CrazyDave

Well, I spoke to Vince today and have gone for the Helix (non paddle). I'll give it a go, he reckons it'll be a little bit heavier on the pedal due to the extra spring pressure, but the bite point should be progressive enough to make it a nice easy drive. Also gone for the fast road rear mounts (engine and box), front was done last year, comp version. I had a good look at the front pipe this weekend, while it's all in bits. The engine is a bit out of position as it's only held in by one mount and two axle stands. But I offered up all the various pipe sections to get a clearer picture. Looks like the key is to get the pipe past the rack at just the right angle to give maximum clearance, shortening the cat pipe will be an advantage as it'll push everything back a bit. The way the standard pipe does that sharp sweep past the rack is just not poss with 3" pipe! Going to build the engine and box back up before starting the proper cutting and welding just to be sure of the engine position. Keep the tips coming Kev, it's really appreciated :D

I'm glad its started now, just hope it doesn't take too long! Currently using Mrs B 306 to get to work as she broke her wrist and can't drive for 4-6 weeks! DOH! Sorry to hear that, you didn't do it while twisting her arm to get the use of her car did you? :lol: Bad joke but couldn't resist!

Tensioner looks well past it, mine was 2k earlier than that and just about to lose the top part. But I guess they'll rattle along quite nicely, as some have done 140K. My ARP stuff arrived today, so it'll be a big push at the weekend. New clutch and rear mounts ordered too, don't want that big old lump thrashing about and breaking the new downpipe. Getting on slowly but surely. Although I may have to speed up a bit cos the head gasket seems to be going down hill on my MKII runaround... DOH. That'll be two cars on the drive in bits!

Nice one James, I wish mine had gone that smoothly. Guess your timing chains are OK then! If you haven't done already check the manifold stud faces (on the cast side, under the nuts / washers). Kev stripped some head studs because they arn't machined flat, just cast. It puts side load on the studs and rips them out. Mine was the same, it's gone to a machine shop to be milled parallel. Snug for the downpipe ain't it :| That metal gasket just doesn't seem right, no seal or anything, but I guess it works.

Just said about this to Mrs B, she looked at me and said "are you being serious?"!! :lol: I guess just as long as you do an empty cycle aftwrads it should be fine 8) But a Corrado is part of the family? So why shouldn't it get to use the dishwasher! Mrs B said it would be fine!! Its the effect of the Corrado Forum on her I'm sure!! My other half was just the same, but she knows what I'm like (or is it that the dishwasher is 12 years old and needs replacing anyway!). Good to see the project started. I wish VR6's had that much room in the engine bay!

Just said about this to Mrs B, she looked at me and said "are you being serious?"!! :lol: I guess just as long as you do an empty cycle aftwrads it should be fine 8) But a Corrado is part of the family? So why shouldn't it get to use the dishwasher!

Great quality from two digi cams! A least if it falls off you've not lots a HD video cam.... Great stuff!

Update: The head is built up and ready to go back on. Bottom timing chain has been replaced, new lower guide and ratchet tensioner. Waiting my ARP bolts so can't put it all back together yet. Little tip - Clean all those engine bits in the dishwasher, they look great. But run an empty cycle before putting dishs in again. Kev, thanks for the info. Both sides are being machined level. And yes the cast side was still cast, so no good. £300 is a bit more like it, looks like a call to Vince pretty soon. And some rear vibra mounts. The paddle clutch did have a small judder in first gear, which put me off a bit too. I might start the exhaust before putting the gbox back in, access is much better with it out of the way. Will see how the engine position looks with it all back together and the front mount on. Much happier now the shiney stuff is starting to go on!

Just another little note on the extra board. I had to move the big black VDR onto the bottom of the main board to make enough room for the extra board in the case, and I put a plastic cover on the base of the extra board because the two pots are very close. I'm going to have a go with a stepper TB when my car is back together. Most of the ECU systems I've seen use the ISV or stepper for coarse setting and then trim the idle speed with ignition advance / retard. You can sort of do this with MS by making a plateau in the ignition map at the idle condition. If the idle speed drops to low the ignition timing will advance to catch it. If the speed goes to high then ignition retards to slow the idle. This worked pretty well on the VR (which are renowned for crap idle), so it should be great on a valver. Please keep in mind that I am mega fussy about stuff like this. The best thing is cos its standalone you can tweek all you like to get it just right! 8) Oh and I found a great way of getting any grotty engine bits clean...... put them in the dishwasher! Check out my head!

This could get tricky! MS I with Extra code, only drives ISV type valves. Either in fixed warmup control (ie temperature = duty cycle) or closed loop. MS II with exta code alpha only does ISV at the minute also. MS II with B&G code. Can do stepper throttle control using the stepper driver on the MS II processor board. Now I did have an idea of doing a PIC based board to take the PWM signal from the MS I board and converting it into a stepper position. Should be pretty easy to knock up a board and some software. BUT, after using the MS I extra code for a bit with my VR. I found the idle setup a real pain in the A$%e! So I did consider doing my own board to do separate idle control with stepper motor throttle. Thats as far as I've got with it. The other fun and games is that most ECU's also use ignition timing trim to get idle really smooth and stable. This is the only way to get good idle for sudden loads like the fans etc. Although this is being really fussy about idle stability and the stepper valve will respond much quicker than an ISV.

The extra board is a REAL tight squeeze in the MS box, but it does go in! Cool stuff, keep going!

GIXXERUK Looks like I'm not the only one who's busy out in the cold then :lol: Who needs a workshop anyway!

My Golf is an early cable TB, I can have a look if you like? Be nice to use the stepper idle valve aswell....hint hint.

Bad connection on the plug where it fits to the imo box. Follow the lead from the coil behind the key, to the box just up under the dash (take the lower tray out first). Pull the little plug by squeezing the clip, spray it with some contact cleaner and work it back on and off a few times, sorted. Should be good for 18months before it'll need cleaning again!

Think I'll get the probe calibration checked anyway just to be sure, I'll let you know how I get on. Is your LC-1 electronics blob mounted in the engine bay? Could be getting hot and throwing the readings out? Maybe try and mount the blob in the scuttle or somewhere cool. Wow £500, better be good for that much. Mind you the Sach sporting clutches are £350 ish. I drove my boses new Skyline today..... 420hp (it's a mild one!). Smallish turbo not sure which one, but boost from 2.5k up to redline. Running about 15psi boost. Wow, pretty quick but nice and smooth. The chassis felt like it could take twice as much. He has a paddle clutch. Not too bad really, but you can't get away with half hearted driving, you have to think about the clutch when pulling away all the while. Not really my cup of tea. Had my exhaust manifold on a surface plate today to check it's flat. But you can rock it by about 25 thou, high spot in the middle. Cheers for the tip off Kev. It's off to the machine shop now! Just rebuilding the cylinder head. Chains at the weekend, weather permitting! JOY!

Thanks for the notes Kev, pulling the head off again after a few hundred miles isn't my idea of fun! Clutch wear is a little strange, might be due to the bite point springs just under the friction material. Makes the clutch progressive when taking up drive. Sachs would be my preference (mainly down to experience of using Sachs before and OEM for VW etc etc). I'll get the manifold machined level. Mine doesn't look too bad but it only takes a small alignment mismatch to cause a problem. Sorry your the one having to pioneer all this stuff Kev One of my customers should have some 'calibration gas' canisters, this gives an accurate reference for the LM-1 calibration. Or I could get it reference calibrated with a Horiba Mexa 7500 (about £250,000 to buy new :roll: ). Should do the trick. If you want yours doing, let me know.

Really a ramp job this. And I found an adjustable spanner was much better than anything else, just seemed to fit in the space (but still tight).

Full guide to setting timing in the knowledge base. Excellent. Give it a good read.

RustyNuts Another Worcester C! Looks in pretty good condition, not seen those wheels before?

Jetex website, or give them a ring if you've had enough of online ordering for this week :lol: 8) VR turbos coming out of the wookwork!

Would be a bit fast, but you could get the general idea on no.1 and 6. The other cylinders would not have timing marks on the flywheel though. Best bet is to try and loosen all the plug leads and lift them off one by one and listen to the engine, no change = bag lead / pack. I have never tried this on a VR before though so it may be a real pain to try and do. I'd take all the leads off and have a good look at the insulation. Any nicks or cuts bin them and get a new set. I have had a go a repairing my coil pack with high chrona laquer but it only lasted 6 months so I bit the bullet and went for a new pack. Ran much better than it ever had.

Think the aux air valve is fixed behind the inlet manifold? Warmup regulator might be another thing to check. The cold start injector will get the engine fired up but if the warmup reg is faulty it won't keep running. Fuel pump relay is very common, you can stick a cable tie in it to hold the contacts closed and prove this.

Turbo here we come! Nice one James 8)

Not much left now :lol: . My mate Simon came round today, first comment was.... are you sure you don't want to go 24v, you've only got one engine mounting left! The head is now stripped down and cleaned. Going to replace the valve stem seals and give it a good general fettle. Then lap the valves back in and rebuild with the compression lowering gasket. I also fitted a new water pump today. The old one wasn't to bad but seemed a little tight. Easy job to do when the front of the car is off, nightmare without I bet. Front end and cross member removed and going to powder coating. Clutch not looking to bad, but will be having an uprated one fitted. Release bearing a bit noisy but OK. Release arm OK. Fylwheel off next, and start on the timing chains and tensioners. This lot needs turning into a downpipe 8) . So tempting to fit an LSD at this very point, but it will have to wait for now.

As above, sounds like coilpack. I've been looking very closely at VR6 idling recently, the ISV has a pretty constant cycle when at idle speed. Depending on the engine temperature, the ISV duty cycle will sit at about 42% approx (in VAG-COM). Fine stability and rapid loading of the engine (electrical loads, AC etc) is done with ignition timing. It adjusts so fast that the idle should hardly dip at all. If you hook up a timing light, you can see it working at idle. So if you've got a dodgy coil pack or leads the idle will be very unpredictable.