Alfashark

Ahh, that does throw a spanner in the works.

Unsure how things work in the Dorito world, but can you give them a holler and see if they'll exchange the manifold and downpipe for a smaller option?

Nice! There's a guy somewhere here in NZ that has them shipped to him for repair/rebuild from all over the world. You could end up being the next Mario Batkovic...

Battery out overnight should fix that.

They're a common item to be removed and coded out of the ECU on certain Audi V6 and V8 models that use direct injection - No fuel mist to clean the carbon off them and they end up sticking and bringing up a fault code.

What's the configuration on yours? If yours has the flap but no actuator, it'd be a safe bet that it's a weird 1655 on a Friday crossover combination - If there's no CEL on the dash, then the ECU isn't coded to look for an actuator and therefore gives no fucks. Just whip the flap assembly out and be done with it.

Enough meat in that housing to tap a thread and throw a banjo fitting on there?

You've always got one of Coventry's finest/heaviest six cylinder engines pushed into a corner of your workshop...

Kits sure ain't cheap anymore! Kmart used to flog Airfix 1/72 stuff for about $10 and The Warehouse got some obscure kits that were decent quality for about $15, even up to 1/48 scale. What is interesting is the paint etc is roughly the same price as it was 30 years ago.

Much appreciated gents! Nearly had a fried puppy this morning, so those plugs will make shielding them a lot easier.

Power cables: What's the proper name for the plug that looks a bit like an inverted triangle with the "peak" flattened off - Reasonably common on PCs etc. Next question: Are they available with the cord exiting at 90° instead of straight put the back? I'm after a right side exit and a left side exit.

Yeah, get it out and give it a manual clean then reinstall. Clear codes and then start making some phonecalls for pricing of a DPF-ectomy and relevant coding to make sure the ECU thinks everything is sweet. Get an EGR delete + coding done at the same time and you'll be set for life.

VR6 it is then! Probably far too tall for the space available...

@yoeddynz Still got the little Mazda V6 dimensions handy?

3-series or small end of the C-class Mercs? The Hyundai Staria van with seats has an IRS setup, but the Staria Load has a live axle.