JoeyEunos

Think I might well give this a go, the tractor-esque vibrations at tick over are starting to grate slightly Now to find someone locally who has access to VAG-COM .... @Skezza, how many miles have you been running for with the lower base idle setting now, and how do you find it effects cold morning starting/running? Also, have you reached the magic 200k mile threshold yet?

^Just stumbled across this vintage thread, having recently (After much research!) topped mine up with original VW G50 oil reading that makes me feel warm inside

I completely get that, none the less, I used to have a set of ramps years ago and somehow I always did feel much more comfortable being under a car supported by them as opposed to stands, placebo? Definitely, but it's important to feel good, right? It's also less about that TBH and more about the convenience of being able to simply drive on/off without grovelling under the car placing jacks/stands about for quicker jobs or for instances where I'd just like to have a swift shufty underneath. Also having to touch in several layers of underseal in areas that I'd missed because they were covered or obscured by jack stands would be a pain too. I should have explained/worded this slightly better in my original post P.S: Do you have any suggestions RE suitable ramps?

As per the title really I'm planning to rust proof and underseal my Lupo in the forthcoming weeks whilst the weather's good, and despite having adequate jacks and stands, it's a task that is likely to involve me being under the car for hours on end it struck me that it would be much nicer/safer to have the car on ramps.... My question is simple, do any of you use ramps and are you using extensions? If you are using ramps, which ones and where did you get them from (Links would be useful)? FWIW my car is standard ride height. At the moment I'm looking at these https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/car-ramps-cr2/ but it's difficult to decipher if my bumper will clear them (Hence the thread) As always, thanks in advance for any thoughts/musings/suggestions!

Thanks To be honest it strikes me that having bought an SDi on the basis of the potential longevity of the simple diesel engine, letting a failing a failing shell end play would defeat the object! Pretty easy to nip these little niggles in the bud in the early stages, but if left to their own devices they could have caused a big headache a few years down the line. In other positive news I've recorded my first 70MPG+ tank of fuel 22l of fuel (I measure milage from a brimmed tank to the quarter tank marker), 347 miles travelled= 71.7MPG!!!! To be fair I've been recording MPG since I bought the car and have never had less than 65MPG out of her, but 70+ has proved elusive (Until now) despite running at least 8 tanks full so far.

Thanks chap, I'll give that a go next time I'm lifting.

Thanks for the kind words @Skezza When you say jack on the wishbones, do you mean on the actual wishbone itself or on the subframe where the wishbones join? I'd be interested in a pic of the exact location you're putting your jack as TBH I'm using the sill rail at the moment, albeit in the correct places Meanwhile, I've given the beater a going over with Autoglym super resin polish and sealed the job in with some 'Naty's Blue' paste wax, looking much better for it IMO... In other news I've also been lucky enough to meet forum legend @Rich Firstly it's important to say that Rich is a top bloke and very knowledgeable to boot, and as luck would have it he has a unit that's literally no more than two miles from my place! Having spent a long time worrying about my pedal box and a slightly odd feeling clutch he was kind enugh to give the car a once over... After all of my internal mithering it was a bit of a relief to have someone who knows their way around Lupos have a look, it turns out my concerns were unfounded, all is well it seems Thanks fella, I owe you one!

It will look much smarter, for now... Unfortunately the rust will come back for sure as you haven't treated it by the sounds of things Just sanding it back an covering with a layer of bodge is a 6 month -1 year fix at best IME.

That may well be the case RE the clutch being different, but irrespective of clutch type they all use the same badly designed pedal box and as such are just as liable to suffer, no? Edit to say I've had a look round the forum and it does seem fairly difficult to find any TDi 'pedal box failure' based threads... I suppose that's a good reason to opt for the TDi rather than the SDi variants, although I take comfort in the fact that I'm never going to have to deal with replacing turbo or intercooler components on my lowly SDi

I wasn't aware that the TDi models ran the same box as the SDi?

Just a poor VW design rather than the head gasket chap, pretty much all of the Mk4 1.4 lumps do it... Mine went on for three years without any issues (Other than having to clean it) and without any coolant loss or oil/coolant mixing.

^ Gosh, £20 for each handle At that price I'd be opting for universal fitment jobbies, metal or otherwise!

When I had my 1.4 Golf I was forever having to take of the crankcase breather and clean it/remove mayo Please don't tell me this is is now going to be a necessary on my SDI too

Another day, another dose of preventative maintenance My Lupo (Like many others I'd imagine) had been jacked up incorrectly at some stage and as a result various areas of the sill rails were somewhat bent, that's something I can live with but the possibility of tin worm was something that caused me some concern! The rails were bent back using a set of mole grips and some brute force, the paint was scraped back... Bingo! Exactly as I suspected, some areas of corrosion lurking... Left unabated this would 100% have worked it's way into the sill itself. Next step, the rust was ground back using a selection of wire wheels and a cheap rotary tool... A couple of coats of Hydrate80 were applied... And within 30 minutes the magic had taken place (Note the black colour change/reaction only occurs where corrosion was present) A couple of coats of etch primer were applied (Picture showing passenger side this time) And several coats of Halfrauds Flash Red later, job jobbed Again, I'm really pleased to have got this task out of the way. It may not be glamorous work but this repair should last for many years. I bought the Lupo on the basis of the longevity and reliability of the SDI engine, to allow stuctural body work to bring play to an end would defeat the object

No worries at all fella, and FWIW they're clearly worth more than £40 I think for me the courier/tyre combo makes it unviable really, but for someone local who's after a set of winter wheels with style these would be just the ticket.

^ All of the above points are true, and I genuinely didn't intend to cause any ill feeling on the subject! All the points you make are true, but from a personal perspective, A. I only need four wheels, a spare is just that, a spare. I've got a spacesaver and if needed I'll use it. B. The tyres are snow tyres, and budget ones at that. It's nearly June, I'd end up having to put new tyres on these and that would be unnavoidable, probably to the tune of £130 for tyres and another £40 for fitting/balancing ergo total bill of £170 for tyres alone. C. The wheels need paint, whether that be primer/base coat/lacquer or even going down the Hammerite route, that's a £30+ job at least, even for DIY, meaning a minimum £200 total spend and the investment of some time and energy to bring them up to scratch, and that's before even paying for the wheels. Given the above it really translates to (For me at least) a fairly large spend. The last thing I want to do is get into a bun fight over this, I'm sure these represent a great buy to the right person, but for all the reasons I've mentioned that person isn't me As I said, GLWS, I'm sure that to someone these will be just the job.

^ I think I've actually spotted your Ebay add for these FWIW £150 starting bid is a little too strong for my money given the condition/budget winter tyres, GLWS none the less.

RE cost to replace the cables etc I've no idea. The quote of £1000 sounds to me like the garage you've taken it to effectively didn't want to to the job and have tactically priced themselves out of it IMO.

Yowza, they are slightly rough, that rust looks pretty deep around the rim too It also looks like those are budget snow tyres..? I like a challenge but price wise these would have to be cheap, IIRC they were £40 a wheel new? Similar aftermarket versions can be bought for less than that with free shipping too...https://www.vwheritage.com/shop/mk2-golf/1H0601025P/steel-14x6-g60-lookalike-wheel-et45-4x100-10-hole/?crumbStartPage=1&crumbStartRow=1 Let me know what kind of a price you're after for them, I may well take these if they're for sale and the price is right, although I'd have to send a courier down to collect them which again increases cost a bit at my side.

@rrdoctoruk, couln't help but wonder after seeing your post RE potential wheels for sale, are you breaking your entire car? If so do you mind me asking why?

^ I'd like to believe that TBH the Lupo saves me nearly £100 per month when copmpared with my Golf and the costs of running that so even if peddlebox or gearbox issues do arise the savings made on fuel should offset the cost of getting those bits sorted (Man maths at work) and still result in a saving in the longer term. IMO this car was right on the edge with small bits of rust starting in the odd place etc, left to it's own devices I recon it would have been pretty much scrap within two or three years. I see no reason why it shouldn't last for another ten years of service given the care it needs though... Looking after elderly cars like this and giving them the love they deserve makes me feel warm inside

RE price, let me be the first to offer you a packet of quavers and a 1999 copy of Max Power magazine for them In all seriousness, it really depends a lot on condition... What tyres are on them and are they a matching set? Tread depth on tyres? You say they could do with re-painting, just how bad are they and do they include the G60 hub caps etc... Pics and a rough idea of what you'd like for them would help immensley! FWIW Mr @rrdoctoruk, I'm actually after a set of these.... Give me a nudge when you know what's what

Cheeky question, have you been running these on a Lupo and if so do they rub at all?

Today I had mail... Yup, got myself an Ebay bargain in the form of some genuine VW mudflaps, looking lovely after a quick wipe over with some Autoglym bumper and trim gel The torque bits came out and I got cracking, mid way through I discovered this small agrecultural phenomenon stored with my fron arch/sill area That's is from just one side, the passenger side was much the same. For anyone who hasn't delved into their inner arches yet, get out and pop those arch liners as soon as possible! Left un-dealt with this would have turned into a mojor rust trap for sure! After about half an hours groveling about on the floor all four were fitted. Looking much better IMO I recon some nice steel wheels, perhaps the original ones painted silver or if not some G60 types and she'll be done in terms of exterior mods, subtley is the key and and OEM+ look is what I'm hoping for. The car's an out and out workhorse but that shouldn't stop it from looking smart right? Reflecting on it today it struck me how much I've done with this little car, so far in the space of just over a fortnight I've... * Replaced both wing mirrors with working examples sourced from a local breaker. * Fitted a new inicator stalk to stop the incessant clicking in the cabin (This allowed me to get the car at a knock down price!) * Treated rust and re-sprayed aread of the roof and rear sill/quarter panel. * Changed Fuel filte, air filter, oil filter and oil. * Researched vintage VW spec gear oils and topped up my as of this moment still functioning gearbox. * Had a Hunter four wheel alignment and fitted two new Vredestein tyres. I've pretty much decided at this stage that she's a keeper and I've really bonded with her. I'll continue t look for rough edges to knock off in the meantime, but I feel like I'm winning, for now at least!

^ 100% agree with you Sir And yes, a pruge is very much on the 'to do' list.