mk2

Yeah, the trifecta of you, @danno or @mscherryviolet always amused. I think you've calmed down a bit now @Rich. Even Ray allows all your posts these days... You need to meet a guy I know that is also a 6N2 wizard (he's also an MOT inspector/examiner). He has a rare 1.4 AMF and has properly GTi'd it. Very nice...

Clock spring swap is really easy. Obvious once the steering wheel is off. See pics in the indicator and wiper switch how-to. if you drove it home and the rear wheels turn ok, i know exactly what the problem is- The handbrake levers on the rear brake shoes each side sieze. The shoes will still be fine, and so are the drums I'd guess. A no cost fix. You need to takes the shoes off and clean them. Then you'll see a rivet which is used as a pivot for the handbrake lever- part of the shoe. Work it loose with some penetrating fluid until it is loose enough to flop about. Then clean again using some degreasing stuff and put a tiny drop of oil on that rivet/lever pivot. You'll have perfect brakes forever. I actually do it for brand new brake shoes. I suggest everyone cleans out the inlet plenum and ram tubes. There's another how-to... And block off EGR and divert the blow by gasses. The engine will run much cleaner. Also when you change the oil next, use CF4 grade oil (high detergent), as it keeps your diesel engine running way cleaner. I use 5W40 mannol extreme. Service the gearbox- change the oil after a run - drain it straight after stopping to flush any particles out. Or you can be dangerous and do it with the wheels turning (you get everything out then!). 3L of synth 75W90 GL4/5. Yeah, the alternator... i tried the brushes, but if you can measure any current coming out of the battery with the engine off (through the alternator cable connection), the one or more of the diodes inside has failed. That is what happened to me. I had to change it. Horrible, awful job. (They last about 200k km) I'm very impressed with your English for a Belgian. Better than mine! 👍🏻😎

Airbag issues are most commonly the little yellow plug on the back of the steering wheel or the clockspring unit (=the spiral wire assembly). You can also trick the airbag control module by placing a resistor across the two wires that lead to the airbag (and leave it disconnected!). I can't remember the value of the resistor, but I think it was 22ohms (I might be wrong- and VCDS will tell you if too high or too low again). It might be the airbag, but unlikely. Locked up (stuck?) drums are a pain to release. If you take the wheel off, you might be able to get to the auto adjuster pin thing to back them off. @Rich What do you think? There might be nothing wrong- just rust making the shoes stick to the drums. But you'll need new drums and shoes. And bleed the brakes when you've finished... Not a big job. And not expensive either. The alternator is probably the most difficult job on an SDI! It is easier to take the engine out... You have to remove it through the hole in the front, after releasing it. And releasing it is also tricky. You can see bolt details on the cambelt change how-to pics. The official way to get it out, it is to dismantle and remove the whole front of the car. If the rest of the car is good, I would keep it. Things like alternators, brakes and bearings are common things.

Oh bloodyhell noooo! I had a similar thing happen to me and one of my mk2s.... Not as bad as that though. Burned the rear seats. Cavity wax generally burns like kerosene, so I now always expect an ignition somewhere when welding waxed bits. I bet your heart sank when you sat back, staring and swearing. But not as bad as that team that set fire to the WW2 bomber they'd just rebuilt in the remote wilderness (in greenland?), and were about to fly out having just refuelled it. But OMG, that's going to be a pain to repair. Whole dash out I'd say. But one consolation, at least it is less effort than bodywork. And it's really a case of swapsies, which is relatively straight forward. I think it's also happened to @Rich and @danno in the past. Welcome to the set-fire-to-your-car club!

Yeah, I need to take a pic of one of the screws I managed to remove that holds in that shield. I needed a long cold beer after I finally removed it without damaging anything. Difficult behind the shock on the right side. Not completely convinced about if it's good to have those shields or not. I've seen 'rosas with perfect looking wheel arches and really rough looking ones after 20 years on the road. I think the main purpose is to make it quieter. But they certainly do trap mud at the front and around the back of the filler pipe. And the single bolt that holds in the filler pipe gets as rusty as... Do you have that big chassis plug on the 'rosa that I took a pic through?

So, it's my turn to try and delay the onset of aging and rust on one of my SDIs. The rear arches of course. About 8 years ago I ground them back to bare metal, derusted, treated and then resprayed. But the design is so bad, water will always find a way in through a stone chip on the edge of the spot welded seam. So not too bad, but it had started all over again. This time I decided to do some exploring and tear out any of the seam sealer compound that seems to make the problems worse. Once water gets behind it, it gets trapped and dissolves away much faster. Time to apply some penetrating wax rust preventer. So this pic shows the front of the arch, where it meets the sill. There's a narrow channel that gets filled with mud, and is held in place by the felt type material wheel arch liner (9 T25 torx screws to remove it). You need to remove that liner to be able to clean everything properly. I also pulled one of the chassis plugs out as I was curious what was on the other side... So I had to take a pic of the inside of the sill. There's a tide line! They must have filled the whole thing with wax then drained it. And it's still soft and tacky. How much wax?! And the last pic shows where I simply chopped out the factory assembly line jig mounting, as it had rusted away. Doesn't do anything useful except trap dirt. Gone. All properly waxed now. Once 'cured' I'll paint some thick anti-chip compound over it. Not using seam sealer ever again for obvious reasons.

I hope you have a CCTV system and alarm on your yard/unit @Rich. You keep that sort of info quiet... Reminds me of a local metal reclamation yard (absolutely huge), that has piles of cables heaped up. Like tons and tons. I asked him why they don't process it now- answer because it's his retirement. Costs nothing to maintain, no-one will nick it (too difficult) and is going up in value faster than real estate or a savings account - he's right - I checked.

Light switch. To swap it over, push the knob in and turn to on. The knob stays in, then you pull the thing straight out of the panel. Might be a loose wire or plug. Might be a black box recorder behind the switch. Fav place for insurance companies to hide it. That typically cocks up the wiring...

Would it be possible to save that brake pedal clip by removing the servo from the outside first? A lot more work, but in theory it'd be possible to get to the clip through the servo hole in the bulkhead. Make any sense? It might be possible to unclip the little tabs holding it in place. Just thinking aloud here having not tried it.

Hi and welcome to Club Lupo Yes you can do exactly that- put the TDi engine in the Lupo. @battlebus has already done it, but slightly differently, using the 1.7 engine then adding a turbo, then having ECU remapped. I think the easiest way is like you say, use a donor car, with the old 1.9 TDi (it's the same engine, but with a different crankshaft). Use the bolt on bits from the SDI engine (like alternator, power steering pump and injector mounting). You'll need to use the old SDI gearbox, because anything bigger will not fit. So have the gearbox rebuilt with new seals and bearings before you start. You will need to rebuild the gearbox often, because it is designed for a 60hp engine... Great project. A real sleeper. It WILL be powerful. A lot faster.

There's a tiny screw that holds the flat spring thing in place. Chances are it fell out. Without going through the process of dismantling it, it'll be difficult to reassemble it. They come as a complete module and there are no tear down videos/diagrams. To remove the slide tray and cup holder module, you get to it from below, by removing the cover below. Screws. Then you press the clips on the side and slide them out. Welcome to Club Lupo Pics of car?

I'd love a white one. Just the GTi in its purest form, completely unmodified. Never imported to the UK I think? Although Raven Blue is very sought after. I've never seen one in real but the paint really pops in the sunlight from pics I've seen. GTi owners, what d'ya think?

Yeah, what @Rich said. If you buy it, there are loads of people on here that have done everything to a gti and more. Huge amounts of knowledge... Within a few months, it'll be a new car again (put about £750) aside for bits and pieces. Then you'll have almost free motoring for the next few years (plus insurance). If you choose to sell again in a few years, there are buyers already lined up right here.

Wow lucky you! Yes, of course. You are on the Club Lupo forum after all... Bear in mind, that any car older than about 15 YO will require regular maintenance and restoration work. But once restored, you can only make money when you sell. Most vehicles lose money as they get older. You'll always get back what you paid plus extra. Just check for rust on the subframes, roof channels, rear arches and front and back ends of both sills. There are specialised breakers yards that have lots of parts available. The usual stuff like brakes, bearings and suspension components are easy to get everywhere brand new (cheap too).

Hi all, just been talking with a UK based company who can make us quality car covers that will last more than one winter (unlike the chinese stuff). Buyers will be able to simply buy direct from them; and they make to order, in a selection of colours. The material we're looking at is heavy duty tarp, the same stuff used in curtain slider lorry sides. Heavy and very tough. Will last a very long time. No talk on price yet, but we're just looking at ideas right now... here's a sketch I put together. One piece, folded and sewn and taped together. My idea is a felt pad or something to place where the antenna mount goes (you need to unscrew the aerial). Fold in the wing mirrors. Eyelets around the folded seam edge. The whole thing held down by paracord or thin rope. Or whatever you like. It's not a fleece lined thing, as they tend to trap moisture and condensation (although beneficial to reduce wind movement scuffing of the corners). So the idea is that before fitting, the car is completely clean and dry. Should stay that way. Any more ideas or improvements to this idea? What's wrong with it? What would you be prepared to pay? Any particular features or extras? This isn't a universal car cover. It is specific to Lupo/Arosa and a perfect fit.

Pics of car? We always like Lupo/Arosa pics!

If it's the power steering hydraulic hoses (common problem), there is a company on here that makes to order for us. About £200 a complete set. Unusual for the seals in the rack to fail, as they typically last about 200k miles. Else it'll have to be a reclaimed steering rack. New no longer available. It is the same as 6N polo. The welding is the big one. Depends what they'll charge you. And they'll have to make up some sheet metalwork. And seal it/rustproof it and spray it once done. But if the car is in overall good shape, it's probably worth doing as you already know the car well. And if lowish milage, the car is probably worth about £2k in good order?

The ECU is different. It wouldn't be happy. Although... you might be onto something here. I wonder if... you dropped a 1.2 lump in place of a 1.4; only replaced the injectors to the smaller 1.2 type, and swapped the turbine & manifolds from the 1.4 onto the 1.2. The 1.4 ECU would think that it's running a 1.4 TDI, but you have the advantage of amazing economy from the 1.2 along with power of the 1.4 (if you had the ECU remapped). And no EGR. Hmm. That has me thinking. Easy project... Anyone in the UK have a low milage 1.2 engine they're trying to get rid of?

Air in power steering system? If all the bolt on bits are brand new, it can't be that. Maybe oil on the belt?

Sounds like one of the pulleys might be running off line- the belt might be trying to go round a corner? Put a steel straight edge on each pulley face, comparing with a neighbour till you find it...

I don't know the rules where you live, but that could be rebuilt... And you know how to do it.

Steering wheel, clockspring and airbag if still nice!? What happened? Oh dear.

I actually think that there are two different sizes. The 'O' rings are also different. You can tell at a glance because the type that fits our Lupos (all models) has a fat O ring, like 3mm section, and it looks like it's made of a graphite injected rubber compound. The ones that don't fit (and leak) are about 2mm and are completely black. There are also two different temp sensor mounting flanges. One type is stepped where the rubber makes contact, the other isn't. But the part numbers are the exact same. So I dunno... 🤷🏻‍♂️

Good point. I'll have to search for "beam axle". I've always called it a rear subframe. Still learning... But yeah, if anyone knows where to get new ones cheap?

That's a standard "walker brand" exhaust. Typical on diesel flavoured Lupos... One of my SDIs has the same. Much more flowy than petrol powered editions. Plus a bigger bore pipe as well.