fonzooorooo

same as on the drums aren't they? tap "bodging" screwdriver in (down between the flare on the hubcap and the edge of the disc)at a few places round the edge and it'll start to loosen... It'll then either wiggle out or need a bit of levering round the edge depending on how tight it is.

I've had a few pairs of KYB shocks and/or springs on different cars - no problems with any. My friendly motor factor sells them and has no reports of trouble from the regulars.

I've been VERY impressed with my Wickes cheapie wet/dry. A LOT of suck (comparable with Henry on max) and does wonders with seats after the steam cleaner, garage floor after the pressure washer etc. The optional "all in one" filter's worth the extra few quid, as the supplied wet filter's a bit poor (I poked my thumb through it whilst fitting it the 2nd time!) It even gets used in the workshop on dust extraction duties from sander/bandsaw etc. A blitz inside/through the filter with the hosepipe on emptying day and it's good as new again. oh, and a +1 for Sebo for the house... We've got an ancient Sebo 360 - it's been used as a commercial cleaner, thrown away at the end of it's accounted life, and used to clean our house for about 10 years since then(!)

ebay aero blades by any chance? We had a couple of wets that worked nicely and lasted well... Recently they seem to have got hit and miss... The passenger side on the C is missing a big piece, similar issue on my mate's B4 Passat and I tried some on an Arosa that were disastrous! I popped a pair of "traditional" Champion blades on the Arosa, and they were spot on! We're using the ebay aero efforts on our mk1, mk2 and my passat with no issues - so it really does feel like luck of the draw!

My B4.. I got it with the roof already wrapped cream then added the graphics and corrado wheels to match. (Halfords Lada cream(!))

If you're lucky, it can be a handbrake cable - not so likely at this time of year, (they tend to make themselves known in winter as the water gets into them and freezes) but certainly not impossible! Equally, if you've got the callipers with the external lever, that assembly can seize... As above though - realistically psyche up for a pair of callipers. They're not hard to change, but I'd strongly recommend the use of a proper brake pipe spanner if it all looks like it's been there a fair while! When they're on, bleed using 2 man technique with the engine running.

Sold Pending the usual. Will confirm once they've physically gone.

Well… Straight in with the pictures: I had these on my passat till earlier this year. No running issues/wobbles/flat spots etc. 1 got scuffed across the face when some plonker slid his Yaris into it in the snow. It's not deep though. A couple have some paint peel. There're a few little curb marks round the edge like you'd expect An hour with some abrasive and a rattle can would have these transformed into a decent looking set of winters/daily wheels…. Or if you've access to a media blaster, they could be prettied up nicely! Obviously, NO CENTRE CAPS. Price is £50 - bit of a bargain really… A deal could be done with some 6 1/2" component speakers or maybe a small (8") active sub. No offers of wheels as P/X please! Collection from Coalville, LE67

I like the black spoiler.. Weird as it may sound, I'd be tempted to do the mirrors to match.

I tried an eezi-bleed years ago on my old mk3 polo... It kinda worked, but didn't do the job properly. I've always used 2 man method with the engine running since. I know it's possible for a master cylinder to die like that (using the piston in a range it doesn't normally work in, pulling in rust/dirt/nasty) but if that happens, I figure it must've been well on the way before(!)

There're still "cheap" paint jobs out there - a mate of mine had his passat estate resprayed (with rub strips and roof in a different colour metallic paint) for £600. It's an incredible job for the money. (or for 2 or 3 times the money!) ... There was no rust to fix though - just a tidy-up paint. The bargain price involved leaving the car with the guy for a week or 2 so it could be fitted in round "proper" work.

Both of mine have been spliced in in the above-the-fusebox/below-the-steering-column area. Whip the covers off there and you're likely to find a factory wire that's chopped, with black alarm wire running across the car. I've got a recollection of green with an orange trace in my head, but I'd be surprised if that's right(!) Anyway, whatever you can find that's butchered, it should be easy enough to stick it back as intended. (solder and heatshrink unless you're planning another alarm - in which case you're likely to be chopping it back apart in the same place!)

I go for the cheapie nylon waterproof kind. Just leaves the car looking like you're prone to jumping in wearing grubby clothes, rather than looking like you've had a Halfords-related-accident. I had a mk2 'rocco for 3 years, when I got it, the seats were good, but starting to thin on the bolsters - they didn't change significantly all the time I had them using the cheap nylon covers.

It's funny, we've got 4 cars at the moment, (mk1 GTI cab, mk2 8v GTI, B4 passat TDI and the 'rado) .... so the 2L 8V 'rado's the quickest. I've found myself effortlessly speeding on country lanes in it, I barely use motorways, and find that most of the time, my top speed is limited by a little Hyundai something-or-other, or a smokey (broken) modern diesel struggling along at 45 in a 60 zone... If I use a dual carriageway, there're either trucks "overtaking" each other or enough traffic to keep me under 70... Now the councils seem to cut the verge grass about twice a year, it's normally about 3 feet tall, restricting vision so much as to make overtaking unsafe, pretty much regardless of power. (I think there was ONE occasion last year, I was out in the 90BHP-when-it-was-new-passat and thought I could've passed something if I'd had more power!) My mate got pulled the other day for spinning the wheels (in North Derbys, up a steep hill, round a corner, in the wet!) in a Merc SPRINTER. Upshot is: If I had 24V, it'd just be an extra 16 to go wrong!

Ah, nice! The chap we had it from was a dealer, and it was in when he was closing up shop... He'd had one before, and fancied another, so took it home... He'd only had it a year or so, but it looks like it didn't go far, he SORNed it over the winter and didn't have space for a daily and a toy - hence us getting it!

Nice. ... Thanks for the welcome Tom! It's not gone far - we're only in Coalville. Front splitter's still not the best - big crack each side which'd been "reinforced" with fibreglass - looks like that job lasted all of 10 minutes - the cracks hadn't been glued and the fibreglass fell off in a sheet when provoked! ... It could do with something a bit smaller though, as this scrapes our driveway every time it goes on/off. All told, I reckon the biggest job's been sorting the brakes out - It's had new 2nd hand (mk2 type, as they were cheap!) rear calipers (replacements that'd done a short mileage, so a clean and a coat of paint and on they went) and new handbrake cables. I got hold of a full set of fronts (calipers, carriers and discs) (off the same B3 passat the cat came off) and had the pistons out, cleaned, re-rusted, painted, reassembled, then fitted along with excellent 2nd hand discs, new flexi hoses and new pads. they all work lovely now! (as you'd hope!) It only got 3 little fails on the MOT last week which I sorted the same afternoon and whipped it back in next day for a retest - no problems, no advisories!

Well... we never meant to get a 'rado. Mrs. fonzooorooo had this (from new): which we wanted to replace with a mk2... so we did - by buying this: and sorted the inevitable "issues" before putting the polo up for sale. ... To be greeted by a SPECTACULAR lack of interest - it just wouldn't sell for a reasonable price, so I started enquiring about P/X deals just to make the polo go away.... so a deal was struck and we drove home in an ice violet '95 2L 8V corrado. It was clean enough, straight enough, ran well enough, rust free underneath, everything seemed to work... It had a MOT for a while, had been standing outside over the winter, but was peanuts to add on to the classic insurance (with the mk1 cab and the mk2) it was kinda rude not to(!) 175K miles, original paint (a bit stone-chippy, but then it's ever likely to be after those miles) It was standard except for a Clifford alarm, de-cat, lowered on Bilstein shocks and Apex springs, and 6x9"s on the shelf. I didn't take "before" pics... so here they aren't: The Clifford became a nightmare, so I removed it. The de-cat's now an MOT fail, so I got hold of a cat off a B3 passat (same 2e engine) and tweeked the fuel with the air meter spring pre-tensioner to get it into MOT tolerance. We both HATED the standard 5 spoke wheels on it (they made their way onto my B4 passat after a colour change - they work nicely on that!) so got hold of a bargain set of Ibiza Cupra Sheriff Stars (which could do with a smidge of spacing, but no rush!) Audio-wise, the 6x9"s have stayed, I've replaced the horrid Sony headunit it came with with a nice old Alpine, added a phoenix gold amp and a rockford fosgate 12" in a DIY box... just need to replace the front speakers with some decent components. and the original wheels on the passat: and a quick shot of the mk1 while we're here:

For the price of cables, I'd replace those. They don't look the best from the picture! That said, either bolt the arm back on, or onto something rigid, (or grip it in a vice) then grip the (round) end of the cable (TIGHTLY!) in a mole wrench and give it a sharp tap (as though unscrewing it) or 2 with a mallet. I've never failed to remove a handbrake cable by that technique.

Sorted. As I hoped, whoever de-catted had adjusted the air flow sensor. Gave it a tweek back 3 notches to give a pre-cat CO of about 1% back for the re-test and got: CO limit: 0.2% 'rado: 0.02% HC: limit: 200 'rado: 16 Lambda needs to be between 0.97 and 1.03... 'rado is 1.022 So that's a pass. Job done! Cheers for the input!

Understood, and very useful. Thanks! Ours has clearly been messed with though - I had a pre-cat reading of over 5%! (post cat 1.6%) I've had a play this morning, and tweeked the air flow meter spring to give a pre-cat reading under 1% and post-cat between 0 and 0.1 (my meter's only got 1 decimal place) Seems to drive as well now as it did when de-catted and with the fuel cranked up(!) I was just hoping somebody with a manual could give me a manufacturer's spec and tolerance so I can et it spot on after the MOT's out of the way.

Thermo-time switches are DEAR! (£90 odd when I looked for our mk1) I'd go for the 5th injector 1st... You can always test it by whipping it out and popping it over a glass jar while an assistant cranks the engine. Have a look for "vw cold start" on ebay.

I know the legal limit's 0.2% (late car, so cat test), but what should I be aiming at when setting the mixture? Cheers.

So, I got hold of a 2nd hand (original) cat off a mate breaking a B3 passat. 'rado went for MOT yesterday - emissions of 1.6%. Dammit!!!! I'll whack it on the CO meter and see if I can get it down on the mixture (de-cat guy could've cranked the fuel up) Does anyone know the ideal CO% for these? (I know the MOT limit's 0.2%) ... Just handy to have a number to work to! At least the other 2 fail points weren't too bad - (1) wipers not clearing the screen (screen's warped - wipers are new - going to try old fashioned wipers and stronger springs in the wiper arm(!) and (2) Number plates too small - lettering and spacing correct, but 2 digit reg, so someone put shortened plates on.

Thread revival/showing off: Serious DIY, this! - The driver came in a 2x12" I bought off ebay... Turned out the outer suspension had been (badly) glued back onto the basket, (preventing any chance of re-attaching!) so rather than admit defeat, I bought new outer suspensions from my-audio-addiction on ebay (from USA) and rebuilt the drivers. 1's in my B4 passat, the other was kicking about spare, so I made templates and built the biggest feasible box to fit how I wanted. It's all MDF, so the back's all crazy angles to fit up tight to the arch tub. That was fun! I know it's technically too small, but I've tried these drivers in a fair few different sealed boxes, and the sound's not wildly different - nice and even, no signs of the dreaded "1 note" bass! When it was in primer, it looked like something out of a 60s concept car. Anyway, enough twaddle, on with the pics: The 6x9"s were in when we got the car, and sound OK, so they're staying. There's a nice old Alpine headunit replacing the nasty modern Sony that was in when we got it... All that's left is to get a bargain on a set of components for the front!

I've just put some standard single pot mk1 golf ones together using the same technique as described above by RB. I'd painted them in regular paint (not brake fluid-proof) and so used girling (castrol) rubber grease on the pistons and seals instead of brake fluid for assembly. I found this MUCH easier than when I'd previously tried with (not enough) brake fluid as a lubricant.