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I need some new front springs for a TDi. Sport. I can find standard ones but not the sport spec. Any suggestions where to look?

Guess how I know...

Have you hooked the end of the column into item 9?

If you look at the back windows, there are some little black arrows, like toblerone shapes. The rear feet sit between them. There are the same shapes stamped into the door apertures at the top. Use your fingers and you'll feel them. Measure the distance from the front arrow of each pair and it'll be about right. I got the 754 feet for £30 and the fitting kit for £20 via ebay. Gumtree is OK too if you know the part numbers.

Have a look at U-Pull-It in York. Might get lucky and have one the right colour. There's a few decent scrapyards left in Leeds and Bradford too. Otherwise Gumtree and Ebay to see what's ebing broken.

020 stuff is no use to you. I do have a vague memory that 'maybe' you can use a 3rd gear pair in the 5th position. I'm sure I read of a German berg cup gearbox that had used a 5th pair in 3rd to get a better spread of ratios.

What's the code for the mk2 box?

It's got shagged sills...

Just digging in the parts catalogue for fun. The 1.9SDI engines in other VAG group models were fitted with 02x derived gearboxes. I have some VW TDi engine drawings with the gearbox mounting positions dimensioned. Could you get access to a spare box or even the spacer plate to measure?

Finally got mine working. Typical VW, the boxes used on the 1.4TDI have unique castings and the lugs are missing for the lower mount. Now does 33-34mph per 1k rpm. Can't do 30 in 5th anymore. Now needs more power to make the most of the spread.

I've spent years designing interference fits on shafts. You don't need a lot of temperature differential to assembly or disassemble. Clearance will probably start at around 50deg.C difference. 80 deg.C cog in 20 deg.C ambient. You can achieve this with a hot air gun. Most engineering plastics can take 120 deg.C for a while but the air gun will be kicking out 250+. Just shield the plastic from the direct air. Get Kukko style puller. Much better. Here's a chinese copy: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bearing-gear-hub-puller-internal-external-2-leg-splitter-removal-tool-100x98mm/273371704481?hash=item3fa6392ca1:g:7E0AAOSwDMZbV3HT Cheap enough that you can grind the legs to suit and won't feel too bad when they break. I've had a few. The 6K caddy is a 6N Polo chassis just like the Lupo/Arosa and these came with the 1.7SDI too. The Caddy is fitted with a big block gearbox. Not sure what it's derived from but that maybe where you should be looking.

Completely different designs. realoem.com is an online EKTA. I spent many hours researching a 085 box for my mk1 Golf. The standard ratios are very compromised if you want performance. The shaft centres are too close to allow decent ratios. One choice you may have is the 02K which is designed to go on the same mounting pattern as the 085 in the petrol engined cars but is the same internally as the 02A, which evolved into the 02J. You should look at what other VW's use the SDI engine. The Caddy uses a different gearbox on the 1.9 SDI. That may give you some off the shelf alternatives. I believe the 02J in the TDi sits in the same position relative to the chassis as it would if there was a 4 cylinder engine so the TDi shafts, mounts, gearchange etc should work. The starter is at the front of the box near the battery but that's only 1 wire and thick cable.

I run 185/60x14s and the speedo is spot on. You have a 085 box, the TDi uses the 02J. Totally different. The TDi box has the highest first gear and diff of any VW. 3.3 and 3.158. Total ratio 10.42:1 which is abnormally high. Most cars have a 12.5:1 first gear. If it's not too hard to swap to the 02J, and the block drilling and starter position are probably different, that would be the simplest option. I've just removed my EXB to fit a hybrid DTA with a longer 5th. Including the diff, the ratios are 10.42, 6.14, 4.13, 2.89 and 2.08. 80 should 2,500 rpm.

That's why polybushes shouldn't be used in this position. Nowhere near enough flex. The arm isn't designed for that level of resistance.

Silicon grease is very good. Temp range upto 350deg.C. Doesn't go dry like copper grease and is plastic friendly.

Both my front arms rusted through last year. One failed catastrophically on the road, I caught the other one just before it failed.

Is a bit of an art getting to the relays. I'm slick now but I've had plenty of practice. Got the scars too.

Looking closely I think it's just cheap ebay crap. It's vaguely marked like a VW part. It was nice and clean on the outside. I don't think that moisture was the cause as most of it is still shiny. The replacement genuine part has been in the garage for many years and just worked. The only downside to carrying a spare is that you also need the TX20 to remove the fusebox and then you may as well also have a spare 109, 405, 103, 100 and 19/99 just in case.

if you're using the Thule 753/754 feet, they have a large lump of rubber. The brackets that reach to the car are powder coated and don't scratch.

The ABS system does it all. The proportioning valves are on the non-abs cars. You need fit a bias bar or pressure limiting valve or both. Some good info on the pros/cons of each on British Rally. I have a mk1 Golf with the same brakes and it will slide very nicely with a good stomp on the pedal..

I had been trying this but the relay was so intermittent that it didn't work. I opened up the dodgy relay and found a pile of rust. it wasn't a genuine part or a name brand replacement.

The beam is the same as a standard Lupo/Arosa apart from the anti roll bar. if you look at a normal beam, the holes are there on the inside of the trailing arms for the bar just not on the outside. You could cut the bar out of your beam and weld it into another. Alternatively you could buy some suitable tube and add it or you have to buy an after market external bar.

That last statement is incorrect. I did check the fuel line but obviously not after it had run. It was the fuel pump relay. For info relay 53 is a normal 4 pin relay. Managed to find some. It must have sucked the fuel line dry as it took a lot of cranking to fire.

I checked the fuel supply after it had run. Plenty of pressure.

Checked each relay's connections in the relay board and then checked it switches by connecting the coil to the battery. Somehow it suddenly decided to start. After a short period of time, it started to misfire and then cutout again. I decided to swap out all the relays from my 2001 Arosa into the 2003 Arosa. Unfortunately the fuel pump relay is different between the cars. In the earlier car it has 8mm tabs, the later one has 6mm. It still wouldn't start and the fuel pump wasn't running although the relay 53 was clicking. I don't know if there's a problem as I didn't have enough bits of wire and hands to connect a meter across the relay whilst firing the coil. I'm hoping I have spares of all the relays as I tend to grab them all when in a scrapyard. For future info: J59 = X contact relief relay = relay 100 J491 = Fuel shut-off control unit = relay 405 J17 = Fuel pump relay = relay 53 in the 2003 Arosa and relay 167 in the 2001 Arosa. The 167 has 8mm power tabs, the 53 has 6mm tabs. J317 = Terminal 30 voltage supply relay = relay 109 J52 = Glow plugs relay = relay 103