Diamond Hell

What was the date of first registration of your C? If it's post 1st Jan 92 you'll need the cat on it which is going to exclude you from running carbs as you won't be able to run a cat (without destroying it). You'd be better off going bike ITBs and proper management, with a trigger wheel and sensor from a Polo on the gearbox end of the crank. That way you can run a cat AS WELL as having better running characteristics from injection, too.

Some things can't be rushed.

VW have obsoleted the ABF stat. Time to play aftermarket thermostat roulette then. :scratch:

Powersteering belt needed adjusting: You just don't get that sort of torsional rigidity from an uncaged Golf Also I have the MFA saying 99.9MPG at the moment, which is a bit frustrating. As I changed the clocks before it went back on the road I thought I'd have a look to see if I needed to fit a vacuum pipe. I'm guessing these clocks don't need a vacuum feed for the MFA? Annoying. Spent some time sorting the interior last night, too. Annoyingly the radio seems to come on when it feels like it. :scratch: But at least it's clipped in, not hanging out of the dashboard. I also spent some time stripping the heater controls to try and get the fan to work on more than 1 and four. After taking off the bit with the top track it now works on 4.... although it was working prior to having the switch cover put back on (I put the wrong one on first - DOH!). I did test it and it's definitely the bloody switch, not the resistor pack. The question is whether I risk stripping it down again to try and make it work - the copper on the rotary switch appears to be *quite* delicate. MPG is hovering around early 20s. Not happy with that. I'm wondering if the stat is stuck open, as the temp only ever gets to 70Deg C. Worth banging one in there to eliminate it - if the temp comes up where it should be the fuel consumption might become bearable! Finally here is the hardest-won piece of trim in the car: Yes that means the fusebox is back in where it should be. In the end I had to un-solder the joint in the starter feed to the switch because it was that pulling the fuseboard forward and down. I'm guessing the feral electrician (alarm bodger) had cut length out of the wire when he butchered the wiring. Once that was 10cm longer everything went into place *relatively* easily.

I had this same issue and stripped the door down on mine, replacing the back half of the membrane with DPC..... will probably go back in, in due course and re-replace the whole thing using either the original sealant or some new non-setting stuff to replace it.

I think this needs more explanation. Also where is the needle on the gauge? Why are you thinking head gasket? What's the motor?

Shark fins on cars this age just look chavvy. Just replace the base and top with the Polo unit - subtle update that doesn't shout 'I have an aerial for navigation but couldn't arrod a car new enough to have navigation'. ;)

Certainly does - to show it on my C I unscrewed it from the Passat and screwed it on!

If the gearbox layout is the same on the Golf4 you have (if it's an 02J box) you should find the shift tower off the gearbox, control cables and interior shifter all fit up (you will need to figure out the mounts for the rear of the interior shifter). This set up should give you a significantly more precise shift than the standard controls in the 02A gearbox.

You should have a relay controlling dip and main beams. I suggest you check the ground from the relay kit to make sure it's clean and nice and then try swapping the relay from the main beam circuit to the dip beam. This should bottom out whether it's dodgy wiring, or a dodgy relay.

Get a late Polo stumpy one from VW. Stumpy OEM goodness.

MOT until 31st July, tax until end of Jan. Has 1.9TDI engine. It'll do 50MPG however you drive it. I've brim-to-brimmed this thing for fuel economy ever since I've had it and the lowest it's been has been 48MPG, just before a service. It has central locking, VR6 sports seats with headrests front and rear, SEAT leather steering wheel, 15" alloys and good matched tyres. It's been mostly re-bushed over the past few months because it was getting too sloppy and has new dampers and springs. Just had new front brake pads - they are literally just bedded in. Rear beam bushes and rear top mounts replaced a month ago. Has manual windows and mirrors, which all work well. Lacquer has started to peel off the paint and it has a delightful contrasting grey front wing on the nearside. If I was some sort of scenester c*nt I'd give it a quick rub down and brush-paint it in Olive Drab. High resolution photos at: 185k on the odo, which is why I re-bushed it. Uses very little oil, starts first turn of the key and pulls very well. I've serviced it every 10k since I've had it. Just fitted a new filter set and new engine oil. Only selling as I have my Corrado back on the road now - this was bought as a stand-in, but getting the Corrado back on the road took longer than I expected!

Screw you - this isn't a red Golf3 you know!

Water ingress appears to have stopped. The last change I made was to remove the tarry stuff from on the scuttle - it had come loose and was floating around and there was some particularly wet muck around the accelerator cable. Who knows which of the changes I've made have stopped the leak, but it's great that it appears no further water is coming in. Also had a chance to check whether changing the crank angle sensor had cured the running issue I'd encountered when hitting big puddles. No problems - drove through that little river like a trooper. :thumbleft: I also washed it the other night and then polished the bonnet and waxed it - that's a start on the paintwork then.

Shot it out the window yesterday - 24mm TS-E on Canon 5D2, just because it was there. My Corrado by Thomas Cowley, on Flickr

I'll take the DPC fix for the moment - just need to stop the carpet being innundated to start with. What other potential popular leaks are there?

Is the Syncro shell still available?

Replaced the crank sensor last weekend. That was fun NOT. Engine bar on, front crossmember off, front engine mount off, starter off (for a quick re-grease), pull crank sensor and replace with new. The new one was from SES at £18 instead of £36 from GSF/ECP. Now it's in everything seems a bit sharper from the motor, but I haven't been able to find a HUGE puddle to drive through to test the water ingress issues since replacing it. While I was under the bonnet I did a bit of tidying on the wiring too. Annoyingly there seems to be some water ingress in the drivers footwell. The car is missing the wiper motor cover on the scuttle, so that's been replaced with some DPC membrane and gaffer tape for the moment, to see if I can stop the water coming in, if it's coming in from the scuttle somewhere. I also stripped down the driver's door and found this: Which is another potential for water ingress, so added a bit more DPC and gaffer tape in there too. Next up - back out with George to suck out as much water from the driver's footwell as possible! Any other suggestions for where water might be coming in from would be ideal. As far as I can make out, it's only in the driver's front footwell. Slightly concerned about the amount of petrol it's using, but coming out of only running VW TDIs for the past couple of years I was always going to suffer shell-shock going back to a petrol motor. :bonk:

Get an engine support bar to hold the motor and get things up in the air and you'll be good to sort things without removing the engine.

Sounds like it could be Silverstone or Bedford Autodrome.....

Possibly the R32 bush fits the wide-track control arms and the TT one fits the narrow-track control arms? I think it'll make a bigger difference to the narrow-track control arms - they're an older design and they're less robust. This is how I welded the control arms: I also did quite a bit of work around the end where the large bush is. I've done a couple of sets since and I'm about to strip down those on my Corrado and strengthen and re-bush them too. Then I have the rear beam bushes to do...

no, comes from the main fusebox.

Oh I like this as an idea rather than the bloody expensive Lupo wiper arms!

A little light servicing tonight. Oil and filter change and then swapped out the plugs for those which went in the last ABF when that went in: For these Doesn't like being drowned - gets a right hump on and needs to sit for a couple of minutes after immersion, as it won't rev up, just gives what can only be described as an almighty lambda cycle. I'm not sure what's causing this - pulled off TPS, idle switch, knock sensors, dizzi hall sender trying to stop it mucking about. Probably replace the crank sensor next to try and sort that out and alsos check the engine loom carefully to see if there's any issues. When it's not drowning it's now running a lot happier and we're on a from-top-of-tank MPG measurement at the moment.

Rear window winders fitted to the front?