Our Classics
Divine providence shines upon Charlie as the Scirocco suffers a breakdown right outside Triumph specialist, TRGB
1988 VW SCIROCCO SCALA
ÔArrive at about nine to nine-thirty.’ Features Editor Chris Hope’s words were still ringing in my head as plumes of steam billowed out from under my Scirocco’s bonnet, just seconds after starting it on a fairly cool morning. At least passing children had something entertaining to look at on their way to school – modern cars rarely suffer such dramatic breakdowns.
Chris and I had an appointment to drive some cars at Triumph specialist, TRGB, that morning and what contingency time I had left was quickly disappearing. Closer inspection revealed that one of the coolant pipes feeding the VW’s auto-choke had split and was spilling coolant straight onto the exhaust manifold. I later reasoned that the recent adjustments I had been making to the choke (which is done by simply rotating the entire unit, including the pipes) had put the rather oldlooking pipes under rather more stress than they were used to.
Not having any suitable piping at home, I thought that if I could at least get the VW to TRGB, then the guys there would be sure to have something to hand that could replace the faulty component. It was at this point I discovered that tape does not stick well to rubber, or whatever compound my Scirocco’s pipe was made from. I therefore rotated the choke slightly (thereby putting it out of adjustment) so that the pipe was in a less curved position, which allowed it to largely seal itself. A thorough clean of the pipe and some precise tape work also managed to get a ring of electrical tape over the crack, though I’m not sure how much help this was. With a canister of coolant in the boot, I managed to make the 20-mile journey to TRGB’s Somersham premises without any stops – or steam – arriving at precisely nine-thirty.
‘These VWs, they’re just not reliable’ said a decidedly smug Chris, leaning against his TR7 that had delivered him without any problems. What’s more, the VW was hardly going to get much sympathy in this regard from a place full of Triumph enthusiasts. Given that I was going to need some help to fix the ’Rocco, I thought it best to let the jokes flow. And besides, Triumph fans rarely get to boast about reliability to VW owners…
After spending a few hours with the TRGB team, they told me that they didn’t have any coolant piping thin enough for the VW, but had managed to find a braided fuel pipe offcut that happened to be the right diameter. It was far too short to be of any use as fuel piping, so the guys kindly donated the offcut to the Scirocco’s cause, remarking that my car now had one of the most expensive lengths of water piping ever fitted to a car! The fuel piping had far thicker walls than the rubber piece it was replacing, so a lot of elbow grease was needed to get it to slide over the lip of the choke inlet; at the finish, a few of us had to have a go at pushing it on. With the help of a hose clamp, however, it did eventually reach the point where it was finally secure, if not exactly in perfect position.
The Scirocco ran like this for a couple of days with no issues, before I managed to get myself some proper piping that fits perfectly and should last the VW another 30 years.
With the VW back to its usual cool self, I can concentrate on sorting out the running issues from which it has been suffering for the past month or so – which was why I was having to adjust the choke in the first place…