Stonejag

I'll have the plug lead tool. Where do I send the money..? :) Stone

Yep, I'll get it packed :) Have also replied to your PM btw. Stone

It seems to be pretty hard to get vinyl done properly though - all the jobs I've seen have looked amazing from a distance but don't bear close inspection. Here's a great example from GTI International - looked stunning until you started looking properly and found every seam, panel line and edge had been wrapped incorrectly. If I'd paid for it to be done and my Lupo came back like that I'd be heartbroken! It was such a shame as the majority of the work was great, it was just totally let down by the finish at the edges. These are just the photos I had lying around by the way, they're not even the worst bits! I'm planning a full respray myself as all the panels are slightly different colours and there's tons of rust and dings to sort out. I was quoted £2k to do the exterior (with the glass out) after sorting all the rust/welding and doing a few mods (Audi A6 door handles, smoothed roof, swapping side indicators for USA side markers, swapping to the later 'hidden' windscreen washers etc etc) but I can see that drifting upwards slightly when they put it in writing. I'll definitely be working out with them what trim needs to come out as with the best will in the world they can't do it as carefully as you will when you know how hard some of it is to find! I've got some spare rear quarter windows as they were my main worry, but I'm sure a few things will get lost or broken along the way. All part of the fun ;) Stone

I removed the middle bracket off mine yesterday as it wouldn't fit under the Audioscape pods... Yours if you need it but sounds like you may be sorted already :) Stone

You won't always get a visible arc when the coilpack insulation has split. Mine suffered in the wet over the course of a few months and even when one of the three coils finally crapped out (lost two cylinders, sounded horrendous!) there was no visible arcing from the pack even when misted with water. Your best bet is to remove it and inspect it closely - any cracks in the outer plastic show points where the insulation has failed internally and released the expanding foam they're filled with, which seals the gap but swells and cracks the case. If water's getting into the cracks then it will aggravate things and you may be able to save it with some epoxy, or you may not. Give it a go :) Stone

If you don't have side repeaters like the UK ones (which you shouldn't) then you need to have them function as indicators as they need to be visible from the sides for the MOT and the front/back ones don't put out much light to the sides at all. Even if it's not original it will be much safer! Stone

That was quick! Too cheap? PM sent. Stone

I have some rear quarter windows which I (slowly and painfully) cut out of a scrapper. Trouble is, they still have a LOT of the black glazing glue on them. The back is no problem (can just shave it down and put the new glue over it) but the idiot fitter who last handled them used the same black glue (urethane?) to glue the surrounding moulding strip onto the outside of the glass. How can I remove it without marking the glass? Stone

Just found these hiding in a pair of front windows. They're pretty much as new - barely worn at all so may be a little stiff at first (:camp:). They're a little shiny in the pic as I just gave them a quick wash! Prices as posted: £5 each or £15 for four. Stone

The original ones are right-angled because they have to fit around this reinforcement piece on the back of the bumper. If your bumper doesn't have these parts on the back on then it's been converted from a Euro-spec bumper. Note dragon green cut holes in his UK bumper to fit them which is why they're so far forward. Part numbers: Side marker (left): 191 945 119 Side marker (right): 191 945 120 Bulb socket: 191 949 111 snap nut (one required per side): N 015 448 7 If you're restoring it to the original spec then they are permanently lit up, but to be UK road-legal you have to have them flash when the indicator for that side is on. You can do this by wiring one side to 12V and the other to the indicator feed in the front lights; then the side marker will be on when the indicator's off and vice versa. Stone

Exchanged waves with a red C in Flitwick earlier, about half-past 7 near the station. Possibly with Inpro headlights?

Don't worry, from my experience it always happens to one of them :) Not in a great rush so when you get back is fine. I could be being dense but isn't this a pic of the front mount? In which case it wants the yellow small mount on, not the red one...? Stone

Hah, that was mine :D One of these days I'll get around to painting the VR6 badge orange too... Thanks for my first proper spot! :thumbleft: Stone

Got mine too, thanks very much for organising everything :) Have an oil cooler to fit soon so good excuse to get the bumper off... [edit: though looking again, I only got one screw in the package...any chance you could pop another one in the post? Maybe someone got three ;)]

It won't. ;) I might give some grease a go myself, I've been getting a lot of creaking when stopped as the engine vibrations get into them... Stone

This was for a potential Plan B, not at the prices I'm being quoted though :lol: (and also in the hope of getting a late bumper) Part-ex for my set of 17" rims + tyres? [link] Stone

You can often get a pile of wafers and springs for the lock barrels if you ask your local VW place nicely while they're doing some other work ;) The ignition barrel can't be retumbled (VW will happily sell you the 'correct' one for your VIN but at 50-odd quid!) so you should adjust the boot/door/glovebox locks to match the key you currently use in the ignition. All can be retumbled in the same way, though the method of getting at the lock barrel varies per location. It's pretty obvious once you get started though :) Stone

At the risk of starting another debate, don't VW specify 5W30 instead of 10W40? I have the latter in mine but will be swapping over next change... Stone

If you've still got the plastic plate that goes around the auto shifter and it's in good condition I could really do with one ;)

You could do, mine are still fine though. A light coat of WD40 to protect the threads and stop them seizing up is a good idea, just reapply whenever you change the ride height. Be aware the blue coating on the springs is crap! Mine's virtually all cracked away after less than a year on the car - doesn't affect perfomance at all, just looks untidy. Maybe give them a coat of plastidip? Stone

You can get a pattern one from GSF for around £80. Unfortunately for you I ended up taking mine back before fitting it, as putting some Araldite over the crack in my spare one sorted it out :) Mine didn't arc noticeably when misted with water before it failed so that's not a foolproof way to do it. It's not the cracks that are the problem, the issue is that the interior insulation around the coils breaks down and releases the expanding foam they're filled with (to protect against insulation breakdown) and the foam's expansion cracks the outer case. You may be lucky enough to get away with waterproofing the outside to prevent more water ingress and relying on the foam, that's why my one started working again... And yes, my symptoms were a loss of one cylinder in the wet, as water was flicked up off the road / sucked through the grille. Sounds a lot like a Subaru! Eventually you'll lose two cylinders when one of the coils goes completely and you'll have so litttle power / so much vibration that it'll be totally obvious what's up. Stone

I have JOMs fitted - they fit fine, only issue is that the same kit is sold for many different cars (Mk3, Polo, various Seats) and the springs are a bit weedy for a VR lump. They work well enough but creak a lot and make sproing noises if you corner aggressively :lol: Cheap as chips though, I'll be keeping them for a fair while! Stone

Long shot but has anyone got a USA bumper that doesn't want one of my kidneys for it? Just need the plastic, not the iron part - condition and colour not so important. Cheers Stone

I've got one and have spares of all the fixings. Tenner posted? Be aware the fixings are tri-square (aka spline bit) - using an Allen key will strip them at an inconvenient moment ;-) Stone

In regards to headlights, it's not a grey area at all - see the DFT's discussion paper [link]. In particular: What is a grey area is with regards to HID bulbs on a halogen-style base for indicators, foglights and taillights - same as with headlights these will result in an incorrect beam pattern because of the mismatch between the optics designed for the original halogen bulbs and the new light output characteristics from HIDs, but since beam pattern isn't so important for these it's got a bit more room for discretion. More to the point, the AA's guide to the changes includes the following gem: So technically everyone with tinted lights should fail if there's too much tint on them... :bonk: All the more reason to make friends with a sensible/pragmatic local MoT tester! Stone