Pete Griff's 'Rado R32 - (Not quite!) Alive at last! :D

[pete_griff 0]

Lots of nice shiny bits Pete, and no piccies? Can you post some up of your strut braces? I've been thinking of getting some but unsure if the upper one will fit ok with the engine change....

 

Chazrad, at least you car HAS been out of the workshop this year :( , I was supposed to be going up there tonight but Jon is ill....How are you liking the diff?

 

hey there my friend - i would love to post up some piccies, but i'm not even in the country at the moment! - promise i'll get loads up when i get back :)

 

my poor mum has been great - so patient - every week there are more bits flying though the door for her to "file"for me for when i get back! :D

[KipVR 1]

my poor mum has been great - so patient - every week there are more bits flying though the door for her to "file"for me for when i get back!

 

ha ha, my wife knows the feeling, do you get her to fetch and drop off parts too?

[pete_griff 0]

well i'm now officially back! - and bloody pleased about that too :)

 

i've now got 6 weeks off work, so it's full steam ahead on the corrado, hopefully as of the day after tomorrow :D

 

i have had a right saga dealing with the company who delivered my engine though. it was rattling round in the back of one of their lorries for approx 11 days! the delivery driver tried to find the place 3 times and failed each time - it didn't occur to him to use his phone and call the number that he had been provided with though! - i really do wonder about some people...

 

i moved my corrado and my engine to the place where it's all going to happen today - i was really not happy to make a discovery that my inlet manifold got broken as well by the couriers today :bad-words: they also managed to break the aircon pump as well, which i have already been chasing up for some time now!

hopefully the manifold will be fine - it looks as though it may not even leak as it is, but i'm going to plastic weld it up and see how i get on... i have let the courier know that i'm claiming for that as well as the aircon pump now, which they were delighted to hear about as i'm sure you can imagine!

 

there are a couple of pics below of moving the engine myself, of the cracked inlet and of the room absolutely full of bits i have now acculmilated to go onto the car :D

[KipVR 1]

That's unfair, your allowed to store exhaust parts in the house :lol:

[Leonard 0]

He he happy days!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Awesome!

 

I was telling Bill Schimmel the other day that there's hardly any UK VR6 Corrados with a 12V engine left now :lol:

 

R32 lumps are so cheap now, it just doesn't make financial sense to rebuild a 12V in the long run. We got onto the subject because I was asking about R32 turbos and he said he wouldn't do it unless 4WD. Toooooo much power and torque :D

[pete_griff 0]

That's unfair, your allowed to store exhaust parts in the house :lol:

 

haha - yes but not for long - and these are very clean exhaust parts!

 

Awesome!

 

I was telling Bill Schimmel the other day that there's hardly any UK VR6 Corrados with a 12V engine left now :lol:

 

R32 lumps are so cheap now, it just doesn't make financial sense to rebuild a 12V in the long run. We got onto the subject because I was asking about R32 turbos and he said he wouldn't do it unless 4WD. Toooooo much power and torque :D

 

tell me about it - mine has done 12k from new, much newer more refined engine as well - happy days!

 

here are a couple of pics from today - was helping my dad around his house today. he bought it to rent, so while the place is being sorted out so it is suitable to live in, i'm allowed to sort out my motor in the drive - happy days! had to help my dad all day in the garden today, so will be cracking on with the car tomorrow...

 

there are a couple of pics of the car and the new engine sitting next to it underneath a waterproof cover and a couple of pics of my nice new interior :D

the car is absolutely minging both inside and out - i shan't be cleaning it until everything is finished though - there is no point as the car got covered in a nice cloud of dust and ash today from the fire nearby! it will probabbly continue to get covered while it's there too...

gave it a very quick wash off just with water at the end of the day and i'll just put a cover over it from now on.

can't wait until it's all finished, not only so i can drive it around finally, but the paintwork is looking a bit sorry for itself now after being neglected for nearly year on and off now :?

[zak 0]

Pete your are in an envious position i would love to have a block of spare time where i could tackle something like this. Im sure you will enjoy the challenge and the corrado will be solid once youve completed all the work.

 

Regarding cleaning, mine was like yours with my recent engine escapades. I didn't wash it for all of three months and the dust built up but and it was looking sorry for itself up on axle stands but once its back on the road and you give it a clean and polish it will be a distant memory.

[pete_griff 0]

cheers buddy :)

 

i'm bloody knackered now - been working for my mum, my dad and then my mate all day - just got in now, having tea and typing at the same time!

 

i'm really looking forward to getting started on it now though - hoping to get the engine all out tomorrow, gearbox split from the lump and start transferring bits over to the r32 lump ready for it to go in.

i'm sending the gearbox away to get it rebuilt and get the quaife fitted, so as soon as that gets back i can start putting things back in :)

[KADVR6 0]

welcome back to the UK Pete :) hope everyhing goes ok with the install, and that little crack in the manifold does look ok but i would also try and get a new one from off the transport company.

 

and i do like those seats, they should brighten up what is a normally sombre interior, just make sure your not covered in shite before you sit on one of thoses seats, also what subframes have you got on them??

 

and see ya soon for the swap over of brakes.

 

karl

[Kevin Bacon 5]

tell me about it - mine has done 12k from new, much newer more refined engine as well - happy days!

 

Awesome, barely run in. There are reports of several R32s in Europe which have done well over 200K on the original engine and drivetrain, even the clutch! It's one tough motor.

 

Every 24V I've seen in bits has perfect looking bores and all 24 valves are the same colour, indicating a far superior burn compared to the 12V. Although to be fair to grandad 12V, the 24V does have far, far superior management, injectors and coils.

 

You have an eye for engineering, have a nosey at the head, it's a master peice of design and engineering. Check out where VW / Cosworth put the injectors. It makes perfect sense :wink:

 

here are a couple of pics from today

 

Looks like a very nice clean car mate. I don't think I've seen your seats before but I definitely like. They seem to have bigger bolsters than Corrado seats, what are they from?

[pete_griff 0]

hey there buddy, thanks very much :)

 

thanks very much about the seats - yo are totally right about keeping them clean though - mintues after i bought them i was also buying a set of seat covers to make sure i don't cover them in crap when doing things like swapping engines over!

unsure what subframes they have got on them, i think they are the existing ford ones that have been modified to fit a corrado (but you would have to ask dazfxvw to be sure). the seat height adjuter is located on the inside of the seat and is currently rubbing on the centre tunnel trim; i'm going to have to bend it a little more flush with the seat when i take the seats out shortly. i think i actually prefer it there though, as it's not difficlt to reach and the first thing everyone did with the old seats when trying to move forward/back was to grab the big handle and bouce their head off the roof!

 

i should hopefully be ready to start swaping the brakes over in the next few days not if all goes to plan - not in any massive hurry as i can't drive the car but it would be one more job out of the way once it's done.

plus i want to get the brembos re-coated in black so they don't stand out.

 

hope you manage to get your motor all sorted soon my friend - you are soooooooooooo close, remember just how worth it it will all have been once it's finished :D

[pete_griff 0]

got the engine out today, started swapping bits over from the one lump to the other. going to get the gearbox rebuilt asap - just need to find a place i'm happy with...

 

can crack on with the rest of the car (heater matrix etc) while i am waiting for the gearbox to come back - hoping to be somewhere near to finishing come the end of the month as long as all goes to plan....

 

forgot my bloody camera today which i was annoyed about, though i did get some pics yesterday. i'll try and get some pics posted tomorrow for those who are interested...

[coullstar 0]

Good man. Your doing all the right things here, nice and subtle. Wish I had the time, pateince and space to have done mine. Believe me its well worth the effort you will be putting in.

[pete_griff 0]

Good man. Your doing all the right things here, nice and subtle. Wish I had the time, pateince and space to have done mine. Believe me its well worth the effort you will be putting in.

 

thanks very much for the positive comments - the subtle approach is exactly what i am going for :)

 

 

i got some more done today, not as much as i would have liked, but i was on the road for most of the morning as i took my gearbox up to a place in birmigham to get rebuilt - should hopefully have it back in the next couple of days, then the engine can go back in the car :)

 

swapped the engine mounts over today - the standard ones you can see in the pics really were past their best, the oil filled gearbox mount was very very wobbly!

have replaced the gearbox mount with a rubber one off a g60 and i got the poly mounts off vagworx. they took ages to deliver them and i had to chase them, but they seem to be very good quality, with nice fittings etc. (by a company called black forest industries, whom vagworx act as an importer for).

i was pretty disappointed with the aftermarket front mount, unsure if it's a VT one or who it's made by, but it hasn't stood up to the test of time very well as it wasn't fitted horrendously long ago. also the fit is pretty bad - you can wobble the whole housing of it around like buggery when it hasn't got the weight of the engine on it - not good. i'm also going to have to wait for someone else to be there to take it off, as it needs holding in place to be able to undo the retaining bolt at the bottom.

 

i made use of the simple flywheel locking tool i fabricated ages ago when i rebuilt the TU engine in my citroen ax! handy little thing.

 

i'm very lucky with the location as the inside of the house is being totally gutted before anyone moves in. this means that for the time being i can store all car parts (even minging ones!) inside the house out of harms way - happy days!

 

offered up my milltek sports cats to the centre tunnel under the car today - there is enough room, but it's pretty close! there's about 5-10mm either side of the cats once they are in place, so Pete from dubpower will have to be cock-on with his welding; from seeing his previous work though, i have little doubt that he will be :)

 

will be getting the front crossmember off tomorrow and hopefully giving it the treatment with the grinder/belt sander to get rid of all the corrosion, then some hammerite to cover it up after.

 

i'm still waiting for various parts to come through the door to allow me the sort other stuff, but i hope to maybe be somewhere near having it all finished towards the end of next month now. it's totally achievable to get it done sooner, but it all depends on when people are free and how much time it takes them to do stuff. short of sorting the heater matrix, suspension and a few other niggles; once the engine is back in and all plumbed up, all my work is done - just need to wait for other people to sort the manifold/wiring etc etc - fingers crossed - want it back asap :D

[pete_griff 0]

just realised i've got a load more pics from the previous day or two, so i'll get those up tomorrow now.

 

the r32 engine is looking spanking :)

[antonio_b12 0]

Nice progress, if possible would be interested in feedback on the engine mounts when your up and running, as im looking to source some in the near future.

[pete_griff 0]

Nice progress, if possible would be interested in feedback on the engine mounts when your up and running, as im looking to source some in the near future.

 

no worries - only thing with that is that vagworx are the only uk importer for black forest industires as far as i know and they took ages to sort me out with a set - in the end i had to get them to send me the last set they had which were already fitted to a car, but unused...

also vagworx are impossible to get hold of on the phone which i found very annoying - they did reply to my emails, but the process was certainly not a quick one!

 

the new mounts seem really quite a fair bit harder than the old ones. obviously the old ones would be more squashy now anyway due to a lifetime's use, but the difference seemed pretty big.

 

i'm really hoping i don't have any dashboard shaking issues here...

 

the 24v engine is much smoother than the 12v, so fingers crossed all will be good. the new mounts will definitely be much more supportive than the old ones though - they really were pathetic when removed!

[Veearrhsix 0]

You're really making one-off rado furniture aren't you :)

[fla 9]

Might be a good time to strip and paint the rad support and front cross member.

[Leonard 0]

the 24v engine is much smoother than the 12v, so fingers crossed all will be good. the new mounts will definitely be much more supportive than the old ones though - they really were pathetic when removed!

 

Buts that's the beauty of the 12v!

 

I find it a real shame everyone is turning their back on it, it is one of motorings greats! :(

 

After saying all that your car is looking very nice :D Keep up the good work, you are going to be loving it when its finished!

[Veearrhsix 0]

the 24v engine is much smoother than the 12v, so fingers crossed all will be good. the new mounts will definitely be much more supportive than the old ones though - they really were pathetic when removed!

 

Buts that's the beauty of the 12v!

 

I find it a real shame everyone is turning their back on it, it is one of motorings greats! :(

 

After saying all that your car is looking very nice :D Keep up the good work, you are going to be loving it when its finished!

IMO you're right - beauty in the eye of the beholder and all... This more primitive VR6 is the most original legacy of VR's of today, even right up to the very sophisticated Veyron. Which is why I'll never swap mine. Albeit, nice surgery you're doing Pete. :salute:

[pete_griff 0]

Might be a good time to strip and paint the rad support and front cross member.

 

yeah - defo doing that cheers buddy

 

 

the 24v engine is much smoother than the 12v, so fingers crossed all will be good. the new mounts will definitely be much more supportive than the old ones though - they really were pathetic when removed!

 

Buts that's the beauty of the 12v!

 

I find it a real shame everyone is turning their back on it, it is one of motorings greats! :(

 

After saying all that your car is looking very nice :D Keep up the good work, you are going to be loving it when its finished!

 

 

IMO you're right - beauty in the eye of the beholder and all... This more primitive VR6 is the most original legacy of VR's of today, even right up to the very sophisticated Veyron. Which is why I'll never swap mine. Albeit, nice surgery you're doing Pete. :salute:

 

cheers for the encouraging words gents! i realise the project isn't to everyone's taste - i can totally appreciate where the purists are coming from, you're definitely right about the character of the 12v - you won't get it anywhere else!

 

 

got a bit more done today - swapped the heater matrix/bowden cables/heater controls over - what a tw*t of a job, i hate doing fiddly things with interior trim and suchlike - stabbed myself in the hand with my screwdriver to boot, which pleased me no end!

i struggle with the patience for things like that - i have to walk away from the car every so often or i end up just ripping bits out and having to plastic weld them afterwards!

 

the bloke down in bristol (the vag-doctor) who is doing the wiring for me to run the r32 loom/ecu is going to have some real fun with the alarm wiring in my car - it's bloody horrific! it looks like there was another alarm in there at some point which was replaced by the one i have now and whoever fitted my current one didn't bother to remove any of the old wiring - there are redundant plugs/wiring everywhere - not looking forward to showing him that :?

 

anyway, below are a couple of pics of today and a couple from a previous day somewhere near the start of the week. the new engine is looking clean as a whistle - working on it is so easy - everything is nice and new and comes apart as it should - lovely :cheers:

there are a couple of close-ups of the ports to show just how nice the r32 head really is, especially with my mileage!

also, as mentioned by mr cheesewire earlier, the injectors are also very micely mounted, varying in angle/height for the relevant port - a lovely piece of engineering :D

 

hopefully going to pick my gearbox up from being rebuilt/having the quaife fitted tomorrow. they have turned it around in double quick time for me, so i'm really pleased with that.

hopefully got pete from dubpower arriving soon to fabricate my manifold for me as well :D

had a mock up of my milltek cats too - there is just enough room for them in the centre tunnel!

 

anyway - pics:

[pete_griff 0]

and some more...

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Looking good pete! I will want a ride in it you know!! I best join the back of the long que!