[Vwdiesel] Smooth sailing

[Shalyn Shourds]

  After a three year exhibition of apathy, I finally got my '85 Jetta TD 
back on the road tonight.  I'm jimmying the shifter since I haven't 
quite got that aligned yet.  I decided to order the alignment plate from 
Metalnerd since I checked with 1987 and they were out of casette tapes 
:(  The bulk of the work I did to it involved rebuilding the front end.  
It's all new with the exception of one front wheel bearing.  I got it 
eyeball aligned and headed out tonight after dark.  It was an unusually 
cool night for Texas in August.  So much so that I thought about rolling 
the windows up, but the moonlit air felt good and I remembered how much 
I love driving that car.  I tested out the suspension and brakes in the 
jumbo parking lot of "The Decorator's Warehouse", a giant 
(Walmart-sized) store dedicated to Christmas decorations, year round.  
Seemed appropriate to be running a slalom and doing panic stops in their 
lot.

Results:

Drive train--excellent.  Thanks Loren for the timing and fueling 
adjustments!

Suspension--great.  The car still rolls in turns, but it's an economy 
car, not a F1 racer.  Best it's been in the 18 years I've driven it.

Brakes--still dodgy.  I could just barely get it to skid.  I've bled and 
bled the brakes.  I don't get a firm pedal unless I "pump" it.  I'm not 
sure at this point whether it's still air trapped in the system, a bad 
master cylinder, or a sketchy vacuum booster.  I do own a brand-new OEM 
master cylinder which I'm temped to install in place of the discount 
rebuild.


-Shalyn