Two questions......

Karl_CLCoupe · Post by **Karl_CLCoupe** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:33 am

The G Man wrote:...Would like to (at some stage) get a set of alloys but changing wheel sizes is new to me. Mine are 13" so could I get away with 14" alloys? At the moment though the trims are okay...

...Also, d'ya think I should lose the stripe from down either side? If so, what's the easiest way to get it off without taking the paintwork with it?

Now I'm not too sure that 14s can be done on a squareback, purely because of the rear arches. It may require some kind of rear arch work. Best speaking to Gareth_GT_Hatch, hes got a Mark3 S/B on 14s.

As for the stripe. A good suggestion for removing anything with adhesive is a hair drier. It certainly helps when removing badges that are stuck on. You never know it may just come off without any problems.

HTH.

Karl.

Gareth_GT_Hatch · Post by **Gareth_GT_Hatch** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:48 am

Yeah Ive had a few sets of 14s on the various squarebacks Ive owned over the years. I had a set of montreal alloys on my black GT (now belongs to steve_o off porka;

These looked pretty good once I painted the centres black to semi-mimic GT wheel trims.

But they scrubbed at the back over bumps and/or when I had more than 1 passenger in.

This was because of the wheel offset; ET38. Now ET38 is a standard VW offset and is the offset of polo coupe's and saloons but if you look at the wheels on your mk2 squareback you should find that the offset is ET45. This is the key. If you can find 6x14s with an offset of ET45 youve cracked it - the ones on my light blue GT in my sig are that offset and Ive never had any probs. They originally came off a mk3 golf and for a while I had the golf tyres on! (185/60/14s) which are huge and I still didnt get anything like the scrubbage I got with the montreals.

Both the GT's in my sig came with standard alloys that are ET45 as well so anyone with a mk3 squareback can use these wheels without worrying about accelerating wear on their wheelbearings. VW obviously thought it was ok.

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:38 pm

I've never been sure what that block does, but I do know that my car is -always- cutting out when it's cold so I might just give the trick of joining the pipes together a go...

I tried to get my hands on that 4 light grille for you this afternoon, but I'm afraid my scrappy's having a clearout and has got rid of both mk2 polos

(As well as the scirocco and mk1 golf that I was planning to strip a load of parts from

There go my plans of coupe-s mouldings, scirrocco seats, gti brakes..). If he gets another mk2 in with a quad light grille, I'll let you know and nab it before it goes

As karl said, the best way to remove things like the stripe is a hairdrier, a fingernail and a bit of patience. Use meths/white spirit to get the glue off afterwards. Most of the time I'd say leave quirky little original bits like that, but I think in this case it's really got to go

The white bumper piping is pretty cool though, was that original or did you fit that?

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:39 pm

shoulda put a deposit down - Â£1.37 out of your back pocket and a packet of Ice White...

spacers just reduce the ET, right? so you could have the same wheels front & back but have the rears on "raw" and the fronts on with 7mm spacing?

Gareth_GT_Hatch · Post by **Gareth_GT_Hatch** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 10:51 pm

Tahrey1043 wrote:shoulda put a deposit down - Â£1.37 out of your back pocket and a packet of Ice White...

spacers just reduce the ET, right? so you could have the same wheels front & back but have the rears on "raw" and the fronts on with 7mm spacing?

Aye thats right. Fill the arches slightly better as well that would. (and also help clear the brake calipers if the wheels had a deep dish.)

The G Man · Post by **The G Man** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:48 pm

The white bumper piping was on the car when I got it. Any ideas on the best way to clean it as it's quite dirty in places? Have tried giving it a good wash and using back to black but this seems to just grind the dirt in even further.

Popped to the scrappy today too - there was a Mk2 polo there that I saw last week when I was looking for a 4 lamp grille. The grille was somewhat knackered. Anyway, went back and salvaged the plastic bit that houses the switches on the dashboard - mine was cracked here and there and my headlight switch kept pushing through. Also got the two connecting wires that go between the main lights and the spots so that when I do get a grille it will connect up easily. Also, got a vacuum unit and air temperature sensor - it details in my Haynes manual how to test the vacuum unit so I'm gonna test mine and replace if necessary.

Also nabbed the bonnet which is in near-enough perfect condition. Mine has a bump in the middle where my brother dropped a step ladder on it!

Put a bit of T-Cut on it and it's almost like new - will swap that at the weekend and see how it looks.

Regarding the grille - will a Mk2 Golf grille fit? I can get one of those but don't want to buy it incase it is different. Can anyone tell me if they are the same fitting or not?

Thanks

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:59 pm

Only a mk2 polo grille will fit, golf grilles are a different size, shape and fitment I'm afraid..

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 9:02 pm

Oh yes, depending on what kind of dirt it is, either meths (but wash off before it melts the plastic..) or t-cut should shift the stuff off your bumper piping.

If you find replacing the vacuum unit makes a difference to the cutting out problem, let me know

Mine's running ok at the moment, but only because I increased the slow idle from about 850rpm to just over 1,000.

The G Man · Post by **The G Man** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:46 am

Thanks Groovy... I read your earlier reply after I'd made my posting and you did specify that only Mk2 Polo grilles will fit - sorry about that. I just saw one on ebay for only Â£5 with about a day left for a Mk2 Golf (0 bids) and thought I might get away with that!

I'm gonna pop down to another scrappy after work today to see if they've got any.

Got another job to add to my growing list of things to do this weekend - a pre winter check. It's starting to get colder now and apparently we are gonna have a bad winter so I'm getting prepared early. Need to change anitfreeze for a start. Already had a leak on my radiator which I luckily fixed with radweld so don't want to take any chances.

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:24 pm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 98331&rd=1

Might just interest you

bstardchild · Post by **bstardchild** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:47 pm

GroovyCarrot wrote:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 98331&rd=1

Might just interest you

Nice start price

Well spoted BTW

bstardchild · Post by **bstardchild** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:39 pm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 39318&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 80848&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 81963&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 06676&rd=1

Might interest you Groovy

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:56 pm

wish i'd seen the second (third?) link, the hockies, before i got the new tyres on. then again whose to say the tyres arent naff on there

the first link is puzzling - budget tyres but in a distinctly non-budget size (so far as polos go) ?? previous owner must have been running decent rubber, then when it went second hand the guy who wrote it off replaced them "blind"...
rims could do with a scrub too

final link looks like a winner, but the price may well rocket, and anyway..

they're all different sizes!

(didnt a guy on here recently say firestones were the worst ever? though i cant see it making so much of a problem when you're putting 175s on a mk2 hatch! only concerning thing is that the tread pattern is identical to my arrowspeeds - perhaps arrows are naff because they're firestone's factory seconds, like BF Goodrich are to Michelin?)

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:42 pm

Cheers for those

I'd already seen the hockenheims, I'm quite tempted really, just waiting to hear back from the seller about the type and condition of the tyres, hopefully with a couple of photos.
Could be tempted by the steelies as well, although I'd quite like to get away from value tyres if I can as I'm beginning to realise quite how much of a difference the tyres make. Mind you, at least they're 165's, that in itself would be a step up from my 145's I guess..

I think they'll all be going on my ebay watch list

k4lps · Post by **k4lps** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:10 pm

The G Man wrote:Hi Guys......

Must admit - not got a lot in the pipework at the moment. Am a little stuck for ideas - that 'n lack of cash. Would like to (at some stage) get a set of alloys but changing wheel sizes is new to me. Mine are 13" so could I get away with 14" alloys? At the moment though the trims are okay.

Have just purchased a set of clear side indicators for Mk2 off ebay. Hope they fit. They'll match my clear front indicators.

I keep looking on ebay for any little add-ons that I can buy but honestly their's not a lot for Mk2 Polo's on there.

Anyone got any suggestions that I can do on a low budget? Also, d'ya think I should lose the stripe from down either side? If so, what's the easiest way to get it off without taking the paintwork with it?

One final thing before I sign off for now - been trying to find out why my Polo is hard to start from cold. I know it's probably to be expected with the age of the car but it's had new spark plugs, leads, rotor arm, distributor cap, electronic distributor, air filter, carb. cleaned, new piston rings and cam belt - even a new battery. Anyway, inside the air filter housing there is a small rectangular block that has two pipes leading to it from the underside (One pipe runs into the carb) Am I right in saying this is the air temperature sensor? Original one was definately knackered - I know this as when I bought the car the two pipes had been pulled off and joined together! When I re-joined them to this block the car kept cutting out whilst engine was warming up. Anyway, I replaced it with one from the scrappy which cured the cutting out during warm up (so I assume it's okay) Anybody know what it does exactly and how I can test it to see if it's in full working order? I would buy a new one but can't seem to find them anywhere on the internet.

Thanks.

the crappy cold start and cutting in out in cold wether is normal its jus carb iceing the fuel turning into ice when it goes down the carb..you can ajust the idel so it idles higher then it should that will stop it cuttin out at traffic lights some where down the line you should look into investing in a webbber carb with that you can modd the adapter plate to make the hole biggerso you get a little extrea power also heard it sovled the carb iceing issue for some ppl

GroovyCarrot have you still got the scanned images of your dials???
could you post them up so i can nick it off you??