Thanks Mark. Have sprayed some WD40 into the offending cylinder in the hope of freeing up the clearance ring, if that's the prob, and will leave it a couple of days, suck up the excess and see if it's had an effect. Then it'll most probably be back in to have the head off to investigate!

Well finally everything is in and running but we have a severe smoke problem! The spark plug in cylinder 3 is oiling up. I'm the middle man between the guy I bought the bottom end from who suggests a faulty head gasket or a dodgy valve guide (they were fine before but the valves have since been ...

Makes sense. Thanks dude; I'll let you know how it all goes..

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Okay so we're going to pop out a piston and have a look, to see if we could get away with just a new set of rings, but it's looking likely I'm going to have to go with the 9a/KR head combo, as the cheapest option. If I had mine bored out we're looking at loadsa ...

Been offered a complete 9a for £300. I'd rather it was just the block but hey ho. If I went 2L would my existing exhaust be ok? It's got a fourbranch (mk1 16v conversion) going into a custom built stainless system, which is, I think 1 and 3/4'' diameter. I'm def not going to be swapping that over as ...

Cool cool. Thanks guys. I'll forward the info on to the guy who's going to do the work. Just depends on what I can get hold of really I guess..

Thanks mate. Yes that's what I was thinking; 9a rather than an ABF for that very reason. My worries are how everything connects.

Hi all! Well my poor car (GTX with 16v conversion, including Scirocco 16v inlet manifold) chugged to a death just before Christmas. Oiled up plugs and plenty of oil everywhere made me think blown head gasket. Towed it to a garage (a local VW lover but more into T25s etc.) Did a compression test ...

Thanks for that, I'll have another look tomorrow. Didn't notice any rust spots but maybe now I'm looking for them..

Hi everyone! Had rain water in the boot for some time now, always starting with a puddle under the n/s speaker shelf on the ledge next to wheel arch. Turns out it is running down inside the C pillar from the sunroof. But when tested by pouring water into the sunroof drainage channel, LOADS of water ...

That's kinda what I was thinking. These cars, including mk2 Golf GTIs, are now generally beyond scrapyard age and we only have one yard on the isle of Wight anyway!

Thought that might be the case! Oh well, might just have to patch it up best I can for now! Cheers, Carl

Hi everyone. I need to replace the bolster sections of material on my driver's seat. Does any one know where I can get replacement material? The car's a Jade green GTX, and the interior's otherwise in excellent condition. Cheers, Carl

Thanks for the info everyone. I have an 065 battery so no probs there. The car was an 86 "D" GTX until 4 years ago. Not sure what constitutes a 16v wiring loom exactly; we (the royal we!) did fit a 16v ignition module at the time, but kept the 8v warm-up system (eg aux air valve) What the heck- if a ...

Well, could it not have been simply that the old one was getting worn out? Other reasonable questions would be: can my existing wiring cope with the upgrade, and does it physically fit? Surely always best to check before wasting time and money!