I'm talkin' Zen, man......Zen.

[Carl and Dawn]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Hello All,

Well, since I started back with my MBA at Quinnipiac University I have not =
had a lot of time to work on the 'ol gal ('84 4KQ).  The three things I hav=
e been dying to get done are:
1=2E  Pass side motor mount and drivers side tranny mount - OK, OK I know t=
hat I should replace in sets but I am a cheapskate.
2=2E  Re-Wire the headlights - I have "E" code h4's and h1's  165mm 4-lamp =
setup and the relays were half-assed wired up by me a few years ago.  Now t=
he driver's side high beams come on randomly and stay on sometimes when I t=
urn the car off until I open the hood and smack the relay a few times.
3=2E  Shocks - the ones on the car are ORIGINAL and I have the paperwork to=
 prove it.  I have a full set of shocks (KYB's...remember, cheapskate), mou=
nts, stops, and boots but have not had an opportunity to do them yet.

    I, of course, started with #1 (motor and tranny mount for those of you =
who did not pay attention) last month and hit the perverbial brick wall.  A=
pparently 18 years of rust, heat, and oil contamination make removing a sim=
ple 17mm nut EXTREMELY difficult.  I got the lower nuts off without much fu=
ss but the top nut on the motor mount was being very stubborn.  On Presiden=
t's day, I finally broke down and took the quat to my good friends at Langa=
n VW  in Meriden(I take my B5 passat wagon there for service and can not sp=
eak highly enough about their service dept.)  anyway, they spent about 30 m=
inutes trying to get the top nut off and ended up breaking the shaft.  At t=
hat point I decided to have them put her back together and call it a day.  =
Today I thought I would take a fresh look at the mount to see what I could =
do to get it out.  After some pulling, yanking, and swearing I managed to g=
et a facefull of 18 year old motor mount fluid in my face upon separation. =
 Since I could now get a good grip on the shaft the nut finally yielded wit=
hout much fuss.
    New motor mount in, now I'm feeling cocky so I go after the tranny moun=
t=2E  It actually came out in the two pieces that it was already in without=
 much resistance.  After jacking the driver's side of the tranny up about 1=
 3/4" I could finally get the new tranny mount in.
    The car now shifts effortlessly into 1st and reverse and is SO QUIET th=
at I can not believe that this is my car.  I can not believe what a differe=
nce that two mounts     made but it is surely measureable.
    Well, all that is left is the headlight re-wiring and the shocks - that=
 should take another couple of months....

Later,
Carl

--