadn’t sealed. So I cut off the end and re-crimped it, with brake fluid still slowly dripping out, re-fitted it and it sealed properly. Then I was able to successfully bleed the rear right caliper. I moved back to the rear left and no fluid was coming out at all. By this time it was 10pm and I’d had enough, so I’ll re-visit that one later.
I removed this filter from the fuel line and cleaned it out. It has quite a lot of sediment in the bottom.
When I was trying to remove the rear drive shafts I managed to damage the thread on one of them, so I borrowed some files from a mate and set to work trying to repair it. After much filing I was able to get the nut back on the end.
Back in the car, and all bolts torqued on each axle.
I also finally caved and ordered some stuff from Audi Tradition.
Not everything was what I thought I’d ordered though. It seems that when you search by part number it sometimes gives you something similar but not quite the same, like a left-hand drive steering rod for example. Also the replacement for the damaged fuel line looks very different. I’m not sure if this is because it’s the wrong part (part number on the invoice is correct) or because the pipe has been replaced on my car. The fuel pump on my car is from a Porsche 911 so maybe that’s why. I’ll work something out.
Finally a couple of pics of the current state of my car. I’m itching to clean it but Chris at Final Touch says I should leave it for when he works his magic on it. Must be patient.
Follow the full Project Rusty build here.
