Scirocco Register

Starting from the left, the inlet manifold bolts were removed, only when I got to the last one on the right did it round off.
I bought a set of caphead bolt removal tools, basically a 1/2” socket with fluted blades inside set to bite the bolt. Having chewed the bolt head because it wouldn’t budge. Grrrrrrr. I took hold of the manifold on the left side, and gingerly lifted it. It moved about a centemetre, so I pushed it back and repeated.
My neighbour joined me just as I was removing the rocker cover. It was the cover that stopped the manifold from being lifted higher. My neighbour hammered an AF Allen key into the bolt to hold it steady while I worked the manifold up and down. We managed to work the bolt out so far but it was heavy going. Using a combination of oil and hard graft eventually we got the manifold off. The bolt was still attached, so we worked it out a little more before we sawed it’s little head off. Using a drift and hammer we removed the badly corroded bolt.
The rubber o ring didn’t look too bad, but the leak was evident enough to start this mad episode in the first place.
TPS genuine parts in Blackburn had the bolts..... or so they informed me. But the two longer bolts had a fine spline head and was threaded the full length. Unlike the smaller bolts which had a 6mm hex head and had a smooth shoulder instead of being threaded all the way. I have a place in mind that will help me source the large bolts. Since I was told by TPS the original longer hex bolts had been made obsolete and replaced by spline bolts. What’s the point in having two different bolt designs... The VW on screen diagrams didn’t help as they had errors in them.

Will order the longer bolts and hopefully I can put this sorry state of affairs behind me.

To be continued.......

Hope you are getting closer to fixing the issue Dave

All back together, I was surprised how easy refitting went. Going to flush out the coolant system; fit new thermostat and chuck in some fresh antifreeze. Recharging the battery at the moment, so fire in the hole will be Sunday..... I hope the gremlins have been banished.

Issue with the new thermostat resolved... the new one had a seal around the main body, this stopped the housing from seating properly. After the 3rd time of trying it all went back together ok. I thought the seal was a revision to the design, but nooooo just the “ o” ring required.
Fired the engine and during warmup the exhaust was frazzling something, there was a lot of smoke. Eventually it died down so got to keep an eye on it. I thought i’d mopped up after removing the intake manifold.

Went for a spin and no running issues to report. However the proof will be if it can run with low fuel ......

Good to hear it’s back together.

Never a good idea to run these cars to low on fuel with old metal fuel tanks as you don’t want to suck up the dreggs from the bottom of the tank, I try and keep my fuel tank above 1/4 tank mark just to be sure.

Hi all,

I’ve been out and about in my skyrocket today burning off fuel; and it seems to be running fine now. I think the issue was a problem with the inlet manifold, a job I wasn’t too keen on tackling. Only because i’m not a mechanic and didn’t want to break anything and risk damage. So a new coolant gallery seal and a new manifold gasket, along with new bolts treated with copper slip seems to have worked wonders. The purpose of this notification is to bring closure to the thread. At least on my account anyway.

Dave, excellent news mate.......

Brilliant news... Glad it's back on the road and you can enjoy it.