Kevin Bacon

Cool! Another symptom of 5K flatness is a dead cam sensor trigger wheel.

I would:

1 - Disconnect the throttle cable

2 - Wind the dashpot all the way down.

3 - Check the throttle positon and if it's really low, like 6 or 7 or something...

4 - Wind the throttle stop until you see around 12-13.

5 - Wind the dashpot up until it just starts lifting the throttle, then wind it back a turn.

6 - Reconnect the cable and recheck the readings. Slacken it off if necessary.

The reason for this is throttle plates are never fully sealed, they're always open a little bit to bleed some air for idling. The ISV fills in the bulk of the idling air requirements, but the really gash thing with the VR6 engine (and why it needs the dashpot) is the sudden throttle closure starves those 6 cyls of air too abruptly, and she likes to stall as a consequence. So by having enough of a throttle opening and enough time for the dashpot to 'catch' the falling revs, gives the ISV more time to get it's arse into gear, and therefore the best possible idle.

If it still stalls after that, it's usually the MAF.

As for lumpiness, that's just VR6s for you!

Probably all that torque and huge wheels :)

I'd stick the R32 / TT ones in, or the Vibratechnics ones. Both of those proved long lasting for me with all manner of power levels and wheel widths. The reason you state is why I've always swerved poly bushes. They're well known to suffer from abrasion problems. Well, in these cars at least.

Hi Kev, the plenum I bought from Mike Jenvey. A product he was breaking onto the Motorsport market just at the right time for my ITB intake requirement. It was this or make something for ourselves. Fortunately we could accommodate my Jenvey 55's with air horns into this plenum, it was tight but just nice.[ATTACH]83125[/ATTACH]

Awesome! Enclosed TBs with a turbo, it doesn't get much better than that!

Very neat and tidy and engineering! Love that plenum for the TBs. Is it a VAG part, off a rally car or something?

Good to see that 911 at least seems fairly DIYable. Looks like you've got some good roads for a car like that too. Would be pointless where I live!

It could be the manifold still. Either a slight leak (on one cylinder), or a crack. As mentioned previously, a slight leak can sound very similar to tappet noise. Piston slap definitely goes when it's warmed up. If this noise is constant, I'd get the manifolds / gaskets rechecked.

What is this piston slap you talk of, sounds ominous!!!

It's when a cold piston is audibly loose in it's bore until warmed up. It's a lot more noticeable this time of year. The cold metals take time to expand. A rebuilt engine isn't necessarily a guaranteed fix either as it depends on the boring tolerances and quality of pistons used.

Jim Cotton of Awesome GTI did one years ago. Not aware of that many others being done but the ClubGTI forum would be a good place to ask.

Probably easier with VCDS as the closed throttle position needs to be 14 degrees or less, or the ISV won't kick in. Otherwise, just keep screwing it up until the dashpot holds the throttle open, then wind it down a few turns until it doesn't, if that makes sense! In other words, the sooner the dashpot catches the throttle, the more damping time it has to lower it down gently. I've seen some dashpots 'tuned' so that it literally only catches the throttle just as it's about to slam shut, which isn't ideal.

Got mine from here:

 

http://www.as-trim.co.uk/

 

Used the black foam backed stuff and went on a treat, had never attempted to trim something before but it all went pretty much perfect on the first go.

 

http://www.as-trim.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_200_201&products_id=387

 

I actually have loads of the material left, enough to do another 2 headlinings.

Nice. That's ex Audioscape btw, in case you didn't know. They of the Corrado door pod fame :)

I put RE002's on last time, but whilst performance was pretty good, they were rock hard and really affected the comfort - and I run standard springs. They were 87W loading, but I noticed the tyres I'd had before were 83, so maybe that was the issue?

Could be that but Bridgestone like to use stiff side walls. Great for cornering but not so good for ride comfort!

Agreed. Forget about Episodes 1-3 - they were pants.

Don't lie. You do endless repeats of all the love scenes. Thank god Lukas no longer writes the scripts. Or does he? Fans rave on about 3, 4 and 5 but Ewoks, seriously? Dwarves in teddy bear suits. No better or worse than Haha Stinks.

And I see you left it open at the correct width :D

:scratch: Where have you been hiding....... maybe in a Galaxy far far away

In his garage rebuilding his VR..... since 1977

If your penis isn't long enough you could clamp it in a vice and stretch it out as much you can, but it certainly won't function correctly afterwards.

Are you speaking from experience?

Which is why I put the 195's on my Speedlines.. I know it all comes down to personal preference and that of course it was done for a reason by VW.. but when I put my car side by side with t a VR shod in 205's, the 195's look far nicer now and the 205's look positively balloon like!

I like the balloon look :D 195/50s are a lot cheaper than 205/50s though! I guess VW did it on the VR to get a bigger contact patch? Heavier car, more power and all that. Just a shame 205/50 is such a weird size and a pain to get in decent brands / compounds.

Great write up. It should be Pinned!

Agreed. It contains some great info, so it has been stuck!

so, what this has made me think about (apart from peoples temper on the interweb) is the width measurement of tyres, does the '195' in 195-50-15 refer to the tread width?

My old sebrings were 6.5J rims which is 165mm, clearly no relation to the tyre width???

 

I then fitted the same 195 tyres to 7J rims and was advised that they would 'control the sidewall better in cornering', which made sense, but is that BS?

It's all a bit grey to me too. Chaps in motorsport recommend matching the wheel width to tyre width, so 8J should have a 205 fitted. Sounds logical and sensible, but put a 205 onto a typical 8J rim and it's slightly stretched. And what is 205 on the VR6's 6.5J all about??!

My Edition 30 runs 7.5Jx18, but with 225 tyres. Odd.

Erm . Pic two . That's not for real surely.

It certainly is! Google image "crazy camber cars japan" and see for yourself :D

I suspect they'll be combining the wheel poking past the arch + stretch thing into a catch all "yeah that looks dangerous (and sh1t) mate, that's a fail"

Yeah my ZW1s had that amount of stretch and the car drove OK. I suppose it boils down to a lack of tyre knowledge and the internet causing fads. Load rating on the sidewall is the key point here. They basically support the vehicle weight, which all goes to c0ck when you run them at 45 degrees instead of vertical - as intended!

Anyway...... erm, just the standard BBS 18s bud, with standard 225s on em. Too old for mods now :D

If a tow bar is available for a MK1 cab, then there are no issues in it's structural strength. It's down to tow hook and car makers to determine that. So long as you're not trying to tow an 8 birth caravan with 3 en suite bathrooms, you'll be fine!

Yep, the MK1 cab is a fair bit heavier than the tin top. Yes it scuttle shakes for fun, but plenty of structural bracing added by Karmann where it was needed. I've seen Nissan Micras towing caravans, I don't see what the biggie is here!

Engine choices:

VR6 - OBD2 2.8 from a Highline. Improves front end weight for traction and is way torquier than the Corrado's engine. It does fit into a MK1 but nowhere near as easily as.......

......1.8T - Choose the K03 flavour. Maps to 200hp with 240ish torque and kicks in low enough for towing, hence why you see so many Passats with tow bars ;)

Lets hope it's not used as a stick to beat folks with only a slight stretch.

Nah, they're just trying to (rightly) stop this:

And this:

This is fine imo and represents the majority of slight stretchers I reckon -

Just to add to the mix could it be the worn sprockets on new chains?

Yeah saw on that on a couple of R32 engines. The intermediate sprocket's teeth got a bit out of shape and were pitted. VW improved the case hardening on later engines. Probably worth a look on the 12V too.

Yeah I am considering the possibility that the oil pump could be to blame here... I was wondering if the thicker weight oil is amplifying the problem of it being a bit weedy and unable to pump it at a high enough pressure.

 

Just to clarify, pumps don't create pressure, they create flow. In other words, garden hose = pump. Your finger over the end = pressure. Move your finger over slightly, pressure drops, but flow increases.

So as Mic touched on, worn bearings can allow pressure to escape. It's all the tiny little holes in the engine castings and the bearing clearances that create your pressure. As engines wear out, pressure reduces. The pump has a built-in relief valve to protect against over pressurisation, but I've never seen a VR6 pump fail to meet the minimum requirements unless the strainer is blocked, or if the transfer pipe (pump to block) isn't fitted properly.

If you remove the oil cap with (Slowly) with the engine running and you see lots of oil sloshing about in there, I wouldn't worry too much about the pump, but worth a pressure check once Stealth get it.