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That part# is the genuine VW Polo one, so should be a stock part. You could always ask them before ordering. Stay away from the cheaper ones as people have had them fail very quickly after fitting.

I thought caps were about 25 each the last time I looked? 50 is pretty steep and not really worth it.

I had those BBS on the cover page on my Mk 2. Have never seen the Ronals in real life on a VW, apart from on the Audi Quattro variants.

Branston pickle anyone?

Vulcanised or gum rubber? [emoji41][emoji23][emoji28]

Careful now lads - talking about lube and rubber.........nearly like the old days on here.

Yeah, new ones seem to be 80-150 euro depending on where you look. Spotted a grey one as well, but with the VW grey you always need to be careful of exactly what shade you get as they sometimes don't match well, and anyway I reckon the black would probably look better.

Looks the part - from the looks of it this would replace the trim along the top, all the way to the tip of the handle, so doing away with the current handle in a one-piece kind of design. Interested to see how you get on with the test fit.

If in doubt, lube it! I picked up a litte bottle of VW lock spray a few years back - looks like a small trave deodorant or sanitiser - always make sure to do them before the Mr Frost arrives.

A nicely refurbished driver’s side handle ready to be fitted - hopefully everything works! In the past I've found that sometimes even a new striker won't actuate the tab inside the door to open the lock properly, because it can't reach - probably because the latch tab got bent over time. In this case you either need to bend it back slightly (very carefully as you need to go in through the hole for the handle in the door), or for those of us with kids, the little plunger dispensers that come with a Calpol or Nurofen bottle are perfect to cut to size, and fit nicely over the striker when you wrap a little fabric tape around it.

Hi and welcome - yes, my guess would be the ignition switch. They are still easily available from the dealer or through Heritage/Classic Parts, as they are used on lots of VWs, including newer 6N Polos. The barrel is unlikely to wear, it's much more likely the key, especially if it is a copy. If you still have the key code for your car you can get a new key made up from scratch to the original specifications. Iginition switch is good to replace as a precaution, and the only hard part is getting that little bugger of a screw out that holds it in place. Remove the steering wheel, upper and lower steering cowlings and you'll see what's what. A new switch is not expensive, so a quick tests would be to get a replacement, pull off the wiring connector from the back of yours and put it on the new switch and try to operate it with a screwdriver or key blank to see if this fixes the problem, before you actually go to the bother of changing the old one.

Don't tell them - let it be a Corrado Forum secret! They are scarce enough as it is.

I don't think they were meant to be a scaled up version of the factory wheel - just bespoke racing wheels made by Speedline (after all just a manufacturer, not a model name) for the Vento Cup. They look very nice though, and interesting to see them close up.

Ah ok - I thought they were all powered, at least from the early 90s onwards, as both my Mk2 and VR have them. it could also be that the original area was removed when an after-market stereo was fitted and replaced with an un-amplified one - the small pre-amps fitted on the head unit side are not standard for VWs and tend to come from Halfords or a motor factors. One of the reasons for this is that reception will often be pants if you fit an after-market unit with the original area and leave it unpowered.

There should be power to the stock aerial anyway - it has a little pre-amp in the base and is driven from the head unit - think that is the blue wire, yes. You'll see this wiring clearly if you pull the headlining down a little at the rear to access the aerial base from underneath. It earths back through the bodywork.

Looks the part - will it still give normal FM reception? Would work great with the new Blaupunkt DAB retro unit.

Good stuff - yeah, that little locking tab is almost impossible to get to, and even then it's usually very stiff - had me stumped for ages. Another over-engineered VW design mehtinks - a simple black self tapping screw to hold it on, accessed from above or the side would have worked just as well.

Ah, cool - the return spring is a little bugger. I got one of those lock cylinder seals as well, in the VW repair kit. My ignition barrel is fine - I think my car is one of the few still on its original set of locks I think the more a key gets copied can mess things up as well.

Something like this.... the spring needs to grab on to either side of the metal nun, so you hook one tab in place and then rotate and compress the spring to get the other tab over and around it, while holding it in place with your other hand. Then a bit of wiggling to get the arms and circlip on - it helps if you push on the lock barrel a bit.

Never mind - managed to figure it out with a bit of research - once you know how it goes back together it's easy and makes sense - I'll get some pics up. i also managed to dig up the lock re-tumbling article from the Wiki on an Internet archive, sadly without the pictures - would be nice to have this back up, but I'll post it in full here just for reference: "Re-tumbing locks How to re-tumble Corrado door locks to match a different key This how-to will show you step-by-step how to alter Corrado door locks to match a different Corrado key. Because of a weakness in the Corrado door opening mechanism, many cars end up with second-hand door handles and their associated locks, meaning that the vehicle has a different ignition and door key. The simplest way to remedy this is to alter the door lock barrels so that the car’s original ignition key will open the new lock. This is the procedure detailed in this how to. This can be carried out with a second-hand or new lock barrel. The alternative to this is to purchase a new barrel from VAG (around £10) and get them to tumble it to your required key – people have apparently had this done by VAG dealers for £8, although my dealer wanted a full hours labour for two barrels and couldn’t ‘book me in’ for 10 days so I got the hump and this how-to is the result… Recommendations: I would recommend that before attempting this procedure you obtain your cars original key code, order a new key blank through a VAG dealer and have them cut the blank to the original pattern. Your car’s original key code may be on a small metal tag with your car’s keys or can be obtained by any VAG dealer on production on your registration mark and / or vehicle VIN number. (Any VAG dealer should be able to get VIN number from registration mark if necessary). An AH code key blank is around £3 and a £5 cutting charge is money well spent – the picture below shows the difference between my existing ignition key obtained with the car and a new key cut to the car’s key number. As you can see, not only is the existing key on the left bent, it has little of the detail of the original pattern. This is probably a combination of wear and tear and / or being a copy of a copy. If a lock barrel is re-tumbled to a worn key, it may enable other worn keys to use the lock. Not a definite, but for £8, why take the risk? What you'll need You will also need some new tumblers and ideally some new helper springs. It may be possible for you to go to your local VAG dealer and blag some, I would guess three of each type would be enough for one if not two locks. If, like mine, your dealer is terminally crap (hello Priory Park Volkswagen, Hull), worst case scenario is that you get them to order part No. 443 898 041 A pictured below: This kit consists of forty (yes, forty) of each type of the four tumblers and forty new springs. Remarkably, it will set you back the princely sum of forty (yes, forty) pounds. I will probably make up some smaller sets with enough to do one or two locks. Remove the Philips screw arrowed above, (be warned - the handle removal screw can be reverse threaded! - this could be just the left door, or both...not sure) carefully rock the handle up and down to release it and pull the lock end of the handle from the outside of the door. Once the locking mechanism is clear of the car door, the handle will slide forwards to allow the front part of the handle to come free. If you are lucky, the central locking switch cable will have enough slack to enable you to perform this whole procedure without removing the handle from the car (the handle will be ‘hanging’ on the central locking cable – take care to ensure that unnecessary strain is not put on the cable). I did the re-tumble and changed a broken striker whilst the handle was hanging from the cable at the side of the car in the rain… If there is not enough cable, the inner door trim panel must be released partly, to allow the central locking cable to be released from its connector which is towards the bottom of the door. It may be preferred to do this anyway, to allow the handle to be worked on away from the car. Once removed, the inner workings of the handle can be seen. To remove the lock barrel from the handle, the circlip (arrowed) should be removed. This should slide off easily with a pair of circlip pliers or a terminal screwdriver. If using a screwdriver, take care not to slip. Once the circlip is removed, the striker, spring and backplate can be removed. Ideally, the barrel should be removed with the key in place. This is because the key holds the tumblers in place in the barrel. The barrel may be slid out without the key in, although it may be necessary to jiggle the barrel slightly. Care should be taken not to lose the tumblers and tiny springs, although if they come out of the barrel it is no problem, as they are probably going to be moved anyway. The picture above shows a barrel with an incorrect key in place. As you can see, four of the ten tumblers are raised – this will not allow the barrel to turn in the lock. All of the tumblers have to be flat to the barrel to allow the barrel to turn and open the door. As described above, there are four different size tumblers, numbered 1-4. To re-tumble the lock, it is si of checking to see which tumblers are raised with the required key in place, removing the key, carefull offending tumbler and replacing with a different size, until with the key in place all the tumblers lie flat. The pic above shows how the springs fit under the tumblers (one spring per tumbler). The springs just drop into the round hole at one end of the tumbler slot and the small tab on the side of the tumbler rides on the spring. With the key removed, all of the tumblers should stand proud of the barrel. If some do not, they are sticking – the pic above shows one of my barrels as removed, all of the tumblers on one side (bottom) are proud, but none of the top ones are – they are all sticking. I would recommend removing all of the tumblers during this procedure, cleaning and replacing with a little white / silicone grease. If a tumbler does not stand proud with no key inserted, it is not preventing the barrel from turning and the lock is therefore not as secure as it should be. It is also recommended to replace all springs to ensure longevity etc. This is the finished barrel with new key – all tumblers nice and flush. Re-assambly is just the reverse of disassembly: Place barrel (with key ideally) in handle (will only fit one way) (pic 1). Place backplane over end of barrel (pic 2). Notice that the two ends of the spring stick out from the round part – these ‘ends’ are the parts that actually push against the backplate and the striker and do the work. Place spring over the backplate, with the bottom ‘end’ against the tab on the backplate (pic 3). Stretch the ‘top’ ‘end’ of the spring over the bottom end and the tab, so that the two spring ends are at either side of the tab and the spring is in tension (pic 4). The spring may have lost some of its roundness, do not worry about this at this stage. Place the striker over the assembly and get it to sit down inside the round part of the spring by ‘waggling’ the striker and if necessary using a screwdriver to push the coils of the spring sideways to make it round again. Once the striker is inside the spring, the groove in the end of the lock barrel for the circlip should be visible. If it is not, either the striker is not sat down properly or the lock barrel is not pushed fully into the handle. Slide the circlip back into the slot – this should slide in easily. Once reassembly complete, lubricate all of the lock and handle mechanism with white / silicone grease and refit to the car door. Take care not to trap the central locking cable whilst refitting the handle. Connect the cable if disconnected earlier and enjoy! Whilst you have the handles out, I would thoroughly recommend replacing the handle striker mechanism with one of dave16v’s repair kits. These kits are very highly recommended – I spent three weeks climbing in and out of my passenger door waiting for a kit and was glad I did rather than paying £70 for a new handle from VAG or getting a second-hand handle and risking the thing breaking all over again. This picture shows the difference between a VAG striker on the left and Dave’s on the right. The original ones break just above the rib (arrowed). The replacement is stainless steel and appears to be much stronger – the handle operation even feels more positive when fitted. His supplied instructions are also very, very good."

Does anyone have any pointers on how the return spring should be oriented on the door lock? Stupidly it came apart in my hands before I got a good look at it.

Very nice. His badges are great quality.

Very nice - is that brush on? I have some Wurth spray adhesive with a fine nozzle that I was going to use, and then maybe even stick down the tricky bits with some fabric tape. Have to say that the finish on the back of the door cards where the lining is just tacked on is pretty poor and a little disappointing - I guess you're not supposed to see those bits.

Here’s the replacement speaker installed on the door card - I fitted and adapter to connect up to the factory loom. Had to dremel out the fours mounting tabs slightly to get it sit properly. There are also four little rubber mounts to isolate the speakers from vibrations, watch out for these as they are easy to lose. Next step will be to glue down and tidy up the trim at the sides.

Ha ha - cheers. Excuse me, mine is not any better. Thanks, that pic makes it easier to see how it fits back on.