Speaking of Bernie and other things...

[Alex Kowalski]

>>> Bernie, is that you?   ;-)   Take your hand out of John's back and
>>> leave him alone.

First let me say that I am taking another lister's recommendation and driving the car slowly until the fluid level in the transmission balances itself out.  I will check it probably tomorrow and top up if necessary, then in a hundred miles or so give you my final conclusions on the efficacy of this approach when faced with a gear that's grinding a little on an 18-year-old car.  

Onward into something even more interesting:

I did read some of the thread on the 200q20v list about strut bracing and the relative (lack of) strength of the Type 44 chassis, and amazingly last night I myself found some of my own evidence of this:

On the sheetmetal brace that ties the two strut towers together (a relatively flimsy piece of metal if I ever saw one!  Couldn't they have spent $5 more to double the thickness?) I noticed that the passenger side on my car is on its way to a crack as another lister noticed.  The paint has simply burst along a line from the edge of the brace normal to the Audi-supplied hole.  Any of you who have been following the thread will understand what I'm talking about.  The missing paint is about 1/8" wide by 1.25" long.  There is bending going on here.

There is no split or crack in the metal yet, but it is clear to me that there will be, at some point, especially if I upgrade the suspension and wheels/tires.  For now, only the paint has given up, but this is not a good omen.

SO:

I would like some real recommendations about what you think I should do.  The Bernie Brace looks interesting, except that I have reservations about putting those kinds of loads into the top of the strut piston rods all by themselves.  Won't that cause the strut inserts to fail much sooner than otherwise?  Rip the seals apart, etc.?  Why not brace the strut towers also?  

I really don't want to restart a war here, and I'm not looking to turn the car into a race car.  But I *do* want to upgrade the suspension, wheels and tires in the next few months, and I would appreciate some non-ego-driven suggestions.  The sheetmetal and body on my car are in *excellent* shape, with no detectible rust anywhere that I can tell, and I want to keep it that way when I do the suspension upgrades.

Thanks,
Alex Kowalski
'87 5KCSTQ

--
"I gargle with gasoline because here in the USA it's cheaper than Listerine and makes me a much hotter kisser, too."