Re: Torsen stuff/Torsen Threads <*all*>

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

In message <81CD658B5601D211BEA7006008CDCD85011C6CBF@exchgcd.kronos.com> "Rich, Jack" writes:

> No, there are two people claiming to have done it on every torsen they've
> tried to do it on.  Big difference.

Yes - sorry.  FWIW I had a long chat with Martin Parker about this
today.  He was kind of a captive audience - when I changed the old
tariling arm bushes out on the Type 44, I apparently disturbed camber
on both rear wheel.  He'd already freed up the left rear in fixing
the wheel bearing, but the adjustment on the right rear didn't need
touching the first time around.  It _did_ this time, and it proved a
bastard.  He wound up taking a torch to it.

I went through the last year's logs with David, Brian Rickets' stepson.
We figure Martin has aligned over 150 Torsen cars in the last twelve
months - two of them mine.

He uses the "Autodata" compendium of alignment information.  I checked
the ur-quattro data against my own copies, and the Type 44 data against
the Type 44 microfiche and Bulletins in BR Motorsport's library.  Spot
on.

I described 'spider bite' to him, and showed him some of the descriptions
from the last flare-up and this year.

You kind of have to know Martin to appreciate his response.  He didn't
speak to me at all on the first two occasions he worked on my car - on
the third he broke the ice with the immortal phrase: "Breather hose".
When I arrived at BR today, I commented at length on the performance of
the Uniroyals on the car, finding that they were crap in the dry but
no worse - in fact, quite good - in the wet.  Martin just pointed at the
umbrella symbol embossed in the sidewalls.  They're rain tyres.  Duh.

Anyway - I described 'spider bite' in detail.  He wandered off around
the car, and almost as an afterthought simply said: "Rear camber".

--
 Phil Payne
 UK Audi quattro Owners Club
 Phone: 07785 302803   Fax: 0870 0883933