Rpmayne

The springs should always be under some compression to keep the spring seated correctly. If the car is jacked up and the spring can be moved I'm pretty sure that's an mot fail. Don't know much about coil overs but could you have wound the seat down to a greater distance than the length of the uncompressed spring?

I changed mine to that redline MT90, didn't really feel any difference but the stuff that came out looked pretty dirty. Think its worth it for peace of mind though.

Cheers, think the donor car will be the way to go as you say. Would be good if the 8v and GL / drivers are all common bits, makes it abit easier to source.

Does anyone know what's involved in converting a mk2 Golf 8v to power steering? I should be getting my old car back off my parents when they upgrade so this will become the cheaper runaround. Just got used to the Corrado P/S now so would like to convert if it's not too much work. The car's in pretty good nick so worth abit of investment. Take it I need the following; P/S rack - use with original sub-frame P/S pipe work and pump - hopefully car already has mounts as it was an option. Pulley - not sure where the drive is taken from Thanks.

Sorry but at 20 I was paying just over 2k fully comp on a mk2 Golf 16v. Your quote doesn't seem too far out to be honest. Thing is, I thought it was unfair at the time, then stuffed the car and the claim cost around the 2k, so in effect they had weighed the risk up pretty well in my case. What sort of money are you talking for a 1.0Litre on your own then? My first car as soon as I passed my test was a Mk2 Cav 1.6 (didn't know any better at the time) which cost £850 TPFT (group 8 ). Drove that into a hedge within a month so they didn't make anything out of that premium either.

Well I'd politely go round and ask whether they saw anything as you say, then ask where the other car is, and if that gets heated call the police. I went the good will, insurance will sort it out route and ended up with a bill for £400 so wouldn't think twice about getting some legal backup next time round.

Depends how you get on with the said suspect I suppose. Obviously not of good character to have done a runner in the first place, and not a chance of not knowing they had done it as an excuse. Had similar happen to me but the lorry had no damage to its rusty girder of a bumper. Hopefully it's done plenty of terminal damage to theirs so you can get the police round to confirm it. If that doesn't work I suppose threats of accidental bodily harm may help resolve the issue, if you're sure it was them of course.

Sorry to hear that, bloody lucky is was seen. Had a bed removal van go into the rear quarter of a golf. I couldn't prove anything although the removal van which I'm positive did it was still there, nothing else could have hit it at that height without missing everything else. Was TPF&T so cost me £400 to repair the panel.

Something must be fundamentally wrong here, I'm pretty sure I don't have any fuel leaks and seems to go really well so would have thought fueling was ok. Only thing I notice different to other VR's is that the engine feels really light, revs up and drops very quickly. Thinking about it, maybe the lambda probe is mucking around, except last time that happened it ran like a pig and showed 11mpg on the trip. Very noticeable. Given what the mpg should be wafers, I definitely wouldn't worry about it. That's not much worse than what I used to get from a mk2 16v when I really had a death wish.

Just done a few sums. Bear in mind the engine's a true 2.9L, rebuilt so should be in top working order, and only has a oil cooler, generic chip, milltek and k&n panel as mods. All taken from 65L tank (15.5 gallons) so averages in themselves. Gentle as possible driving: 22.6 mpg (350 miles) Average driving: 18.1 mpg (280 miles) Hard driving: 14.8 (230 miles) Can't see any of the mods causing major differences so don't really understand why I always get mpg alot lower than others on the forum. Gentle is honestly gentle aswell, never over 3000 rpm, slight pedal movement etc. I basically spend £10 every 50 miles at the moment for the 5 mile journey to and from work each day.

I thought the idea of the aux water pump was to keep the coolant circulating after the engine has been turned off to reduce localised heat soak etc which could warp things if very hot. Don't think it's intended to 'boost' the operation of the main water pump. Don't get how the pump working increased the engine temp though.

Thanks for the info, seems like a good deal so think its worth it. Didn't realise the Golfs got a different tensioner though, can't think of anything else that would be making the noise. Definitely in the head and is a rattle which seems to resonate just off idle. The car is completely standard so I would have thought all the suspension parts would be original. As of yet my mates had 1.6 escorts etc so will probably think the handlings amazing until he gets the money for coilovers.

PM sent billinjahg60.

I think it's the timing chains because its coming from the gearbox end of the head and doesn't sound regular like at a tappit. When the revs are just over idle its most noticeable from under the bonnet. Inside the car it can't be heard. Mine was overhalled at 85k miles and the rivets had already broken on the upper tensioner. Changed that and the head gasket etc (albeit with the engine out) so should be able to give it a go. Short journeys ties up with the miles, has been doing about 6000 a year, and going by the owners i doubt it's been thrashed. Only other thing worrying me (probably over the top but i got stung) is wear on cylinders 1&6. Only way to really tell I suppose is to have the spark plugs out (services february) but not sure how the owner would take that. MOT test showed good exhaust emissions though.

Alright all, a mate is just about to buy a Golf VR6 which he asked us to have a look at. There's a couple of things I just wanted a second (and more..) openion on if possible: The car is a P plate, 71,000mls, black metallic, heated black leather, A/C electric everything, build quality that puts the Corrado to shame. Very good condition inside and out with service history, and mots. The asking price was £3500, but after abit of haggling due to the following it's now £2800: Rattle from the timing chains so that will need doing eventually. Asked my local mechanic about it and he said it's not likely to completely fail for a while. Electric window doesn't work. Can hear clicking from the motor but the window doesn't move. White residue on the inside of the oil filler cap. None on the dip stick and no residue in the water. There was evidence of some oil spray on the inside of the bonnet though so I'm hoping this is down to moisture getting in around a leaking filler cap seal. What do you recon, worth the risk? Drives very well, only thing i did notice though was it seems to hold onto the revs alot longer than mine when you let go of the throttle. Middle aged owners who seem pretty genuine. Thanks for any thoughts.

Apparently it's just had a new MOT, service and cam belt change so should hopefully be quite solid then. Good it's galvanised so any crash / bodged repairs should hopefully be pretty obvious by signs of rust. Do you recon £1200 sounds reasonable? That's ono so should hopefully get it abit cheaper if sound.

Has anyone owned, know what to look for with these cars? Seen a cheap K-plate 1.9TDi locally on 98,000mls. Want the MPG basically and store the C until the summer. I asked about the service interval on the turbo and the owner has no proof of it ever being done, just that it works very well. Sounds genuine enough but should I be worried? Having never owned a turbo / SC of any description I don't know what to look for. And any other pitfalls with these cars. Thanks.

I would definitely hold out for a pretty sound example. Don't worry about making your mark on it, you'll have plenty of things to make you bankrupt go wrong with it. I'd get a well looked after semi-standard car then fix/upgrade when things arise I bought mine, complete engine rebuild/rebore(82.5mm pistons), suspension, brakes, bushes...... After all that I've got a car which isn't much better than it should have been to start with (most of its new though), and it still needs finishing touches which I can't fund. I could have bought an absolutely mint storm (there was one for 10k which I wish I had bought now) and have money left over. £1000 will go nowhere btw.

Can't believe a Storm went for £3200, even with a weak interior. £4500's abit better but thought a good condition one would be worth more than that. Looks like I'm going to be stuck with mine until next summer / top gear recommendation. Going to hurt letting it go for that kind of money, almost tempted to break it. If I'd known how much they would be worth I would have done that along time ago.. What is it with Nigeria postal addresses on ebay? Anyone tried to sell a mobile phone recently? Some of the life stories leading to an offer of £300 for a £40 nokia are quite amusing.

Just after some selling tips really, has anyone managed to sell their VR recently? Want a realistic idea of price and where people sucessfully advertised etc. Thanks.

Cheers, I was looking through the GSF catalogue and just saw the Boge stuff so wondered whether it would comparable to standard. Koni's would be nice but I'm trying to do this while making some back on the Gmax kit and savings on the insurance for a standard car. Just phoned GSF however and they don't stock any suspension or exhausts for VR's anyway. Sometimes feel like I've bought a unique kit car.

I currently have Gmax suspension on the VR but I want to put the car back to standard (maybe slightly lower). Has anyone had any dealings with the Boge kits? I was hoping this would be the standard ride with slightly lowered ride height.

I think ABS is invaluable for when situations arise which you don't expect, such as someone stepping out on a wet road etc. I must admit the split second when the brakes 'let go' just before the ABS kicks in has made me loose a couple of beats, and it seems to cut in before I think it would normally lock up. But, it's saved me and others a few times so i'm happy sticking with it. I can't see that human reactions / pumping pedal etc can beat the stopping distance of ABS, plus you can still steer, well after the forementioned 'let go' time which again scared me abit. This was all during testing btw. :?

I thought everyone was getting abit soft thinking a corsa looked good. :D Scary really how everything starts looking the same. Wonder how big the radiator is..

It's my old golf which I sold to my dad so I don't get to drive it much. It's a non power steering one and must admit the steering doesn't feel too good. Does seem to take more effort to keep it in a straight line than it used to. Saying that, I sold it on 100k it's now done 140k+ miles so anything could have worn inbetween. Can't really see that a bearing would have enough play in it to cause major handling issues by allowing the wheel to rock. Maybe if it starts to bind up the power delivery may be uneven causing problems. Will let you know when I've done it as to whether it improves anything other than the noise.