Hope it helps someone out anyways!

Suspension doesnt have to be the mission everyone makes it out to be. I've done a few polos with this setup now and the last time i did it in 4 hours start to finish. IF my write-up looks long, its only cause I'm caned and adding too much detail! Some of it may also seem confusing til you actually try it. You will need a second pair of hands at times though. Finally, it helps to soak all relevant nuts with WD40 for a few days in advance while driving the car, as it can help to free them up.

You need a long-ass breaker bar and a 30mm socket, or an airgun if you have one, to crack off the driveshaft outer nut. If you know anyone in the motor trade, get them to loosen it off for you first and then tighten it up, but not to the same degree, to make it easier. If its especially tight i personally use a length of scaffold over a breaker bar to sort it, use your imagination.

With the car still on the ground, loosen but do not remove the front strut top mount bolts. On my suspension setup, i lock the strut in place with an allen key and use a swan-necked 19mm spanner to crack the nut loose. Yours may differ slightly, but they are piss easy either way. You may as well remove the driveshaft nut, it may need to be popped back on briefly later to hold the strut, but thats only a minutes work and its easiest to get it gone now.

Once they're loosened off, jack up the car and remove the front wheels. First unbolt and remove the brake caliper and carrier from the strut, and hang it with cable ties from a suitable point to relieve the pressure on the brake hose and avoid any damage. I use a hole in the inner wing, as long as its not fastened to the strut it doesnt matter. It may help you to remove the disc, but thats only 1 screw.

Undo the inner bolt where the steering arm meets the steering rack, and turn the wheel to pop the arm out of its mount. This avoids messing about with (and likely ruining) the balljoint between steering arm and strut. You can later remove the entire strut with steering arm attached, and its easy to refit too. Just hold the steering arm in place and turn the wheel to pop the rack back into place.

Undo the nut at the bottom of the strut that holds it to the TCA, remove the bolt, and use a crowbar to pop the TCA balljoint out of the bottom of the strut. It may help to prise apart the two sides of the bit that bolt goes through. When using the crowbar, use it as a lever to force the TCA downwards. I tend to put one end against the jacking point on the shell, forcing the bar down on the point where the TCA meets the arb by standing on the other end. You may need to bend the brake shield thing to allow for more clearance, but remember to bend it back in place when you're finished.

Pull out the driveshaft, remove the top bolt holding the strut up, and the whole thing should just pull out of the arch.

Spring compressors come in handy to remove some of the tension from the spring against the top mount while you loosen it off. You will need a castle nut removal tool to undo it, or file down a socket to fit the slots. You will understand once you see it, but the nut removal kits arent much more than a fiver from GSF and well worth hanging onto for future use. Note the order of the parts in the top mount assembly before removing them and the spring.

If you're just swapping the springs, then with the new ones in place "refitting is reverse of removal", to quote haynes. Start with the strut top bolt to hold it in place, insert the driveshaft and then pop in the bottom balljoint to secure the strut in place. It helps to lever the TCA down again to locate it, make sure the balljoint is aligned too or it wont go into the socket. You can now put the steering arm back in and bolt everything back together. Dont forget to put the driveshaft nut back on nice and tight once the car is on the ground.

If you are swapping the shocks too, remove the top mounts and everything else from the strut. New bumpstops might be a good idea if the old ones are shagged. Use mole grips or a vice to remove the cap that holds the shock absorber into the strut, and pull out the shock. Bear in mind its filled with hydraulic fluid, so pour that away into a washing up bowl (that poop stinks so dont get it on anything!) and insert the new shock unit. Some uprated shocks are slightly shorter than the strut housing, meaning they are loose when the cap is back on. This can be cured by dropping a 2p coin down flat inside the strut before inserting the shock absorber.

Then follow the instructions above to fit the springs and re-assemble the strut.

Sounds like a mission, it really isnt anywhere near as bad as people make out if you know what to do. The above is how i have come to do it after doing it on quite a few mk2 and 3's, and as i mentionned previously the last time i did it took no time at all - 4 hours for the whole car, both fronts and rears. It will take longer on your first try but i think my method makes it as simple as it can be. The biggest problems you are likely to face will be loosening bolts which are seized after years of use. If these can be cracked off first with an airgun and then re-tightened with only hand tools, then you shouldnt have any trouble.

Finally, any issues or other questions will have been encountered a million times, clubpolo's magical search function will find you everything you need to know from the technical suspension section.

If I've missed anything or it doesnt make sense please let me know!!

This guide does not cover the mechanical basics of working on such a task- jacking up, supporting the vehicle or the tools required- although just an idea for you: A range of sockets- 13mm-20+mm, caliper rewind tool, brake fluid bleeding kit, brake fluid as well- DOT 4 is recomended.

To begin with, you must have the following parts to hand to be able to successfully convert your polo 6N or 6N2 (this process is the same for any other polo/golf/lupo etc but would require modifed handbrake cables or brake lines):

In the photo below is the following: disc dust shield, stub axle, caliper and carrier, centre hub inc. bearing and hub nut with bolts to bolt the carrier to the stub axle. Missing parts are handbrake cable and brake flexi/metal hoses (both of which are pictured further down)

Driver side brake line:

Passenger side brake line:

Now then...to begin with you need to remove your drum setup!

First remove the centre dust cap with a flat head and ease it off leaving the caged nut and split pin:

After that, you can wind off the bearing nut:

And then carefully wiggle the drum off (PLEASE ENSURE YOUR HANDBRAKE IS DIS-ENGAGED)...some persuasion with a large flat head and hammer may be required, thus leaving this:

Now...the centre ring covering the four nuts around the centre of the drum can be removed...

At the same time, pinch the flexi hose from under the car where the hard line pipe attaches from the drum...this will ensure minimal fluid loss!

Now undo the solid brake hose from the flexi pipe- this would leave the hose still on the car:

Now...unclip the metal hoses either side of the car which reside on the axle itself! No need to undo them at the drum...

Also, lift off the handbrake surround from inside the car and with a couple 10mm spanner- undo the 4 nuts holding the cables taught.

After these are off completely, get under the car and yank them out of the metal tubes (a set of mole grips will be useful here): THE METAL TUBES STAY ON THE CAR!

After the handbrake cable is off at the handle side and the brake lines are unclipped and undone from the cars flexi pipes you should have a pair of redundant drums:

Now comes the fun bit! Ensure you have your disc setup ready for each side (they are side specific!):

The brake lines for the disc setup look identical to the hardlines you removed BUT have a flexi pipe behind the caliper as well as on the body of the car:

The above photo shows the handbrake cable has been re-attached at the handle side and the brake line is also in place and attached to the flexi hose you left previously (this is still pinchedto stop fluid leaking).

Following that, you just begin to fit your parts...starting with the dust shield and stub axle which bolt on together:

Then slide on the hub with bearing enclosed and re-fit the large centre bearing nut (tighten this to the correct torque with the car on the ground):

A brand new disc then goes on:

Followed shortly by the caliper carrier- here i suggest strongly that you use a small coat of a few threads of the carrier holding bolts so they dont come loose:

Photo from Rear:

Photo from Front:

The pads were copper greased on the rear to stop squeeling:

Here comes the messy part...you may require a caliper rewind tool to wind the piston back in to allow you to fit the caliper over your new pads/discs and here are a few photos of it in action:

At the end of that, i did copper grease the parts that the pads would be moving against to stop any squeeling that may occur (as you can see the caliper carrier also recieved a bit of rub down with sandpaper where the brake pads would sit and was also greased):

Here is a photo of the caliper fitted up with the brake line and handbrake cable attached:

Please please remember NOT TO undo the bleed nipple completely! and do not touch it until you are ready to bleed the brakes of any trapped air. You will require an 11mm spanner for this to be done.

Also please be aware that there is a clip at the base of the handbrake cable that attaches to the base of the caliper- this holds the cable in place- i sadly didnt get a photo of this.

I am willing to make changes to this FAQ if it helps anyone out, please could a MOD move it into the FAQ section...cheers! Sanj.

no thread has actually given a definitive answer as to whats actually needed and from what cars (apart from the handbrake cable bit)

so a little list of parts needed and what from would be very useful :)

Your best bet if you want to lower your car cheaply is either buy a shocks and springs kit or make your own coilovers (but thats not advised unless you know what your doing!!

If anyone wants to add any further information on mk1/2/3 coilovers please feel free.

Yes I made this mistake ?

But it is a easy one to make hope this helps 

(ignore the filthy wheels) 

picture of wheel sitting towards the rear is wrong the ARB blocks need to pull the wheel closer to the front of the car this also gives better clearance for manifold . 

So thought i`d put it all here, then i can just link straight to the thread

Right, this was the first time i`d ever done anything like this, and never done it since, so if it goes wrong for you, dont blame me

Got these 13x7 Atiwe`s in straight but a little weathered condition

So i started my first refurb

I only took pics of the one wheel during the refurb process

List of what i used

Nitromoors

Old paint brush

Small peice of thick ish plastic

Autosol

Lint free cloth

Wet and dry paper (400 - 1200 grit)

Nylon gloves

Soapy water

Newspaper

Masking tape

Aerosol primer, paint and laquer

First of all i got the 400 grit paper and worked round the lip of the wheels, luckily for me there werent too many deep scuffs, if you have then i`d use a metal file

Once i was happy with the smoothness of the lip i started rubbing down the dish with the 400 grit.

Then using the old paintbrush i smeard the nitromoors onto the wheel (wish i`d got a pic of the nitromoors working hehehe, it looks awesome )

When it had done its work, it sort of looks like snake skin, all flakey, i used the small piece of plastic to scrape all the flakey paint off (you dont want to get the nitromoors on your skin, it burns)

It then looked like this..

So on went the most paintfull stage wet and drying the dish ready for polishing (use the nylon gloves, i learnt after i did the first wheel)

I used water when rubbing down, using 600 grit then 800 - 1000 - 1200 (you can go higher if you want more of a mirror finish)

Its best to go in the same direction whilst at this stage

This is mid way through 800...

And this is after 1200 (with no polish used yet)...

I then used some lint free cloth to apply autosol (thats a metal polish for anyone who doesnt know) to the whole wheel, and left it for 5 mins while i had a brew break :-D

With autosol on...

And then i buffed it off using some clean lint free cloth....

I wasnt happy with the finish at this stage so i had a bit of an idea

I used a little blob of autosol with the 1200 and went round the dish/rim again, scrubbing untill the paper became really shiney :-D

Buffed it all off and it was much better, sadly didnt get any close up pics of that as my phone broke but you can see the better shine in the pics below

After all 4 wheels were polished and i was happy i used the soapy water to clean the whole wheel free of dirt/grease/dust. Then i dried them and masked them off. Then i used 600 grit to score the face of the wheel...

If youre going to be painting them and its quite cold, use a pan of warm water and let the tin of spray sit in it for a couple of minutes, then shake it well (away from the wheel to not get splashes on it) for a minute (stops the paint spraying out in blobs)

Then on went the primer..

First coat of paint (tip for using rattle cans for the first time - spray in back and forward motion, letting off the nozzle as you reach each side of what youre spraying, so start from the left - spray as you move across to the right, stop then spray as you go back to the left. Kinda hard to describe in text and spray about 20cm from what youre spraying)

Anyway, first coat..

As you can see, thats not enough paint. So i let it dry and did another coat, let that dry and did a final coat (3 coats of paint all together) and then laquered them...

Luckily for me again i didnt get any inperfections in the paint (runs/drips/reactions etc etc) so off came the masking tape and newspaper ...

If you do get any imperfections, just flat the paint back using 1000 grit, clean it all again and dry. Then paint again

I then got the tyres back on and used belgom alu polish on the dish and autoglym on the face. Finished refurb

And one on the car

It took me about 80 hours all together over 3 month to do them, but thats using just my hand, you can get polishing kits off ebay and stuff that will probs cut that time down by a hell of a lot, and will deffo save some skin on you fingers

Hope that helps y`all

seen lots of posts aout VWII calipers, how do you go about fitting these to an early MK2, do i just need calipers and disks or will i need other bits as well?

any help would be great, or other possible brake conversions maybe (i will be fitting a master cylinder as soon as another GT turns up at the scrappies!)

edit: what about these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vw-Golf-Gti-Mk2-16v-...=item414b378503

Club Polo offers the above information for reference only, it is your responsibility to ensure that your wheel/tyre combination is both safe and legal.

Here's what i've done so far:

Step 1, remove wheel, caliper/carrier and disc

if you need instructions for this part, you really shouldn't be attempting to fit brakes yourself

you may need to drill the grub screw out to get the disc off, don't drill all the way through though, you only need to go maybe 5mm down, then the head of the screw should come off when you bash the disc with a hammer

Step 2, hold the carrier (it's a lot easier if you just hold up the carrier, it gets a bit heavy if you hold up the caliper too!) up to the hub, notice anything wrong? the dust guard that sits behind the disc needs cutting slightly so that the carrier fits

doesn't need a lot trimming off, might take a bit of trial and error but once you get it right...

Step 3, assemble the caliper and pads, you need to slide the caliper onto the carrier before putting in the pads, clip in the inside pad first (has 3 prongs on the back that clip into the piston) then fit the outer pad, finaly put on the clip

Step 4, put the disc onto the hub and fit the little grub screw (it might not seem important, but having just fitted mine up without the grub screw (yes, i will be going back and fitting them when i have some) it's a royal pain in the arse to get the calipers on, then even harder to get the wheels back on)

Step 5, fit the caliper and carrier onto the hub, nice and easy, slide it over the disc, stick the bolts in and tighten it up

then, i put the wheels back on as i don't have any hoses at the minute, will update this when i finish, hopefully sunday/early next week

it's a bloody tight fit under my MSW's i'll tell you that had to take the weights off the inside as they were catching on the caliper, i can't get the tip of a flat head screw driver between the caliper and wheel

hope this is of some use to you lot, i can honestly say, it was piss easy to do (so far, not sure they work yet ) but if i find any problems once they're all plumbed in i shall let you know and show you how i got round them

Can people verify this? All without arch work

MK4 - (All assumed to be 7/7.5" wide)

17s - Gonna scrub at 40mm down, and hit the innerwing on full lock.

16s - OK to 60mm down with 195/40 tyres, with any bigger will scrub.

15s - OK till 80mm + down on 195/45s (depending on offset)

13x6s - et 13 didnt scrub at 60mm down on 175/50s

16x7.5 - et35 lowered 60mm on 195/45s scrubbed and needed arch work (or smaller tyres)

MK2 and 3 coupes (assuming they will be the same, and 6/7" widths and normal offsets)

15s - 40mm down will scrub

14s - OK to 70mm I've heard on 195/45s

13x7 et -7 front 13x8 et6 rear lowered 60/40 on 175/50s no scrubbage

Obviously alot depends on offset, and how hard the suspension is....

Can everyone add to this with what suspension they are running, and offsets if the arches have been rolled etc? And for Mk1's, Mk2n3 squarebacks. Mk5 must be the same as a Mk4?

So you got your new lowering kit and wanna get your car slammed!

Ok the fronts are by far the hardest and can pose the most problems.

Try and give everything a a good soak in wd40 beforehand and maybe even go for a quick drive after doin it to try and losen things up.

ok first thing u need to do is losen driveshaft nut, for this u leave car on the ground you need a 30mm socket and usually a massive breaker bar. Once thats lose u can jack the car up and get it on axle stands for saftety.

I then remove the brakes 2 15mm bolts, then tie the brake up to avoid damageing the flexis hose.

remove the tca nut and try and get the arm off. This bit usually causes the most problems

1) spinney ball joint, my way hammer from the bottom, sometimes works or use a trolley jack and a piece of wood and put pressue on the bottom of the tca force the tca in,this usually asways works. If not its hack saw time on that nut.

2) nut comes off but tca arm is stuck fast, u could get a balljoint spliter, not the hamer type as they damage the rubber. I just use some shock treakment with a hammer and then use a pry bar to lever it off, if its stuck fast be carefull not to bend the tca.

Once thats off, remove the bottom balljoint from the antiroll bar onto bottom of the strut, its a nut and bolt 15-17 mm(cant remember which) You then need to lever the joint out. This usually needs two people one to hold the strut up(if on your own try using a jack) and one to lever it off, you need a nice long pry bar for this thats strong (scaff bar will do). I put the bar threw the antiroll bar and againt the gerabox and push down on the bar. This lowers it and and pulls the bare out of the strut.

Remove the nut holding the strut on in the engine bar, pull the struct out of the car.

Now the strut is off the the car u need spring compressors, compress the spring so that the top mount moves up and down feely by a few mm. You then have to move the castle nut, u can get a proper tool for this but i just use molegrips or hammer and chisle. Once this is off you can romve spring etc.

To get the shock out u have to remove the big nut ant the top, give it some wd40 and a few hits with the hammer to shock it then use molegrips, vice or hammer and chisle to get it unscrewing.

When this comes off remove the old shock, be prepared for smelly horrid fluid lol.

then fit the new kit, refitting is refusal of removal

REARS

Remove 17MM nut and bolt thrww the rear axle / shock. Remove top nut, if it starts spinning and u cant clap top if insert, get a molegrips and clamp it inside the arch, as near to the top as u can. U should be able to get it of now. You dont need spring compressors for this.

Fit new kit, if you have problems with it spinning and u are force to use molegrips do it as far up the rod as u can, and use some cloth are the molegrips to avoid damaging it.

Anyone who has driven a Mk3 Polo will be well aware that the brakes leave a lot to be desired. G40's benefit from wider vented discs but due to the increased performance of the engine these brakes remain inadequate.

It is possible to upgrade Mk3 Polos from the standard fit 239mmx10mm solid (239mmx20mm vented on G40) discs to 256mmx20mm using a range of parts from various VAG cars. Below is a list of all the parts required to carry out the conversion.

Calipers: Volkswagen Mk2 Golf GTi 16v 'Girling 54'

The cheapest option for acquiring new calipers is to buy them second hand or get them from a car in a scrap yard/breakers, this is what I did. I then had the calipers remanufactured by http://www.biggred.co.uk All seals were replaced and the castings have been electroplated. They are as good as new. You can read more about them in my build thread.

Volkswagen Part Number (left):

Volkswagen Part Number (left):

Cost (ea.):

Carriers: Audi 90

The carriers are the key component in this conversion. The carriers allow the fitment of the Golf calipers to the Polo suspension strut. Golf carriers have wider lug spacing and thus do not fit. These carriers are quite difficult to come across and were only fitted to Audi 80/90 in the few years surrounding 1985. Luckily I picked mine up second hand in the Club Polo for sale section. I'm not sure if they are still available new and if so how much they would cost.

Volkswagen Part Number: b>853 615 125

Cost (ea.): N/A

Discs: Volkswagen Mk2 Golf GTi 16v 256mmx20mm Vented

There are a wide selection of discs available for the Golf GTi from a range of suppliers. I chose genuine Volkswagen plain discs, although I may upgrade to some grooved items from the like of Brembo in future.

Volkswagen Part Number:

Cost (ea.):

Pads: Volkswagen Mk2 Golf GTi 16v

Like the discs mentioned above the pads are also from a Golf GTi. Again there is a wide range of options available from a lot of different sources. I decided on using EBC Green Stuff pads.

Cost (ea.):

Bolts + Intermediate Panel:

As with any work on a car it is always best to replace old tired bolts and fasteners.

Master Cylinder: Volkswagen 22.2mm

Ideally you will want to increase the diameter of the master cylinder to match the new brakes. Fitting a larger master cylinder reduces pedal travel, another annoying issue with Polo brakes.

22.2mm master cylinders are available on the following cars: Golf GTi 16V, Corrado G60 and Passat. These larger master cylinders have 4 outlets, your Polo only requires 3. When ordering a Passat master cylinder from GSF you will need a blanking screw for the 4th outlet, these are available for around £2. I will up date this section with more accurate information when I order my new master cylinder. It really is better to buy new than use one from a scrap yard when the cost is only around £30.

Volkswagen Part Number:

Cost (ea.):

GSF Part Number:

Cost (ea.):

Brake Lines: Goodridge Braided Steel Brake Lines

Replacing the standard rubber brake hoses with braided steel items will firm up brake pedal feel. The rubber hoses expand slightly as you press the brake pedal, the braided steel on Goodridge hoses prevents this from happening.

Available from:

Cost:

Wheels: To fit 256mm brakes your Polo will require you to use a 14 inch diameter wheel. Some motorsport orientated 13 inch wheels may fit, but these are normally very expensive and often not suitable for use of the road. I chose a set of 14"x6J BBS RA alloy wheels. These are the same design as those found on the Polo G40 but are 1 inch larger in diameter and 0.5 inch wider.

However, I'm not really happy with the rear setup. The Spax kit is harsh at the back, but great at the front. It doesn't look quite right with the -40mm all around - should have gone 60/40 perhaps. I'd prefer the rear to be a bit higher and a little softer, without sacrificing too much handling... if possible.

So, what to do...?

1. Replace front springs with -60mm

2. Replace rears with coilovers capable of say -20mm drop and comfortable springs

3. Replace whole kit with H&R 60/40 kit

4. Get lowering front top-mounts (not really happy with this option)

5. Replace rear with standard shocks & springs

6. Other suggestions...??

Thanks for you help, this one's really got me in a spin..!

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

Basically, the left hand side you fill in the information for a standard wheel.

For example, a bog standard Polo mk2 breadvan tyre size is 155 - 70 - 13 x (rim size) 5.5 ET (offset) 45

The website will make the chart accordingly:

on the right hand side you fill in the details for your choice wheel. I'm gonna go for some deep dish minilites.

Find an appropriate tyre chart online and find the right tyres for your chosen wheel.

For the minilites I will fill in the tyre size as 195 - 55 - 13 and the rim size as 7.0 x ET (offset) -7

it will give you a comparison:

\

As you can see, it gives you a nice load of information. regarding the wheel. IF you can't be bothered with the numbers in the chart, below it will have written out essential details:

There we go, it gives you a massive chunk of useful information, which will help with any enquiries, and hopefully avoid pointless "WILL DIS FIT MAH 6N" threads.

Cheers.

Sam

The aim of this guide is to provide a one stop shop for Mk2/3 Polo suspension parts.

Notes: All references to reductions in ride height apply to non-G40 Mk3 Polo's, as G40's are already lower as standard.

Fixed Spring & Damper Kits

H&R Suspension

The H&R Cup Kit uses fixed rate Bilstien dampers matched with H&R springs. The rear springs can be set to lower the car in two discrete steps. Generally regarded as the best fixed height spring and damper kit available for the Mk2/3 Polo.

Source: http://www.hrsuspension.co.uk/p/HRsbv_pl.a...;PartType=SUH04

Koni Suspension

Koni Sport Kit offers adjustable damping and a ~40mm reduction in ride height.

Source: http://www.awesome-gti.co.uk/vw%20polomk3/suspension.html

PhilJ Suspension Kits

Lowering kits in a range of heights. All kits are come with fixed rate dampers. All kits are height adjustable at the rear. The 60/40 kit will go 60/60, or 60/80. There are 7 adjustment settings on most kits to help create your preferred stance. The front height is set. These kits are fully TUV approved, and come with a 2 year warranty.

Source: http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=35527

Coilover Kits

FK Suspension

FK offer two types of coilover for the Mk2/3 Polo.

The FK Highsport kit offers height adjust:

The FK Konigsport uses Koni Yellow dampers to offer adjustable height and damping:

Source: http://www.performancedriven.co.uk/

Gaz Suspension

Gaz offer one type of coilover unit. It is height and damping adjustable. The customer can choose from a range of spring rates to suit their specific application.

H&R Suspension

H&R offer one type of coilover kit for the Mk2/3 Polo. This kit is height adjustable. H&R use Bilstein dampers, how ever I do not know if these units are adjustable:

Source: http://www.hrsuspension.co.uk/p/HRsbv_pl.a...;PartType=SUH02

KW Suspenion

KW offer two types of coilover for the Mk2/3 Polo.

The KW Variant 1 kit offers height adjust:

The KW Variant 2 kit offers both height and damping adjust:

Source: http://www.kw-suspension.co.uk/kw-product-list.php?md=238

PhilJ Coilover Pricing

As ever PhilJ is able to offer a range of suspension kits at good prices:

Source: http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...st&p=345382

Gaz Custom Coilovers - £650

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=36681

Other Suspension Parts

G-lader Site Suspension Components

Powerflex Suspension Bushes

Polo Performance Parts 'Wishbone' Conversion Subframe

VW Suspension Components

Springs & Shocks

Struts

Top Mounts

Track Control Arms

G40 Track Control Arms

Steering Arms

G40 Steering Arms

Rear Beam Bushes

Bump Stops & Dust Covers

Anti-roll Bar Bushes

First plan of attack is to get an electric air compresser, I used my Halfords tyre pump. You need a football pin and attach it to the connector.

Put the pin in the brake line, it isnt a great fit it has to say but you can get it tight enough to get enough pressure

The air will push the piston out, be very careful the piston doesnt smack you in the face or damage its self. I used a cloth on the other end to cushion the impact as it does come out at some force.

The next thing you need to do is remove the two seals, there is a dust protector which is what you see on the table and and an inner ring. You can easily pull the dust protector off away from the caliper ridge.

Using a sharp flat screw driver carefully prise the inner ring out, should come out without any problems.

The two seals.

New seals (Thanks Steveo3002)

The inner ring needs to go in first, there is a ridge that it sits in, its very easy to get into place. After its tightly in I used my finger to give it a layer of brake fluid.

Next comes the hardest part, the dust filter. If you dont know how to do it its a complete idiot . First put the dust seal on the piston, you then need to get it in place to the caliper and push the seal to the end so its almost falling off but not quite. Go in at an angle, the bottom first and wriggle it in slowly so that the dust seal goes inside the piston housing. It does take abit of patience, it took me 30 minutes to do the first one and 1 minute to do the second its just a matter of knowing how to do it.

Once the dust seal is in place push the piston all the way in.

Job done :-D

Please excuse the presentation of my calipers they do need a good sanding down and a paint but they work and I'm piss poor skint and cant afford caliper paint. :lol:

Hope it helps some people out.

Ash

First of all you need to cut into the underside to give clearance for the tank and remove the stud/securing bracket for the early mechanism:

This shows the bracket that I found fouled the late cable securing bracket on the rear axle. The stud and the floorpan it attaches to needs to be removed as well while fitting the tank. Easier to spot when doing it.

As for the handbrake mech itself, they are both a double skin that is spot welded to the underside.

Here's the donor part (you only need the tunnel for the template and you can just drill out the spot welds from the donor shell):

You drill out the spot welds (there's about 12 in the late one, few less on the early one) with a cobalt spot weld drill bit (~8mm).

Make a template from the late tunnel so you can cut out the shape for the new lever into your early tunnel:

Then once you have the two skins removed, you can start to fit the later one to your early chassis. Grind off the surface so that it will sit flush with the tunnel.

Push it roughly into place, and mark out where to drill holes so that you can plug weld them. You can seam weld the part in, but I think that is overkill.

Once the holes for the welds are drilled, use a jack and block of wood to push it into place from underneath.

Now that it is in place you can weld it in, mine has 12 welds in total. Then use seam sealant underneath to prevent any water ingress between the two surfaces.

Now just paint any bare metal, you can grind the welds off inside if you're picky (it will be beneath the carpet). Also get some stone chip and get some nice coverage on the underside where the new piece is.

(stone chip pic here)

You may need to trim to get access to the handle bolts:

Bit of white grease on the handle won't hurt:

Then it's just a simple case of bolting the handle in, fitting the cable and adjusting!

Hope this is of use to people.

anyone got some pics of how they fitted them 2.

Error via VAGCOM:

01276 - ABS Hydraulic Pump (V64)

16-00 - Signal Outside Specifications

I took out the ABS control unit... and after fighting with it for an hour I managed to get the lid off...

I kinda figured, its buggered so might as well tear it appart and smash it up... its only £600 for a new module..

first, take the ABS pump and the computer apart:

Open the case (with a dremel for example, case comes in one peace)

And this is what it looks like:

In the top left corner is the connector for the ABS pump motor. It is driven by two transistors on two seperate circuits.

Between the two connectors for the pump motor is a simple sensor circuit, if there is no motor plugged in (IE open circuit) this circuit feeds back into the EEPROM IC in the centre of the board and presumably tells the system to shut down and give a fault code...

Amazingly, on closer inspection this is what I find!

The pulse loading on the soldered joint for the motor connector was not up to the job, it has melted and failed!!! There is NO connection to the pin!

10 mins with a soldering iron and the fault code has GONE!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

If anyone else tries this, MAKE SURE you dont insert anything into the case when you are trying to lever the lid off, you WILL destroy the circuit board! And make sure you seal it back up properly afterwards with silicone so it doesnt get wet!

(maybe good for a sticky topic because it is a quick and easy fix)

And any tips ? Gonna attempt to fit it tomorrow that is all :)

Basically I can wobble the calipers a fair bit, the pads are completly loose, they are vw 2 calipers with vw1 carriers. I did have the same problem a few months back and solved it by just giving the brakes a gd bleed, but this time bleeding makes no difference. Oh and the bolts that hold them to the struts are tight

Any advice guys?

jack up the car and support it on axel stands, remove whichever wheel on the side your doing first, this guide is on the passeneger side but the same applies to both sides

so you start with these:

and a TCA that looks like this: (notice the standard rubber bushes)

start by undoing the pinch bolt that holds the ball joint to the bottom of the suspension strut

then tap the bolt through gently and put it to one side for later

then use a long bar to lever the anti-roll bar down so you can pull the strut free (up against the gearbox works well)

next unscrew the nut and bolt on the inner of the TCA that holds it to the car and again tap it out gently

this next step is made alot easier if you put a jack underneath the ARB so you have something to push against, then undo the nut that holds it onto the ARB:

and then using the long bar once again to push the ARB down you should be able to pull the TCA off fairly easily, if not, tap it with a mallet

so now you should have something that looks like this:

i was lucky with the next step and my bushes came out very easily, but the TCA over an open vice and a few well aimed blows on the centre of the metal sleeves should have them out in no time:

now you have a TCA that looks like this:

clean the holes and smear with copper slip

the powerflex bushes should just push in by hand, but if not then a vice will push them in fine

and you should now have a TCA that looks like this :)

in true haynes style, refitting is a reversal of removal, just copper slip all the bolts etc

the finished product:

lower the car to the floor and double check everything is still tight and double check everything has settled in fine after a few days

i think this should be in the FAQ

There are loads of tools you need for this job and i never thought to write them down as we used them, so i cannot be helpful on this part, all i can say is that most of the tools are common enough and you should have lying about, however there is one that catches a few people out, so if you dont have it, find one before you start. I think its called a multi spline socket, looks like a torx bit but with more teeth.

Before:

Firstly, jack the car up, use axel stands, or lift as we used, remove the bolt at the bottom of the shocks.

It should now look like this.

Now do this on the other side if you have both rear wheels of the car jacked up off the ground. take the weight of the axel though as once you remove the 2 bolts the axel will drop.

Remove the springs if they haven't already bounced out, keep the rubber bits that are on the top of the springs for later, and should look like this.

Now bolt the new spring adjusters into place like so.

Adjust them by screwing the top piece around

Remove the 2 bolts holding the shocks on the car, do this on both sides and they should just fall out.

Like so.

Now it starts to get a bit more comlicated. We put the shock into a vice, and attached some mole grips to the centre piece at the top to stop it spinning while we unscrewed the nut.

Once unscrewed the bottom of the shock should fall out, keep everything as it is as the bit in the vice needs to go back on the new shock.

Old vs new.

Tighten the new one up in the same way with the new shock in.

woop.

But remember to put the plastic cap on the top after.

Now put it back on the car the same way it came off, 2 bolts.

Should look like this from below.

Do the same for the other side and you should have something like this?

Now get the rubber bits from earlier when you removed the old springs, and put them in the top of the new springs.

This bit is a little awkward with just 2 people, you need to put the springs in place (remember the rubber bits go at the top, they should fit nicely to the car) and lift the axel so you can put the 2 bolts through the new shocks

It should now look like this? tighten up them bolts and thats the backs done.

Now lets move on to the fronts, the hard bit.

firstly, unclip the tubes/lines that are attached to the old strut, or ones that might get in the way, they should just pop out.

Next we need have removed the drop links which would be where his hard is in the previous pic. And a close up of where it was, we just removes the top part of the drop link, and done the bottom later, i'd reccomend taking the whole drop link off first. They are annoying little things, they have a torx bit inside of a socket, i hacksawed my drop links off because they were rounding the torx bit, but watch you dont saw through the bar the are connected to.

This is where that funky multi spline tool thing comes in handy, it looks totally rusted in the pic so you cant see the teeth, but there it is anyway, remove that.

A view from the other side once its been removed, now remove the bolts from the top of the strut in the engine bay, there should be 3 for each strut. we left one in just to keep it in place, but i think it would have been easier removing all 3. After this its a right pain to get the strut out, where the strut sits into that bit we have just taken the bolt out of, you need to prise it open a bit to get a bit of movement with the strut, we used a chisel underneath. Take the steering lock of so you can move the disk etc. Then its a case of pulling and fiddling around to get it out, it seems impossible but you will get it in the end.

Once its out, put it in the spring clamp and tighten it up, but be careful, these things are dangerous. Now remove the bolt off the top, its got a dogey allen key in the centre,

Keep everything as it is because once again it all needs to go back on the new strut. This is the part you need, that black bit int he centre is off my new strut, it should fit snug in there.

Now put it on the new strut and tighten it up but remember that dodgey allen key bit in the centre, use your old nut for the top as it seems better than the ones you get with the vmaxx kit.

Here it is, all tigtened up, woop, remove it from the vice, be careful.

Put it back on the car and tighten the 3 bolts up in the engine bay to keep it steady (as you can see my old drop link is still on, because i left it till the end).

make sure it is all lined up, give it a bit of lube and try and force it back in, it will be tough so we used an axel stand underneath and lowered the car onto it very slowly which bashing it into place and keeping it right. Tighten up that dodgey multi sline tool and were almost done. Re attach them tubes etc onto the new struts.

New drop links on....and thats one side done, now go do the other side and good luck.

After:

thanks for looking and i hope this has been helful, please let me know if i have got anythign wrong and i will change it. i will update this with some better pics once they have settled and have been adjusted lower. thanks, brad mole

Both sides have major play!

So i was just wanting sum tips on fitting new ones, is there anything i need to look out for?

I do have mechanical experience but i was just making sure!

Cheer's Dan

Am in the procces of fittign these at the moment.

The holes on the new blocks, when over the ARB, dont seem to line up with the holes on the car.

1. What am I doing wrong.

2. What are the metal plates for/Where do they go?

3. What are the 2 circle things for