Stonejag

I always thought the Mk1 looked a lot like a Capri. Whether you think that's a good thing or not I dunno! :lol: I really like the Mk2 - was tempted to get one instead of the C but the VR was too much of a pull...

Had a mini-chuftie from the Highways Agency while they were closing the M1 for my accident yesterday :nono: Something along the lines of "Oooh, is that the 2.9? My brother's got one, ace motor!" - made me feel a little better... Stone

No worries, I've been caught out by that before ;) It's not 100% obvious. When you top it up after removing parts you can get quite large air bubbles into the system, you're supposed to bleed it all out by running the engine with the expansion tank cap removed until the reservoir boils over, then switch off, let it cool and add more coolant (to the max mark since it's hot). If you don't then the level drops dramatically when you first drive it and the light flashes :) Stone

Yeah, in this case we all claim against hired-Ibiza man - think the rules changed a short while back as multiple-car incidents used to take months to resolve. We were also all stationary, Merc man came to a full stop behind me so it's down as a non-fault claim for we three in front. He is going to get a nasty shock come renewal time... Thanks for the offers of slam panels - will need bumpers painted anyway so colour isn't a problem. Fingers crossed it won't push it over the damage threshold having another panel involved as I really don't want it written off, even at £3500 agreed value! Got to have an x-ray of my elbow tomorrow to see what's up with the nerve compression, fingers crossed :(

Just found a kink in the slam panel so that's not reassuring :( Must have been a he'll of a jolt as it's a good half-inch deep, in one of the sections in the middle with the rolled edges. My back's killing me and one hand's gone numb so I'm at the walk in centre getting it checked out, which I could really have done without. Insurance was talking about writing it off (based purely on age, I think) so hopefully they'll not be so trigger happy when the assessor comes round... Bah :(

Driving into work on the M1 earlier, pretty heavy traffic. We were all slowing down when the guy in front of me reached the back of the queue. He stopped, I stopped, the guy behind me stopped and the guy behind him didn't and pushed us all into each other :( Guy in front of me had a 2-day old Beamer (luckily not too bad - scuffed up bumper and s shattered number plate) so he was looking pretty sick. The Corrado needs at least two resprayed bumpers, a headlight (snapped clips), grille and foglight but otherwise surprisingly little damage. Is the rear towing eye part of the bumper iron? That's bent too... Guy behind me had a 56-plate Merc C220. They must be built like tanks as he had two very damaged bumpers but nothing else obvious. Captain Carnage at the back had a 63-plate hired Seat Ibiza and was heading to his first day at a new job :banghead: Looked like a write-off - bonnet crushed, both headlights pushed into the engine, airbags deployed, coolant leak and looked like the wings might have gone too... Mostly just glad I was hit by something low-slung : if it had been much taller it would have missed the bumper altogether and taken out the tailgate and roof and I'd be shopping for a new car... Please remember, only a fool breaks the two second rule! Got bumpers in the garage so hopefully respraying them won't be too disruptive. Argh! Stone

Brand new G60 for EUR1520? http://shop.volkswagen-classic-parts.de/vwcp/Scirocco-Corrado/Corrado/Antrieb/Motor/G-Lader.html Many parts available very cheaply. VW Heritage's website is terrible, this one's much nicer to use!

Have you got a genuine RHD cruise control pedal box or was it grafted in? Be interested to see some of the bracketry so I can finally get mine done :)

Personally I'm leery of putting anything on the gasket - they're designed to seal, after all, and the head bolts are crushing it down a *lot* tighter than most people expect. I've seen some really horrible dissimilar-metal corrosion caused by people putting copper-bearing grease on things than aren't supposed to be greased in the past, and you already have issues with it on these engines (combination of cavitation and acidic coolant causing the coolant passages to get eaten out of the head where it meets the block) so I'd hate to tempt fate. When I finally get around to finishing my head rebuild (need to press out the old valve guides and fit new so someone can ream them to size and redo the seats for me) I'm going to be using the metal gasket currently sat in my parts pile...and it won't get anything extra smeared on it. Stone

It's not a temperature light, it's a coolant level light activated by coolant bridging the two pins sticking down into the expansion tank. Check the level and top it up if low. If it's alright then the connector has probably gone bad. Stone

Walk the pit lane at one of the public tracks - there's normally tons of scrap fallen into drainage gullies, between kerbstones or just at the side of the road. I picked up a bunch of odds and sods from the track at Valencia which I don't need, pretty sure some are titanium if you want them? Stone

Hi, Please could you take another picture of the fan harness with the wires straightened out? There are a couple of variants and I can't quite see which this is :) Thanks, Stone

Had a look - no spare lock cylinder, I'm afraid - must have binned it as I've had a couple on replacement handles that were solid rust! I have got a few wafers though, which you're welcome to.

Holy crap, hadn't seen this. What a twat :x Good news on getting the salvage back for free though, and for escaping with 'just' a broken leg, could so easily have been much worse. Don't forget to remind the police about his little tantrum so they link the two in their system - they're not supposed to take into account anything that doesn't go to court, but a lot of them are decent guys and do it anyway ;) Since I'm guessing you're off work for a bit now it might be worth the trek into the police station to report him for breach of the peace and assault on top...can't hurt, and hopefully he'll get a nice fine to go with his driving ban! Get well soon mate :cheers: Stone

Cheap option: a big tub of white rice in the rear footwell. When it gets too soggy just bin it! Source: a Ferrari-owning family friend who swears by it ;-) Stone

If only these weren't staggered :silent: Love the colour. Good luck with them!

Awesome, thanks Jim. I'll send you a PM.

Since you're nearby, I've got a bag of spare wafers somewhere if you want to dig through them? Can probably find a few that match...might even have a spare cylinder but I'd hav e to look. £15 for the window glass that I was saving for a rainy day? Stone

If the barrel's undamaged you can swap out the brass wafers and their tiny springs to recode them to any key. If it is damaged (which it sounds like it may well be) then any barrel will fit, just need to recode it. If you (carefully!) dismantle the door handle of the opposite side and remove the barrel, you'll be able to take out the wafers one at a time to look at the numbers stamped into them - should be labelled 1-5, and I think there are 7 of them if memory serves. You can only buy the wafers in huge quantities from VW though, so you may have to ask around to find a set that matches. Note: you don't need a wafer in every position, provided you don't mind sacrificing however much security. If there's only one you can't find, or don't have enough of, it'll be fine :) Alternatively do it by elimination - fit the codes 1-5 in each position one at a time, test-fitting the key after each - the correct one for each position is where the wafer lines up perfectly smooth with the side of the barrel. Window glass is easy enough to replace - remove the door card and you should see the two fastening bolts through clearance holes in the inner door skin. Get as much of the broken glass as you can out, and be very careful removing the scraper seals as if you flex them they'll either bend or snap. Front edge of the new glass goes in first, then you can rotate the back into alignment and hook it onto the rear rail. Drop the window mech, line up the two bolts with the holes and do them up finger tight, then raise the window, make final adjustments to fit and do them up fully. Shame they knackered your handle if they were going to smash the window anyway, though :( Stone

Would like to attend this, I will hopefully have just got back from Wörthersee in the Golf so we'll see how frazzled I am :lol: Stone

It's already been said, but this is what genuine SP cams look like. The timing should be hand-engraved on the non-gear end of each camshaft, and they are hand-balanced by grinding away material between the cam lobes. See also the brown band previously mentioned... Stone

Cerium oxide is the stuff, but you have to be careful as in the wrong hands it can make things worse! Go see a pro :)

Warm the interior up thoroughly before you drive anywhere? ;) The clocks are fairly well sealed so you might have some luck separating the case and popping a couple of dessicator sachets in, leaving for a bit with it sealed up and then taking them back out...

Need one of these again since I'm going back to a steel (plated) sump. Gave mine away like an idiot :bonk: Either of: 096 409 157B (preferable) 02A 301 157C Dealers want 30-odd quid so I'm hoping someone has one sat about they don't need :) Cheers, Stone

I'm now booked in to stay in the Seehotel Vinzenz 16th-19th May; figured the week before would be less rowdy ;) Gonna head out via Wolfsburg and back via the Nürburgring. Taking the Golf as the Corrado won't be ready in time...crossing Europe with the top down will be nice! Stone