Bazmcc

I got a little impatient and decided just to remove the old faulty lcd board. Just need to decide if I want to get someone else to solder up the new one or take it on myself. On another note about the wiring. I've decided to mount the MK4 fuse box and use it for a few things. The relay plate I'm undecided on yet as it would have to sit in front of the corrado fuse box. I may decide to make a new bracket for it and mount it close to the original place. Remember though that I also drilled out the bracket for the right hand side of it. The reason for doing this is to handle the way some of the mk4 switches get power and are fused. The mk4 fuse box and relay plate are seperate so are so much easier to modify compared with the CE2 box as the internal wiring is hardlined and cannot be changed. Ah well, i'll get the lighting loom sorted later and I need to make another list of stuff that needs doing as it's grown out of proportion a bit. Need to visit the engineer later too.

Not fully decided what i'll end up with but this is what I'll have to start with. With an airbag in it obviously.

So this is what happens when you buy clocks cheap because they're untested. Either someone has tampered with it before (2 screws on the back were missing) or it's just busted and they've opened it to have a look. So as it stands at the minute I need a new LCD screen to leave it perfect but i'll get some time on another day to get a better look at it. I can still get the wiring sussed out and I still have a pretty rare FIS non-can set of clocks. I could open up a set of passat FIS clocks I have and take the LCD out but I'd rather just get a new screen if I can get one cheap enough.

New clocks and the new crimpers arrived as well.

Nice one. Cheers. Looks very similar to what i'll end up with. But I don't think even a 1" offset would be enough clearance for me. The radio cage of the MK4 really sits out pretty far forward. The engineer is getting it sorted shortly for me along with the column extensions and stuff. I've given him a massive stack of work to do including loads of stuff for the engine bay. Hopefully it shouldn't take long although he's rebuilding his CNC mill at the minute.

Wiring swap =

This wiring is going to be the end of me. No going back now. These are the mk4 switches and connectors and the parts of the corrado loom that go to the fuse box. I'll post up any lists of connections as soon as I work them out. Easier said than done of course so it might take me a little while to suss it out.

I've decided that I need to come up with a solution for the broken clip at the bonnet release. Here's how the clip should look and how it does look below. Whilst I like the idea of the gruven one and it seems to do the job ok, it's a little clumsy and I think it could fit better so I'm going to have a look and see if I can come up with something more simple and better fitting.

OK here's the solution for the gear shifter. Corrado bottom half of shaft MK4 bracket and return spring just because it's newer MK4 white plastic pivot/slider as it's shorter at the top MK4 spring and washers MK4 top of shaft so the MK4 gearknob fits into the key and flat side on it. Machining work New groove for spring C clip 17mm lower down the shaft from the original. Cut shaft 15mm above old groove Thread top 15mm of lower half of shaft. Make flat 25mm x 75mm x 3mm bar for the overall shaft offset Cut top off MK4 Shaft. Thread bottom of MK4 shaft cut-off. Couple of nuts and a couple of tack welds and we'll be sorted.

Change of plans with the handbrake. I cut 2 notches out of the mounting bracket last night and it still didn't sit over far enough. I need to weld some plate onto the end of these to give me the extra inch or so needed and I'll drill new mounting holes out of them. The 3rd mounting hole may prove to be a bit of a problem as it's way off the tunnel. It's almost over the seat rail so i'll need to weld on an extra bit of steel for it as well. I also wrapped the dash trim parts in brushed aluminium vinyl. They turned out pretty good.

Didn't get much done at the weekend due to braiding a full R32 engine loom for someone. I got a small loom done for the illuminated dash vents on the MK4 dash.

1. If you have a late corrado it'll be the ABF head anyway so the swap will be pointless. 2. If you're going to modifify the engine swapping to an abf won't be any massive benefit. You might as well just port the head and get after market cams. 3. That's what I'm doing except I'm going with suzuki TBs, high comp pistons, saab injectors, rebore, huge cams, standalone management etc etc etc. Don't fool yourself thinking this is a cheap option. I'm a hell of a lot of money through mine and I'm only half way. I haven't even counted yet. £1000 disappeared within a very very short space of time though. 4. Not the most difficult swap in the world but very time consuming. However, a well turbo'd 9a would crap all over a 1.8T.

bloody hell that's a bit steep. Even Sparco frames are only about £180 for a pair. But to be honest you could probably make them for about £40. Sounds like a grinder and welder job.

Excellent, found it. Hopefully there's everything I need on there to let me go ahead with the shifter modifications.

Have you thought about just buying the MK4 Koenig frames and fitting a MK4 front mounting point to the corrado?

Is there a chance someone could do this for me this weekend please?

MASSIVE FAVOUR NEEDED: Can someone unscrew their gearknob and remove the gaitor and measure the throw for me (at the top of the stick) from the top of reverse where it's fully engaged back straight back to the stop in the middle very left hand side (furthest left you can go). Just trying to measure up for a custom shifter but I have no gearbox in the bay at the minute. Cheers Baz

Bit more wiring work done on friday night but other than that it's been slow progress.

Unfortunately the MK2 golf and Leon are both a little different to this setup but I'll keep the name in mind. (my engine build is on club gti) Looking back at the thread I don't think there have been any major headaches that aren't fixable (I'm sure now that I've said that, it will all change). The wiring is just time consuming. Well, I suppose if I wasn't working on my engine bay as well, the process would be a lot faster. The doorcards might be tough to finish but I'm sure I'll manage.

Took the dash out last night and refitted the airbox back in. I also fitted the steering column and measured it up. I'm going to add 6" to the top part which is extendable and 1.5" to the part that bolts to the rack. See previous pics to see what I'm on about. I have all the wires from the bay pulled through into the cabin now. I took the ABS controller off the A pillar so I have better access to the wiring. When I removed it I noticed a little bit of corrosion on a couple of the pins. Being a bit anal I'm going to have to open that to make sure I haven't got a broken pin on the back side on the board. Hopefully it just needs a clean. I also got the indicator loom braided and got the loom for the horn and load reduction coil done as well. They'll go down the wing together as they plug in right beside each other. Then they'll route along the cross member to the fuse box. Progress has slowed slightly as I have a lot of other stuff happening but I'll try to get a big push on this week and see what I can get done. ---------- Post added at 10:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 AM ---------- Remount relay holder where MK4 airbag was. Fix or replace broken relay holder. Mount wiring protectors/runners on crossmember. Buy clip to replace broken one on bonnet latch pull. Test fit the airbox to dash vent adapter (big bit on the front of the airbox) and measure it as it needs to be modified and extended to clear the crossmember. Look into better soundproofing to replace the old sagging crap in the car already. Suss out a solution to the plastic sheeting needing replaced in the doors. Take the shifter box to the engineer. Take the steering column to the engineer. File out hole in handbrake bracket to align handbrake straight. Make bracket for 3rd handbrake bolt. Open and check ABS controller. Seperate looms out of rubber grommet on passengers side. Make loom for dash vent illumination.

Jay have you got a pic of the tt one? I tried to search and found nothing. Not even sure if 1" is enough clearance but i'd like to test it. I'll have a look at everything on tuesday evening. Loads of new braiding has arrived that i was waiting on.

The Corrado one is like tin foil compared to the mk4 one. Hopefully it'll be sturdy enough with 2 bolts in. If not i might need to add the third one. Would like a black carpet too after everything is ready to go back in. I wonder are the carpets discontinued?

OK last nights work involved getting next to sod all done so not happy with the progress but hopefully I'll get more stuff sorted tonight. I compared the MK4 shifter and cables and the Corrado shifter and cables. Pretty similar setups. Then I took the actual shifters apart to see the differences inside. This is the MK4 shifter on the left and Corrado one on the right. Interesting!!! The MK4 spring is positioned lower on the shaft meaning that I would be able to position the offset modification lower down if I use it... Bottom of the boxes are different. The mk4 one is more curved. Because the MK4 spring and pivot is positioned differently it needs a tiny bit more clearance on the bottom. After a quick test fit I noticed that the corner of the sharp angle on the corrado box was fouling the bottom of the mk4 shifter. Sorry, I don't have any pics of the mod I made but I think we're all big boys and girls and we know what a hammer and metal bar can do. lol. I put the bar down through the inside of the box and flattened the angle out a bit for more clearance. Test fit. Then I filed out the handbrake bolt hole. As you can see it needs filed out off to the side a bit as the handbrake sits offset at the back (where it should be) and straight in the middle at the front. I'll sort this later.

There's a couple of pics on page 1 or maybe 2 of the gearstick fully forward. It's right into the center console. lol Reverse is actually a bigger problem as the dash is tilted towards the driver. MASSIVE FAVOUR NEEDED: Can someone unscrew their gearknob and remove the gaitor and measure the throw for me (at the top of the stick) from the top of reverse where it's fully engaged back straight back to the stop in the middle very left hand side (furthest left you can go). I have no gearbox in and I don't want to have to remount the block and gearbox just to measure that.

I have a couple of old spare tatty bits of center console so decided to give them a bit of a test fit last night. The rado tunnel appears very high. It's a combination of the dash coming out further than standard and the lack of overall cabin height, bulkhead height, tunnel size etc. After a little trimming I think I can position it pretty close to where I want it. I'll not be making any decisions or making any brackets for it until I get the modifications made to the gearstick. The cogs have been churning again and I've got a spare shifter box and cables from a MK4. I'll be having a look at these side by side later tonight. The rear part needed a bit of a shove in but it's not too far away. Again, it's quite tight because of the tunnel size. (ignore the dirt/mould/grime). This is where the back of the rear center console reaches. Another issue to resolve is the handbrake if I decide to go with the MK4 console (which I will). The MK4 handbrake is offset to the passenger's side. I happen to have a spare one of those too. The bolt holes very very nearyly mathc up. A little ream with a file and it should sit it there pretty well. I played about with the A pillars. They just needed a little trim off the bottom and they go in pretty well. I'll tidy them up when it comes to the final fit. I test fitted the upper steering column and ignition parts for fitment too. I'll make better progress later this evening hopefully.