James.

The first of many I would think. Wheels look great and the first picture is top, really makes the colour "pop". Worth the drive ?

Haven't we been here before !!! Thoroughly agree with a late night / early morning blast. Can't be beat. Ran the Mrs over to Parbold train station yesterday. The long way, through the country roads. Very little traffic and a great run. The 8v is really making me smile again after putting so much time in refreshing the front end.

I was running these on the 8v before I replaced the wheels with 16 inchers. They weren't bad at all. The steering was vague (to say the least) due to worn parts, but that aside I found them to be a very good compromise between all round grip and durability. I would certainly have them again. Especially at that price. Uniroyal rainsport 2 at £35 get good reviews and Kumho KH31 at £39 are very good. I run KH31 on the daily and KU31 on the VR6. can't fault them. Hooray for Camskill.

Take the dash out as it's easier in the long run. Apart from that it's just a matter of time and patience. Something I have little of. Best of luck

Is the key worn and not engaging the new switch ?

roll cage !

Thanks Paul, your offer is greatly appreciated. And yes you've hit the nail right on its tete. Couldn't imagine handing the car on to someone else. It's the whole reason I bought it in the first place. To learn. I like to think the really bad days are behind me. Days sanding, cleaning, laying on my back on a cold garage floor for what felt like days on end. Assembling clean parts is an absolute joy.

Following on from the last post, progress has been slow. I've spent most of the week off the road with a virus. Nipping into the garage in short bursts to get a bit of fresh air. Cleaning a bit here, fitting the odd bush there. I've got pretty much all the bolts and clips for the front and rear subframe from VW (with a couple of exceptions) and am due to start bolting it all up in the very near future. Front and rear shocks are built up. Wishbones built up with ball joints, bushes and drop links. Ready to install the heatshields and brake/fuel lines next, along with building up the rest of the engine support/subframe. Here's an odd one. Whilst refurbing the parts I took off I noticed that the shock top mounts were black. It looks like someone from the factory had been extending the cars black roof lining theme onto other parts. The door/boot locks and bonnet catches had received the same treatment. As a result they've had their original coatings brought up to date.

Nine years for a reply. Now that has to be a record !

Cheers V33DUB And I thought it was just me ! You're right about depreciation though. I've recently been toying with the idea of moving on to something newer, but there's nothing out there under 5k that floats my boat. Can't get a TT because there about as useful as a chocolate kettle and a new Beetle just doesn't sit with me as a blokes car for the moment. Really enjoying how the car is now I've got it set up right. Don't envisage any more mods as all the boxes have been ticked, so time to sit back and enjoy. And even though the car now has 145k on it, I feel there's a lot of life left in it yet. Thanks Adam. Ooooh Skol, old school ! Though I'm more of a Hoffmeister man. May I ask the question about your MOT ? Sounds like you've jumped back into the wilderness and left civilisation behind. Ps: I've not forgot about the grill.

Well, after all the work I've put into the 8v recently, refurbing the front end and generally keeping the dreaded red rot at bay, it was nice to be rewarded today with a clean bill of MOT health. Not a single advisory. To be fair I wasn't expecting a boat load. But sometimes you never can tell. The last twelve months have been a mixed bag of emotions. Slowly fixing all the niggles one by one. But now I feel the car is at the point where it needed to be as a daily. Well done Mister eight valve. Here's to another twelve months.

And that's why you need two of them. One good for knocking about in and one minter for the weekends.

The odd wrong turn didn't hurt anyone. Though the look I got when I demanded the map from my co-pilot could have burned through steel. Shame about the weather, but hey this is England and it's what makes this a green and pleasant land ( I still think car shows should have a "Beading competition" for when it rains ). Numbers seemed to be massively down on last hear. Weather or £12 door tax ? Maybe a bit of both. Traffic on the way back was a pain but seemed to create other opportunities for the pair behind us he he. Mark: Sorry to hear about your engine. Hopefully it gets better soon. Only a couple of snaps, but here they are either way:

You'll have to set up a cheese counter "take a ticket" style viewing system for Sunday ! Bagsy first. Did all VRs come from the factory with red rear shocks ? Never seen that before.

Only too glad to help another 8valver. Missing fuse undertray could point to recent electric work, so check the fuse board and for signs of a bodged alarm. Popular misconception that tow eye covers will be cheap. They went obsolete a couple of years back and are surprisingly difficult to obtain. Most breakers will only sell the complete lower grill or the complete bumper. Either way £20+. To do it properly it's a bumper off job. Personally, I'd wait for a red breaker to pop up ( you live centrally so that's not too bad ) and buy a second hand complete bumper and spoiler in good order. Tick list is always a good idea. The only other items to add are: mayo in engine and make sure the fans cut in when up to temp. Apart from that, sounds like you've got it all covered.

Honest and clean looking car. To be fair it looks pretty good from here. BUT... Check that ALL the electrics work. Expensive and/or obsolete parts are beginning to be the main bug bear of Corrado ownership for some. That aside, 8valves benefit from having mechanical parts borrowed from other cars within the VW family and as such are very reasonable to run. Trim is the main wallet busting concern. But as many are being broken for parts, getting the odd bit shouldn't cause too much concern. All I could spot was: Missing fuse cover undertray. Tow eye hook cover missing. Front wiper bolt covers missing. Is that a crack on the front bumper where it's been filled in ? Hope it goes well and let us know how you get on.

Not doubting the motor being goosed. Just trying to flag up that it may happen again. Best of luck either way.

Just for a heads up. Corrado sunroofs usually have another underlying issue, rather than just the motor. Over years of use, the runners/sliders get dust and grit into the mechanism. This mixes with the grease in there to act as cutting paste. This in turn causes resistance and eventually either burns out the motor or snaps a cable. It's a days work, but I'd suggest pulling the entire unit out of the car and strip it all down for a refresh.

It's just a shame it falls at the same time as Tatton and Harewood. Nothing all year, then three shows in a row ! Last year was its first, and so far it's already doubled in size. Very good layout, all the main owners clubs there and plenty to do for the family. Oh and it's FREE to get in. All they ask is that you make a donation to the shows nominated charity. Can't beat that ! I'll bring it up again closer to the time next year Eric.

Sunday just gone (12th) I was kindly invited onto the Demon dubs stand at the Haigh Hall German car show. I wanted to attend last year, but due to it falling on the same day as Harewood, couldn't. Anyway, I got asked to help fill a space and duly attended. There was about 400 cars of mixed model / age (even a couple of Corrados) and in all was a good little show. Especially with it being quite local for me. Thinking about putting a Corrado stand together for next year (subject to date). In the mean time here's a couple of snaps:

"Day 38 in the big restoration house" Well it certainly feels like a sentence at the moment. Small fettle with the usual suspects and a few hours in the sunshine today and we're good to go. Dropping in to VW tomorrow so may even have some bits assembled by the afternoon.

Sweet lord. I blinked and missed that sale. No point asking about plans as the car's pretty much sewn up. All the best enjoying a rather splendid example.

Thanks paul, I'll give it a try. Couple of spare hours today. After seeing the prices VW wanted for the heat shields, I thought "Best try to clean them up a bit". Went to work degreasing with a stiff brush. Then jumped inside and hit them with WD40 and a wire wheel on the drill. I'll have another go next week and if all else fails I could always break out the very high temp alu paint. Had a go at the brake lines as well. They were looking a little past their best so why not give them a clean up and see if we can't bring them back. Small rub with wire wool, prime and Hammerite (Wild Thyme for those interested). The colour isn't exact, but it is now consistent and free from scabs. Couple of shots to mark where we're up to:

Thanks Judith. Think a refurb is on the cards after the eye watering prices I saw the other day. That's weird, for the wider of the two clips I have: 191201449 (obsolete), but have 1H0 201 449 (available) for the smaller one. I'll have a second look in the morning.

I'm beginning to feel like your shadow at the moment Paul. Was only in Corkills yesterday pricing up new heat shields and ordering rafts of bolts for the rear beam. But please oh parts wizard, where did thou source said fuel rail clips frometh ? My man at VW searchy for clips but "Computer said no" That heat sheild is topper though. Must-resist-spending-money... Aaaaaaggghhh