Powell2.0

They were about 50 per wheel, so not exactly wheel specialist money, but not cheap either. Finish is shiny/smooth. Basically a very dark grey with some flek to make it metallic. The finish isn't bad, but there is the odd area where there is some excess paint, so a small ripple in the corners of some spokes. Also a bit of flek pokes out in the odd area, wouldn't have noticed any of this if I hadn't sealed them. I spoke to the guy who said they have never had a problem with doing the wheels like this and I should go back and let them try to fit them. I might do it but still a bit concerned about how they will try to show me they will fit...

So is this a common occurrence then? It was a company specialising in alloy wheels and refurbishment, so I am a bit disappointed that they didn't find a way of preventing this from hapening in the process. I am not that familiar with how powdercoating works, but I don't see why they cannot mask certain areas that it shouldn't get into. I am in 2 minds as to whether I should call them and ask them tofix it. I don't particularly want to spend my time cleaning them all up (I tried 4 of them with the same issue on both sides at the rear), but I don't want them to attempt to fit them by firing them on with an impact wrench.

This is probably a daft question, and a bit more general for here, but: I recently had a set of 17" spiders refurbished (dipped and powder coated) for my vRS ready for summer. However, having sealed them and attempted to fit them tonight I have found that none of them will go flush onto hub - they seem to stick around the centre before they get there. My other set of spiders does that a bit on one wheel, which makes it a pain to get off, but with a bit of pursuasion it will go on fully. Certainly doesn't have the size of gap all of these seem to. Given the wheels fitted fine before refurbishment, I assume it is because there is too much paint around the centre on the inside. So, is this normal? I guess that if I had let the place that did them put them on the car they would have just pulled them onto the hub with the wheel nuts, but if I did this would I ever be able to get them back off again? Should I remove some of the paint around the centre with sand paper? Any advice would be welcome - I'm sure I didn't have this issue with any other set of wheels I've had.

Can you take a photo? If the hub nut is on (12 sided jobby) the driveshaft should be held in the hub by the bearing.

Bought the same one (Varta D15) for 57.50 18 months ago. Works a treat, although one of my gauges resets its colour at startup when the rear screen heater is on when it's cold, grrrr.

Is the hub nut missing or something? This does not sound right... Coilovered my suspension last summer and there was no reason why the driveshaft would come out of the hub.

Have the same problem, and had it on my 2 litre Mk1 also. Cost £20 at my local in Peterborough on the 2 litre, they just put a clamp around it, Just been to a powerflow garage, they want £40 to weld in a new section where its broke, which isn't a bad deal. Otherwise will be about 325 for a custom 2.5" catback with an oval tale pipe, close as they do to standard. That gives you the option of more noise or you can go back later and get a reonnator box welded in, which is what I'm thinking on the vRS. Then if you're looking at stage 2 they can consider a 2.5" downpipe on the existing (400cel) cat for roughly £120, or more for a 200cel if you want to play the MOT lottery. Otherwise the cheapest new catback I've seen is 370 for a piper. Cheaper if you can find secondhand but that's more luck than anything else. Also bare in mind the exhaust isn't going anywhere without the centre mount, will just knock a bit.

You could try Apex in Peterborough, I think they have 4 wheel alignment for a reasonable price. However, without going to a dealer I don't think it will be easy to find out what's wrong - even then I wouldn't have much confidence and it'll cost you £70+ just for them to measure it. Personally, I would strongly suspect the hub. However, if you're handy, if it's a bent strut you should be able to test it - ie take it out, remove spring, push the top in, rotate the inner tube 180° with respect to the outer tube and try again. If there's a big difference in force to push it in, or it won't go in it will be fairly conclusive. You can get the strut and spring out without removing the hub nut if you use spring compressors.

Yes, let a garage change it once when I took it in for a cambelt. The next year when replacing it I couldn't get it off without buying one of those 3/8ths drive caps that goes onto the bottom and even then it took some effort. Had no chance without it. However, I've changed it once since and had no leaks so fortunately nothing was damaged. Never had this problem until I let a garage change it either.

Well, which ones did you get? I remember reading that one option of top mount wasn't held by the inner nut for some reason, but I can't remember which thread or which option... try searching for 'top mount' or 'coilover' and see if it comes up. My powerflex bushes were held in place by the inner nut, but i'm not sure about the LCR, 10mm drop polybushes or the OEM bush. The OEM might have a spacer that shouldn't be re-used on a coilover according to this guide http://www.noahlh.com/car/coilover_howto/ , not sure if that could be the reason?

Yeah, but there's more than 25mm of thread on the fronts, ... and possibly the rear, not sure, I only fitted them a week ago and my memory's already fading.... I'll measure it all again tomorrow. I used a 22mm injector socket on the front to torque it up. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181439658296?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648 or there's an identical one on amazon. Then just put a 6mm allen key through to hold it. or maybe you could use a 6mm allen socket and a deep offset 22mm spanner? Trying to do the 16mm nut on the rears for the mounting was also tricky, just managed it with a crows foot socket and mole grips (top of the strut would probably need a 4mm spanner otherwise, 6mm was certainly too big and it's only 2 sided anyway, not hex), unless you just guess 20Nm and use an offset spanner.... Also, I had to compress both front springs (with the spring compressors upside down), but that might be because I have pollybushed wishbones.

I am not sure where the AP max drop comes from, maybe the max range to be within the optimum damping range? Or maybe the range on the rear? The fronts seemed to have a big range though, probably 80mm of thread? Harold may be able to correct this while they're off. I set my rears to about half way - 7-8 threads from the bottom? And my front initially to about 14 threads from the bottom, then quickly dropped the F N/S (passenger) by 3 threads and F O/S (driver) by 2 threads. Recon it's below normal, and the Rear N/S is lower than the rear O/S. I will double check the thread count and try to take a reasonable measurement on a flat bit of the car park at work tomorrow, but I think I'm ~10-15mm lower all round and I've done 100 miles on them. In retrospect I would have gone half way on the front, but I was worried about the speed bumps at work and the cupra r splitter... something else for me to measure tomorrow! I'll be balancing the rears and dropping the front a little more soon. Each full revolution does about 4-5mm, based on a rough measurement without bothering to take the wheel off.... Also, I used the powerflex top mounts, which shouldn't offer any drop over standard. Don't forget to grease the **** out of the adjustment threads while they're apart! I used copper grease.

Just finished fitting mine and after a quick run I'm really happy with them. It feels like an improvement over my original suspension, although that was rather worn. Not tried it on real country roads yet mind. Also I'm running standard ride height at the moment, planning to let it settle before I drop it, but even running it standard I like how flat she runs and it's cheaper than all round OEM suspension. Cost me about £100 at the dealers to get all the parts (including bump stops), although that included the bracket that houses the water temp sensor that I need for removing the SAI pump (not related to fitting coilovers). Give me a shout if you want any recommendations on fitting/tools while it's still fresh in my mind! I spent 2 days on it, after assembling the front struts beforehand (which is a bit of a pain in its own right). But I did take long lunches, was extra careful in jacking/supporting it, it rained, and I did a lot of cleaning and painting while it was apart.

Stil have yet to do this, but..... FYI for anyone looking, the p/n for the bracket that holds the temp sensor (in the way of the SAI hose removal/blanking) is 06A 121 132 AP. It includes an o-ring for the block but not one for the temp sensor. I will add the number for the temp sender o-ring when I get it.. not sure if it will be required but better safe than sorry!

I've been going through the same thing myself... currently waiting on a set of APs because as far as I can tell they are the best for the ~£400 mark and I could not get any KWs in time for this Thursday when I need to do the job. When spoke to Damian he suggested that the ST Xs are better than the old Heicon GTs, having closer internals to the v1s (a bit like the old galvanised v1 basics), but I haven't tried either so I can't guarantee the extra money is worth it! Not sure I have heard of anyone running them yet. But for £45-60 might as well go for the v1s in my view.... For fitting and parts required, check out this post http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/183280-octavia-mk1-vrs-coilover-fitting-guide/?hl=%2Bcoilover+%2Bguide#entry2202955 . Part numbers have changed a little (the last number is the revision number I think), this is updated as of this year from Bowders1's post (apart from a few I bought last year). Front Suspension Outer Top nut, self-locking 21mm x2 N 903 536 04 Lower strut mounting bolt 18mm x2 N 102 078 04 Lower strut mounting nut 18mm x2 N 101 064 02 Inner front strut nuts 18mm x2 1H0412365A Strut Top Bearing x2 1J0-412-249 (GSF P/N 45737A) Hub Strut Spreader X1 3424 Rear Suspension Upper shock mounting bolt 16mm x4 N90 648 402 Lower shock bolt 16mm x2 N90 517 304 Lower shock nut 16mm x2 N10 286 110 Front Suspension (although there are other options, LCR or powerflex or the 10mm dropping pollybush) Strut Top Mount x2 1J0-412-331C (GSF P/N 45736) If you look at the fitting guide in the post above some tools are recommended. I intend to use an injector socket for tightening the nut but also have a deep offset spanner to help loosen. I bought these which appear to fit (only just on the spanner due to the depth of the nut), but I haven't tried the job yet. My top nut is 21mm but the nut on the coilovers can vary apparently if they supply one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003TNW864/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181439658296?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190731119927?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648 Not sure if the last one will be strong enough for undoing the nut if it is seized, or if the 12 point openings are ideal but we'll see.