[ba] 82-85 coupe shift linkage source? Thanks to all. - and a good lead for the future

[Michael Heth]

On Aug 8, 2010, at 9:09 PM, urq wrote:

> After thinking a bit more about the Fox, I realized that there may  
> be a
> better forum from which you may find info on FWD shift linkages.
>
> http://www.dog.mp3equipped.com/dog/
>
> The qlist is most comprised of "quattro" fans ... which means there  
> may not
> be that many who know about cars where the shifter linkage comes out  
> where
> the rear driveshaft attaches ... ;-)  DOG is the Dasher Owners  
> Group ...
> where most everyone is familiar with FWD Audis and VWs ... many of  
> them with
> longitudinally mounted engines ...
>
> HTH!
> Steve Buchholz

Got the Coupe back on the road today and gave my 15 year kid old a DIY  
lesson, as in yes, you/we can fix the car and save the $500 it would  
cost at any local shop.

So, I want to thank all the list members who offered advice and tips.

I really appreciated it.

I was never able to find any leads on any of the forums or through  
sifting the Google search results. I was going through all the online  
"build your own search" at the parts sites and they all said they had  
1 $20 round bushing available, that was it.

So it looked like the consensus that parts for a 28 year old car would  
be NLA was going to be right.

I had half talked myself into making my own bushing (just for the one  
that had disintegrated) but on a whim I stopped into the local Audi  
dealer. I had a printout of my PDF and the parts guys was extremely  
helpful. After we tallied up the totals if I replaced everything that  
might be suspect we were at $275. The minimum was about $103 for just  
the plate with the slotted bushing, neither of the bushings that were  
pressed into the plates was available as a separate part.

He then did something either very customer service oriented or based  
in the reality of working people (I couldn't figure out which). He  
printed out the parts drawing from the Audi digital fiche, the list of  
parts we had discussed, a full listing of all the parts referenced in  
the drawing and notated which of the 4 part numbers referenced which  
parts.

Basically a find-it-yourself detective kit for those with a low budget.

Sure enough, plugging in the Audi part number into a Google search  
returned 3 listings only 1 of which actually led to a site.

But the site had all the parts I could want/need and at 40% off the  
Audi pricing.

http://www.importeccatalog.com/

So although Sonnen did not get my $103 this time I'm planning a new  
Audi purchase (well, newer than 1982 anyway) and will try hard to give  
them the dough.

So, the takeaway -

all the parts were still available and all were also available for 40%  
off but you needed the original part numbers to find them.

Thanks again to all who offered help.

Shifts better than it has in many years now.

Next up for the 15 year old - repairing the emergency brake cables  
(funny he didn't smile when I mentioned it ;-).

M./

Michael Heth
classic_coupe at serversmiths.com