Tubbs

Bought July 2008

1997 R Plate
2.8 VR6
115k miles, full service history
Mystic Blue
Climatronic Climate Control
A Whole Dogs Worth of Dog Hair
16" BBS Alloys (Need a refurb)

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Planned mods:
Coilovers - done
Mk4 style Mk3 lights
Crystal smoked indicators and fogs
Crystal smoked rears
Debadged grill
16" or 17" rims but not sure what ones yet
Techtonics exhaust
Schimmel 263s
Custom re-map
Replacement beasting ariel
Front and rear number plates
Treatment for faded rear spoiler
Replacement centre console (a bracket of some sort is screwed on the side of the current one)
Replace tatty stearing wheel - done
Replace gearstick gaiter and gearknob
Chrome bezels for instument cluster
TT Pedals
Red leather interior
Audio system
Illumination change from green to red


September 2008

The Friday before Edition 38, Gav and Nik dropped a couple of bits and bobs off chez nous, and as the special super cheap coilies had arrived we (well, I say we, it was more Gav) decided to surprise Mrs B and fit them whilst she was at work.

The man hard at work
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Well, when I picked Mrs B up from work, she didn't even notice it was a LOT lower, well not until we pulled away and she noticed the slightly harder ride

Anyway, didn't get any pics straight after fitting the coilies, or indeed at ED38, so spent today washing Tubbs ready for pics and fitting the front and rear speakers that were in the 306. I didn't realise the covers came of the rear quarter speakers until I'd completely removed the trim panel. What a d1ck It was a right royal pain in the bum to get out too. Anyhoo, speakers are loads betterererer, Mrs B just needs to save up for the Hertz kit that she heard at the 'Four' stand at Edition

After a good clean today! I did it yet again
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Gave the old girl a service this weekend. Oil change is by far the easiest I've ever done, loads easier than the valvers I'm used to.

Couldn't get the HT leads off the spark plugs though, using the poxy plastic tool that came with the car. Managed to get just one off, the spark plug that is in there are some single electrode champion ones, totally different to the proper platinum NGK replacements I've bought (by Christ, they aren't cheap are they ). So borrowing a metal removal tool off Gav this week, so will get them done ASAP. Hoping that they should improve the smoothness of the engine.

Still need to get the chains and tensioner done, as it is quite rattly Thinking I might delay that until after the wedding though.

Gav and Nikki have kindly supplied me with mk4 tenisonor pad, mk4 upper pad and tensionor bolt, just need to see whether its a simplex or duplex chain and get the bottom plastic guides and a clutch and I'll crack on with fitting them

you have been busy! whats it like driving a VR6 golf?

I actually quite like it I love the power delivery of the VR, it's so lazy, and the MPG is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. I must say that the handling isn't anywhere near as bad a lot of people make out, more more feedback than you get from the mk4, I reckon.

Just need to persuade Mrs B that it needs a supercharger now

Got a few jobs to do on the Golf this weekend. Got the front O/S ABS wiring loom to replace. Hopefully that will sort teh ABS fault, otherwise I think I've got a new sensor for that side as well anyway. Need to sort the Airbag fault. It's got an 'ignitor fault'. Not sure if that is associated with swapping the steering wheel over a while back. It's been like it for ages. Could it just be a poop connection under the steering column?

MOT next week....not feeling hopefull

Stuff I did yesterday...

New complete O/S ABS Loom. 30 odd quid from the Stealers.
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Knackered old one. The plug came off the end as I tried feeding it through the hole below. Didn't take much for it to fly off...definately the cause of one problem**
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Mmmmm wiring loomage. I stripped back the tape so I could get the old wiring out (almost completely). I cut the old wire just were the outer insulation starts and soldered the new one on (didn't take a picture of that )
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I then reinsulated it all back up with some self amalgamating tape and 'hey presto' it's still broken

**The reason I say one problem is that it's still showing a fault. So as my Dad said to me once; "it's never just one thing wrong". - Dodgy sensor and/or corroded ABS ring. I'll hopefully sort that later today.

Replaced the sensor today. The old one came out rally easily, and who ever was in there before had used copper slip on the hex bolt! Made my job a whole lot easier. What a pain in the bum getting the new sensor in. It was a Febi one, and was too big, so had to apply some liberal use of sandpaper to 'adjust' the size!

Needless to say, ABS light is out...woohoo! Just noticed a slight blow on the exhaust though and it's MOT time tomorrow....not feeling hopeful....

hopefully it won't confuse the lambda too much and it will sneak thru..fingers x'd.
Is it b4 the cat or after?

I'm pretty sure it's around the suitcase silencer....hope it passes...

Good luck dude....

Can you patch it up?

Dunno, didn't have a proper look really. It's not that bad, and it's been doing it for a while

Well, Tubbs passed her MOT! Very shocked. Only two advisories, and neither of them are what I was expecting

1) N/S front ARB linkage - slight play in ball joint
2) O/S front suspension arm front bush deteriorated, but not resulting in excessive movement

Totally shocked. Gonna do the rear wheel bearing at the weekend anyway, but gonna stick with the discs that are on there. Damage limitation until after the wedding

That would be why I didn't get a text today then! Well done matey!

sonicriot13 wrote:That would be why I didn't get a text today then! Laughing Well done matey!

Indeed! I was shocked to be fair. Thanks for the offer though, I may well be in touch after the wedding as there is a few jobs I need to do to Tubbs anyway...but they can wait

So, I'm gonna do the rear wheel bearing on Sunday, so can anyone advise me on tools I need and any particular advice. How do I get the inner race off the stub axle, and how do I get the outer race out of the disc??

The one on the stub axle often pulls off if the axle was greased properly before it was fitted, otherwise take a little nick out of it with a grinder or dremmel so you can drive a screwdriver or chisel between it and the stub axle. Be very very careful though as the races splinter and sharp shards of metal come off.

My dad stapled the neighbours eyeball to his skull with a bit of bearing once....

Will I be able to knock the old outer race out? I guess there will be a lip to get purchase on to?

What about greasing the parts? Is it possible to over grease them? I've seen rear bearings 'hydraulic' themselves and then free up half way down the road.

13mm and 15mm open ended spanner to remove casliper
Hex head socket for the carrier ( dont use an allen key as theyre more often than not a **** to get off. liberal use of rust off advised) Give it a good wack with a mallet to seat it properly
Cup of tea
Cable ties or bit of string to tie the caliper up and out of the way
Mallet and cold chisel to remove old bearing from disc (or socket and mallet)
Small bit of wood for when you tap new bearing back in (unless your using a press)
Cup of tea

Congrats on the mot

Cool, cheers dude!

Is the 'Cup of tea' an optional step, or is it necessary?

necessity

peanut wrote:necessity

Thought as much

Ok, so I've got the wheel off and the end cap, castellated thingy and split pin, to find the nut wasn't even finger tight? I thought they were supposed to be done up enough so that there was a little bit of friction there?? Could that be why the bugger is noisy??

Leaving the carrier bolts to soak at the min....tight as a badgers crotch

Right, so I'm still unconvinced of which bearing is making the noise. When I corner left it gets louder, which would suggest its one of the O/S bearings, which is the other side to the one I thought it was. Gonna leave it to get worse, to try and determine the source....

Should be tighter than that... You should just be able to move the washer underneath with light pressure from a screwdriver....

Well, it looks like one of the rear shock absorbers might be fubared. I think that cheap kit is cheap. I've emailed the supplier to find out what can be done.

Also the clutch is on it's way out and the chains need doing, so going to be busy in the run up to Christmas.