Pat McCrotch's VR6

[Supercharged 2]

Well done for finding it mate - as I said I thought it would be a vac / hose issue...

 

2009 wasn't long ago - I would have a word with Lindvale, you must have a contact?

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

No point mate, as I know it will be met with a shrug of shoulders and the "what do you expect us to do about it?" attitude.

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Right, everything is now coming together nicely;

 

Things i've done which aren't photograph worthy;

 

- Fixed Central locking issue

- Fitted VAG 'Alarm' stickers (I like OEM look)

- Fitted new door membrane on drivers side. Can't believe how much quieter the new foam material is, so i'll do the passenger side at some point.

- New oil and filter change - much better :)

 

I've had yet more thoughts about the suspension. In order to improve the ride and save on costs in the next week or so I am planning to;

 

- Getting the top mounts done

- "Heighten" the car to about 20mil less that standard ride height. I think this should be about 3 fingers rear arch and 2/12 front.

- Reverting back to the Speedlines

- 25mil Eibach Rear Anti Roll Bar

- Visit to Stealth on Saturday for a four wheel alignment :)

 

Beginning of March will be;

 

- New Clutch and Gearbox fluid.

- New blue temp sender, water pump, coolant reservoir and coolant change.

 

End of March;

- Rear Number plate light rust sorted

- Front Bumper resprayed (they did a **** job as they painted on the car)

 

Decided I'm not going to bother with 288's for the forseeable future. The 280's seem up to the job for 190bhp, going to invest in some braided hoses and uprated pads in the near future, as well as some new rear caliper carriers.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Pat_McCrotch

[VR6Pete 0]

Sounding good. I was proper chuffed with all my cars that had been 4 wheel aligned at stealth!

 

Still fitting by braided hoses... Had to replace 3 brake lines in the process :(

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

What a day, barely have the energy to type this right now :)

 

Ended up chucking my refurbed Speedlines on Friday at the last minute and jacking up the rear coilovers by 10mil ready for the four wheel alignment.

 

Got up at 6am,left at 7am to meet kevhaywire at the Cambridge Services for 8am. We then met up with herisites at Stealth Racing so my car could have it's four-wheel alignment done. Whilst this was being done we popped up to a local tyre depot so herisites could get some new rubber on his old Speedlines. I'd seriously recommend people ditch there heavy 17's and invest in a refurb for there Speedlines. They are THE wheel for 2011 ;)

 

When this was all done we headed to Rob's friends Drag Racing Workshop to tinker with our suspension heights and steering racks, the place in question is like a playground for car enthusiasts, loved it! :D The strange knocking noise i've been experiencing recently turns out to be my rear gearbox mount. The noise is now constant and driving me up to wall, so that will be replaced ASAP. Also lowered the front of the car by 12mil so the car now sits like standard albeit with about a 20mil drop :) Seems to be the perfect balance between comfort, looks and handling.

 

Now, i'm not sure if all Corrado's do this. But the reason I booked in for a four wheel alignment with Steatlh is because my car pulls heavily to the left and the camber was negative. When we went to pick the car up I could see straight away the camber had been sorted, however the car still pulls just as badly to the left and the tie rods showed no signs of being adjusted. Perhaps it's my fault for not telling them of the pulling? Or even worse there is a fault somewhere else? (Bent arm?) but I know for a fact the car is toe-in. To give you an idea of how bad, I can be in the fast lane at 70mph, let go of the wheel and in about 150 yards i'm in the slow lane!

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased with the work Stealth did and the car handles allot better. But I wasn't given a printout of the four wheel alignment so I don't know if they made any adjustments in respect to toe. I'm going to phone Vince about a DIY Turbo conversion soon anyway (I'll have a house and garage soon :) ) so will mention it to him.

 

Here's some pictures anyway...

Edited February 26, 2011 by Pat_McCrotch

[coullstar 0]

Need to get this done on mine.

You can tell we are all getting older on this forum. We are demodding cars till they are near to OE spec. Just goes to show that despite what we sometimes think is better is not always the case.

[dukest 0]

Now, i'm not sure if all Corrado's do this. But the reason I booked in for a four wheel alignment with Steatlh is because my car pulls heavily to the left and the camber was negative. When we went to pick the car up I could see straight away the camber had been sorted, however the car still pulls just as badly to the left and the tie rods showed no signs of being adjusted. Perhaps it's my fault for not telling them of the pulling? Or even worse there is a fault somewhere else? (Bent arm?) but I know for a fact the car is toe-in. To give you an idea of how bad, I can be in the fast lane at 70mph, let go of the wheel and in about 150 yards i'm in the slow lane!

mine has always done this too despite several alignments at stealth, DG etc. ironically, the more suspension refurb/replacement work I've done the more noticeable its got - i guess taking more slack out of the set-up would do that.

I've wondered whether its been due to previous accident damage but i tend to think that is being a bit pessimistic given that so many of the cars have this issue. that said, not all do by any stretch as the other one i owned for a while drove as straight as you like :(

 

the only thing that ever made it feel noticeably different was putting a brand new tyre on the front left of the car when all the others were about half worn! the improvement didnt last that long though so i kind of doubt there was anything scientific behind the change in feel!

[Jim 2]

They are THE wheel for 2011 ;)

 

Some of us have been saying that OE wheels are the way forward for ages.. where have you been? ;) ;)

 

Car's looking and sounding good mate :)

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

mine has always done this too despite several alignments at stealth, DG etc. ironically, the more suspension refurb/replacement work I've done the more noticeable its got - i guess taking more slack out of the set-up would do that.

I've wondered whether its been due to previous accident damage but i tend to think that is being a bit pessimistic given that so many of the cars have this issue. that said, not all do by any stretch as the other one i owned for a while drove as straight as you like :(

 

the only thing that ever made it feel noticeably different was putting a brand new tyre on the front left of the car when all the others were about half worn! the improvement didnt last that long though so i kind of doubt there was anything scientific behind the change in feel!

 

Strangely enough, I watched the Deals on Wheels Corrado special today; the guy had the tracking done to try and sell the car and it STILL had the same pull to the left :(

 

I cleaned her today and checked the tyre pressures the refurbers put in. They were

 

NSF: 1.8 bar

OSF: 2.0 bar

NSR: 2.0 bar

OSR 2.2 bar#

 

 

I haven't tried it with the right pressures, but i guess it's safe to assume that an older car like the Corrado would be more sensitive to tyre pressure than the newer cars i'm used to? I suppose I also need to factor in that the gearbox mount is fooked so that may not help. But I don't believe its right, it can't be right, the pull is just too severe.

[MarkFoster 0]

I don't mean any disrespect to Stealth, but mine used to pull excessively to the left and I ended up having it looked at by the guys down at the Phirm. Things were much improved but it wasn't until I had it looked at by a specialist alignment company that things seemed to finally get resolved satisfactorily. Try speaking to Lee (I think!) over at Maldon Supertyres - they have all the kit and really know how to use it. They deal with a lot of cars from Strictly Dubs so are used to VWs and, as I said wheel alignment is basically all they do. You'll also get one of those computer print outs showing toe in/out, caster, camber.... they gave me the choice as to how much neg camber I wanted to dial in, so don't just work from a prescribed set up if that's not what you're after.

 

Try to avoid Saturday's though (unless you go early) as they get swamped!

 

M.

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Cheers Mark, will check them out soon when the bank balance recovers :)

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Speedlines refurbed and back on the car, along with new caps :) Not as nice looking as the Compomotives but the car drives allot better. Still having issues with the JOM Coilovers which are now falling to pieces and rattling like hell. So i've ordered a few bits and the standard suspension will be going back on Saturday afternoon, along with a Neuspeed 28mil rear Anti Roll Bar to tighten things up :)

 

So physically, it will look like a 100% standard Corrado VR6 :) I can then dedicate my time to the more pressing issues; bodywork and drivers seat wear :)

[CazzaVR 0]

Any pics of the Speedies? Thinking of getting mine done at some stage. Not sure whether to go standard silver or something different.

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Will post some pictures when the standard suspension is back on and it's clean! :D

[fla 9]

how was the drive different with the Compomotives compared to the Speedies? Perhaps harder, but anything else - tramlining etc?

[Jim 2]

Any pics of the Speedies? Thinking of getting mine done at some stage. Not sure whether to go standard silver or something different.

 

Just go standard silver I reckon mate! Can't beat clean original Speedlines. They sometimes work in other colours but can often depend on the colour of the cars.. for your black VR, gotta be standard sparkly silver!

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

how was the drive different with the Compomotives compared to the Speedies? Perhaps harder, but anything else - tramlining etc?

 

 

No tram-lining, softer ride, better turn in. What more can I say? :)

 

The AWFUL JOM coilovers went off today (thanks to kevhaywire) and the car is now 99% standard. The only reason I say 99% is because i've got upgraded TT wipers :) Held off fitting the ARB til next week to see what standard suspension was like.

 

Thoughts? Brilliant! :D Perfectly suited to our roads, not too soft nor too hard, not rattling, no jolting, no falling into the car because it's too low and the pulling to the left has also ceased. Drives as straight as a die now :)

 

Things to do;

 

- Clean out arches - Hopefully tomorrow if weather ain't too bad.

- Clutch (early April)

- Paint (rear quarters, front bumper & front panel.)

 

Then one perfect Corrado with any luck :) Pictures tomorrow.

[Yandards 0]

No tram-lining, softer ride, better turn in. What more can I say? :)

 

The AWFUL JOM coilovers went off today (thanks to kevhaywire) and the car is now 99% standard. The only reason I say 99% is because i've got upgraded TT wipers :) Held off fitting the ARB til next week to see what standard suspension was like.

 

Thoughts? Brilliant! :D Perfectly suited to our roads, not too soft nor too hard, not rattling, no jolting, no falling into the car because it's too low and the pulling to the left has also ceased. Drives as straight as a die now :)

 

Things to do;

 

- Clean out arches - Hopefully tomorrow if weather ain't too bad.

- Clutch (early April)

- Paint (rear quarters, front bumper & front panel.)

 

Then one perfect Corrado with any luck :) Pictures tomorrow.

 

Well who would have though VW knew what they were doing when they introduced the 'off-road' ride height ? ;)

 

Good to hear that it now works as advertised and the ride is comfortable, shame the windscreen wipers still don't work well enough - annoying that the LHD folks got an improved wiper mechanism and we had to stick with out rubbish one!

 

You planning on doing the chains with the clutch?

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Chains already replaced at 100000 miles by the VW dealer. Never did the clutch though which was odd.

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

Right, are you ready for photos? :D

 

No longer bothered about the ride height because it drives pretty much exactly how I want it to now :)

[Jon_vr6 1]

Looking very stock indeed fella, as long as your happy with it thats all the matters

[dukest 0]

paving slabs in the boot a la top gear to level out the ride height and it will look ok :)

[Pat_McCrotch 0]

paving slabs in the boot a la top gear to level out the ride height and it will look ok :)

 

:razz:

 

To be fair the fuel gauge is on red at the moment, so 65 litres of fuel should make it look a little better :)

[dukest 0]

true, paving slabs cheaper though :D

[Supercharged 2]

That pulling must have been a collapsed shock then I reckon?? or did you have it re-alligned?

 

My H&R springs look awful now so you've spurred me on to fit the original MK3 TDI ones I have!