My afternoon's work
 

Today after lunch with the sun shining I decided to work on the car. I've been slowly building up parts needed to fit a towbar to the D3. So, outside, on probably the coldest day of the year. That's how clever I am. And how full of stuff our garage is...

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...34D2691511.jpg

After approximately 2000000 turns of the worm gears either side of the boot:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...0D7461EA52.jpg

I realised my torx set didn't include an M10...

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...2EC24EFA3A.jpg

After a wild Goose chase I ended up at Machine Mart in Warrington. The manager was very helpful and £12 later I had:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...E42B87ED89.jpg

Before it got even wetter and colder:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...8057E4AB2F.jpg

And how I've left it till tomorrow:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...FF1B449BE1.jpg

Must say after 7 or nearly 8 years and 120,000 miles the car is like new in the places you don't tend to see. Good job, cos after all this effort I think I'm going to keep it for a long time, as long as I don't reverse it into my house and write it off while the reverse sensors are off.

Excellent afternoon's work John and good reference photos +++

Cheers Matt. Other than the worm gear scenario, these cars are quite nice to work on, aren't they.

Did you drive to Machine Mart without the rear bumper? :D

Yup:rolleyes: Needs must Matt!

:rofl: +++ top man!

+++ #they see me rooooollllin'

Excellent! Needs must indeed. :D

Boxed it off today, pretty much. Started this morning in -2°C, but thankfully dry

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...AF611A2C45.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...F74A822397.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...9EB15ECF2F.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...FF299EDE5B.jpg

Just have a few wires to connect now. Had to stop as my hands were numb and it was starting to snow/then MORE rain. The Westfalia kit is a great bit of engineering. And having read about someone using a cordless drill to wind the worm gear to release/tighten the bumper I used mine on the slowest and lowest torque setting. Brilliant idea. All went back together well. Very nice to work on the D3s.

Good one John.
Wigan Machine Mart is just across the field from ours. If you need them again and are stuck for transport give me a shout. I'm not always available but if poss would be able to help if needed.
Had the afternoon in Southport and came home to a whiteout. Great fun first thing today spinning on ice, and now snow on top of it. I have just managed to light up the little yellow car symbol, the one with two squiggly lines under it.

Nice work Ray. You get about. Thanks for that too. I appreciate it.

Machine Mart is my new fav' shop. I'd tried Euros, Screwfix and even Halfrauds. Always nice to have some fun in the car but be completely confident too. Not ****ing about in a RWD or even some of the less capable FWDs.

All the best.

I've driven mine with no rear bumper when it's been in for repair and respray. +++

Nice job. Looks awesome.

I have the same westfalia kit laying in the basement for my 09 A8 4.2 TDI.

Did you cut the hole in the bumper yourself? Is there any marks on the inside of the bumper where to cut?

Did you have any problems regarding wiring?

Regards
Kenneth

Hi Kenneth.

Thanks mate. There are markings on the underside of the bumper to cut. And it's on the underside so you don't have to be super neat. I chopped it out and sanded the edges down.

I used these 2 videos from a guy on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjeHKWNJoIk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjeHKWNJoIk

He is fitting a towbar to his A6, which is essentially the same process bar the worm gear mechanism that we also have on the D3.

This thread was useful too: http://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-s...ence-part-1-a-

I didn't use the Westfalia electric kit, which would have simplified things, because of the costs. And my brother in law did most of the elctrical side of things, as that's not my forte.

I didn't need to remove all the boot trim, you do have to drop the rear silencers down, two bolts each and bend the heat shield out of the way a bit. The trickiest bit was making sure I didn't ruin trim, scratch the bumper and connectors. And getting the nuts on the underside of the car. Had to have the wife turn the bolt above (after I explained how a ratchet works) while I held the nut underneath.

It is a time consuming job. Prob took 6+ hours of wrenching, the same again to wire it in, cos we didn't use the Westfalia electric kit. The Westfalia kit is superior and will no doubt last forever, so if you already have it or can justify the £200 price I'd recommend it, as it almost plug and play.

Any other questions please feel free to ask. I haven't actually towed anything yet. But fingers crossed it's all wired in correctly.

John.

Good man. The only thing you lack are parking sensors. No big deal.

She tows for the first time!

Pic in towing mode

With the generic electric kit you have the indignity of having to manually select towing mode. I know. It's appalling. Once in towing mode it locks out the rear suspension I believe and the rear parking sensors still function, which is a slight annoyance, but hey. I'll live with it. Dynamic mode is greyed out on the MMI and you get a buzzer with the indicators.

The 8 tows like a beast. You'd barely know you were pulling anything.

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unless you were towing this
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http://i64.tinypic.com/295yhhj.jpg

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or this
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http://i63.tinypic.com/24zw1on.jpg

HA!

Roberto,
I like the big red pumpy thingy in the first photo.
Can I steal it for use in my water effect? :ROFL:

I recognise that beast, the pump, not the stealth S8 😉

So go on, can Forim members not in the Pump Club know what it is?? :ROFL:

I prefer the Hilux.
Is that liverpool docks?

YES it is, i sold to a guy in southern ireland :)

It was the pump from the fire protection system we had on the site used to work on, bought by Roberto and ended up in the UAE if I remember rightly? The engine was 30 years old but only ran for thirty minutes every week for system checks, so it was hardly run in

no no no
its still at my house i run it every day to annoy my neighbours
its doing the job nicely (no exhaust of course)

You do that just by being there, no engine required :ROFL:

oh
 

+++++++++

Obviously said in jest, Mr S. You're a gentleman and a scholar, one of the few folk on here I'd consider to be a friend +++

i know init dude
cheque in post

I also installed the oem towbar. People make fun of me for hauling up to 4.5 cubic meters of clay and gravel and stones with a V10. That is literally a truck load and not really allowed but I live in the countryside so...
When you get above 3.5 tonnes you start to notice it and then I generally stay below 65kmh. Love the exhaust on full chat whilst towing hehe

Good man+++ That's quite the towing car. I've pulled some weight with my TDi, bet the V10 is even more effortless with more torque and nearly double the BHP