TomB

That looks sweet old boy, and as we know, red ones go faster :-) Welcome to the forum. Cheers, Tom

Josh, I've just this moment sent payment. Drop me a line if there's any problems. Cheers, Tom

How far gone? Mine's a little knackered at the moment, but fixable. You can usually find replacement engines pretty easily on eBay which you could loot for parts. I'm pretty sure that a lot of work would be involved in dropping in a VR6, but I'm not the best person to ask I'm afraid. Good luck, Tom

h100vw, you are a lifesaver. I had a call from the garage about an hour ago to tell me that the head has been damaged, and is scrap. I asked them to give me a weekend to try and find a replacement! How much are you looking for for the valves and the head? Could you drop me an email at mailto:[email protected] or PM me as soon as possible? I'll be prepared to travel to pick up parts or pay postage as I'm looking to get it back on the road asap... Much appreciated, Tom P.S If you have an exhaust cam lying about as well, I'll take it :-)

mistrall, that's been done, and the replacement will be like for like. G60Dub, what sort of work is involved in that? Bearing in mind that all work is being carried out by the garage...

Well I spoke to the garage this afternoon, and apparently the camshaft is damaged, and the hydraulic tappet (?) above the cylinder destroyed. The head's coming off to fix it, and see if there's any more damage. While the head's off, I going to get the timing belt done. Can anyone suggest anything else that it would be beneficial to do while the head's off? Cheers, Tom

Fight em! Highway are a lowdown bunch of robbing bar stewards, and I urge anyone who's insured with them to try and find another insurer. If you start writing polite yet firm letters on exactly why they are wrong (refer to pg 15 of their policy document, the section entitled 'Paying Your Claim') and prove that it's cheaper have the work carried out than them pay you out the value of the car. If you want a copy of any of the correspondence I sent to Highway, lett me know. Best of luck, Tom

If in the worst case scenario my engine is FUBAR, can anyone tell me if it's a straight swap to a 2.0l or not? Is the downpipe different, are the mountings different, will it fit under the early shape bonnet? I noticed that there was a 2.0l lump in the 'for sale' section and thought I'd ask. Cheers, Tom

One thing I remembered is that the RAC chap said that it could be the bottom end. Any more thoughts anyone...and any idea if there's a 'Car Maintenance for Dummys' book out there or similar :-). I really need to learn more about how modern cars work... Cheers, Tom

Cheers Pablo. If that's the case, how difficult was it to sort out? Just dreading the garage bill...

Sorry, I was too annoyed to type straight last night... As I reached a 60 limit, I dropped into third and put my foot down, and she was accelerating as normal until about 3.5K revs, when the engine got louder as if I'd just blown a chunk out of my exhaust. The sound really reminded me of a Harley, but there was no loud bang when it happened. I changed up and reached 5th as normal, and while I was maintaining speed, acceleration was very slow. When I had to change down to come to a halt, the revs rose as normal. When I pulled off from the lights, I was accelerating, but there was just a massive loss of power (like being back in my old 950cc 205). I limped to the VW dealership about 500 yards down the road and called the RAC as no-one was available to look at it. There was oil on the plug that was removed I think, and yes there is oil in the sump. There's been no coolant lost, and the engine still runs, but it sounds very loud and unhappy. The car had a new head on it in 2003, could this be anything to do with it? Apologies for sounding like a complete numpty, but when it comes to car mechanicals, I am. Cheers, Tom

Cheers.

While this is a 'problem' there's nothing I can do to fix it, hence I'm posting in 'General,' but mods feel free to move. Something went horribly wrong with the 'rado today when I put my foot down. To keep a long story short, the RAC came out and I've just been towed home, but when performing a compression check to see what was wrong, there's no compression in one of my cylinders (RHS when viewed from the front). Can anyone suggest what this might be and how much it's going to cost me when I take it to the garage next week? Could I be talking about a new engine here? Cheers, Tom

Welcome to the forum, and at 150K miles, it should be nicely broken in :-) My last valver had nearly that, and the Passat was nearly 180K miles before that. I'd take high miles over low on an older car any day.

Just checked out the Highway Code online, and car-derived vans up to 2 tons in weight are the same as cars. Above then it's different. As to getting a 'rado, just shop around, try brokers, limit your mileage to 3-6000 a year, and find out how your stated occupation affects your insurance (I think I recall seeing something online). Good luck, Tom

Theres been a beautiful Green VR6, N** GCL, totally standard apart from no side trim, 120K odd on the clock parked in the long stay car park at York Station for the past couple of days. Left a note under the wiper with the forum address and a compliment :lol: Cheers, Tom

Yup, the RAC were very helpful when I had my crash, and they even claimed the callout against the insurance so that it didn't count toward my total number of callouts for the year. The only problem I've had with them were when I got a contractor who managed to break the steering column on the car I was in at the time. On the administrative side, I found the AA to be worse than useless. They illegally removed £120 from my bank account to pay for cover held by someone else...

135mph indicated in my 2.0l valver on the way back from le Mans last year, and it felt solid as a rock. I think my favourite quote was from the guy in the back who was reading his book; "I looked up and you were braking down to 120." Testing is still ongoing with the 1.8 valver, but so far so good at 120...

If possible I'd try and avoid Highway, just in case anything does happen. They are one of the cheapest insurers out there, but trying to get a reasonable offer out of them brings to mind blood and stones... Good luck! Tom

I don't know if you've solved this, but could it be your ignition switch? Try running a length of wire directly from the battery to the starter motor (with the keys in and turned one click), and see if it turns over.Good luck! Tom

Well, I had a look at the MINI website, and they're pretty quick! 170bhp, 1215kgs unladen weight, and 0-60 is 7.2s. BTW can anyone tell me what the unladen weight of a 1.8 16v is? CCGB website problems still. I'm in no doubt that I couldn't have kept up with him if he'd been in front, but he didn't seem to have the power to get past me in the first place :scratch: Still, we both had fun and gave each other a friendly wave when we went our seperate ways. :D Did I mention that I LOVE my car. Ah ha ah ha ha ha. I hadn't had that much fun in ages!

Just wondering if anyone on here has one, or knows someone who has. I had a *ahem* spirited drive back from Harrogate last night with one behind me all the way, and the only time he dropped behind was round some of the corners. I'd never buy one, but I'm curious to know what they're like. Still, Harrogate to York in 17 minutes isn't too bad :oops: Cheers, Tom

phaserno1, find out what they're basing their information on (could be Glass' guide modified by x amount for mileage). Most policies state that they will pay out one of the following (whichever is lowest): 1)The cost of repairs 2)The amount the vehicle was insured for 3)The value of the vehicle immediately before the accident. Send them autotrader adverts and if possible a signed statement from your friendly local garage saying what good condition the car was in. Send these accompanied by a letter asking them to increase their offer to about £500 more than you're prepared to accept and see what happens. PM me if you want a copy of the letter I sent to Highway (robbery). CHeers, Tom

1) Chelsea Tractors 2) Lack of indicator use 3) People driving like twunts in 30/40mph zones.

Yup, I'd go for a 1.8 valver, especially if insurance is likely to be an issue. I picked mine up from the For Sale section on here for a bargain price, and had some of my budget left over to get a few things sorted and a Cat 1 Alarm fitted :-). Good luck, Tom