tony_ack

Someone tried to steal mine from the previous owner about a month or two before I bought it. They got past the Cat 1 Laserline immobiliser, got it started but were totally defeated by the factory immobiliser!

Hurrah, MOT sorted for another year! It failed first time on the handbrake and rear fog light. The rear fog light was working when I tried it after the test, so not sure what happened there. For the handbrake, the OSR caliper piston was partially seized, so I removed the outer seal and piston, cleaned it all up, reassembled and bled the caliper - it's nice and free now. The mech wasn't too bad, but I gave it a lube anyway. The handbrake cables are not moving freely, and there are none in stock locally, so I've got some on order from ECP (Pagid). I lubed the old cables the best I could - it must have been enough as the car has passed now! I'm hoping to invest some time and cash in the bodywork in the next 12 months

Nugget yellow Corrado yesterday afternoon on the Leeds ring road near Pudsey. Probably the same one I saw this time last year!

Last week I had another attempt at curing the OSF brake squeak. It had got worse and was now squeaking every rotation, without the brakes applied.I wanted one last go at cleaning the hub up, making sure the ABS rotor was straight and making sure the brakes were free So I: Took off the caliper, carrier and disc. The pad looked slightly unevenly worn, with a bit of a hard edge on one side, and it was also quite smooth. I wire brushed the pad a bit in case there was some metal or glaze causing the squeak. I knew this wouldn't fix it necessarily, it was more to 'shake things up' a bit. I also wire brushed the disc a little, with the drill attachment. I wire brushed the hub knuckle, and used a file on edges where the hub entered the knuckle in case there was any catching there Next I put a pad back into the caliper and pumped the brake pedal to tease the piston out a little. It wasn't stuck, but was very reluctant and needed quite a few pumps. I think this may have been part of the problem. I pulled back the dust cover, cleaned the gunk off the surface of the piston, then applied some red brake pison lube, before resealing. Result: The piston pushed back a lot more freely The slide pins were still free after last time, so I didn't do anything more with those. I checked the ABS rotor was completely clear of the sensor I filed and sanded the front of the hub - both the face where the disc sits, and also where the wheel mounts. It wasn't bad, but there a tiny bit of corrosion that could have caused the disc and wheel to be slightly wonky I cleaned up the carriers. The only sign of any wear anywhere that I found was on these, where there was shiny metal exposed where the pad sits (there was a corresponding bit of exposed metal on the pad). I cleaned all the contact points with a file, then greased up the edges of the pad I also added brake grease to the back of the pad, where it contacts the caliper. There was an anti-slip pad, but this had worn a little. It wouldn't stop the main issue, but might stop the noise travelling so much from the pad to the caliper and hub. Finally I gave everything a big blow (ooh er) with the air blower. Touch wood, and after about 40 miles, there's no sign of the squeak. Fingers crossed it's sorted! Now the brakes are squeak free, this is probably the first time in ages where the car feels right to drive. It's only taken a year to shake off all the cobwebs!

So, where have I seen this image before? (clue: it's on page 1!) I noticed a rather large patch of coolant under the car after a fairly long run. It took ages to work out where it was coming from, in the end I found the block to oil cooler pipe had a tiny split on it. I've done these before on a MK2 Golf GTI, where you can get to the pipes without moving the rad. Turns out it's a no-go for the VR. I tried getting access with the inlet manifold off first (snapping two bolts in the process), but in then end I just took the front off. On the plus side, it gave me a chance to properly flush all the crud out of the rad and cooling system - it took nearly a dozen rinses of the rad before the water was clear! All reassembled now, with new coolant and it's leak free again!

I have something similar on mine, turns out the starter wasn't engaging the flywheel every time. It gets worse when being used rarely, and goes away completely after a few weeks regular use. Not sure if it's a faulty solenoid or ignition switch (which I know is on its way out) If it is the starter, the rough running could be because the engine's being flooded when you turn the key and the starter doesn't engage? Another possibility is the valves could be sticking open when you crank?

A big one for some of them! £900 is well worth it for the stash of spares you'll have, and the bits you'll sell. The VR looks a great find.

First registered on 13th April 1995 to VW Whites of Wimbledon (now defunct) as a demo car. It stayed there for 4 months and 6000 miles, before being sold to the 2nd keeper in Surrey. Two years later it moved up to Slough and the 3rd keeper and was maintained by the aforementioned Windrush. It was kept for 10 years and another 140k miles, regularly serviced at the dealer. The next owner looks like they were based in Aylsebury, did the chains and put another 20000 miles on in a year before selling to the guy I bought it off in Milton Keynes. I've had it for about 9 years now and about 50000 miles.

Sounds like a rough journey, but glad you're in a place where you can start thinking about the car again! I've had mine for 10 years now, and it's gone from being a fairly reliable daily driver, to being off the road for a fair bit, to being back on the road again, and used occasionally. In that time, I'd say it doesn't feel quite as reliable as it used to be, which is fine as a second car, or if you've got other options to get around if you're hit by an unexpected breakdown, but I'm not sure I'd want to be in a position where my livelihood relied entirely on the car getting me to work every day without fail, and it's quite nice to feel I can 'take it out of service' for a week or two if I need to do a big job. That said, I think that a lot of failures are less likely to happen the more regularly you use it. It also depends on your own skill level and means to do repairs - if you're able to do some of the basic jobs yourself, it'll save some significant money. It all comes down on what the car is worth to you - do you enjoy driving it, owning it, how does it make you feel when driving about, or looking back on it in a car park? Yes they could become costly to run, but probably not cost as much as, say, a new car on finance. Maybe clean it up, check it over, run the engine, see if you can find the leak, then put it through its MOT. Take a view from there. Even if you get an MOT, and then decide to sell as it's not doing it for you any more, you'll get a better price for it.

Looks fairly tidy, but hard to see the bodywork condition because the car is wet.Looks like an early/late hybrid, with the later body and engine, but early interior. The missing driver speaker cover will be hard to get hold of. Shame the MOT has expired, but mileage is really low, if genuine. And it's definitely got an adjustable steering column 🙂

Bugger, the brake squeak is back on the O/S/F, only under gentle braking, but definitely there. It's rotational, so something is definitley catching where it shouldn't. So that rules out a warped disc. Next I'm thinking of replacing the caliper pins and boots (they are 288mm from a Golf), but I'm starting to doubt it's a brake issue (despite occurring under braking) Also looking at the possibility of hub and wheel bearing, which is unfotunately beyond the capabilities of my toolbox!

You did right in sending the Topran Rear engine mount back - like you I was out of options and couldn't find a decent replacement. I've fitted it but I'm not happy with it at all - I needed to twist it slightly at the top to get the locator hooks aligned properly, and if I rock the engine up and down now on that side, there's a bit of a 'thunk' like somethings not quite fastend tightly enough. But all bolts, both the two on the bottom and the one on the top are torqued up correctly. When driving, you can feel the engine moving around in there, particualrly when you put your foot down in low gear, and despit the fact I've got a Vibratechnics front mount. I'm seriously considering going for a Vibratechnics rear mount.

They're made from PLA which can start to soften at relatively low temperatures (i.e. not really suitable for a car interior due to how hot it gets on a sunny day, so probably same for the engine bay) - maybe see if the seller can do them in ABS? Or are the originals some form of Nylon?

One thing that's been bugging me for a while is the passenger window. It seemed misaligned - it wouldn't always open when I pressed the button, sometimes taking a few goes, and pushing the glass to get it to move. Then, when it goes up it doesn't locate in the top seal correctly, so there's usually a gap at the top, which can sometimes be fixed by lowering and raising it a bit. Then there are the rattles when it's open (not so bad when it's closed) I'd got some replacement window rollers a year ago, but had been putting the job off for a while as I know that going into the door cards can get messy (though I think it may have been more a case of bad memories of doing inner door stuff on my old Fabia which was truly a nightmare.So I finally built up the courage to do it at the weekend, and it went really well. First, the rollers. One was okay, the other was a little loose (pictured). I replaced both easily enough. Second, there is a bracket on the vertical guide that holds it to the door. It's held on with rivets, but on mine the bracket itself had snapped. This was probably the cause of the rattle. There's quite a bit of tension in it, so I needed to do a bit of manouvering to clamp it for welding. I wedged the handle of a screwdriver between the bottom of the guide and the door, which aligned the broken pieces of bracket closer together, and then clamped with a pair of mole grips. Space is a bit tight for welding, and I'm a beginner, so it's not the cleanest weld, but it is holding together well. (sorry about the photo, the bracket and weld are out of focus) I thought this would cure it, but the window was still sticking. Then I noticed there was some adjustment between the motor mech and the window If you watch the window as it moves up and down, the edge of the window doesn't travel parallel to the b-pillar part of the door frame, it kind of moves further away from the frame the lower it goes. So with that, and with the curvature of the windows, adjusting these bolts doesnt just affect lateral movement, but also how much it 'tilts' away from the top of the door frame, and also how much it tilts away from the b-pillar (in other words, it kind of allows adustment in all three dimensions). The adjustment was fully over to one side - I thought that now I'd fixed the bracket and rollers, I'd try centering it. Result: It now works perfectly. Also, there is a screw at the top of the vetical guide that was a little loose - I tightened this

I started off needing to replace the Passenger outer CV boot as it was split. Okay, not the most straight forward job, but just get the driveshaft off, change the boot, back on again, and should be done in a day. Four weeks later, the car was finally beck on the road. In the end I did: Passenger CV boot When I removed the driveshaft, the inner CV came apart, so I repalced that While I was under there and doing the CV boot, I noticed the rack boot was torn, so replaced that and cleaned up the Track Rod (pic of old boot, and pre-cleaned track rod) When I took the TRE off to replace the boot, there was a lot of play so I replaced that I did the other TRE too as I ordered the wrong side originally, and thought I may as well do the pair I noticed one of the ARB links was torn and loose, so I did both of those. The driver one didn't come off without a fight When the links were off the ARB was rotating pretty freely in the bushes, so I did the ARB bushes too While the subframe was dropped I thought I may as well do the rear and gearbox engine mounts (front is still the Vibratechnics) I was still stumped by the pulsing front brake on the driver's side, so decided to get new front discs in case I was dealing with a warped disc. I spun the old disc, and it was definitely catching on something in the same place every rotation. The ABS rotor looked slighlty warped too, so I put it back into shape. So new discs now fitted The backing plates were worn, so I replaced those too Finally, I did a coolant, oil and filter, gearbox oil change, and cleaned the BMC CDA Always the case - you start doing one job on the Corrado, you end up finding 10 more. I drove the car afterwards, the pulshing brake appears to be fixed, and I don't know what exactly made the difference, but the wooliness in the steering has gone - it's tight, sharp and super-responsive. Can't wait to take it out for a proper drive.

All of this ^^^^^^ !

Oh no, it doesn't look too great, and I know how crushing it feels when you are hoping that the rust you see doesn't go too deep, only to find horrors underneath when you finally bite the bullet and start stripping it back. I'll be honest, it doesn't look too great. I was in a similar position to you a few years ago, but it wasn't quite as bad. I considered breaking, but in the end was determined to fix it. Like you, I was worried about the cost of repair, and even considered doing it myself, despite not being able to weld. I finally got a bit of money aside and got a quote - it wasn't as bad as I thought. I got the welding done, new sills, repairs to the rear apron (not as bad as yours, but a couple of holes higher up, and also a hole in a similar place to yours under the bumper on the rear quarter. I painted myself which wasn't the best job, but enough to get through last winter. I don't regret it one bit - if you can already justify the cost against the rising prices of the cars, then you're almost there. But I fixed mine for the same reason you want to fix yours - the car has been through a lot with me over the years and I wanted to keep hold of it as long as I could.

I'll take a pair, the passenger one is nearly a cm from the glass

Has anyone done away with the ashtray in the dash and replaced it with something else? With free space on the dash at a premium, it could be a good area for an extra panel? I was thinking of making a fascia panel that would line up with the existing holes, so no mods to the console itself. Maybe have a built in USB charger like this (jury is out on the LED battery display): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Socket-Waterproof-Charger-Delivery-Motorcycle/dp/B07RJWNBGF/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=car%2B18w%2Bpd&qid=1589194309&sr=8-8&th=1 OR Somewhere for the alarm indicator to go? A 3.5mm aux input jack? A door locking/unlocking switch? A more modern (tighter fitting) 12v cig lighter socket? An extra cubby hole?

Hi Dox, don't worry about it mate, I've done it! So, basically I needed to take out all the subframe bolts, and then wedged a tennis ball between the chassis and the rear subframe mount to keep it down Then I put the bushes around the bar, but let it all hang down, so the split was facing down. I put the clamps into their slots, and pushed the bushed ARB towards them, just to keep them up. Then it was just a lot of heaving, a bit of washing up liquid as lube, and a flat blad screwdriver, first pushing the bushes into the clamps, so thy were seated in them more or less correctly, but still pointing down, and then using the screwdriver to start rotating them to the right position. The clamps kind of help them move in the right direction, but the bushes need help. I ended up with a big split at the front of the bush at one point, and a gap at the back of the bar, but just kept working at it from the top and the bottom , occasionally pulling the ARB back, rotating it, then using the screwdriver to push the bush back in.and round. By the time I'd done, the split was where it should have been and was closed. Then it was just a case of getting the G-clamp over the clamp, and tightening it enough to get the bolt in. I raised the subframe again, wiggling a screwdriver to make sure the holes were lined up, and feeding the bolts in. They all went in with no resistence whatsoever - a tip for anyone else is that if your bolts feel tight, they're not going in right! It took about an hour in the end once I'd worked out how to do it! The worst thing was that when I finally did work it out, I remembered that I'd done the job before on a MK2 Golf.

I can't even get the bush and clamp anywhere near its slot, it's about 1cm too big. I'm not missin anything obvious am I? Subfame bolts are all out, and I've got a tennis ball wedged in to keep the subfame down.

Thanks Tony, Yep, that's the ARB part number, I cross referenced the bush part number with Dr. Google and it brings up 17mm in the part descriptions. Anyway, I'm fairly comfortable they're the right ones now, they just need a bit of a squeeze. I think I just need to drop the subframe a bit more to get better access, it's not like I'm in a rush to go anywhere at the moment.

I'm trying to get these changed over. I got the old ones out (bit of a squeeze, and have a new pair ready to go on. They're a tight fit, as I was expecting. The ones I ordered were as listed on ETKA for the car, to replace 191411314. These are listed as 17mm internal diameter, which I think is smaller than the ARB. Are they definitely the right ones? I just assumed that they'd be compressed when installed. They look like the ones I took off, but the part number on the old ones is worn away Also, what's the best way to get them on? I've removed all the bolts at the rear of the subframe, and backed the front bolts (the ones into the chassis leg near the engine mounts?) off a couple of turns, but it's really tight for access - I can't even get the clamp over the bush, without a lot of heaving, let alone get the clamp tight enough to get the bolt through.

Looks absolutely incredible mate, a testament to your pursuit of perfection!

Sorry, this was misleading when I read it back - I did pump the pedal after I changed the slave - it shot the fluid out after a couple of pumps, so I tightened it up, tried the clutch, and there was no pressure until really really low down on the pedal. At that point, I tried the gravity bleed - reservoir cap off, overfilled it with fluid, then took the bleed screw out completely, and put a bowl under to catch the drips. I left the resevoir cap loose to equalise the pressure (not sure if the cap allows for this regardless) Nothing happened at first, but then I got a bit of a trickle, so left it to run through, occasionally topping up the resevoir to make sure it didn't dip below the clutch feed line. The initial pumping probably re-fed the empty slave cylinder, but there was still air trapped in there, which the gravity bleed eventually sorted out.