StuartFZR400

you mean like powerflex?

yeh, it'd have to be an uber state of the art mud-guard. lol I remember giving the hole a regular poke... that is the drain hole beside the filler cap; you need something narrow like the long nozzel off a wd40 can, to poke down the hole to allow water to drain.

:censored: he could part-ex-scrap it fora reasonably priced car like a Fiat500. See, it can get worse. Hmm, kev, I remeber pulling out all the petrol cap gubbins around there and pulling out lots of crudd when I bought it; I remeber also keeping the drain hole fairly clean after that too. Is it worth getting the inner arches re-coated? Many modern cars have plastic covers now - sensible (think mine has like a carpet finish). Because bikes have no protective coatings, Im in the habbit of taking a look down under anyhow; some parts just seem to be prone to rust unless cleaned regular. Imagine if you had the time to stripdown everytime the car got dirty, ha.

scirroco yeh, 50, sounds old doesnt it. Then I remember my mus over that age and she used to have a scirocco and a Mk1 Gti. The rocco often got called a Delorean - pah! Whats this about handing over the keys? Whats so difficult about starting one? Presume you've got one of those imobiliser fobs.

this it??

Agree with the common word so far, including Judith; its just another jump on a classic name, but with common looks; as too was the Scirocco. Glad to see they call it a hatch - it is; but probably will be taller in real life. Kind of like the look of it though, in a small way. Wonder if the price will plump between the Megane and Scirocco; as those two are worlds apart. Build quality going to be on par with the focus? Hmm; pay for what yu get. Prefer the look of it here. But looks a bit fat here; no, not phat, lol. They all look the same from behind Im tellin yu... (although this is a bit more boxey and retro). Spot the coupe: cold 1, warm 2, very warm3, hot 4

yeh, its bound to huh. got speaking to a guy who works for a big oil brnd; he says they're pumping it out nice and cheaply still in the east (pence per barrel); and theres plenty left, and didnt seemed about any 20 year forecasts. Also said theres a massive downturn in demand, as theres less need in plastics - less cars being built. Once thats gone, apparently theres equal amounts in Canada - onply problem is that it costs 5 times more to extract and clean up; £5/ltr in our lifetime im sure; how soon, who can tell.

I remember pulling out a ding on the golf. I say ding, it was more a foot sized crumple to the front wing. I remember pulling it out with G-clamps and rope; then hitting it hard. Luckily old man was a body work inspector for ford and sorted it; was mazed to learn that a curved metal shape will smooth something out in the opposite curve; odd. Im sure the above was right; if its on the detail line, and creases, you'll need a pro to do it, and using heat, as the metal will have stretched. Takes some skill to get it back. Most peepe tend to fill; its much easier.

like I say, Signam do them for half that price, and its no discount, its just walk in and buy. Got to take your V5 etc with you. I really dont think they get many people in off the street; its mostly bulk stuff. So yeh, they'd do two for 15. So if you live within 20 mile or so, its worth it.

Yeh Henny, quite surprising what they managed with that, considering its such a small engine - comparatively for a car; must keep it light. I remember a green Mk1 going banzi at Inters one year; sure it was sub 3.

Not sure why the VW wouldnt be legal. The left side for the Euro bit is only by your choice, you could leave it blank. The main thing is to have the correct lettering and spacing between those letters. If you go making a plate wider and putting stuff on, I cant see why it'd be illegal. How much were they? Signam who makes most plates for the likes of Halfords etc are in Warwick; I had a set made for the Corrado and were half the price of Halfords at about £8.00 each, but included boarder, EU, carbon letters - all legal, becuase Signam refuse to make illegal plates. bit on law. . By the way, I used those sticky pads too to fix them, like you have - much neater. But on the front, theres a bit of a curve, so Signam supplied me both thick and thin pads; so the thin went in the middle.

Might be down to suspension again. I felt on 40mm and 17's on Toyos it was solid, and when it did want to slide, all 4 went at the same time. Back onto standard suspension and the frikkin back stepped out on two occasions, until I finally got new tyres on the rear. I cant possibly imagine loosing the rear when it was on 17's and lower and even naffall tread (say 2mm).

6 pot baddies, bigger than on the fiat 20vT; you'll be ripping the tarmac up... lol

Scirocco, C30, Astra, they all look the same... hatches IMO. The Alfa is cute, but way over priced; rather take a Megane for 10k; its a hatch, its a tool.

Turning into a side road, if the pedestrian has started to cross, yes the Ped has right of way and you must give way . You also mentioned people walking infront of you - you mean along the road in the same direction? They're supposed to walk towards the traffic (see HWC), not away. Common sense tells you its because as a ped', you should try to find cover when a car is coming at full lick; on the flip side we must all drive at a pace that you can stop in the distance you can see. And what pedestrians dont seem to know, is that on a zebra crossing, they have complete right of way, only once they've started to cross - safest way is to place a toe on the crossing and watch the pileup, lol. They have no right of way without the crossing. In general, you're right, people seem to have a deathwish. You could always beep your horn to those mindless peds' but then you'll find they start shouting and swearing at you; at which point you run them over, back up again, then drive over again, and the bloody mess smatters the underside of your car, its just so hard to clean off.... oh the nighmares - i cant get rid of them... :cuckoo:

that alignment from the wishbone? Im sure someone said there was no adjustment at the rear. :scratch:

If you've got the 9A code engine of the 16v , not the KR, then you can buy the Pink Haynes for the Passat, much of the running gear and engine are the same.

Yeh, Id've thought tyre profile, pressure/stiffness would be to blame. So, anyone explain why its the wheel weight? At a guess, I can see direct wheel weight affect the deadload on the tyre a small fraction; but add a couple kg to the car and that'll get transfered to the tyre too; but only a portion, as the suspension will take most of it. So, with this heavy wheel, Im guessing the tyre squidges out a bit, taking some of the flex away? ... Thats all I can think of; but I do look forward to the real reason. Id've thought it was a stiff tyre (low profile or over inflated) and a wide tyre that was most affected. Worse still would be if the camber or toe was fairly radical, and therefore running you on slivers of tyre, and thus like a Tram, following contours. Im sure a lighter wheel will make naff all difference to slip angle; the car weight is a bigger factor on cornering. You could always try borrowing some 17's and see if you like the feel. You'd have to be using decent like-for-like rubber too. If you do, then try different pressures - lower was better IMO.

That really is hard to tell. The light spray doesnt help viewing. Also, if you take the pic 90 degrees to the door, so I can see the vertical gap and bottom horizontal I might be able to pass comment. Basically there can be a number of reasons IMO for the alignment. Any bodyshop should be able to help you and sort it; even on new production lines they can get quite crude, and simply swing on a door to make it sit straighter. But if its VW you're dealing with, I'd keep going back to them. If the slack cant be taken out of the adjustment, then I see no reason they cannot put brute force into it. Its an old car. If they refuse, then I'd take it elsewhere. Its quite common for doors to drop, especially if annoying mates swing and hang on them when the door is open. If its not just a drop, it might even be the door is not curved enough? Id need to see the head on pic.

. Louby - its what VR6 says, and some... 17's fit fine but look silly unless you drop the car. A drop of 40mm works fine, as long as the wheels are suitable - that is that the offset is correct. Push the wheel in too close to the car and it will rub on the inner arch; buy the correct offset. See Wheel discussion threads etc; and also see Wiki, and Tyre Bible in the wiki to fully understand. IMO 16's are best. The reason 17's feel crashy is because they have less tyre wall - they need to be 40 percent profile, not 45 (of a 16). That loss of tyre wall is a loss of tyre flexibility. Loose your ability to soak up bumps and you get 'crashyness' and you'll typically skip like a stone on bumpy corners - those being a given on our UK roads - and thus loose grip. You can still get stupidly wide 16's too. People make them fit, by getting certain offsets and spacers and rolling arches; IMO doesnt work well. Stick to 7j - we know it works with the correct offset. The 16 will also offer less slip-angle error compared to a 15; it'll work.

Water seems fine oil seems fairly fine too; but if in doubt you can ask manufacturer for optimum working temps (if it doesnt say on tin). Alternatively, you could try a semi synth (keeping the fully in a tub)

To start, you need battery power, but Im guessing you've got that, as it did start eventually. If the car was cutting out when you pushed harder on the throttle, I'd suspect the below things I mention, air or fuel flow. You then need the correct mix of air and fuel; in simple engines this is fine, you check the fuel filter and air filter, injectors etc. But Im guessing this is more electrical related. From memory the air intake has some electrical gubbins attached to it (Mass Air Flow?), to regulate the intake of air flow. This maybe jammed shut or something. Try doing what THIS Thread says Hopefully this will get someones attention who knows more about the air intake etc, but I think that above thread gets you on a Good Start.

Yeh, and it just pick up on my point made recently. There are so many unmarked about these days; theres a right big collection in the midlands, including some very sporty normal looking bikes too. Have you ever tried to only have a blast when theres no traffic about - you need to be a midnight feaster. Keeping a keen eye out for anything that moves, I've only come slightly close to two wrist slappings via fixed cameras in places Im not familiar with; both on quick roads, both cameras about 20ft high and hidden in the trees; cant see them until you're under them. Not impressed. This 50 malarky wont solve much and you can throw common sense out the window with this attitude. My real gripe is Why? - why the nationals? Why not speed trap more 30's. Are there really that many more deaths and bad injuries on the country roads that are caused by speed in the daytime? I cancel out the nightime stuff, because I doubt very much those boyracers will take a blind bit o notice to the new 50's. So no, I bet there arent that many bad accidents in comparison to shunts in residentials. And how many of those accidents that do happen, are caused by stupidity over speed.

Anyone signed the petition? Thought this might get some petrol heads thinking :hitler:

electrical gremlin? any good with the wiring diagramme?