(sorry, no pictures) Here follows my clumsy report of what turned out to be a really great car day at Chris Miller's house... Chris, Brett Dikeman, and a couple of other guys had pretty much planned a get together at Chris's house, complete with specialized tools on hand, to tackle a few Audi timing belt and water pump jobs. I took a look at my spreadsheet, and lo and behold, it had been aboput 57,000 miles since this was done on my car. The recomended interval is about 60,000 miles, so I realized attendance could be more than a social pleasure for me. By the time I arrived, at the crack of noon, there were Audis everywhere, many of them sporting piles of tools, removed parts, and greasy-handed owners staring at them. For just a moment I thought I was in junk yard heaven, then I realized these cars were going to be reassembled and driven home. Three timing belt/water pump jobs were about half done, and various other cars had brake parts lying around in the sun. I spent a few hours goofing off, yacking with old acquaintances and new, and admiring various members of the mechanical contingent. We even got a visit from a random drive-by VW Quantum owner who had left his 4000 Quattro at home - now he knows about this little list... I got to play video-cameraman for a brief moment during part of Chris's timing belt installation process. At about 5 or 6 pm there was room to pull my car in. I tore into the front of the engine, and once it was all apart, off came the old orange cam cover, and in went the 5kt cam (ulp!). After slowly reassembling the stuff on the front under the patient and attentive tutelage of Mike Sullivan, it looked like a good time to see if the engine would run. Well, not right away, but after much cranking and checking for spark and fuel, a few wild twists of the distributor yielded something resembling an idle. With the timing advanced 55 degrees... I spent a while putting the accessory belts 'n' stuff back on, refilling with coolant and checking for oil leaks. The car appeared to have enough power to leave the driveway if required, and I helped the other guys zip their machines up tightly. There had been a couple of oil leaks, which were all solved by replacing crank seals again (thanks to Stott Hare for running to get more of them, eh?) Finally at about 2 AM with three red 4kqs (one a T) around me for peace of mind we all rasped and warbled our way out into the night. What a pretty little convoy we made on I-93! My car did manage to get home under its own power (whew!) but could use a little tuning I think... Sorry not to be able to name all attendees, but special thanks must be offered to our gracious host Chris Miller for a wonderful job of making this all happen, making sure the right tools were there, and taking care of the tea and sympathy department!  |
