oneohtwo

No, but the guy I spoke to checked with their director who had them on his desk. When I spoke the them originally they said they'd done them for a VR6 in the past but didn't have a template, so a bit odd but I guess he was mistaken - if they can't do em, they can't do em! Shame, as stainless braided would have looked decent!

Unfortunately they can't do the VR6 return and feed line, apparently, due to the pre-bent shape and size of the hose. I spoke to them on the phone and they said send them in, but they've had a look and said they can't - bit of a shame.

Tidied up some other bits as well: Got the alternator refurbed at QX Components and gave a quick spray in silver when it got back to keep it fresh. And some 288 calipers that I have had sitting around for years: Jury is a bit out on the orange. I was going to do them silver or grey, but then thought I'd give orange ago to tie into my orange subframe as a theme... but you'll not really see the subframe so not sure how apparent that will be! Worried it might look a bit Ford RS... but will see when I get it back on the car. Won't take much to paint em up again!

I think that's probably sensible, just gives you peace of mind. Funnily enough the virus lockdown has been a bit of a bonus for me on the rebuild! Just given me far more free time to work on it, and most places have still been open for delivering tools, parts, etc... Not too much more progress to report, got the sump back on: I'm pretty pleased with how this turn out as it was a mess of rust and oil when I got it off. I was just going to buy a replacement but bit of cleaning work and Bilt Hamber products has got it quite nice: That's part way through the rust treatment, so it was a lot worse Can still see the pitting, but I quite like that. Shows some age. Got a few layers of Bilt Hydrate, hammerite stone chip and Hammerite on so hopefully will last a bit. No doubt the it'll get chipped on the first trip out and rust away again!

Another good find mate! Was after some new VR6 fuel lines so this is perfect timing, will give them a call in the morning.

The Roose ones do look good but I only really fancy them because they look a bit smarter than OEM though, so not sure I can fully justify the expense. That said my old rubber ones don't look in the best condition... hmmm

I do enjoy the Humble Mechanic videos - I had to resort to him in the end to find out how he did it! We're quite lucky he picked the VR6 for the whole series. And thanks very much! Good thinking! I couldn't be arsed waiting another week or so for another, but you'd think it would be an easy thing to get right! Yeah, the Mark 4 upgrade is the yellow tensioner. The original piece is resin riveted onto a bit of metal which as you can see from my earlier pictures isn't a great design. The upgrade part is just a solid plastic piece, so won't come apart and shred the chains...

The obvious is the crack pipe I guess! Although searching for the Gruven one did turn up this place which seems to import some US stuff from ECS and Black Forest: https://psituning.com/black-forest-vr6-12v-crack-pipe.html https://psituning.com/vw-parts/vw-corrado/engine-114667498/ecs-billet-water-pipe-silver-12v-vr6.html Not heard of Black Forest before but looks decent. Quite pricy though, so if they were produced over here could be cheaper? Some nice looking stuff on the Creation Motorsport site though, the silicon hoses are a nice price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK3-2-8-VR6-7-PIECE-SILICONE-RADIATOR-COOLANT-HOSE-KIT-H0169/253599825517?hash=item3b0bba3e6d:m:mEQbwSULStx2EVbcu51yDoA They've been mentioned on here before I see, and consensus was the quality was decent. (edit: actually looking again it was the Roose hoses that everyone loved, only one person tried them and they didn't fit so sent them back by the looks of things. Might be because they are for the 2.8 as well.) Tempted by the fuel lines as well - need some replacements as mine have gone a bit perished at the end and haven't got around to looking, so that could solve that easily: https://creationsmotorsport.com/stainless-steel-braided-an-flex-hose-for-oil-fuel-hose-line-price-per-meter.html

Had a good weekend where I managed some genuine progress on the engine! Finally got the cylinder head back on, cams installed and the chains on: Getting the top chain on is a right pain in the arse. You have to leave the guide off, make sure the tensioner is in first, and leave the intermediate sprocket off until you've got the chain on - took me 3 or 4 goes to figure this out! First time forgot the tensioner, and you can't get it on because the gasket is in the way. Then if you put the tensioner in place you can't get the chains on without taking off the intermediate sprocket! You'd think they could have left a bit more room around the gasket... Something special to go in: And in: Also found the cam tool sold on Heritage isn't right... it's far too thin for the slot on the cams so it doesn't lock them in place, which is frustrating. Got them aligned with a feeler gauge to make sure they were in the right place, but they're not fixed so you have to keep checking they've not moved when you're messing with the chains. Anyway, ,hopefully onwards and upwards from here!

Yeah, tried the dealer but obsolete apparently. I've got the part number as above (I think 1H0-199-262/D appears also to be correct, rather than /K, not sure what the difference is) which turned up Topran/JP mostly, plus the Ruville and Mapco. Done a bit more digging and I think this is full list of parts manufacturers for the mount: http://www.kakapart.com/oem/partscrossinterchange/vw-1h0199262k.html Probably wouldn't use that site for anything else, but seems useful for getting a list of part numbers and manufacturers. The "known" names on the list of Febi and Lemforder don't seem to produce them any more (searched the part nos. and checked Lemforder's online catalogue). Few available here: https://www.bestpartstore.co.uk/1h0199262d-oen Again, not heard of most of them. Corteco appear to be American (pricey on there!) Metzger and Optimal are German. Optimal seems to be a mix of German and cheap parts, no idea on Metzger. Ruville are part of the Schaeffler Group who also own LuK and INA so I think they're probably reputable, and I may just give them a go. Vibra is an idea as I've got the front as, but ideally didn't want to spend that much!

I do: 1H0-199-262/K. Had a search on ebay which only turned up Mapco (and JP/Topran). Autodoc only has Ruville - it's odd, plenty of manufacturers do the left rear gearbox mount, like febi, Meyle, plus loads I've never heard of (Ridex, Fortune Line, Maxgear etc... ) but the right rear is nowhere to be found. I guess the left rear must have compatibility with more models, and the right rear was just the Corrado. AVS often turn up rare parts, but only have JP, you may have more luck than me though!

Yep, I was being thick... ! The top plate holds the spring on when they come off. Only after I went out and bought the two pronged ones did I realise this; the Clark ones would have been fine all along!

I'm sending a few parts back to Heritage, including the Topran right rear mount. Have been sourcing replacements, but other than Topran and JP only Ruville and Mapco appear to be available. Both German, and I believe both do OEM parts for various manufacturers so should be decent quality, but wondered if anyone had any experience of either? OEM are obsolete.

Oh absolutely! Thought people might be interested to see how they differed visually, in case they were in a similar situation. Bit of info to add to the forum resource!

All fixed down now, but this is what it looked like in the end: So hardly anything out. Anyway, took a picture of the Elring gasket compared to the JP Group one, just for reference: Hard to see any difference between them with the JP in the package, but the flame rings on the Elring appear wider, and the fibre patterning is more pronounced on the JP. The JP didn't look bad quality just on a visual inspection, but I guess hard to know what the materials are like. The Elring exhaust gasket on the left appears to have a zinc finish on it, whereas the JP doesn't so clear difference in material there. Also has a sharper bend in it. Can't really draw many conclusions from that, but thought it may be of interest.

Is it just a replacement for the stock heat shield, but rather nicer? It's quite tempting at that price...

Took the head back off and it does look a bit better. Just the rings at 1 and 6 are slightly out, but by 1-2mm. It's just the outside edge as well, so will probably stick with it. Still a bit odd... Will try and post pictures tomorrow.

Yes, you are correct - it's the rubber cam cover gasket that's the different part. I bought the kit from Murrays and checked with Vince before I bought and he confirmed there was no change in the head gasket, just the cam cover which is apparently plastic on the very late ones. Also checked with Murrays as well, and he said the same. Cheers for looking into it though, appreciate the assistance. Don't know if it's worth advising people to swerve the Elring gaskets for the time being... Anyway, will see what's what today. Vince seemed unconcerned with the one he had that didn't fit well - he put it all on and said it was running fine, so if it's good enough for Vince!

Didn't get a chance to get down to the garage today, so will have a look tomorrow. Agree it does seem a bit odd... why after years of producing decent gaskets would they suddenly get the size wrong. I'll see how it looks after I take the head back off and make a decision I think.

Spoke to Vince, and he said he had the exact same issue with an Elring gasket the other day. He said it hadn't caused him any issues, he'd just forced it on, and pushed it down when it popped up, so it sounds like might be a bad batch. He didn't seem to have the rings out of alignment though, but didn't think it was an issue as long as it didn't overhang the bore - feels a bit odd having the slight gap at the top though. His suggestion was to install the head and nip the old bolts up, leave it overnight then see if it has sorted itself out, so will give that a go.

Thanks, will check the part numbers in the morning. The listing was definitely for the 2.9, and as you say the 2.8 is the same block. The guides are brand new and checked they were seated correctly, plus the old gasket slipped on fine, so I think they are ok. Unfortunately did it too late in the day so just missed Vince when I tried to give him a call! Will have to try again on Monday.

Yeah, but was reluctant to get it out of the pack as Heritage said I can return it, and it wasn't cheap. The old gasket (Victor Reinz) slips straight on. Seems odd as it's more that it's slightly too long than distorted... Can't understand how that would happen. Pretty annoyed because went for the Elring for quality!

Right, if it's not one thing, it's another. Came to fit the head gasket today and the Elring one I bought doesn't fit... It doesn't fully align with the guides, so if you push it on it doesn't lay flat, just bows upwards. I'm guessing this isn't normal, right? Furthermore the flame rings are all slightly out from cylinder 1 onwards... so by the time you get to cylinder 6 there's a big gap. I thought about just shaving a bit off the guide hole to get it to fit, but then the cylinder rings still overlap. This isn't just me and it's supposed to be like this and somehow shrinks to fit eventually right?!

Yeah, you're right it's not a bad shout and I might have gone with it if I'd known earlier but I think I'll stick with standard - I've got the parts now and I understand the metal gaskets are less forgiving of areas of pitting of which I have plenty. I did talk through the head gaskets with Vince at Stealth and he didn't mention avoiding the old mk 3 gasket, so hopefully they can't be too horrendous

Great find there, I was struggling to get hold of the dowel sleeves for the engine block but they came up trumps. Think I'll definitely be using them more often in future, even after the lockdown - as you say my local dealer also doesn't post so you need to take a day off just to pick up parts!