corradophil

I've had this problem with both my Golf Gti's I had before the Corrado and then on Corrado too. I've got a Magnex system, which in the end I cut a couple of slots about 90% through the pipe, then bent the pipe to close them up and welded them up. This allowed me to get more clearance over the beam by adjusting the angle of the bends. It never knocks now, its lowered 35mm and I've had 3 people in the back!

The head is re-assembled after a strip down to check valves and seats, everything perfect! The manifold is at a precision welders, who think there is a reasonable chance of welding the crack up, fingers crossed. If that works and the turbo is in good condition other than the crack, then we will see if they can weld that too, the crack on the turbo is on the flange which joins the manifold.

Unfortunately, although just under 3 years old, the warrenty is void because the service history is incomplete. Luckily the screw has not caused any damage to the valves so the head is almost together after a strip down & re-build with new stem seals. The Turbo is the main concern, I have a good knowledge of normaly aspirated VW engines, but no real knowledge of turbos. A friend who is a mechanic and has experience with turbo engines, particularly Rover ones thinks the cracks will be harmless and are common. I think some phone calls to people such as Turbo Technics will be needed.

I'm currently helping my friend re-build the head on his Seat Leon Cupra 1.8T. AUQ engine code. It started making a rattling noise whilst driving along the M3, the AA were called and had to deliver it home. After a trip to the Seat dealers who pulled the head off the following was found; A self tapping screw!! in one of the cylinders, and marks from it in 3 cylinders!! One of the lambda sensors had it's wires cut with no cable left for repair, the exhaust manifold has a small crack on the flange where it joins the turbo running from one of the bolt holes to the bore of the manifold, this would not cause a leak to atmosphere, also there is a corresponding crack on the turbo flange. Does anyone have experience of this? Is it common, apparantly it is and is perfectly servicable. Any comments would be greatfully received.

You can adjust the power steering rack on a 2.0 16v, very similar to adjusting that on a non PAS Golf Mk2, but you need a large allen key type tool instead of a normal spanner/socket. The problem is, knowing how much adjustment is required, on a non PAS rack you can feel it through the steering weight/self centralisation when driving but with the power rack you are recomended to take the rack out of the car and tighten until input shaft can just be operated by hand. More details of this can be found in the Haynes manual for Passats 1988 -1991. Not sure if its the same on a VR6, but worth checking.

My Corrado has never really impressed me with its handling, particularly when compared to previous my Golf GTIs, both of which were older with more miles. The back end has always been twitchy, Its lowered 35mm with FK Springs and shocks. Just recently it has gone from unimpressive to scary, it felt like driving with 500MPH crosswinds, weeving around in both directions, plus under acceleration it pulled to the right. Firstly I found one of the slotted nuts which go on after the front top mounts was loose, tightening this helped, but only for a short while, I checked it again and it was lose again, but after further checks and re-tightening (cannot have been tight in the first place, because there is a second nut on top which would lock it) it was still weeving. I then changed the top strut mounts on the front which reduced knocking and general harshness but had no effect on the handling. Finally on Saturday after investigation I spotted excessive movement on the nearside wishbone, and have now fitted bugpack polyeurathane wishbone and antiroll bar bushes. It now goes in a straight line, and handles far better. The bushes did not increase vibration or noise either, so I would definately recommend them.

I have upgraded them now. I used calipers and carriers from a MK3 Golf 16v in a breakers yard (£90) with Zimmerman drilled G60 discs and Pagid fast road pads for a G60. Also blead the system through and replaced the fluid - it was quite a dirty colour when I first started. I converted it on Wednesday, so not really tried the brakes hard yet as they are still bedding in, but reduced the pedal travel considerably.

I've been in touch with AMD today, elsewhere on the forum they seem to have a good reputation, they offer one for £250 + VAT which includes rolling road session before and after. They also say they program the chip to suit the particular car they are upgrading. Sounds more like it to me, obviously more costly though. My current spec is 9A 2.0 16v with Magnex cat back exhaust and KR inlet cam. I have a standard air filter which I have considered upgrading, but from previous experience with GTIs this seems to have no effect. Also have drilled air box, although over the weekend I am going to block the drilled holes and compare it. It would be great to hear from someone who has actually tried chipping a 16v.

That doesn't sound bad, I will e-mail them to find out more. I have been looking at the Neuspeed P chip, on there web site for Passat, its $99.95 and gives around 5 - 7 BHP at the wheels. Let me know if you do chip it.

Does anyone know what I need to upgrade from 256mm discs (16V) to 280mm discs (G60)? Do I need G60 hubs and calipers or do I only need one item to upgrade i.e. 16V calipers on G60 hubs. Been looking through TSR catalogue and they offer adaptor plate kits for about £400 incl. discs and pads - too costly and would much rather have proper veedub parts particularly on my brakes.

I have a 2.0 16V 93K with 136,000 miles on the clock. Nearly every 16V Golf I've been in has felt flat and lacking in torque, compared to for instance my previous car, a Mk2 GTI 8V, but I had to have a Corrado and my funds would only stretch to a 16V. I'd really like some more grunt, but don't really want to start looking for another Corrado G60 or VR6. So far it's spec is; drilled air box, Magnex cat back exhaust and inlet cam from 1.8 16V Mk2 Golf, the cam being the last mod which made it feel a little more lively. I've considered having it chipped and seen elsewhere on the forum details of about chips available giving an extra 10BHP. Has anyone tried this spec? Any good? Any other ideas for more power, obviously gas flowed & ported head, manifold etc would help, but at the moment I would rather not start stripping the engine. Oh yes had it checked out for fault codes, and the only fault was sporradic reading from the Lambda sensor, which eventually I replaced at MOT when I found it had a cat bypass pipe, so I fitted a cat and new Lambda. Interestingly the performance does not suffer for having the cat fitted, I tried with and without the cat, both with new Lambda.