tony_ack

Just done this on my replacement tailgate which I still haven't fitted yet! I had a theroy too that the heat from the bulbs makes things worse in there. Depending on handy you are with the rattle cans, and how good colour match you get, you shouldn't have to respray the whole tailgate - I just did the panel under the spoiler, and blended in on the corner. I'm also thinking of some heat-proof paint on the inside, and loads of waxoyl or similar. Do the new number lights from VW come with the foam gasket? ---------- Post added at 01:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 PM ---------- Just seen the pics - if the pics of the rust are after you sanded down, you need to make sure that metal is shiny and there's no trace of rust AT ALL before you paint!

The part no on the foam is for... well... the foam! Think the part no starts 443 anyway.

I've just gone for 205/45/16 on 7.5j - they sit well on the Corrado, look the part and offer a decent ride. I came from 195/45/16 but the stretch was too much for my liking, and the ride a little crashier.

Good old C/L! Had a nightmare with this on the valver. My problem was the driver's door actuator though (the lock tab had snapped - funny I had the same problem in the Corrado!), and also a failed pump. The early Corrado pump IS the same as the 90 spec MK2 one I think, and could also match the pre-90 ones too. The vac pipes on the later cars are black with a green stripe, so it looks like the pre 90 ones are different. Check your spare wheel well if you have moisture in your boot to make sure water's not pooling. For the CL, check the fuse, swap the pump, reconnect the yellow pipe, and operate it again to see what happens. Also check this out for pipe routing (as long as you've registered on Vagcat) http://www.vagcat.com/epc/cat/vw/GO/1988/77/56/872865/ Have fun!

okay, no worries... I can't really justify £70 when I only need one piece of trim. Doors are a good price, but I'm looking for original paint if possible, as both of mine have had spray jobs which aren't too good.

Think you're going to struggle to get anywhere with the insurance company - by chasing after her and stopping in front of her you've given her every excuse to get out of it. Not only that, but with a witness on her side, they'll probably rule that you're fully, or at best, mostly liable. For the initial incident, you may get some luck as long as the damage is visible on both cars, and has not been covered up by the later coming together.

Hi mate, I only need the bottom front lower bit of the trim really, would you sell that bit on its own? Let me know what sort of price you're expecting for the doors.

Not sure about those wheels, but I admit I've also resorted to the 'buy a set of wheels because they've got good tyres' method on (more than one) occasion!

Good point about the depreciation - with the money you lose in depreciation on a newer car you could afford to run the Corrado AND buy another Corrado if it breaks!

'Old car smell' may be mistaken for a petrol smell for the uninitiated! Lack of a cat and rich running could make your missus think she's smelling petrol, when actually it's rich exhaust fumes. The fuel lines system on the Digi is quite simple compared to the spaghetti that is K-jet. Coming into the engine bay from the driver's side you have two lines, one fuel-in line, and one fuel return. It's a while since I've been under the bonnet of a Digi, but iirc they then connect to the FPR, and onto the common injector rail at the back of the head. One place they can go is where one of the lines passes over/near the cambelt cover, and rubs against it - but if they go here they usually spray everywhere. Other than that, the system is pretty robust. When you get the car back, check the whole system over from the tank to the injectors to see what you come up with. It's probably nothing, but better to be safe. The only other place she can check (doubt it will reveal anything) is under the boot carpet - there is a cover for the in-tank pump where the lines leave the fuel tank.

Sadly this is becoming an expensive hobby. It was £91 to fill up the VR a couple of days ago, and you really begin to cringe when you see the insurance costs come in as well. 35mpg on a careful run is respectable for a G60, but nowhere near what a diesel is capable of, if driven carefully as well. You do lose the fun factor, but you need to ask yourself whether the extra outlay for the fuel is worth paying for that. For some it is, for some it isn't. Everyone has their limit where they have to say 'enough is enough' and the way fuel prices are going, a lot more people are going to reach that limit soon.

Still after a few parts to get the Corrado looking beautiful again! Classic Green (LC6U) driver's wing. Mine is getting pretty scabby now and looks to be beyond salvage. I'm looking for one in very good condition - i.e. dent free, rust free, and no scratches that require paint/filler Classic Green (LC6U) driver's door - same condition as above - rust and dent free (okay a couple of SMALL car park dings on the swage line are to be expected), and no deep scratches. Would consider taking the passenger door too if similar condition and the right price. Classic Green (LC6U) front grille - looking for a painted front grille. Alternatively, if I can get a standard grille cheaply, I would paint myself. Scabby cloth interior - I'm looking for a later cloth interior for no more than £50. Condition and design is really not important as I'll be using it temporarily while I restore the leather, so ripped cloth seats, mouldy butchered door cards and collapsed bolsters are all fair game. I will need seats and doorcard. Beige interior bits still needed: -Passenger side inner wing/lower A-pillar cover panel (ABS ECU cover) -Driver side right footrest/lower A-pillar cover panel -Centre console front exhaust tuner cover/lower gear shift surround (just the lower bit, I don't need the the gaitor and surround with the badge) -Handbrake cover (beige preferred but balck considered as mine is completely missing at the moment) -1 clip for the trim that runs at the top of the tailgate (there are two clips, left and right, only one needed) Dash clocks screw cover, left hand side. PAS pipe for VR6 from pump to rack - no leaks I can collect up to 100 miles for the right parts, or courier is an option also. I have some parts I can provide as swaps / p/x if preferred, including rear Koni TAs, glass sunroof panel, rear lights

If you're driven purely by money, then breaking is going to give you the biggest return, but it does take time and you always end up with loads of bits no-one wants. However I hate to see good cars getting broken for pure financial reasons. You're right though - the market is on it's ass at the moment, so if I were you I'd strip out the high value mods, sell them seperately, then get the car running, taxed and MOTd and sell it on.

Now that I'm happy with the new shocks and springs, and have some new tyres, I needed to do two things today. First I rang the insurance company to declare the mods. The new wheels and shocks/springs add £100 to my premium over 6 months! My renewal is going to be over £1000 I think, especially since I'll probably do more miles next year as well. Secondly, I rang a wheel alignment place in Sheffield from the alignmycar website. Compared to the converstaion I had at Dexel yesterday, the guy on the phone filled me with confidence (though was a bit vague on his prices). He asked what car it was, and what I wanted aligning - I told him it was a Corrado and that I wanted camber and toe sorting out, and only the fronts were adjustable. I told him it was lowered - he said it would be a problem if he used the standard figures as the lowering would affect the camber, but as long as I told him what camber I needed to run, he should be able to do it fine. Car is booked in for Friday, and I said I'd give him the alignment settings. I've done a search and it appears the -0.8 to -1.0 deg would suit a lowered Corrado? I guess if I give him the Bentley manual alignment data and tell him to set the front camber to the modified value, he should be fine?

Love this colour - used to have a MK2 in Pearl Grey and it looked sublime. Never realised you could get a VR6 in Pearl Grey - it must have been discontinued just after the VR6 was introduced.

A little bit late, but here are some pics we took

Wow, I only got a VR6 rad from VW last month! Didn't know they were so limited on stock. Glad I kept my old rad - it'll be useful for a re-core for someone!

The car is now shod in a new set of Continentals. I went via BestBuyTyres, as they were the agent for Dexel who are walking distance from my work. I ordered 4 Continental SportContact 2's in 205/45/16 which came to £414.68 (fitted). I went for 205s rather than 195s as I wasn't too keen on the stretch on 195s. I got a call a day after I ordered to say that they didn't have V rated tyres which I had ordered, and had to supply W rated tyres instead - I of course agreed. However when I picked the car up it had PremiumContacts not SportContacts. Even so, I may stick with them, as the ride on the Premiums is sublime compared to the old tyres. I still need to look at getting a refund, as there's a difference in price between the two tyres. I also asked if they did wheel alignment... 'Yes' was the reply 'Toe AND Camber?' 'Yep, we do the alignment' 'Camber too?' 'Yes, we do the camber as well' After I dropped the car off, I came across some stellar advice in another thread DON'T LET YOUR TYRE FITTING CENTRE DO YOUR ALIGNMENT Little did I know how good the advice was at the time Fast forward to picking up the car at lunchtime... I paid for the alignment (£26) and drove off. Something wasn't right straight away. I couldn't seem to turn very far to the left, I'd hit resistance about 1/2 turn from full lock. Nevertheless, I drove off to get some fuel (£91 for a full tank..!). There was definitely something wrong though, so I stopped off at Dexel again on the way back. They drove it on the ramp, looked at it and scratched their heads for a bit before realising that they'd twisted the rubber rack boot when adjusting the l/hand trackrod (yes, I know it's not supposed to be adjusted). They said it was sorted, so I backed it off the ramp... and... the problem was still there (albeit better than it was). By now I had to go back to work, so I left the car with them and asked them to ring me once done. I rang them at 4pm, and they said it was ready, so I went to pick it up. The guy walked to the car with me, explaining that the rubber boot had still been catching but it was now sorted, and the alignment was spot on. But then he said they had noticed something that wasn't quite right. I knew what was coming.. 'The camber is out?' I said 'Yeah, there seems to be more camber on one side than the other' 'So you don't do camber as part of the alignment?' 'No, we don't have the equipment for it' So I still need to get the geometry done properly. The car pulls slightly to the left, and the steering wheel is slightly off centre to the right when driving in a straight line, but that could be down to the camber.

Digis do like their cold air. There's an intake temperature sensor in the MAF which the ECU makes use of and adjusts the map accordingly, although to be fair most cars will make use of colder (denser) air! If you've had a bump then check the side brackets that attach the bumper to the rear quarter haven't popped off or snapped - they're usually the first victim in any minor shunt. You'll be able to tell as the rear bumper will be sitting a little wonky from the side profile (lower near the rear arch)

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Motorsport/Car_Preparation/Body_Panel_Trim_Seals/Demon_Tweeks_Neoprene_Self_Adhesive_Sponge_Strip/2015/6211 This is good stuff. My only worry would be that it is a little 'too' good, insofar as it will offer too much resistance when trying to change the air direction on higher blower speeds (though it will 'breathe' a little, so it may be okay). I used this to start recovering my replacement airbox, but never bothered fitting it as I'm still hoping to do a climatronic conversion. If you don't really mind so much about the OEM look (to be fair it's not like you're ever going to see it), or you don't need the reassuring cushioning effect of the foam when you move the control flaps, then good old duct tape will do the job.

Nice picture of a full (Sachs) clutch kit here: http://www.vwh2o.com/vw.cfm?act=shop.product&pID=40239484&lang=EN&country=GB I've heard mixed reviews on the LUK clutches, but mostly it's people spouting off I think - I've never actually seen or heard any stories of an LUK clutch failing early on a MK2. VW used a mix of Sachs and LUK items originally.

Sachs is the clutch kit to go for on the MK2 - OEM quality and will last forever. I've heard stories - and they are just stories to be fair - of some MK2s on their original clutch at 200k miles. I think the PAS on the MK2 is beautifully weighted and you still get (almost) all the feel of a non-PAS rack. The best OEM mods, if they haven't already been done are uprated headlight loom (of course!), weighted gear shift rod from a MK3, and the 99 wiper relay.

A week since the last post, which means that everything is working for once! ATTEMPT 8 at sorting out the suspension took place last Friday. I needed to fit new top mount bearings to the fronts, which basically meant taking the struts out AGAIN, but it didn't take too long. The camber is a bit too negative again now, but that will be sorted soon enough (it's nowehere near as bad as before though!). The rears were really easy to work with and probably took about 1-1.5 hours to do both sides. So now I have a spare set of rear Koni TAs (which seem to be in okay condition, unlike the leaky fronts!). I took the car for a drive and it's good now. The ride is a little harsher than standard, but not bad, and the harshness is partially down to the wheels I think. It's definitely okay for daily duties. I've set the fronts to 1.5 turns from soft, and the rears to 0.5 turns from soft. I have noticed a knocking noise coming from the back, but I suspect the exhaust is knocking against something, as the mounts looked pretty perished when I was under there. I'm looking forward to getting the alignment sorted, so I can see exactly how good the Corrado can handle. I'm getting a new set of tyres next week too - a full set of 205/45/16 ContiSport 2's. They were menat to be V rated, but I got a call saying they could only get W rated tyres in before Tuesday, so they'd have to give me those for the same price. Damn. I'm going to see if the tyre place does 4 wheel alignmenty too - if not then I'll see if I can get it in somewhere in Sheffield. I went to Elsecar on Sunday and saw quite a few Storms with the painted grille and decided I fancy a piece of that! I don't want to pretend the car is a Storm - I just think the painted grille really suits the car well. ---------- Post added at 04:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ---------- Pictures of the new wheels/suspension combo: The difference between the rear top mount plates - standard and Koni-sized (now irrelevant as I had new plates in the kit for the new dampers!) ---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:01 PM ---------- And... coming up in the next few months... here is a taster of the next jobs I have in store...

Good work. MK2s really are simple creatures, and if you look after them, they'll look after you. The water/oil temp definitely sounds like a stuck thermostat - It should definitely be getting up to 80+ for the oil temp, and coolant should at least be out of the first white block, even in freezing conditions. The housing bolts may not make the changing it easy! May be worth considering a cambelt change and new water pump at the same time if you don't know when they were last done. Try not to go for the GSF number plate light lenses/holders if you can help it - they didn't fit properly for me.

Bolts should be 17mm, and the biggest socket in the first Irwin pack should fit (hammer it on). The front bumper mounting setup is the same from the first MK2 in '83 to the last Corrado in '95, so if you're bolts are 18mm, you either used the wrong size socket (rounded off the head?) or they were after-market bolts (weaker, so rounded off the head). It helps to soak the bolts in plenty of Plusgas, or if you haven't got that, WD40. Finally, a nice big breaker bar will help too. There is a risk if the bolts are seized that you'll snap the captive nut in the bumper bracket, which opens up a world of pain, as access to the nut is tricky with the bumper in situ. Of course a snapped bolt shouldn't be as much of a problem! I had 3 spare bolts off my MK2 but I can't remember if I sold them or not - best to check with the dealer as they probably still sell them. Once the bolts are out, the crossmember will be held on with a 13mm bolt on either side, which is enough to support it, but you really don't want to be driving it with the torque a G60 will put through its front engine mount.