oneohtwo

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!

No, just sticking with the original fibre one. Never really considered it to be honest - only recently discovered it was an option!

Right, given it some more thought and cleaning and got things nice and flat. Will put a thin smear of well seal in the pitted areas, but they are self contained and shouldn't be an issue. I will have to live with the odd marks on the bore, and they should be mostly above the piston ring travel anyway. Next thing I've discovered, I am missing the little insets into the bolt holes for locating the gasket and cylinder head - anyone know where these can be obtained?! Part No. is N90502601 but can only seem to find it from US stores, and one on ebay from Latvia but could do with somewhere that's going to be easier to deliver...

Gave that a go, but unfortunately the hooks are just too big to fit at the back and sides of the strut well. they fit at the front corners, but that leaves you without the third. Did grab a pair of the Hilka type from screwfix so will give them ago.

Old thread, but a bit of info to add: The Clark 3 rod spring compressors (also Teng Tools look identical) like these: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cht224-3piece-coil-spring-compressor/ Don't work on the Corrado, as there's no clearance for the heads in the well around the top of the strut, and the bar is also too long. It hits the top of the well before the bottom hook is engaged. I went for these as I thought they looked a bit more substantial than the Laser/Hilka ones above, like the locking mechanism and felt having three bars was a bit more stable and safer than just the two bars.... but half an hour wrestling with them and they definitely don't fit so best to avoid. Guess I'll have to go with the type above. frustrating day!

I'm just coming up to installing the new head gasket and refreshed cylinder head, but … obvious question: how clean does the engine block face have to be? I've scraped off as much as I can of the remaining gunk that was still stuck on after getting back from Stealth, and wiped down a few times with brake cleaner but a few areas look kinda rough/pitted: There's obviously no way I can get it skimmed now or anything like that, but is that clean enough? I know it is just around the cooling jacket areas, so pretty well contained (and there are areas of pitting left on the head after skimming, from previous damage) but a second opinion would be handy as it's a critical item. All the youtube vids seem to be dealing with nice, shiny, freshly skimmed blocks! Also noticed inside the bores these marks have appeared: Any ideas? The cylinders were rebored and rehoned with Stealth, and fairly sure they weren't there before. All I can think of is tiny rust marks, but I've kept the bores oiled up and under cover so would be a bit gutted if that was the case. Obviously nothing I can do about it now though, so ah well.

Yeah, it takes bloody ages! The painting is the easiest bit... I spread the cleaning over several months, doing a bit at a time and slowly chipping away at it, because it's bloody tedious and wasn't on the critical path. I used a combo of: Dodo Juice Crudzilla Auto Finesse Eradicate Bilt Hamber Deox Gel (for rust removal) White Spirit Fibre Glass mould cleaner The last two were for removing the last residues of the wax mostly. I really like the Auto Finesse cleaner actually, has done a good job on a lot of other things. Used the Auto Finesse Caramics kit for a bit of added protection once I had finished. Also raided the gfs stock of wooden nail sticks, as they were perfect for chipping bits of hardened wax off without damaging anything under! Those would be my tips!

Ah, good news! Sent a few of the forum threads over and the guy has found someone at Eibach who knows about the problem and should be sending replacement springs next week. The guy at Extreme Carstyling has been extremely helpful, didn't argue in the first instance, got straight on to Eibach, always responded quickly and has pursued them for an answer. Would be happy to recommend them. Was a very good price on the B12s as well...

In the meantime, bit more progress. Airbox tray cleaned of rust and resprayed: Always amazed at how purple Aqua blue looks at some angles in certain light - don't tend to notice it on the outside as much.

Yeah, that was the plan - I had sent them a link to, I think, your thread in the first instance in the hope that would help. Seems they need more! Thanks for the tip, I'll track down SeanJaymos thread...

Well this is great. Contacted the company about the springs and they've have been quite helpful and got in touch with Eibach. Eibach have now comeback and denied all knowledge, said they weren't aware of the problem. Bah, so this is going to be a drawn out affair... Disappointing, and a bit surprised at Eibach, from reading on here people seem to have got a good response from them and it's been Bilstein who have been unhelpful. Clearly they've never recorded the previous issues... They've asked if I have any photos showing the issue, but I don't want to put them on knowing they're wrong. Plus I am miles away from being able to do that currently...

Yeah, I think that's fair. I've bought before from them and have been pretty happy with the quality of item - they sell plenty of higher quality stuff; got the Vibratechnics mount from them, and as mentioned the other gasket set is Elring, plus a few other quality brands and the VW Classics stuff. I guess I did partly fall into the trap of thinking because it was VW Heritage everything from there would be decent quality when I got the headgasket set. I see in fairness they do have the OEM headgasket from VW Classics, I just bought the full set which is JP. I think what I might do is get a Reinz headgasket from ebay, and use the rest of the gaskets from the set, if I can't return them, in less critical placesl. Like the inlet manifolds - shouldn't be under such harsh conditions as the head gasket and if they do go wrong it's much less an issue. That way I've not totally wasted the money.

Great stuff mate, thanks! Glad I started this thread now, that's a real help. Hadn't really given them a second glance when bought off heritage, don't think they had listed the manufacturer at the time either. Bit annoying as it wasn't a cheap set either... that's a 100 odd quid down the drain. Thankfully the other seal set I got from them are Elring. I've never really fancied buying from ebay, (not just parts but anything!) but actually seems like it might be the better place now...

Good knowledge, happy for a recommendations so I'll go with Lemforder. You're certainly the go to parts man on here it seems! Got the oil cooler ages ago so probably can't return it now - but it was cheap so won't lose much getting the Hella. Do you have any thoughts on the JP gaskets? Seems hard to get a thin piece of metal wrong... but then, it is the head gasket. They weren't cheap either so I'd be loath to lose out on those.

That's a concern, I bought an oil cooler from heritage - seem to recall it coming in an unbranded box but will double check.

You might be right about being obsolete. Seems more and more like that is the default answer. Yeah, noticed the rear engine mount I picked from them up was Topran and the gasket set JP. Didn't realise at the time. Hopefully shouldn't matter too much as the rear mount isn't so greatly stressed, and is just a big lump of rubber. Likewise you'd hope a gasket is a gasket... Will have a look at vw international.

That's good to know. Was hoping to get new OEM top mounts and bushes for the suspension - looked like heritage only had powerflex bushes when I first looked, but need to double check the actual parts. Also need to get the yellow, blue, black thermostat sensors - seems like they've got a few but not the blue and yellow.

Where does everyone go for their OEM parts now that the dealers have shut for the lockdown? The irony is I've now got more time than ever to work on the corrado, but can't get the parts...! Obviously got Heritage for good parts, but some bits you want OEM. Online mostly seems to throw up the Autodoc sites and their variations (buycarparts, etc...) - I've got some INA tappets on order from there as couldn't find them on any UK sites but again with the disruption ordering from the UK would seem to be preferable.