Stonejag

Yes, 1 month. See post #52 :)

Mmmm, doughnuts :D Looking forward to it!

Sign up at http://www.vagcat.com (it's free) then go to http://www.vagcat.com/epc/ - they have all of EKTA online, with the diagrams and part numbers for all VAG group cars :) Stone

I have prices! Paul has split the kit into two parts because so many people were telling him their radiator hoses were split, so there is one set which is just the top and bottom radiator hoses, and one set for everything else. Off his own initiative he has included the PCV breather so we're back up to the full 9 hoses as in the Samco kit :lol: Pair of radiator hoses: £85 retail, £72.25 with group discount Remaining 7 hoses: £210 retail, £178.50 with group discount Clip kit for radiator hoses: £8.50 retail, £7.23 with group discount Clip kit for accessory hoses: £23 retail, £19.55 with group discount A full set costs £326.50 retail but £277.53 with discount so we all save around £49. These prices include VAT so 20% cheaper than Samco, plus lifetime warranty on all clips and hoses, plus short turnaround makes me a pretty happy camper! Delivery is extra and the special finishes cost 10% more than regular so still an excellent deal. Mine should be here soon so I'll post comparison shots when they turn up :) Thanks to all of you who helped make this happen! Stone

Not just you, I've been getting hacked off with it too - doesn't help that every time I get in something else breaks! This winter it's been: - door handle broken, AGAIN - passenger seat now won't fold - sunroof got worse - dodgy garage broke my aux pump mountings, hose clips, engine plastics, ignition cables and lost some of the bolts - water pump failed - passenger window stopped working - roof trim perished - coilpack cracked - battery wiring fell apart Now all the hoses are leaking and need replaced which means fitting an external gearbox cooler! Oh, and my fan controller might have died. Which isn't helping my respray plans... I think you just have to grin and bear it at times - I just think of how awesome it's going to be when I've sorted the latest crop of near-disasters :) Having the odd chufty does help though... Stone

I got pads for my Mk4 rears from GSF and they were Jurid - OE suppliers to VW etc. Think they cost £14 :lol: Heartily recommend the 312s, no more of the terrifying will-it-stop moments!

Don't worry, I got it but it got piled on my desk with some circulars

I've got one that needs the grease refilled - bit loud but works fine and much stronger than my existing one. Only put it back in the garage because it didn't fix my roof (sticky slide) and I didn't want to knacker it :) £15?

What have I started :lol: Maybe it's just from being sent on all the health & safety courses but I'd feel like a right berk if I stopped at an accident and was the only person with a first-aid kit in the car, but it was 20 years old and mouldy. Or if I couldn't bring myself to open it! I like to think of mine as OEM+ because I've just replaced everything with uprated versions as it's needed fixing. If I'm honest though it's heading towards show car territory at a dangerous speed, and I know I'll end up being put in the chav section :D Stone

GSF do give a year's warranty, can't be all that bad for £78 inc? Failing that they said they did Beru ones for £110ish - I bought cheap and eventually returned it unused as my interim one was fine after adding a bit of epoxy ;) Stone

Thanks for that. I changed the yellow sender around Oct-Nov and the gauge behaviour changed - it used to rest on the endstop (from cold or while driving) up to ~70 (hot). When massively overheating (oil reporting 132º!) it hit around 90. Now it's slightly higher but behaving similarly - 75-80º when driving above 40mph and rising to around 100º when stationary in traffic. Probably doesn't help that there are a couple of leaks in the system somewhere (hoping to sort them with my new hose kit at the weekend) but I thought it would have been OK since it seemed to be responding to driving conditions a bit more. I did replace it with a second-hand one so maybe that was duff too? Looking at Vagcat it now seems to be 701 919 369D which is black/brown - an update? :shrug: Also I'm a bit suspicious of the third sender - Vagcat describes it as "thermal switch / for switching off air conditioner / and/or / electric fan" or "thermal switch / for vehicles with / electric fan / 3 stages / ANHAENGERBETRIEB,TROPENAUSF.O. / 4 speed automatic gearbox" - so would it shut off the rad fans if faulty? Weirder and weirder... Stone

I'd be interested in a double-DIN console if it wasn't too dear. Correspondingly smaller cubbyhole, or losing the ashtray and fag lighter? Stone

It's a brand new pump, that's why I swapped it! What's it run from? Been having non-specific coolant issues (gauge misreading, rad fans coming on extremely rarely and only on stage 3) so I wonder if my fan controller's died.

How can you tell if it's running? Got mine swapped out and I still can't hear it...

It should be attached to the bonnet prop, that's what the bent section in the middle is for. They tend to fall off and get lost so I guess someone tidied his away :)

First set of hoses is in the post-cure oven :) They'll come out later today, cool overnight and I should find out prices in the morning once they've been cut to length. Apologies for the delay (think Paul was a bit ambitious on the timings!) but things are still moving forward :thumbleft: Stone

Named after a German mate, sounds a bit like 'rado? I'm not very original :lol:

I like the speaker grilles in the front bumper! :bonk:

Haven't got mine yet :( Joined May 2011 so I should still be current, shouldn't I? What's all this about a tax disc holder, I had to blag one off the sales team in the dealership :lol:

Yes, only way to find all the quirks :lol: No space for two cars anyway, maybe once my ex gets her Mk1 Cabrio out of the garage... First reg was 16th April 1996 so must have sat in the dealership for a while (probably because it's an auto). Still needs quite a lot of looking after but I think I'm starting to have some impact Stone

The little trooper hit 85k this afternoon :king: Still a massive fan, even if he did have a bit of a strop and suddenly demand a litre of coolant on the M1 this morning... Going to buy him a polished inlet as a birthday present :camp: Stone

You used to be able to buy the sticky-backed leather-effect vinyl in metre rolls from Homebase or B&Q - it's called Fablon. Probably a better option than reusing some that's twenty years old, no? There are some hits on eBay if you want to give it a go - it's pretty crap for kitchen units (which is why B&Q stopped doing it) but perfect for small craft bits like this - especially onto a smooth surface. Stone

They're mechanical (which is why they still work when you're being towed) - worth a quick check to make sure the sending cable hasn't popped off the back? Failing that, no idea :)

Been planning this one for a while but couldn't find a suitable donor in the scrappy. Put it on the back burner what with the coolant issues but glad to hear it's running well for you! I plan to be a bit more radical and swap the VW ICM for a Bosch 203: They're supposedly bulletproof and used in tons of cars so much more readily available than the VW one. I've found the hardest part to be finding the correct connectors for an OEM fit - plenty of places do the right range (it's called Junior Power Timer, for the record) but there are many different keyway variations to catch out the unwary. Stone

Mine's a 2kg dry powder too - make a hell of a mess when used but the best match for both solid and liquid (fuel) fires. Worth going on a training course if you can wangle one out of work, volunteer as a fire marshal or something ;)