cata

Bump from the dead :D I'm having this exact same issue, can you gents please provide more info on the upper bearing replacement and this Polo 6N switch you speak off? I've been researching these two topics to death but couldn't find much on them.

No worries, cheers for the update. :lol:

Hey everyone, a lot of time has passed and the C is finally alive again so this thread is about due for an update. A local shop called Calgary Autoworks got chosen to do the work this time around. Learning how to work on a VR6 should definitely not be done in a parking lot, so it will have to wait until next time (hopefully not for the very same reason). The head was completely rebuilt but since the bottom-end is still fresh, it was the only thing left untouched. This was the final spec for the rebuild: -GIAC 268* cam chip -DRC 268* cams -New stock lifters and guides -Manley valves, stock retainers, Manley HD valve springs -New spark-plugs (they were just replaced too) -ARP head studs -Autotech stainless exhaust studs -Fiber (stock) head-gasket -Updated timing chain kit -Sachs stage I clutch -New slave and master clutch cylinders -New oil pump -New water pump -Gruven tensioner, power steering and water pump pulleys -MKIV VR6 crank pulley (was told that it's lighter, and since I want to keep the harmonic balancer, I'm ditching my Turn2 aluminum pulley) -Ditching the A/C (for now) -Passat VR6 intake hose -2.9L throttle-body -Ported and ceramic coated exhaust collectors -Gasket matched everything My little buddy here decided to help me do the final inventory: This is what my ported and ceramic coated exhaust collectors looked like when they finally got in from the States. This was the first time this year that I went outside and did some work. Got the exhaust manifold gaskets gasket matched, which took about three hours. I was pretty happy with the porting that was done. A slightly bigger exhaust manifold port should help against reversion and the smoothness on the inside will greatly aid exhaust flow. I couldn't believe how bad the stock one was in comparison. Very rough on the inside and clogged with deposits. Calgary Autoworks did some awesome work on my engine, I racked up about 1000 Km's over one week and I couldn't have been happier. The feeling to finally have it ready starting with a Friday night was priceless. Unfortunately, with so many upgrades being done at once, there were a few bugs to work out but it was still a blast to drive around. Lawrence got out of his way to iron them out as soon as they were found. The car did feel faster than before but nowhere near as fast as I predicted it to be. As it turned out, my CAT is completely shot and now it's so bad that it kills the engine at idle sometimes. It's no surprise really, as the PO sent me out on the drive home on 5cyls with a bad spark plug wire. The CAT was old but the massive amount of unburnt fuel that must have passed through it didn't even give it a fighting chance. Anyways, enough talking for now...we all love seeing pictures. While waiting on getting the car back, I was busy sourcing tons of random missing parts as well as some interior upgrades. When I first got to see this, all I saw was a bunch of smiley faces from the coolant passages. Here come the cell-phone pics. Since it was out of my reach for so many months, there was a whole ton of work waiting to be done. It really needed an allignment and the CF hood needed its hood pins. One morning, half of it popped up while doing 90 on my way back home. Needless to say, I gave the new brakes a run for their money and pulled over. It was still very rough around the edges, so this is what it looked before being taken off the road again...hopefully for the last time until winter arrives. Now that I finally have a garage to work in, I started phase II with a two-way alarm install, wiring cleanup and bringing the interior to a satisfactory state. This is a very familiar picture. Here's how the E-brake gaiter was made to fit properly :lol: . Some crappy night pictures of the red interior light conversion. The gauges will remain green for now, I can't find or afford the setup I want yet. Some chrome cluster rings are on their way. Other than that, the green and red has really grown on me. It actually looks 1000x better in person but I have a crappy camera and no skillz. For the first time ever since ownership, clean and complete rear interior. And now some daytime pics. Now I can finally move onto mechanical, I have tons of stuff planned before it's ready to take me to school. It will vary from more body work to mechanical, suspension and exhaust. I'll take a few pictures along the way for the next project update. I'm really enjoying this, I can look back and remember all of the stuff that got done over time. A special thanks goes over to Lawrence and his crew for letting me store the C in their yard for so long. If that didn't happen, it would have probably gotten towed again about a dozen times.

I bought the same e-brake gaiter and love it, except that I was very disappointed with the fit when I first got it. After a lot of thinking, I finally figured out a way to make it look at home as anything less wouldn't do. You guys are right, it's designed to slide over the old trim. The problem with that is that the plastic trim is too wide to allow the leather to slide freely through the console. I ended up cutting up the long trim on both sides as far as I was permitted to, so that it didn't separate. You can see what I'm talking about when you look at yours. After, I added a strip of bent tin at the end and glued it in for good. This was to help the leather poke out downwards at the end. After all of this, I just scotch-taped the whole skeleton to the e-brake handle to get a tight fit. Corrado92.pdfProject 081.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] The final and easiest thing that needed to be done was trimming down the leather to make it fit properly. This was done by trial and error with both sides being cut equally. You can look at how mine ended up and try to mimic it. passat climatronic wiring diags.pdfProject 082.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdfProject 084.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] I know that it's a pretty ghetto way to go about doing it but it worked like a charm for me. I'm very happy with the way it fits now. 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfProject 085.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] Project 086.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix]

Your CAT may be getting old and clogged as they are known to run much hotter at that point.

Any news on the LED ordering Stu? Catalin

Thank you for taking the time to share all of this insight with us.

What would you suggest to be the highest "safe" temperature readout for oil? I hear it's 107*C, after which it's performance will first begin to deteriorate. You're the oilman, so that's why I want to get an answer from you.

I remember reading about this regarding the really late VR6 engines that came on MK4's. I can't remember why people don't look at these instead of the Schrick but the E-bay ad is not a scam.

Check your coolant system ASAP...

The sensor is easy to replace, you just need to pull out the clip that holds it into place inside the thermostat housing. You should know that doing this will cause a lot of coolant to spill and will require topping it up. Make sure you know what kind of coolant you are using as it's very bad for your motor to mix G12 (pink) coolant with anything else. Here's a view from the top of the engine, so you can locate the thermostat housing: 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfLocation.jpg[/attachment:3w38bbpx] And here's a view of the dirty thermostat housing itself, as seen from the front of the engine: Thermostat Housing.jpg[/attachment:3w38bbpx] It will be the sensor on the very left side of the thermostat housing. After replacing this, create your desired coolant/water mixture with deionized, distilled water. Unscrew the top rad neck elbow and fill as much coolant mix as you can, into the radiator. Put elbow back in and the system will "burp" itself of air. Check on the coolant bottle after a few good runs and then top up as needed but with the engine cold.

Any chance of a picture? I'm still a bit confused :? .

The Corrado had speed sensitive volume?

Some good info here Kev, I was planning on eliminating that blasted HE. Considering the climate that I live in, I'd best be keeping it on there.

Looks like you turned her around. Good job man, you're a brave soul for taking the G60 way.

I've heard nothing but bad things about the Rain-X line of stuff. I know my dad was greatly disappointed with the anti-fog crap. Regarding the door membrane, when you get a jacket from the dry cleaners, it usually comes in big plastic bag. I just chopped that into two and then further tailored each side. Stuck it on with some double sticky tape and voila! :lol:

I also used the gliptone stuff after seeing that guide and although it renewed much of the leather (it was filthy from the PO), it dried back up within a few months. The rear has never been sat in since, and it did the same thing. I found that this product really allowed the stitching to soak up the filth that got spread around during the whole process. As a result, I had to clean them separately with a power toothbrush and Dove soap :lol: . I've heard of a number of people having great results with Leatherique and repeating the process just once a year. This will be what I will be playing with next. Apparently the stitching also comes out bright white, but on its own.

I'm pretty certain about these differences: -Bore -Pistons -Upper intake manifold -Throttle body The only thing left is the ECU and I'm not very sure but a remap would eliminate that problem. I wish we got remaps on this side of the pond, there's only one place that I know of which does it.

I added on too much alcohol and that got her sh!t-faced. No sir, she didn't look too pretty in the morning. :lol:

Now how did I miss this one? :) . I've only dealt with four members (all sellers) that are on here, so just wanted to give credit where it's due. Alphabetically: davebirl - Very helpful person, he got out of his way to help a fellow C owner without looking to gain anything. My hat goes off to you sir! M15 VW - Great communication and was very patient with me constantly updating the parts list. They packaged a lot more stuff in the box than I had asked for, which was a very pleasant surprise when I opened it. Thanks again for all your patience during the whole process. mrbeige - The quality of the shift light was much higher than I had anticipated. Cheers for keeping me updated along the way and for doing something different for us C owners. Torsten - Very laid-back person to deal with, an absolutely zero-stress type of transaction. He wrapped up that kick panel like it was a lump of gold :) . Thanks to you all.

Great thread Torsten! Since you are among the very few who did something about the aircon buttons, maybe you can answer an old question of mine. My buttons never light up, but my A/C setup is also incomplete. Will the buttons only light up when you turn the A/C on? If my assumptions are correct, the A/C has to be in working order for the compressor to engage the clutch and thus turn on the buttons. Is this correct? Those flat LED's are a great alternative, would you be interested in stocking up a few and selling them? It's too late for me unfortunately, I have already done my conversion and I used the clear spider (light divider) from a Passat. However, I could tell a few local dubbers about the LED's.

Gorgeous Corrado mate, looking forward to see some recent pictures. If you don't mind, I have two questions for you: 1) Did you replace all of the seals and trim when you got the respray done? In pictures, everything looks factory-fresh. 2) On the gauge cluster, are those blue LED's that replaced the green lighting up top, or is it a black light? It gives it a nice blue shadow that I haven't seen on other setups. Cheers

I can't argue there, my Canadian bumper rebar got trashed so didn't notice that diference. Now that you mention it, I think I recall these two mounting points. As far as I remember, they were just a pair of welded on extras. Don't mind the weird bend :) but I think that these are the brackets that you were talking about. You can clearly see the extra reinforcement that covered the space for the fog lights. This was limited to just Canada :? .

The only differences that I could tell were the two holes that were drilled for them.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the input, it's just what I was hoping to hear :)