Charleyvr6

Well I'm embarrassed to say that I had a towbar fitted to my C. a few months ago, I've just got divorced and have got tons of tools and equipment to move that I don't want scratching the leather, so I bit the bullet and spent a whole day on the interweb searching for a removable tow bar. My first hit was a company in Sussex, I phoned them and they said they could get one and fit it while I waited, not wanting to believe that my first hit would be the cheapest I spent the rest of the day trawling through thousands of pages towbarsrus/ towbarsulike/ towbarworld(or something of the like) and they all said noone made a detachable one that didn't require the bumper to be cut. So I drove down to a leafy little village in Sussex and an hour later I had a removable towbar fitted without a hole in my bumper. Needless to say I'm still in the process of moving out so it has remained on ( even at CCGB SE meets (hangs head in shame), but in the last month I have been rear ended no less than 4 times and every time not a scratch on my car. The first two were ladies in the snow (bless them) and the last two was some arrogant old g1t in a brand new Jag trying to park, the first time he hit my car with such force the angle of his bumper pushed the back of my car down about 3 inches. then he just drove forwards and did it all over again, realising he wasn't going to improve on that he left the front end jutting out into the road turned it off, by this time I'd seen enough and tapped on his window. He got out and I said "did you realise you've just hit my car twice" he replied "no I haven't" I ushered him over to the back of his car where his bumper was creased nicely around my towbar. "There" I said "you see it's still touching" he said "no it isn't it's touching your towbar, you should take the bloody thing off" I checked to make sure there was no damage to my car just as he walked off towards the Post Office, by this time I had lost my normal super cool demeanor and I walked straight up to him and with my face about 3 inches from his I said in a rather loud voice " you are an arrogant tw@t and I hope you die shortly" (it wasn't the best retort but was the best I could come up with at the time) he must have been used to it because even though he must have been at least 70 he didn't bat an eyelid and pushed past me (either that or I'm just not scary enough). 3 mins later he comes back out and moves it forwards so it is no longer touching, I'm thinking some of the old biddies waiting to get their pensions may have "encouraged him" that maybe it was his fault. Anyway just as he emerged from his car I went to get back into mine and his parting shot was "and anyway it's done more damage to my car than yours" I replied "so that's your apology for being a cr@p driver is it" I flipped him the bird and drove off. So it may look crap, but the towbar is staying on for now, or at least until the snow's gone.

Wow Sweet, I went to Jersey about 18 years ago and saw a nugget yellow Corrado and I knew from that moment I wanted a one (not necessarily yellow). I was staying in St Helia and can remember chatting up a very pretty traffic warden who decided to sit ontop of an unguarded wall very similar to the one in your picture, I'm not good with heights and I was so worried she was going to lean back and fall off I started stammering and talking gibberish and ruined my chances (damn). Nice car, is it true there are no speed limits in Jersey? Charley.

Nope still original timing chains and they don't rattle as bad as some on half that mileage(still need doing though). Suff I have had to do on a regular basis is as follows: 5 headlight switches 3 door handle thingeys 2 sunroof motors 3 steering wheels 4 front mount bolts with resulting damage to bonnet. 3 new rear silencers all due to rear end shunts. 1 Rad 1 heater core 2 sets of top mounts that never needed changing just a Pratt at the MOT centre wrongly failed them (twice). 1 snapped steering rack (terrifying). I guess the worst thing about high milage cars is they get more rattles every day, when I bought it there were 140,000 mainly motorway miles on it, so she was still pretty tightly held together. But since I have been using it as a van for the last few years things fall off on a fairly regular basis. I can't tell you how difficult it is not to scratch the leather when you bunging in ten lengths of 4x2. Still she polishes up pretty well so I'm hoping when I get my money from the divorce I can spend a bit on her (the car that is)

Just completed 200,000 yesterday,Same engine, same gearbox same clutch even, I bought the car from a mate who had it from new and he confirmed the clutch has never been changed. However the cylinder head is leaking first gear whines and the clutch is beginning to slip just a tad and the timing chains need doing. Looks like an expensive time is to come just as well I'm getting divorced in the bargain.

Is it really that simple just to undo the bolts and adjust it and tighten back up ? I've recently been contacted by 2 CCGB members who's mechanics have both been baffled as to how to do this. Anyone know the part numbers for the pins and bushes (if it has bushes that is) Thanks Charley.

Here's the link for the Instructions, http://www.corrado-club.ca/forum/viewto ... ght=matrix Best of luck.

Hi Guys, just noticed a little pink trace of G12+ coming out of the head gasket by the induction pipe. It doesn't seem to be leaking very much(no leak at all during tick over and no real sign of much fluid gone from the tank) but leaking it is. Do iI try sealing it with chemical metal or should I try leak seeker.Or should I start saving for a new gasket. All help much appreciated. Charley.

Good luck putting it in, took me two days to do it, the cc canada (I think)had a really detailed write up with pix and everything, I managed to do mine without taking the dash completely out which was a releif. Charley.

You gotta come to the 14/15th at Brands, I'll race you round the track at lunchtime ;-) Forum members most welcome too as it is not an official CCGB event. Have you still got my mobile number in case you can make Saturday? Charley

Well I'm meeting John Munyard at Brands on Saturday if anyone is interested? And another couple of dates for your diaries. Sunday 29th April A1 GP at brands. 14th and 15th July F3 GP and VW cup.(if we can get 20 cars we get a parade lap at lunchtime). Sunday 24th June VW expo at the hop farm. Incidentally I'm now in touch with the owner of the Saxonmotorsport VR6 Corrado who has just joined the CCGB and is keen to show his car at events (race calendar permitting). Let me know if your interested in any of these and I'll reserve some spaces. Charley.

Your right about the $tealers in Sevenoaks Nikki, never had a wrong part, always get a discount and if its small enough to fit in a jiffy bag they often post it to me foc. Sadly though service like this is rare, as most dealerships don't give a ratsass about anyone whos car is more than 5 years old. And as you know I do live in Kent but I won't take you on as not only is your VR charged but I probobly weigh twice what you do, I'd lose for sure. Btw I'm looking to start organising a few meets in the area now the weather is getting better, are you and Peanut up for it???? Charley. CCGB SE

Excellent ! I got ushered to this tread from the yahoo group and had just posted a similar problem. For the second year running my car has failed its mot on the top mounts, which have covered less than 8k since they were changed last year. My mechanic mate told the tester that when the spring is under no load they do wobble in the turrets and that this is perfectly normal. I have to say that in the 6 years I've owned the car this has always been the case and it has gone through the mot every time (before last year) so I always assumed it was normal (if a little odd) that it's just the weight of the car that keeps it together. It would also explain why I get the most godawful clonk when I go over one particular peice of back road that has a rather nasty very badly cambered surface when giving it some beans. (I guess the wheel comes off the ground for a second and then snaps back in). So can I now go and call the tester a wonker and ask him to pay me back for errouniously failing them last year. Cheers guys Charley.

May seem a strange question but does you spoiler still work, as it shares the same fuse as the immobiliser. Charley

Hmmm, not sure on the value but I'd check the rear calipers straight away, that rusty ring on the outside of the disc should not be there. It doesn't look like much of the pad is making contact with the disc, siezed calipers are very common on the Corrado, either that or they lied about new pads. Good luck with the repairs you should have yourself a very nice car with a bit of tlc. Charley.

Luckily its had 3 women owners !!!!!!! you wouldn't be saying that if one of them was my wife, her car's got about a grillion dents on it, she even managed to stove the sill in buy running over a boulder TWICE. On the subject of thrashing from cold, it's actually quite difficult to do on a VR6, On the very odd occasion I have needed to get off in hurry from cold it has always hunted and coughed out blue smoke and nearly died on me. I mentioned it to my local (independent) VW Mech thinking it was sensor/ computer related and he said it was normally due to the oil being cold and the hydraulic tappetts (not working well at that temperature) letting a bit of oil into the bore, hence the smoke and coughing. That being said I think this only applies to the first minute or so, so there's plenty of scope after that to reck the engine. Let us know if you buy it.

Me too 184,000 now and still on the same clutch and chains, gearbox is knackered though so might as well bite the bullet and get the lot done at the same time. Might try to squeeze it to 2k if I can stand the noise :)

Sunroof, heated door mirrors, door handles, headlight switch, heater controls, ABS light should flicker then go out. 2nd gear synchro. Mfa must work or walk away (it's been tampered with) I could go on..................... Good luck Charley.

a) in italic script, (b) using a font, "other than italic script" (which is illegal given the previous statement ), in which the characters are not vertical. That is two apparently conflicting statements An oxymoron?? "VR6" anybody ?????????? "V in line" only scholars need reply!!!!! Thanks for the link, I'll print it and keep it in the car ..........t there's not a court in the land that'll convict me.............nor understand ???????? Charley.

Just to comment on Jeremy's post, my number plate (N13VRG) is almost ienticle to yours and I got a £30 fine whilst parked up in Tonbridge in the same week as some naughty people stole over £50,000,00 from a securitas depot not half a mile from where I was. The humourless git who fined me didn't share my mirth at the irony. I have since gone back to legal plates for daily use but forgot to change them back after attending the CCGB AGM yesterday and travelled along the M42, so no doubt I'll get a letter from the DVLA for using illegal plates which will be another huge irony since if my plates are illegible, how will they know where to send the fine ??????. I did contact the DVLA recently to ask for clarification as to what "not significantly different" actually meant, as an example we humans share 99% of the same DNA as a cabbage so you could argue we are "not significantly different". I also asked for details of the law on spacing/ fonts as it stood in 1995 (the year of manufacture of my C) since it hardly seems fair to expect every motorist to update their number plates to current spec. The DVLA were hugely helpful by way of giving me a hyperlink to their website which contains absolutely NONE of the information I requested. Charley.

Some very positive and good ideas here, I have to say I'm definately warming to a merger, given the choice of no more ccgb or to link it with the forum it's a no-brainer, the survival of the ccgb depends on there being enough members to make it viable and at the moment it's looking gloomy, whilst this forum (and to a lesser extent the Yahoo forum) are going great guns. This has probobly all been said before but here goes another 2p. If indeed this merger is to happen it would be an extreemly good idea to cobble together some kind of concensus as how best to acheive it, and to put it forward at the ccgb agm (still no date announced yet). This has only two minor problems: 1). Is anyone on the board of the ccgb even aware of the proposal? It might be a tad embarrasing to turn up mob handed at the agm saying "we've come to take over your club." 2). The agm would have to made open to non-members especially the moderators of this forum in order for a mutually beneficial proposal to be acheived. (I think someone has already suggested this). The most important thing is to get the wheels in motion right NOW, we need someone from the board of the ccgb to stick their head above the parapit and say "actually the club's fine on it's own, mebership is up and we've got stacks of cash and planning a monthly copy of the Sprinter" or (and rather more likely) "actually the clubs not fine, membership is down and the coffers are empty, let's talk" Also if this is to be seriously considered then the ccgb should post all it's members (remember 50% of members don't use this site) with a bare bones proposal which could be bashed out at the Agm. I for one don't want to turn up 200 miles away, just to be told the club's no more. I'm not sure what percentage of forum members have ever participated in ccgb events, but if you (the unitiated) are unsure what the club would bring to the forum remember it is an established and dare I say it respected club with its own merchandise, club stand,,technical advisors etc. cheaper insurance, discount from the $tealers and of course about 400 members. I and others quite often benefit from free tickets sent to the club from event organisers who want to see the ccgb at their events. The only downside would be the funding, but who on this forum could honestly say they haven't saved a lot of money from advice here, I've saved my membership costs over and over, just from the discount from the $tealers. Is anyone brave enough to say they're too tight to fork out £20.00/ annum or so (thats 5p a day) for all the benfits membership of both would provide. I know a lot will say the forum is free and I don't want to go to events, or I'm quite happy just to turn up to forum events etc etc and I understand that having to suddenly cough up £20 to bail out some crusty old club full of old gits like me maybe asking too much, but from reading some posts it would appear that some of you do make financial contributions to the forum so isn't it a lot fairer that everyone should pay and not let leechers (like me, ahem) get away with enjoying all the benfits gratis. Finally (phew) nothing irks me more than to have to drag my carcase out of bed on a Suday morning to set up a local club stand only to be joined by one or two fellow ccgb members and then to see 5 other Corrado's turn up on the essex vw stand, gti forum stand, sheep fanciers stand et al. This car we all love is a rare beauty, does anyone want to see its presence diluted by further diversification, trust me on this one there is no greater sight than a long line of C's (except perhaps Liz Hurley naked). So come on, head cheeses from the forum and head cheeses from the ccgb get your heads together and see what can/needs to be done. Sorry, I do seem to have rather gone on a bit. Rant over. Charley

Hi, this is my first post on the forum, so apologies if I get it wrong. Very interesting thread an lots of good points, so here's my 2p. I've been a member of the ccgb for 4 years and whilst I have to admit things have been a bit quite I'm not going to start criticising anyone, it must take a hell of a lot of time and effort for no financial reward to organise the club, I for one would never have the time to do it so hats off to anyone who steps forward to the breech. My other point is that amazingly not every member of the ccgb logs on to this forum, I asked for a show of hands at the last AGM and was surprised to see that 50% of the attendees NEVER logged on to either this forum or the Yahoo site, which means that if you make it an exclusively web based club then you potentially alienate half of the existing members. I know most of you will be saying tough, keep up with the times or lose out, but I for one struggle with understanding the way the forum works (even now I'm wondering whether this missive is going to the correct thread or just lost in cyberspace) I regularly use the yahoo site because it's easy, I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm on the edge of being an old Git. I'm not against amalgamation but I think a lot of people would miss out if it was only E- based and I would miss the now only Bi annual sprinter magazine. Ker..ching Charley