4 Broken studs and a cracked 1-piece manifold on MC...

["Peter Berrevoets" <peterb@mysysltd.com>]

SO I'm not alone in having this problem in my beastie.

Last weekend I pulled the manifolds (intake and exhaust) off the 200TQ
knowing that I had at least one broken stud... well I had two broken and
managed to break two more taking the manifold off.

Once I had it off ( wrecking the extremely expensive turbo water inlet
pipe - rusted solid) I also discovered a crack almost circumnavigating the
1-2 EM interchange. I was surprised to find a one piece manifold as I was
under the impression that these (1990 200TQ) all had two-piecers.

Pulled the head off and sent it into the shop to have the studs drilled,
I've successfully done one broken stud extraction in an older 5000
non-turbo, but I figure my odds on safely doing four in the car were slim to
none.

While pulling of the head I had the joy of discovering a rather badly worn
timing belt, it actually slid off the front without removing or loosening
anything... I guess the Audi gods were doing me a favour. Yeesh!

I noticed that the exhaust mount/hanger at the front of the catalytic was
rusted out and not functional... I wonder if this adds further evidence to
Phil's hypothesis re: cracks and loose mounts.

I'm looking forward to getting this beast back together, with the head
refurbished and the manifold fixed, I'm expecting some great driving fun for
all the sweat and bruises this beastie has caused.

Any words from the wise would be greatly appreciated at this point, any
other fixes that I should have a stab at with all the plumbing and head out
of the way?

Thanks,

Peter Berrevoets
1990 200TQ 10V