dr_mat

Top mounts?

Golf mk3 is known for being mushy. Buy a mk2..!

Steering column I have no idea on the price. FYI the Corrado adjustable column costs £537+VAT new!! The Golf one is probably cheaper, but I couldn't possible guess how much. It's 3-4 hours for a garage. Not a job you would do "just in case", unless you're a bit insane... "play" in the steering is much more subtle than just "mushiness" .. There's a difference. What about driving in a straight line on a very bumpy road? Can you feel a hard clunk-clunk-clunk as the steering gets thumped from one side to the other? If so, that's play. If not, it's mush. (I should add that a certain amount of mush is normal on old cars..) Even if there is a clunk, you really should consider getting things like the track rod ends, bottom ball joints, wishbone bushes, wheel bearings etc checked before assuming it's the steering that's causing it.

2.8 and 2.9 have the same cylinder heads, so should fit together immediately, with no probs.

They're all oil filled. The ones marked "gas filled" are gas-over-oil. The inert gas pressure helps to prevent the oil from foaming under extreme conditions, so gives you more predictable damping, for longer. Standards will go all floaty when you push them hard.

VAG original steering rack is ~£300+VAT (well, depending on which model Golf you have .. since you're posting on the Corrado forum we're assuming it's a 1995-1998 mk3 or so..). You won't ruin the rack by leaving the steering "tight" as you say, I'd be more worried about the steering column itself. When you say there's a "little play", how much are we talking about here? How much movement do you have at the edge of the steering wheel before you feel the slack taken up? 2mm? 5mm? 20mm? If the latter you have a serious problem .. ! I think there is an adjustment screw on some steering racks, but that just keeps the pinion tightly squeezed against the rack. It can't fix play in the UJs or the column. I think you need to define your problem more carefully and decide if it's really worth fixing.

You've checked the fuse, of course .... ?

.. I'm told the 2.9 also has different inlet manifold and cam profiles.

Why so expensive? 10 hours labour, according to the documentation. That's why!

Once again a reminder - if you don't want to lose performance when you upgrade from e.g. 15 to 17 inch wheels your new wheels have to be 15/17 times the weight of the old ones, approximately. i.e. 88% I can't really comment on the handling differences, I'm sure these are more down to the changes in the tyre shape than the overall wheel mass (unless you buy stupidly heavy rims!).

I've hardly ever heard of people actually having slipping clutches on VRs, btw. Most get the clutch replaced when doing the timing chains, simply because it's got to come off anyway. So despite it being "worn" it's almost certainly going to outlast other more important components, as long as you can live with the little bit of judder.

It doesn't have to be something *you* did ..

The only way you might wind up killing the bottom end on an 80k VR is by running it dry on oil!! Stealth are at http://www.stealthracing.co.uk btw.

How bad is it? I mean, does it go? You've not really given us any info about that. A bit of piston slap when cold and a bit of oil use can go on some time before it gets urgent. Look, why don't you talk to someone who can put real figures on this - everyone here can only give you conjecture about prices, and there's not that many people even on this (big) forum that are au fait with what's involved (myself included). Ring Stealth or someone like that for the real price and real advice. You might also be able to get hold of a recon engine from other sources. Bare engines go for not too much money, and if you have confidence in their reliability then fine, go for it. But still. If I was going through this loop, I'd be talking to Stealth for ideas.

Torque steer can be corrected by adding more castor angle (either through custom wishbones or custom top mounts). But that's not something to be done without serious discussions with "people who know"..

I suspect the blocks for the big diesels are stronger than the PG block. And what about the phaeton block(s)? I suspect your friend believes everything their friends tell them .. ;)

But then the question becomes "why bother at all?"..

The clutch is cheap compared to some bits, mate! They are heavy when they're worn, several people have said this. I guess it's because you have less leverage on the mechanism due to the thinner friction plates. New clutches are nice and light. First step is to get the mechanism bled. Many garages forget to bleed the hydraulic clutch out altogether when they "replace" your brake fluid. Even if it's stiff, I wouldn't bother changing it just for that. If the juddering is particularly bad though.. Juddering can also be caused by screwed engine mounts though. A clutch described by anyone as "slightly juddery" is not worth worrying over. If you are feeling overly endowed with cash, I am pretty certain your new VW friend will provide a much better excuse to burn some before too long. ;)

OEM parts from VW will cost you about £150 for all three, maybe £200 at the outside inclusive of Gordon's council tax. £150 for three hours labour to fit them doesn't seem massively ott though. What's the actual breakdown on that price?

No. The light will go out by itself when the ABS unit passes the power-on diagnostics. The fault will remain logged until you either clear it with VAGCOM or reset the ECU.

I suspect both cars would be trounced on the "twisty b-road test" by a 1970 Mini Cooper S, regardless of how well endowed the driver is. Does that prove the pointlessness of this off-topic section of the thread? ;)

Correct spelling went out of fashion a while ago. I am proud to be unfashionable.

And I could be wrong, but I didn't think the 2.9 had appeared in ANY other vehicle.

My personal suspicion is that the 2.8L was the original config. The 2.9 was what VW would overbore to for the factory refurb market. The guys designing the Corrado wanted to distinguish it from the Golf VR6 so they were working on the VSR manifold and so on, but when that got canned they said "right well at least use the 2.9 block then"... As usual, read the .sig, this might well be complete bollocks...

Errrmm... Full VR6 engine recon at Stealth including head, crank bearings, rebore and piston fettling is more like £2700-£3k ... Ok you might be able to save £500 if you stick with your old top end, but is it worth it? TBH the only people who can consider doing jobs like this without worrying about the costs are the people who do it themselves. Even if you source another engine; 1- it's an unknown quantity till it's in the car, at which point you don't know what you're going to find and 2 - it'll still cost you an arm and a leg to get someone to swap an engine for you. (Though at least if you stick to exactly the same type it's less ridiculously expensive - anything that avoids rewiring, see...)