Squire

Yeah cheers for the constructive criticism....... I promise i will never attempt anything on my car again Dad, and promise to pay lots of money for someone else to do it Dad, and also never ever under any circumstances try to learn anything.......... you tit :cuckoo: One side actually fitted ok originally. Cheers for everyone elses help though. earlier spring plates did a better job! :D

Just had a chance to do a hunt around the forum and found a useful thread: "suspension change walkthrough/ help needed" Looks like i need to order a couple of spring discs for the earlier VR. Think that should do it. I'll put an update on here when i get the parts etc. Thanks for info. Much appreciated Steve

Thanks for that Neil. I'll pop down the local stealers Monday and see what I can get/order. The spring disc/plate is about 3.5 cm in diameter. I needs at least 4.5cm to 5 cm by the looks of it. Maybe Euro car parts sold me the wrong springs? The rears are fine though, and the lower part of the front spring fits snug in the shock. The springs I took off (standard) had a smaller diameter at the top to the Apex (35mm lower) ones. I refitted the left shock and spring after some re adjustment but I just started hearing some twanging again. booooooooooo! I'll see what I can do. Shame I hit this snag as changing the shocks and springs all went pretty well apart from that. I'm delaying wheel alignment etc until it's all sorted! Tell you what though, frickin nightmare getting the parcel shelf guide, speaker holder things out! (boot). Just fiddly! Cheers Steve

Oops i didnt mention that did i?! It's a VR6. 1995 if thats helps? Yes the springs are on the right way up. The bottom of the spring sits nicely and lined up in the shock. The top plate is the right way up too as far as i know. It came off that way up anyway. The diameter just doesn't seem large enough for these springs. But having said that, the other side im not having trouble with (famous last words!). The plate on that side is the same size too. Thanks

Oh just to add. The pics are taken after I've removed the springs again and put it back together again.

Hi All, Fitted new struts and springs last weekend. Finished the job and all was well until the following day. The front nearside spring was making twanging noises when steering on nearly full lock. Heard a bang yesterday from that side so today I decided to take a closer look. I can see what has happened. The spring has popped over the plate at the top. The spring diameter at the top is larger than that of the original springs so I think i may need larger plates? Ive called Euro car parts and GSF but neither do the spring plates. I expect the stealers do, but as i need larger one (i think), would I have to buy them for a different model, and fit them to my C? What is odd is that the other side seems fine! Any suggestions? Ive attached a few pics which hopefully show it a bit more clearly. The 3 pics are of the nearside front. Offside is still on the car and happy. Cheers

No need for the info anymore. I just went and replaced it for a BOGE. Ta

Morning! Im replacing the shocks and springs on the C today. Just realised (somewhat belatedly!) that I have 3 Boge Turbo Gas and one SACHS advantage. The SACHS is a front shock. Are they the same shock absorber? I know Boge and SACHS are the same company now but didn't want to go through the hassle of fitting everything to find the ride is a bit odd. They look the same but the SACHS is a little easier to compress. Anyone know? Cheers!

Hi people, I've bought some lowering springs and new shocks for all corners. Hopefully not a daft question.... Just looked in the knowledge base on here and found a guide for replacing front shocks. Does it appy to VR6's as well? I haven't got a DIY manual for the Rado, only have my old Haynes one for a MK2 Jetta/Golf. I heard the suspension is a similar set up? I read the section on removing shocks and it talks about referring to various other sections about removing the anti roll bar eye bolt nut, steering tie rod balljoint, draining the power steering unit, and removing that etc etc. Sounds like a right rigmarole. It sounds a lot simpler in the KB! So is the Haynes manual being anal, is it just wrong for tha Rado, or should I go through all these measures, or just trust the KB on here? If it means going through all the haynes work i'll just have to give myself more time. Finally, anything else worth doing while i'm at it e.g. if you're doing the suspsension, you may as well......... etc Thanks in advance

Nice one. Thanks for the advice. Is the cenre bore the load bearing part of the wheel? Was wondering if it could be simply filed out? Cheers

I like the 16" scooby wheels, prob go for the 5 spoke ones. I hear you prob need 5mm spacers for the VR - does that sound right? Guess you can get these from Halfords or something? Sounds like the existing VR bolts will probably be fine? But the centre bore needs to be a bit bigger. Can that be done at a wheel refurb place or something? If you can DIY, what would you need? Probably dumb questions there but i've never really felt the need to change wheels on past cars. Just that my speedline are a little scabby and I fancy something slightly bigger than 15". Cheers people! Steve (95 VR6)

Hi All, Thanks for the suggestions/advice. I managed to get in touch with Alan White the former Autotechnik guru. He came to look at the car at the start of the week and diagnosed that the problem wasn't major afterall. phew The breather had been damaged and eventually broken apart - it sits somewhere near the manifold at the back of the engine and silences airflow. As it was damaged the engine management was "out" resulting in the engine running too lean so there was misfiring. This was happening in the engine somewhere rather than backfiring so it sounded like a clacking sound. So yeah not something metallic afterall. Anyway in case you're interested the part number is 021133429a. Cost just over £20 for the part. Might help someone in the future? Alan fitted the part today and shes running fine again :) Might go for bit of a drive this weekend, ive missed the fun! Cheers Steve

Yeah the clip makes it sound like a misfire - i think thats just down to the quality of the film clip. Rado being looked at Monday morning. I'll let you know the diagnosis as soon as I know. Fingers crossed its not too big a problem!

Hi, The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-s59WqycME Ive chopped off about 20secs at the start is it didnt make that clanking noise. Just revved a bit hard then calmed down (by itself). Towards the end of filing the engine almost died falling to about 500rpm or something. Cheers

Hi, Ok good idea. I pop it on youtube and put the link on here. The clip makes it sound like someone putting their finger in their mouth and making a pop sound! I live in West End. J7 M27 is the nearest exit. Back in a mo. Thanks