JIMMI'S 89F PLATE 16v PRESS CORRADO-RESTORATION COMPLETE

[JIMMI 0]

Ive managed to find and buy one of the very very first corrado's it has a build date of april 89. I found it by coincidence really, for sale @ the side of the road about 3 miles from my house. I had seen the car knocking about over the summer and knew it was one of the press cars but i had forgotten all about it to be honest until i saw it for sale on friday, I arranged to view the car on sat morning. The car was tidy, it has had a bottom half respray done in the past 3 years id say but its a tidy job, it was dent free and had only a tiny couple of bits of rust starting on the front wings, the only other place it was rusty was around the petrol cap. when it has been painted someone has flushed the rear panel which is a pain. The wheels where mis matched and awful but the rest of it was tidy, everything inside works, sunroof spoiler etc & the front end is nice with no chips in any lights, fogs etc. Nothing inside was missing or broken but it was a little damp from standing, it was showing 190k. Under the bonnet it was tidy and the motor was fit, only fault i could find on the test drive was the tracking being a million miles out, it shows no signs of being in a bump at any time and is straight and tidy it checked out HPI clear. On face value the car was in excellent condition for its age, and with a bit of work it could be A1, i was pleased with the car but pleased went to delighted when the guy got out the huge box from the boot with the history for the car, it had FULL VW history, last serviced by mill garages in june @186k, every receipt for anything that has ever been bought for the car was there along with A copy of What Car from 89 with the car on the front cover along with other news articles with the car featured. A letter dated in 97 from VW gave even more history on the car, VW had even sent out some negatives out showing Jeremy clarkson driving and standing next to the car @ pendine sands & a picture of all of the press cars lined up outside MISKIN MANOR for the start of the uk corrado launch. I then realised the car had some excellent history behind it and the car really needed to be restored to its 100% original condition.

The owner however wanted too much money for the car, i gave him an offer which he declined, he did however accept it on sunday and i collected the car on sun night.

I have already started work on the car today, i took some pictures of it outside in the frost this morning before i took it into the garage to start work on it. i have done a full engine service, changing the plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, coil, oil, air & fuel filters. it runs A1 and i cannot believe how quiet the engine is for an 18 yr old car. I then jetwashed the engine bay to clean it up, the engine cut out while i was doing it and now it wont restart, i obviously have water in the distributor or somewhere, im sure it will start when it dries out !! Engine bay is gleaming now though !!

Jobs that are planned are.

 

[align=center]Exterior

 

Repair rust around filler cap & front NS wing

"DE Smooth" rear badge recess

Do whatever paintwork to make it perfect

Replace rubbing strips

Replace all badges

Find & refurb a set of sebring wheels

 

Mechanical

 

Fit the old (but fine) track rods & ends from my VR

Fit 2 new bottom arms.

 

Interior

 

Find & fit a period (circa 89-90) head unit

Find nice parcel shelf

Repair drivers seat.[/align]

 

I need some help with the drivers seat, i have all the other bits sorted or in hand but i need a seat cover in the same fabric as the pic below, if any one can tell me what its the same as that would be great !!

Ill update this thread as i go along as i think a few members are interested in this project !

 

Jimmi..........

[vr6storm 0]

the cloth is known as "petrol"..............Ive a mint rear bench in the material kicking about,not sure if you can use the material from that tho

 

AFAIK its only on early valvers and G60's

[Slimg60 0]

I've got a drivers seat in the same material, I can cut the material of the back of the seat and send if that's any help.

Good luck with her though.

[randomist 0]

top job on the engine bay jimmi, you could eat your dinner off it! looking forward to see how the work progresses, will hopefully get to see it in the flesh as it's just done the road. sounds like you've got everything in hand & it won't be long till it's back to its former glory! :salute:

[JIMMI 0]

Cheers for the replys guys,

Poiple-dude, if i wasnt so much of a fanny with cars you would see it on saturday, i think ill be in my van tho.

 

SlimG60 that sounds wicked, you have a PM

 

Jimmi..............

[randomist 0]

if i wasnt so much of a fanny with cars you would see it on saturday

 

yeah i know what you mean, i'm a total fanny myself so i understand. just wish i could do the things you can do! keep up the good work anyway!

[JIMMI 0]

Ive spent a few hours working on the corrado this afternoon, ive mostly been prepping it for paint. I initially thought i was going to be able to square the body work up with a few localised repairs this plan has now been ditched ! I have decided im going to keep the corrado for a long time and im not really into doing things twice so ive decided im going to paint the whole car properly this time around, ill have the time over xmas to get it prepped and painted so i thought i might as well. Im doing a full inside out paintjob including everything but the chassis legs and under the carpets. The window guy is coming tomorrow to remove the rear 1/4 glass and the front & back screens. i am going to paint the inside & outside of the bonnet, tailgate & doors off the car this way i can paint the front panel, wing rails, door & boot checks all @ the same time saving on masking & colour variations. only bit im dreading is the roof as im not very tall so ill struggle to reach into the middle !!!

I went over the whole car today in search of every cars worst nightmare, Rust ! Only 2 places have succomed to it which shows how well built corrados are even after nearly 18yrs. the two places are around the fuel filler neck and the N/S wheel arch (strange as the O/S one is perfect) The fuel filler area is a bit of a strange one & it looks a nightmare to repair, im going to have to chop a piece out of a donor car and weld it in, its going to be a full day job i think !

The NS arch i have tackled today, it looked as though someone has cut a bit of the lip off in the past to fit some big wheels but only done one side, the rust has then got in, when i started the lip was bubbling all the way round but the "face" of the arch had two blisters the size of 5p's when i started to grind it out i got a bit of a shock, it was pretty bad !

I had the cut all the rusy parts out which was the whole inner lip, and two 3" sections on the face of the arch, you can see this in the foto below. I them cut a 20mm strip of new steel to make the new lip and welded it in place, i filled any imperfections by melting lead into them, the inside of the lip was completely sealed in UPOL 2k Stickerflex & then stone chipped to stop any moisture getting in, the lip and the rest of the arch was then treated to a skim of SMC filler which is made of Carbon fibre & is water proof (unlike 99% of fillers), a final skim of Dolphin glaze stopper and a quick coat of zinc primer was then put over the now fully repaired arch, it should look perfect when painted !

Ill post another update when i get the filler cap repaired.

 

Jimmi...................

[g60greeny 0]

your not wastin anytime time,keep it up mate she'll be done in no time

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Fair play to ya mate, you don't f*** around do you ?

 

Good luck with her,

 

Cheers

[Foggystorm 0]

looking great so far :-)

[Mave 0]

Jeeeeeeeeeesus!!! :shock: Dude that work is too good!

 

Fancy doing some work to my press model too?

 

Serious!

[ben16v 0]

JIMMI, i`ve got the cloth off a pass seat in my shed the only difference is where the seat tilt lever is i think.

 

PM me see what we can sort out!

[JIMMI 0]

Bigtartanjudge wrote

 

Fair play to ya mate, you don't f*** around do you ?

 

Good luck with her,

 

Best way is to get stuck straight in i think, no point having dead cars lying about !! The car will be painted before new year leaving only the refitting and the drivers seat to sort out !

 

Mave wrote

 

Jeeeeeeeeeesus!!! Dude that work is too good!

 

Fancy doing some work to my press model too?

 

Serious!

 

Believe it or not i dont like working on cars mate, i repair stuffed bikes for a living. i only work on my own cars usually, mainly because nowhere else will work to the standard im after !! If you where closer i would have alook at it for you and show you how to do most of it yourself.

 

Ben16v, i think i have the seat cloth sorted mate, if it falls through for any reason ill give you a shout, cheers anyway tho !!

 

jimmi..........

[ben16v 0]

no worries its here if you want it anyway

[Mave 0]

Believe it or not i dont like working on cars mate, i repair stuffed bikes for a living. i only work on my own cars usually, mainly because nowhere else will work to the standard im after !! If you where closer i would have alook at it for you and show you how to do most of it yourself.

 

8)

 

Yeah that's one thing I lack, is knowing how to sort bodywork issues. I've got some rust around my rear arch, dunno how to get rid :lol:

 

But keep up your work mate!

[Goldie 2]

Nice to meet you the other day Jimmi and has already been said you dont hang about.

 

Sounds like the car is in safe hands!!

 

Look forward to seeing this car when its all sorted.

[JIMMI 0]

Update time!

 

Ive worked pretty much full time on the car for the paset two weeks, its been worth it tho !

The car is pretty much finished now, ive finished the bodywork i have painted the full car inside and out, the only thuing i havent done is the engine bay only because it didnt need it ! Its an awful lot of work painting cars compared to the motorbikes im used to, the resparay was an awful lot of work, firstly i had the front and rear screens removed along with the rear 1/4 glass i then removed the bumpers, doors, bonnet, boot these where put to one side so i could paint the shell, i prepped and painted the shell including the door checks, boot checks , wing rails & slam panel the car was painted on axle stands with the struts removed so i could underseal the inside of the arches then paint them in red. The car was painted in its original shade of tornado red, i applied 4 coats of Lechler 2k paint and finished off with a coat of Lechler Acrifan clearcoat. The finish is stunning its so shiny and is gonna stand out on the road !

I prepped all of the other panels and painted them off the car, the bonnet was paint strippered back to bare metal first to stop any sinkage of the paint, i painted all these the same way as the shell doing the boot & doors inside and out. I still need to paint the wingmirrors and the spoiler but they will be one of the final jobs. Sorry ive got no decent foto's of the car since its been painted but i am unable to get any as the car is covered in bubble wrap so i dont scratch it during reassembly ! as soon as the wrap is off ill take some !

The interior has been completely removed for the paintwork, prior to reassembly i have had the carpets & headcloth valeted and have washed all the plastics, door trims & dash in hot soap water while they where all out of the car. The seats have been fully reconditioned, i have had them rebuilt in the correct spec, (green fleck, vinyl backs etc) i have used a mis match of 5 interiors to do the seats, passenger seat bolsters to go into drivers seats etc. Its worth it tho the seats look completely as new and aside from the bodywork they are one of the most important parts of a car. A new heater matrix was fitted along with a new set of control cables and an unbroken dash surround. The sunroof mech was rebuilt (im now a sunroof expert for anyone who is interested !) I also managed to find a low mileage steering wheel & gearknob which look like new. a new throttle cable and oe pedal rubbers where also fitted. I managed to get some brand new Genuine VW rubber mats as well, The original tax disc holder and number plates had "VAG press office" etc on them so a sign writer friend has made perfect replica's of them for me. The interior is like that of a brand new car now im really impressed with it ! verything fits as it should and i have replaced any missing screws and clips, hopefully this will mean its rattle free !! I also have installed a Clifford Alarm system.

I have sorted some wheels out from LIPPY on here which i need to get collected then i will refurb them, the engine is as sweet as a nut and has been fully serviced, the chassis needs some attention tho ! I have fitted new balljoints, track rod ends, drop links, bottom arm bushes, shockers, f & r discs & pads, Top mounts along with a set of "fresher" springs from a 95 rado im breaking. I have a set if 3 engine mounts to change this week before the bonnet goes on as well.

I have kept receipts and docunmented the rebuild with foto's all the way thru, i think the car is goin to be a stunner when its finished next week, it will be something to take around shows etc, whether or not i will be the person doing it is another question !!

Next update will see the car 100% finished !!

 

Jimmi..................

[Mave 0]

Jesus chroist! Fantastic.

 

Shame i dont have those tools/skills!

 

Cant wait to see final product.

[Goldie 2]

Was coming along nicely when i saw it last weekend....

 

Looking forward to seeing it in the metal when its sorted.

[Bobby 0]

jimmi the prep work is looking good can't wait to see the finished job, i use the lechler paint and laquer too as it decent stuff, heard about this dolphin stopper glaze before any ideas where i can get some as the lechler stopper i used last time showed up after a few months on panel i did before - slightly sunk

[Lippy 0]

mate, can we sort out the wheels asap? I'll give you a call at dinner if I get time.

 

Glad to see its coming on well!

 

Andrew

[JIMMI 0]

Cheers for the comments guys, goldie saw the car on sunday last week when it was just out of the paint shop. You should see it now mate its really taking shape ! I took a foto of the back 1/4 today, is it shiny enough ????

 

LIPPY wrote

 

mate, can we sort out the wheels asap? I'll give you a call at dinner if I get time.

 

Glad to see its coming on well!

 

Andrew

 

I will sort it today mate, ive been as bussy as fook ! i have deleted your pm with your bank details on, could you resend it along with your address? one thing is the courier can only collect during the week, is this okay ? Give me a ring or PM me

Jimmi..........

 

Bobby wrote

jimmi the prep work is looking good can't wait to see the finished job, i use the lechler paint and laquer too as it decent stuff, heard about this dolphin stopper glaze before any ideas where i can get some as the lechler stopper i used last time showed up after a few months on panel i did before - slightly sunk

 

Lechler stopper isnt much cop to be honest mate, however it still shouldnt of sunk ! what sort of primer did you use ? was it on a bonnet by chance?

Dolphin glaze is ace, it is as thin as water and is the only filler i use on bike panels, it actually flows on panels just like paint ! its made by UPOL, try and find a local UPOL stockist or look on the web !

 

Jimmi.............

[Jim 2]

Can't wait to see this all finished! So glad someone is restoring one of the press cars back to former glory :)

[g60greeny 0]

Can't wait to see this all finished! So glad someone is restoring one of the press cars back to former glory :)

 

dont worry jim,i'll be on the case from march also :)

[blue95 0]

Hi mate

 

Awsome work!!

 

You seem to be the fella to ask about bodywork and the like!

 

Where were you when my motor needed a repspray!! :lol: just kiddin.

 

The bodyshop murdered my car, then they tried to blame it on the age of the car, the state of the paint underneath, the way the wind was blowing on the day :lol: u get the idea!!!

 

Stlll fecked off with them and its been back 3 times!!!!