are these safety issues? '88 80Q

[Tessie McMillan]

After an excursion I had at the track last September, we've repaired 
everything we could spot that was broken. Mostly the front right 
suspension (new wheel, wheel hub, wheel bearing, A-arm, everything; 
cosmetically, we rebuilt the front bumper assembly). The frame might be 
tweaked a little bit on the right, as the hood has slightly different 
alignment now on the right than it does on the left. All 4 coilovers 
appeared to be fine according to my mechanic. The only thing I have not 
done yet is a corner balance alignment; my mechanic did an eyeball 
alignment, which has actually been pretty darn good in the past.

But then started the noises. First, it was both rear wheel bearings 
(opinion on the list was they got sheared/compressed during the rearward 
impact). We replaced both rear wheel bearings to fix that.

Maybe a month or so later, started some intense squeaking and a MAJOR 
grinding noise when braking. My mechanic replaced the front rotors, 
saying the FR looked scored and a little bent. 

Also during this time, I started hearing a pump activation noise behind the 
brake pedal when I was braking and the car was just coming to a stop. We 
decided this was just the pump getting old. I'm not worrying about this 
one right now.

Right after the rotors were replaced, I could tell there was still a 
very slight squeaking/grinding noise when I was braking. It got a little 
worse over a couple weeks. So my boyfriend, a 356 person, not an Audi 
person, went in and chamfered the edges of the brake pads, saying that 
should help with rubbing. He also fabricated a small roundish backing 
plate -- a plate he says is shown in Bentley but was missing from my 
front brake assembly. That squeaking/grinding went away for a about a 
week.

A week later, there are new noises:

	1) Rhythmic, very high pitched REAR wheel squeaking, most of the 
time when driving.
	Intermittently, a droning FRONT wheel squeaking when driving, more 
on gravel/potholey roads and making turns.

	2) 2 ka-klinks coming from the front brakes; first the left brake, 
then the right brake when I come to a stop. I have OEM Girling cast iron 
calipers, PowerDisc rotors, and ... ATE? performance pads. Could this 
be caused by lack of shims or shims in the wrong place? My boyfriend
says this must be due to not having proper shims. He says I have one on 
each brake assembly and thinks I need two, and that where they're placed 
affects the caliper geometry. I've only worked on my Spider's brakes, so 
I don't understand the brake geometry here.
 
	3) A hollow THUNK sound somewhere in the front suspension near to 
the ground when I'm making a turn or going over something 
off-camber. Tie rod end? Mounts to the coilovers? (My mechanic said they 
were fine, but what does _that_ mean.) What should I look for?

Any help explaining brake and suspension geometry and helping to diagnose 
whether any of these noises represent SAFETY issues would be greatly 
appreciated!

Tess
in Bellevue, WA USA