This page is here as a service to fellow Scirocco Owner/Enthusiasts.
If you are able to provide assistance, e-mail the person via the underscored (or highlighted) link.
Here is your chance to help someone with your experiance.
Help requests will be posted for one month and removed unless otherwise requested.
I've had a 87' Scirocco 16V since new. While in the air Force in CA I had Ron Wood at VW Specialities put in all the suspension and bracing items. Autotech swaybard, Neuspeed upper fr & r strut tower braces. That was it until last year when the cam belt broke on my wife. I only had 65K mi and the cambelt had been replaced by Woods at 36K mi. Well I was real surprised at how much the garage here in Brunswick GA wanted just to redo my heads ($700) then there's the labor too!!! I called R. Woods in CA and he recommended Cambell Nelson Wrecking in Wash. Said they seem to get some real low mileage 16V 2 liter motors. I made my order for a 23K mi Jetta motor...wait a few weeks (after charging $1150 to my Visa) I get the motor and it's really been used! Since it was freight collect I was told by Cambell Nelson that I could not get the $150 shipping fees returned and would have to pay another $150 to send it back to them. Also at that point they noted it was a Passat motor with 65K mi. But they said they'd take $200 off the price and put it back on my Visa. So I paid about $1100 for an ill maintained motor that even had a water pump bolt broken. This is the peril of dealing with these guys and the
word oughta get out. Well we put in the motor with a euro intake cam, Techtonics dbl down pipe/tailpipe/muffler, new hoses, clutch,motormounts, ball joints, metal master pucks all around, nylon subframe bushings, etc. This gig cost me $1000 labor @ $40 per hr. Total project around $4,000. I was stunned at the performance. It pulls very hard and idles smooooth. Gas mileage went
up a bit. The sound is a bit routy on accelleration but quiet at cruise. Tips for anyone doing this Don't go very long distance for a motor. I didn't want to have $300 in freight charges and no motor (if I'd returned it). Discuss how many hrs and at what rate the garage charges. I went to a good mechanic but the place looks like my bro darryll & his udder bro darryl. I never dreamed $40 an hr. in SE Georgia! Their work was flawless and I know you CA folks think that's cheap. Also I used the original pressure plate with a new clutch. It's fine, but in a hard near redline shift into 4th or 5th I can see the tach jump a bit meaning it's slipping. Bummer now huh. Shoulda used the sport clutch plate and disc. Randy Ashurst, Brunswick GA.
(30-06-97
To all those with cold starting problems, before you spend big dollars on needless repairs, try running additional groundstraps from the negative battery terminal to the unibody and from the engine to the unibody. This helped my '87 16v to be able to start and run much better. Chuck (15-9-96)
This note is to all who are either currently building or are considering rebuilding the scirocco engine. If you need to replace the intermediate shaft bearings in the block DO NOT buy the brazilian or German bearings! BOTH need to be honed to match the size of the shaft. At first it does not sound to bad but after 3+ hours of work it can be a real pain! A better (and quicker ) route is a set of American (yes Domestic) bearings. They are already honed to spec and actually look better out of the box. In addition, if you are looking to lose a little weight in rotating mass try swaping the intermediate shaft sprocket with a late model (87+ Scirocco 8V GTI GLI etc) cam sprocket. The sprockets are the same spec but the late model weights a whopping 75+ grams. scirocco@wazoo.com (25-9-96)
To all concerned, I have just replaced my exhaust manifold and Euro downpipe with a Autotech Header, and I am here to tell you THAT IT WORKS GREAT! The differnece in performance is unreal! Granted I am running a 0.050" overbored Audi 2.0 3A engine in a
84 Scirocco body with all the usual mods, but the header does work! The only downside is not in performance but in the quality of the header. After having sent back the first header to Auto Tech beacuse the mating surfaces would not seal, they PROMTLY replaced
it. However, it too had some mating surface problems. Fortunitly, these were easily overcome with 1000 grit sandpaper and a random orbital sander. So if you want a little bit more performance out of your H2O pumper try the Autotech header, but beware that you MUST check the mating surface FIRST! And for those of you who say the header does not last long because of the torque this one comes with a BALL JOINT to absorb the shock. scirocco@totacc.com
(10-11-96)
To all who are intrested in replacing their ignition system with an after market system here is some free advice. I bought both the Jacobs and MSD system and tried both out for approx. 30 days and here is what I discovered. There was a bit of an increase with the Jacobs system but for almost $400 it was alittle disapointing. Then I bouth a MSD system out of one of the hot rod mags and talk about a difference! Yes, the technology between the two systems is very different, but boy could my car run after I installed the MSD 6AL system! Just the seat of the pants dyno could tell you there was a larger increase than with the Jacobs. THe hardest part of the whole install was trying to find a place to mount the ignition box. In addition, the price was around $150 with
shipping, and their tech department was great! Therefor, if you are intrested email me and I'll give you the low down on the time trial figures and what not.stefan c/o scirocco@totacc.com
(25-11-96)
I know of some cheap hop ups that cost nothing to get more power out of your VW. One is the short shift kit is only an extended shifter linkage so instead of paying lots of money for one from those mail order companies, lenghten yours. Another cheap hop up is the intake tube on 8v's are pretty small if you have the right rubber boots on either end of that tube you can fit a piece of staight PVC pipe in there and that won't restrict your air flow as much. A trick that I saw was to put a switch in line with your O2 sensor, for some reason when your sensor is not plugged in it runs richer and it's faster. If you want to see if it helps your car just reach behind your intake and find the plug with the thick green wire going to it and unplug it. If it works you can add a switch so when you're not racing you can save
the planet! Also the 8v's have a full throttle enrichment switch on your throttle linkage. I read in the Hayes book that it doesn't come into play until 4000rpms but I think it is always in play, so you can put a jumper wire in between the connectors or you can find some one that can wire a relay that will switch the O2 sensor and the enrichment switch so when you want to race you just flip one switch. If you live in a warm climate or you don't mind swapping the are intake valve which is located at the inlet of your air box. It only has one screw. A simple thing you can do to go faster is to put as little washer fluid in the resivoir as needed. The less weight the faster you go.
steve mattis
(19-1-97)
Help from a dated owner:
To all the folks with fuel problems. Be aware that certain sciroccos (namely 85+) are under FACTORY RECALL for the transfer pump. This is due to the lack of feet on the pump. all work is free. See your dealer with your VIN for more info.
Some sciroccos are also covered under the old heater core replacement program. This is due to some heater cores dumping coolant in the pasenger compartment. (84+?) See your dealer again... Before you blow big bucks on aftermarket ignitions, coils, etc.. try replacing all the worn out stock parts! cap, rotor, shield (if applicable) replace points with eletro., wires (a big one!), and especially a NEW bosch coil. You will be just as amazed as an aftermarket kit. Get new injector buckets ($1us/piece!) and injectors if nessecary!
another amazing difference. Be SURE to have a professional check your mass air-flow sensor. You'd be amazed how many I've seen that do not operate properly any more due to dirt, oil, and muck (over-drilled air boxes, and badly fitting filters+oil) See Bentley for you do-it-yourselfers. Excessive vibration on sciroccos is most times the aging engine mounts. TT sells an excellent $80us set of harder ones than stock. Bellvue MS sells an excellent racing header for 8vs, coupled with an oversize(or no, but I can't endore that) cat and exhaust can make quite a bit of extra bolt-on bhp. Preserve those fenders, yard parts are getting scarcer. ^_^ Ed Wahl (24-2-97)
Ya know alot of people build and build there motors with a cam or port and polish there heads because someone advised them to do so. or put a large tip exhaust on because it sounds cool. there is alot more to this than just whats in a magazine. I own a 1977 VW scirocco with what was the origanal 1.6l now its Very modified but i did the same thing in the begining. just a note when you build a motor like that make sure your Valve springs are changed out also so you dont float the valves at higher Rpms. i take my car up to 7k sometimes
8k i would have fried the engine by now if i hadnt of changed out the Valvesprings to 10k heavy duty springs . This car puts out a screeming 190+ hp (Very unmanagable ) but it Took LOTS of work to get it there dont just go for the magazine pictures and adds look around . hope this helps fellow Scirocco Fans. Roccet@aol.com
(18-3-97)
I have a few tips. There little hop up kits that don't cost a lot for example, the short shift kit you get from the mail order companies, well you can have a machine shop make a little piece that extends the one you got, although you will have to have it welded on to your shifter it bets paying what ever they want for what it would cost only about $5 to have a machine shop make and weld on to your existing linkage.
fahrverg@sprynet.com
(18-3-97)
I have found a very cheap way to increase the air flow and air velocity to your A-1 vehicles , scirocco 1 and 2 , and Cabrio's . Goes along with the current available pipes on the market only cheaper!!! The trick is in the type of pipe you use . I found that using 3.0 inch ABS plastic drain pipe is much easier and cost effective than straight PVC . You maintain your current flex couplings to hook it up, there is also a trick to installing it .If you would like to hear more ,drop me an e-mail . I can also make you one and save you the trouble of the old cut to fit routine .I'll need to get a little for my trouble though , not much though drop me an e-mail at DWolfeVW1@aol.com
(21-4-97)
© 1997 cbjt revised 30 June 1997