aide

likely rust spots off the top of my head; - petrol filler, even a tiny spot on the outside spells difficult repair internally. - arches, any of them, all the way round, but rears often the worst. - sill immediately behind the front wheel, water run off discharges internally here. - factory mounting plates on underside both front and rear. - rear quarter panel seams. - number plate light cover - easy fix though. - boot catch. - rear badge holes. - windscreen pillars if its ever been replaced. - sill drip if its ever had a tyre changed using the emergency jack!

:lol: funniest line i've read in a while.

know the feeling, i've been paint prepping one side of mine for what seems like weeks, all the while summer times vanishing and times running out to enjoy the bloody thing..... will be god damn great when i do get that first drive though, even if its snowing.

i spent time dismantling and cleaning all of mine when i rebuilt my cyl head in May, despite this they were still noisy, although not as bad as they were, so i replaced them with new last week which are quieter again but still not perfect. that slamming action to remove the centre doesn't work at all, you need to grip the cente piece very very tight and pull them out, and i couldn't help but think this may lead to very slight distortion. personally i wouldn't bother doing them again, it takes a long time to dismantle, clean and reassemble them.

keep the faith alex, just keep imaginging that first official drive :)

are we not talking a supercharger twinned with a turbo though, rather than a straight (but still awesome G60T) if so, there's one of those on here too.

i'd be keen on either.

i think we may have some floating about somewhere, previous dealers in Blackburn & Accrington if it helps anyone. i'd rather not name but will ask when i'm next in touch.

depends on colour of it and age, whether you top up or refresh, get an eazibleed kit which uses the spare tyre to pressurise the system. much easier to bleed using these.

yep the vr's have a compensator and the securing bolts are usually seized into the unit too, i had to grind mine off. if you have lowered suspension you may also need to disconnect and lower the rear strut so you can remove the strut/ beam connecting bolt on the drivers side, the tank can get in the way otherwise. as above, hard/ flexi brake unions are often seized, and turning them with little care can cause the hard line to rotate and split. oh, and look at the wiki guide, and as for most jobs on these cars - plan for the worst!

try your local VAG scene Alex if you haven't already, when i first moved here I was recommended a guy 5 mins from home by a local forum - first time I walked into a pretty nondescript workshop i was greeted with a mk1 16v, a mkii 1.8t and a mkII rocco - the first two of which were his. previously he was a master tech at VW, and in my mind a guy that's made his hobby his business/ vice versa is always going to take care of similar vehicles better than a 'corporate' or 'all makes' outfit. i've had some shocking jobs done on my daily too, worst was insufficient oil in an auto box - no dipstick available - which caused me to edge out of junctions and then stutter in front of oncoming traffic :eek: to a degree garages are on a hiding to nothing, they have to book cars in to keep busy, then guestimate the time and the parts needed, any additional issues or new parts and their fire fighting both the waiting owner and the increasing backlog - tricky. i think you're doing the right thing doing as much as you can yourself, if you want a job done properly and all that...

the rear calipers on my first 16v seized on in spite of daily use, not just an issue for the weekend warriors.

DG do a braided conversion kit.

oem as in original from the dealer/ vag item :) plenty of pattern part stuff is fine, really depends what it is. try the search, you'll see plenty of threads abour rear bearings.

i've done it, but hardly noticeable unless you're really looking for it!

well documented on here mate, go for OEM. febi are ok for a lot of stuff, but for bearings i wouldn't risk it.

:lol: well at least you found it when doing a swap, i'd be rippin finding that in any other circumstances!

looks in very good order mate, welcome back :)

lol James, arthur's looking great, and some very witty updates on your work!

helpfull Mr Fishwick strikes again :)

cheers James, you'll likely be popping back until 2015 :) this is the 3M body schutz black underseal i used, they do a rubberised version as well, which i assume is like the oem.... only found that out afterwards!

Cheers Hasan. I used Deox-c powder to get them clean, couldn't recommend it enough, light brushing and a few days soaking gets back to bare metal. Shamefully i used 3 coats of hammerite to paint them, but it will be for the last time, as i just discovered an enamal paint called 'rustoleum combi colour', will be using it from now on. The proper way would be galvanising or powder coating i guess, but there's other things I'd rather spend my money on! I don't have a hydraulic press, so i got my local indy to press the bearings into the hubs. Can't wait to get out on the road, running gear is entirely new now!

small update, got the wheels back on the ground, only to find a leak from the steering rack and that the car wouldn't even idle, add to that the low oil pressure and i was on the verge of getting miffed :| luckily i had the last two days off work. - yesterday i stripped the covers and manifold off to check I had it timed up correctly, whilst i was at it i fitted new tappets... still wouldn't idle right. - last week i'd repaired a split in the damper pot, and had given the ISV a wash in carb cleaner whilst i was at it, today i gave the MAF a good squirt also... bingo - idle fixed (for now) - so then i investigated the steering rack leak, and fitted a couple of new brass washers - leak cured! filled the rack up with new fluid, can't believe the racket the pump makes when empty. - i also investigated the low oil pressure problem. i have an old Tim hydraulic guage which i rigged up as a comparison simultaneously - photos are self explanatory... 35 psi on the Tim guage = 2.4psi, my cabin guage is reading 1psi... so basically i don't have a low pressure problem, relief isn't the word, i've now replaced the oil pressure VDO and with the OEM low pressure switch. ran it up to temp - no oil light, happy days. :dance: i've also been getting stuck into bodywork repairs, more updates on that in a few weeks tho

nice one, its tales like that which keep me motivated to get my work finished and back on the road :)

nice touch! will add that to the list of things to do.