kangaroo

Started my first repair on the car this weekend, no doubt the first of many... It was the dreaded bonnet release cable. It had slipped and was not releasing the passenger side pin until literally the last millimetre of travel on the release handle. Quick search on here and I found out it needed tightening. Fair enough... This is when I discovered something must have been done about it before. The bolt wasn't present in the trumpet-shaped adjuster on the passenger side, and instead someone had used a flimsy brass electrical wire connector as a substitute cable grip on the other side. This has weakened over time and the cable was beginning to slip-through... I couldn't find a bolt of suitable size for the trumpet, so just replaced the makeshift cable grip with another one. I love a good bodge. (Useful tip I discovered to help you adjust the cable: pull the release handle, thus pulling back the bonnet-pin locks, and stick a couple of bits of wood in the holes to hold them back. This frees up the tension in the cable and makes adjusting it a damn sight easier.) But as I was doing all this though the interior handle fell off!! :( It was pretty wobbly to start with, I admit... Looking at it I can see it pivots on a large gold-coloured pin, ontop of which goes a chunky gold washer (which barely holds it on there). But that's it, nothing else there to secure it. Is it missing something? Is there anyway for me to secure it on tightly again? I have a feeling its been messed with before... :?

MoonlightVR, would those 'essential oils' help cure cracking in the leather? My grey leather has some faint cracks on the bolsters, almost imperceptible right now, but I wouldn't want it to get any worse.

Okay, in the end I went for the Toad Ai606. It was £309 compared £400(!) for the Sigma. I also liked the idea of a lifetime warranty. I will be installing add-ons at a later date (due to funds), and will go for the tilt & shock sensor. Oh, the 125dB interior siren sounds a good one too :shock: Taking it in this thursday. Are they going to have to take my dashboard apart? I hope they don't make a mess... Its completely squeek free at the moment. I'll be really annoyed if it starts rattling when I get it back :mad:

So I sent an email to my step-dad telling him about my new Corrado, he's into sports cars in a big way and I was hoping he'd be interested to hear about the C. Instead he just replied with "I've bought a new car too! A Corvette Z06." Typical, always trying to do one better than me... :roll: :) I don't know much about american sports cars, but it sounds a beast: 405bhp 5.7 litre V8, with a 0-60 in 3.8s. It even has a heads-up display :!: :!: He said it sounds great when you put your foot down (or "step on the gas", as the americans say). Its the one at the very bottom of this page. I can't wait to get a ride in it when I next visit :)

Wow, that's a great looking C you've got there :) What did you use to get your paintwork so smooth and shiny? I want to be able to keep mine that nice.

G60Jet, how does the glass break sensor work? From what keyhaywire said, shouldn't the ultrasonics pick up something like a window being smashed?

Apparantly the Sigma comes with an addition called Dual-Zone proximity, which chirps when people get too close to the car... Anyone any experience with this? Sounds good, although I can just imagine kids trying to play around with it, seeing how close they can get before it chirps at them :roll: the little buggers... I like Sigma's number-pad thingy, in case someone nicks your keys, but I also like Toad's lifetime warranty... Hmmm, decisions decisions. One more question, do the ultrasonic detectors catch people simply banging on your window, or does it have to be a full break?

You need to see it. If its in great condition then I'd say that was a good price. You may even be able to get it down to £6750, or thereabouts, you never know. But as vr6storm said, be wary of the premium Storm owners like to slap on, sometimes it isn't worth it.

What's in the sandwiches?

Cheers for all the advice everyone. It seems Sigma has got some good reviews, so now I think its between the Sigma and the Toad :) (I found lots of info on the two here) Unfortunately the tempermental nature of the Clifford worries me... My only concern with the Sigma is it doen't seem as feature rich. In fact it does exactly the same as my current alarm (the dealer fit scorpion thingy). Can you add things like tilt sensors and such to the Sigma? Whereas the Toad is full of add-ons that could be quite useful... Simon L20VR6, Dual Shock sounds good, but unfortunately I do park my C on the road. Can the sensitivity be adjusted, so it doesn't false-alarm at lorries and such?

Cheers for the replies guys! Apprantly the Toad comes with a lifetime warranty, but he also said Clifford does too. I have to admit I'd rather worried about what some of your say about Clifford's reliability though... Simon L20VR6, the dual-shock thing sounds good. Can you add a tilt-sensor too? Would that stop people trying to tow, or trailer away your car? As for the Sigma... Well, I haven't crossed it off the list, its just the guy said they weren't very popular. But if its does all the same things that the Toad does then I might consider it, especially if its reliable. What do you think?

Great wheels! Very chunky :) Damn nice colour too! 8)

Ok, I'm looking to get a cat1 alarm fitted this saturday. The place is in Plymouth, and they do quite a few alarms. The two that were recommended by the assistant were the Clifford Concept 300 (£350), and the Toad AI606 (£309). Which do I go for? This is what I'm looking for in an alarm: - One that's reliable. I don't want to be left stranded somewhere because the alarm has decided to play silly-buggers and won't let me in. :roll: - Full closure and remote locking. Just like my standard alarm has now. - Ultrasonic protection, and glass breaking detection. - A small key fob (I know it sounds stupid, but i HATE chunky or overly styled key-fobs, they ruin my sense of pocket-aesthetics.) - Something that maliciously injures anyone that tries to break in, preferably to within an inch of their death. :twisted: (The company also does Scorpion (1218) and Sigma (M30) alarms, but the guy on the phone said they're not very popular. Poor alarms.) If anyone has experience of either the clifford or toad then please let me know. Much appreciated!

Just found this, and think its a excellent idea! I would wholeheartedly support it, and would no-doubt be in need of it at some point soon. It could avoid people like me accidentally breaking things while they try to repair them. Especially when it comes to fiddly, temperamental bits like the spoiler, sunroof or heater controls...

Thanks! The lowering makes all the difference. Personally I think the standard VR height is just a tad too high. Consequently the wheels look a little lost in the arches... However, when its lowered the proportions look just right! :)

Thanks for the comments! :D I love the plate too!! I think you're right about the indicators as well, the guy gave me the originals so I'll stick those on.

It was a nice sunny evening, so I took a quick picture of my VR6! Pretty much standard excpet for a set of Koni Coilovers, which have dropped it somwhere in the region of 25-30mm. It also has a grey-leather interior, which I'll have to take pictures of at some point. You may also notice the blacked out badges and blue repeaters. These were added by the previous keeper, who said he "had a blue thing going on"... I like the badges, but I'm not so sure about the repeaters? What do you think? Also, the calipers are painted Gold, both front & rear. This originally went with a set of 17" BK alloys that had gold outer-rims, but I didn't want them on the car. Not sure the gold goes with the standard silver alloys... Still, I love it to pieces and think it looks great :D

G60Jet, is that your own studio? Or do you do that for your job? And is that a copy of CoolEdit Pro I can see running on the screen? ('scuse the geekery...)

I didn't know locks can be Thatcham approved...? I bet the insurers wouldn't recognise it... I've already got a steering lock though, but its a bit pants to be honest. I wanted something extra, to act as a double-deterant to the thieving scum!!

Ever since I discovered my new VR6 wouldn't go up the driveway (its too low!!), I've had to park it on the road... :( So I thought I'd invest in some extra protection (one of which will be a new alarm, as soon as I can find the money.) But what I wanted to ask was: do those Autolok gear/handbrake things fit on a Corrado? And are they any good? Its for visual deterent more than anything else. Cheers.

£870 from Adrian Flux, fully comp, excess of £450. (although the premium was more like £970 when you add on the interest from DD payments throughout the year). Car is VR6 with Koni coilovers. It MUST have a cat2 minimum alarm (which I'll have to fit). I'm 23 years old, 5 years NCB, clean license. Half the insurers wouldn't cover me, said I had to be over 25. Most ridiculous quote was from my previous insurer, Endsleigh, who said £2500. ~Matt.

Okay, thanks for your advice dazzyvr6, SoundsAlarming and MoonlightVR. You're extremely helpful! I phoned an alarm specialist this morning and they said they would have a look at it for me. They can draw up a new certificate if it was originally an approved device and passes their tests. I'll gem up on the VSIB stuff before i go down there too. I'll probably get a whole new system when I have the money, but for now even a cat2 certificate will be enough to satisfy the insurers. Will let you know what happens! Thanks, :) ~Matt.

Ah! Its a Scorpion! Thankyou MoonlightVR! I missed your post before making my last one. So if I take it to an alarm-specialist and get them to check it over can they issue me a certificate for my insurance company? I need to find a place that does this without all the hassle I just had from the last one.... And yes, I would get a nice new cat1 installed, but I'm living in the red already... Even the piggy-bank has been raided for this months food. :cry: ~Matt.

Yes! That's it! It enables the immobliser after a short time. And I'm pretty much sure it was installed before '99, in fact I think it came with the car. Any idea what make/model it is? I've got no details on it! But I just phoned a local car-security specialist and they said that if it was a manufacter-fitted system then they couldn't issue an approved certificate...!?? Huh? I don't understand! :| (Oh, and what does VSIB stand for? ) Cheers, ~Matt.

I've been having a terrible time getting the VR insured, of the ones that'll actually insure me they want a thatcham approved alarm. Now... The VR in question has the standard factory fit alarm, (as far as I know). Its got small square key-fob with two square buttons on it. And the 'brains' of the alarm seem to be located in the engine bay, near the ABS 'box-o-tricks', and it has a little key thingy to turn it on and off... QUESTION: Can I get the current alarm checked over and certified? Is it a thatcham approved alarm? If not, does anyone know a reputable alarm fitter in the DEVON area? Thanks, ~Matt.