tony_ack

They're obsolete - when mine was at Stealth they replaced it with a VW vac resevoir... can't remember off the top of my head which part it was, think it may have been off a MK3 or MK4 Golf.

288mm calipers, cleaned and painted....check Pads....check 288mm discs (used).... check 288mm carriers.... check New flexis for 288mm brakes.... check Rear caliper seal kit.... check Brake fluid.... check Eazibleed.... check Brake pipe spanner.... check Enthusiasm.... ummm Busy weekend ahead!

Do you get valid readings for distance travelled and average speed on the MFA? These are also calculated using the reading from the speed sensor.

This is what all big buisness is about - as much as we'd like VW to act out of sentiment to keep old cars on the road, they will only do so if it benefits VW. This is not a slight on VW - all big business thinks this way - anyone who believes they care about their customers out of the kindness of their heart is sadly dreaming!

If it's anything like the MK2, then there's a speed sensor on the back of the clocks. Not sure if it's a replaceable item, or whether you need to replace the clocks - it'll be clearer once you remove the clocks

I think Classic Parts are a better bet for restarting parts production - as Kev says the OE manufacturers no longer have a contract with VW to supply the parts, and I don't think VW have any interest in restarting these relationships (if they won't do it for the MK1/MK2 Golf, then they're not going to do it for the Corrado). VW Classic Parts seek out the original OE manufacturers in an attempt to either get a new production run of parts or to buy the tooling if it's still available. They already supply some Corrado parts, but need to know if demand is there for others. It is also worth trying to get VW Heritage (formely BBT) on board as they are committed to finding new manufacturers for air cooled/early water cooled cars who can produce replacement parts as close to the originals as possible. Although VW Heritage do import for VW Classic Parts, they don't have any of their own Corrado lines currently, and don't plan any. Maybe we can change their minds if we make them see that the Corrado is going to have a classic status like the MK1/2 Golf and Scirocco? It all comes down to demand though. I still maintain that I don't think that sufficient demand is there for some of these parts to make a new production run worthwhile. For example, what if it was only viable to produce a run of roof trims in a quantity of 500 pairs? Could you find 500 buyers?

Good point about the more 'cushioned' drivers being on the roads. Go out in a car from the 80's or earlier and you definitely get the feeling you're in a metal box travelling very fast, as opposed to a luxury armchair, shielded from the world by layers of noise dampening and 4x4 ride height. The sense of danger is completely removed, so there's no deterrent from risky manouveres. I also wonder if more lease cars and company cars is a factor too - you'd be far more protective of a car if you've just handed over £30000 (or even £3000) in cash or it, than of a car that you pay a monthly lease fee on. Also, inconsiderate drving breeds inconsiderate driving. If a car overtakes a lane of stationary traffic and tries to push in at the end, how many would let it in?

Yeah I've seen the clips. A couple are missing in the centre vents, but the passenger vent has one and it's still loose!

I've got the H&R/Koni setup. Ride is a little harsh on the very worst roads, but not too bad otherwise. I do now subconsciously avoid potholes. I would say that tyres can make a massive difference - I am on 16"/7.5 wheels - I originally ran 195/45/16s and they were awful. I am now on Conti Premium 2s in 205/45/16 guise and the ride improved substantially.

Yep you can get the cables out by just removing the lower dash, though access isn't great. Be careful not to snap the control flap levers!

Here's a very useful resource I found about Climatronic. It's part of the Bentley manual for an Octavia, but it includes some pretty basic info about the system - probably at a lot higher level than the wiring diagrams and the like we've posted previously, so very easy to make sense of! http://seliak-grup.ro/octavia/workshop_manual_heating__air_conditionning.pdf The reason I was going for the MK3 drier is that it allows you to plug in the a/c pressure switch, which saves having to have a pipe made up to accommodate the switch. I'm not sure on the condenser now at all - I had a look under the grille yesterday, and I can't see anywhere for the MK3 condenser brackets to mount the rad. My rad doesn't appear to have any mounting holes at the side (it's a new genuine VW rad). I think my best bet may be to take it to an a/c specialist and get them to install something that fits. Another bit of good news is that I plugged in Vagcom (using VCDS lite) and it read the Climatronic correctly - the bad news is that I couldn't do the basic settings with an unregistered version. I also have an error for the vehicle stationary signal (it tells the CC how long the car has been stood for). I don't think the Corrado outputs such a signal (though the value is clearly held in the MFA as it is used to decide when to reset the MFA setting 1 values). I wonder if there is any way to stop the CC from looking for this signal? All this talk of A/C is secondary though to the brakes - I could do with getting them sorted before winter. One of the rear calipers is sticking a little (it does free itself as soon as you start moving, but it will only get worse). The pedal is very spongey too. Ideally I would do the 288mm upgrade (I have discs, calipers, carriers and pads already, just need the flexis), the rear caliper and the brake fluid at the same time, but that would mean looking for new calipers (pref MK4 items), which then means new flexis... it all starts to add up cost-wise.

Never had this problem myself (unless jet washing the engine bay - whoops!), but for a sake of a few pence it'd be worth swapping the dizzy cap. Have the HT leads been changed? You definitely shouldn't be getting shocked if the cap and leads are healthy! Poor insulation of the cap and leads could be causing spark problems, which would explain the stuttering at lower revs. The 8v is quite fussy about the leads being good - arcing is common if they're damaged. 'Service' is quite a generic term - it may just have meant oil and filters - particularly if the guy was about to sell the car! Not everyone will have checked the ignition system in detail during a service. Not too sure about the 'swappability' of the coils - they're both transistored so may be okay. The MAF can cause running problems (there's also a 'trick' to tweak it to overfuel like the WUR trick on the 16v but it can mess up your setup tbh), but I'd look into the dizzy cap and leads first. There's a test you can do on the MAF - I think the resistance across the potentiometer has to be about 22-27 ohms? The exact figures are in the Haynes.

D'oh I had a spare one of these as well!

Does anyone else suffer from the air vents in the dash being too loose? They clip in, but when you tilt them, they move very freely - to the point where they won't stay in position and will just fall back to their centre of gravity. The one on the driver's side seems to have a little resistance when you move it, but the others are pretty much free.

I agree that VW don't have the same commitment to their classics as some companies, but with Corrado parts we should be realistic. Yes - anything with a 191 or 1H part number should remain available as long as there is demand for them, and the same can be said for Corrado specific parts which need replacing regularly. But you can't expect VW to keep making other Corrado specific parts indefinitely! How many Corrados were made? How many of those were RHD? How many of those are still on the road? How many of those are in a certain trim colour? How many of those need a replacement part or will need one this year? Of how many of those will the owner actually want to buy a replacement part from VW? I realise that not all of these questions apply to all parts, but VW aren't going to keep tooling operational to make a part of which they sell 1 every 5 years! What would have been nice would have been for VW to assess the demand for each part and discontinue a part when sales fall below a certain level.

I had a spare (used) genuine downpipe until last Saturday! I got no buyers at £10 collected, so I got rid of it in a job lot. The exhaust gas does have a lot of force behind it when it leaves the tailpipes - when I had mine and was setting up the CO, I blanked off one of the tailpipes with some pretty strong duck tape... but it usually ended up forcing the tape off! Compression ratio on an 8v is 10:1 iirc As for the exhaust sound, when I first got mine it had a nasty DTM upswept tailpipe effort on it which droned out absolutely everything. I swapped to a genuine system (one of the last new ones in the country at the time!)and although it improved a lot, there was still a (nice) rasp at about 3000 rpm I've always found that a genuine system sounds better than a pattern one, it's just a shame there aren't many about. The same went for my MK2 16v, and the VR6. If you want to spend some money, then I hear a Jetex stainless system is pretty good and the tailpipes aren't overly fussy either.

Might be better off spray painting the bits you have.

Easy as that :-)

Beige interior bits are hard to find however!

I think the heaterbox itself is the same, but the fan box is different. If you're particularly slim-fingered you may be able to get it out without removing the dash. You'll obviously need a fan and ducting off a non aircon Corrado. I would also get a standard glovebox and lower pasenger dash shelf, and include the ones in your car as part of the aircon setup, as the aircon requires a shallower glovebox. There is a loom - I am not 100% sure but I would guess it runs from the a/c switch to the fusebox. There will also be some of the loom in the engine bay, connecting to the fan controller, the pressure switch in the aircon pipes, and the brown temp sender (this should to be replaced with the standard sender) There are some relays that make up part of the aircon too. Make sure you include the support brackets for the aircon rad. The cylinder thing is the drier, and don't forget the compressor as well. You are correct in that you need a different aux belt (about £20 from ECP). Finally make sure that you also include the pipework when you sell. Testing is pretty tricky if the system is down on pressure, as the compressor won't engage if the pressure is too low. You should be able to see if the compressor clutch engages by giving it a 12v supply briefly. I would have been interested in some of the engine bay bits to finish off my Climatronic conversion, but to be honest it's fairer that you sell it as a complete system to someone who wants it. Parts needed to go to standard: Heater fan and ducting Dash blank (to replace a/c switch) Glovebox (you can keep the lock and fascia from your current glovebox) Lower passenger shelf Aux belt Stage 3 temp sender (yellow?)

Count yourself lucky... I'm 29 and I've just been quoted £1350 by Admiral - that's with 5 years NCB, licence for 11 years, one non-fault accident and 8000 annual miles. Goes down to £900 when I add the missus, even though she is younger, has less no claims and has points. Absolutely mental.

Might be worth measuring the A to B pillar distance in the door opening, both at the top and bottom of the bulkhead on both passenger and driver side just to put your mind at ease. I don't want to alarm, but you have to consider why the gap is there and what caused it.. It doesn't sound like it's out by much, but something has been pushed back a little somewhere.

Blue Corrado, L-reg parked up on Riverdale Road in Sheffield yesterday PM

Not too sure what the question is - is it between a standard OBD2 and a Schrick'ed OBD1, or do you want a Schrick on the OBD2? If the latter, I'd go OBD2 every time - there's a fair bit of money to spend when going the Schrick route so it's something you want to get right first time. If you go OBD1 with a Schrick and decide you want to switch to OBD2 later then you'll need the OBD2 throttle body adaptor and another remap.

Interesting - my VR has always done this - I had just assumed it was normal, but perhaps not! I wonder why the blue temp sender would do this though - isn't it just the ECU temp sender? It doesn't have anything to do with the temp gauge or fan controller AFAIK?