ReekieVR

Another C in Edin - Silver *** FCU parked near Cameron Toll this morning.

I am just installing my super new Audioscape pods and generally sorting some better sounds. FYI: I have Focal Poly 130 V2s in the pods and tweeters hidden in dash. I have a bog standard Sony stere ( XRc300RDS - 30W x 4 ) and a couple of simple questions: 1. Should i bother taking the sponge off the door card and dynamating it, or just concentrate on the door skin and structure? 2. I have a small 30w alpine amp and was going to bridge it to drive something like this velcroed into the boot. The stereo has a line out. If i then disconnect the rear speakers with the Alpine running the sub, then will i be able to increase the volume on the head unit more before distortion occurs? 3. Do i need a crossover for the sub? 4. Is this setup - well - a bit crap? I dont want banging loud chaver tunes or anything, and i dont want to spend any more money ( the pods and speakers are enough for me ! ). Also i dont really want to change the head unit as its got a 10 disc changer attached to it and i will be into £££s to get a new similar.

M reg blue VR in Homebase carpark Edin - fri afternoon. I parked next to ya but noticed your disks were a bit rusty so you either work there ( rained like a bast during the morn ) or live nearby. Your parcel shelf was lying upside down in the boot with its 6x9s showing !

Yup - replacing the unit was the only way for me :(

Edinburgh: White C ( G60 or 16V ? ) waiting to to onto Cameron Toll r/bout. I was comming off it up Dalkieth Rd in the vr. Dont think you saw me. Looked v clean !

oops - just realised i spelt Andi's name with a y in my prev post. Sorry Andi !

I have a similar issue. I was told it was the Sony head unit i have - "all Sonys are bright mate .."

Instead of more commenting, I thought I'd try and come up with an idea about how the forum and club could coexist: Aim: Andy needs funds to run the forum. The club is in a bit of a rut and communication seems to be a problem. ReekieVRs plan: Andy introduces 3 levels of forum membership: 1. Guest: can search and post in all forums except ( new )CCGB Forum for 30 days. No repeat guests. 2. Standard Member: can search and post in all forums except CCGB Forum for annual forum fee. 3. Club Member: can search, post and access all forums for annual club fee. Access to protected CCGB forum. If you don't register you cant search or post, only view - same as now. Notes: The CCGB has to encourage standard and guest members to join. This is its target audience! This means having a membership fee which is close enough to the standard fee, as to make it a no-brainer ( " only x quid extra and I get all this !" ). I suggest £10 pa for the standard membership & £15 year for Club. Now, Andy and the club have to sweeten the initial change for their current members and have a business model to deal with new members 50% discount for existing members should do it: There are 4 types of people they need to plan for: 1. Current forum members. They get 50% introductory offer for switching to 1 year standard membership ( £5 ) or club membership for ( £7 ). Dormant accounts revert to guest after 4 months grace period. 2. Current club members. They get free access to all parts of the forum and password protected club area. New CCGB forum password is published in Sprinter mag. 3.New forum members. Can be standard ( £10 )or club ( £15 ) membership. 4.New club members. Join through the forum and get it @ £15 or direct through club for £20. Issues: Q: How are funds shared between club and forum? A: Andy gets all funds from those who wish to use the forum, but not join the club. For every new club member who joins through the forum, the club gives £5 back to Andy. This appears to be a reduction in incoming funds, but the hit is covered by the increase in membership fee for those who are not interested in the forum and join directly for £20 ( which is still not particularly expensive for an improved club and mag ). Q: Logos, names and branding ? A: Seems too delicate for me to comment on. That's one for the club and Andy to sort. Q: Control and influence. Andy must be allowed to run the forum as he wishes - he seems to be doing a bloody good job so far ! The club should have much more say in how the CCGB part of it works. This means appointing a CCGB committee member who can work with Andy, for the benefit of both forum and club. This person is crucial to the plan working. After that the club runs itself as usual. Thoughts: I think lots of people who are already forum members would pay 5 quid a year to continue being a 'standard member'. The club has to prove itself and has had some time to change in the last year. If only 10% of the people registered here join the club ( for half price ), that's an extra £3k in the club pot, and 1k in the forum pot. The forum will take a membership hit if it charges, but that should be offset by the new club members. The increase in club members and potential for more submitted material for the Sprinter would make it much more likely to be full of content. Don't over-stretch the mag, but to start - guarantee 1 edition every 2 months. Have 1 article from each edition of the mag available for all forum members to view and comment on, in its own thread. This should encourage club membership and interest in the Sprinter. Summary: the club is now encouraging new joiners to use the forum. The forum is encouraging new members to join the club. Both make money to run and increase their membership. I am sure i have missed some massive problem, but its a start. Any thoughts on this as a business plan? BTW: i pointed CCGB users to this thread.

Might be usefull: Reading TVRCC mag last night. This years club financial report is available for download from the password protected part of the club site. If you havent got access to the internet, then you just telephone the club office and they will send you a print. This suggests that TVRCC have decided that as most people have internet access, they can save money by publishing the accounts online, rather than sending them in the post to all members. I bet the age profile for TVRCC members is older than the CCGB if only due to the age of the marque and the time / money required to maintain a Tiv. I wonder if the CCGB has ever done any research to find out what its subscriber profile is ? Maybe 95% of us have internet access and would prefer an on-line newsletter !

Just want to second Stan24v. I love seeing the sprinter envelope on my doorstep. I also have a couple to read in the loo..... corozin - i dont think anyone on this thread has acted like a prat. Why say such a thing?

Dinkus - could you briefly explain any overlaps between staff here and organisers of the club. I mean will the CCGB organisers be aware of this thread / poll or is there currently no real communication between forum and club?

The TVRCC have a similar setup to what Tom suggests. There is a great club website with model info and forums (http://www.tvr-car-club.co.uk/index.asp). Much info is password protected for club members only. However, the main forum seems to be the Pistonheads one. The club forum is active but no where near as busy as the PHs. Should they combine ? No, there is enough club action, info and events going on ( with a very smart monthly mag ) in order to justify keeping them separate. I'm pretty sure the PH forum is mentioned regularly though, on both the club site and in the mag - and accordingly the PHers point out the benefits of the club to TVR owners. Basicaly our Corrado problem is: we have a strong forum with tentative steps towards generating funds, and a club with structures in place for marketing, ROs, the Sprinter mag, and dealing with / generating funds. It has a weak forum though. I can see a combining of the clubs (or at the very least - working closely together) would have large benefits for (both.

A different route here: v sensible and cheap student had 4 years in a 950cc Fiesta mk1, upgraded to 1L Fiesta mk1 !! Unbreakable cars - fix everything with a 10mm spanner, a flathead screwdriver and a scrap yard. Upgrade time:All my mates were driving Pug 205s etc. I wanted something different, sounded good and just as fast - with a bit of luxury thrown in if possible ( a hint of things to come? ) Answer: Alfa Romeo 33 1.7 16v in black with full leather. A brilliant car - flat four engine sounded mental, low slung at front + high waistline ( a definate pattern emerging? ) AND it was as quick as a Pug 206 1.9 gti - with lower ins. Did 40k in it with only major problem being after a garage changed timing belts, but not the ( Italian ! ) plastic tensioner pullies at 60k. They disintegrated and pistons met valves. Anyway, at 98k i was getting a feeling in my bones that the 33 was going to start costing much money so needed something else. Something exclusive, fast, with a great sounding engine. Didnt know what though. Never thought there would be a VW which would tick these boxes - after all, there are millions of them ! It was a sunny lunchtime in Edinburgh and i was crossing the road in Bruntsfield with my gf. There was this shimering metalic purple Corrado parked on its own infront of us. As we approached it, " Ha, - shall i get one of those?" i said sort of half joking. "What is it?" she said. I told her. "It looks fast as f*ck. Is it really a VW?" was her rather un-ladylike response. I got home and started doing a bit of research. It slowly dawned on me that this was the car i was looking for. I was 29 and had 10 years no claims now so ins wasnt going to be a problem, so which one to have G60 or VR? I decided on the VR because i wanted torque, a similar engine style to the flat four of the Alfa (ie a non straight sound - if you know what i mean), and the Storm spec. Took me 6 months of looking to find the right one - in Manchester. It wasnt a Storm, but with black leather - which is all i really wanted. N reg 63k and apart from a new abs valve block last month, she hasnt put a foot wrong in 4 years. Recently went through my finances and together with a copy of Evo and an online ins quote search site thing, i set about looking for another car which hits the right buttons. Couldnt find one. Closest i came was to a BMW M Coupe but its not really a fair comparison, so i think i'lll stick with the C . Random note: just after i got the c, i was messing about with my pc and morphed a piccy of the Alfa into the Corrado. They really are similar looking cars. Hardly anything happend ! It just changed colour and rounded it off a bit !

I've been a ccgb member for as long as i have had the C ( bout 4 years now ). I joined because i want the ins discount and wanted to know more about the car and how it works etc. The yahoo group has always been usefull, but i had a look here and realised there was much more going on. Most questions had already been asked before ! ( plus i am too lazy to log in to yahoo and i can browse these messages without remembering passwords ). 1 thing that i remember bugin me was the yahoo group seemed to get peeved with OT stuff - like 'spotted', so that all died down. Now you get questions and answers, but not much debate or opinions. I post to both yahoo and here, and hadnt thought about the implications of combining the clubs, but as the number of c's goes down over time, it must make some sense to work together as closly as poss. As an aside: i was thinkin the other day that i have been a member of 3 official owners clubs over the last 10 years or so ( Alfa Romeo, CCGB, TVRCC ) and they have all had some sort of financial strife which is being cleared up just after i join. I always miss the AGM where the sh*t goes down and as a result never get the gorey details.. ;)

Blown - i think i have seen that green fella on Cockburn street a couple of times before. Dont recall any responce off here tho..

Thanks Ross & Gavin. Will go and inspect.

apparenly my standard oil cooler is leaking. Where is it and what does it consist of?

Was this a serious question Adam ??

I use Autowerke in Edinburgh for all my vr6 needs. Not particularly cheap, but they know Corrados and i trust them ! http://www.autowerke.ltd.uk

Both units need replacing and ive looked in GS&F and ECP for new ones without luck. Are they vag only parts? If so anyone got the part numbers? I am going to try and replace them myself and guess the aux water pump will be pretty easy. Anyone got a how-to for the oil pump tho ? Someone had linked to http://www.clubgti.com/forum/forum_post ... 66556&PN=1 and i guess it will be similar. I am going to replace the sump at the same time as its seen a bit too much action. Any tips would be appreciated ! (late manual vr 90k)

DanA - just looked it up - it was 3.3 hours @ £48 plus some vat = £187 Got the part from a breakers on http://www.partsgateway.co.uk. Usefull web site - easy to use. HTH

For future reference : had the abs valve block replaced with a s/h unit (£95). No abs light now, and i saved mesel £450 in the process !

Aye - its the valve block. Couldnt remember what the bloke called it. Anyone got the part number for it? '95 vr

Just had news that the abs unit is zapped. Getting 'rear left valve' fault. Had this last year but randomly the light did as it was supposed to during its last mot ! Garage says they have tested all the sensors and then done a VW 'test plan' which he says runs through a series of tests to confirm / isolate the problem. It is not the pump, but the unit under the expansion tank which needs replacing. Estimate: £548 for hardware and 2 hrs lab, which is alot - but not as much as i had feared. Soo, anyone got a 2nd hand one then? Any common / cheaper versions off a passat or sharan ?

Excellent news guys. Thanks for that Kev. The next 3 months sounds great to me too Colin. Ill see if i can raise some more interest. Kev did Audioscape give you a price for a 5 set group buy? If not, ill mail them.