andy

I'm trying to fit new seals in my 288s. I've got the internal seal in, but I cant get the outer (dust seal) in. How the devil do they go in. I'm either just inept or doing something incredibly stupid. I've got the inner seal in, lubed up the piston, inserted half way and I'm now trying to get the lip of the seal inside the caliper. Is that right? It is how I've seen on the 'net but there seems to be nowhere near enough room to poke the seal lip down. Help please before I throw them somewhere!

Obviously check your balance is set correctly....then if you need to get to the door speaker, its door card off time. The tweeter can be reached through the grill on the dashboard. If you have no sound at all on the front right I'd be checking connections between the stereo and front crossover (situated at the tweeter if standard).

I think you'll notice quite a difference. :)

Did they have the Brembo's in stock then, if u really didn't wanna take the Zimmermans?

No stock. The Zimmermans were more expensive too, all be it only a pound! Hopefully they'll be ok :)

Have heard lots of stories about Zimmerman's warping...

Oh gawd, don't say that, that was what I had in the back of my mind!

Funnily enough, I aquired some 288 Zimmermans from GSF today. I was given Brembo 288s last week but they were for the wrong model. I took them back today and was given Zimmermans. I asked for Brembos instead (thinking they would be better) and was greeted with disbelief by the guys in there. They reckon the Zimmermans are really good, one of the guys has them on his 220 hp G60, (Great!) and they have been no problem. So I'm going to give them a try I think. I've been assured, any problems, bring them back! Their take on it was, Brembos are Italian, Zimmermans are German, which would you rather have! .......Hmmm, who have I heard of more.....Brembos maybe. Oh well time will tell, I'll be interested as you are on other peoples opinions, they're not on the car yet!

Which is why VT mounts come with a disclaimer - "Not recommended for road use" :wink:

 

It terms of outright shift quality, a harder mount is undeniably the best way to achieve it. But the refinement suffers badly. It's the age old compromise unfortunately.

Absolutely, totally agree. You can't have it all ways. I defy anyone to put up with one on the road though!

Quality idea, shame I've just had mine done! I would have been well up for this.

Been there with Autoglass, horrendous job, refits etc Still got damaged trim inside. The only way is to take it to the depot and leave it there. That way they have everything they might ever need and gauranteed weather conditions, also they have it for the day, so no hurry. A manager can also inspect the job before you see it. I know you said you had a bad experience at a depot , but seriously..........it can't have been as bad as what you have experienced recently outside of a depot?

Most cost effective way is to buy a cheap complete rusty (plenty of them about!!!) Mk3 Golf VR and take the lump out and sell the rest!!.

I think I'll be doing that, really good advice all round :) No point faffing with a 2.9 bottom end. I assume everything else from an existing 2.9 can be used including ECU. Just the 2.8 bottom end that is required?

Agreed with comments above, don't bother uprating the gearbox mount to anything other than a solid rubber one. My other halfs VR6 had a Vibratechnics Gearbox mount on and it was awful. The noise and vibration really spoilt the car.

Let's just say a few hundred miles later the bolt/shaft sheared off causing me to loose the wheel bearing, wheel bearing housing and driveshaft.

Eek! Not good. I should get mine back on today, monsoon permitting, hopefully I won't have any play when she's all torqued up though!

I rebuilt a VR6 top end and chains a few years back, new valves, guides, seals, tappets, injectors cleaned, mounts, chains and tensioners replaced. I can honestly say that is the smoothest VR6 I have come across, it was as good as you could ever hope for. After the new tappets had pressurised for the first time and the clatter had faded (nervous time!) she settled down into a really good solid stable idle. You could hardly feel it running by putting a hand on the engine cover. I have since felt another one that had the same work done and it was similar (not quite as good though!). Certainly my VR is nowhere near that smooth at idle, but I know one day, when its rebuild time, it can be.

I would have thought you would get at least that for it, it doesn't sound too bad tbh!

I'm going to collect my spare MAF and ISV from my folks to try eliminating those too.

Definately the way forward.

Perhaps I didn't need to change them then? Although there was a lot more slack in them before I changed them to be fair! Oh well I'll stick it on and see if there is any play when torqued up, I'm sure there won't be!

x2 for wishbone bushes. The originals are usually well shot. I've just changed mine to the TT ones. I have literally changed everything on the front end, I haven't completed it yet but I'm convinced the TT bushes are going to make the biggest difference.

The thing is, what is wrong here? What has worn? Anyone got an exploded view of one! Surely I don't need a new hub/housing. I thought bearings would take any wear.

When you say play, I take it you mean you can move the hub a little inside the bearing housing?

Yes, If I lay the hub housing down on the floor, I can rock the Hub (Mating Face for wheel). If you imagine a saucer with a small piece of grit under it, if I grasp each side of it, there is play.

I got my hubs back from JKM who kindly fitted my new bearings in. One of them is perfect but the other has some play in it still. What could cause this? Its only slight and not nearly as bad as it was but surely there should be none? It narks me as I paid lots for genuine bearings and £60 to press them in for me. Any thoughts?

I've just done this, loads of plusgas, wirebrush on the threads/join between nut and TRE. I used some heat, all be it only boiling water and it released. Proper on there though. I am stuck with a seized nut on one side now though! Grrr. Out with the gas torch I think!

Nobody knows if the weak point here was the chain. If a tensioner bolt had failed, it could easily cause the chain to slip. Was it fitted correctly, what's its history? So many possibilities. Sorry to bring it up again, but I know of many VR6s that have lived long hard lives, mine included with 150k miles. It pulls like a train, runs smoothly and has never been apart. That's pretty robust in my view. I know the lump has its weaknesses, as Kev mentioned cooling, however with proper maintenance you can minimise the risks. I seriously think my VR6 has done more work reliably than any other car I've owned or even know of.

if it had happened to me there would be something in the back of my mind questioning whether everything went back together alright after the gearbox had been off...

I wondered if anyone else would question that, the VR6 is in my experiences, one of the toughest, robustly designed engines around.

Cracking shots, I really like the interior one.

Thats not much to worry about, get your rear bearing nipped up, easy enough. Everything else is an observational thing, not really a major problem. Show me any old corrado without a slight engine oil leak, just give her a wipe over next year before she goes in. If it were a real problem they would have failed it. Obviously you might want to sort the brake pipes, test centres can be so hit and miss though. .