joeyboswell's 1994 VR6 Ice Grey VR6

[joeyboswell 0]

After 7 weeks of corrado ownership (and countless whinging posts on here) I thought it was time to get my own section on the go. In the time I have had the car I haven't even been able to give it a proper wash, polish and wax so proper pics will follow when I get that done.

 

background on the car:

 

1994 VR6 Ice Grey

138,000 when bought and 3 previous owners (all for about 5 years each)

full heated black leather (in decent nick)

18 stamps in the service book and a wallet full of receipts

no mods other than a nice sony headunit and uprated leads (and probably sparks)

 

only got a crap iphone pic from the time I bought it:

 

 

since owning:

 

Drove back from Bath were I bought it to Liverpool with a big grin on my face and no issues. Half a mile from my house I get a whining sound, loss of power steering and me in the shittest mood ever. :mad2: Limp home with allsorts running through my head about buying a dud so storm in the house and decide to sleep on it and deal with it in the morning. Next morning, start the car to hear noise is worse and little puff of smoke come from the engine bay. After storming back in the house after having a look at the car, I come hear to find out it is only the belt and tensioner pulley. Ordered them (genuine VW for £100 for both) and fitted them myself with some very useful info from the lads on here. Here's some pics of the state of the pulley (no plastic) and the chewed up belt!

 

 

This job worked out fine but decided to take it to a garage for a full check-up and get whatever needs doing. This was due to having to do a big drive and wanting it to be as good as for the journey. Wanted them to sort the high oil temps but will do that next time by replacing the whole system (sensors, thermo etc). Heres what I got done anyway:

 

_rear shocks and bump stops

_near side inner CV boot

_oil cooler seals

_both wishbone bushes front (required new bolts being welded in too)

_top mount

_cat-back jetex exhaust

 

The exhaust was £350 and all of the above work (parts, labour, fitting the exhaust and topping up oils and fluids) came to just over £600.

 

To be honest there isn't much difference from going in the garage to going out with this work but it definitely feels firmer and less noisy. Didn't get the temps sorted or a funny noise on reversing (thinking it is a wheel bearing now for some reason) but these will be next.

 

Here's some other poor pictures I have but will defo follow up with some better ones after it gets it well-deserved bath!

 

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/47/2404201002.jpg

[Abdul 0]

Nice car, awesome colour, get it detailed! The pearl in this colour is really cool!

 

Whats your plans for the old girl then?

[joeyboswell 0]

Took advantage of the nice evening weather we had here and decided I would clean the roof lining.It had a few oily marks on it around the sunroof and that is all I thought needed cleaning. I was just using some Simoniz upholstery cleaner which came part of a cheap pack from costco (upholstery cleaner, tyre blacker, plastic blacker and dash cleaner) for about a tenner so didn't expect much. Started scrubbing the horrible black marks and realised that my roof was actually a really light grey! Anyway all of the oily black marks came out as well as my ceiling getting a new bright colour. I haven't used any of the other stuff in the pack but hopefully it will be as good as the upholstery cleaner.

 

Got no pictures of the before but believe me the black marks looked terrible. Anyway here's some progress shots from my phone and a quick finished snap to show the colour.

 

[joeyboswell 0]

I'm getting on it abdul! Hopefully tomorrow. I see pics of other ice greys and it is a lovely colour. I see you have one too then?! I've got all the Auto Glym shampoo, polish and resin but just no drive with a hose so I'm gonna take someones over drive tomorrow and get cracking. Got all the rainX gear too to whack on.

 

I've not got any plans for her really cos I like the unmolested look. The exhaust is as far as I'm going in the performance / looks department until I'm sure I have got everything as mechanically sound as possible. Then I will maybe:

 

_lower her a bit (but I live around a lot of speed bumps and cant be arsed with crawling)

_upgrade the wipers

_get wheels reconditioned and thinking about a darker metallic grey but not sure (will get on photoshop before I do)

_furniture clinic job on the two front seats and steering wheel (to get them looking newer)

 

after that I will consider sensible mods but want the OEM look really. I really admire some of the work on here but I haven't got the space, time, money or know-how to be doing all that and it is a daily driver so the less time off the road the better.

[wy906 0]

Hi fellow Ice Greyer! I bought mine only last week!

 

What's your oil temp like? Mine is usually 104-108, which I think is fairly decent. Went as high as 116 during a high-speed run.

 

The wipers are pretty poor :D I'm also gonna change the bulbs to Phillips X-treme (or something) so I can see better in the dark. Apart from that, I haven't done anything to mine.... not even washed it yet. :( Too busy driving! :D

[joeyboswell 0]

alright wy906. sounds like you are on the same wavelength as me...ice grey, standard and high oil temps! I hope I can help you in saying not to worry about them temps too much. I have fretted on this forum over mine and the general view is to chill (no pun) and just have it looked at in the garage. I am running exactly the same temps (116 is only reached when giving it beans for a prolonged time) and have decided to just get the whole thermo and sensor system replaced. I've been quoted about £110 for parts (everything including bolts and housings as they are prone to snap) and about £90 for labour. Any parts not used will be sent back to the dealers and knocked off the price but I'm happy with it all being used if I can lower the temps. Only other advice I've got really is to replace the oil often with good stuff, the coolant and just keep an eye on it. If this doesn't work you may have another more serious problem which will need fixing. A good garage will know more. Anyway...welcome to the club anyway! I'm gonna be moving down to London this year so will give you a beep if I see ya!

[Portent 0]

 

I love this picture. It reminds me of the days when I'd be on call (in the early 90's before most mobile phones and VPN dial-in from home). I'd drive into work in London and park my Scirocco on one of the roads in Southwark nearby. It would often be midnight or 2am and most of the roads quite empty when I returned to my car and drove home. Part of the reason for me wanting a Corrado is because of the good times I had with my Scirocco. It's funny how little things like driving through London at night with the sunroof open and the heaters on can give you so much pleasure :)

[joeyboswell 0]

the car got the full autoglym treatment today. A good few hours cos it was rotten but done as much as my patience could stand! Gave it a shampoo, polish, resin layer, alloy clean, plastic blacking and rainX on the windows. Good to have a good look at the paintwork and fully see what kind of state it is in. Quite pleased with it and glad to see the paintwork is in really good nick. Plenty of life in it without a respray if I carry on looking after it.

 

[wy906 0]

Mate, your paintwork seems to be in much better condition than mine. :) Mine has a bit of stone chips and also a small dent on the front wing. :(

 

 

As much as I want to get it fixed and have it pristine, I think I'd upgrade my brakes first before sorting the cosmetic.

 

I think the oil temp on mine is ok..... it only gets to 116-118 in sustained high-rev runs, which doesn't happen often. It was serviced prior to my purchase, and I checked the oil yesterday and it's very clean. It drives beautifully and the engine pulls very strongly so no concern yet. The last MOT (March 10) report mentions the shocks have slight leak so I'll get them done at some point in the next 10 months.

 

These Ice Greys are getting a bit too common now. :D :D :D

[joeyboswell 0]

Cat heat shield welded on today to fix annoying rattle, washer replaced on back heat shield and engine oil changed to 5w-40 synth with new oil filter. Also changed the gearbox oil to mt90. That's some good gear that! Gearchange is as smooth as silk now! Full tank of premium and ready for the weekend! Even though I have been made redundant today! :lol:

[joeyboswell 0]

Been offered a personalised plate as a gift and considering it. Never been a fan but think they work on an older car. My dad has t9 moc (moc being his initials) on his Porsche (his new toy) and he said he will get me one to go on mine. I've looked at all the £250 options an think I've found a cracker. I can get VR06 JOC (obviously vr6 and my initials). I could have my postcode and initials but it makes the car look older and I think vr06 is better. What do people think? Should I go for it or not? How much do people pay for getting plates made nowadays...will just get plastic ones.

[Henny 0]

you can't put VR06JOC on a Corrado... it'd only go on a car that was first registered after April 1st 2006... It'd be a nice plate if you could though...

[swiftkid 1]

Its funny i've just stumbled across this thread, my tensionner did exactly the same as your the other day, except mine wore throught he bear housing as well!!! easy fix though.

 

As henny said, you can't make your car look newer with a plate, otherwise i'd be wanting V 12 6...

[joeyboswell 0]

you can't put VR06JOC on a Corrado... it'd only go on a car that was first registered after April 1st 2006... It'd be a nice plate if you could though...

 

I thought there was something like this but was looking on the DVLA website on my phone and couldn't see any rules. Gutted. So if mine is M reg I can only have M or older and none of the new regs?

 

Looks like I will have to go for my postcode or M666 JOC then!

[wy906 0]

M666 JOC then!

 

I like that.

 

I’ve just realised that I almost bought your car!

 

I saw the advert and called the Seller to arrange a viewing but was told the car had already been sold….

 

I even took a screen shot! :D :D :D

 

 

[Swompy 0]

Looking good, lovely colour 8)

[joeyboswell 0]

M666 JOC then!

 

I like that.

 

I’ve just realised that I almost bought your car!

 

I saw the advert and called the Seller to arrange a viewing but was told the car had already been sold….

 

I even took a screen shot! :D :D :D

 

 

 

That's the one! It was on for £3999 for a while and he said he didn't really have any views. One day I woke up really early, was bored and tired of looking for cars so just got the train down and bought it after we agreed a price over the phone. It is a really nice example but still wish I had knocked him down more. Ah well...I'm happy enough. Still think you have a cracker there with the low mileage.

[Philmo 0]

M666 JOC then!

 

I like that.

 

I’ve just realised that I almost bought your car!

 

I saw the advert and called the Seller to arrange a viewing but was told the car had already been sold….

 

I even took a screen shot! :D :D :D

 

 

 

Looked at this on PH a few times myself - looked a minter - 1 owner IIRC.

[joeyboswell 0]

Not one owner but only 3 and each had it for around 5 years each, having it serviced a lot and generally looked after it.

 

Bit gutted at the minute. Was made redundant at the end of last month (the firm went into insolvency) so I am struggling with money until redundancy and notice pay come in (should be on for about £3600 in total). I'm trying my hardest to keep the car but stil bought ome front brake backplates last night off ebay!

 

Wish me luck.

[wy906 0]

Mate, sorry to hear that RE: job, good luck!

[moneypit23 0]

I saw your car at the Cat n Fiddle the other week and the paintwork is amazing. I am very jealous

[SIMONG 0]

yeah i was parked next to it, it did look really clean.

[joeyboswell 0]

Down in Potters Bar / London for a long weekend in the blazing sun and pleased to say the old girl behaved herself for the 400 miles of motorways and hours of roasting hot traffic jams in the big smoke! Was dreading summer traffic jams but it handled pretty much the hottest we are gonna get so I'm pretty chuffed now.

[joeyboswell 0]

Well I've only went and got myself a job in London (soho) starting on the 14th! Moving into my birds mums in Potters bar until we find a flat. Got a potential cheap flat in hampstead heath lined up but might not happen. Will probably be in Potters bar for a month or 2. Any forum members in that area? Any good garages in that area or at least around London? I want to get my cooling system done (for the traffic), chains and some other bits and bobs so any recommendations would be well appreciated! Are prices higher down sowf?

[Jon_vr6 1]

haha hes a southern fairy now lol have fun mate