TomB

Cheers for all the messages guys, I shall speak to the insurance company tomorrow and let those of you who are after parts know what the score is. Thanks again, Tom

...but all your cars are now worth slightly more than they were on Saturday. My beloved Blue Beast is no more, and I'm so gutted it isn't true. I was coming around a corner on the way into Pocklington, the passenger side rear wheel clipped the verge, and I started heading for the opposite side of the road on full opposite lock. Just as it caught and I thought it would all be ok, I hit the verge and hedge on the other side of the road which flipped the car causing it to roll. It eventually stopped the right way up facing the opposite way, having bent the bonnet, pushed the engine back, bent the chassis, collapsed the roof on the driver's side, and warped the boot. I'm so sorry for having destroyed such a beautiful car, I can't begin to describe it. Both my passenger and I were fine (apart from a couple of bruises), so that at least is testament to the engineering quality of the car. Take it from me, those seats and belts are invaluable, as they hold you in even when you are barreling down the road at speed, the wrong way up. On the positive side, if there can be one from a tragedy of this magnitude, there may be bits going spare. I have to speak to my insuance company and see what deals they can offer, but as I have nowhere to store the car to strip it, it will have to be accomplished in one trip. I'm thinking that I can get interior bits, the 15" Sebrings (5 in total, 2 with brand new tyres :mad: ), window switches, fog lights (which I had just replaced :mad: ) etc. However, I AM NO MECHANIC, so I can't do anything complicated (such as get the exhaust off which is less than 2 months old :mad: but I'll see what I can do. None of the parts are officially on sale so no prices, as I don't know what I'll be allowed to get. However, if there is anything that anyone would like me to try and pry off, then please let me know. If you can call me on 07968 004 309 rather than post on the Forum, as I'm not going to have net access until I get back to work tomorrow, and I shall do my best to get whatever I can. I'd just like to end this post by saying once again that I'm sorry :cry: , however, I shall once again take to the road in a Corrado, and this one I shall take a great deal more care of. Take it easy y'all, Tom

Cheers to Danger Mouse for sending out the A-Pillar trim so quickly (and so well wrapped). Thnaks, Tom

Sweet. The best we can do overon the East Coast is one very tired looking Polo... :)

Got the shock of my life to walk out for lunch at work yesterday (Thursday 13th) to find a beautiful G plate grey Corrado parked in the west offices car park (by the old station) in York. This is the rail industry so no-one except me seems bothered by cars, nice to be proved wrong :) Must be a visitor as I haven't seen it before. I did get a photo using my phone, so I'll post it up when I get the chance. Cheers, Tom

'95 M plate, 161,000 miles approx. Booked into the garage on Friday though as something sounds unwell under the bonnet and she's using a lot of oil... Perhaps France was a bad idea (yeah right).

I second the recommendation on Chris Knott. I believe they give a discount to Corrado Club of Great Britain members as well, so it might be worth calling them up on that premise. As a 25 year old with 7 years NCB (protected) I got £500 fully comp on a 2.0l 16v. Good luck, Tom

Gutted, but glad that you're mostly ok. Definately buying it back is a good idea, you could probably make your money on spares to people on here :) I agree with G60Jet, about the whiplash as well. Good luck, Tom

Thanks all. I shall try to take as many photos as possible when I do it (passenger side only I'm afraid). Good idea about tying the cable ends together, wish me luck :wink: Cheers, Tom

I've now got the replacement foglight for the 'rado, and I'm going to try and fit it this weeeked. However, I'm no mechanic so if anyone out there has done this and can give me any hints/tips do's and don'ts I'd be most grateful. I'm planning to borrow a trolley jack from a friend, but can anyone tell me how long it's likely to take (bearing in mind my inexperience with any car post 1935 :wink: ). Cheers, Tom

Sweet. I've never lost my passion for the bug (my first was a '73 GT). Looking forward to seeing the results....

Not a stealer again but Lexx Autocenter in York. Back when I had my Passat, there was oil in the header tank, and as they'd always been reasonable with my Peugeot, I took it in. A cursory glance under the bonnet and it was "You've a blown head gasket, give us £1000 and we'll fix it." My response was unprintable, but included the fact that his amount was more than the cost of the car. Went to my small independant local garage (Faber) on a friend's recommendation, they flushed it all out and asked me if I was experiencing any bad performance, difficulty starting etc. When I said no, then they asked me to run it for a couple of weeks and check the header tank for oil again. When I took it back with oil in it, they changed the oi cooler for £40. Job done. Never go to Lexx Autocentres....unless you are of a charitable mindset and want to put their kids through university. Cheers, Tom

I do indeed have an adjustable steering column, so once I have finished sweating and straining with boxes, I shall sort it out (or attempt to :) ) I'm losing my garage on the 19th so I'm putting together a big list of things to do (door handles, spot light, bulb light etc). Cheers again, Tom

Cheers gents. The search (and the packing) continue.... Cheers, Tom

Will do. I'm never going to get the packing done at this rate....damn! :) Procrastinating? Moi? Cheers, Tom

Cheers gents, I shall keep searching for something more appropriate than those methinks... Thanks for expanding my knowlege on the subject, much appreciated. Cheers, Tom

Cheers Henny, I shall investigate further after I have got this move out of the way. I suppose on that note I should go and continue packing... :roll: Getting the clocks out sounds ominous though... Cheers, Tom

Do you know any easy way of finding out? The MX-5 is unfortunately 150 miles away, so I can't examine it. Also, could you explain PCD and offset please :oops: (I'm trying to learn :) ) Cheers, Tom

...but not for a Corrado. My mum has an MX-5 (despite my best efforts to persuade her to get a VR6 that I can *cough* borrow), but she has the standard steel (and rusty at that) wheels that go with it. I know that she's looking at better wheels for it and I saw these on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... RK:MEWA:IT They appear to be standard 4 stud 14" alloys (and the right tyres as well), but does anyone know if they need to be specific MX-5 wheels or not? Her birthday's next month and I was considering it... Cheers, Tom

Not an urgent one this as I can tell if my lights are on full beam or not, but I'm curious to know what might be causing it. I only noticed it after my ignition switch started to play up (but before it finally died), could the two be related? All the other lights on the display are fine, could it just be blown (although I thought it was an LED). Still, if it has gone....how easy is it to fix? Apologies for my lack of knowledge, I'm trying to learn as much as I can though. Roll on the car maintainence corse.... Cheers, Tom

I find one of the best policies is to use a 'pace car.' There'll always be someone wanting to go faster than you, just wait for them to go past, and crank it up to follow at a safe distance behind. This works especially well if the person in from has a radar detector :) I adopted this method since I got 3 points for getting nicked overtaking someone in my humble chip-fat powered Passat... at 97 nearly 3 years ago. :oops: You get to go like stink (especially if following something like an SLK), and if there are any traps/cameras then you see the brakel lights/camera flash in plenty of time to slow down. Of course, now I've made that public, that's the last time I get to try and keep up with a VR6 :D

Best of luck man, stick with it. You KNOW the Corrado's worth it...

Sorry to bring up the old chestnut of tyres once again, but I'm going to have to get some soon (sooner if I go on a track day), and was wondering what everyone recommends? I'm currently running on 185/55 fitted to the 15" Sebring alloys. I'm after a good blend of cost/quality (isn't everyone?), and was considering Pirelli P6000s. Any recommendations or 'don't touch these with a bargepole.' comments greatly appreciated. Cheers, Tom

Extremely :) I'm currently in the middle of moving house, and the last thing I needed was to take it to the garage (even my local rock solid Faber whom I trust implicitly) and have another bill on top of the cooker I just bought... Well chuffed doesn't begin to describe it! Cheers again, Tom P.S Just go back from the 'test drive.' Got a little carried away :)

Henny, you're a star :notworthy: Cheers mate, much appreciated. Despite the fact I have just spent somewhere like 2 hours spitting, swearing cursing and inventing new and interesting strings of abuse for non-moving mechanical parts, the switch is changed and it started first time. No more dodgy bonnet lifts with a bit of wire in my hand. Also stevemac if you're reading this, a big thank you to GSF. I ordered the part about 2.30pm yesterday and it came through in this morning's post. Much appreciated. Thanks to all, despite the pain in my neck, I have learned some more about my car, and fixed it with help from all you fine gentlemen and ladies. Now it's time to go for a drive and celebrate :D Cheers, Tom