davidwort's 16v - looking a bit shinier

[Yandards 0]

Interesting, that 48 surface light version fit an early style interior light cluster?

[davidwort 0]

Unfortunately they are not a direct fit, literally a couple of mm too wide, the printed circuit spans all of the board so it was a bit of a gamble but I managed to score and bend the board without breaking the tracks into a 'V' shape, but this gives a better spread of light than if it was flat.

I'll double check the width of the early light unit, but I'm pretty sure it's the same as the late, in my case the late non-sunroof light which has a very wide diffuser as no sunroof switch, for me it might have been better to buy two 24 LED boards instead.

It really makes the interior lighting so much better, just be careful when driving as it's so much brighter it nearly blinds you at night when it first switches on :)

Added bonus is they don't use as much power and don't generate as much heat as the 10W bulb does, so unlikely you'll flatten your battery if you ever leave it on overnight.

[fla 9]

interesting mod to the cabin light. Do you ahve a link to the 24 led board please? So these fit with a little tweaking in the late switch (with sunroof switch)?

[davidwort 0]

here you go, mine came from same seller but was quick UK delivery, couple of days, some of the sellers items seem to be hong-kong despatched, but I've had no problem with ordering stuff from HK before, usually takes a week to arrive.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Light-Panel-24-SMD-LED-T10-38mm-Dome-Festoon-Bulb-Base-/290573146901?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43a7825b15

 

Pop the complete light unit out of the roof and then carefully prise out the clear plastic lense, then check the space you have for a bulb/LED fitting, you may need to bend the bulb contacts down a bit but I got the 48 in there!

Edited February 9, 2012 by davidwort

[davidwort 0]

one in daylight:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]51481[/ATTACH]

[James. 7]

For two pounds it's worth the risk. Does the new led panel rattle at all in the housing ?

 

I may factor this in when doing the lights on buzzer in a few weeks.

 

Also, what sound deadening did you use on the 8v ?

[davidwort 0]

Last weekend I finally got a couple of jobs done I've been meaning to for a while, new drivers side track rod and end and ignition lock barrel and new steering column bearings.

Car has a fixed height steering column so uses the polo inner column, mk2 golf bottom bearing and VW family polo, golf etc steering lock and top bearing, all easily available from the aftermarket.

Steering lock was not engaging on mine (MOT item now) and it turned out to be the lock barrel itself, worn and not springing out when key was removed, top bearing had play though so a pattern lock and bearing/housing from GSF was fitted, cheap and looks fine next to the old VW one, first one I tried had a sha99ed bearing so be careful if using a pattern one. PITA of a job though as the steering wheel spline collar on the column needs pressing off to remove the steering lock, I just heated it and whacked it in a vice to knock the column out of the centre of the collar, a special puller from VW is required to do it in-situ, a normal 3 legged puller won't work.

Lock barrrel is a Corrado specific part, only one left in country and obselete (40 odd quid), but I fitted a polo/golf pattern one (about 8 quid) and it fits fine, I think the only difference is a slightly different shape to the top black cap on the barrel, but you don't see this as the corrado plastic covers hide it, so the polo part looks no different once installed (same as on my fixed steering column how-to)

 

Track rod replacement.

The track rod removal tool is a real boon, makes the job very easy, but you do need to remove the old track rod end first, so make sure it's free before diving in.

Ball joint splitter made short work of the TRE to the hub and then removing T-rod from rack was as easy as undoing a wheel bolt :)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57309[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57313[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57317[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57321[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57325[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57329[/ATTACH]

removal tool showing jaws next to old track rod

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57333[/ATTACH]

 

adjusting track rod length:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57337[/ATTACH]

 

finally alignment checked and set on the old school alignment gauges, first time I've used this kit, a lot easier than axle stands and bits of string :lol:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57349[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57345[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57341[/ATTACH]

Edited March 28, 2012 by davidwort

[eugopnosaj 0]

finally alignment checked and set on the old school alignment gauges, first time I've used this kit, a lot easier than axle stands and bits of string :lol:

 

Haha, it worked though!

[davidwort 0]

Hi Jason, how's it going :)

[dragon green 4]

By using the Polo ignition barrel,how different is the key ?

Meaning can you re-tumble your other locks to match it ?

[eugopnosaj 0]

Hi Jason, how's it going :)

 

Hey Dave, all is well. Got myself a VR6 now, although the Valver is still alive after having another head gasket replacement. I'm not sure whether to sell her or not yet as she's currently not being used and has sat on my dad's drive since last October...The VR6 does have a few issues so come the summer might swap the cars over.

 

How about you? Hope everything is well!

[davidwort 0]

More 8v maintenance, air filter, fuel filter, Jim's old Koni dampers with some fresh paint and with new bushes and bump stops, top spring plates and a new brake bias valve as freeing off the old one for the mot finally did it in and it started to leak.

good servce from avs, all the rubber bits and the spring top plates, and a bargain from carparts4less, ATE brake bias valve £45 delivered and an air filter for a fiver delivered

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68153[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68151[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68149[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68143[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68154[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68152[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68150[/ATTACH]

Edited July 10, 2012 by davidwort

[KIPVW 0]

Great stuff, keep you busy no doubt

[davidwort 0]

and another pair of top mounts bites the dust, cheapo pattern of course, on one side the rubber came away from the metal and on the other the bearing came loose from the metal cap, I wondered why they were chattering :)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68155[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68156[/ATTACH]

[James. 7]

A lot of people would miss the rubbers out on a suspension refresh. Good to see it carried out "properly".

 

Out of interest, what mileage did you get out of the topmounts ?

[Supercharged 2]

Top mounts have to be VAG, nothing else lasts like them... I'm now on over 80k with some VR ones, the pattern ones I had before barely lasted a year!

 

The most important stuff to change now are the upper spring plates - our harsh winters really don't do the metal parts of the running gear any good.

[davidwort 0]

Yep, I agree Steve, and this just shows how stupid I am, pattern ones lasted less than a year before starting to fail, probably sooner than that actually, they've been making noises after the first few weeks on the car tbh.

so what have I done, yep, fitted more pattern ones :lol: just as well it doesn't cost me to get wheel alignment done.

car is so much better on decent dampers, mind you the ones that have come off are the original factory ones!

[Supercharged 2]

I think they're the wrong mounts too mate, being an M plate i'm sure the 8v's should have the MK3 style 'comfort' mounts?

 

Just read your last page too - was that Track Rod tool a VAG tool? Looks the business!

 

---------- Post added at 10:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------

 

Ah - the change was in 1995...

 

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/corrado_suspension.php

[davidwort 0]

Track rod tool can be bought from quite a few places now, think I've seen them on eBay and amazon, not a vag one and can be had for 50 or 60 quid ish, not really worth it for home occasional use but pays for itself in no time in a garage I reckon, makes the job ad easy as undoing a wheel nut :)

[davidwort 0]

Knackers, cylinder no. 1 is leaking coolant, looks like I'll be taking the head off tomorrow :(

On the plus side I've just acquired a schrick cam for it so 125 bhp here we come :lol:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68347[/ATTACH]

[aide 0]

Nice acquisition, makes the removal half worth while, you doing back to back rolling road tests?! :)

[davidwort 0]

It's a nice little cam, it's been in a passat and Audi 80 1.8 8v my dad owned so we pretty much know how it performs, very smooth at low revs with little if any loss of torque and a lot more lively at the top end, the passat carb 1.8 with a flowed head was 125bhp on the rolling road, 90 bhp standard, and the Audi didn't have a flowed head but felt much perkier, I'd imagine it will give 5-10 bhp on its own.

anyway, better get on with it rather than drinking coffee and typing on here...

[davidwort 0]

well, a bit of progress, unbolted exhaust manifold from downpipe, amazingly all 6 17mm nuts and studs were fine and just about accessible with long extension bars and a big breaker bar to crack them undone, head off and inspected, all looks ok, the gasket is clearly rotting around the water galleries and it was leaking a little oil too out of the back of the head near the cambelt.

Schrick cam appears to be 1mm more lift than the one in there so should show a bit of difference

 

before I started

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68383[/ATTACH]

 

cam cover off

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68380[/ATTACH]

 

getting at the exhaust manifold to downpipe nuts:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68381[/ATTACH]

they took a big old breaker bar to crack undone, but came off really well

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68382[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68384[/ATTACH]

 

yuck, no.1 was a right mess inside

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68389[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68385[/ATTACH]

 

bores all seem good, still see all the honing marks

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68386[/ATTACH]

 

head even with manifolds on is still pretty light, one advantage of working on an 8v[ATTACH=CONFIG]68387[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68388[/ATTACH]

Edited July 23, 2012 by davidwort

[davidwort 0]

Bit of progress today, cam out, valves out and cleaned up, new stem seals in and the valves lapped back in. Lastly got the schrick cam bolted down. Cambelt and head back on tomorrow.

 

This is the first time I've actually done a head strip down on my own, other than the lawnmover :lol: not as scary as I thought it was going to be, but then advice was on hand.

 

on the bench [ATTACH=CONFIG]68460[/ATTACH]

 

stem seals middle one removed:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68459[/ATTACH]

 

spring compressor

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68462[/ATTACH]

 

pulling out the hydraulic tappets

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68472[/ATTACH]

 

lifting out valve springs with a magnet

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68470[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68463[/ATTACH]

 

pushing new stem seal on with an appropriately sized socket

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68464[/ATTACH]

 

lapping valves in

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68461[/ATTACH]

 

cleaning up an old valve with emery cloth in an air drill:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68458[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]68465[/ATTACH]

 

quick clean up of the old valves, much better than how crusty they were when they came out especially the exhaust ones:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68469[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68471[/ATTACH]

Edited July 23, 2012 by davidwort

[davidwort 0]

thought I'd tidy up and pad out the last couple of posts, to make some kind of story/step-by-step out of it, if anyone's thinking of doing their own headgasket and perhaps sprucing up the head a bit, this is much the same as working on a 16v, just not as long to do the valvegear :)