Alex wrote:glad its sorted bizzle!
got yours an budds xmas prezzie sat here!
Frying pan is mint - muchos appreciatos maximos.
Anyways time for an update.
So post xmas, i'd noticed a rather wet passenger footwell which is always a rado night mare, potential to be heater matrix (
), perished door seal, sunroof leak, foilage seal etc....? This happened a couple of times during the seriously rainy period we had back in November so unlike most other issues i have i dealt with this straight away. Suspected the foilage seal as this is the classic cause of damp feet so got the bits ordered from VAG as per the rado wiki, cheap as chips for once.
Cheaky mid-fit shot (last shot on the merc rims):
Was dreading this job due to being fiddly but after taking one apart the previous week (breaker no.3) i was well practiced. Old seal and surrounding area was mysteriously dry but plough'd on with the job any way as on removal of the foliage cover I could see why these fail. The old seal was as hard as nails and wouldn't have stood up against the elements much longer. Managed to re-secure some of the windscreen trim after uncovering the slight bodge job the windscreen fitter had down. All in all a job well done even tho it turned out i hadn't solved the wet foot well problem.
Turned out to be a perished passenger door seal, water was running down the door and body near the hinge, the internal metal section of the seal had started to rust away becoming flakey and loosing form. After removing this and surrounding trim it was clear this was the cause of the leak as the back of well was bone dry where as the base was soaked. Stole a replacement door seal from breaker no.3 and after some swearing at the door sill trim it all went back together and no more wet footwell!
December rolled round and so to the bodyshop booking, perfect timing really based on the weather that was round the corner. I fear the snow and subsequent salt would have completely K.O.'d the shell. Thankfully Martin @ MH Auto's in Bletchley worked what i can only describe as miracles with the rear arches using panels we'd cut off breaker no.2 and did an extremely tidy job with the fronts. Now have four new arches freshly rolled with both sides paint matched in. Will get some detailed pics up once we have a nice day, car's clean and i have a decent camera/photographer. But here's a few attempts i took whilst snapping newly fitted colour coded delocked passat handles (had them c/c'd when the car was in).
Old grey handle:
New delocked passat c/c'd effort (notice freshly reformed rear arch):
Couple of late night shots following the first time i washed it after paint:
All in all i couldn't be happier with the bodywork, level of workmanship on the rear arches is seriously impressive, i've spent a fair amount of time eyeing them up trying to spot weld points, panel differences etc and i struggle everytime. Been over it all with a magnet and its all metal too so no nasty filler to worry about in the future. Only problem now is that the fresh paint shows up the old paint, a bit like tattoo's this paint malarky i reckon. Once you have one you'll only end up wanting more so could be going back for some further body mods and blow over front-top and backend - skunk styles.
Father christmas came in the form of a black samco kit, been well over due, cheaper than a full set of replacements and this set came up cheap as chips and without the 6 week wait from Samco themselves.
Fitment wise all was going so well until the test run in which as mentioned one of the heater matrix outlets gave way, i guess we disturbed it on removal and fitting. Better to go then tho a min from home than on the motorway on the way to work. So the inevitable dash out and replace heater matrix happened between Xmas and NYE, not planned by any means but heyhoe was on the cards due to mileage. Dash is now back in solid as a rock (dash bolts were loose as arseholes so no wonder it rattled) and has improved audio and headunit fitment no end. Once it was all done tho, the Samco's in situe were worth the effort, smarten up the bay a treat and don't have to worry about old hoses blowing out when giving it beans.
Jan bought a barrage of snow based abuse and not a lot of love really. Couldn't believe i was actually driving the thing through half of it seeing as it had only just been painted but this is my daily so it had to be done. Still rolling on the merc wheels i knew i was pushing it, i kept putting off replacing the worn BBS pair of tyres and swapping them over. Finally i got a pair of trusty Falkens sent to my bro's work along with two of the BBS. Changed, balanced and piled waiting in the garage ready one saturday morning i headed over to my parents to swap them over only to loose it on the ice rink that was parents road and play pinball with the passenger side curb. A mint set of merc wheels lined up to be sold were reduced to a mint pair and shabby pair due to two large curb scores on. Couldn't believe my luck!
February seemed to be hear before i'd even blinked and consequently I was well over due for a service, so over the last few weeks i've been collecting the bits required. Bulk bought some oil filters vagparts.com as i seem to be buying these far two often singularly and went halfs on 25l of GM Geniune Semi-Synth oil with my bro for a bargainess staff discounted price. I then set about picking up a specific set of HT Leads i'd seen on rado forum members car who came over to collect some bits.
Specially imported from the good-ol-US-of-A, blue gangsta spec for rilla. Tried ordering a set from C&R Enterprises in Nottingham who are the UK importer but such is my luck they are waiting for their shipment which could have been up two a 6 weeks wait. So i decided to go straight to the source - rapidparts.com popped up via google and after exchanging a few emails, Peter @ RP sorted me out, add in some highly recommended NGK Iridium spark plugs and the VR will soon be singing the sweetest tune again.
And finally the 'new rollers'...here's a clue:
Any guesses for those not in the know?
