Well, I tightened it up again this evening to 30Nm which to be honest feels ample tight enough. In fact, if anything, slightly more than I would naturally tighten a nut that size. I was only using a 3/8” socket and torque wrench. I guess I could use beefier kit, but it’s only quite a small, thin nut.

Does anyone have a definitive answer as to how tight to do the nut that holds the steering wheel on the column? Yes, I know ideally one will want to avoid that nut coming loose. However, normally it is possible to find an online consensus on the matter of torque wrench settings for common fastenings...

So much for doing this job last year. I actually just did it today! I combined it with replacing my late model large spline steering wheel with an earlier small spline wheel too. The tips above were very useful. Thanks all. Although, re-reading this now, I wish I’d double checked there was no protec...

The recent MOT on my 1991 GT2 had an advisory on the rear silencer being rusty. And I think an advisory was fairly generous as the outer layer of metal is now coming loose. I know the correct part number is 533 253 609 AL. However, this seems to be unobtainable and no longer available. I decided to ...

Due to health problems I ended up leaving my carburettor Mk2 parked up in a garage for about a year. The carburettor and fuel line completely dried out and despite considerable cranking it was not possible to get it to prime (from the full fuel tank) using just the mechanical fuel pump. People used ...

If the Weber carburettor was properly installed and set up then it should be fine. However, I hated the one that came on mine and replaced it with a DIY refurbished Pierburg 2e2 as part of my project to restore a slightly messed with car to original spec. If you find that your car is losing power or...

Good approach. The Pierburg is excellent when it is working well and by restoring the original you will hopefully avoid all the issues often experienced by people who choose to go the Weber conversion route. My own situation was slightly different in that a previous owner had already done a Weber co...

The part number for the fuel sender is 533919051 but there were some being sold a couple of years ago under part number 171919051N. The sort for earlier cars without the feed and return pipes (i.e. just the tank float) is quite readily available as part 171919051L. Had I not been able to get hold of...

I have not had to grapple with the hard lines on the Scirocco yet but I did encounter this issue recently on a Volvo. It seems there are three types of flare: single, double/SAE and bubble/DIN/ISO. Single is rarely used on cars, double/SAE is common on American and Asian cars and DIN/ISO is pretty m...

Thank you for all these really useful tips. I am aiming to do the job next month when I tax the car and get it out of winter storage. I’ll update with how it goes. I’ve bought the LCD screen from Brickwerks. Mine is just the clock, not an MFA.

I’m planning in a few weeks’ time to replace the bleeding LCD clock display in my Mk2 GTII. I’ve got the Haynes manual and have read this article but I was after any practical tips from anyone who has removed their cluster recently. https://forum.sciroccoregister.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=17624...

When I did mine a few years ago I bought the correct ring nut tool. The one I got was a Bilstein MS 08/6. This not only made it easy to open the originals but it also meant I could torque the replacements accurately. Be careful using a lot of heat on shock absorbers. They are full of oil. You might ...

Not that I have actually got around to changing it yet, but I bought Amsoil Multi-Vehicle Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid for my Mk2 Scirocco. It claims to be DEXRON III and DEXRON II compatible and also lists the VW specifications. I think G 052 162 is the relevant one. I’ve used it before o...

I have found it very hard to find definitive information on the subject of car batteries. Manufacturers seem to obfuscate, especially in Europe and the UK. I have found better information from South African, Australian and North American websites but standards vary across the world. For example, the...

If it’s an S5 005 battery then that is a Silver-Calcium battery and the alternator is probably not putting out a high enough voltage to charge it properly. That means it will be perpetually running in a semi-discharged state and will sulphate quickly drastically reducing its useful life. Modern tech...