Black Metallic VR - SOLD!

[daves16v 1]

i'm liking those lead holders alot, you planning on doing any more??

 

Sorry Karl, this is a one off.

[Craig 0]

Love the engine bay. Slight polish on the rocker cover and matt black elsewhere :) very tidy

[KIPVW 0]

Looks amazing in the flesh, good to see you today mate. Hope you had a good trip home. :)

[VAG-hag 0]

what kip said.

 

& engine bay looks ace!!

[daves16v 1]

Thanks for the comments, I did have some oil leakage on the cam cover which I swiftly cleaned up. The oil filler cap seal almost broke up in my hands on removal so a trip to the stealer this week me thinks.

[VAG-hag 0]

thats how she repays you?? these bl00dy cars!!

[daves16v 1]

One of my next jobs was to replace the wishbone bushes with R32 items so having got hold of a used pair of wishbones they were blasted, powder coated and fitted with said bushes. Made sense to change the ball joints at the same time so they were purchased too.

 

Also made sense to fit the poly engine mounts bought off Jay Renshaw.

 

So late Friday afternoon I made my way up to Purpletoms as he kindly agreed to help. We’d planned on a few hours work as it should be a fairly easy job assuming everything came off easily. Oh how wrong we were!

 

For starters the 3 bolts holding the ball joint bracket didn’t want to play ball and one sheared off in the nut and I didn’t buy any replacements so a quick call to Laser Mark (I knew he had some waiting to go on his car) and he came up with the replacement brackets/bolts. He did have to call the boss to open up work as he had left them at there. That problem sorted we moved onto removing the wishbones.

 

Three mounting bolts came out without a fight but the very last one was in there for life. Long story short we had to cut the wishbone off to avoid shearing the captive nut on the sub-frame. Much grinding and it was off, ended up cutting through the bolt. The bolt had seized onto the steel tube inside the rubber bush. The photos speak for themselves really.

 

Midnight soon arrived and I was back on the road, looking forward to 4 wheel alignment the next morning.

 

I’d like to say a massive thanks to Tom for his help, you are a star matey! I know you had plans further into the evening that had to be cancelled, I’m very grateful.

Thanks also to Laser Mark who made the trip up with the parts, stayed and helped to the bitter end. Cheers matey.

[KIPVW 0]

Wow, thats epic work guys. Really hope all this comes off mine ok when i do it :/

[captainredeye 0]

I have this to do in a couple of weeks, have all the bushes maybe i will be ordering new bolts tomorrow also. Does the engine need lifting much to clear the bolt?

[owen g60 10]

Good work there.

 

Hammers and shouting won through in the end :D

[KADVR6 0]

i'm sooooo not looking forward to doing my wishbones, new bolts and shed loads of plusgas me thinks.

[Laser Mark 0]

Your welcome mate. My hands have just about recovered!

Cutting that bolt in half with half a hack saw blade wasn't much fun!

Thanks for letting me take the car out for a spin on Saturday.

Defiantly know what's happening now in August.

[daves16v 1]

I have this to do in a couple of weeks, have all the bushes maybe i will be ordering new bolts tomorrow also. Does the engine need lifting much to clear the bolt?

 

Yes it needs lifting quite a lot hence the removal of the rear engine mount at the same time.

 

If you've got corrosion in the bolt as per the photo, no amount of plusgas or heat will shift it.

[VR6Pete 0]

good work as always, Dave. My new front sub-frame has just come, so off to powder coaters in the next few days, not looking forward to that job, but at least I can just drop the lot from the car so makes it easier, just hope no bolts snap.... Going to replace wishbones and bushes while i'm at it too.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Plasma cutters are quite cheap these days. Could be a worthy addition to the workshop for jobs like this :D

[24V Renshaw 0]

That bolt did exactly the same on mine, but luckily I had another subframe available, so was not too bothered.

 

Did you get the mounts in then? Did you leave the lower rear one as OEM (for a more standard feel) or put the poly bit in?

 

Jay

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

i had a similar problem with mine last year, but the bolt sheared in half, had to drill it out and re tap it, worked out great in the end, its funny how i thought this job was gona be a fun easy job , how worng!! glad you got yours sorted,

if any of you are gona try this , i would start to soak it in penetrateing fluid a week before you plan on working on it, smack it with a hammer couple of times,

maybe even use a blow torch,

[daves16v 1]

That bolt did exactly the same on mine, but luckily I had another subframe available, so was not too bothered.

 

Did you get the mounts in then? Did you leave the lower rear one as OEM (for a more standard feel) or put the poly bit in?

 

Jay

 

Yes we got both mounts fitted with both poly. I found the vibration a little too harsh for my personal taste so replaced the rear mount with the complete OEM mount with the thinking that I can play about with the top poly when I have more time. With just the front poly mount fitted it has reduced the engine movement a lot without any added vibration at all. Good kit Jay.

[daves16v 1]

Small update....

 

Some of you will have seen this at the National Day. Gear cable bracket replaced with Stainless, also the bracket that is held on by the clutch slave cylinder bolts which also doubles up as a cable holder done in Stainless.

 

The engine cover on the right hand side normally holds the vacuum pipe in place but as I have no engine covers this was custom designed to hold the vacuum pipe, it's held in place by the coil pack securing bolts.

 

Photos taken tonight in my garage so don't really show it too well, as always better in the flesh.

[Laser Mark 0]

Nice work matey, and congrats on the second place at the National Day

[daves16v 1]

Nice work matey, and congrats on the second place at the National Day

 

Cheers mate.

[KADVR6 0]

was nice to meet you yesterday Dave, and honestly think your engine bay is one of the best on here, subtle with the black and then the stainless bits just set it all of with just the right amount of stainless to make it look very classy.

 

karl

[daves16v 1]

was nice to meet you yesterday Dave, and honestly think your engine bay is one of the best on here, subtle with the black and then the stainless bits just set it all of with just the right amount of stainless to make it look very classy.

 

karl

 

Good to meet you too and thanks for the comments.

[VR6Pete 0]

now that does look smart!

[daves16v 1]

For a few weeks now I haven't been happy with my idle temps, I know the wiring is all good but not sure about the sensors or how old they are. Also after removing the grill for some cleaning I spied the radiator in a bad way so time for a refurb.

 

Parts purchased -

 

Radiator - bought from SDL, they have a few branches in the Midlands, I went with them because I could collect and after checking their part number on the website it matched the Hella rad at radiatorshop.net and sure enough it's the exact same item. As far as I know the radiator is supplied to SDL by http://www.ava-cooling.com/index.php?id=57&L=1

 

VAG 4 pin sensor (now Black)

VAG 2 pin clock temp sensor (Blue)

VAG radiator switch sensor

VAG Fan belt - the small one that drives the second fan

VAG G12 coolant

 

All the other coolant parts are new in the last couple of years including thermostat and housing and crack pipe. I didn't bother with the 2 pin Black (high speed fan) sensor.

 

Every thing is off now, just need to get the fan housing blasted and powder coated.

 

It's funny the front of the car now looks exactly the same as it did 2 years ago when I started the first job on it. I think the rad is on it's last legs.