dr_mat

Yer VW badge was nicked?? :(

California is just WEIRD!! Strictest emissions regs in the known universe, due to the horrendous pollution problems.

I presume the same applies to the boot lock? I don't have a key for mine. How do you remove the boot lock?

I'd have lost the exhaust by now if mine was that low...

By comparison, I've not found anywhere in the south east where you can get a respray of *any* dimensions done for less than £200, so I'd say £400 for the bonnet, rear quarter panel, driver's wing, sunroof AND the front bumper is not so bad. I'm assuming here that they are actually planning to respray, and not just "touch up". The rust at least will need to be scrubbed and treated before a proper respray can be done, cos otherwise it'll just come back next year...

Now that's a new one "my headlights are too bright"... Never heard that in relation to a corrado before!! :)

Technically you use the sidelights all the time the headlights are on, but I'm not going to argue about that... ;)

To be fair, Kev, the roads I'm driving on are mostly rutted. I do live in Reading after all. ;) (I'm not going to start a rant about taxes right now though..) Let's not forget that your tracking will be drifting slightly aswell if the ball joint is moving. I had my Cavalier for 3 years, actually. Great cheap car. Fantastically comfortable, even if the handling was awful. But yeah, the front wheels were just not connected to the ground, I'm sure.

Stop shouting!!! ALL CAPS IS BAD MANNERS!!! ;) Dunno about your gearbox code, someone round here might know.

Quantum Silver is 10w40, iirc.

Thanks kev, useful to know. Not too bad, think I'll be doing the same on monday. Got it booked into a local bodge-shop.. :) They can't do a full cast/camber setup, but as long as they put it back how it *was* it should be fine. If it's not 100% I'll get it properly cast/cambered elsewhere.

Have you *seen* the price of toluene lately!!! ;) If you're messing with toluene, make well sure you don't get it on ANYTHING other than where it's intended. It'll dissolve most things and is rather carcinogenic. Have fun out there kids.. :) Uncle Matt. ;)

On the subject of oils, and more specifically oil additives (slick 50 et al), the following might represent interesting reading: http://skepdic.com/slick50.html I learned a few things there, anyway... :)

Quite, kev. Mine is pulling to the right under power, and pulling to the left under braking at the mo!! Under normal conditions though, no, not a lot of noticeable torque steer from the VR. Certainly it's nowhere near as bad as my 2.0 Cavalier was, and that only had 115bhp... (130lbft tho.)

It does have Solitudes - the auction states that "the car does not come with the alloys pictured". Certainly in the pics of the "damaged" car there's a nice condition BBS Solitude 15" wheel on it.

Not that I've ever driven a G60 (the VR6 has extra suspension tweaks to cut down on torque steer), but nothing, I mean nothing, can compare with the torque steer in a Pug 205 1.9 GTi.. Talk about fighting the wheel, jeez!! :shock: And I was only trying to go in a straight line at the time too! :)

How much and where did you get said seal from? I know mine doesn't touch the glass either, but I didn't think it was supposed to?

Often the way... Mine has started missing when it's cold and damp. I don't really wanna think about what it might be caused by....... I spend too much money on the beast at the best of times!

Me too, apart from the axle stands bit... I don't have any noise from the bearings either, so it's a tricky one to call. I'm in two minds about where to take it to get this looked at, tbh. AMD? Local place? Do I get them to look at it? Or do I just book it in and tell them to replace the BJs anyway, on the basis that if they've not gone yet they will soon... Of course, once the BJs have been done, cast and camber must be re-set anyway... Damn, complicated, eh!? :scratch:

I wouldn't know about that... Re: the handling thing - have you considered that it might be a wheel bearing? It's hard to tell on the front wheels cos of the axle holding the wheel relatively still, is what I've heard.

Goodyear's web site still says "only available in GSD2 pattern" last time I looked.. http://www.goodyear.co.uk/services/tyre ... _gsd3.html Yup, still says "Eagle F1-GS-D2 design". Still excellent tyres, just pretty sure they won't be gsd3.

Eagle F1 GSD3?? Didn't think they were available for 205/50/15's...

Definitely sounds like the matrix. greasy water, steamy windows. If the windows steam up when you open the hot air and turn up the blower, particularly if you've been sitting in traffic and the water temp has climbed to 100 degrees+ (i.e. the pressure in the system has increased), then it's most certainly the heater matrix. You can usually smell the coolant too.

It needs (from memory, I can't find the pics): rear bumper rear transverse panel (the flat bit with the VW badge in it) rear wheel arch/rear quarter (this is a BIG job) rear hatch new rear light cluster (N/S) and who knows if the exhaust is still ok? If that got hit it might need a replacement cat, or downpipes, or exhaust hangers at least... And I thought the rear wheel arch was actually part of the body assembly and as such cannot be replaced, you can only cut out and weld in a replacement.. Shame, cos otherwise I'm sure it would be a nice car, but that's life eh?

I have some pics of the damage done to the car, if anyone's interested. I asked the guy, he said he'd been quoted about a grand to get it all repaired. I'd say that was a very conservative estimate, given the amount of panels that are required (a new back bumper costs £500 alone before you spray it)... Now, where did I put those pics..!! :scratch: