[urq] Very old parts...

[Louis-Alain Richard]

Hi all,

After a short but very cold winter, it looks like spring is just a few days
away. So I decided to replace the rear inserts and upper strut mounts on my
car. Parts (BOGE Automatic and "green" retainers) were in my basement since
last year so it was really time to do it...

- Like Wolff, I am able to remove the struts from the car in just minutes,
without going back to the toolbox. BTW, if your car has the rear anti-roll
bar, it is a lot easier and faster to unbolt the bar-to-frame brackets
instead of the bar-to-a-arms brackets. The anti-roll bar is so soft it will
not prevent you to drop the a-arms enough to release the ball joint. 

- Removing the inserts is very easy now with inexpensive air tools and a
proper spring compressor. And this time, no fingers were pinched in the
process. 

- The struts removed from the car were genuine Audi 857 513 031 (built date
29-10-81!) and both were still working perfectly, even if one began to leak
this winter. To me, that's quality parts for sure. I wonder if aftermarket
BOGE will last that long...

- The rear strut mounts were not blue (like the front units I replaced last
year) but black and their part numbers is 857 412 355. Must be a Type 85
part, but for which car? Original units maybe? They are completely
destroyed, the bearing is separated form the middle and the rubber is all
squished. This explains the strange behaviour of my car on the slippery
surfaces: the left wheel was moving a bit and now this winter tire is good
for the garbage.

- One wheel bearing was kinda blueish (must have heated a lot!) so
replacements were ordered: FAG 545495, no more than 31$ each. Hey, that's
really inexpensive stuff on this car! Replacement took the better part of an
afternoon and yes, I did it with only a hammer, a small anvil and lot of
patience. No hydraulic press involved. 
In fact, the longest task was the removal of the circlips, deeply rusted in
their groove. The removal of the bearing itself was accomplished with brute
force and a bit of luck (no inner race stuck to the wheel hub). Installation
was easy by gently hammering the outer race using the old bearing as a
spacer. Boy this metal is hard, not even a dent after all these blows. 
Pushing in the wheel hub into the inner races was trickier and this time I
had to use the 2 old inner races to act as a support for the new bearing.
But If I have to do it again, I will use a threaded rod, nuts and big
washers to act as a compressor. Much safer and much faster.

- Reinstallation on the car was done in less than 30 minutes, including
reinstalling the rear seat. 

- One deception though: there is still a noisy bearing back there, must be
in the differential since the CV boots are fine and the driveshaft is
properly greased and aligned. But this will wait until I attack the subframe
bushings (in another life...).


Next job is the replacement of the door hinge pins. In the meantime I
collected a new tool: a Campbell-Hausfeld air chisel to push the pin out of
the hinges.
(http://www.chpower.com/catalog/catalog_list.asp?categoryname=Air%20Tools&ca
tegoryid=113&subcategoryid=1340)
You won't believe it, but this cost me only 21$, including 4 tools! Damn, a
36-in axe cost more than that!

Cheers!

Louis-Alain
83 urQ