ProdigalSon

It passed the MOT retest (unsurprisingly, as that bolt could probably hold the entire weight of ther car) so I'm happy ;) Thanks again to somersetdub and CazzaVR :thumbleft:

So, my C failed its MOT due to excess play in the steering column (up & down), but CazzaVR pointed me at this topic :thumbleft: so I got down to B&Q and bought some M6 x 100 bolts, M6 nuts and a coupla different size washers, and tried it out... Here's the steering column underside with cowling and steering wheel removed, you can see the tensioning spring to the lower left: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60673[/ATTACH] Side on it looks like this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60677[/ATTACH] And here's how I took it out with a couple of pairs of molegrips (not sure how much compression it was under)! [ATTACH=CONFIG]60681[/ATTACH] So now you can see the 'dome' that the far end of the spring sat on - this needs drilling to get your bolt through: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60685[/ATTACH] To get a good start, I holepunched the middle of the dome, which also shows the path of the drillbit later: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60689[/ATTACH] But that was a bit too close to the wiring, so I disconnected it and pulled it under the column and to the right (and also removed the column adjustment lever and the top cowling): [ATTACH=CONFIG]60693[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]60697[/ATTACH] When I first tried to drill the 6mm hole in the dome, I realised that the black plastic of the stalk switch housing would foul, so I moved them out of the way too: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60701[/ATTACH] The hole was pretty tricky to drill and it made a LOT of swarf, so make sure you cover ALL of the switches and connectors, and either lay down some rags or be ready to bin your drivers mat afterwards! Having drilled the hole I cleaned up the edges with a Dremel and set the column at the right angle for me, as it will effectively be permanently set unless I want to undo all the nuts etc. to adjust the angle at a later date (unlikely!) I went for double nuts on both sides of both the pieces of metal that the bolt goes through, so that none of the nuts would slip (they are modestly tightened against their neighbours) and that the bolt would brace the column both up (in tension) and down (in compression). Yeah, it is belt and braces, but don't want to have to adjust it again, just set and forget: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60705[/ATTACH] In this pic you can see the two larger (repair) washers at the front (right of pic) where the large hole is, and two regular M6 washers at the rear (left of pic) where there's a neat-ish 6mm hole, and double nuts to brace the bolt properly and prevent each other from loosening: [ATTACH=CONFIG]60709[/ATTACH] I trimmed the last 15-20mm from the bolt (after I took these pics) so that I could get the lower cowling back on properly, so an M6 x 80mm bolt would be ideal. Parts: 1 off M6 x 80mm bolt ideally 2 off 6-32mm repair washers 2 off M6 washer 6 off M6 nut Labour: About 2 hours start to finish, with a bit of faff as I worked out where the steering wheel should be so that it was level when driving in a straight line! Result: WAY better, really solid, only slight up/down movement is due to the column moving the mounting point on the chassis! Hopefully that'll be an MOT pass now... Thanks for the idea somersetdub! :salute:

Hi Stuey, Can you give me a two totals please, one with postage, one for collection, for the whole fixed steering column rig: from top nut (under horn switch) to bottom spring (at junction with UJ) including upper and lower cowl/trim around the ignition and other wiring, but without the actual steering wheel? I need to replace my adjustable column as it's getting too sloppy, so want the whole kit in one if possible ;) I have cash waiting...

I'll take the kit INCLUDING steering column as soon as possible please, my C just failed MOT due to too much play.

Ace, thanks! :salute:

Yeah, feels great to be in the driving seat again. The feel, the smell, the smooth thrust... :-D I was well chuffed to get classic insurance, otherwise I would have had to save up for a couple more months! (PS. where has the list of smileys gone in this here newfangled layout?)

Nearly 4 years... wow, that's a long delay to updating your own thread! Well, the C has been SORN'd for about 15 months as we couldn't afford the road tax while we were both studying, but I've been paying off fees and saving up since September to get it back on the road. Summary in brief: 1. Washed it last week! 2. Serviced it (new oil and filter, reconditioned the very flat battery, checked electrics, plugs etc.) and started it on Saturday, which was impressive seeing as the petrol was over a year old! 3. Insured it with Footman James for £450 fully comp on a classic policy (5k miles) with mods included, for me and the wife 4. Booked it for MOT yesterday afternoon at VW 5. Taxed it for 6 months' tax when they told me it passed 6. Collected it today, with a long list of minor advisories (eg. summer work list!) 7. Bought 2l of brake fluid for a changeover, and found the replacement sunroof trim strip Happy days!

Good. The brake pads would've been my second suggestion, ahem... :nuts:

That look's pretty stealth (except the rims! :lol:) I saw a matt black C on the Vortex the other day. Made me dribble a bit :oops: :)

No probs :thumb right:

See my thread, here for agricultural ride height, or here for something a little more down to earth :wink:

This may sound daft, but see if it is as simple as the stone shield on the back of the brake disk catching and making a chirp/squeak noise... I fixed this in about 4 seconds when it happened on my car, the squeak was more noticeable when going round a corner, and it definitely occurred once per wheel revolution. If you've had the wheels off, one of the stone shields may have got a bit bent and be catching on something (disk/rim). HTH :wink:

Philmo beat me to it! I can't believe it ran to the fifth page before someone suggested a Corrado R32 conversion :scratch: :shrug: Surely that's the best solution - style and class retained, speed and power increased, mpg conserved..? And I get the impression that it wouldn't cost as much as £5-6k :clap:

Really sorry that you've had this problem so long - can't wait to hear how you fix it! :thumb right:

Can't answer definitively, but I know that the Corrado and Mk2 Golf subframes are different - are you sure both of yours are from Corrados? Also I believe there are some differences between 8V, 16V and VR6 subframes (as you might expect with different engines/mounting points), but can't find any specific proof, so am happy to be proved wrong...

My coilies settled by over 2cm in the first few weeks - roads in Oxford are poor, and it is my daily, so it was a pretty quick drop. :pale: Not a big deal for the rears, but the fronts became a problem. Ended up eating rubber and getting very bald treads! Since they were adjusted back up they've been very stable in height.

MOTWIN. Finally passed, but has a few advisories still (listed above) that I will look into fixing now that a) it is light in the evenings and b) it is warm :clap: The local dealers didn't charge me for the retest even though I had taken the car home to fit the new flexy hose (£15 and 15 minutes, for the record) :thumb right: Seeing as the weather is nice, I'm contemplating putting my headlining back in... mainly because I have been driving the wife's Honda for a couple of weeks, and as soon as I drove the C again I noticed _all_ of the creaks, rattles and pings from the cabin and trim :roll: Will be giving Boost a hand with his rear beam refit this weekend too. Corrado maintenance is fun (which is just as well)! :lol:

Er, failed again...? :scratch: This time on the flexy hose (same side as the unnecessarily-replaced hard brake line), which is bulging and has begun to weep fluid :pale: A bit surprised that the first MOT didn't turn that one up, but instead failed the hardline on very thin evidence :shrug: I was at the dealership for the MOT anyway, so bought a new flexy hose on the spot (with discount from Dave) :thumb right:, to be fitted today then back to VW for a partial retest. Advisories were: play in one of the lower ball joints (other side was replaced last year, but this one resisted removal!), perishing rear beam bushes, and play in both rear bearings. All do-able, will add them to the summer refurb list! :wink: Anyway, off to don my boiler suit 8)

Whoa! Long time since my last post... Bunch of stuff done since last Autumn: Minor maintenance stuff *yawn* then just before we went on hols in mid Feb, I put the car in for its MOT, which suffered a FAIL :( : - Offside brake hard line 'excessively corroded' - turns out that it wasn't (pic to follow), but had to remove it to discover that fact, which meant inlet manifold off etc. and 9 hours leaning into the engine bay to pull it out and replace with a newly made replacement. :censored: Cheers to Boost for the lend of the brake pipe flaring tool and for the cupro-nickel pipe and connectors, and to the wife for suiting up :norty: and getting her hands dirty :salute: - 'Sidelights adversely affected by main lights' *sigh* That's because the headlight loom is upgraded, so you actually get good illumination... Returned to stock for the purpose of re-test. - Blown reg plate bulb *D'oh!* :roll: Replaced. MOT advisory: - Slight blowing of exhaust at mid joint. Fixed with the able assistance of Boost and some 'exhaust glue' :shrug: All done and dusted now, off to be re-MOT'd at the dealership tomorrow, instead of the previous MOT Nazis :nono: :lol: Also just had my birthday and Boost bought me a full set of VR6 cogs, so I feel a summer rebuild coming on :clap: :grin:

:salute: :)

Eew! :gag: I think your photo translator is a little off cos that's not close. At all. In a galactic sense. But I suppose it would only add fuel to the fire to mention that the gift has a dual vibrate function? :? I see I may have to post a spoiler pic just to stop those with imaginative minds from self-combusting! :lol:

[thread hijack] :new-bday: :bday: Happy Birthday broseph! :D And here's a teaser pic of what I got you from Japan... (it's not car-related!). Sorry that the pic is a bit blurred (in all the wrong places) :norty: _DSC9906.jpg[/attachment:ohg15tfs] Oh, what? You can't read Japanese? That's a shame... :wink: See you at the weekend 8) [/thread hijack]

And I stayed up till 12:45am for that? :( :roll: Jetlag is teh sux :? Good on you for getting c/w done first though... :wink:

No racialism please :nono: or I will have to teach you the meaning of honour... :lol:

Pics please! :mrgreen: