85 UR quattro

DeutscheMarques & More

We entered the car for the DeutscheMarques car show at the Gilmore Car Museum. DeutscheMarques is the largest German car show in America and the Gilmore Car Museum is an automobile museum located in Hickory Corners, Michigan, about a two-hour drive from us. The museum exhibits over 400 vintage and collector vehicles and motorcycles from all eras in several vintage buildings located on a 90-acre campus. The museum claims to...
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Out of Hibernation

When we left you back in January, we’d put the car away for the winter in pretty good shape with it running quite well. Before we got it out again, we thought we’d fix the horrible grinding noise coming from the passenger window regulator so we pulled the door card off and wrestled it out of the door.Once we got into the mechanism, we found that the cable had stretched...
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2022 Update Part 2

As a final fling we got brave enough to dirive the car two hours north to the NOWO car show in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Where it received a lot of attention.That trip was enough to prompt its first oil change so up on the hoist it went.Also, as we had it trapped, we decided to address its somewhat poor running characteristics. It was struggling to run smoothly on boost and was...
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2022 Update Part 1

We’ve had fun sharing our Quattro, with its newly rebuilt engine with people all summer and fall but it’s not been all plain sailing. Read on…One duty we didn’t expect to put the car through was as a grocery getter but, as needs must sometimes we loaded it up with supplies for a function at our showroom and even sent it to FedEx Store to pickup some printing. We don’t...
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It's Back!

Sorry it’s been so long since we updated this project but, thanks mostly to COVID, there was nothing much to update.Last time we talked was back in June of 2020 when we’d just decided to rebuild the bottom end of the engine. Phil, our URQ guru stripped it down while we shopped around for an engine shop that could and would do the work. The first place we took it...
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An Update On Our 1985 Audi URQ

One of the backfire’s we mentioned in a previous post must have been so severe it blew a hole in the exhaust system! This was already hacked up by a previous owner who removed the silence and clad the baffled inner pipe but left the rear box end on as a pipe hanger. Temporary fix.The original floor mats started to dissolve! Apparantly this happens after 35 years. New replacements were...
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More Concours Prep. The Untold Story

Before we dropped the 85 Quattro off at Auto Europe for detailing we had been trying to diagnose some running issues. Basically the car would hesitate when transitioning onto boost but otherwise ran pretty good. There are no real diagnostics on these cars and the CIS injection we find baffling but thought we could troubleshoot it. We went ahead and bought a CIS fuel pressure tester kit to check the...
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More Concours Prep. For Our Quattro

With only a few weeks to go before the Concours of America we thought we better get in stuck and fix some issues with the car so we got it into surgery:     Where we removed the TIM and BRAID stickers we have had on the car since we got it:     Put the stock steering wheel back on:     Put the stock wheels back on:  ...
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Getting the 85 Quattro Ready for Concours

WOW. We can’t believe it’s been a year since we updated this thread. Better get cracking. Let’s see, what have we been up to?   Well, before we put it away for the winter we took it to the gas station to fill it up but on the way back it died at a light. Took much cranking to get it to fire back up but then we only had...
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85 UR Quattro Is So Clean

Took the car to AutoEurope in Birmingham for: new tires alignment detailing dent removal Now so clean. Hadn't been cleaned for three years! They did a great job. Shame it's parked back in the showroom and not in my drive. Next on the agenda is to address the hesitation under load at around 3-4000rpm. Any ideas?
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85 Quattro Out and About

The car is running but not perfectly (more later) so I have been taking every opportunity to drive it and pose around in it. Took it to the post office: A cars and coffee or two: Parked in in the driveway: and at the showroom: I even parked it outside the local Audi dealer: This really is the key to happiness. Paul Eddleston-BRAIDusa & Team Illuminata + 0 Votes
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85 UR Quattro Needs Some Tires

HELP US CHOOSE SOME TIRES. The Kumho all seasons (no seasons) that are on the car are done so it's time for some new rubber. The stock size of 215/50-15 is NLA in anything affordable and streetable so it's going to be 225/50-15 again. The car does not see winter so summer tires are a must. I don't track it but want the most grip I can afford in case...
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85 Quattro. Diff Done!

Well, the diff project is done, not without with some casualties. Read on………. Our friend Carlos, a venerated old car genius, made a jig for the press to keep everything aligned while pressing in the notorious pair of small sub frame bushings. The large pair went in like you’d hope a bushing went in: easily. Well that didn’t work and we destroyed one $50, only available from Germany bushing. Apparently...
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Differential Equations 85+URQ=?

It’s been another slow project. Who would have thought replacing three diff seals would take this long? LOL So we replaced the rear diff mount. The old one came out on the press but the new one only needed a g-clamp and some grease to persuade it home. Fortunately we took pictures so we were able to orient it correctly; or at least the same. We searched hi and low...
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85UR Quattro Speedi-Sleeve Fail

Got the right axle seal in but not started on the right one yet, the BIG one. Had to order the drive shaft seal as I had the wrong one but I did try fixing the groove in the shaft with a Speedi Sleeve. These press on the shaft using the tool provided with the sleeve but it didn't go too well and we were very disappointed with the tool...
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85 UR Quattro Rear Diff Tear Down-ish

We started to dismantle the diff and subframe. Dismantle might be too strong a word and we are just replacing bushings and seals, but it is an old Audi. Drive shaft and both axle flanges are out. This is the big seal on the left. No longer available but 034 Motorsport had some made. Phew! Will need to replace this as it broke off the diff lock actuator shaft. Will...
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85 Quattro Drops it's Sub Frame

How hard could it be? Very Well the axles and drive shaft needed some persuasion to let go of their respective couplings. A few wacks with a hammer did the job. We made some room by disconnecting the lower control arms and the tie rods from the sub frame.   Then moved on to the sub frame bolts. Two came out easily. However, the rear right was seized in the...
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85 Quattro Under the Knife, Again!

Uh oh! Car is on the lift again! Hopefully not for two years this time.The plan is to drop the diff and reseal it. Three main seals to replace and I think they are all leaking to some extent.My first plan was to undo the axle and drive shaft bolts, undo the diff mounts and then, hopefully wrangle the diff out. All the axle and drive shaft bolts came out...
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Leaky 85 Quattro - fixed?

It's been winter for too long already so no driving the 85. No working on it either as our 83 rally build and wheel sales have been keeping us busy. We have been picking away at the hydraulic system leaks however. We easily sourced some new pressure switches for the hydraulic bomb and quickly replaced the one on the side. However we did manage to disconnect a wire in the...
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Tidying Up After the 85 Quattro

Been looking for opportunities to show of the car and have some fun with it before we run out of season. The demise of our A3 left us with some 17" BRAID Fullrace A wheels and 225 tires lying around and with the help of the spacers that our ALLROAD doesn't need with it's winter wheels it soon became obvious what we must do. Throw them on the quattro! This...
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85 Quattro Out and About

Sorry about the lack of updates. Got distracted by some work related events not the least of which was attending LSPR with our 911 and other assorted old rally cars. Since we got back we haven't worked on the car but taken every opportunity we could to drive it. This included a funeral, a couple of cars and coffee events, an open house and running to Autozone for parts for...
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85 UR Quattro is Back!

So, a lot of work but not a lot of updates. Here's why. Bled the brakes. Reinstalled the grill and the bumper. and put it back on all fours for the first time in years. Then got it to idle and run quiet. https://youtu.be/4aqI0iT-wP8 Then drove it off the lift. https://youtu.be/Qp0ASTHZ-V8 Then took it for a drive. https://youtu.be/ypoHY6EsoyQ Then stood back and admired it https://youtu.be/FfhyveNAIPI Happy birthday to me!
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The Quattro Lives!

So, assembly continues as we edge nearer to the momentous day when it drives itself off the hoist, hopefully down the road and not into winter storage. Got the throttle body cleaned, adjusted and back on. Then had to fix the inlet air temperature sensor. Fortunately our 83 has one that looks like it was a replacement once. Ohms check check out too. A bit of electrical shenanigans and it's...
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Quattro Nearly Finished

Today's progress. Hopefully not this weekend's progress. Connected the fuel lines to the warm up regulator. New fuel filters: There really isn't much left to do. At least to get it running: CRANK BOLT THROTTLE BODY WIRING ISSUES SPARK PLUGS TRANS FLUID Then once it works: COOLANT REAR BRAKE LINE BLEED BRAKES, CLUTCH PS STEERING FLUID WIPERS BUMPER HEADLIGHT INJECTOR BLOWER TIGHTEN CONTROL ARMS ADJUST SHIFT LINKAGE ALIGNMENT DETAIL Then...
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