boost monkey

there's vac lines going into and out of both the clocks and the engine, my brother from another mother. Get under that hood! I think there might be some info on this site about it. If only someone designed a search. p.s. you owe me cake.

Alex, I think trim panels are the last of your worries! ;-) Agree with Steve, just get replacement from VW.

AFAIK,the early ones are all the same as late spec (post 90) Mk2 Golf so there should be plenty around.

Hey matey, how about the indicator stalk? IIRC, the hazard switch is also built into the top of this (I'm guess your 89 is like my 90 with the hazard on top of the steering column?) and it could well be the culprit as the two circuits are integrated. Good luck!

A mini-update today (I guess a major update knowing how dead this has been!) I was under the bonnet taking the engine apart today. It felt good tinkering again and i'm starting to get more motivated to getting the dead engine out. I set my sights on getting the head off, and seeing the damage from the waterpump failure. Unfortunately the exhaust manifold bolts were just too much even for the Erwins so I'm a bit stuck there. I'm not sure if you recall, but on the 16v manifold, cylinder 2 and 3 ports are horrifically difficult bolts to get to! The lower bolts arevery close to where the actual tubular part of the manifold leaves the head and bends downwards. I've always found to get them out you have to loosen a little and then pull the manifold out, and keep repeating until those 2 are off. I have the other 6 off, but I can barely get the Erwin on those bolts without hitting the exhaust runner thing, whatever you want to call it. It didn't really help that I was doing all this from above and not below either. If anyone has some helpful hints, I am all ears! I just want to get the head off and see what the damage is. I know 2 cyls are down on pressure, but at least if I can reuse the head then that is something. Perhaps the block will be find and just needs new rings. I'll give the bores a measure and see what I find. I'll definitely be sticking a flatrule across the headgasket surfaces to see which, if either, have warped. Hopefully more to come in the not too distant future! If anyone can answer that ^^^ also that would be helpful. Jon.

Fair enough. Cheers tony. I gave it a miss and worked on the corrado a bit instead! I know, shock! I did give it a wash though and it came up really nice. Oh and the Drivers window reg packed up (manual) when the window was down just before a torrential downpour! The window is back up but wobbly. I thought the teeth had sheared on the plastic handle, but it's the metal spindle itself which is spinning free. I'm guessing a new reg? Shouldn't be too hard to fit. ---------- Post added at 07:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ---------- with regards to the 50-50 on G12, the back of the bottle gives 3 different concentrations for different anti-freeze performance levels, down to something like -52 deg C!

I'm wondering if it would be epically pikey and boyracerish if I fitted the oval powerflow backbox from my early C onto the Golf tomorrow. It would save me buying a replacement, but would mean I would have a large oval exhaust instead of the two standard pipes. AFAIK it will fit ok as it's an early style hanger setup, but it may sit too low or high against the bumper/valance.

You'd be better off on a golf forum buddy. Or try Google. You will find LOTS of results!

Bought VAG clamps and rubbers this week for mounting my new centre box. I'm quite hoping I can find a new rear box ASAP and swap them out on monday, but here's hoping!

yeah they are both 1.8 blocks, so it makes sense! You should be able to sell all your VR gear easily enough though. p.s. wouldn't it be easier for you to have just bought a 16v/8v in the first place? You're going to have to change most of the front end I think.

I think the OEM stuff is made by Schulz? not 100% on that though.

so you've set it up for circuit racing?! awesome.

I think the pan can rust away happily underneath the underseal because the underseal is so rubbery and won't flake off when the metal it is "bonded" to gets rusty. It kind of holds itself together like a skin for the floorpan. Ish.

well the wishbones are different too, along with the steering rack itself and possibly the track rod ends. Why you downgrading?

RW1, there are aftermarket items you could probably use for the radiator and IC. I agree about the CANBUS though. I guess it is the same for the last 2-3 generations of engines, it's just newer technology which doesn't particularly integrate well into an old chassis without a lot of additional work.

ouch! :lol: if you have an R8 going spare that would be nice, otherwise I'll settle for a KR :D I miss kendal mint cake.... :/ p.s. well done. again.

got any pics?

Well done!! I knew paying your garage in dundee cake would get the job done. (I'm not sure I will ever stop mentioning dundee cake). ---------- Post added at 12:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 PM ---------- p.s. if you come and fix my car I will pay you in kendal mint cake. Things to bring: Engine, Brakes, Not a big to do list really.

So I'm just doing some research into these engines, and they seem pretty good! The Golf R is the 2.0 TSI with 270ps, 250lbft and an extra urban mpg of over 40. Is the next generation of swaps here?

do you get free brake pads?

Good work fella! That old item was properly dead, wasn't it? I mean that thing couldn't have provided tension at an anti-G60 rally! :lol:

I'm weeping over dundee cake for you.... Alex.....Alleeeeexxxx.... Seriously though, if you need any more generic 4-pot parts drop me a line.

Well, I had the car up in the air again at the weekend. I had a look at the brakes and they have at least 6mm of pad left in them so i'll be ok for now. I did the thermostat too. It's an easy job I know, the most time was spent wrestling with PAS pump bolts. After that was done I refilled with the little amountof G12++ I had left (thanks Prodigal!) and refilled mainly with water. I think it's a 1:6 G12 to water so quite under the spec on the bottle, but hey i'm not gonna need protection to -24C in the next couple of weeks. I've just been to the local dealership and picked up 3L of G12++, and have ordered the exhaust rubber hangers and clamps associated with centre and rear box on the Golf. All in all about £42. Looking forward to having the exhaust done. I'm wondering if it's causing the lack of response when I feather the throttle, as it seems to be on/off at lot speeds still. To confirm what others have said, I can safely say that within 4mins on the trip computer I now have warm air in the cabin, so the engine is warming up much better! I'm not sure if it will have a huge affect of fuel economy (dunno how the ECU runs the warm-up mode) but perhaps emissions will be reduced. I still have a clutch to fit, the centre box (need to order a rear) and the steering column surround thingy.

Wow, you realised all this by your 6th post. I think you're probably the smartest Corrado owner ever! :lol:

I'd love to make a CAD model of a whole Corrado but at 750 a side, I don't think I could afford your rates...!