Connecting the Diverter Valve...

[newsh]

No rest for the wicked, I went out and checked the perch height on the avant WG, it was 24mm

So that makes

My Avant - 24mm (never tampered with)
My spare cap - 27mm (never tampered with)
Your 3B cap - 32mm (also never tampered with till we pulled the cap off and found the screw inside was touching it!)

So your wastegate spring was preloaded 8mm less than my avant.

I think the bolt in your wastegate cap had unwound itself as the threadlock was doing nothing and once the plug was removed the bolt turned easily, normally they can be quite difficult to free up and need some thinners or heat to get them moving.

It would probably be a good idea to buy a new stock 3B wastegate spring too. I thought afterwards we shouldn't have squashed that one of mine down to nothing trying to see how strong it was, it seemed softer after that.. I cant remember if the stock 3B spring is the same as the ABY spring, I'm sure Rusty will tell us though

We should try to get a clip on the FPR, easiest way to do that is by removing the PCV valve. Would be best to use a bit of braided for that and a squeeze clip.

When you've done the WGFV and tweeked the boost to about 17-18 psi you might want to threadlock the WG to stop it adjusting itself.

[Robatron]

It would be interesting to find out whether the WG caps were set differently or whether age can take it's toll and winds themselves up over time.

Thank you so much for all your help, I had no idea I'd end up taking 7 hours out of your day but we finally got there! I'll give Quattro Corner a call in the morning (assuming he's available) and order myself the WG spring and WGFV.

I've taken the car out a few times and it's making about 18psi in 5th gear. I'm not sure if it has anymore to give as by the time it hits 18psi its already hit a fair old speed!

I'll order your shopping list and drop it over to you. Thanks again for all your help.

Also, thank you to everybody who contributed in this thread. Thanks to you guys I managed to get all the vacuum hoses fitted...they were even the correct way around too!