Storm grey VR6 - A little update

[G60MAT 0]

Nice touches, missed it at Inters, would have been good to see in the flesh! :)

[Portent 0]

Thanks Matt :)

 

I did a few jobs this afternoon, mostly preventative maintenance:

 

* Greased the sunroof mechanism after I noticed it was bone dry. It now seems to slide a little nicer. A working sunroof is one of my must haves in a Corrado and preventing breakage is easier than fixing it (although looking though the invoice history the mechanism was fixed at one point anyway).

 

* Greased the boot locking mechanism and lightly oiled the hatch struts. Also re-welded (again) the rear shelf strap and also lightly greased them where they hook over the retaining pins on the hatch. Net result is almost silent opening and closing of the hatch compared to a horrible creaking noise each time.

 

* Fixed the positive battery clamp which was loose and the cable could have come off at any bump. It needed some grease cleaning off the terminal and then penetrarting oil on the tightening bolt to free up the movement. It's nice and secure now. I actually went to Halfords today to buy a replacementg but wasn't able to find one. But that turned out to be a good result as it's fixed for free now and still retains the original clamp :)

 

* Started tackling the one thing that doesn't work 100% on the car - the passenger wing mirror and switch. It was very intermittent before and when it did 'work' the mirror would sound like it was moving but wouldn't. I stripped down the switch and cleaned up the contacts. Also greased the 'rails' that the switches move on so the switch movement is great now. It has clearly had a repair before as I had to re-glue one part of it again. Unfortunately I completely forgot to fix the one LED in the car that doesn't work so I'll do that another day. The mirror now always activates so the switch is definitely fixed and the movement is great. But the mirror still didn't move even when the motor was clearly moving. So I took the glass out and can now see why. Most of the mechanism behind it is broken and the mirror wasn't being moved correctly by the motor (motor seems to work fine). I'll have a go at repairing it tomorrow as I'm hoping a bit of glue is all that's needed. If not then I'll seek out a replacement wing mirror and canabalise the parts.

[CazzaVR 0]

Sounds like you've been busy! Always satisfying to find the cause of a problem. The switches get amazingly gunked up- amazing what a thorough clean can do. Love the roof strips- ideally I need to do mine- just can't justify the price at the mo though- paint is more urgent ;)

[Portent 0]

Yay, wing mirror mechanism fixed. It's amazing what some superglue and a bit of logical thinking will do :dance:

[Portent 0]

I swapped over my steering wheel today. Out goes the Momo Trek R and in comes the GTI Engineering branded one that I picked up at GTI International. I'm still on the look out for the right OEM wheel but this had a period charm about it. Getting the old allen bolts out of it was a pain though as they had rusted away. I must say the Momo Trek R felt absolutely lovely to hold but I to me it seemed a little out of place in the Corrado's interior.

 

Old (excuse the messy carpet!):

 

New:

 

I also ordered about £300 of parts from the dealer today; oil and fuel filters and all three engine and gearbox mounts and replacement bolts. I don't have the mechanical knowledge or balls to do the mounts myself but my brother has kindly offered to do them when I go up there in a few weeks.

 

Also ordered a replacement gear knob. The one on the car is actually very nice, feels great, and is backlit at night but it's not original. Not yet sure if I'll swap them over or just keep the OEM one in storage for the future. Will probably need a new gaitor which I forgot to order.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Portent

[KADVR6 0]

i understand why you wanted to get rid of the momo sterring wheel as it looks to chav in a corrado but not feeling the new wheel at all mate, and if you want to sell me my old gearknob back to me just tell me a price.

 

karl

[Portent 0]

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely prefer it to the Momo but my end game is the right OEM wheel.

 

I'll let you know about the gear knob :)

[BILLCOR 1]

Not to keen on either of those steering wheels, this any good to you >> http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2818454.htm

[Peebee 0]

Not to keen on either of those steering wheels, this any good to you >> http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2818454.htm

 

Standard VR6 wheel, sold mine when I got my momo team wheel. Wants to be in bloody good nick for £50 mind you! lol

[Kempy 0]

I'll be interested in the gearknob if you ever want to sell, what colour does it light up?

[Portent 0]

Not to keen on either of those steering wheels, this any good to you >> http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2818454.htm

 

Thanks. Will give him a call tomorrow although it's hard to tell the condition from just one picture.

 

 

I'm surprised I've had so much interest in the old gear knob, with several people PM'ing me. It's not yet for sale and as mentioned I may well keep the new one in storage for the future rather than put it straight on. But If I did sell it then I'd probably give Karl first refusal as it seems to be his old one, he mentioned it first and he's also been very helpful with advice to me in the past. But I've noted everyones interest so thanks.

Edited July 17, 2011 by Portent

[Kempy 0]

it looks quite good in there tbh

[OSV 0]

Not keen on the Momo looks out of keeping, the new wheel is a nice period touch and would look great in a MK2 GTI but not in the Corrado with the GTI reference. I think a period BBS or standard wheel is the way to go.

[Portent 0]

It's my birthday today and I happened to be working from home so I popped out to the dealers and collected the service items I'd ordered... all three engine and gearbox mounts, various new bolts for them, oil filter, new blank key (currently only have one key for the ignition) and of course the new gear knob. I also went for a new fuel filter as I assume it probably hasn't been done for a long time, if at all. Most of these probably don't need replacing yet but it won't hurt to do them pro-actively.

 

I now need to get up to my brothers at some point for him to help do all the work and the service. He has access to garage facilities including a lift which should make it a lot easier. No idea when we're both free but it's not urgent.

 

 

I have mixed views on the new gear knob. I thought it would be quite weighty (especially for the price!) but it's not. It's quite light and flimsy. So I will leave my current illuminated one on there for now and keep this in storage for the future.

 

The oil also arrived (yep I know one 5l bottle isn't enough - I've got another unopened one in the garage). So that's over £400 in parts and oil. This Corrado mallarky isn't exaclty cheap. I was only going to do an oil service and got a bit carried away. It will be worth it when done though.

 

I had to smile at the garage. I didn't even need to hand them the order receipt for the parts. I walked up to the counter and they recognised me and just handed the parts over. I never used to get that with the Golf :)

 

And in other news emu's refurbing an OEM wheel which I'll buy off him when complete. It's a little more expensive than I was really looking to pay but hopefully it will be better than most others I would find. And I guessed I wouldn't have been happy with anything sub standard sat in front of me. I'll have the old wheels and bosses for sale shortly so will recoup some money there.

 

Time to celebrate my birthday with a few glasses of pear vodka :)

[Wild-Animal 0]

"I had to smile at the garage. I didn't even need to hand them the order receipt for the parts. I walked up to the counter and they recognised me and just handed the parts over. I never used to get that with the Golf :)"

 

Its even better when they offer you a discount ! :)

[Portent 0]

"I had to smile at the garage. I didn't even need to hand them the order receipt for the parts. I walked up to the counter and they recognised me and just handed the parts over. I never used to get that with the Golf :)"

 

Its even better when they offer you a discount ! :)

 

Yes I got that too when I ordered. I've spent more with the Golf and never got a discount but it seems they like Corrado's :D

[Portent 0]

Finally a steering wheel I'm happy with. It's an OEM one refurbished by emu. The slightly patchy shading is due to the flash on the phone but in real life the black is nice and even. It's very nicely done and while there are a few very minor marks it's 95% like new. It has a slight matte feeling to it where it has recently been painted but shat should go over time. I think VW got the original wheel spot on when they made it. It suits the car well and feels very comfortable.

 

While I was there I took the steering column cowling aparts and lubricated the indicator stalk so it turns off automatically when you turn a corner. So the only electrical item left that doesn't work 100% is one of the LED's in the group of four on the mirror switch. I have a spare switch from a Jetta so I'll scavange the LED from that and solder it to the original switch.

 

In traditional Corrado style I found part of the cowling was broken so fixed that while I was there too.

 

 

 

The car is also finally garaged so protected from the elements after I spent a day clearing it out:

 

[OSV 0]

Thats much better allround:thumbleft: Might have a go at my wheel. Do you know what finish EMU used on the wheel after colouring eg matt, satin etc

Edited July 29, 2011 by OSV

[pbradley98 0]

Hi

 

Lovely looking C. Could you let me know what size tyres you're on with the RX2s? Really like them and very tempted to put some on mine too! Also what centre caps have you got on? Also do you know how much difference there is in ride / comfort between 15" speedlines and the 16s?

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[Portent 0]

Hi

 

Lovely looking C. Could you let me know what size tyres you're on with the RX2s? Really like them and very tempted to put some on mine too! Also what centre caps have you got on? Also do you know how much difference there is in ride / comfort between 15" speedlines and the 16s?

 

Cheers

 

Phil

 

Thanks :)

 

It has 205/45's on it. To be honest I've not had 15's on there. I bought the car with these 16's. But from memory of driving other Corrado's there doesn't seem much difference between them in ride comfort. I have BBS centre caps on them.

[pbradley98 0]

Cool - thanks for that info, just have to try and get my hands on a set now!

[Portent 0]

Electric black cloth recaro's in, courtesy of harryc :thumbleft: We spent the morning swapping interiors. Thoroughly nice guy.

 

Picture also stolen from his advert...

 

 

They really are in great condition and make the car look and feel just that little bit more special. I also find them more comfortable. The standard seats are great and definitely hold you more securely. But I'm finding these more comfortable, slightly firmer, and with better back support.

 

I still need to wire them in though. I have the loom but nowhere on the fuse box to wire it into. There is another 20 amp feed on there so would it be ok to splice into that with an inline fuse and then earth on any part of the body? Or is that going the set fire to the car???My concern is that the other 20 amp wire is there for a reason so would it overload the line to splice into it?

Edited August 28, 2011 by Portent

[KADVR6 0]

beautifull seats (and yeh i had a set also lol) possibly the only seats i would consider letting my beige recaros go for.

[BILLCOR 1]

Nice one mate, hopefully I will get mine soon, same pattern

[Portent 0]

Thats much better allround:thumbleft: Might have a go at my wheel. Do you know what finish EMU used on the wheel after colouring eg matt, satin etc

Sorry hadn't seen this question before. I'm not sure which he used but I would guess satin. Edited August 28, 2011 by Portent