Bio's 1992 2.0 16v Project

[Bio 0]

The missus (though we aren't married we have been together for 10 years hence the Ms.) said I should start a project log for her 1992 2.0 16V Corrado.

It's been lovingly nicknamed the "Corrodo" because I have an affinity for rusty cars and this is no exception due to its age.

 

We've had the car about 4-5 years now and was originally bought as a bit of a project when she got her company car.

We paid a little over the odds for it at the time (I have a bad habit of doing that) and it wasn't in great condition but it was

As she used to have an old 80's XR2 in the same colour, she was suckered in by the similar shapes, the colour, everything. It was a purchase made with the heart and not with the head. Had we made it sensibly, we probably wouldn't have bought it.

 

The first year or so was fine, we didn't drive it much, a couple of issues here and there as expected with old cars, but nothing major. We moved out of her parents place into our own and let it sit for about 6 months.

Got it back on the road, the break callipers ceased on.

Had them replaced, I drove it to work one day, then on the way back scraped the rear arch on the pillar of our drive way at the time. To my horror it was pretty much all filler or at least heavily covered in filler to smooth over previous damage.

We subsequently MOT'd it anyway and received some corrosion warnings and a note of "filler in sill".

 

So we decided to start work on it and get it back up to scratch.

 

I decided to pull back the filler on the sil and see how bad the rust beneath was.

 

Not too bad you think, OK it's received a scrape in the past so someone filled it. Not a problem!

Buzz back more of the rusty area where it's peeling;

 

 

BALLS!

 

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What does one do in this situation?

START ANOTHER PART OF THE CAR INSTEAD!

 

Cleaned down and restored the door card.

 

And when young and naive and owning a V-Dub?

 

 

Spray the inside of the sill with Waxoyl, fill the hole with mesh and filler! (yeah I know).

 

1 month later we received notice we had to move house as the landlord was coming back. The project went on hold.

 

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So here we are, 2 years later. The car has sat SORN and unmaintained the entire time.

We ummed and ahhed over getting rid and about 2 weeks ago the missus says "I think we should see how much it will take to get it back on the road!"

 

*sigh*

 

Battery flat as a pancake which was totally unsurprising so we pop down to Europarts as you do, and picked up a new one for £45.

Slung it in the car and attempted to start.

 

Turned over first goddamn time!

2 years with the same horrid old fuel in it, the same skanky oil and plugs, and air filter and coolant, and it turns over. Sure a little clackety for a second or so while oil pressure got up but it damn well started.

 

Shes a little lumpy but that's totally fine and expected after 2 years standing.

 

 

So this is her in the current form:

 

 

And the bad side that's had the bad paintwork since we bought it:

 

You can see my handiwork on the sill at this point. It's actually well formed and pretty smooth.

 

Engine bay

 

---------- Post added at 9:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 9:22 PM ----------

 

After starting it I decided to check that the rad pipes weren't bulging and that the thermostat was working. Everything felt OK but the pipes felt "crunchy", like there was piles of rust stuck in the corners sooooooooo.. Time to take the rad out!

 

Took a bit of effort what with everything pretty much ceased (actually removed in the shot above) but we got it out in the end;

 

 

Front cross member/subframe (if someone can tell me the proper name for the lower front that the engine mount connects to that'd be great!) is a bit.. corroded!

 

Slam panel corrosion up and underneath where the rad mounts have been rubbing badly for years;

 

More corrosion;

 

And this evening I flushed the rad.

What came out was pretty much just manky old coolant that's crystallized slightly due to age, the glycol seems to have settled out basically.

I've also had a scrape around inside the coolant pipes and they don't seem too bad. Soon I'll get the thermostat out of the engine and flush the entire thing through to get her clean on the inside.

 

Also whoever invented these hose clips is my nemesis;

 

 

I'll replace these with stainless jubilee clips when its all put back together.

 

More coming soon.

 

---------- Post added at 9:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 9:24 PM ----------

 

In relation to the front cross member / beam / bumper / whatever it's called, I think it'll probably need replacing. Does anyone happen to know how much of a challenge this job is and if I have to use a Corrado specific part?

Google seems to indicate Passat parts might work but if anyone has done one themselves and can tell me that'd be cool.

I also need some new rad mounts at the existing were rotten out, again a google indicates that VW don't actually make/sell these anymore, so if there is an alternative that I can use, awesome.