My First Corrado - Bye Bye Mk2 Golfs! Hello VR6!

[mookie 0]

Well I found what that rubber strip was... the belt between the two radiator fans

 

 

Little clue was when one wasn't going round and the other one was doing about 10000000rpm :lol:

 

Started removing the ICE wiring from a previous owner

 

 

Car is currently sat minus door cards, seats, bits of the dash, carpet... in all honestly this wiring was absolutely mental. So glad I decided to strip it all out and start again. Just have to contend with a butchered wiring loom to the headunit, where some one has chopped and crimped the factory wiring to a Kenwood ISO instead of just buying a connector from Halfords.

[tony_ack 0]

Pretty sure this car used to be owned by a guy in/near Rotherham? Used to see it regularly on the way to work about a year or two ago.

[mookie 0]

There's a lot of receipts for a VW dealership in Doncaster so quite probably, yeah.

[mookie 0]

So I got a parcel today! My first foray into trying to change the look of the car to my own 'thing' and preference.

 

 

Got them for an absolute steal off eBay considering how expensive just one out of the four lights can be Corrado parts prices... OMFG! I already had half a set which I got off a mate, so picked the best ones and got onto fitting them. Whipped off the inPro lights (now for sale)

 

 

Behind the lights was minging, no rust but really dirty and greasey.

 

 

Some cleaning later...

 

 

I hate fitting dirty or dusty parts!

 

And all done!

 

 

Debating whether to go for amber side repeaters or leave them smoked to keep them more subtle...

[lilfuzzer 1]

lloks better then the impro ones in my opinion bud nice work I'll try and dig out them psrts at the weekend and give you a shout

[OSV 0]

Lovely car and clearly in safe hands, really enjoying reading the thread ( badged grille plea)

[mookie 0]

lloks better then the impro ones in my opinion bud nice work I'll try and dig out them psrts at the weekend and give you a shout

 

Yeah I think so too. I want to tint them all red, minus the reverse lights, so going to try that on the spare half of the lights and see how it looks. As for the parts, that would be tremendous, thanks!

 

---------- Post added at 9:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 9:17 PM ----------

 

Lovely car and clearly in safe hands, really enjoying reading the thread ( badged grille plea)

 

Thanks! If I can get approaching anything like some of other cars on this forum I'll be happy. Just a massive list of little bits and bobs!

[mookie 0]

Small update... I bought a stock VR6 airbox from KADVR6, paid yesterday and it was here today! :cheers: So wasted no time getting it installed.

 

The car was sold to me with this titchy blue induction cone on it

 

 

So whipped that off... not sure what make it is as there are no labels on it.

 

Replaced it with the stock box

 

 

Took it for a drive and was instantly disappointed - felt smoother but was reeeeeeeeeeeaaally quiet, we're talking like I couldn't tell I was in a VR :scratch: So drove home and contemplated getting another cone to get some of that lovely noise back... but tried removing the insert/tube thing in the front of the box. Now we're talking!!!! :dance: a very different noise but much nicer, and still incredible when driving 'enthusiastically'. Which is nice.

 

Front engine mount is clonking so ordered a new one. I really want some of the group buy poly inserts but it's a bridge too far this month, but a future upgrade for sure! Hopefully getting a few other bits this weekend including some new parcel shelf supports, possibly another (better) shelf, and some other stuff to unbling the interior a little.

[mattyattitude 10]

Cheers for the lights mate, sorry i was out when you came.

 

Looks like thats another blackburry vr6 in the area now :D

 

you coming to any local meets soon?

[mookie 0]

No worries mate, I was glad I could drop them off rather than risk Mr Postman!

 

Ha yeah the lady who answered the door thought it was your car parked in a random place until I rang the bell! Think I might make it down to the next VagCars meet, generally stick to the DNE meet as its closer. If you know of any Corrados being broken in the area let me know, need a few bits.

[KADVR6 0]

hi mike,

 

 

looks much better with the standard rear lights, and dont put all reds on as personally i have nearly had a few rear end incidents as in certain light drivers behind you cant see the brake lights properly.

 

i have some parcel shelf supports if you have not sourced some yet??

 

karl

[mookie 0]

I was going to go all red, but think I'll leave them standard for a while. As you say, rear ending is a hazard, so I'd want to do it properly with orange LED bulbs etc.

 

Funny you should mention the parcels shelves...

 

The set in the car were pretty ropey. One side had the plastic bracket broken... randomly someone had bent the metal support that strengthens the plastic away from it, thus giving no support at all. No wonder it snapped. And the speaker covers were manky.

 

 

So I bought a pair that were intact but very dusty and faded. But I knew I could so something with them.

 

So speakers out, Daisy APC on. You can see how filthy they were by the lovely pool of dirty water... eugh.

 

 

They came up clean but were still patchy and faded

 

 

So a light coat of Wet'n'Black later... (left before, right after)

 

 

And installed! Gave the parcel shelf a brush and haircut as well as it was very fluffy and straggly in places

 

 

Excuse the MASSIVE sub box! This is getting relocated and hidden away very soon!

 

On a related note, previously in the thread I'd posted up with a bemused query as to why my battery had so many extra live wires sprouting from it...

 

 

After a good de-wiring session whilst installing the sound system, I pulled out atleast 100m of wiring (not an exaggeration...) from what must have been a pretty impressive sound setup, and what looked like an old heated/electric seat setup. Some fool had actually been so lazy as to knot wiring around the hardlines going to the ABS pump... So without the mess of lives, now the battery looks like this

 

 

Looks less dangerous/scary/spaghetti-like :cheers:

[mookie 0]

Gave it a good wash and polish today. Wheels are beyond my skill to get as polished as they need to be... which is a disappointment. Clearly haven't been looked after very well. But I have an idea for them...

 

Anyway, took my first proper pictures of the car that aren't it sitting on the driveway.

 

 

 

Next task is to get it sitting better.

[lilfuzzer 1]

Looking good mate the battery nice and tidy :)

[gti gadge 0]

hi mike,

 

 

looks much better with the standard rear lights, and dont put all reds on as personally i have nearly had a few rear end incidents as in certain light drivers behind you cant see the brake lights properly.

 

 

karl

 

Got to agree with this. All reds look good but the amount of guys that have nearly driven straight through me as I'm sitting indicating has made me have second thoughts. If my laminx technique improved I'd give that a go first. Looks much better on just the standards as is Mike

 

Looking good mate the battery nice and tidy :)

 

Just the little things (that I still haven't gotten around too like this Mike that turn a good car into a great car. Mine needs some anal attention if you get bored, I just cannot bend over that far still LOL :)

 

Love your attention to detail mate, always have!

[mookie 0]

Cheers mate! Not sure the missus agrees mind you ha ha ha ha I think she calls 'attention to detail', 'anally retentive' ha ha

 

My problem is seeing other peoples photos and thinking "Mine doesn't look like that..." and immediately getting hung up on the tiny things! You should see my Excel spreadsheet to do list!

[lilfuzzer 1]

Mate your list of parts

 

- Handbrake lever handle/grip (think I'm sorted) have one going spare but not great your welcome to have a look

- VR gearknob... not sure if this is different to other Corrados? Unfortunately thought I had one but have sold it sorry

- OEM leather steering wheel, the later more concave sort? - nop

- Driver side under tray/lower dash that sits to the right of the steering column and the fuse box cover attaches too (mines a bit mishapen) - If you havent sorted yours bud your welcome to have a look at the ones I have

- Cigarette lighter (mines loose and doesn't clip in properly) - Have a couple mate few scuffs but again have a look

- Battery bag - sorry mate only have one

- Standard door pins/poppers things - found one for sure but sure I have another

 

Give me a bell if you want to pop over at the weekend chap

[mookie 0]

Mate your list of parts

 

- Handbrake lever handle/grip (think I'm sorted) have one going spare but not great your welcome to have a look

- VR gearknob... not sure if this is different to other Corrados? Unfortunately thought I had one but have sold it sorry

- OEM leather steering wheel, the later more concave sort? - nop

- Driver side under tray/lower dash that sits to the right of the steering column and the fuse box cover attaches too (mines a bit mishapen) - If you havent sorted yours bud your welcome to have a look at the ones I have

- Cigarette lighter (mines loose and doesn't clip in properly) - Have a couple mate few scuffs but again have a look

- Battery bag - sorry mate only have one

- Standard door pins/poppers things - found one for sure but sure I have another

 

Give me a bell if you want to pop over at the weekend chap

 

No worries matey, I think I might have sourced a new handbrake handle... I think. Gearknob is proving a bit frustrating, as is the steering wheel as most seem a bit past it. Yeah I'll see how I'm fixed at the weekend and try and have a mooch over

 

---------- Post added at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 9:42 PM ----------

 

 

Least productive day ever. Started to change the front engine mount, until I discovered it's got a Vibra-Technics fast road mount on, so unlikely to be causing the little off-throttle jerk from being borked (despite a slight click/clonk from the mount). So made do with torqueing it up correctly, and no more clonk. But a hell a lot of effort for nothing - and a spare new front engine mount to show for it. But nice to know I have an uber engine mount! One less expensive treat to buy in the future I suppose!

 

Then went to lower it slightly. At a previous point in it's past the little set screws in the plastic adjuster collars on the front coilovers, have been overtightened and they've stripped the threads inside the collar :angry: so went to lower it today and found that I couldn't then secure the ride height as you could turn the collars by hand afterwards. Not a happy bunny. Been in touch with KW about getting replacements so we'll have to see. Temp measure was to use a pair of longer bolts as a temp fix. Lowered it another 15mm and then found it was effectively sat on the arches at the front due to the virtually flush offset of the wheels at the front, so wound it back up again, total drop 5mm for today but has made a surprising difference to the wheel/arch gap. And doesn't catch on anything or hit bumps, curbs, etc etc. I'm very paranoid about the sump on this so no mental lowness thanks....

 

One step forward... two steps back!

[KipVR 1]

Really enjoying seeing you return the car to a more OEM theme, it's been making me think I should do the same to mine....

[mookie 0]

I'm wanting an OEM+ style to it, without it being too standard... my own stamp on it. I went down the same route with my old Mk2 Golf, started with lots of extras and ended up stock bar the wheels and drop - but with lots of touches that made it individual at the same time.

[mookie 0]

Took the Corrado down to the Vagcars meet near Hartlepool midweek. Great meet, and the drive home was awesome fun due to the Southbound A19 being shut and the North ending up strangely empty as a result :thumbleft: Put the VR6 through it's paces and really enjoyed giving it some proper beans after a week or two of dull commuting.

 

 

I'd been having some issues with the car at idle, and more frequently, coming off the throttle at low revs. So today decided to firstly pull the airtake apart for a look and readjust the throttle damper, but also to have a look at the back engine mount. This is now a fairly common sight...

 

 

Wound the throttle damper out a bit more, as it was the throttle was slamming closed a bit too hard, after a good fiddle it doesn't look like it's cushioning all that well, supposed to be getting a new throttle body at the weekend so I'll be pinching the one off there. Next, after trying to undo the back engine mount's top nut, it was apparent that it hadn't been tightened up anywhere near as tight as it should, barely any effort on a ratchet to undo. So torqued that up properly - front mount had been exactly the same. Jeeeez...

 

Just before I replaced the intake pipe I spotted this

 

 

Those marks and wear are from the induction kit bracket it was resting on when I got the car (now removed). When I held it up to the light...

 

 

Nice hole (and not a small one either...) that sits just after the MAF. Excellent! Wondering if this had something to do with it holding way too high revs when really hot? Or the semi-stall when freezing cold... anyway, as a temp fix I plastic welded a little plug of scrap plastic off a Mk2 Golf steering wheel boss (random...) which neatly sealed it up again - sorry no photo.

 

Then I had to remove the funny valve thing on the top of the head to get the intake back on and saw this

 

 

Another tear. Not sure it would make too much difference, not even sure what it's for other than to recirculate oily air back through the intake? But the tear went past the jubilee clip holding it on so could have been pulling in extra un-metered air? So cut the end off and clipped it back on, I'll need a new one I suppose... anyone identify what it is?

 

I think I need to readjust the throttle damper a little as on low gear upchanges unless you pause it does feel like the throttle is just minutely open... but on first test drive, it feels so much smoother to drive! Just need to see if the idle weirdness returns, but the semi-stall seems to have gone when reversing the engine when cold.

 

Also picked up a pair of 10mm spacers for the back wheels, next big job is jazzing the wheels up! Was dead set on selling them but dropping the tire pressure from a million PSI to a sensible number has made a massive difference to the ride quality!

[mookie 0]

Couple of nice rolling shots from a mate, off the other night.

 

 

[Dox 23]

Couple of nice rolling shots from a mate, off the other night.

 

 

 

 

Ooooh, that first pic is my new desktop pic, lovely )

[P3rks 11]

 

Another tear. Not sure it would make too much difference, not even sure what it's for other than to recirculate oily air back through the intake? But the tear went past the jubilee clip holding it on so could have been pulling in extra un-metered air? So cut the end off and clipped it back on, I'll need a new one I suppose... anyone identify what it is?

 

 

That's a PCV valve. It's the crankcase breather so recirculates oil vapour back into the inlet for environmental reasons. Being a valve though it only recirculates under heavy load. They are known for failing, leaking, splitting and causing blue smoke out of exhausts and running issues.

 

Early cars don't have one, just a straight pipe, but I've never liked the thought of that. You can get a replacement from VW but it comes as part of all the pipe work (thanks VW) so it's big bucks. Most people replace with a Ford Galaxy VR6 part as Ford sell it separately to all the pipes. It's not cheap at just under £50 last time I checked - but much much cheaper than VW. It's an identical part though.

 

I bought one from Ford last month but before i fitted it i decided on an oil catch tank instead so it's just been sat in my lock up ever since. Drop me a PM if you want to save a few pennies on one.

 

The car is looking very well though, you've made some great progress on this. Love where it's heading :)

[mookie 0]

Might look into a catch tank I think....

 

 

The wheels have been buggin me since i bought the car. Once polished, they'd since gone downhill. And no matter what I did I couldn't get them even vaguely shiney again... Aside from that, they were a bit too bling for my taste in their current form and so decided to paint them a bright silver instead. Give them a more modern OEM look. Three day weekend meant a perfect chance to get them done.

 

Wheels off yesterday morning... was tempted to Photoshop the axle stands out for hover car time!

 

You can see how poo the finish was. All sorts of marks and stains.

 

Rubbed them down and red oxide primered.

 

Painted a nice silver

 

Wet sanded...

 

Clear coated and finished!

 

Not flawless, but for 2 days work, and about £40 of materials, not bad I think (car still jacked up on one side, hence the arch gap)

 

 

Reason it's still not down on all four? Erm... a puff of wind blew one wheel over whilst leaning it against the wall, face down, on the rough concrete driveway :lol: So it's currently waiting lacquer of needing completely repainting. Go me.