Stonejag

If it doesn't fit, all the columns are small spline but with a small->large adapter pressed onto the top. Remove it with a gear puller and you can use any small spline wheel :-) Stone

My top Lupo tip is to remove the heated coil element that surrounds the oil pickup in the sump. When it shorts then it blows the fuse for all four injectors and the engine cuts out...mine did it at 75mph in lane 3 of the M4 and I had to write off a pair of underpants! Stone

They usually rattle when the white plastic 'wheels' that fit on the two arms of the window mech come undone. There's a metal 'U' channel bonded of the bottom of the glass - with just the arm in the window channel then it's undersized and rattles. Have a good look when you get the door card off and hopefully it will be in the bottom of the door or jammed in the channel - they're unobtanium now so you'll be a bit stuck if you can't find it! They're just a press fit onto the arms so sometimes pop out of place. Stone

Two in one day today! First saw this rather angry-looking (and famous!) hand-painted 16v when collecting some wheels off the owner in Salisbury... Popped down to Southampton to visit an old uni friend, then later on I saw a dark, lowered one with a black rear VW badge and red engine model badge (possibly another 16v? it was dark...) on the Avenue just before the bottom of the M3. Would have flashed but I was in my loan car so you would probably have been quite confused! Reg J*** MRP. Anyone here? Stone

Keep that bit of paper, it's your get out of jail free card! I would ask a couple of local garages to have a look - or give a finger-in-the-air estimate if they won't come out to see it. Don't tow it anywhere, leave it in situ. Once you have a rough idea of the cost to put it right, let him know the number and see if he pays up - personally I'd only get the police involved if he refuses. Open and shut if you go through his insurance since you have his admission of liability but it depends on whether you were planning to keep the car or not whether you'd want it written off as cat D since it will affect the value / be harder to sell later on. Your premiums will also most likely go up next year - yes, I know this is stupid. Shame when this happens, especially to the best colour! ;) Good luck getting it sorted quickly. Stone

It's probably only got 12 valves ;-) Has it had the chains done? Might as well while it's out.

Very low oil level normally makes it flash when you stop hard - the oil sloshes around and uncovers the pump pickup which gives you momentary low pressure. The pumps have a filter screen on that can get blocked up - fingers crossed it isn't small pieces if your lower tensioner rail ;) Cone filter won't affect cooling...

Just had a quote from KW for rebuilding my Weitec Hicon GTs - they ended up dynoing them and shipping them back for free because they held onto them for 2 months first :( It was approx £120 per damper, around £15 for new spring perches and dust covers but they didn't really need doing so I didn't bother... Stone

Roger: I know about Prestige - Mike lost all of my further business with a long string of incompetence followed by cheating me out of £600 for the warranty claim on their faulty work. It'll be a cold day in hell before he sees another penny from me. Syncro, eh? It already spiralled out of control, that might be a step too far :lol:

Mixed news... Got a copy of the assessor's report and he's classified it as repairable, with a repair cost of £1230. Which I'd be really happy with as a cash settlement since the damage is only superficial. However after looking at the underside while it was up on the ramps, there's an awful lot of old damage to the floor pan and seams which makes me worry about how much of another car would have to be welded in if I got it resprayed. I don't want to just cut and run but I'm not sure it'd ever be 100% straight even with a lot if money piled into it. I know how much hard work would have to go into a shell transplant but it's looking like a better and better option the more I accumulate dings. Dunno :shrug: Would be a better end result to spray a bare metal body with everything removed, but is it worth the hassle? Could probably find a decent uncrashed shell for less than the settlement. What to do? Stone

Had an exciting one today! Went in for annual service before MOT - was losing a little oil now and then and suspected I might have cracked my (24v, alloy) sump when I hit a particularly huge pothole in London a while back. I persuaded one of the guys from the machine shop at work to weld a 2.5mm plate onto the base and front of a regular steel sump so took that and a fresh gasket with me. The guys don't mind me wandering in and out of the workshop - good chance to give me some abuse about the bodywork - but I dipped in to find them scratching their heads and repeatedly trying and failing to fit my plated sump - it just wasn't going over the oil pump pickup. I was convinced it was game over after seeing the huge front-to-back weeping crack in the 24v sump once it was on the lift, but by weird coincidence they'd just broken a Mk2 Golf with a VR conversion in (loom fire...) so they nipped out back and came back with a brand new R32 sump and matching short oil pump! Now it sits neatly flush with my gearbox, perfectly in line with the subframe :thumbleft: I was thoroughly confused until looking at the part numbers afterwards - for some reason I had a 24v oil pump fitted, which was too deep for the regular steel sump to fit... I was glad of the extra ground clearance later on, as when swapping my suspension over (the other job that needed doing) they set the ride height so low that my wings take strips off the tyres every time I go over a bump...now I need to reset it all and hope the tracking stays close. Annoying but the dump and pump only cost me £80 so I think I did OK! Stone

Bad luck :( I got shunted last Monday, thankfully by a low-slung Merc so it was bumper to bumper and just missed the rear panel. Would expect you'll have to get the repair panel off a breaker, best off taking it to a body shop and asking how much of the donor they'd need. The repair panel is called 'rear apron', part number 535 813 303A, but it's not showing up in a Classic Parts search so probably obsolete... Stone

Just wait for the summer, you'll be sweating yourself to death! So worth it for a toasty bum in the winter though :D

Yes please! PM (and text) sent. Stone

I used that kind of union to plumb up my gearbox cooler, and have had repeated leaks. The most dramatic was after forcing a too-small pipe over a too-large fitting as you did - like you I was convinced the jubilee clip would hold it! The pipe is usually two layers of rubber with a fibrous reinforcement layer in the middle, with the optional braid over the top - where the fitting was too tight the inner lamination split internally as I forced it over the fitting and some weeks later ripped right out of the end of the pipe leaving a cone-shaped hole in the loose end that couldn't be reused. All my gearbox fluid fell out on the road, the AA took 4 hours to arrive (Bank Holiday Monday), I had to ring the Environment Agency, missed Elsecar and it took 7 hours to get home, at 56mph on a car transporter :lol: Do keep an eye on them - if they start to elongate then you'll want to swap all the pipe for something with a larger ID. Crimped connectors would be a bonus too - I still lose the odd drop here and there so I'll be getting some pipes made up professionally when I get around to it. Stone

Headlight now sorted - thanks chaps. Still looking for a grille if anyone has one..?

Writec and KW are identical, made in the same factory in different colours :) Don't go budget for a VR - they're always standard one-size-fits-all kits that aren't built to take the extra weight at the front. Great for your Golf / Polo / Ibiza / etc but you'll be buying again two years on. Ask me how I know ;)

Anyone else? Getting a bit frantic as with typical awesome timing my MOT's due next week :(

Another daily here (though it's garaged right now post accident). Misting is always a problem, mine clears ok if you give it five minutes with the heater and back window on before setting out. My heater fan only works on 3 and 1.5 but seems to do the trick! It helps to open both front windows for the first 10-15 minutes of driving too, I recommend wearing gloves..! My thermostat has got stuck (thankfully open) and I've had some coilpack trouble in heavy rain / spray - arcing to the block on cylinder 6. Fixed this with a new HT lead boot at the coilpack end and a generous helping of Vaseline underneath, seems to have worked thus far! My biggest winter annoyance is misting up in heavy rain because the water cools down the glass. Not much you can do about it save turning the heater way up... Stone

Could go for a pair of angel eyes if they're RHD and black instead of chrome :)

Hi all, Need a new driver's side headlight ASAP as all the clips have snapped off mine post-accident. Can't drive it with an insecure headlight... Early or late, it's a late car but I think the other side is early so it's not a big deal either way. Either the full unit or an intact housing I can swap the parts onto is fine. Classic Parts are quoting three weeks for delivery :brickwall: Also need a debadged grille to replace the one that got run over! Thanks in advance Nick

They might change their mind when they see the prices of lights from VW Heritage, it's currently £113.69 for a (yellow) foglight and £230.27 for a headlight :lol:

Had the assessor round - they're going to offer me a cash settlement for new bumpers, repair to slam panel and replacement headlight + foglight, plus paint. So it won't get written off! :cheers:

He was on his phone within seconds of getting out of the car, so it's possible. Might get the police to pull the records just to wind him up ;) Pics: [ATTACH=CONFIG]77032[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]77033[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]77034[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]77035[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]77036[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]77031[/ATTACH] Claim is going well - I gave them an (extremely) thorough report / statement and one of the other drivers is now acting as a witness so it's looking unlikely to be disputed. I'm also told the whole office was crowded around cooing over the Corrado pics I sent them :lol: Just touching wood now that they don't write it off - it wouldn't be the end of the world since the agreed value would let me get a decent replacement but I don't really want to be saddled with swapping all the good bits into a donor. I was planning a full respray anyway but I had a fair few extra things to do first - mainly fitting remote central locking so I can swap to Audi door handles - so I'll probably just get the bumpers / slam panel done on his tab and go over them again later. Would have been better in a few months time but hey, hopefully I'll do alright out of the personal injury claim and it can help fund it :) Got a decent set of ambulance-chasers supplied by Adrian Flux so I'd cross my fingers if I could still feel them... Stone

I feel your pain, I now have two N/S lights with the clips snapped off :( Think you can still get them new from VW if you have something handy to sit on when they tell you the price! For RHD it should be 535 941 018C for right and 535 941 017C for left.