The last thing I need right now is another project: Free ‘90 Audi 90

So...

I have several ongoing projects and vehicles that need attention, time and or to be sold off. There is no logical reason for me to get another car.

But, There is an Audi parked like a block and a half from my house that I have never seen move in the 4 years I've been here. Turns out, a bike shop customer and all-around nice guy that I have met and chatted with about my Fiat project, owns said Audi. He got it for free and is happy to pass it along for the same price. It has a key, a title and "ran when parked". I didn't even get to the 'free' part of this story with my wife before she knew the exact car I was talking about and expressed interest in it. So, I guess maybe there is some kind of reason to get it. There are a few issues (shocking) including some damage to the right front corner BUT: AWD, FREE, and Manual trans. Plus apparently 5cylinders and 20 valves. These are the pictures that I took in 2021 when I noticed that this cool old Audi was just apparently sitting there indefinitely.

It looks much the same now, but with 4 years less air in the tires.

Well, here is the start of the Build Thread while I don't have the car yet. The great thing is that it should be one of the easiest tows home that I have ever done. Unless, It actually makes the drive?

Lucky little bastard! I love the 5 cylinder sound of these when they are uncorked. Used to be a few shops that had some nice parts for these. If it's the later 91 or 92 then it should have the knuckles separate from the strut. Not the quickest but good on the go. The quattro system is where it really shines. Damn near unstoppable in the snow or mud. Fairly easy to make the struts into coilovers with either Bilstein or Koni inserts.

This last think you need right now is exactly the kind of last thing I need that I need right now. I'm still bitter that a 20V 90 Quattro I tried to buy way back about uhhhh <checks watch> 20 years ago was sold out from under me. Possibly for the best, but still.

It's so close so I grabbed a couple more pictures. 
I love that the defroster says this:

Wasp habitats:

And I bet there'll be way more. Hopefully I can get it home before they all emerge and get stingy. 
Driver seat needs some love. 

This is so cool to me. Diff lock. 

Some miles. Not too terribly many all things considered. And an airbag. Hopefully that will never need to be counted on. 

cool gauges. 

smashed bits. 

And 5 cylinders adding up to 2.3L. Looks like the balancer is just behind the bumper. Battery looks brand new. Sticker says 3/18. This has been sitting for a while. 

No matter how many projects you have, it'd be pretty hard to ever turn down a free car.

I had almost that exact car 28 years ago.  The motor and transmission are pretty bomb proof, the rest of it, not so much.  That era Audi can have lots of electrical gremlins and parts are getting very hard to find.  You're going to want to link up with the Audi enthusiasts around you, hopefully some of them can point you in the direction of parts and parts cars...

I love me a good '90 90. I had a pearl turbo swapped one for a bit. Still slow, but always a hoot to drive. Especially in the snow.

I still wonder if it's around. Never heard anything after it was shipped to Illinois.

I can smell that interior. 90s Audi scent.

Nice score!

Free, AWD, manual? I better see some dirt road hooning!

If you can find a audi 80 of those same years. The body is the same as well as the running gear. Interior and a 4 cylinder option are the man differences I can remember. Still have my Bentley Manual from the one I had in the early 2000's. Even have some coilover parts from my conversion left in one of my shed's. Might be time to start cleaning those out in a more robust way. Where in Montana are you located? I have family in most of western Montana.  Whitefish, Kalispel, Helena, down to Corvalis and Hamilton.

In reply to iansane :

I've seen that car before. Can't remember where but it was in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

Super cool, certainly in to folow this!

In reply to brad131a4 (Forum Supporter) :

Nice! I am in Helena. I'm going to look at our local wrecking yard this weekend, I seem to remember a coupe and maybe a couple other Audi cars there. 

In reply to iansane :

Those wheels! So good. 

brad131a4 (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to iansane :

I've seen that car before. Can't remember where but it was in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

 

I live in Tacoma and work in Seattle so that makes sense.

Nice score!  Finding a Lago blue fender might prove difficult.  Just as a heads up, the fenders and bumper on a Coupe are different than the B3 sedan(80/90).  I do have a brand new set of Depo headlights and clear corners around.  The Euro spec headlights are a must in my book for these.  The DOT headlights are absolute garbage.  I have a tone of parts around, so don't hesitate to ask.  

The car is still in the same place but these were delivered to me today. 

In reply to GoLucky :

Shoot one of my family reunions is in Helena this year. I had plans made before it was announced so I'm going to miss it.

Could have brought some extra parts I have left over from my car. Just need to locate them in the mess called my shed.

Another 5 cylinder! Nice! I've got a lot more experience with the large chassis stuff, but these B3's are sweet! 
 

There's still a solid community around these cars, even if Audi NA doesn't like to acknowledge them. EFIMotorsport, 034, and Ultra Performance Engineering still do aftermarket stuff for them, and motorgeek, quattroworld, and the project pad still have tons of technical details, even if there's not so much traffic there anymore. Plenty of FB groups for them too if you're on there. 

In reply to Turbine :

Just was looking at your build. Super nice! 

Walked over with a key plus gas and a jump pack. 

found some more wasp habitat

and a very old avocado. The trunk doesn't latch. 

I used a provided air compressor to inflate the tires.
With the jump pack on I could hear the fuel pump prime. I cycled the key a few times and... She started right up. 

Airbag light is on. No big surprise. I let it run for a few minutes and checked on some of the electrical stuff.
 

A lot of things worked:

Power windows. Power driver seat. Seat memory! Wow. Power mirrors. Seat heaters.

Some things didn't work:

Sunroof, it made bad sounds and I assisted it up. Diff lock button. Does not click or light up. Stereo didn't play or eject it's tape. Power locks, if I push down the drivers door lock there is some noise and nothing comes of it.
 

I drove it down the block. Nothing horrible happened. I went a little farther. All the gauges were looking good. 

The "information center" lit up a water temp caution so I parked it in the driveway. The coolant level was low so I added some and it eliminated the warning. Drove to the gas station and filled up with modern fuel. It wanted the nozzle upside down to flow. 

re- jumped and back to the driveway with no problems.

I'm trying, against all odds, to charge the battery while I run out to the salvage yard to see what they have. 

The oldest Audi in the junkyard today was a 97 a6 with a broken hood latch and a locked trunk. No parts acquired. 

I'm honestly surprised it fired so easily!  The injectors weren't know to do their job so well after sitting like that.  

As for the door locks, it is a pneumatic system, so it could be the pump, it could be the hoses, or even the actuators in the doors themselves.  Not a fun system to diagnose. 

The sun roof is a know thing as well.  If you pull the switch panel down, there should be an Allen key in there to use to open/close it manually.  The cables are know to get out of adjustment, and cause problems.

As for parts, I have never seen a pre A car at a yard around me.  Im in central PA though, so I'm sure it's different for you.  Good luck!

20v B3.... hnnng

The diff lock may also be pneumatic. In my '85 4000s Quattro, a battery leak caused acid to drip on the diff-lock actuator under the car and ate through the plastic, letting all of the air out (the battery vent tube exited right over the diff lock actuator).