davidwort

there are two part numbers for RHD car wiper arms and I had both side by side (1990 and 1994 car) the later cars have bigger springs on the arms!

yep, at the time I had 100/80W bulbs in the main beams and when you have the spots added to that it's 160W per side, 320W total seemed quite a lot for one terminal to handle on one relay and I didn't fancy all my main beam (or dipped) cutting out if one fuse/relay went, so it seemed obvious to do all 4 independent while I was at it rather than 3/4 of the job with 3 relays. I did only use one original feed for switch both sides though, but as this is only the switching feed now I thought it's not going to have much load so should be pretty reliable. So I actually have 4 fuses and 4 relays.

the arms are the problem, or rather the springs on the arms, I did actually manage to modify an original arm to make the spring tighter and the result was brilliant, but the easy route is to get some new arms and some quality blades, I've never found aero blades on any car I've driven any better than cantelever ones, at least within the legal speed limit-ish.

I built a 4 relay set up years ago and have never had one stick or fail, must be 15 years old now, the trick is to make sure you properly waterproof the relays and connections, like any OEM underbonnet relays/fuseboxes. I went a bit overkill and used bare connectors with separate rubberised plastic covers (not the horrible ready insulated crimp things) and then located everything in a sealed electronics project box located in front of the battery.

suspicious of the 4 branch (engine it is for) as the mk3 16v engine is almost exactly that much taller

oil and water should get to 80-90 degrees C in 10 minutes or so of normal driving from cold, water temp should stay stable on the gauge except in extreme conditions but the oil will fluctuate from 80-120 C on most cars depending on ambient temp and driving conditions I've found a cheap IR 'gun' thermometer (less than a tenner if you buy from China) is really useful as you can point it at everything under the bonnet to help diagnose blockages and faulty stats etc.

could be corrosion on the metal inlet part of the cooler the hose is clamped to, once it gets all 'lumpy' the hose struggles to seal, need to drain some coolant off and investigate, eventually, especially if the correct coolant/dose hasn't been used for a long time the metal alloy can actually corrode right through and you get pin holes in the tube, so even if the cooler itself is sound and not letting water into the oil it will still be shot. But have a good look at the hoses too, they could be past it.

bu99ers, there's this one for £31 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JMJHZ4E?ref_=gbps_img_s-3_0747_ae658034&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE or this for $39 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004RADNCQ?ref_=gbps_img_s-3_0747_b4471429&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

cheapest I've seen, I'd been after one for Xmas, but it might have been 'purchased' already.

this seems pretty good (£46) for a decent ctek battery charger: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FC42HAA?ref_=gbps_img_s-3_0747_39f2ec6b&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE anyone spotted anything good?

we've all been incredibly lucky to have you dedicate so much time and effort into this forum, A VERY BIG THANK YOU!!! :salute::salute:

it's always the door membranes in my experience, even if they look like they are OK, the daft design allows water to collect between the membrane and the inner skin and leaks rarely show a trace on the door bottom or sill trim

it's not just car parts, I have a garage full of stuff and can never find anything, plumbing bits, cans of paint, even power tools. The worst thing is going to somewhere you kept something for ages only to remember you moved it one day when 'tidying up' and can't remember where it was put, I found a 'missing' bag of cement the other day!

oh spit, what a downer, so what's wrong with fitting tappets without any oil in them? I've never soaked tappets and they seem to pump up within a few seconds of the engine running.

I've been watching people talk about rising corrado prices since 1994 :) Briefly, just at the end of production nearly new VR6's were selling in London over list price then too. The low point was probably about the time of the scrappage scheme, I don't really think a lot will change, look at 'classics' like the mgb roadster, a friend's dad did a full restoration on one around 1990 and sold it for just over 10 grand, you can pick up one now for a couple of grand more than that (25 years later!) much as I love the Corrado it's never going to be a Jensen Interceptor or Healey 3000. A quick web search shows concours low mileage mk1 GTI's and MK1 sciroccos for somewhere between 10 and 15 grand, similar for a top end Corrado I suppose, then pick your level of corrosion for prices below that :)

interesting additional photos!

I've ditched the old by-pass valves, they seem to stick with age even when I've only ever used distilled water and coolant in the engine and they restrict the flow of water through the matrix, I only ever got much warm air on full heat setting, so much better with them out and the replacement matrix should be stronger and not need the by-pass anyway, another good reason for getting a proper valeo one. of course the lack of heat could be the matrix itself blocking up, another good reason to replace it, it's giving a warning possibly

what are you driving behind :) knowing the 16v fairly well, I'd say a small leak from the cam cover can occur at any time, and on a new gasket too, unlikely anything from the rear of the car is causing the problem, air escapes from the cabin there not enters, unless you leave the tailgate up :) one tiny drop of oil can make a lot of smoke, as the others have said it's that or a manifold/downpipe leak unless a breather is totally split.

d'oh! I'd imagine the lever from the handle to the door catch mech has snapped, it will be somewhere in the bottom of the door http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corrado-Handle-Repair-Repairkit-Facelift/dp/B00AZK6842

the ABF bore/stroke was optimized for a high revving engine, they're great lumps, a better head and valvegear than the KR/9A, the capacity of the 9A but with the revvyness of the KR, a great set of high lift and duration cams as standard and the first proper FEI on a Vw 4 cylinder lump cant go wrong with them, the mk3 16v was very underrated IMO and the seat cupras with the same engine were very nimble, mk4 GTI turbo had no more power and a boring flat torque delivery from the turbo 20V

damn it, now my telly is faking efficiency tests, it's all lies, next thing we'll find out duracell batteries and fairy liquid don't really last that long... http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/01/samsung-tvs-appear-more-energy-efficient-in-tests-than-in-real-life

I did it the same way as delfinis38, white spirit dabbed repeatedly on it seemed to do the job or petrol and lots of rags to wipe the gunge off, use meths or panel wipe to fully clean before sticking the new panels on and be careful to line them up well before pressing down, they stick like the proverbial (which is good!)

same here I just file them down if I don't have all the right ones, finally I have one key that does everything after nearly 20 years of ownership :lol:

^ :lol: I bet Honda & Toyota are loving this, having bet on petrol hybrids rather than diesel

I think it's quite simple Jim, a lot of jealously, and people don't stop to think that celebrities might actually have worked hard to get where they are, I suppose the big-brother/national lottery view of things has a lot to do with it.