Re: Engine swap

[Ron Mruss <rmruss@pangea.ca>]

I think those of you who have been sending Bob hate mail because he happened to muse about changing the engine on his UrQ need to take some valium.  By all means express your opinion, but there's no need for personal attacks, which I notice have become increasingly frequent on this list, usually over what seems to me to be minor points.

I personally think it would be a shame to put a non-Audi motor into a car as rare as the UrQ, but that's my opinion, and it's not my car.

It seems strange to me that we all complain about what are, let's face it, design flaws on our Audis, but let someone suggest changing something to solve the problem (at least as far as they are concerned) and people go nuts.  I spent two hours this morning watching a mechanic struggle and curse while attempting to do a front wheel alignment on my '84 5KS.  Everything had frozen up and I had an alignment done last fall.  I also coated the tie rods with penetrating oil for three days before going for the alignment.  I mentioned that to the mechanic and he said that there's not much you can do "this is the worst design I've ever seen on a car.  They all seize up."  I was lucky - I needed one new tie rod end, but I didn't get charged for all the time the guy spent doing the alignment.  Still, had the design been better, the problem could have been avoided, or at least minimized.

So, what's my point?  Even though we love our cars, they're not perfect and we should all keep that in mind before we start slagging what someone wants to do to THEIR vehicle.

my .02

Jeff Mruss