oneohtwo

No, just sticking with the original fibre one. Never really considered it to be honest - only recently discovered it was an option!

Right, given it some more thought and cleaning and got things nice and flat. Will put a thin smear of well seal in the pitted areas, but they are self contained and shouldn't be an issue. I will have to live with the odd marks on the bore, and they should be mostly above the piston ring travel anyway. Next thing I've discovered, I am missing the little insets into the bolt holes for locating the gasket and cylinder head - anyone know where these can be obtained?! Part No. is N90502601 but can only seem to find it from US stores, and one on ebay from Latvia but could do with somewhere that's going to be easier to deliver...

Gave that a go, but unfortunately the hooks are just too big to fit at the back and sides of the strut well. they fit at the front corners, but that leaves you without the third. Did grab a pair of the Hilka type from screwfix so will give them ago.

Old thread, but a bit of info to add: The Clark 3 rod spring compressors (also Teng Tools look identical) like these: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cht224-3piece-coil-spring-compressor/ Don't work on the Corrado, as there's no clearance for the heads in the well around the top of the strut, and the bar is also too long. It hits the top of the well before the bottom hook is engaged. I went for these as I thought they looked a bit more substantial than the Laser/Hilka ones above, like the locking mechanism and felt having three bars was a bit more stable and safer than just the two bars.... but half an hour wrestling with them and they definitely don't fit so best to avoid. Guess I'll have to go with the type above. frustrating day!

I'm just coming up to installing the new head gasket and refreshed cylinder head, but … obvious question: how clean does the engine block face have to be? I've scraped off as much as I can of the remaining gunk that was still stuck on after getting back from Stealth, and wiped down a few times with brake cleaner but a few areas look kinda rough/pitted: There's obviously no way I can get it skimmed now or anything like that, but is that clean enough? I know it is just around the cooling jacket areas, so pretty well contained (and there are areas of pitting left on the head after skimming, from previous damage) but a second opinion would be handy as it's a critical item. All the youtube vids seem to be dealing with nice, shiny, freshly skimmed blocks! Also noticed inside the bores these marks have appeared: Any ideas? The cylinders were rebored and rehoned with Stealth, and fairly sure they weren't there before. All I can think of is tiny rust marks, but I've kept the bores oiled up and under cover so would be a bit gutted if that was the case. Obviously nothing I can do about it now though, so ah well.

Yeah, it takes bloody ages! The painting is the easiest bit... I spread the cleaning over several months, doing a bit at a time and slowly chipping away at it, because it's bloody tedious and wasn't on the critical path. I used a combo of: Dodo Juice Crudzilla Auto Finesse Eradicate Bilt Hamber Deox Gel (for rust removal) White Spirit Fibre Glass mould cleaner The last two were for removing the last residues of the wax mostly. I really like the Auto Finesse cleaner actually, has done a good job on a lot of other things. Used the Auto Finesse Caramics kit for a bit of added protection once I had finished. Also raided the gfs stock of wooden nail sticks, as they were perfect for chipping bits of hardened wax off without damaging anything under! Those would be my tips!

Ah, good news! Sent a few of the forum threads over and the guy has found someone at Eibach who knows about the problem and should be sending replacement springs next week. The guy at Extreme Carstyling has been extremely helpful, didn't argue in the first instance, got straight on to Eibach, always responded quickly and has pursued them for an answer. Would be happy to recommend them. Was a very good price on the B12s as well...

In the meantime, bit more progress. Airbox tray cleaned of rust and resprayed: Always amazed at how purple Aqua blue looks at some angles in certain light - don't tend to notice it on the outside as much.

Yeah, that was the plan - I had sent them a link to, I think, your thread in the first instance in the hope that would help. Seems they need more! Thanks for the tip, I'll track down SeanJaymos thread...

Well this is great. Contacted the company about the springs and they've have been quite helpful and got in touch with Eibach. Eibach have now comeback and denied all knowledge, said they weren't aware of the problem. Bah, so this is going to be a drawn out affair... Disappointing, and a bit surprised at Eibach, from reading on here people seem to have got a good response from them and it's been Bilstein who have been unhelpful. Clearly they've never recorded the previous issues... They've asked if I have any photos showing the issue, but I don't want to put them on knowing they're wrong. Plus I am miles away from being able to do that currently...

Yeah, I think that's fair. I've bought before from them and have been pretty happy with the quality of item - they sell plenty of higher quality stuff; got the Vibratechnics mount from them, and as mentioned the other gasket set is Elring, plus a few other quality brands and the VW Classics stuff. I guess I did partly fall into the trap of thinking because it was VW Heritage everything from there would be decent quality when I got the headgasket set. I see in fairness they do have the OEM headgasket from VW Classics, I just bought the full set which is JP. I think what I might do is get a Reinz headgasket from ebay, and use the rest of the gaskets from the set, if I can't return them, in less critical placesl. Like the inlet manifolds - shouldn't be under such harsh conditions as the head gasket and if they do go wrong it's much less an issue. That way I've not totally wasted the money.

Great stuff mate, thanks! Glad I started this thread now, that's a real help. Hadn't really given them a second glance when bought off heritage, don't think they had listed the manufacturer at the time either. Bit annoying as it wasn't a cheap set either... that's a 100 odd quid down the drain. Thankfully the other seal set I got from them are Elring. I've never really fancied buying from ebay, (not just parts but anything!) but actually seems like it might be the better place now...

Good knowledge, happy for a recommendations so I'll go with Lemforder. You're certainly the go to parts man on here it seems! Got the oil cooler ages ago so probably can't return it now - but it was cheap so won't lose much getting the Hella. Do you have any thoughts on the JP gaskets? Seems hard to get a thin piece of metal wrong... but then, it is the head gasket. They weren't cheap either so I'd be loath to lose out on those.

That's a concern, I bought an oil cooler from heritage - seem to recall it coming in an unbranded box but will double check.

You might be right about being obsolete. Seems more and more like that is the default answer. Yeah, noticed the rear engine mount I picked from them up was Topran and the gasket set JP. Didn't realise at the time. Hopefully shouldn't matter too much as the rear mount isn't so greatly stressed, and is just a big lump of rubber. Likewise you'd hope a gasket is a gasket... Will have a look at vw international.

That's good to know. Was hoping to get new OEM top mounts and bushes for the suspension - looked like heritage only had powerflex bushes when I first looked, but need to double check the actual parts. Also need to get the yellow, blue, black thermostat sensors - seems like they've got a few but not the blue and yellow.

Where does everyone go for their OEM parts now that the dealers have shut for the lockdown? The irony is I've now got more time than ever to work on the corrado, but can't get the parts...! Obviously got Heritage for good parts, but some bits you want OEM. Online mostly seems to throw up the Autodoc sites and their variations (buycarparts, etc...) - I've got some INA tappets on order from there as couldn't find them on any UK sites but again with the disruption ordering from the UK would seem to be preferable.

I have to say I wouldn't look twice at the Nothelles if I saw them on the shelf, but somehow they really do look the business on the Corrado! Looks lovely in the Satin silver as well, really works well on the car and shows off the angles and emphasises the arches. Is it just me or do your bumper gaps look particularly tight? (Oo-er… etc, etc!)

Oh, arse. Just checked the part number for the springs and it ends in 3002HA not 2002HA. Place I ordered them from are Dutch so that's going to be a hassle sorting a replacement.

No sadly not. Keep making extra work for myself cleaning and painting bits. Should get the head and chains back on this weekend if all goes to plan. Currently slowly cleaning the gearbox up... Bit worried the imminent lockdown is going to cut off the supply of parts as well. Gonna have to start panic buying/stockpiling Corrado parts instead of toilet paper before the end of the week! Depending on how far you're going and If you're not too worried about how things look, I can only really think of the front engine mount bracket on the actual block that might want powder coating - all the other bits are alloy. There are all the sub frame members mind... Thanks, I'll make sure I do those at the same time, good to know. Excited to have them on, even just for the way it looks!

Thanks for the info. Will check that out. Is OEM best for the top mounts and bearings still? Assuming they're not obsolete...

Progress has stalled a bit due mostly to making extra work for myself tidying bits up and also a special project I've been working on that if it works will be excellent... but could also go horribly wrong. But in the meantime late Christmas present to myself: Always wanted a set so pretty excited. Understand some sets shipped with the wrong length rear springs? So will need to double check that, and the installation guide seems to indicate a few more bits than in the box, but I presume that's just reusing the existing bits on the car... (Still haven't found where the tiny grub screw goes though...)

Might have missed something, but what's the procedure for subscribing?

I didn't really manage to fix it as such, there's still play somewhere in the mechanism, I just managed to set the wiper arms in such a way that they didn't foul anything. It's near mm perfect... any small deviation either way and it either hits the other arm, or the scuttle. I wonder if getting the motor refurbed would be worthwhile...

Could be the motor/linkage? I did my arms a while back, and it took me ages to set it up mm perfect so they don't foul the plastic. You can fix it to what seems the bottom of travel when stationary, but they still hit the trim when on full blast, as there just seems a lot of play in the mechanism. I have set mine so they are quite a way up the screen when they come to a stop, but was the only way I could do it. On intermittent they don't go anywhere near the trim, but just stop short on full blast. I have a suspicion the motor being old and worn has something to do with it as well as I can't entirely manually force the wipers as far as their full range of travel when on, but not fully sure how.