Fleet Occurrences

[Split_Pin]

Since winning the Audi nearly 2 years ago I always thought that the car had slightly 'floppy' handling with lots of scuttle shake. It recently got a lot worse and the OSF strut had lost most of its oil, was drumming away like Tommy Lee and it bottomed out regularly. I had a go at replacing it myself and everything came loose except one of the lower mounting bolts. It was loose but no matter how much I cleaned the thread the nut would not clear it, even with my mains impact gun. The bolt was starting to round as well so before I got into even more of a pickle I had it replaced by my local garage, can't argue for £40 and it's a 10 minute walk away. I had a good spare from a breaker and it's now like a completely different car. The ride is firmer, it handles better (new tyres help) and the scuttle shake is much reduced. Delighted!

The offending bolt before it became a bit mullered:

IMG_20201011_155113.jpg (6.06 MiB) Viewed 3571 times

[cros]

Lovely to see a bit of good honest corroding suspension bits not on my motor. My motor looks like that and with an MOT looming it's nice not to suffer alone.

[Split_Pin]

The rest of the car is actually alright and that strut is off the car now anyway.

I've only covered around 1000 miles in this since it's MOT in February, mainly due to lockdown. I should use it more but I prefer my 75 right now.

[Split_Pin]

The nearside rear caliper on the 75 was suspected to be binding a bit so I had that freed off at the start of September when I had all the brake lines replaced. The Rover chap I take it to and I agreed that it would probably start to bind again and I think it is doing so again, just a touch. New calipers were £30 from ebay so it made sense.

I'll fit it when I get the chance, will be 3 out of 4 replaced now. Hopefully the rear is as simple to fit as the front. The handbrake components and backplates are all new so hopefully there won't be too many hurdles.

[bub2006]

I have fond memories of Audi convertibles, I was kidnapped at gunpoint in an 06 plate A4 ragtop.

Only you can have fond memories of that! Great fleet splitting. May I ask what were your opinions of the duster?

[Split_Pin]

To use a worn out phrase 'It was what it was'.

It was a big cheap car with a presumably proven 1.6 Nissan petrol engine. Interior space was huge and the cuboid-esque shape meant that it was almost van-like with the seats down.

The seats were uncomfortable on long journeys though and if you hit a bump whilst cornering you got some alarming kickback at the wheel.

Mine was a facelift 17 plate and came with all season tyres and even in 2WD guise they could go a lot of places other cars couldn't Ground clearance was very good indeed.

Mine was an Ambience spec which gave you a dab radio, electric front windows and that was about it.

All came with stop-start.

Fuel economy was average, mid to low 30s.

They hold their value well. I had mine on finance from brand new and when I had to sell it to WBAC last year after being made redundant and having the car for just over 2 years, I actually got £800 cash in my back pocket, which I was pleasantly surprised about.

Sadly like most cars that leave my ownership, it was written off in January.

[bub2006]

I did look at one before choosing the mini but I didnt rate much to first opinion on driving position and seats. Was unsure if it being new car and needed a few miles so to speak. Reading your review though I dont think I'd have gelled with it.

[fried onions]

Did you use Plus Gas on that stubborn bolt?

[Split_Pin]

I'll try that next time.

Got the strut changed over at my local garage and it's like a different car. No more wallowing or bottoming out. I kept the old strut as the springs for the smaller engined 80 cabriolets are hard to come by. All the remaining fluid in the damper ran out over the following days when it was on its side on my shelf so it really was done.

I carried out another oil change on my 75 last night and my poor wee Laser extractor died a slow death. It took my an hour to extract 6.75 litres. It would only hold vacuum for a few seconds. It's done well for what I paid for it, I do 2 oil changes per year on 4 cars and I've had it nearly 3 years. Being a normally sedentary bastard, my arms were killing me last night from this. All done now however I'm now struggling to find a decent replacement. The larger capacity pillar box types don't look to have a long enough lance and the smaller bulb-shaped ones are too expensive despite being identical to my existing one.

[Eddie Honda]

Laser extractor died a slow death. It took my an hour to extract 6.75 litres. It would only hold vacuum for a few seconds.

All done now however I'm now struggling to find a decent replacement.

Er, how about fixing it?