Quote:
Originally Posted by 27litres
I've come to the realisation that it's so much easier to take the whole radiator support off the car for access. This video confirmed it.
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This is one of those cases where it's easier to just remove the stuff than to try and work around it, the same as removing the driveshaft and suspension upright to do the power steering hoses. Sure, its
possible to do with it in place, but its much more difficult.
In a case like this where everything was seized then its a struggle to get it apart the first time, but once it's all dealt with it'll be simple next time. The front end comes off my grey one in about ten minutes - the worst bit of the job is disconnecting the PS cooler which is annoying and messy but as I hinted earlier, thats not going back on this one as I will redesign it not to go through the front panel. In later models Audi changed it to connect from underneath so it can swing out of the way, so I shall do the same.
The AC rad just swings out of the way too.
With the front panel on, its harder to get tools straight on to things like the water pump and crank pulley bolts, where finesse is essential. If you round off one of those then the front is coming off anyway to fix it, so better to just remove it at the start
