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So Bilstein are using OE shocks on lower springs. Does this not mean its a bit bouncy over bumps? The Vipertech ones are 30% uprated so I assume that'll help C owners keep their front spoiler! Anyway, What does anyone suggest - thinking of Eibach 25-30mm springs with 30% uprated shocks. Anyone got any pics of a C lowered by 25-30mm. All the ones I've seen so far are 40mm. If I were to go with 40mm and uprated shocks, would speed bumps still hurt? Out of interest, if your looking for a better quality ride, does that mean tighter in corners and thus harder, or softer but still tight in corners? Cuz standard suspension is quite hard, and I don't want to have to fix an interior rattle every week.

Try living in northern ireland!!! :x £900 third party with 4 years NCD. The value of the car is not much more. And that was last year - whats this years going to be like.........? And most of the cheaper companies in England hang up when I tell them where I'm from. :evil:

The £2k is for a windows out, bonnet off, doors off, bumpers off respray including replacing the wheel arches and blanking the doorhandle holes in the doors. Reputable place too. Not bare metal though. Probably an Ok price, but too much money for me to afford. Are there any electric spray guns that don't cost the earth, that might give an acceptable finish. I was happy enough with most of the work I did on the rocco, it was just the laquer - it had the aerosol-deoderant-on-glass look. Its just for small areas, rear wheel arches where theres a line to hide imperfections, and the corner of a bumper. The rest will be done professionally. Any tips on blending in colour, or making laquer look shinier?

At last, I sold my peugeot!!! :D :D :D That means I now have the money to do up my C (2 months now I've been wanting to do it up - its been hell :evil: ) Now to get that set of 16 inch wheels, lower it by 'bout 40mm, retrim the interior in half leather (grey leather with a sky blue cloth/suede center seat and door cards)..... and sort out the paintwork. When I bought it there was some rust on wheel arches, but it would have been easy to fix. Until some £$%@ker pulled my door handles of in the multi storey in the city center!!!. A couple of other small disasters and the body shop quote me £2000 for a full respray. So, I'll do some of the easier stuff myself. Its a 13 year old everyday car, so perfection is not a necessity. Now I did a bit of body work on my scirocco, and it turned out OK. VW aerosol cans. Though the laquer never came up right - always looked streaky. Has anyone got any tips to get a good finish on VW paints and laquer??? I want to do a god jod see, but I'm a cheapskate! :wink:

Bit of a problem - thought it was sorted too, but its back. Basically every time i try to pull away from the lights slowly ('slowly'...it happens!!!!), the engine seems to want to escape the confines of the engine bay, and tries to launch itself into orbit. I have already replaced the front engine mount (which was really knackered when i removed it!!) which helped alot. but its gotten worse again. Though sometimes nothing happens and it all behaves well. Mechanic thinks its engine mounts. But I want to be able to prompt him to check everything instead of changing all the mounts and it still being a problem. So I was thinking, would the clutch mastercylinder have anything to do with this? Would a dodgy clutch plate have this effect? Any other ideas? Cheers.

Phil, Keep us posted on the Vipertech dropshocks m8. Am thinking about doing the same thing. BTW, had them on my Sky Rocket. Never lowered a car before, but I was well impressed with them - weren't too harsh, but really tidied up the ride. Bargain too - with a lifetime warranty!!

Mine had same problem when I bought it - looks like another common corrado problem..... Wrecked my head trying to find what was causing it. Light would stay on permanently, and when I tried setting the alarm, the alarm would go off after a few minutes when it arms. was only an intermittent problem. Fact that the light wouldn't go off, when on the door-open setting, told me that the problem was one of the door/boot wires earthing somewhere. Half the dash off later and I traced it to the alarm boot sensor wire - looked to be earthing somewhere between the dash and the boot. So I took the lazy way out and cut it at the dash. means someone could open boot without the alarm going off. Shhhhhhhhhh..... Anyway, its a standard VW fitted VAG alarm. Funny side effect of cutting the blue wire, before when operating correctly, the interior light would come on when the boot or doors are open, now it comes on with the doors and bonnet!!!?? Ah well it all works well enough. Anyway, if you still have the problem, I advise taking a voltmeter and spending a few hours chacking all the light switches, wires and alarm sensor wires. If the light is on when it shouldn't be - there's a wire earthing somewhere.

Yep, had a 1992 silver scala (one of the last - and unusual as I thought they only made GT11's from 1990 to 1992), looked just like a DeLorean in that colour. Great car, had a few problems (new fuel tank and fuel filler pipe - not cheap!, and the design has a few silly rust traps aroung boot lid too), but looking back now I should never have sold it - especially to someone who didn't know what it was - and was talking about colour coding the rear spoiler!!!!!!!!!!!! I had the black diamond discs and pads (V. worthwhile as the brakes are rubbish otherwise) and lowered on Viperteck shocks and springs - only 20mm but tightened up the standar sway and evened out the gaps around the wheelarches. Anybody notice that the rocco is easier to drive around town than the C? I still have problems judging where the farside is round tight left turns... :oops: As for the great 8V low down torque. Sigh...............................

Ok, now, just when its all falling into place and i'm headin down the road to buy a set of 195/45/16s or 205/45/16s, y'all throw another unknown onto the fire. Whats offset. Is that like a spacer? Where do you get longer wheel bolts etc... Does insurance need to know about that? nowts ever simple. :|

Thanks guys - minds at rest again. Every time i do anything to the car i see £££££ going infront of my eyes. eg. Today I thought I blew something in the engine. Turned out to be bluey smoke from the turbo diesel infront kinda got sucked under my car and blown out the back. Wots the car equivalent of hypocondria?

Hello, I recently took the top of the airbox (K-jet 16V) to work out how to get the 10K performance booster spray stuff (seems to be getting good reviews) into the system without the engine stopping. i finally found a pipe that could be removed, above the panel filter, that allowed the engine to stay running. Anyway, my question is this - should i see and oil in there?? There was a little oil (old and very sticky) around the mechanism for the air mass meter, and a fair bit all over the inner surfaces of the main air duct all the way into the engine. Again, very sticky stuff - wasn't rubbing off with cloth. Bit like that bit of jam you regretted not wiping off the counter earlier that morning. Don't know if its a problem, or just a 100,000+ miles engine, but doesn't seem to affect the running of engine - idles smoothly and revs well, no (minimal) oil leaks and reasonable fuel consumption. Only askin cuz when i did the same to my scirocco (sadly no longer mine), it was clean. Where would oil come from anyway - its the airbox!! :scratch: Any ideas.

Hi I'm thinking about putting bigger wheels on my C. I have old GTI 14" wheels at the moment. 185/60/R14. ( they really look undersize in those big arches) I'm also going to lower it by 40mm soon too. I don't want to put 17" on it as I would regularly have to take it down a rough lane and don't want to damage them - have also heard that they can affect turning circle when lowered. So I'll go for 16" rims, 195 or 205 wide. Though I don't understand the other dimension is - 60 on mine at the mo. I know this is to do with the depth, but what should it be with 16" rims. Options new are from 45 to 55. If I buy second hand, I don't want to put ones that are too big on. eg, I would have thought that if i buy ones that are 55, and they should have been 45, then performance will suffer, what with the wheel being too big a diameter, and the speedo will read incorrect. Or does it matter. I dunno. Any help is appreciated.

I read about this somewhere - check out the bit at the bottom left on this attachment. Could be the problem your having........... Sorry - couldn't get attachment working but here's what it says, 'Main fuel feed pipe on 8-valve models often perishes at junction with fuel injection rail. Very cheap and easy to repair but needs early attention as potential fire hazard. If you smell petrol this is ilkely to be the cause.' The picture shows some hand pointing at a pipe just behind the oil filler cap. This came from a review on G60's.

Mmmm.. Corrado with torque.... :cry:

What I.ve found with mine is that the water can get very hot before fan comes on, and if the level is slightly low then once the heat and pressure builds up in the expansion tank, it can actually force the water level down a bit more (that might be rubbish - but its what i think happens to mine)- and light comes on. Just for info (cuz it did my head in at the start), the fan mightn't come on 'till water temp is near 110 deg, and oil temp can get to about the same. When moving, oil temp should be around 100 deg.

Had this same problem recently - was the recirculation valve (the silver one just at the bulkhead in the engine bay) on the inlet to the heater matrix. Its designed to restrict flow when the engine is cold (so's it warms up quicker). but they can stick closed. Though some heat can still get through - but only when the water pump works hard - i.e. higher engine revs - that would explain waves of heat especially when going faster. I replaced it with one from a scrapper passat. (must be a common problem - I counted 2 passats that had these valves removed and replaced with straight-through copper pipe!!) Also flushed the heater matrix at the same time too (worthwhile as it can easily fill with gunk), with Mr muscle drain cleaner. A bit awkward as its very thick. It all worked a treat. Now the air is too hot when on max.

Does anyone know of a Corrado Club somewhere in Ireland? Last trip to VW, one of the mechanics said there is a Northern Ireland Corrado club on the web - but he couldn't remember the address. (aren't too many C's over here - heard from VW that they only sold 11 G60's!!) This forum has a load of info about people and garages that do modifying work, maintenance and bodywork (not to mention an invaluable source of information). Problem for me is about 50 or so miles of wet stuff. Would like to hear if there are good equivalent places over here. Basically a mechanic or bodywork specialist that dosn't make me feel guilty about bringing my car (and cheque book!!!) to him.

Mines an early 16V. When I got it it was pinking badly. A new timing belt/sparks and it was OK. It only pinks when it gets hot now. A lower temp thermoswitch sees that it no longer gets hot - so pinking gone. I run std unleaded (95 RON) btw. These cars are supposed to use 98 RON, but even super is only 97 RON. Might try super with an octane booster sometime to see if it makes a difference - hardly a bank-balance-friendly solution for an everyday car though!! Quote Scott "...mine was until it got to circa 80k miles then started to pink so maybe as a result of carbon build up in the cylinder head? ..." Took a wee trip to Halfords today - there are a lot of products that claim to clean valves and injectors by adding to fuel tank, and some that you spray into air inlets to clean other bits. They all say that their product will make a significant difference to engine response and economy - some even say there will be a power increase! Anybody know if any of these actually work? Would all 100,000++ mile cars benefit from this. Or is it just a load of marketing bull?

Hi all, Just an update on the pump. The pump finally arrived, but didn't want to fit. So I took it back to VW who then found out that there was a modification. Pump changed - so did the filter. So info on this - if replacing an early 16V pump (pre '92) you need pump 357 906 092C and filter 357 906 098 (though they might not tell you about the filter - causing you to wait a few more days :x ) Oh and it fixed the problem - thanks. And while I'm at it with info; when I bought the C i noticed that it got very hot befor fan came on - up to 110 degC!! this is much hotter than any other car I have driven. Iwrote to the Yahoo group and found that tis was normal and got the impression that it makes many C owners paranoid - sometimes to the extent that they would turn on heater to max and open windows!! So I found from this site a part number for a lower temp thermoswitch. Since fitting, the temp sits at 90 as per norm and only rises to about 97deg before fan comes on. Perfect, now I can drive through town without the just-in-case attitude of having the oil temp showing all the time. Part number is 251 959 481K (or 701 959 841) with temp ranges of 87-76'C/93-82'C. and I have checked - this does not cause the fan to be on continuously - it only comes on when in traffic.

The part is £20 from VW. Only thing is they don't stock it and have to bring it in from Germany. Could take about 10 days to deliver. Looking at the Haynes manual (for scirocco)- its fairly easy to replace. Its under the black cover under the boot carpet. Buzzing is intermittent (worse the less fuel is in tank), and its only if its been buzzing for about 5-10 mins that it affects the engine. And the buzzing is really harsh - my skyrockets fuel pump made noise, but this is a horrible grinding type noise. Hopefully this will fix it.

Wish I knew about the passat handles thing. Only had my C a week when the handles were removed free of charge. Did a lot of damage to drivers door too. So I got rid of the door handles completely (they keep breaking anyway) and installed a solenoid to eack mechanism inside each door. A bit of welding and filling (this bits not done yet though - just duck tape over the hole at the moment!) and you will have the ultimate smooth look. A couple of receiving units in the boot (from Maplins), two buttons in the boot and a keyfob. All in, I reakon about £300 to £400 including painting. Pretty good considering you will never get to your car to find the door handles have been forced and won't let you in!! Only NEVER lose the keyfob!!

Have checked the mounts. All seems fine. Distributor was just checked at a service a few weeks ago, so I'm assuming that should be OK. So I went into VW and asked. They say that the fuel lift pump is almost certainly at fault. If this isn't working properly, it will cause the main pump to strain and make a horrible noise and will eventually result in the erratic behaviour of the engine. That makes sense as a mate who had the same problem replaced both pumps and it was fixed. I took the cheaper route and replaced only the one that was making the noise. :? Next stop Euro parts!!

Will have a look. Had another thought, I read somewhere recently that I should be using 4 star or super unleaded, but I'm only using premium. Would this affect it, as it only happens when the engine is warm.

Hi, Since I bought my '90 1.8 16V, the fuel pump buzzes when the engine is hot. Simple, I thought, so i replaced the pump (they're not cheap!!). But the same thing still happens. Symptoms: When less than half a tank of fuel, it can buzz at any time except cold. When more than half a tank of fuel, it only buzzes in thick traffic when temp goes above 100. Then the hotter it gets, the more it buzzes, till eventually the car starts jumping about the street :oops: and may eventually stop. Starts easily again, but same thing happens. Buzzing sounds like an electric saw cutting wood. Really loud too, can hear it bouncing off neighbouring car. The really annoying thing is that keep the tank full, and the engine cool and it will never be heard. I've had the C a month now and no problem has been simple. Any advice Thanks

Had the same problems with my 1.8 16V. All the advice I got was that it is normal in traffic to get hot. At start mine water would sit constantly at 100 to 110 degrees ©. A quick thermostat change and it would sit at 90 deg. Up to 110 in traffic though, though this i believe is normal. Highest oil temp so far is 112 deg. Will try a lower setting thermoswitch - see if that keeps it all at around 90 deg. As for interior heating, THere is a variable valve on the inlet pipe (in engine bay, just befor the b/head - the silver one). This can stick in the low setting. Try replacing it - its the same one used in all VWs of that age - so scrapper is the way to go as it retails at 30 squids. Also flush heater matrix with Mr Muscle Drain Cleaner. All this solved my problem, same as ====================================== Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2002 2:22 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Does yours blow any heat at all. Mine starts blowing warm air but as soon as the the engine warms up it goes cold. _________________ '92 Corrado G60 ====================================== Hope this helps.