The "Today I did something to my car" thread

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I'm changing the VANOS solenoids on mine tomorrow along with replacing 2 of the jack-point blocks. Hope the solenoids are as easy as I think they are ....

Did this today It took me longer to take off the engine cover etc. without breaking clips in order to get at the solenoids than it took to do the job!

Parts off:





You can see the hole where one solenoid came out of, the other was just down and to the left of that.



Old and new:



Both out:



Dead passengers in my air filter housing:



As I had them off, I gave each part a wash with degreaser and then sealed with 303 Aerospace Protectant. It gives an excellent shine aswell as making it very hard for dust to cling:



All back together, cleaned and sealed:



From this job, I can see that there will be a huge amount of work involved when I do the coils and spark plugs but I look forward to it

Did some tidying and prepping for heading to the woods tomorrow.

Discovered that the plastic splash guard under the engine, while pathetic and offering no real protection, did actually serve a purpose. This is what the engine bay looks like after heading out with a few lads over Christmas



After checking oil and topping up the washer fluid, I checked all wheel nuts (1 was ready to depart - other 23 were grand and tight :eek: ) attached the D-shackles to the front, put on the seat covers, checked tyre pressures.

Then set about tidying the under-floor storage in the boot as it had become a right mess



Now much easier to find stuff and have;

Foot pump
2-ton trolley jack (no use for the Shogun but handy to have anyway)
Bottle-jack
Cross brace
Torque-wrench (don't know why, but it fit neatly so I left it)
3-ton recovery strap
Light tow-rope
Spare rated shackles
First-aid kit
HD Jump leads
Light ratchets and straps
5L spare washer fluid
Spare fan & air-con belts
Spare sump-plug & washer
Spare oil filter

Also have enough room on top of the recovery strap to fit a spare 5L can of oil :cool:

Have screwdrivers & spare bulbs in a side pocket, and high-viz jacket and work gloves in the boot door pocket.

Think that'll do for now

Better safe than sorry

Plus its space that doesn't really get used so it's not impacting on the normal load area.

JJJJNR wrote: »

Added two layers of sound deadening to my boot and seems to have done a good job at blocking road noise from there,

Pics and what did you use?

i dont know, its too late, or maybe not, got set of wheels with not bad winter tires for 70 quid.

here in adverts

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

Snow on the way in the next few days apparently. So you never know, this is Ireland after all.

So he'll get good use out of them in July so!

Not toda, but Yesterday what I did to the Toledo.

SOLD IT :pac:

Now on the hunt for a replacement
Top of the list is either a Mk1 Octavia vRS or a 318ci..

Limerick man wrote: »

I would imagine you would get a lot better value in an Octavia.

I would as well but there is really nothing out there at the moment. I missed one in Tipperary last week.