VW nut i know at work is a baaaad baaaad man....

[skinnyman9000 0]

Bloke at work owns a Corrado and a Transporter syncro van. Anyway, been chatting to him about getting the rado and getting something newer and faster, convo went like this:

 

Him: "so what car you planning on buying"

Me: "Ibiza cupra i think"

Him: "why?"

Me: "Because i want the turbo power and the reliability"

Him: "How must will this cost you?"

Me: "About £5k"

Him: Why not just spend £5k on the rado?"

Me: "eh?"

Him: "Well think about it, buy a crappy car to get around in, then spend £5k on the rado, for that you could 4X4 it, turbo your existing KR lump, and sort the handling"

Me: "Prove it"

 

So he spends the next 15-20 mins on the t'internet web. He pulls up a syncro/haldex system on the bay, with all the driveshaft work done to fit a mk2 golf/corrado, for £1700. He then goes on the bahn brenner website and prices up a turbo package that'll give me a good 230-250bhp, then he spends the rest on coilovers and ARBs. It comes in at just under £5k, and he even offers to built it with me.

 

DAMN THAT MAN!!! I was perfectly willing to sell the rado and get a cupra, and now he puts this silly idea in my head. And like he says, whats gonna be worth more in 2-3yrs, an ibiza cupra, or a 4wd corrado running a 250bhp 16VT lump. Evil man :lol:

[dinkus 10]

Doooooooo it! :D

[mrbeige 0]

Definately do it!

 

vwdeviant is selling two golfs, one gti and one synchro for 500 notes! That gets you a run around and the boot floor and running gear you need! 4.5k left!!! :D

 

And besides pocoyo is excited about it for you too! --->

[boost monkey 0]

Pound for pound, you can generally build a car that has better specs than production if you know what you're doing.

 

Would you rather have a £10k shopping car like all the other lemmings, or something you made and something you can fix just as easily?

 

Winnage.

[Andy665 0]

When was the last time you saw a thread about someone doing something like this where lots of extra work was required and lots of extra money was / needed to be spent.

 

The theory is great, the reality could be a money pit.

 

Factor in 2x insurance, 2x road tax

 

Just playing devils advocate

[skinnyman9000 0]

When was the last time you saw a thread about someone doing something like this where lots of extra work was required and lots of extra money was / needed to be spent.

 

The theory is great, the reality could be a money pit.

 

Factor in 2x insurance, 2x road tax

 

Just playing devils advocate

 

I totally see what you're saying. And to be honest this is the wrong time in my life to attempt it, being 21 and still living at home. Plus if my parents found out i took out a loan to buy a 'decent' car and then threw it at the corrado, well!!!!!

[timg60 0]

Better to do it now than when you are married and the wife finds out :lol: :lol: :lol:

[dinkus 10]

Best do it now while you're young and free and don't need to be paying a mortgage! :lol:

 

Heh, in fairness and on a slightly more serious note, as Andy says - there's no way it's gonna "just" cost £5k. I was looking at doing an R32 conversion... you can pick up an engine and gearbox for £1,500ish. Bargain.

 

..but then you add the custom ECU (£700), the custom driveshafts (£500), the custom exhaust manifold (£350), Custom gearbox mounts (£150), new engine mounts (£150), etc, etc and it soon added up to £5k. You might not need the same things to do the conversion you're on about, but it's easy to see how these "little" extras quickly add up to scary numbers. and that's not good when you're looking at borrowing the money in the first place :(

 

Plus you'd have to take into account the money you'd get back from selling the C now.

[skinnyman9000 0]

True.

 

Although ive never taken on a 'project' as such. All my cars have been standard or only slightly modded, so i can feel a project coming on at some point. I wouldnt mind trying to drop a g40 lump into a mk2 polo saloon. My uncle used to have one and it bloody flew!

 

Im gonna need a project of some kind sooner or later, might be better starting smaller though, a 4wd turbo corrado probably isnt the best first project :lol:

[boost monkey 0]

When was the last time you saw a thread about someone doing something like this where lots of extra work was required and lots of extra money was / needed to be spent.

 

The theory is great, the reality could be a money pit.

 

Factor in 2x insurance, 2x road tax

 

Just playing devils advocate

 

When are cars NOT money pits? I must have owned almost 20 in the 6 years i've been driving. You never make money back on them, that's why I justify them as a hobby / career! :lol:

 

There are pretty much hidden costs in any car work whether that be time or money unless you completely chequebook it out to a company and tell them to do it.

[Walesy 0]

Best do it now while you're young and free and don't need to be paying a mortgage! :lol:

 

Heh, in fairness and on a slightly more serious note, as Andy says - there's no way it's gonna "just" cost £5k. I was looking at doing an R32 conversion... you can pick up an engine and gearbox for £1,500ish. Bargain.

 

..but then you add the custom ECU (£700), the custom driveshafts (£500), the custom exhaust manifold (£350), Custom gearbox mounts (£150), new engine mounts (£150), etc, etc and it soon added up to £5k. You might not need the same things to do the conversion you're on about, but it's easy to see how these "little" extras quickly add up to scary numbers. and that's not good when you're looking at borrowing the money in the first place :(

 

Plus you'd have to take into account the money you'd get back from selling the C now.

 

Agreed, I also think that if you're considering modifying a rado (or any car) then you really need to make sure everything on the car is tip top to begin with, there's no point charging an engine that's fo0ked, it could cost you £5k to get the car to a standard that would be worthey of taking on a beast of an engine and 4x4 conversion etc let alone what it'll cost you to carry out the mods you're talking about.

 

Like Andy says, owning two cars is basicaly doubling your car outgoings, and all the hassle/time/paranoia etc that goes with it. I suppose there's alot of people out there that devote their lives to their cars and are happy to blow loads of money and time on them but if you've been getting p1ssed off with keeping one standard car going I think maybe buying another car and modding the hell out of your valver isn't the best idea.

 

I guess what i'm trying to say, is that you can sometimes polish a turd - but it's not allways worthwhile.

[skinnyman9000 0]

My car lets me down from time to time, i wouldn't call it a turd :( :lol:

 

On the other hand last year i worked with a contractor that mentioned a G60 to me. His mate owns a farm, took it in p/x for his beemer, then stuck it in the garage and left it, apparently its been there a year or so now. Now if i could get my hands on that lil beasty that WOULD be a good project!

[Jim 2]

I'd really suggest using the loan to buy something REALLY cheap and cheerful to run, that's super reliable. Then save the money up for a year or two and come back to the project idea. It's not like the Corrado is going anywhere.

 

It sounds stupid but I took the same approach as you have with buying cars.. i'm currently on my.. er.. third car loan (i've been paying a car loan forever it seems) and I own a car that is worth less than the value of the loan at the moment. That said I only have a year left and when that goes, really, I am not doing it again unless I get interest free on a brand new / nearly new car. I've never "owned" any of my cars as i've never completed the loan as I just sold the car, and cleared the loan prior to the end of the term.

 

You've got your whole life to do project cars, and if anything, most folks are in a far better position to do that sort of thing a little later on down the line - when you've got property, some savings, and some disposable income. Most people I know of that have stretched themselves to build a project car (loans / credit cards) ultimately buckle and sell the car to clear the debt as they just don't like it hanging around their neck!

[corozin 0]

I know where there is a racing dog-box for sale for a VR6 if he really wants to go to town. Clutchless changes... mmmm...

 

On a serious note the sensible thing for your mate to have done would have been to buy the Seat. Sticking a load of money into an old Corrado to "completely refresh it" all sounds good but in practice it always takes a helluva lot more money to do that you ever expected. I can speak from personal experience on this... I've currently put just over £9k into mine since last July, the engine development still isn't complete, and I've already used up my bodyshop budget to get through last November's bill. And I'm doing deals just to keep the costs even at these levels

 

If I'd known then what I know now I'd probably have put the money towards an RS4 instead, but I'm beyond the point of no return with it and trust me that isn't a nice place to be.

 

Tell your mate to buy the Seat, or prepare to potentially have a frustrated, poor mate for a very long time....

 

Now, about that dog-box... :)