Timing belts and idler rollers

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

Ian (of Area G) duly arrived yesterday and we spent the day changing his
cam belt.  The strip was uneventful - including the idler roller
removal.  Is the early (2144cc) engine known for easy removal?  On MB/1B
engines, I've always had to use formal persuasion of some sort to shift
the things - on Ian's WR it just slid right off once a large screwdriver
had pointed out that this was required.  Only disturbing thing - the
crank pulley bolt came out at 250 lb ft.

A bigger problem was presented during rebuild, when we found that the
crank pulley Woodruff key was broken off.  From the look of it, there
had also been some rotational disturbance.  The pulley was in a pretty
bad way, but the crank seemed undamaged.

Where do you get a replacement crank pulley at 15:30 on a Saturday?

Answer - ring Pete Reeve at Quattro Corner, who just happens to know
where a WR ur-quattro is being parted out at a scrapyard in Birmingham,
about fifty miles away.

Can we get there in time?  My other car is also a quattro.  There are a
lot of traffic islands in Birmingham - poor Ian was subjected to a
sequence of 'party tricks'.  But we got there, picked up the bit, pored
over the sad remnants of a white WR and shot back to Ian's car.

Anyway, it's all back together.  We had time at the end to fit his new
headlights (_NEW_ Cibies for GBP120 each - Audi want GBP60 for the main
beam reflector alone) and discover he has a split wastegate diaphragm.

Otherwise, Ian's WR is immaculate and he got a _REAL_ bargain at
GBP5500.  It has a new bomb, master cylinder, servo and ABS pump.  I
don't think the warm-up regulator is very old, either.  The body
looks perfect.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
 (The contents of this post will _NOT_ appear in the UK Newsletter.)