James.

A few words of note for all displayers. Make sure you all go through the traders entrance. Otherwise you'll have to pay to get in the park. Zee old bill were directing cars through the main gates last year. I swung round and made a dash for the trade entrance. We're going to get there earlier than half eight this year to avoid the queues. Adam: As thee geeten thas mooter reet then lad ?

That would be topper Chris. I'll swerve the light switch at the moment, as I'm convinced I can fix mine. Earmark the other bits I want though, as I'll put a list together in the next couple of days. See if I can put some more pound notes your way. Thanks once again, James.

Hola Looking for the following if you can help please: 1, Petrol flap locking piece. Black plastic part that sits in the body and held in by two bolts (under the fuel tank - see image). 2, Black plastic triangles that sit above the front door cards. 3, Dashbord ash tray locating trim. Don't need the ash tray. Just the trim that holds it in the dash. Is the headlight switch still available ? I know they're faffy bits, but I really need them all the same. Need to be posted (unless you're going to Tatton or Harewood) Thanks, James

Ha ha. Reminds me of when I ran a record shop in the late 90's. Saturday afternoon, lad strolls in " you got Carisma". To which I reply " Well the ladies seem to think so". Lad stood there with a distinctly puzzled look.

Thanks for the help on the underseal Paul. Is it easy to brush on (does it require "letting down" with thinners etc) ? How much coverage do you get out of a can (how many cans for going over the entire floorpan)?

Those beams have me salivating. Really should have a "Not safe for work" warning on the post though ! Feeling the comment about hidden rust though. For the past couple of nights I've been crawling about under the car, cleaning 20 years worth of dirt and grease off the underside. Found a couple of small rough patches in the same places you mention. Until I start cutting back, it aint arf' making me a bit nervous. What brand of underseal do you use for patching up ? Don't want to buy a grey sealer and find it a vastly different shade than OE.

Speaking from personal experience, you may be able to bring the price down a little if you: Strip the whole car down ( including windows ) yourself. Repair any body issues yourself ( rust etc). Ask one of the bodyshop to do it as a foreigner. It may not be a lot but could save you a couple of hundred quid. And more importantly, you'll be in charge of removing and fitting expensive and obsolete pieces of trim. Mine took a few weeks longer than expected, but I can live with that as it wasn't my everyday car. Resprays cost much of a much. You pay a grand then you'll get a grands worth of respray and so on. Less money spent means more corners cut and less attention to detail. And it's those details that make the respray last.

A lot of people would miss the rubbers out on a suspension refresh. Good to see it carried out "properly". Out of interest, what mileage did you get out of the topmounts ?

Fit for parts only. All the missing plastic trim from the second one is obsolete. By the time you've factored in a re-trim and new bolsters you'll be on the thick end of 700 sheets on top of the purchase price. And still have incomplete seats ! I'm afraid with those numbers, I can't invest. And for that reason, I'm out.

Looks like a new car ! Colour, ride height, condition, wheels. All looks good to me. Nice one for keeping the faith. Any shows this year ?

Well done Judith. It would be great if you could get the hat-trick. Tatton and Harewood as well. Crikey, Imagine that.

Do they not have a tendancy to "top out" ?

The market seems very hit and miss. They're available at about parts money now. Due to econonimc pressure on luxury purchases, more and more owners are parting good cars out rather than spending months trying to sell them. This increasingly is leaving an emerging drift in the market, between the good and great cars. What with the scarceity of parts and the rising parts prices, I envisage the top end quality dropping off a little and the bottom cars eventually being parted out. As a result it seems a case of "last man standing" may have to be played out before prices start any kind of increase. Personally I think the prices will stay where they are for a good few years yet though. I bought one to take apart and practice my my spanner/resto skills on. The other is for bluffing round in on a daily basis. I say best to enjoy them in the moment and don't get too worried about trying to sell it on. If push came to shove, you could always break it !

Tick. Hope you've got a whiteboard with the jobs written in big fat chisel tip marker. Neutralizing their threat with a great northern swipe ! Tres bon.

That looks very nice indeed. Dare I say too good as a daily ? Apart from the carpets needing a clean, it looks pretty good. Should certainly hold it's money as well. Which is nice.

Valid point about washing the carpets. I've done both mine. Shampoo, conditioner and over the line to dry. Takes a few days to dry but the reults are fantastic. On a side note. Replace the underlay whilst you're under there. The passenger side may not be too bad but I guarantee the drivers side will be rank.

I feel your toil. The rear compensator is an absolute monkey. With absolute blind determination I managed to remove mine to a state where I can re-use it. I doubt a paid mechanic would have had the time or patience to follow suit. From the looks of it you'rs wasn't quite so lucky. Good little update.

Grommets for all the holes on the firewall. Maybe even a new grill for the top of the foilage seal / air in. Diavia usually punch a hole through this. Shorter aux belt will help as well.

I've been surprised ( many times now ) to see this part missing from car radio installs. It makes so much difference. Not only to rattles, but can also help to stop the radio from wriggling loose. Great pace and standard of work.

The last picture, late at night with the lights on for me sums up Corrado ownership. Hands dirty with the car on axle stands, standing back, basking in the knowledge that you fixed it. But I digress. New brake fluid reservoir. Obsolete at VW. Please oh shiny parts oracle, share your sourcing secrets with us all ?

Certainly wasn't a problem for us. I chopped in our Smart and bought a VR6 when Oscar was born. Following that up with an 8v last year. I even explained a leather interior into the 8v by arguing that leather's easier to clean than cloth. Nothing wrong with wanting the best for your offspring.

I might be able to help with the aircon, so long as it's the Diavia system.

No sleeves present on my wishbones when I removed them. And judging by the condition of the parts, I have no reason to believe that they have ever been replaced. 50/70 nm sounds about right for the bolts. Not quite sure how you'd get 130 on one of those bolts without it shearing though !

X2 for a short.

You've got a finishing bead that pulls out and can be re-used. The others are fitted around the screen and bonded in with it. So who knows ? You may be lucky if you're patient and carefull at removing them to be able to re-use them. I wouldn't hold my breath though. Depends how good you're windscreen removal technique is. Best of luck.