Robbo149

Are they any good? They're reasonably priced @ £70 odd for VR6. Cheers, Robbo

I think I dropped rather lucky with the head, I had done a bit of flicking through the mags & found C & R Enterprises do a polished & ported head complete & ready to bolt on (minus cams) for £495 inc, which was way cheaper than anyone else. Big boys toys will do an exchange standard head for around £360 I think. But I phoned round a couple of local engine refinishers to get a price for mine reconditioning & happened to drop on one who had a VR6 head on the shelf waiting to be reconditioned, so he's doing it at the moment, all in price including new hydraulics for £260! With the rest of the parts & labour it's gonna cost the best part of a grand though! Cheers, Robbo

Thanks for the reassurance Phat, I guess I'm hoping that a new head, chains & tensioners will be a cure-all ! Probably too much to hope for though!!!... I'm sure there'll always be something else to sort... oh, yeah, suspension & brakes next... Btw, I'll have to catch up with you sometime at the CGTi meet, I've been meaning to come along for ages, must be 5 years since I last made the trip to Harrogate! Me old mate Mick C keeps pestering me to come over. Cheers, Robbo

Hi all, I'm pretty sure my head's poorly (knackered valve stem seals/guides/tappets) as I'm getting all the symptoms: using too much oil, blue smoke on startup & after downhill drag etc & general lack of ooomph. I've bitten the bullet & decided to get a recon head, plus get timing chains/tensioners done at the same time (rather than sell the car!). I've just got a query though: the exhaust has always been popping badly on the overrun, even worse since I had a s/s exhaust fitted, & is always sooted up. Is this just another symptom of having a poorly head, or is there something else I should be looking at? No VAG-COM errors last time I checked & recent emmissions check showed it was running slightly lean. I'd hate to blow all that cash on a rebuilt head only to end up with another problem to sort. Cheers, Robbo

Been having all these problems too - using oil, badly popping exhaust etc, never had much smoke though! checked the plugs, had a compression test done & these seemed ok (don't know what psi the comp test gave, but garage who did it said compression was ok. So started looking at the best way to get the head sorted. In the meantime, I've had a Powerflow s/s exhaust fitted & now It's smoking like a good 'un on cold starts & after a downhill run on closed throttle (classic symptoms of valve stem oil seals). Maybe the fooked standard exhaust wasn't letting enough smoke through to notice?!! Anyway, I've since found a local engine specialist who's got a VR6 head he'll fully recondition (new valve guides, seals, hydraulic tappets, valves re-seating, skimming etc, all ready to bolt on... £260 ish, which sounds reasonable to me. Just need to get a sensible quote for the labour for a head swap, timing chains, clutch etc!!! Thoughts of selling have crossed my mind, but I do love the C! Cheers, Robbo

Just had a conversation with a local VW / Audi engine specialist re. having my VR6 head reconditioned, & he basically said to me it was a waste of time messing with the head as (in his experience), it's always worn rings on VR6's, & heads are ok! & he didn't even want to consider a price for re-ringing! Needless to say I'll be trying other places. Do you reckon he's talking bollllllox?! I think he was just trying to get rid of me really. Cheers, Robbo

Hi all, does anyone know of any VR6 / VW specialists in the Yorkshire (Leeds) area? I'm looking for someone to do head work / timing chains etc, rather than the trek down to Stealth. Cheers, Robbo

Cheers Mat, I guess you mean a test drive in the Audi will convince me to keep the C ?!!

Hi all, I've got a bit of a dilemma... I've been offered a cheap Audi A3 1.8T Sport, I've been saving up to spend some cash on my VR6 C (it really could do with a head rebuild), so do I keep the C & spend the cash getting it tip-top? or do I go with the sensible voices in my head telling me to sell it & get the A3? (newer, lower mileage, more reliable?)... come on guys, what would you do??? (I can't afford both) Cheers, Robbo

Red / clear - I've just put some on my black VR & they look great, (FK's from Gwent VW - £159, excellent fit too). I'll post some pics if you like. Cheers, Robbo

Cheers chaps, I knew you were gonna say that :( . Just me trying to cut costs, as a DIY job isn't an option. I guess cost cutting just don't go with being a VR owner!!! Thanks, Robbo

Apologies for posting on this subject yet again! but I'm just wanting to clear a few things up before I decide which route to take. My 100k VR has noisy tappets (tried some tappet cleaner for a couple of hundred miles, but they're still quite noisy), also after close scrutiny of my rear view mirror, I have noticed the odd puff of smoke (usually when flooring it after a long downhill stretch), so I'm thinking valve stem seals too, Oil consumption is quite high @ about 1 litre per K. So, a couple of questions: I read somewhere on here that it's possible to replace the valve stem seals without taking the head off, using an airline to blow up the valves. Should this be simple enough for any decent garage to do? Is it a waste of time doing valve stem seals without doing the guides? Is it also possible to do the upper timimg chain tensioner with the head on? Cheers once again guys, Robbo

Yep.. cam position sensor on mine was goosed & a new one released all that lost power. With the CPS out, the ECU just retards the timing as far as it can, so losing tons of horses! VAG COM will tell you if it is the CPS. Cheers, Robbo

Cheers Kev, I'm trying to browse & look like I'm working at the same time. (Not that I'd encourage that sort of thing you understand!)

oops, sorry guys, typed the wrong name in!!!

Yeah Mike, I'd be interested to know how much you're after! Cheers, Robbo

Anyone wanting M3 style rear lights, Gwent VW have about 25 sets of FK clear/red crystal jobbies they're knocking out at £159. Just ordered some! They're up on Ebay too. Cheers, Robbo

I have Audi TT wheels on my VR6 which are approx -10 different offset to standard wheels & they fit fine. They do sit further out but IMO they fill out the arches a treat. Cheers, Robbo

Well put Matt, I'm in the same boat. I have a lot of respect for people like Phat who are willing to have a go themselves, but I don't have the time or inclination to do anything too major myself. Wife/kids/work etc mean I don't particularly want to be out in the garage all weekend. I personally would rather pay someone else, as long as they are doing a good job & not ripping me off! Also, as my C is my only transport, I can't afford for it to be off the road for too long. Cheers, Robbo

Just phoned C & R & asked them about their heads. For £495 (inc VAT) you get a complete exchange rebuilt head, ported & polished, including valves, guides, seals, ready to bolt on (obviously no cams). There is an additional surcharge of £150 until old head is returned. TSR do a similar spec complete head for £675 (standard valves) & they claim a 15% increase in power! I think it's gonna be a lot cheaper to find a s/h head & get it refurbished locally, or is it? Plus I have to get hold of one!.. not having much look so far. Cheers, Robbo

I didn't think £495 sounded too bad, other places I've looked are £600 - £700! A couple of things to bear in mind - my mechanical skills/knowledge are pretty basic, so a DIY job is out of the window, & also I don't want my car off the road for too long, so I think an exchange head is probably gonna be best for me. I've tried a few local scrappers to see if I can get hold of a head to get refurbished, but so far no joy! what gains can I expect from headwork & cams? Cheers, Robbo

Hi all, I'm now seriously looking at possible engine mods on my VR as I think it could do with a head rebuild anyway. I'm just wanting to know what to go for to get the best gains. I'm probably going to go for a ported & polished head (best so far £495 exchange from C&R), what sort of gains will this give me on its own? Should I get cams at the same time? what sort of additional gains will they give? are they worth the extra £500? Or should I forget the cams & save for a Shrek?! (I do have a limited budget btw!) Any advice welcome! Cheers, Robbo

Good idea that Kev, It'll probably work out a lot cheaper than buying an exchange head already fettled. I might just phone round a few local scrappers & see if there's any cheap VR heads around! You never know... if I can do it on the cheap I might be able to afford some Schrick cams too!!!... Cheers, Robbo

Hi all, anyone know anywhere (pref up North!), who do exchange VR6 cylinder heads, maybe with a bit of mild tweaking? I'm trying to avoid having mine off the road for too long as it's my only transport at the mo. Oh, & maybe some idea of prices. Thx, Robbo

You'll be able to get me some nice & cheap then, eh Steve? :wink: btw, are you going to Harrogate for the next meet, or will you have already left sunny Yorks by then? Cheers, Robbo