Pat McCrotch's VR6

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Well, after 7 months Corrado'less and always regretting selling it. I've spent the last two months trying to find another one. Much easier said than done as so many of them are in poor condition nowadays.

 

Heres some details on the history of the car;

 

The car was produced at Karmann (obviously) in late 1994 and purchased from Chelmsford Volkswagen in early 1995. It spent a very short period in Chelmsford, then another 3 years in Colchester, followed by 10 years being owned & garaged by a gentleman in Ardleigh (outskirts of Colchester) with no expense spared on maintenance at the local Colchester Volkswagen dealer. I even have a receipt for £1400 for Chain tensioner replacement...and this was in 2007! (although they stupidly didn't replace the clutch at the same time, another story though!)

 

Very sadly, in 2008 the 3rd owner discovered he had Multiple Sclerosis and kept the car for as long as he could reasonably drive it and in mid-2010 put it up for sale. This was where my first contact with the car would happen;

 

My old manager, knowing at the time I had a Corrado phoned me up and informed me that a gentleman had came in asking if he knew, a) the value, and b) anyone who wanted to buy it. He described the car as mint (aren't they all??) and having been garaged all it's life which sounded promising. I informed them depending on if it had chains/clutch done and the bodywork was truly immaculate then it could be worth anything from £3000 up to £4300. I didn't go to look at it because I didn't have the funds at the time; running a Corrado and Golf R32 at the same time was bad enough!

 

Three months after that phonecall I saw what I was 99% sure was the same car driving in my town last summer and stalked/followed the new owner until he stopped. I had a chat, confirmed that it was actually the same car and took his mobile/facebook and asked him to contact me if he fancied selling. It actually turned out he used to be the drummer in my brothers band/ Small world!

 

In late 2010 I could hold my Corrado lust no more and decided to start looking again. By early January i'd driven half way around the country including one day when I had a vomiting bug :gag: I then remembered about this one and sent a him a message asking if he was interested in selling, by a stroke of luck he was off to America in two months and after all that traveling I bought a Corrado half a mile away from work in Ipswich :lol: Complete with private plate.

 

Even though it's in great condition it's not perfect. But luckily it's mainly just cosmetics that need sorting out :) First job is to sort out the suspension. It was put on coilovers four months ago but they were clearly not setup correctly. The top mounts were reported as requiring attention in 2007 by the VW dealer but oddly they wernt changed when the coilovers were done as they are FOOKED!! :brickwall: This is why it currently has the suspension quality of a skateboard. Me and Kev had a play with the suspension last night but and raised the front by 15mil but the off side front and rear could do with another 5 mil of heightening to allow for the fuel tank and driver. After the top mounts and suspension adjustments it's off to work to get the tracking redone as again this wasn't done when the coilovers were fitted.

 

Anything else? It had a respray of some panels (not a bad job either!) a couple of months back and unfortunately the rubbing strips were thrown away. They are of course obselete :bad-words: so I have got some sorted from another member. The usual problem of the interior door strips breaking at the top of the door has also happened on the passenger side. So again another one sourced. I also spent about £250 yesterday ordering a collection of clips & badges etc to replace all the stuff I gave away to Jim 8)

 

Plan is when it's drier to put the car on a ramp. Fix any broken underseal, give it a quick clean and go mental with some waxoil!! :salute: The car is totally rust free, the only one place I could find rust is the front floor pan where tyre fitters put there jacks and even then it's a tiny break in the underseal.

 

So, some pictures. Apologies for the lack of quality :)

Edited February 22, 2012 by Pat_McCrotch

[delfinis38 1]

Nice motor .... enjoy.....

[Philuk 0]

very nice. looks nice and clean! you gonna keep it standard ish or going to town on it? :)

[Jim 1]

Very nice mate - glad to see you've got another one! :) Look forward to meeting up at some point to have a nose around it!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

It's a fine machine in the flesh. I'm jealous of the paint!

 

Got a busy Friday evening lined up. I think Neil's turning up after work with a big box of parts :lol:

[rado2 0]

Looks great, aqua blue rados are pretty sexy

[groundforce 0]

Vey nice indeed!

[mic_VR 3]

Looks really nice mate, Aqua Blue ftw! I might be free on Friday evening if you boys need another pair of hands?

[Supercharged 2]

8)

[wy906 0]

Like!

[coullstar 0]

Sounds like a good genuine car. Always good to know where its been and what its been up to. A bit like women.

[Supercharged 2]

Always good to know where its been and what its been up to. A bit like women.

 

This cars been all over Essex...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Always good to know where its been and what its been up to. A bit like women.

 

This cars been all over Essex...

 

Nah, the gaps are all tight still....

[Jim Bowen 1]

i drove past a blue corrado just like that at the weekend, with two chaps in it. I was in my escort though so didn't wave.

 

can't remember where i was, but pretty sure the chap driving had grey hair

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah that was Neil, he's got grey hair now from the stress of Corrado ownership.....

[Yandards 0]

Nice looking machine, keeping them garaged really does make a difference.

 

Ironic that you have had to spend a reasonable amount of effort undoing the previous keepers cock-ups and poorly fitted/advised parts and jobs!

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Yeah that was Neil, he's got grey hair now from the stress of Corrado ownership.....

 

You mean no hair? :lol:

 

Couple of possibilities 3corsameal;

 

Saturday; Long Melford Bypass/Sudbury - I was in the passenger seat and original owner was in drivers seat

Sunday - Same area again. Me and mate in car

Sunday afternoon - Great Cornard/Bures/Ballingdon/Sudbury.

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

One thing sort of done today. Retrofitted the original Gamma radio that the left hand drive cars have. I cannot stand aftermarket radios :nono:

 

The good news is it works! BUT;

 

1. The Sony cage means the radio won't slot in properly. This Gamma radio was made by Phillips. Any ideas where you buy just a radio cage on it's own? Halfrauds?

 

2. The backlighting on the radio doesn't work with the dash switch. So I need to move a pin at lunch tomorrow :)

 

3. My xcarlink iPod player that the company assured would plug straight in doesn't :mad: So i'm going to have to find a few

cassettes for the time being!

 

I was a little limited by the cold/time doing this tonight. So this mod/rectification will have to wait until maybe Friday or when I can find a cage.

[shaunVR6 0]

Nice car mate :clap:

[CazzaVR 0]

Nice! Glad you found a good 'un in the end! 8)

[vornwend 0]

Sounds (and looks) like a great find 8) Maybe a keeper this time? Look forward to seeing it in the flesh

Cleaned out the petrol flap area yet?

[Danny B 0]

Looking good fella......really like grey leather especially with the Blue 8)

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

very nice. looks nice and clean! you gonna keep it standard ish or going to town on it? :)

 

The ride quality of the budget coilovers is currently so bad I'm considering putting the original shocks and springs back on. But although i'd love the ride quality i'd hate the fact it was on stilts :lol: So, the plan is to raise the car by another 5-10 mil. Replace the top mounts and see how I get on.

 

Otherwise, this will be my daily but also an ongoing restoration/maintenance project. Kev's car is proof that they can be easily be used as a daily and still look mint if you look after it properly.

[KIPVW 0]

Good find young man :grin: hope to get to see it sometime.....

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Well, first swearing moment already :mad:

 

Went to replace the awful black wing indicators with the OEM orange ones. Removed one only to find no bulbholder attached to the light and the same on the other side. Turns out whoever fitted them couldn't be bothered to retrieve the lamps. I tried to get them out of the wing liner with a makeshift tool using cable ties but it looks like I'm going to have to lift off the wing liner tomorrow to do it properly.

 

As usual, other people f**k ups that ruin things.