Jim

Worth just getting an auto electrician out to have a look? They should be able to diagnose it fairly quickly and maybe even bypass the alarm / immob for you?

If indeed it is the pipe from the crack pipe to the oil cooler then yep.. you're ideally gonna have to get the front end off to get at it though thinking back on the job (and the number of times I've had the front end off my car in the last few weeks) you could conceivably get at it from under the car if it were on ramps.. not sure.. Anyway you'll be pleased to know the pipe is still available from VW and not very expensive at all (£6 if I remember correctly?). I'd consider ordering a crack pipe just in case that's gone too.

Lovely and original looking, and seems a fair price. Still think they look great in Flash Red :)

If you squint at this, they look to be VW logos :) http://www.autoposter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Storm3.jpg

Pretty sure you just remove the cover, and pull out the dodgy coolant sensor, and replace quickly before it glugs coolant everywhere - though admittedly have never changed one on a VR before.

Yeah - does sound likely. Sounds like it's massively overfuelling.

I was thinking about this stuff for my 'other' car that I'm currently running (an old classic Daimler) but I thought it was some crazy price, like in the region of hundreds of pounds. If not, I may take a proper look into it!

The Countach briefly previewed belongs to Harry Metcalfe, the former editor of Evo magazine. Looking forward to seeing that :) He did some good videos on YouTube (Evo Diaries) including one of cannonballing the Countach back from a jaunt in Italy - worth a watch :)

Yep - watched it last night. Enjoyable watch. Often seemed to threaten silly Top Gear moments but always managed to reign itself in. Great stuff.

If EJ Taylor doesn't want that throttle cable, Chris, could I put my name down in reserve as I've been after one for a while. Cheers.

Looks really nice and original! Love that colour blue too :)

Try getting in touch with VW Classic Parts - they may not stock them, but may know of companies doing reproduction / compatible parts.. for example they don't stock original VR6 radiators but were able to recommend (and could supply) ones that they approved of.

Will definitely check this out on iPlayer tonight!

Does **** me off that people think it's acceptable to do this! Agreed - contact eBay, advice that it is not a picture of the actual item or his car and I'm sure they'll pull the auction.

Will hunt out a copy to put away - thanks for the tip off!

Folks will always say spend as much as you can afford on coil overs - cheap ones can give an extremely crashy / hard ride! But if the primary objective of this exercise is to make the car look better (rather than focussing on the drive) then either will be fine, though I think on balance I'd go for the FK's personally. If you can stretch a bit further the Bilstein B12 kit clumpy is selling would be worth a look - whilst they're not coil overs, they'll drop the car nicely and give a FAR better handling & ride than either of the coilover kits you've mentioned :)

Agreed. I just want the easy life now - to have a car I can get in and use every day, and just service it once a year, which is why this sort of deal has become increasingly appealing :)

Lease deals are extremely compelling. I always swore I'd never do it either - couldn't get my head around paying money for X years and not owning the car at the end. But if you factor in that it's a new car and basically you're only paying the depreciation, they can be pretty awesome. Deals like that Golf R one were crazy.

Cool - good information. Keep us posted on how you get on. It's all these sorts of parts that are getting steadily harder to find. I do think refurbishers is a good way to go on some stuff, provided you can find good / reliable ones as ultimately all this stuff is all the same using the same sorts of fittings and things, just all packaged a little differently.

Appreciate it mate but the guys at the refurb place were very helpful. I've took my spare 70A in for a rebuild and they're going to strip down and check the refurb one they already did as well as look for a casing to replace the damaged one. Really helpful chap.

They wouldn't come loose because you actually bolt into them, which pulls them tight onto the bracket until they can't be pulled / tightened any more - at least, that's how I understood it? And that's some thorough information, James - may consider rebuilding this 70A Bosch alternator if I don't get anywhere with my current one :|

Well I currently have a 70A Bosch and my remanufactured (and now broken) 90A Valeo unit. They both have the same design it seems with these same collars. My original Valeo unit was fine when removed and as I say I was under the belief that these collars self adjust in that they'll pull in tight as you tighten the bolts up. Appreciate the offer of the cases - will see how I get on at lunch time going to see these guys with the broken unit!

I saw they were painted but I assumed when I came to refit that when I tightened the bolts the seal on the paint would just break and they'd pull tight. When I was tightening the bolts I heard a 'crack' on both bolts and that's what I figured was happening - not realising what had actually happened. The alarm bells were ringing when I came to undo the bolts and the alternator basically wanted to fall off the bracket. Last time I removed it I had to lever the fecker off so I thought it was a bit odd!

Yeah - 12 months. I just think they'll try and be funny about it given the nature of what's happened.. but from talking about it on Facebook with Graham, he's said what I felt happened. That those push in bushes that the long bolt screws into, have been painted and stuck in place. So when I tightened the bolt in, rather than them pulling in closer to the bracket as the bolt was tightened, instead the alternator casing has snapped! So if I can just get a refund I can put that towards sorting a proper VW one out.

Roger that!