pete_griff

glad to hear it's all sorted for you - you must be well chuffed :) @ David Wort - those engine supports are invaluable when doing this sort of job on a rado - saves much f'ing about!

tbh i've never used a clutch alignment tool on any clutch i've fitted (inluding multiple plate tractor jobs), and i've never once had a problem. as long as you take a bit of time to line it up properly by eye, then you shouldn't have any issues

sorry to hear you're having these woes - can't believe the lengths of bodgery some people will go to! :shock:

and some more

cheers pal. to be honest, even though i'm saving money it's more important to me to know that everything has been done right with a decent amount of care and attention - you wouldn't care as much if it wasn't your car would you! i say that as a generalisation though, as there are a couple of garages i know of that do actually care about what goes out of their doors - DG Autotech being the prime example here! and yeah i do have a workshop manual, but most of the stuff i've been doing is very straighforward and doesn't require torquing - just the chain tensioner bolt really off the top of my head... hey pal - really pleased to hear yours has been making progress :D i'll be honest, after seeing the seals around the vanos solenoids, i don't know what all the fuss is about! - mine were perfect, so it was a bit pointless getting them apart but hey ho! and where i would have liked to do things one at a time, to get at the cam-position sensors and the injectors (the two most likely culprits for power loss) the plenum has to come off, so i'm not going to do that in two separate jobs. anyway - got it all back together yesterday after a fair amount of effort due to zero space around the bloody thing to work on it. MASSIVE THANKS to my friend who was helping me as well - i wouldn't have done it all unless he was there. anyway, got it all back together, started it (with no error codes thank god!) and it started, idled etc perfect - HAPPY DAYS! then about 30 seconds later i hear this drip, drip, drip - :censored: :bad-words: the same fecking water leak was back, but this time even worse! as it was getting late we left it and will hopefully sort it all out tomorrow. the leak was a right tw4t to find though - spent about an hour looking all round the back of the block (as that's where it was running off) and couldn't see anything. turns out i was leaking from the frankly quite craply designed thermostat housing at the front of the block then running down the vee and out through the gearbox bellhousing! we'll see tomorrow how it all goes, but hopefully now i know the cause, we'll get it squared properly with no future issues... here are a few pics of proceedings.

well got some of it done today but not all unfortunately... sorted - - engine, gearbox and rear diff oil change - new oil separators - new cam position sensors x4 (for some reason these particular sensors seem to have a shelf life - great!) - ABSOLUTE BA$TARD OF A JOB! - new oil-pressurised chain tensioner bolt - ultrasonically cleaned and re-furbed injectors to go in - new pre-cat lambdas - new rocker cover, throttle body and plenum gaskets still to do - - coolant flush with new water pump seals (where the other new seals haven't seated properly when replacing the pump and thermostat recently) - new vanos o-rings and vanos top-cover gaskets - new vacuum line going from throttle bodies to fuel pressure reg should (touches wood!!!) finish it tomorrow without any issues. really looking forward to seeing how it drives afterwards. will post the pics up tomorrow - left the camera with the car tonight. pics are niiiiiice! :)

KipVR sorry for the confusion - my bad!

best of luck for the MOT pal - sure you'll be fine :) car is looking great - can't wait to see it with the rotrex re-fitted now :wink:

haha - well i'm very sorry Jim! i've just put some new rubber on the front of it and a while ago it's had the steering all renewed and various other tweeks since i've owned it. i'm hoping to recapture a fair few lost ponies on friday, so if that's the case you'll have to take it out again and "refresh" yourself! :D also - a good friend of mine bought an e46 m3 a while ago and i get to drive that on a fairly regular basis - ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! the noise from the straight six is orgasmic and his is a very very tidy example, so it pulls unbelievably well (another reason why i want to get mine running 100%!) whenever i drive his it gets me thinking naughty things about anti-roll bars etc etc. i recon i'll leave it totally standard though despite how tempting it may be. gotta love the m3, but there are loads of them about and they're definitely a lot more "in your face" than the m5 - i love the subtlety of the m5 - you only know what it is once it's flown past you and you see the badge on the back; m3's are too obvious for my tastes. damn right about the oil - sump capacity of 7.5 litres! :shock: the oil is specially designed for bmw m-series engines (read "we'll rape you on costs" there!). castrol wouldn't be my first choice as i'm more of a silkolene fan, but go with the official stuff and all that. i had been changing my cars a fair bit before i got the M5, but i'm really quite taken with it - every little repair i do on it makes it just that little bit noticably better each time and it's keeping me interested and happy at the same time without screaming at me to modify it etc. i've also been getting braver over the summer months, now i've got decent tyres all round and renewed brakes, steering etc etc the traction control has been going off more and more and it's an absolute hoot - i swear bmw designed it to go sideways and not forwards! steer with the rear baby! :D and yes - running costs are pretty horrific if i'm honest. i'm hoping fuel will be a little better after i've done all of the above, but i average about 18mpg as it stands right now. it helps loads being able to do all the mechanics myself - i dread to think how much i would have spent if i had to pay someone to do it for me :?

looking good - glad to see it's gone to a good home and nice one for doing the work yourself - much more rewarding that way :D

bit of an update - hoping to get a pretty major service done on Friday in order to totally sqaure the car away before i go away and leave it with a friend for 6 months... on the to-do list: - engine, gearbox and rear diff oil change - coolant flush with new water pump seals (where the other new seals haven't seated properly when replacing the pump and thermostat recently) - new oil separators - new cam position sensors x4 (for some reason these particular sensors seem to have a shelf life - great!) - new oil-pressurised chain tensioner bolt - new vacuum line going from throttle bodies to fuel pressure reg - ultrasonically cleaned and re-furbed injectors to go in - new pre-cat lambdas - new rocker cover, throttle body and plenum gaskets - new vanos o-rings and vanos top-cover gaskets got that little lot to do on Fri, so fingers crossed i'll get it all done in one day and be able to drive the car home again... replaced both MAFs recently which has made the car a little more urgent and a fair bit smoother, but didn't make as much difference as i was hoping for. i recon that the car is down on power so i'm really hoping that renewing the rest of the engine's sensory running gear should sort things out. have done a compression test and all is well there, so it's got to be a running issue (that is if i'm not just thinking it's down on power when it isn't really!) anyway - here are a couple of piccies of the various bit that are sat waiting to go on. and don't worry Kev - i'll make sure i get plenty of pornographic pics of my ITB's x8 when i've got the plenum off - just for you! :wink:

chase those water leaks baby! what a pisser - truely typical corrado behaviour! it's definitely possible to do the matrix without removing the dash (i know as i've done it), but tbh, it's not really that much more work to remove the whole dash and that way you can tidy up any loose crap behind the dash and help get rid of some rattles by tightening everything back down nicely and adding some foam etc in places where it's needed. set at least a day aside to do the matrix and take your time and be patient! there are lots of little fiddly screws etc which are a royal PITA, so make sure you take breaks and get some tea on standby in the background! i say this as i'm not a patient person at all and am now consequently very good at plastic welding! chin up - you'll be happy once it's all done and rewarding you as it should once more. also - i gave a fair bit of thought as to which way the oil cooler should be mounted when i did mine; i came to the conclusion that it would be better the other way up (i.e. not inverted) - on the downside it would retain oil when doing a change, but on the upside there would defo be no airlocks... i would imagine you get a fair bit of air to push round the oil system after doing a change now don't you?... when doing your next oil change, it's possibly worth disconnecting the crank sensor (to stop all fuelling and ignition) and winding it over on the starter for a bit to get the oil pressure back up before you start it proper - that wqy you'll help avoid any damage nice update btw :)

apologies - i guess i'm a touch grouchy this morning! however.... if you are honestly going to try and argue that your car handles well on 9j wheels..... well, i think you'd better stand by for some flack off pretty much anyone who knows anything about corrados! i don't want to be arsey and turn this into a slanging match, but honestly - why do you feel the need to put 9j wheels on the car other than for the look? bear in mind that they will unquestionably make it handle worse... so, yeah - apologies, as i don't want to slag your car or much less offend you - but i just can't fathom your reasons (or anyones reasons for that matter!) for putting overly wide wheels onto a car that just wasn't designed for them... and for the record - my car came with the red samcos when i bought it. they wouldn't have been my personal choice (black would have been), but i kept them as the longevity benefits of silicone over the OEM rubber are obvious, and that is a mechanical benefit with tangible gains.

why not just fit wheels with a standard offset - they you'll save yourself all this trouble and the car will handle better anyway?!? sorry, not having a go at you - i just don't understand why people want to mess around with putting wider wheels on with stretched tyres etc - it makes the car handle like poo! it may look "scene" but if all the scene people actually pitted their cars against those who were enthusiastic about the mechanical side of things and making them go faster/handle better then there would be only one winner. i don't understand why people want to use their cars to ponce around in - buy a soft-top and some sunglasses if you want to do that!

tbh i think the horror stories are only there as the flush has finished off engines which were on their way out already. as long as your engine is healthy then flush isn't going to hurt it! forte is good stuff, and (not wanting to sound arsey here...) if you've actually seen how much cleaner it makes things inside the engine then you would appreciate why to use it. yes the two oil changes isn't a bad move, but as long as your engine is healthy then flush isn't going to hurt it. there are various things that become "caramelised" and "coked" up in an engine over time - tappets normally being the prime example. flush gets rid of all the crap and leaves you with a nice shiny engine to start from again. if this means that gaps are bigger and oil pressure drops (as a result of engine wear over time), then obviously that will potentially lead to problems. that stems from the excessive wear being highlighted by the flush though, not by the flush simply "killing" an engine as it is often incorrectly rumoured to do.

if you want to be really refined you could get hold of one from a better manufacturer than halfords - some of these come with magnets in them to retain the plugs rather than the rubber. only reason i say this is because (in my experience) the rubber "retainer" has a nasty habit of coming out and staying on the tops of the plugs when you put them back in, making them a bit of fiddle to put in. you can get around this by superglueing the rubber into the socket, but if you can buy one with a magnet and not rubber from the off then i would do that as they are much nicer :)

^^^ way to make him feel better!!! ^^^ :? anyway, from what you've said my money would be on the master. it will be worth just popping the slave out too to check it's condition while you're there - it's only two 13mm bolts that hold it in and they're pretty easy to get at. pop it out and check the condition of the seals etc and look for any signs of weeping... if it's the unpainted kind, then as already mentioned, it's been replaced before - so it hopefully won't be that. lastly, also as already mentioned - if you have no joy after fitting a new master and inspecting the slave then by a process of elimination, it's going to be your release fork. tbh, i think these bending is quite a rare occurance, but if the master and slave are both fine, then it won't leave you with much else! hope you manage to get it all sorted asap - at least you have alternative transport in the mean-time! let us know how you get on :)

if you really want to push the boat out then google "carcoon car covers" - very nice bits of kit, but not cheap...

Do you value your licence :shock: Cant see it being fun if you end up with a VRT as an ornament....mind you wouldn't be short of buyers :D sorry again for the thread hijack here... but what's the point in having a fast car if you're never going to drive above the speed limit?!? granted, i hate immature driving and inappropriate speeding, but if the situation permits it then why not do speeds like that and beyond? as long as you keep your wits about you, you'll be unlucky to get caught by plod. it's undoubtedly a risk we all take; but what's the point in having a car that will top out at over 150mph (and get there quickly) and then only using it to race up to 70 and sit there??? we may as well all drive round in diesel hatchbacks going by that train of thought

send Kip_VR a quick PM - he's already done the full conversion. his car is a vr6, but the measurements should be the same as al the wheels/brake calipers are in the same places! only difference might be as he is running brembos on the front, so you'll need different fittings and the lengths of the hoses might vary by say 20-50mm... you can see the lines all made up and fitted to his car if you search for his build thread in the members gallery

Top Tip Pete - . My hard lines are at the end of their lives and didn't realise Goodridge did the complete pipes to totally replace the hard lines. have you got part numbers for the full length hoses and I'm guessing all the clips need replacing as well, part Nos and supplier info for these too? :D sorry pal - should have been more specific; goodridge don't do the complete lines off the shelf for doing a whole car, unlike their short flexis just to replace the oem items. you'll need to measure exactly how long you want the various lines (get the string out!), then send the measurements to goodridge along with the types of fittings you want on the ends. just give them a ring and speak to them - they are normally pretty helpful :) (and yes - you'll need different retaining clips to hold the lines onto the car)

nice - loving the pic of the woodpecker, can't believe he's there like that on your lawn - do you live out in the sticks? also, nice looking job on the primer. depending on what sort of finish you're after i would consider taking the wing and having it painted professionally in an oven. home painting is all well and good - but it will NEVER be as good as a "proper" job. obviously if you're doing it on the cheap then that's fair enough, but i'm not a fan of home paint jobs. saying that, i was v impressed when i saw your 16v at the stealth day a while ago, so you obviously don't mind spending the cash to do things properly :D

if you REALLY want to keep it as oem as possible then get the OEM green-coated steel stuff from the dealers. obviously this will (probably) outlast the car... but if you're capable of doing it yourself and you have a decent flaring tool, then i would go for copper-nickel (also called cupro-nickel i think) lines. they're much stronger than the flimsy pure copper stuff you can buy and they're also very very corrosion resistant to the point the same material is used on oil rigs etc due to the salt spray. cupro nickel is unquestionably the way forward for hard-lines, but if you want that concours finish then you could still go for the OEM steel stuff. also (just personally now), if i ever replace any hard lines in future; for the ballache of bending up/flaring/fitting new lines, i'm defo just going to flexi the whole lot with goodridge hoses and stainless fittings - they have a lifetime warranty (which will actually work seeing as they'll have stainless fittings unlike the zinc-plated crap!), look nice, be easy to remove/maintain etc and should never fatigue or need replacing. by far the most user-friendly solution IMO. and also not that much more expensive than buying the hard line either!

oh yes?!?... i'm still well up for this - not sure if i'll be able to make the 18th/19th though as i may be out of the country by then... if i can make it then you can almost certainly count me in - naturally will keep you updated as and when :)

watch out for this - it's often a precursor to rust around the windscreen seating... not wanting to be the bearer of bad news or anything, but be warned... hope you get it all sorted anyway pal - if you've got windsceen cover on your insurance i would "develop" a crack and see if you can get a bit of time between when they take it out for you and when they put it back in - get it provisionally booked into a bodyshop in the interim... edit - lovely looking motor btw - looks like you've bought a good'un :)