oneohtwo's VR6 - New Engine!

[Cressa 44]

2 hours ago, oneohtwo said:

I have managed to get the calliper off, so new plan is to hopefully find a local garage open tomorrow I can drop it off at and see if they can replace the valve. 

Possible alternative is I found some no-brand brand (Frankberg... nope, me neither) on Amazon which could be delivered tomorrow.

Brake Caliper Rear Right for Golf III IV Passat Polo Sharan Vento Cordoba Galaxy 1988-2010 1H0615424A: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

Was thinking could get that, stick it on the car as a temporary measure to get it up and running then get proper new ones all-round. Even as a temporary measure I'm a bit loathe to risk some no-mark nonsense brand though...

Actually EuroCarParts has Pagid calipers in stock. £180... which is a bit steep but at least it is a relatively decent known brand.

Ouch at 180. You could definitely change to the mk4 reliability for less.  Unless you want it 100% original. 

New = fit and forget

Caliper repair ,= quick fix if you can find someone this BH weekend.

Good luck with it though. 

[ABV-VR6 12]

I second Cressa's suggestion mate, while you're at it upgrade to MK4 calipers. You have to use the Corrado Carriers and pads so that's a bonus. You just need the rear stainless brake lines which are cheap to buy and a good upgrade and the calipers which are also cheap. No more seize after winterizing too...

[oneohtwo 8]

All good points. I ordered the shite Amazon one to give me the option. Can just send it back if I don't use it.

I think if I am going to get new decent calipers I would want to do the Mk4 upgrade, which I would have to do at a later date, so a temporary fix is the goal for now.

First in gonna try to find a mechanic open tomorrow morning who might do it. If not I'll use the Amazon one for the time being and get the upgrade parts together for the Mk4. Unless it's made of cardboard. In which case I'll spend the money at ECP. 

They'd actually only be £130 if I exchanged my old ones, but it's still a fair whack. I wouldn't really want to spend that much to get a new caliper only to then junk it a few months after to do the upgrade, so that would take that off the table. And if I am keeping it I may as well do both sides. Although if doing that I'd rather get one of the Bosch/TRW ones available on eBay for half the price but needs must I suppose.

 

[1xshaunx1 27]

Last year I bought 2  brand new TRW mk4 rear callipers for £180 delivered and the stainless lines for £42 fitted in minutes. Bleeding on the other hand was a pain

[oneohtwo 8]

That's a pretty good deal. What's the difference with the mk4 calipers?

In the end the Amazon one arrived and no surprises in a plain cardboard box with just Made in China stamped on it. Could be absolutely fine, but also cheap. I wasn't happy taking the risk and did also think if I am changing one caliper I should do both, so I went down the ECP route as the only other option. Got some money off with a discount code so just over £200 in all, and found they are actually remanufactured OEM ones so happy about that. The mk4 upgrade will have to wait a little while now, but if they are new calipers hopefully won't have any issues.

Have to say I am not looking forward to bleeding them but I have one of those Eezibleed kits so hopefully won't be too painful...

Other than that I am pretty well there. Car currently looks like this:

Tidied up and resprayed the slam panel as best I could the other week. Incredible amount of rust gets underneath it... doesn't seem a likely place really. 

Flatted down a bit but couldn't get rid of all the orange peal which is a shame. Just don't have time to go to town on it, but it's better than it was!

Only thing holding me up now is the slimline fans and trying to sort the wiring. I cocked up the wire order and got wires too large for the fittings so am just waiting on some more. To be honest I am not sure they have been worth the hassle... they certainly don't weigh all that much less all in, so hopefully they will just be more efficient and quieter. If I hadn't taken apart the old motor I think I would just put that back on, for now at least. 

[oneohtwo 8]

It runs!

[ABV-VR6 12]

No waaaaaaaay! Congrats mate, that's amazing. Cheers to you! 

[easypops 8]

Well done, I was absolutely delighted when mine started after the rebuild, so I get it 👍😎

[1xshaunx1 27]

12 hours ago, oneohtwo said:

It runs!

Congratulations 👏. 

[Keyo 47]

Congrats just in time for start of summer - time for a victory beer to as pubs opening as well. 

[oneohtwo 8]

Thanks everyone! Such a nice feeling - looking forward to taking it out on a nice drive but MOT tomorrow first.

Couple of nervy moments. First fuel starting spraying out of the fuel rail plug, all over my nicely repainted slam panel, grr! Then there was an alarming amount of smoke from down by the exhaust manifolds, but after 10-15 mins this seemed to burn off so I think was just some paint or new materials off-gassing under heat for the first time. Rang a mechanic who said the same. But seems to run quite smoothly now!

Here she is outside the garage for the first time in 2 years...

The bonnet is so dusty it looks a different colour! Really needs a thorough clean, which might be next weekend's job.  Doesn't look too much lower at the front on the B12s than I remember on stock but maybe just needs time to settle a bit? Rears are as they were as I ran out of time to put the B12s on, and they don't look markedly different. Noticed the existing rear shocks were labelled Munroe. Never heard of them before.  The slimline fans run OK as well which is a relief - will post about that in the other thread though. 

Couple of things:

1) The brake pedal travels along way. I remember it always used to but can't remember if it was this much. There's not a lot of feel, but the brakes do come on and stop the car on a slope alright. Don't know if that's also to do with switching to 288s at the front, or if it was always like that. 

2) Anyone know what the two prongs on the vacuum hose that runs to the inlet manifold are for or if they should connect to anything. These fellas:

When I was putting it all back together I noticed them and thought they should connect to something but I have nothing. Now I can hear them sucking in air, and can't remember that before (although the engine could just have been noisier). They look like some other hoses should connect, and it looks like on US cars these might hook up to an exhaust recovery valve that sits next to the ISV, but I've got absolutely nothing left over. No spare pipes or valves that would go here. 

[fla 9]

Looks magnificent! I think those two have (green) caps on them. 

[oneohtwo 8]

Ah thanks, good bit of info!

Hmm, I don't recall having any so maybe they were never there. Perhaps I can stick something over I'm the meantime. Not sure what effect it would have leaving them uncovered... It would be letting a small amount of unmetered air into the manifold and maybe the brake servo isn't getting the correct pressure?

I guess that makes sense that they use the same bit of pipe for cars with the exhaust thingy, but just cap the hoses off for those without?

Edited April 11, 2021 by oneohtwo

[Billzeebub 1]

excellent result getting the old girl going again. Another one out on the road to look for. I cant remember the last time I saw another Corrado in the wild..but then I've not really been anywhere in a year

[Cressa 44]

Good luck with the MOT  

Monroe shocks are actually a decent make for the replacement genuine items 

[oneohtwo 8]

I wasn't happy with the brakes in the end, felt far too spongy so got it towed. Have read that there can be issues with the ABS unit if it gets drained so thinking that might have happened when I changed the brake lines. Unfortunately just ran out of time to try and sort as we moved house at the weekend so had to get the car running and out of there!

They're going to run through the MOT anyway to pick up anything else, and then will have to get it to a garage to sort. Stealth is maybe a bit far from me to get it towed though unfortunately...

[oneohtwo 8]

6 hours ago, Cressa said:

Good luck with the MOT  

Monroe shocks are actually a decent make for the replacement genuine items 

Ah interesting about Monroe, good to know it's not something super cheap on the car!

MOT failed on the brakes which I knew it would in the end so no surprise, but only the brakes so semi-positive. The technician did find a small brake fluid leak at the brake line connection to the ABS pump so hopefully it is just that. They are going to look at it and see if that fixes things. I also realised I didn't bleed the ABS unit itself - everything just got a bit too manic trying to get the thing running before we moved, what with the brake calliper issue and then the fan wiring. The last couple of weeks have been stressful!

In one sense hopeful that it is an easy fix, but also annoying I didn't see it myself! Especially as I did look around to check for leaks... Possibly only really manifested itself after repeated use though. 

[fla 9]

i think you've done some superb work on the car so a few oversights are no biggie.

 

Bleeding the abs block can either be done using vcds or as a minimum with the ignition on you can open each bleed nipple and let some fluid out from there manually.

 

Hasan

[Cressa 44]

Brakes will be an easy fix for you.  The ABS definitely needs bleeding, as does the slave cylinder. You have a lot on but will have this sorted.  Well done in creating a beautiful motor 

[oneohtwo 8]

Thanks both, you're right it's certainly not a major disaster and everything else passed alright so fairly pleasing all in all. If I'd have had another couple of days at the old house I'm sure I could have sorted it but just ran out of time. Car had to be moved from the drive on Monday morning whatever happened. Bit of shame as it sounds like it should be an easy fix, but it's with the MOT garage and as they found a leak they'll have to top up and re-bleed, so they should sort it. In some ways quite nice to have someone else deal with it!

The other positive was that the carbon fibre rad support holds the engine up OK it would seem. I propped it with axle stands under the brackets at either end and wedged with some wood before undoing the bumper bolts. The wood was in pretty tight but wasn't taking any weight and when I undid the bolts they remained free to move which means the carbon fibre was still carrying the full weight of the engine. So that's reassuring. 

 

[oneohtwo 8]

The headline news is that it has passed the MOT.... just.

The garage went around and bled everything again including the ABS pump which improved it but was still failing, but only just. So they essentially just kept retesting it until it passed, but they said the pedal was still quite soft.

I spoke to Vince at Stealth and he said there's also the master cylinder which needs bleeding, which everyone misses and the garage confirmed they hadn't found that one, which explains the soft pedal still. So I am going to pick up the car today, and then either have a look at bleeding everything again or drop it off at a VW specialist. I'm parked on the road now unfortunately so will be difficult to do myself so will probably take into a garage. Need to get them to fit the rear B12s as well anyway. Stealth are mega busy at present sadly, as it would have been nice to get it up their for them to give it the once over. 

But we are pretty well there, it has an MOT so I can at least get it back and park it whilst I sort the next bit!

 

[Cressa 44]

Congratulations  👍

[1xshaunx1 27]

Well done that man

[Dox 23]

An old trick is to wedge the brake pedal down overnight, any air trapped near to a flare / fitting will leak out (where a fluid won’t).

[_Matt_ 32]

6 minutes ago, Dox said:

An old trick is to wedge the brake pedal down overnight, any air trapped near to a flare / fitting will leak out (where a fluid won’t).

That's a good trick and I also found out recently that if you wedge the brake pedal down and take off say a brake calliper or flexi no fluid will leak out. Still needs bleeding but generally only the corner you're working on.