Golf VR6 - Aftermarket Cams, Headgaskets and Tuning

[donpulsar 0]

I’ve been a member of the site for quite a while and found some very helpful info and advice, so I thought it’s about time I contributed a bit more to the site (I know it's not a Corrado but its close enough?) :thumbleft:.

 

So far my VR6 has been my daily driver since I bought it a couple of years ago (with Milltek exhaust and Piper-X panel filter), had its chains done and a new clutch around 90K and on 111K now, and the mods so far have been an LPG kit (fitted soon after I bought it & worth its weight in black gold!), a G60 3.68 final drive (amazing mod!) and a selection of air filters, finally settling with a modded airbox w/ K&N panel. I removed the decat for the last MOT and am currently running with the cat back in & the old bum dyno hasn’t noticed a difference! An oil catch tank rounded off the mods…til now!

 

However, things have taken a bit of a downturn as I suspect the headgasket is on its way out (coolant bottle pressurizing and blowing coolant out no matter how many times I bleed it, lots of air bubbling into the coolant bottle, removed the secondary pump as that had stopped working but still got same problems). I’ll be testing the coolant for headgasket failure soon and doing a pressure test as well, so if it has failed or whether something else is amiss I’m hoping it can be found when it comes off the road in the next few weeks.

 

In the meantime my mate brought me a parcel back from the US after his holiday…

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73459[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73460[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73461[/ATTACH]

 

Alrigh-hht..giggity giggity! Autotech 262s'! :dance:

 

So these will be going in whilst its off the road and if it needs a new headgasket then the head’ll be off. I’ve got a couple of questions which I hope can be answered?

 

1. Can anyone recommend what – if anything, to have done to the head if it does come off to be skimmed? And anything else with the engine regarding things to check/change?

 

2. I have heard that LPG can reduce headgasket life due to higher burn temps; now whether that’s true I don’t know but if I do need a new headgasket what’s recommended for me to use? I’m aware that I can use a US spec 12V headgasket (raises compression a tad which can only be good)…I’ve also heard that either the Sharon VR6 or the Transporter VR6 had a steel headgasket..would any of these be worth using instead over the standard one? Where would be the best place to source a headgasket kit from?

 

3. How & where have people had their VR’s mapped for the cams…custom chip in the ECU, piggyback ECU or is the OBD2 good enough to remap itself for the changes?

 

4. And something not quite engine related - would I need to fully remove & split the gearbox again to put in a diesel/turbo diesel fifth gear for better cruising rpm (any idea what sort of rpm drop can I expect at 70mph)?

 

Any help anyone can give is greatly appreciated.

 

Now I’m not loaded by any stretch (so unfortunately I won’t be using this an excuse to have it bored to a 3.1, nor will I be turbo’ing it or supercharging it!), but if I have to save a bit more then sort things out then so be it. I’d rather do a job once properly rather than faff about doing it twice or having it drag out for months! My “fine days & holidays” car (Pulsar GTi-R) is slowly being resurrected (I’ll be hopefully driving that whilst the VR is in my garage in bits) so money is being split between the 2 cars when needed!

 

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment or leave any helpful ideas/suggestions!

 

Cheers,

 

Steve.

[GlosterOx 0]

Re: Question 4, this might help: http://wiki.the-corrado.net/5th_gear_cog_change.html

 

Ian.

[donpulsar 0]

Cheers for the link...that's a well written article! :thumbleft:

[donpulsar 0]

Anyone with modded VR6's care to add anything? :thumbleft:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I would fill any pits in the head with chemical metal before skimming. The valves will have to come out before you get it skimmed, so that would be a good time to check for guide wear. The exhaust guides are usually well on their way to ovalising by 100K as VW use a soft material, but a simple check will confirm.

 

Get an Elring head gasket set. That'll come with the newer 3 layer gasket. Make sure the block surface is meticoulsly clean before reassembling. Get yourself some new headbolts too and a new thermostat housing isn't a bad idea as they often warp or crack.

 

Stealth racing are good for remaps and also any of the aforementioned work. A VR6 gains back some of it's lost sparkle after a head rebuild.

 

The box doesn't need stripping to fit a taller 5th but the rpm drop from 4th to 5th might be pretty large, which could prove annoying after a while! I always liked how the 3.68 final drive moved 70mph cruising a bit more into the torque band for more responsive acceleration.

[Stonejag 10]

Planning to get my new head vapour-blasted, is it OK to leave the guides in? 8000 miles ago it was skimmed and valve seats recut so I don't want it to need any more machining, but the Bentley suggests you have to get it all done again if you replace the guides...

 

Stone

[donpulsar 0]

Thanks for the extra info - really appreciate it :thumbleft: