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Undo the smaller locknut on the toothed bracket, and the alternator bracket hinge securing bolt. This allows the alternator body to move backward and forward to adjust the belt tension. To tension it, use an open ended wrench to adjust the larger nut, hold it in place and tighten the lock but to secure, then do up the hinge bolt. If the belt is any way old, just replace it. Squeal can also be caused by one of the pulleys having a loose bearing or sticking - you can check this by hand.

Unhelpful and expensive - although sometimes the exact thing you need and can't get anywhere else. I've had some success in the past using a large paper clip cut into a U shape, you can then use a vice/pliers or hammer to flatten out the ends slightly. Any of the actual tools designed for the job are proper pricey, but I guess the target market is people who would be using them every day.

On the nail swiftkid - couldn't remember the exact name - and second that on the tools. I have a proper issue one for bare metal, another for insulated connections and a proper sping loaded automatic wire cutter/stripper - well worth investing in. The Durite pin extractors are good value and I have a couple of them, but I find they can be a bit tricky to use without hurting yourself on the other exposed prongs - I now use this kind, and have two different sizes for small and large connectors and have never looked back - they are not that cheap though (seem to have gone up in price), but worth it in the long run fi you get the use out of them. Especially handy when doing a large amount of wiring, loom replacement/repair or a conversion.

As far as I know they are just Tyco/Timer/Junior Timer uninsulated connectors if you are talking about the female end in the plug socket - there's plenty of info on the web, and I was able to get some from the likes of Radionics a few years back. You'll need to have the correct crimp tool and a pin removal tool is handy as well. There used to be a site called Vehicle Wiring Products as well. I'll dig around at home to see if I can find any for reference. It is actually possible to order all these from WV, but you need a very helpful and patient parts contact - VAG also sell wiring repair kits in different gauges of wire thickness with the female ends crimped on already at each end - they are a few inches in length, so you just cut them in half and splice onto an existing wire for a fresh connection.

Not at all - your project looks great, keep up the good work!

Yeah, I have VCDS and the 2x2 cable, so will hook it up tomorrow to check.

Got towed home by the AXA recovery dude - luckily only 10 mins drive from my house. Engine cut out coming down the outside lane of a particularly fast slip road off our orbital "motorway" on my way home from work, and would not start again, starter engages, seems to catch but won't fire up, could be fuel problem I guess, but haven't had a chance to look yet as it's too dark and cold now. A nice chap in another near vintage car pulled over and stopped the traffic so we could move the VR to the off side hard shoulder to wait. No-one else was stopping, but he said he could empathise as he'd been in the same boat plenty of times. Kudos. And to top it all off the recovery driver was the same guy who helped out two years ago when a coolant hose burst! Recognised the car immediately. Ah well, at least it has been a relatively trouble free daily for two years - I wish.

Yeah, it's a great feature - and because it's just a a different wiper relay it's really easy to retrofit to older Golfs and early Audi cars.

Must check. Could just cut down one of these?

I think they are engine specific, but all cars should have some for of protection for the belts - the VR6 part is just for that engine arrangement, but I imagine there will be versions for the G60 and 16V too as I know for certain that Mk2 GTI had one.

Probably feed from brake light up o e post, and earth down the other - the wires would not have to be very thick.

What a class piece of kit. Must have taken him ages to drill all the individual holes and mount the LEDs. Respect.

Actually, look for No. 12 on this: https://volkswagen.7zap.com/en/rdw/corrado/cor/1993-76/8/805-136000/#12 535 805 825 D - air guide, left 535 805 826 A - air guide, right

They are described as air guides - I managed to get some from VW, but many years ago and I imagine they are obsolete now. Most cars wouldn't have them on any more as they need to come off to remove the bumper for engine bay work and repairs, or get damaged on kerbs. I suppose they were an attempt to smooth the airflow underneath the engine, but I can't imagine they did much and were for visual effect only. I've no access to a parts catalogue to check the numbers for you, but someone else on here might be able to. BTW, where is that picture of a lovely clean under body from? It almost sparkles.

I'd be afraid to start a list like that - it would never end and depress me too much. The annoying thing is I have the parts amassed and tools to deal with most of them, but it's getting the time that's the problem...

The bulb for main beam is a standard incandescent filament bulb with two wire coming out of the base - it slots right in. The blue is a plastic cap that sits over it. All the others are LED types, but back in the day blue LEDs weren't generally available. I remember I got both the bulb and the cap from the dealers, but that was 8 years or so ago. For the light for the the automatic shifter trim illumination (if that is what it is) have a look on some of the US parts sites, as there were more automatics sold there than anywhere else.

Could be yet another Storm-a-like? Strange that the badges would be in the glove box. The best way to confirm would be to get in touch with VW and ask them to check the chassis number. Just because it's a 96 car doesn't necessarily mean it's on either - Storms weren't the last cars off the production line, and plenty of dealers were still selling off late 94 and 95 stock which wasn't registered until 96. I have heard before though that some buyers chose to go with Speedlines at time of purchase because they didn't like the Solitudes - I would probably have been one of them! 😉

Has anyone on here ever fitted solid shift cable bracket bushings to their cars, and have they made much of a difference? Considering it, but there's absolutely no movement on my bracket with the stock rubber and metal insert ones after 27 years, and would think the alloy ones would transmit more vibration.....something like these, but a few different places do them: https://www.42draftdesigns.com/vw-shifter-bracket-bushings/#description

Signed up now. Thanks.

Good stuff - great to see some progress on this.

You will spend a lot of money trying to get a NA 12v VR6 up to 220-230, an you won't get any more really. All the smart money goes on forced induction if you are looking for more power - but you'll also need to budget for things like bigger brakes and wheels to go over them, suspension, LSD etc. so it all adds up. I'd say 280 to 320 would be a good result, but everyone has their own preferences and you need to make sure it all works well together. Or you could just accept the car for what it was intended to be and be happy with about 200!

Someone showed me that trick a few years back - very useful and means you have your hands free as well! Good info on the 4.8v for the injectors - I stand corrected, my guess at 12v was just some basic Google research - makes sense really as a lot of the more sensitive components use in and around 5v. I did find some stuff that mentioned that poor wiring to and from the battery and starter can cause the voltage to drop to way below what is needed to fire the injectors etc during cranking, so that might be worth bearing in mind for others troubleshooting similar issues.

Depends on how bad it is - I've had some luck in the past with spray fabric adhesive when it's not too far gone. If you can remove enough to stretch it again that would work if you can fold it over at the edges. The only way to get it looking right is to recover from scratch though.

Best place to find these would be on some of the proper racing forums, Germany or by getting in touch with some of the original teams. There was a set of six for sale in Ireland a year ago, had been raced and needed refurbishment. Not cheap though as I recall, I think 800+ euro for four....

Was there not a blue moon recently? Thought one might have turned up then.