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Tempest

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Everything posted by Tempest

  1. Seems someone is selling the original presentation posters that we (those that went on the Karmann trip the last 2 times) got to see as Willi Schwebe, chief construction engineer at Karmann - now retired - talked about his time at Karmann. http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320090703078 Tempest
  2. They look like the pre-production models, as those pictures are taken from an early Revell catalogue, that I picked up around Xmas, whilst I was over in Germany. Currently available models all seem to have those strange silver-coloure side trim strips. Tempest
  3. Tempest

    No Pagid FR!

    According to SteveMac at GSF, Pagid and Mintex have merged (who took over whom is irrelevant), and as such their combinmed product range adjusted: The Pagid FRs were dropped (shaem), the Mintex Extreme are to take their place, but they are soooooo crap, that GSF have stopped doing them!!! Instead Steve advised me to use EBC Greenstuff, as they now have improved their product range. Managed to get the last set of Pagids off Steve some time ago for my Mk2 Rocco. Tempest
  4. They had the Revell models in a local modeling shop here in Coventry today, selling at £25. Tempest
  5. Go to one of the shows, the usual model seller now sells these, too, as seen at Ultimate VW in Telford. Tempest
  6. Right, time to bring this to a conclusion, as I have spoken to Vicki, and we together fixed things. I won't go into details, though. All other comments have been taken on-board, however. Tempest
  7. That's a rather bold statement to make, and another slap in the faces of the committee members, IMHO. Not wishing to dig up old issues, but statements like this, no matter how they're meant, just aren't true. Some keywords: 1. CCGB National Day 2. Stands at major shows (never seen a CF stand other than at Ed38) 3. Club mag for those who (I've mentioned this before) have not got Internet access, and even those that do - the CF never dishes out mags 4. Discounts with suppliers 5. Meets at things like Motor Museum in Coventry parking up on major public spaces (requiring public indemnity insurance, the CF cannot even afford this) I don't like to see discussions at this point of "Oh, yes but the CF has had a clubstand at Tatton Park in year so-and-so and whatnot ..." because it's the consistency of being at all major shows each year that counts, allowing all members to put their pride and joy on stands whenever they like, and not just in year so-and-so, whenever someone from the CF feels like organising a stand. Sorry if this post sounds a bit harsh, but it does exactly summarise the differences between a club and a forum, and hence supports my argument in claiming that there very much IS a difference between a club and a forum. A forum is and will always be only a loose amalmagation of like-minded people, who range from wanting to really get involved (these would be better off joining a club) to casual owners, who wish to get involved as and when they feel like it, even disappearing entirely from the scene whenever they like. The turnover on forums is substantially higher than with a club, and the dedication is substantially lower. No, I also don't want to hear Mods coming along at this point saying "But we put in loads of unpaid hours cleaning up this place", because I know you do, as I myself am a Mod on the German Roccoforum, and don't need to be told what it involves. It still isn't comparable to the type of dedication required to get stands at shows, get a mag published, etc., which are all sorts of things that require a lot more planning and input than just a few minutes here and there during a working day checking a forum. Rant over :-) Tempest
  8. I will try and talk to Vicki tonight, and explain the situation, as good as I can. I did manage after all, once before to keep her on-board ;-) If anyone else would like to offer any input to the club, just feel free to nominate yourself (PM, email Stevemac, Judith, Steve Alleston or me - where some of us have more time than others to be on-line, and are on-line at different times etc.), appear at the AGM and nominate yourself there for any post that might take your fancy. It can be fun, but it can also sometimes be a little frustrating, when things do go wrong. Don't forget the CCGB does have quite a large number of members that aren't on-line, some don't even have computers. OK, everyone on this forum will now argue that that's insane in the 21st century and so forth, but I don't think it realistic to exclude members based on whether they have a computer, TV (don't have one myself, as it's a complete waste of time - yes I do miss out on stuff, but so what? Time I spend on my cars and with friends instead). Well, I was suggesting that myself 2 years ago, when it got blocked. In the meantime I've also learnt to understand the CCGB's point of view, and am analysing both sides. Ultimately it would be a good thing. Main issue remains: Both sides must be willing to talk to each other, share accounts (where does the money go to, no hidden accounts, as CCGB members have a right to see how their money is spent), and votes etc. Only then can I see a fair collaboration happening. This is not so far away any more as we think, just needs a bit of will-power from both sides, 2 steps from both sides onto the same bridge, and shake hands again :-) Tempest
  9. Nope, but the blue one has got Corrado footmats :-) Tempest
  10. Following my attempts to help a member recently in sorting out why this member hadn't received a copy of the recent Sprinter, as I wanted to avoid another situation, where people would start complaining in the usual way about the CCGB and all, my attempt has backfired: Vicki, the CCGB membership secretary wrote back to this member: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I did reply to your e-mail on the 3rd January which you sent to me on the 1st. I can assure you this address was changed, You can see from what I have cut from the membership list below that it was changed. I do not know what List Eric looked at but if you could please e-mail the treasurer Judith she will confirm the address on the latest list. I do not know what has happened to your Sprinter. I am a volunteer and have been doing this job for the past four years and this is the first e-mail questioning me - How did this happen ? I am sorry but I don't work for you. Well I shall be standing down as membership secretary as from 1st April as I do not appreciate being spoken to like this. I was made redundant at the end of last year and have had several problems since but I have always maintained the membership was kept up to date. I shall give the reason for my resigning as this e-mail you have sent. Vicki Can I just remind members of the following: May sound harsh to you folks, but hope you understand, but I hope this'll be a "lesson" in terms of not really being able to push anyone on the CCGB committee, as we're all volunteers with busy work lives (I run my own company, which is probably the worst working life option you can go for in terms of not having much spare time, and spare time you also want to spend on your own cars), and things do go wrong, sometimes even beyond our control, such as Royal Mail not delivering . It would be prohibitively expensive to send out each copy by recorded delivery via Royal Mail (so that's not a solution to this apparently on-going problem of things getting lost, and with 300 members things do get lost; we're in the hands of Royal Mail just like anyone else), plus other members would then complain, that they'd have to go to their local sorting office to collect their issue, simply because RM never deliver mails when you're in (I'm a single person household, so no-one at home to sign when the postman arrives, which is always afetr I've left for work). All we're asking for from our members is a little patience. Yes, things go wrong, which is annoying, but we were hoping that despite the CCGB charging its members, it would be apparent that the CCGB is not a profit-making organisation, indeed the people doing the work do not get paid. I have unfortunately just recently heard comments from other members again which hurt me, and sometimes I, too, think, "Ah well, I'll just chuck it in, and let them do it better!", which of course doesn't happen, as too many people are good at complaining, but not getting things done. Don't take me the wrong way, folks, but these issues are bogging all the committee members, whose work behind the scenes may not always be obvious to members, but still countless hours of work get invested in the CCGB, and then you get complaints from members rather than some thank you's, complaints about issues that are sometimes even beyond our control. Once again, we're a bunch of volunteers, not an ultra-slick commercial company with mahusive budgets like Microsoft, BT and whatnot (and how many times do they get it right? Be honest ... ;-) ), trying our best. Enough rant. :-) Tempest
  11. Well, for starters, that car seems to have ELRA, as it's US-spec (see the water temp gauge and fuel gauge), and the seatbelt warning LED :-) Not sure about the swapover of the 2 main instruments, rev counter and speedo, though. The long row of LEDs probably is a air/fuel ratio indicator? Tempest
  12. Without reading your entire post ;-), sounds like a seized rear caliper. Just have a look around (use search eg.) for similar problems, as there are 2 ways to resolve this: Upgrade the rear calipers to Mk4 Golf units (which is what I did), or rebuild the existing calipers yourself (someone has recently posted a very useful thread/how-to here). Tempest
  13. Just imagine the C without Schwebe's (Karmann chief construction engineer at the time) various inputs: Small TT-style rear spoiler rather than spanning the full width of the car :shock: Send him over to me Jim, the boy clearly needs educating or I'll take the Rocco away from him :lol: Tempest
  14. That's also not what I said ;-). I stated that despite the name change the car still dind't sell very well, the name change due to rising production and hence sales cost, which is the real reason. The C was too expensive, or, carried the wrong badge (VW), whichever way you look at it :-) Tempest
  15. Ah finally someone with the truth, which I have always been preaching. Look carefully at the first picture and yee shall all see the magic Scirocco-badge, as indeed the Corrado, much to many a Corradodriver today's (who'd rather stick his/her head in the sand than to admit to this) displeasure, the current Corrado has always been planned as the Mk3 Scirocco by the design and engineering team (thos that do real work, BTW), as opposed to the marketing department (those that IMHO know sh*t about cars, let alone how to make them look good or build them), who after production costs were running away a bit (due to severe mismanagement all along the design stage - copies of the VW internal-only report detailing the disastrous development cycle of our beloved Corrado are in the possession of those who joined in on the first Karmann trip 2 years ago), decided that due to the subsequent large price gap between the then current Mk2 Rocco and the proposed Mk3 Rocco, it was thought best *sic* (this is the markeing boys after all, I'm an engineer, I'm from a totally different world in this respect, as any engineer will be able to testify) to rename the Mk3 rocco into what it's called today, the Corrado. Round of applause to the marketing boffins ... NOT!!! Result? It still didn't sell very well ... Ah well, at least it's a lot more exclusive (purely by production numbers) than a Mk1 or Mk2 Rocco. So there you have it. That picture has been going round the net quite a few times, but good to see it on a Corradoforum :-) Hence I will never understand people who lift their noses to Roccos claiming that they drive a Corrado, with an air of "I drive something better" ... IMHO just a bunch of toss*rs who simply deny the facts of history (documented also in the excellent book "The Karmann Story" by Dieter Knust) like some Germans still try to deny the holocaust. Tempest
  16. You could look for a Corrado in Germany that already has been converted to a higher Euro-class. Stock they are definitely all Euro 1 only. Tempest
  17. Admittedly my Milltek is still OK :-) OK, it's an off-the-shelf solution, but why not, if it works? Tempest
  18. It's all this f*cking environmental crap that's going round. Euro has been intorduced by the EU since the beginning of the 90s in an attempt to classify all cars according to their emission levels. This made it much simpler for the relevant local b*stard governments to then tax cars according to their emissions. The higher the Euro number, the lower the emissions (allegedly), and the lower the taxes you are likely to pay. To answer the question: AFAIK, Corrados are Euro 1 only, i.e. pretty much the highest tax bracket (at least in Germany). You may be able to get an alternative CAT, do something to your coldstart system (there are a few coldstart systems for Audis that i know of, there may be some for Rados, too) or whatever to get it into a higher Euro-class and hence lower tax bracket. Try http://www.kat-versand.de, if you can read German, for some solutions that may give you D3 even. Tempest Tempest
  19. 'Cause I'm greedy :lol: No, 2 are going to others, notably Jim and Supercharged, who'll lay their mits on one this very weekend. Tempest (Eric)
  20. As the previous posters said: Steve Alleston, Sprinter editor, is more than happy to get anything from the members. There is no "by invitation" nonsense - we're not the Porsche or Lambo or even RR owners club *wot wot wot* :lol: Just get pen to paper, or fingers on keyboard, and Steve will be more than grateful :-) Tempest
  21. Might have to, now that the 5th and last space on the stand at Ultimate VW has become available ... Tempest
  22. OK, 3 models arrived today from my mate in Germany, all nicely packaged in a big box, that the models had originally been shipped in all the way from China. Note the red circle :-) Shame it didn't turn out to be true. When I unpacked the models they were of course VR6-models :roll: Yes, the detail is stunning but not perfect, as each one has some minor imperfections. Still, they're not bad, given they've been assembled by China's finest youth labourers :wink: Tempest
  23. Anyone else? :lol: Quick trip to the post office and she's back on the road, I suppose. Tempest
  24. *Grumbling noises coming from Coventry somewhere* Shall or shan't I tax my C this month? Nah, still need to do a 4-wheel alignment first, could do that on Saturday, I suppose. Tempest
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