Si B

Make sure you have a spare set of knuckles to hand. You will almost certainaly knacker your original set. Lots of beer and a plan B are also pretty useful as Henny says. I have replaced a cracked manifold on a Mk1 before with the head on the engine (and in the car) and it took longer than it would have done to change the head gasket, due to lots of cursing, swearing, frustrated tea breaks etc! I think if I did the job again I would whip the head off to do it and swallow the cost of a new head gasket. Its cheaper than repairing the dent you will put in the door when the studs snap and you kick the car in frustration.

I have just had my charger rebuilt by Darren at G-Werks and he was kind enough to let me watch the proceedure, make notes and take loads of pics for a web site article about it. Check out http://www.matey-matey.com for all the details and pics. The article has not been written as a DIY guide but just as an interesting insight as to what is involved with a charger rebuild. If you are a G60 owner it is definately worth checking out! Thanks to Darren for his hospitality and input, I was very impressed by the whole experience! regards Si http://www.matey-matey.com/

While we are moaning about stealers, I phoned mine up last week to order a new knock sensor and was told I also needed two extra yellow wires that were being listed?! at £5. mmmmm...... the guy couldnt tell me what they were and was as confused as I was but I ordered them anyway just in case. Well as Im sure you all know a knock sensor is very simple, one end plugs into the loom and the other is torqued onto the block... which now leaves me with £5 worth of utterly useless little yellow wires sitting in the spares cupboard. Thanks for that VW, maybe I should use one of them to throttle the service desk staff with next time they empty my wallet.

The sort of temps you are getting are not unusual for a G60 Corrado. Mine used to run at about 130 until I fitted an oil cooler (it now runs at a steady 100). Most of this temp is generated by the charger and it is possible that your new charger is the cause of this extra heat. It will be putting out more boost (better seals) and more boost = more compressed air and thus more temp and the seals and bearings are likely to be tighter than on the tired old unit thus causing higher temps. Are you running with an oil cooler?

I brought myself a Bugpack poly bush kit for a Mk2 golf. The steering rack bushes are no use (they are for non power steering) and I would not use the rear axle bushes (to retain rear wheel steer) but the rest all fit so for about £65 you get the anti roll bar bushes, wishbone bushes, rear top mounts, and front bump stops. Not a bad buy compared to VAG or Powerflex

I made one myself using the instructions on my web site (matey-matey) and it is very simple but for the extra £20 or so I would probably buy one. If they were any more than £50 I would say make your own but for £50 buy one...... You will then be able to enjoy driving your car at night as well as during the day :D

Darren Looking at the graph I assume that 213bhp was the max figure? If so I will update the article accordingly....... still splitting hairs though cos anything with 231ft/lbs is bloody fast in my book :D

Thanks for that Henny, I will keep an eye out for one in the scap yard. The guages are sitting in my shed (garden shed.....not my G60!) at the moment and I just haven't got around to doing anything with them.

Henny Where did you get the mounting plate from? or is it a home made jobbie? I assume from its shape that it sits in the storage tray in front of the gear lever. Si

I have been quoted about £150 per bumper to respray. Although this is for one that has already been painted so needs rubbing back. Why not get a second hand one? You can pick straight ones up for £50 + which would save you a fortune plus some time as I bet the stealer would have to order a bumper specialy.

As King Prawn says, go for VAG top mounts. I fitted some non VAG ones which failed an MOT 4,000 miles later, and they were totaly shot. I have also seen this happen on mates' cars so it wasn't a one off. Also, when fitting them, make sure that the bearing is properly packed with grease. If it is not then it is likely to wear out quicker than is should. The snag is that the mounts are about £30 a pop from the stealer :(

Yup that is definately the washer pipe in the pic. It looks like the plastic washer pipe has snapped. The plastic elbow that joins the rubber pipe actualy runs all the way through the wiper mechanism as one piece. It is a narrow plastic tube about 3.5 inches long and should just pull out of the mechanism (ideally with the elbow still attached :cry: ), although when I removed mine the entire mechanism was off the car. Either a bit of glue or a trip to the scrappie should fix it. Alternatively it would be a good excuse to delete the rear wiper altogether for that smooth rear end look. FYI if the spoiler fuse is blown then your rev counter won't work as they are on the same fuse, or were on my 16v Corrado.

Timo..... Sorry, no cheek intended I just konw from experience that they can be a pain to fit for such a simple part. If you have tested the stat in boiling water then it certainly sounds like the sender or guage is knackered. From Oll's post the sender is cheaper than the guage so I would change this first. regards Si

It sounds like the stat is stuck open which could be that your new stat is defective or it is fitted incorrectly. Does the car take an age to warm up (to 70) as well? if so the stat is likely to be stuck open. What is the oil temp doing? Although the water heats up quicker the two temps are correlated. Thus if your oil temp is now lower than it was before then the guage is likely to be telling the truth but if the oil is still as hot as it was before then the guage may be telling porkies! The fact that the guage fell apart recently doesn't however bode too well for its reliability!

A three point harness just has three mounting points whereas a four point has four. Generally the only difference is that the two shoulder straps mount at the same point for a 3 point whereas they mount seperately on a 4 point. Neither has a strap between the legs. To have a stap between your legs you would need a circular buckle rather than a std seat belt style buckle. The pic above shows a "3 point" harness however if you seperated the shoulder straps and mounted them apart from one another then it becomes a "4 point". G60 Jet - What is the lock like in traffic? I have been considering a set of harnesses for track days but can't stand not being able to lean forwards to check for traffic at junctions and these sound like the ideal solution

The VAG ones are rather neat and have a raised VW logo moulded into them so they look completely factory standard unlike a universal one from Halfords. They are just a simple plastic plate that clips into the stereo aperture

I have just had to replace this part on my C which has an adjustable steering column and it was nice and simple. Basically exactly as per Henny's instructions. Having done similar jobs on cars with fixed columns the adjustable column makes no difference. The only slightly fiddly part is hanging upside down in the footwell trying to disconnect the wires and vacuum pipe from the back of the instruments. All in all, it took about 30-45 mins, and that was without hurrying. :lol:

I had a Jetex zorst on my old 16v C, and wished I hadn't bothered. The sound was perfect, quiet on tickover but a nice roar when you put your foot down without being too loud. The tailpipe also looked good. It just didn't fit at all, the diameter of the pipework was so large that it only just cleared the back axle and had to be bolted up to the underside of the car with chain rubbers to stop it banging. Despite refitting it a couple of times it still never fitted properly and if you put any weight in the back it hit the axle. Maybe this was a one off ? If anyone had had any other experiences of Jetex exhausts I would be intersted to know cos the sound and appearance were spot on.

Can anyone suggest a company in the Woking/Surrey area that can do laser wheel alignment, in particular camber. I used to use Elite in Rainham (Essex) but have recently moved and could do with finding somewhere a bit more local. Thanks Si

I always lose the back seats and spare wheel as well as anything else that will come out easily for a track day. It does make a difference but as coullstar says the seats are marginal. Bear in mind that you are losing all the weight from the back of the car so it does make the back end a little more lively (no bad thing on the track). Whatever mods you go for do not do anything that will massively compromise reliability. The car gets a good work out on track so anything that is over stressed (such as your passengers .....LOL) will break. Don't blow all your budget on big mods but save some for running costs and maintenance such as frequent tyre and brake changes etc. Stick to 15 inch wheels cos £40 a corner is a lot easier to swallow than £60+ a corner when you change tyres every three track days (or maybe its just the way I drive!). My old Mk2 track car was nice and simple (1.9 8v) and flew round the track all day without missing a beat. It would spend almost the entire day racing round in circles whilst porsche owners were worying about tyre bills and scooby owners were worrying about their paintwork etc....... big spending does not always equal a bigger grin when it comes to track days Have a look at http://www.matey-matey.com as I have written an article about track day preperation which you might find useful.

I think the mannual says something like 40psi all round which is stupidly high and probably reduces the width of each tyres contact patch by about 50%. I run about 33 at the front and 31 at the back. which seems to do the trick. They do require checking regularly though as temperature has an effect on the pressures. If you set the pressures in the middle of winter then they will increase as the weather warms up.....although not much chance of that at the moment :( You also want to make sure you set them with the tyres cold. If you set them when hot (i.e. after a decent blast) the air in them contracts as they cool and the pressures drop. I usually see about a 4-6 psi increase between cold tyres and track day hot tyres, thus you always need to let some air out to compensate.......and then remember to put it back in before you drive sedately home.

Mmmm....interesting. I have a G-max set up on my G60 having had a similar set up on my old 16v C. I think it is great for the money. Obviously TAs would be great but the G-max kit was £200. Mine is noticably firmer than std but not uncomfortably so and in my humble opinion an excellent compromise. I haven't noticed any funny handling traits since fitting it. I did a number of track days in the 16v with the G-Max set up and it was great. It could have been a bit firmer for the track but then I wouldn't have wanted to drive it home afterwards. Both my Cs have been very neutral and will break into understeer if you barrel on the power too early or come in to fast but would also oversteer nicely with a bit of trail braking/left foot braking, if you drive nice and smooth though they stay very neutral. What sort of condition are all your bushes in? I had some shot rear bushes on the 16v which gave some interesting rear end breakaway characteristcs. What tyre pressures do you run. If your backs are too hard then they will skit around and break away sooner than the fronts and vice versa. Tyre pressure are often overlooked but make a big difference to grip and handling.

Sounds like the still boxed (but second hand) set of red/clear smoked in pro lights I got from John (JMR) for 100 quid at Inters were a bargain. They make a massive difference to Cs rear end. The messy red and orange std lights just look crap. The cheaper sets have silvered surrounds (as opposed to black) and although this sounds rather bling bling it actualy just reflects the cars paint colour so you hardly notice once they are fitted. I was fretting about this before fitting mine but they look a treat. I believe you can get some with black plastic surrounds now but they are very expensive. Try red tinting your std lights but masking the reverse lights to leave them clear. This neatens up the back end of a C whilst the clear reverse lights make the mod look factory rather than spray on after market. This is a good mod good the money.

I would go with the goodridge hoses. A full set of goodridge hoses costs about £60 for six hoses and std hoses cost about £12-15 each so it is no more expensive and they will give you a bit more pedal feel. They also look nice and spangly in the wheelarch.

Changing brake flexihoses and bleeding the brakes is easy. It is worth buying some copper brake pipe and some brake pipe unions as well as a pipe flaring tool and cutter (£35 for the lot) to have on standby. The copper unions are often reluctant to come undone and they end up mashed when they do come apart so you often need to make up a couple of new copper lines (not difficult). As for rear axle bushes I can't comment as I've never done this job on any of my cars.