Dubversive

Despite the rain I managed to grab an hour on the car. Much bashing and pulling resulted in the twisted and botched (welded to inner wings, bolted in other random places) slam panel being removed. Getting the homemade fixings from the valance off the bumper was the hardest part. Once that was off I could inspect the damage. The central spar is very twisted - obviously why the rad is leaking. With it all removed I got the dollies out and dressed the inner wings back to the correct profiles (thankfully the damage to these and the chassis legs was cosmetic only). I finished off today by mounting the replacement panel and dressing the lower valance back to match. Next job is to clean the crappy welding off the inner wings and smooth/prime them up. Might buy a pair of fresh wings just to make things 100% again :)

1st full day on the Corrado as my mate dropped it home on the Saturday. Sunday was spent cleaning and fault finding. First of all the front panel was inspected. In 2003 the car had a bump after the owner hit black ice. The front panel had been banged out badly and filler bodged on to make it halfway decent. The clips on the headlights were replaced with random bits of metal sheet and a used wing, bumper and bonnet fitted. It's still the same and looking worse for the wear. I've got a new slam panel on the way and as soon as it arrives it will be painted satin black. I have late headlights (with clips :) ) to fit, the new Rieger grille and bumper and a rad to fix the leak. I gave the engine a quick blast with a pressure washer so it's halfway recognisable. A trip up the road and a steam cleam once the rad is in will make a huge difference. The classic sunroof fault is there too. It tilts, but doesn't slide. The motor and switch seem fine so it's likely the mechanism that is screwed. TBH I can't be arsed trying to fix a steel sunroof so it will be replaced with a glass Passat one and while it's out I am going to trim the headlining in something funky. With the interior lights sorted (bulb gone, door switch stuck) I turned my attention to the door handles. The car has remote locking and the door handles have been swapped for what looks to be Polo rears. I undid the handles to find blocks of wood Duck Tape'd to the actuators. A proper Passat delock kit has been ordered. Lastly the rear spoiler doesn't work correctly. The manual activation switch works fine but the automatic system doesn't so I guess it's the relay/actuation system - a job for later I think. Parts needed include: Black parcel shelf 3 switch blanks 2x instrument panel lower screw covers 'Recaro' trim door panels (to match the seats) Centre console (from the gearstick panel back) inner and outer

The reason 10/09 - My wife has a shoulder injury at work and can no longer drive her (non PAS) Mk1 Golf Cabriolet as a result. I give her my '2000 Golf estate (oceanic green, slammed on '18" Audi Q5 rims) to use as it has PAS and heated seats. 11/09 - I'm driving a Golf cab in winter, feeling stupid and somewhat gay. Not feeling the car at all so I put it up for sale. 01/10 - I have a new toy (VW Syncro T3) so the Golf cab is sold. 02/10 - My Syncro needs to come off the road for a suspension lift so I have to sort out another car. Prime candidate is the wife's old Mk3 Cabriolet. Being a purple, girly Golf I can't do it to myself so start to look for a new daily. The inspiration Dubfreeze '10 - Mooching round the show hall I am taken in by Victoria Richards Twilight Rado. I love the car, not the colour. I've admired them from afar but never really looked at one until now. Sporty, VW and lots of scope. I go home impressed and get looking on Ebay for a budget 'Rado. I also research converting one to AWD as I have a dead Golf Syncro to break too :cuckoo: The project base Fast forward to last week and I win the bidding on an '89 1.8l 16v in white that needs love. The car owes me £520 at this point and comes with a damaged spare Rieger style bumper, 17" rims and a few bits missing. It runs but it needs attention. Bodywork needs paint and the front bumper and grille need the bin. The rad leaks a little also. The interior seems good with clean carpets, just some minor trim to replace. It has electric mirrors, electric sunroof (working - I checked) and remote locking with delocked doors (Polo 6n handles). The work begins.... Saturday I went round to my mates and set to cleaning it up. He has collared the tyres (and rims and suspension I have spare) already for his Mk3 Colour Concept project. This guy is going to owe me some serious labour :lol: A quick wash revealed its pretty straight with some old paint that has been applied poorly. A full respray will be needed to make it right but I have a friend collared for that job ;) As the bumper and grille are toilet anyway I shall replace them, removing the front wings to make sure all is perfect before fresh colour. Close inspection revealed minor accident damage to the OSF inner wing. That wing and the bonnet have been swapped also. The inner wing has been repaired, but I will replace those 3" of panel properly before it gets painted. Underbonnet desperately needs a steam clean. No major rust evident, just mould and dirt! A charged battery and the fitting of new ignition parts saw the old girl starting first time with a nice steady purring from the fuel pump. An oil change will be carried out once it's home and the air/fuel/oil filters are in the boot ready. The active spoiler works from the button. Can't wait to see it on the move :D I've ordered a replacement radiator and headlights (broken clips everywhere). Last thought for the day: My mate (who collected the car) called this morning to say he jump started his truck today. Unfortunately the 'rado was on the back at the time and not strapped down so I definitely needed to get a new bumper now! Thankfully there was no other damage. 10 minutes searching on the 'bay and I have done a deal on a bodykit. Half Rieger/half Oettinger but at least I get a replacement bumper. Need new headlights (cracked before) and slam panel (accident damaged by PO). The kit landed in Ilkeston with my mate. The grille is new and apart from some minor damage to the front bumper things are looking very good. I'm selling the rear skirt (Oettinger repro), Rieger copy front bumper and skirts and an original front grille to raise funds. I'm keeping the new Rieger bumper (slightly more aggressive) and the grille though. Front bumper: Needs tidying and a couple of brackets securing but its a good moulding and pretty sturdy.# New grille/eyebrow: I started looking at 90's wheels to carry on the period style. Initially I was checking out the Azevs, Anteras (remember them?) Ronals and Borbets that are so 'scene' now but being a true creature of contradiction I got bored of fashionable rims and dug out a few old Fast Cars and Max Powers from the loft. This feature reminded me of the semi-smooth style rims we fitted back then and I got to thinking how well the Corrado would be suited to them. It also reminded me how much I like long legged redheads with riding crops. This page was on the back of my garage door for ages ;-) Dirty TSW Venoms rock on this car in my opinion. They would have to be 17"s to do it justice though - I remember seeing Novas on 15"s in '95 and thinking how gash they looked with all that tyrespace around them. Anyway, I found a set on the Retro Rides forum in 4x100, 17"x7.5J with decent offsets for not a lot: These will be rocking some 40 series tyres and spacers to get some poke and flush out the archlines. Can't wait to get some pics of the parts going on over the coming week.