[urq] A Big Confession

[Andrew Finney]

I've been busy with work, and haven't been paying too much attention
to my digests lately. I wanted to come clean and bare my soul. After I
sold the '84 to a dealership in NYC I had every intention of settling
into a nice A4 avant for the new family. Well..... my passion (read:
insanity) for UrQs keep leading back to my friends at 2Bennett. Here
comes the news...... I bought the disassembled '85 UrQ they had for
sale and it's in the middle of a V8 conversion. It is stone gray in
color, which I have never seen before, with heated black leather
interior (in boxes) that is in pristine shape.

Right now I have sand blasted all the suspension parts and painted
them, installed new cad-plated nuts and bolts, installed every new
suspension part there is under there (curse those f-ing subframe
bushings), including ones that came in boxes with the car that are now
impossible to find for decent money, like the real blue strut bearings
and front ball joints. I installed  2 bennett coilovers. I replaced
all the fuel line hoses. Detailed and repainted the rear diff. Added a
rear late-style sway bar to th rear of the car.

The body was clean, being a CA car but I noticed that the front fender
had been replaced at one point. So I removed the fender, fixed the
chronic UrQ problem of lack of primer beneath the fender top inside
edges, reattached, resealed, and coated the underbody with Waxoyl.
There was absolutely zero rust on the body, even the vertical seams
below the doors. I coated all the pristine insides of all the panels
with waxoyl to keep it that way.

Next step is to finish the front suspension, pull the side glass,
repaint, and then install the V8.

I'll keep you all posted. Boy that was a load off my chest. The '83 is
again my daily driver. You got to love the MC engine, with a 2Bennett
radiator it always starts right up and never goes over 90 degrees,
even in 110 degree weather.

The '85 in-sane-o-purchase completes my ownership of the 3 primary US
model years, '83, '84, and '85. I have to say, '85s beat '84s in terms
of their interior and both are light years above the '83, but then we
all knew that.

Andrew Finney
1983 and 1985 UrQs.