Toad

The VW stuff is enough for several engines too, so you could always keep it for a rainy day/flog it on afterwards.

Is it worth replacing both lower ball joints and steering ball joints while you're at it? And the two bolts through the suspension strut, although I've never bothered with them. Have you got ABS? I guess not, but might be worth putting new cages on if you do. Mrs Wort to stand on the brake pedal while you undo and retorque the hub bolts?

I like it. :)

As long as it's not about pidgeons, sheep or seagulls - bring it on! :lol: Or glorious puppies! :norty: Caaaw! Caaaaw! ;)

I was going to be a pilock and say wood, but the later ones had plastic covers with captive bolts, rather than studs and nuts.

I thought it was only the cars with the metal rocker cover that had it?

Yeah, although some people like to remove the boost return and just spray lube into the charger. I still need to send you that email, don't I? :oops:

Early VRs didn't have the PCV valve, they had wire wool in the outlet of the rocker cover, and a bit of ruber pipe instead. They also have different carbon canister pipes, as the late cars have a take off to the PCV, while the early cars didn't. Hope that's of use? Also my old PCV valve was so knackered the diaphram section had perished, so air could flow in either direction with ease. Edit: After having read back a few posts and read your comments about the pcv valve being vaccum operated, then thinking about mine being perished, this might explain some VRs having a shoddy idle, where the pcv valve is letting unmetered air into the inlet manifold....

Ummm. Lots of other engines vent to atmosphere, the reason modern cars don't is as CraigOwl points out it's bad for the environment, and modern cars legally have to ingest their own crankcase fumes. It's not particularly good for the engine to be snuffling up hot stodgy air, and it tends to leave an oily residue over the intake piping, also not good. I'm pretty sure it is of no real benefit in giving the engine warm air for cold starting either.

:offtopic: they may have done something, but i wasn't aware of specific agricultural stuff... certainly they made (and still make) a lot of trucks - they've been a big part of the Dakar: ...and when they folded their car production in 1997 they were the 3rd oldest car manufacturer after Peugeot and Benz! Maybe it was the trucks I was thinking of. Aweosme pics!

Same amount of tensioners and 12 Rockers, 24 tappets actually chap :D Sorry... Bad combinations of words used there. Do the tensioners not control the VVT? I also get confused between rockers, pushrods etc. I'm too used to nice simple OHC engines :) Anyway, the VVT setup is another thing that can wear and adds extra complications. No I'm not... If I had the choice of a reputably proffesionally rebuilt 12V and a used, admittedly low mileage 24V engine and had to pick the one that would be most likely to cover another 100,000K, I'd go 12V.

I like my G60/VR 280mm front brakes on my valver, and think tey're adequate for a standard car in the UK, but they do struggle a bit pulling the car back from 120ish, and after experiencing brembos on Junkies and Marcu's cars I was seriously impressed at thier abilities from high speeds. saying that I'm also a firm believer that you can over brake the cars if they're going to be pootling round at low speeds.

Just wanted to stick up for the 12v engine a bit more. 1 & 8 as James said, it might well seem a whole load quieter and smoother than a 15 year old 100,000 + mile old VR, but having done Dinkus's chains, tensioners, tappets and cams this summer, it completely changed the car so quiet and smooth. Needs to be seen/heard to appreciate it. 2 Reliability. This is something I don't get... A lot of people knock the 12v, citing bore wear,tensioner failure etc. Firstly, I personally don't feel these issues are as bad as people make out, The 12v engine is very strong and will continue to run with some major faults (Was it ChrisHill who dropped a valve this year and kept going?). Secondly, I think the 24v and R32 are still young and we've yet to find out what faults they will have.... for a start, there are twice the tensioners, 12 pushrods as well as the 12 tappets, which will start to wear. I also am not a fan of second hand engines. I probably worry too much, but I don't really trust people enough to sign £1500-2000 away on an engine, wiring looms and converting a car, only to find out that the engine is fooooked.

according to a mate at the Beeb, the summer season always tends to be 6 episodes, where the autumn/winter one is usually 10-12... no idea why :? i know they're doing an Eastern Bloc segment this series as they contacted the Tatra Register UK (which i edit the newsletter for) to see if we could loan them a car for the test. the chairman's T-603 was duly dispatched to them last monday, but as Ian handed over the keys they told him that they'd already decided the car that 'won' the test was a Skoda... :scratch: ...which removes a bit of the myth again :confused4: if anyone's still awake reading this, we have the same car on our stand at the NEC in a fortnight :) Tatra built agricultural equipment too didn't they?

996 Cabrio, £14,500 I thought....

I wound my castle nuts down until they were tight then nipped them up with a hammer and punch. Dunno if that is really a reccomended method though...

The light can mean both. No antifreeze mixed in the coolant can cause the car to think there is no coolant.

But you could still end up with crap, no matter who looks at it, there are a lot of things that can fail which you can't spot unless the engine is running. It's all down to luck at the end of the day, and I'm not sure I would want to put £300 of secondhand engine and £400 of labour on fitting (£40/hour x 10 hours) down to luck.

But... You could end up with a sack of crap. You don't know what a second hand engine has been done or subjected to, the actual mileage, the actual service history. It could have been in an accident and have damage you can't see from the outside. If you have an engine rebuild by a reputable company, you know it's good for a long time, nothing will need doing it and you will have a warranty. Similarly if you buy a recon engine from a reputable company such as VEGE, you know that it should be ok. Personally, I'd look at getting an ABF or 9A, and get the head refurbed (£300-350), and bores honed and rings replaced (~£100) crank checked, possibly reground and new bearings put on (~£200 perhaps). I'd then know I had an as new engine that should last 100,000 to 150,000 miles. If that work cost £1000, it would only equate to 1p/mile...

Fuel pressure dropping too low as a result of fuel filter being blocked or pump knackered would be my first guess. Throw a new filter on and see what happens.

:shock: :lol: Is that why mine looks like someone spilt something creamy on it?

I've got one ;) unfortunately it appears that something shat on it, and the holow in the boot floor is less pronounced. Might try to pick up a cheap space saver and see what happens...

Might be because the geometry is being pushed out, so you're effectively getting too much toe in or out and hence the level of grip decreases. If that is the case, then this mod might sort things out. What springs do you have by the way?

I will be in the same boat as you. I don't have a 5 stud space saver, so I'm not sure. But in the event of a flat front tyre you could swap a rear to the front, and put the saver on the back. *EDIT* forgot you have 280 rears, so you can ignore this. Keep a can of tyre foam with you?? Think I might roll with a fullsize rear wheel in the back with some mods to the rear carpet.

It is normal for them to turn. Can't quite work out how far they are sat away from the top of the tower, but your top mounts *could* be worn. Did you fit new ones when you fitted the suspension? I wouldn't worry overly, you'll probably find out if they are unacceptable at your next MOT... Worth noting that lowered/stiffer suspension does wear topmounts quicker than the original stuff.