Ice White Socks

mmm actually Mike you might be right- The bumpstops on the front are BIG- easily big enough to almost cover all the free movement in the damper piston. I don't understand then- if you buy a spanking new set of dampers do people then reuse the bumpstops of the old set- so dismantle the new ones a bit and thread em over the damper? I can cut the fronts back- on the rears the bumpstop appears to be joined to a piece of tubing that must protect the piston from muck- will these be from the original dampers or would they have come with the sprintlines? Do I need to trim them- if so then how and do I just get rid of the black tubing? When I look at a new sprintline kit advertised I don't see any bumpstops included so maybe they are off the OE dampers- they were fitted by a specialist so I would have though they might have known? Lots of questions in this post- thanks for any help :)

well you can push them if you get a long flat-bladed screwdriver on the back of the metal heat shield on the lead- then I tend to whack it with a mallet to drive it on just to be sure Even when you have the proper tool its a PITA the be sure its on properly

I think the Alfa 147 is a cracking looking car and in a straight line it is stupidly fast- I actually thought it had a reputation as being a poor handling car though- I think there is an aftermarket upgrade kit which puts it right though. The other car in there which has a great reputation is the Ford Puma- plus its cheap enough to consider getting as a fun second car to the VR- been thinking about one for a while now Really looking forward to reading the article though

Absolutely- couldn't be normaler (I made that word up) My oil temperature never pushes past 102 no matter how much time I spend in traffic- Whats pushes it up is ragging the knackers off it I have to say that hitting 114 after being sat in traffic for 30 mins is undisputably high- whether your oil is *actually* at 114 degrees is another matter- but if it is I would venture to suggest that is a fair way from normal

114 degrees in stationary traffic- Fahookin hell- Mine doesn't hit that temp until at least twice the national speed limit :-P Mine has no cooler and runs about 102 normal, 106/08 on the motorway and 112-114 when its being mega-ragged- Maybe I'm just lucky but 114 sounds really high?

Cheers James- yours aint lookin so bad either :wink: Dan A- The stopping power really is improved- much more 'feel' and 'progression' in the braking (the goodridge lines might make a good difference as well)- plus they really fill out the wheels Cheers for comments anyway :D

Ooof- I have never seen it from that angle before- lovely!

I think that was the Fiat Strada 130tc he must have had- a very rare piece of kit like you say Rodders- Nice :D

I agree- I have always thought a 350z would be the modern day Corrado- if not in black and white terms like drivetrain, then definitely in rarity, sound and looks (particularly 'stance'). Plus I am not sure 600cc makes any difference in that in 1993 2900cc would sound just as ludicrous as 3500cc today. Its certainly not a laughable comparison- I am pretty sure anyone who bought a Corrado new would also be pretty sure they had a 'sportscar'- VR's must have seriously whooped ass in the early '90's. I just wish I could afford a 350z AND a Corrado :(

I got the 288mm brakes fitted at last- thought I would post a few pics as I am really pleased with the way it changes the 'intention' of the car :-P

This car seemd to come up here every year or so- and each time it gets a different opinion. I think they are gorgeous cars that would still drop jaws if Fiat released it tomorrow. I had a blast with one- he was four up and I was on my own- he never moved an inch from my bumper as we both booted down a lovely straight bit of road near where we live- and I know my VR is pretty healthy. I was looking at them on the trader yesterday in fact- the only criticism is the seats are a bit like armchairs; but then some got a Recaro option which redresses the balance- and they are cheap as chips too

VdubCorrado- Double sixes wasn't talking about you opening yourself up for abuse- we all know you yanks don't know much about Storms; he was talking about Wilkes who has a nats whisker away from buying a knackered 'G60 Storm' (so not a Storm at all- in fact not even close) :-P

Some 2.9 VR's will suffer bore wear at high mileages (the 2.8's are much less prone to it)- about as pricy to fix as it gets. Its well worth pulling the plugs out on 1 & 6 to check for oil fouling. Alternatively take it for a drive with somone driving behind you checking for blue smoke. Also check for chain noise if no-one has mentioned it yet; cars sounds like rattling a jar full of marbles at 1-2k.

The piece of samco adaptor hoses acts as a reducer between the BMC and the slightly smaller TB Given that of course the samco hose is of uniform diameter- it means its slides easily onto the TB but needs a bit more effort to get it onto the CDA. I would recommends softening the Samco in boling water and using a bit of fairy liquid to ease it on! Cheers

Looks like a confused a few people on this- Maybe if someone could answer this question- what if the neither the springs NOR the dampers were knackered- instead they were mismatched (this is how I said the mechanic said it felt). When I phoned a company up to enquire they said the B12's were brought out for precisely this reason (on the sprintlines- the dampers are mismatched to the springs) So my logic was that if my issues are due to this mismatched-ness! (ie my dampers are not in fact knackered)- Maybe I could rectify by replacing with the H&R's (ie by fitting springs that might match a bit better) Hope alles klaar- Final thought on the B12's- is the 25mm drop compared to a late VR or an early VR? (not that I expect anyone to know- its just there is quite a big difference in standard ride height between the two) Cheers Mike

Been doing a bit more research into the B12's- apparently they lower by only 25mm/25mm. Not sure thats gonna be enough :( > Cheers

yeah your right Kev- do the Bilstein dampers have a bad reputation then? I thought they were supposed to be really good and it was just the shocks that were pants- plus the fact they are air-damping means no oil to leak out :-) There is always the old Koni TA option if push comes to shove. Dr F- Very true- Kev's car is a mobile test bed for the Corrado Forum :-P

Hello, I have Bilstein sprintline shocks fitted on my VR- they were always a bit harsh and when I left it for a service last the fella mentioned about the car bouncing as if the shocks weren't matched to the springs- I assumed the shocks were knackered and had started looking for a new set. It looks like Bilstein have brought out a new kit called the B12- has the same dampers as sprintline but H&R springs- apparently they have realised that the Ventura springs supplied on the Sprintline don't match the shocks after all. My shocks are now three years old and done about 40k. Is it worth me buying the H&R's for £140 odd and getting them fitted to my current shocks- or is this false economy and should I go straight for a new B12 kit (nearly 500 squids!). I ask only because I have no idea how long good quality aftermarket shocks last- especially on a fairly demanding application like a VR6! Cheers Mike

One more thing- don't forget to clean all around the throttle butterfly as well- shite around the TB butterfly can have as much of an influence as a dirty ISV in my experience

Its 95% the ISV- give it a clean :lol: Edit: Ok maybe not 95% as I haven't heard of ISV's causing kangarooing on the move- but its certainly the no.1 suspect for the stalling

mmm thats funny- mine does just the same :? although mine tends to hang around the min-mark. New cap & header tank didn't change owt- but Rileys right- they are known for leaking very slightly & affecting the coolant level

Eh! you serious? How can dealers be taking deposits already :? I'm only askin cos I'll be after one of these myself :)

This is quite often due to a dirty idle stabilisation valve- dead easy to clean and often eliminates the stalling (mine never stalled since I cleaned mine) You should be able to find the instructions on here- if not then I'll post them up. Be careful with the Vag-Com readings- One of the sensors will show as faulty if the you test without the engine running (and I'm pretty sure its the engine speed sensor!)

mmmm £500 sounds almost TOO cheap doesn't it?

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