Portent

VR's can sound a little rough when first starting, particularly when cold. Also they all seem to pull to the left a little. I've no idea why :)

Superb :) [video=youtube_share;smETLCCPTVo]

Good luck. Hope you made it back ok in the bas weather. Pictures needed :)

I replaced mine today and it was very simple indeed. The only tool you need is a screwdriver and that's simply to prise off a couple of clips on each strut. There is no screwing involved and no spannering needed. I took some pictures as I did it so hopefully it will explain the process in an easy to understand way. The pictures are of the right hand side of the hatch. 1) Support the hatch - Open the hatch and support it in some way or get someone to hold it for you. Mine stayed open even on one strut but there's no guarantee yours will. I secured mine by tying a rope around it and supporting it from the garage rafters. 2) Remove the circlip - With the hatch open take a look at the strut where it meets the hatch by the window. It is held in place by a pin. The pin is prevented from coming out by a circlip on the outer edge. Prise the circlip off using a flat headed screwdriver. I'm afraid I don't know if they are special clips or whether you could use anything the same size. I'd guess you could use anything of a similar size but mine didn't break so I reused them. [ATTACH=CONFIG]51366[/ATTACH] 3) Remove the pin - Now the circlip has been removed you should be able to push the pin out. To remove it simply push it towards the middle of the car. I found mine came out easier by pushing the hatch upwards a little so that the weight was taken off the pin. [ATTACH=CONFIG]51367[/ATTACH] 4) Catch the falling strut - Once the pin is removed then get ready to catch the strut as it will swing downwards quite fast. 5) The other end is held in place by another clip- Now take a look at where the bottom end of the strut is held in place at the body end. It is connected to a ball joint. You need to pull it off the joint but it is held in place by a clip on the actual strut itself. [ATTACH=CONFIG]51368[/ATTACH] 6) Remove the ball joint clip - The strut won't come off until you release the clip on the back of the strut. I did this by sliding in a flat headed screwdriver and loosening it. The clip didn't come off completely but did loosen enough to allow me to wiggle the strut around until it came off. I had to keep the screwdriver pressed into the clip while wiggling it at the same time. [ATTACH=CONFIG]51369[/ATTACH] And it was as simple as that. Installing the new struts is obviously the reverse of that process. I used struts from Veedubmachine. They seem ok and much cheaper than the VW equivalents. I've not compared them to new VW struts but they seem fine to me.

Very nice indeed. We knew you'd be back sometime :)

There's a very light dusting in the air down here in surrey.

Replaced the rear hatch gas struts with new ones. Finally no creaking when opening or closing the boot. Very easy process. I took some pictures as I went so I will post those up when I get a chance. Also changed the side indicator repeaters from dark ones back to OEM ambers. I swapped as I suspect the darkened ones may be an MOT failure under the new rules. But I think I prefer them amber anyway. It adds a bit of colour to an otherwise very grey car. ---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ---------- Replaced the rear hatch gas struts with new ones. Finally no creaking when opening or closing the boot. Very easy process. I took some pictures as I went so I will post those up when I get a chance. Also changed the side indicator repeaters from dark ones back to OEM ambers. I swapped as I suspect the darkened ones may be an MOT failure under the new rules. But I think I prefer them amber anyway. It adds a bit of colour to an otherwise very grey car.

That's normal. The 4 way rocker is illuminated but not the l and r buttons.

I'd be interested in a leather handbrake cover.

Yes. I've got darkened side repeaters so just ordered some ambers for the mot. Might just leave them on though as I'm kind of liking them. Forgot to say your car looks great :)

Sadly I won't be watching F1 this year since it moved to Sky Sports :(

Could be an MOT failure under the new rules. Anything that reduces the light output is a failure now.

No problem :)

For info, Veedubmachine sell parcel shelf straps which are 95% close to the original. Unless you compare them side by side you'd never know they were different.

I've had a few recently. I was in the VW garage getting my new mats and I happened to look over the R32 they had on display. One of the salesmen came over and asked if I was considering trading in the Corrado for it. I'd never seen him before so was surprised he knew what car I have... "No, I'd never sell that but I might swap my mk4 4Motion" I replied. To which he responded "We can always see your Corrado coming. It looks fantastic". My grin stretched from ear to ear on that one :) A couple of days later my sister-in-law was visiting. She didn't know we have anything other than the Golf. But as she got out of the car she walked around the garage and said how nice it was. She didn't even know how old it was or what it was (not a car person). And lastly... I phoned the VW garage yesterday to tell them the carpet fixing screws that I ordered were broken. The parts department knew what car I had as soon as I gave my name... you don't get THAT with a modern car :D

A good video. Skip to 08:00 for the Quattro bit... [video=youtube_share;LDCE4FjVHOU] One car I would sell the Corrado for is one of these (£149k I wish!!)

Does the DOHC engine cover have any splits or significant marks? If not then I'd like to take it please. Do you have a dash blank (the slightly curved one) that normally sits where the heated seat switches would be? It looks like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-CORRADO-DASH-BLANK-SWITCH-VR6-G60-16V-8V-BLANKS-/220749309361?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3365af25b1 Also... do you have the left and right wing mirror glass (just the glass) and if so is there any discolouration?

A double sink of some kind - a large one for cleaning parts and a smaller one for washing hands etc. A mini tilting lift: http://www.cjautos.site90.net/mini.html Or hydraulic drive on car ramps: http://www.cjautos.org.uk/

Heating Lighting, preferable from several locations not just overhead Power Water Drainage Lots of shelving for storage Hangers from the roof to store ladders etc (or loft space) Electric door

Thanks

Thanks. I don't recall there being any clips on there when I looked. Will take another peek. Also may be able to do it single handed as the car is in the garage so I guess I could support it by tying the hatch in some way to the roof beam before starting. Thanks for pointing it out though as I'd hoped one strut would have held it.

Thanks. I did try checking on isitup.com and it was showing as available.

My rear hatch has always made a creaking nose when I open and close it. Lubricating it didn't make any difference so I concluded it may be one of the struts and have got some replacements to try. How do I remove the old ones? Thanks.

Karl did you ever get this fixed? I'm getting the same thing now on mine.

Superb, as always.