horney

Nice shots and nice cars. Nick

Over a decade? Try over 2 decades, ha ha! If I could afford an new Scirocco there'd be one park outside the flat in white with all the trimmings but the Rado would be there too wrapped up in a car cover and only being used for when the sun doth shine. Nick

TBH Black is not a good colour for it. I really like them but they look best in white. Pity there's no Nugget on the paint list! Nick

I popped into my local VW Dealer on my home to pick up a new thermostat and seal and saw a New Scirocco parked up outside and a space next to it. I couldn't resist as it was even the same colour as my (dirty!) Rado. Gutted that for the first time in ages I'd not taken my DSLR to work so only crappy phone pics I'm afraid! Nick

Good work! I used to be into classic minis too. I've had about 8 and my wife still has one. Spent a small fortune building up a 1990 Cooper into a fire breathing beast and got it featured in MiniMag back in 2006. I truley loved that car but Wedding and house purchase meant it had to go. I reckon you'll love the Rado once you've got it back on the road, for me it's the first car I've owned since leaving minis to give me the same buzz and grin factor (I've been through all sorts, 2 Golf GTI's, a Fiat Siecento, a MKII Polo, a B3 Passat Estate GT and a few others!). Nick

Oh well, slightly less money from Mr Scrap Man then. Not that I condone scrapping any car let alone a Rado but sometimes it's just not viable or financially sane. Nick

It's worth approx £200 at your nearest scrap metal merchant so offer around that mark, take what you want and then weigh the rest in for profit. Not sure if it has a CAT on a G plate (Do all Rado's have CATS?) but they're worth £50ish scrap on their own. Nick

Yeah they will, the refurbers will blast all the paint and imperfections off and then give them a nice fresh coat. Nick

The Hot Tuning ones seem to vary. My mate had some on a MKII Golf and they were rock solid, but my ones on the 'sat are quite bouncy. For deckin gon a budget they're hard to beat but if I ever want coilies on the Rado I'm going to invest in some that are height and dampening adjustable. Nick

Who are Vmmax? I bought some Hot Tuning ones off ebay for my Passat and they were pretty bouncy too. Not a problem in the 'sat but I wouldn't want them on the Rado. Nick

I think I'll see if I can pick up a used driveshaf then. Cheers guys. Nick

If so, how? Nick

That's a nice motor, I like the wheels a lot. Wish I could have had a rado as my first car too but I had a ford Euuughhh! Nick

You still got the original airbox? If not get one off here and try that with a K&N Panel filter in it. Drill out some holes on the side away from the engine in the bottom section of the box and use a file to remove any ridges from the molding process. Give that a whirl (If you have the cash) and see if that feels better, it certainly should do and the noise should be less meaty but still a decent induction roar. Nick

Depends, is it an Induction Kit (Cone thing) or panel filter? The induction kits tend to kill low down torque and give bad throttle rsponse. The panel filter in a drilled and smoothed airbox are much better. Induction kits are only worth it if you buy something bespoke to your car, all these off the shell K&N type things are pritty rubbish. If you want a proper one you want the BMC Carbon one. Nick

I don't think you can get one for a VR. You can get superchips or someone to do a remap but I don't think you get much extra out of one. Forced induction cars get much better results form remaps than NA lumps. Nick

Some new shots taken today. Nick

Wooo Hooo all sorted. Took it to the local VW specialists and it turns out that the balance weight had come loose on the drivers side driveshaft and was banging about. 5 Mins with the angle grinder and he had it off. Result. He reckoned I could get by without it but if it started being noisey then a replacement would be required. Can't fault the fella as he wouldn't take any money and just asked that I recommend him to other local dubbers which I shall certainly do. Nick

Blimey not had it a wek and the gremlins are well up and running! Already lost my spoiler motor, now this! On my home from work tonight I heard a bang, though I must have hit a big stone or small creature in the road and carried on. Then about 5 mins later I noticed a knocking noise so turned the stereo off. It seems to be coming from the right side of the car if sitting in the drivers seat. It's clonking noise like something banging against something else. It's always in time with road speed and doesn't change with gears or revs or with clutch engaged or disengaged. This leads me to suspect it's not transmition but something suspension, driveshaft related. Done a few more miles and it seems to come and go but it is quite loud. I've had a look an can't see anything that jumps out at me as wrong and it drives, stops and turns as it should. I've killed a CV joint on cars in the past but it doesn't sound anything like that. Far too deep and not as metalic as that sounded. Anyone got any thoughts? I had a search but nothing really jumped out at me as sounding similar. I'm supposed to be driving the wife and 2 friends to a wedding tomorrow lunchtime so I am hoping to get to the local VW specialists first thing and see if they can quickly whip i up on the ramps and see if they can spot anything. I was just hoping someone on here might be able to give me somepointers or a heads up in advance in case it's something common. Many thanks, nick

Yeah I wouldn't bother with a MKIII dash, they're really not much of a set up from the Rado one, in fact they're probably a step down! Nick

My Mrs is into all this sort of stuff and her car cost £1,000. BUT it's a mint 1owner 1979 mini Cty 850cc. It's as rare as a rare thing. Only built for 1 year and only know of one other still on the road. As her car's a daily driver (all be it only 6 miles a day) she wnts to keep it as mint as it is. Therefore it gets a healthy clean, clay, paint clean, wax whenever possible and as we don't have a garage it lives under an expensive breathable car cover. It look sstunning and even the paint under the arches is gleaming. Not bad for a 30 year old car that's never seen a paint shop. So for her I think it's worth it as it would be if you had a £200,000 super car. For a brand new Astra? I can't really see the point of going that far but I think these folks have OCD and are also car nuts and this whole detailing thing drives them insane. At least they're not out molesting children or killing old people, so they're not doing any harm. nick

Not really as the Super Resin Polish will take it all off again! THat shampoo with wax in is normally prity good for quick washes though. One product I bought for mine which I really rate for a quick shine up is called Wash N Wax or something. Basiclly you wash the car and don't dry it and then spray this stuff on and then chamois (SP) it off. Leaves a great shine for those times when you can't devote the time for a top notch finish. Nick

AG stuff seems to get a bit of a bad rep these days but I think it's just because it's popular. My Mrs and a couple of mates are into their detailing and really rate the Super Resin Polish, the interior shampoo and the Glass Polish. Was8v is spot on with his list. 2 bucket method wash with a decent shampoo (Cheap ones rot the window rubbers and cause nasty runs down your car!) Clay with lube Super Resin Polish Some form of wax, ideally the best you can afford right. Anything Carnuba is what you want! If you can't asford a mit buy a couple of those yellow dusters and use them instead, just make sure you fold em up so the seam doesn't rub on the car. Oh and get 2 new buckets so you don't have grit left in em. B&Q do their nicely sized orange ones for about £2 each. Nick

The corrado is in a way but it's very rackish like the Rocco's before it and as a coupe should be. The new Rocco has a steeper hatch than the golf! Nick

I bet they're awesome to drive but the styling leaves me cold. It's not really a coupe either, it's a 3 door saloon. I don't get the car industry at the moment, the new Rocco isn't a coupe either, it's 4 seater hatchback. Proper coupes are the 350Z, the RX8 and I guess that C class merc thing although I think they're pig ugly. Nick