RobinJI

It's already in the works There's been a few phone and facebook conversations discussing underbody aero for the Audi. Should be awesome. (Well, more awesome) Chances are pretty good, I've always found insurers to be very flexible if you're nice on the phone. Unless you luck out and get a silly cheap quote, or you're mr average driving an average family car, the phone will always save you money with insurance. The Scirocco got some love over the weekend. A little driveshaft clearance was added and the front coil-overs wound down ~10mm to get the car sitting a bit better (it's been slightly nose up for ages.) Currently at ~70mm clearance under the lowest points, with 90+ under most of the car, which is what I consider about spot on. The difference isn't striking but I think it's helped. My boost pipes are currently all on the washing line. I finally fixed my broken dip-stick tube and gave my engine bay a good clean to get rid of all the oil it had sprayed everywhere, and against the clean bay the boost pipes mixture of not-very-polished aluminium and flakey-painted-rusty steel looked hideous. They've all got a nice coat of etch primer and satin black now, which will hopefully help how it looks under there. Also, I fitted a mega-'80s rear-sunstrip 'turbo' sticker at lunch today. Probably quite marmite, but I think it's pretty in keeping with the cars looks. I'm very much trying to go with a period look at the moment, but with the modern tech under the bonnet. This is all in preparation for Retro Rides Gathering, which is this weekend Best show of the year for me by a mile, mostly because of the drunken camping with a great bunch of people, but also because of the massive variety of seriously cool cars that's always there.

Car's looking good Jardo. Paul, mk1 golf bushes will work for the lower arms if it helps at all. I've got 'Bugpack' ones on my car (Sold by VW heritage as 'bugpack', but the box says 'Prothane'). The front lower arms haven't impacted on ride noticeably at all, and although they didn't add much grip, they've made the limit more predictable and controlled. They're red and I suspect similar to cheap e-bay ones. They've not been on long so I don't know how well they'll last though. You'll never get a huge benefit from the front bushes on yours, just because they're quite small, so they don't have much deflection even if they're soft. VW heritage sell black poly ones as OEM spec replacements now instead of the rubber ones, which might be a nicer option if you don't want to go stiff, but still want the (potentially) increase lifespan of poly. Not sure about out back. I've heard Super-bug stuff will fit, which might be worth checking out.

How much for an NSX engine and box (More than I've got I'm guessing!) Went up a hill, did a picture:

As said, the bed's a bugger, along with just about everywhere else! They don't have subframes though, so no need to check them

Willwood and Hi-spec both do 4-pots suitable for use in little wheels, check the max weights on some of the really light weight stuff though. If you're thinking OEM stuff then I'm not really sure, Volvo 240 brakes would probably go and are powerful, but they're an iron caliper, so not ideal. The Brembo calipers I've got to go on mine are off a Renault of some sort (I suspect an 'arse' shapped megane), I suspect they're originally off a 300+mm disc, but they look like they'll work fine on my 280's.

Can't you just machine the original disc down to purely the wheel mounting face and then slip a normal disc over the top? With size, it's possible to squeeze a 270mm disc under a lot of 14's, but any bigger tends to be a struggle.

That looks awesome nick! Really nicely installed. Paul, it's Brembo's site that's got all the good info on it, there's essentially an engineering drawing for all their discs on there, so all the dimensions you'll ever need. If you need any longitudinal 1.8t bits let me know, I broke a 1.8t Passat a while ago, the head/bottom end were dead, but the rest was ok, plus the engine in my Scirocco started life in a Passat, so I've got all the bits I removed to turn it around. Really you want an AEB code engine, as you'll get the cable throttle and large-port head, and it should be cheap, with everything already set-up for inline mounting. A 1.8t 924 will be awesome! I've got a copy of the VW dealer wiring diagram for the relevant Passat too if you need it.

I'd say it'd be well worth it. Mine drives a lot better than I'd expect standard shocks and 40mm springs to! I'm not looking to change them because they're bad, far from it, they're actually pretty good and have caused comment from a lot of passengers, usually about how the car's firm without being crashy/harsh, it's just that as the rest of the car's progressed it's getting to be noticeable that they're a weak link. At one point I was planning to put softer springs on them, and when I mentioned it to a female friend with zero interest in cars, who usually complains about my cars, she asked why and said it felt fine to her. They've been worth every penny of the asking price and more, and I'd rate them over equivalent price spring/shock lowering kits, they just need setting at a sensible(ish) height, the helpers binning and the bump stops trimming (leave ~20mm front, ~50mm rear). The thing with cheap suspension like this is lack of development, often the quality's fine, it's just that the rates are all guessed and shared across a wide range of fitments, so sometimes you get lucky and they suit your car, but more often than not they don't. In the the case of TA Technix on a Scirocco, I think it's one of the lucky ones. That said, I don't know that what you buy now's the same as what I bought in 2008, that's a lot of time for their suppliers to change or quality control to slip, especially given the increase in demand.

Yeah, in a way, They're TA Technix, but they were bought through Phil-J off ClubPolo before e-bay was flooded with coilovers. Removing the helper springs and trimming most of the bump-stops off transformed them. They've taken one hell of a beating and a lot of miles over 5 years, so I've definitely got my £200 worth! I've been really impressed with them so far, but now the chassis's getting a bit more sorted they're starting to show up as the weak link.

Cheers Paul. I'm still on the standard map with a couple of PSI more than standard, so not a huge amount of power. It should be around the 200bhp/ton mark though. It really is silly amounts of fun (or in my eyes it is anyway). I'm really happy with the current set-up in terms of being playfun and nimble, vs being comfy cruising at lower speeds or on rough roads, although some better dampers are on the cards at some point. Oh yeah, also, I'm collecting these in a few weeks, in-case my car wasn't '80s enough as it is I think they'll suit it, but I can imagine them being a bit marmite!

Cheers Luke, it's looking a bit battered, but then it gets used a lot more than it gets cleaned/pampered. One day I'll go on a mission to get the bodywork straight. I'm on 280mm Golf G60 discs with the original Scirocco calipers spaced out to suit. It's not a bad set-up at all, there's plenty of bite and pretty good feel, but they do struggle with heat when you're being enthusiastic on steep back roads. Cheers for the offer but unfortunately 280's the biggest I can really go under 15" wheels, although size isn't the issue, in proportion to the rolling radius they're actually a tiny bit bigger than 312's under your wheels. I've got a set of Brembos off a Renault of some sort here that the piston sizes match nicely for, I just need to get around to modifying some spare hubs to fit them. Hopefully they'll cope with the heat a lot better than what's on there now, it's just a case of finding time to make them fit.

That 'comp' looks insanely fun! Well I got bored, so I went for a drive and chucked the camera in. I'm REALLY loving the car at the moment, it's so much fun to drive, but the brakes do need upgrading soon, on steep stuff it's easy to get them out of their depth! I thought I'd try and get a 'look how stiff my suspension is' shot, turns out my suspension's not really stiff enough for that! Well it is set-up to be fun getting to places like where these photos were taken, and apparently has a bit more articulation than I expected, (which is a good thing in my eyes!):

Also, on the subject of VW vans, this was ammusing last time we went camping: (Admitedly caused by a mixture of recent accident damage and drunken hamfisted-ness, but it was bloody funny at 3am whilst very drunk!)

T4's can rot really quite seriously, definitely have a damn good check! I've got amusing memories of welding the door hinges back onto one after the drivers door literally fell off when opened! They're a lot better than the Ford/Merc equivalents, but don't be complacent about it. They're pretty solid mechanically, the 2.5tdi's can have oil-pump issues (the casings rivets can work loose), so any low pressure warnings should be investigated ASAP. The 1.9's are a bit underpowered once loaded, so can wear out fairly fast if used with much weight in the back regularly. The 2.4d seems pretty much indestructable, and alright with weight in the back, but they are a bit on the slow side. My dad's got a 2002 2.5tdi (115bhp ish iirc) and it's been faultless other than the oil-pump issue and the exhaust rotting out. Damn comfy van on long runs too, especially with cruise control.

Yeah, standard pressure reg and injectors should keep it trundling around for now. I'd unplug the N75 too to make sure it's only boosting to actuator at most, but still make sure he doesn't mash the throttle or let it boost much, as the lack of fuel he'll have at high air-flow levels will cause a shit load of heat and lots of molten things if he's doesn't restrain himself. Really it'll need mapping ASAP.

If it's not been mapped to the bigger injectors and 'bigger' (I guess you mean higher?) fuel pressure then it's going to be chucking fuel in like an open tap on idle (and over the rest of the rev-range), which would account for a low/rough idle and lots of white smoke. Hold your hand near the tailpipe for a few seconds with it on idle, my guess is when you take it away it's covered in/smells strongly of fuel. Once he's had it mapped it should all be fine.

Well, after a lot of swearing, hammering and sweating the rear ARB's fitted. The outer brackets are a weird and quite silly design that doesn't really like being removed, let alone re-fitted. They're a band of steel that goes around the axle with the very ends bent around 180deg, then there's a little C shapped bracket that pushes over these returns to pull the end closed and make it a complete loop. Not sure if that makes sense, but I forgot to take a picture! A comparison of the old and new: And fitted (yes, there's an obscene amount of under-seal on there): Just been for a quick spin to see if it's silly without the matching front one and it's simply awesome. I'll have to see what it's like properly when there's a little less traffic, but initial impressions are brilliant, the turn in's noticeably sharper and there's more traction coming out of bends (in fact the traction seems improved in most situations), so pretty much what you'd expect/hope really! I've got a feeling the front one may end up never being fitted.

That Scirocco looks tidy Crashbangg, I wish mine was less battered visually! The 1.8 carb can be a good laugh, get a weber 32/34 dmtl carb on there if you come across one for sensible money, they help pretty much everything. Mine was a 1.8 carb originally and made 101bhp with just the weber and exhaust, which was more than enough to have fun, especially if you're used to a 1l Polo! Just been and sorted my clutch fluid reservoir. It was leaking because when I'd fitted it I'd misjudged the clearance to the wiper mechanism, so had to modify it. First time around I cut a section out and epoxied some plastic in the gap to give room, as I figured epoxy's fairly chemical resistant and it'd get me buy for a while. It lasted about 6 months but then the epoxy gave out. So I took it off again and had a go at plastic welding in the modified bit instead of gluing it, which seems to have worked perfectly: I also fitted some Aero wipers the other day. They're 21" instead of the standard 19" that Scirocco ones are, but it had always bugged me that there was clearly room for longer arms, all I had to do was turn the drives side arm around one spline so they sit slightly stagered at the bottom: And a random shot of my car being surprisingly practical: I'm off out to have a go at fitting my Eibach ARB's now, the rear one looks like it might be a pain, but hopefully they'll be worth it! Oh, also Paul, I did this years ago great minds think alike (the crap around it was cleaned off as soon as I noticed it!):

RX7 FC's are great. Get some pics up. Just went around to a mates house because he was giving up on him mk1 golf project, and said he had a few bits that could be useful to me. Walked away with a brand new (still boxed etc) steering rack, a couple of new standard engine mounts to replace my way-too-hard poly ones, some aero wipers and a pair of very lightly used eibach ARB's with all the relevant bushes/mounts. The ARB's are 21mm front and 25mm rear. My standard ones are 17mm front and 20mm rear. I'm not 100% if the front one's going to be worth while or not, but I'm keen to get them fitted and see what happens anyway. They were cheap enough that I could very easily sell them on for what I paid. Paul, I've always been warned that insurance companies hate remote starts, so it might be worth checking with them first.

Jardo, unless you've installed water/meth injection and I didn't know, then one of your sensors is being silly. With an air to air intercooler your inlet temperature (pre-injectors) can't be lower than the ambient temperature, the laws of physics say no. Glad the car's going well, it's looking good. Skoze, depending on budget Yahoo auctions could be a good starting place, the Japanese love their crazy wide wheels, and they're often fairly sensible money as you need serious work to make them fit! Otherwise compomotive do ML's in 15x9, with offset's as low as -23, as well as a few 'classic' designs in silly widths, including stratos wheels in 15x12! (www.willtheyfit.com is great for comparing them to your current size.) Also you can get wider than 205's in a 13", but only track day tyres. Khumo do a 235/45, 225/45 and 215/50 are all out there, just not very common or cheap!

Think you'll be making it to Retro Rides Gathering in the beast then? I can try and get you a club-stand spot if you are, as the decent spots are fairly limited if you're not in a club. Also weekend tickets are now sold out, but I may be able to get you one, peoples girlfriend's/wife's/kids often drop out late on, I was offered/heard of a few last year.

Pretty pissed off right now. A boost hose popped off on the way home from work, which wouldn't normally be much of an issue, but when I went to pull over I thought I'd stick 2 wheels on the verge to get out of the way of traffic a bit more, and make it clear to cars approaching from behind that I was indeed stationary. As I pulled in the last little bit, a very loud bang and grinding noise alerted me to the fact that there was no verge, just undergrowth and an 8"+ drop off the side of the road. So rather than needing a screw-driver I needed towing out of the side of the road, gouging the crap out of the inside-sidewall of my front tyre and dragging my floorpan along the road. I'll be investigating to see if it's done any actual damage tomorrow at work, but I'm seriously tempted to get in touch with the council about any repair bills if there are any, it's a major A-road and having a completely hidden massive hole at the side of it's stupidly dangerous, I could have easily pulled over as far as I did to get past a wide vehicle coming the other way, in which case I wouldn't have been doing walking pace and things would have been a whole lot more messy. The drop was clearly the result of them chucking new layers of tarmac on top of the old.

Yep, I do like Pilsdon Pen, awesome place, and some fun roads leading to/from it, just a shame all the hedges are so high so you have to keep the speed down for a lot of it I can't say I noticed a car breakers in view from there, but then there's about 6 different valleys you can see, so I wouldn't really know where to start. I'm pretty close by in Chard, only took about 15 minutes to get out there. (Got any Sciroccos in? Preferably white? )

I took some pictures for once: Really need to paint my wheels sometime, and sort that wonky drivers door and bumper. (Oh, and make an OEM style twin-tip for the exhaust.)

Cheers, t-cut's what I'd usually have used, I just wasn't sure if there was a better solution. Plus my paints pretty thin in places, so I don't want to cut it back too much. That's partly why I want to chuck a hard wax on there, to try and preserve it until I'm in a position to sort the paint out properly. Also, you're Volvo's looking great, the wheels really suit it. I say lower it, but then I would Oh, and Paul, those braces look like exactly the sort of thing manufacturers add as a last minute 'correction' when crash testing shows up less-than-perfect areas. Often on facelift/late model cars, where an aging model's dropping a bit behind the times in terms of crash safety.