Paddy26's Corrado Restoration

[paddy26 3]

I've been restoring my corrado for over a year now. I figure a build thread might help keep me motivated to get it finished.

 

This is how it looked soon after I bought it in 08:

Edited January 13, 2013 by paddy26

[paddy26 3]

It started with a few rust bubbles around the fuel filler cap and windscreen. When I started repairing these areas I realised that they would need new metal and then the panels would need to be resprayed. The drivers door had been badly repaired before and I wanted to sort that out, along with a few other marks on other panels. I would have ended up getting most panels resprayed so I decided on doing a full respray.

 

Last christmas I removed the interior and stripped the shell bare. I then stripped the underseal underneath the car and repaired around the fuel filler area. The only other rust i found was where the sill and rear wheel arch meet and the factory jacking points at the rear bumper. with these areas repaired i then rolled the rear arches. i then applied rustbuster epoxy mastic and then 2 coats of dinitrol. I also applied dinitrol to the chassis legs & sills.

 

While I was working on the shell I sent the rear axle & mounts, front subframes, wishbones, front stub axles, both bumper bars , fuel tank straps and a few other small bits to be powder coated.

I then built the running gear back up and fitted it to the shell, along with the fuel tank. I already had KW V3's and Eibach rollbars, so cleaned them up when refitting.

 

It then went to the body shop back in May and was only finished in December.

I got the windscreen area repaired and deleted the rear badges, aeriel, rear wiper, side indicators, windscreen washers.

I colour coded the delocked door handles, front grill and mirrors.

Here are a few pics. I'll get some of the underneath when I'm fitting the exhaust.

[paddy26 3]

Anyone know how to upload photos taken on ipad?

Do they need to be resized?

[Abdul 0]

Get the photobucket app and upload directly to that. Then copy and past the image tags and voila! :)

 

Nice work btw.

[dragon green 5]

I use Tapatalk for my pics

[Jim 2]

Always fantastic to see another one getting some proper TLC - great work :)

[paddy26 3]

Thanks Abdul. I'll use photobucket for now and I'll look into getting tapatalk setup.

Here are the pics before I started working on it yesterday.

 

 

 

I didn't get too much done today as I had to search through boxes for parts/bolts

 

 

I greased the sunroof mechanism and fitted it to the car. I'll leave the dust as a "protection layer" for now!

 

I got the wiring looms fitted to the boot lid.

Regreased the mechanism for the spoiler and fitted it.

Fitted the boot lock and got the central locking pump connected.

Fitted my all red rear lights.

 

The pic is pretty bad as it was dark out and I've no lights up in that section of the garage yet. I might do that today.

 

I'll be installing all the glass towards the end of the project.

 

To finish the boot lid I need to locate a good number plate plinth.

The interior boot lid trims are scratched and dirty so I'll be respraying them before I fit them.

I need to make a gasket for the number plate lights as mine is perished.

 

I also need to find the 2 bolts which hold the spoiler on!

[paddy26 3]

I've spent a lot of time over the past week on the corrado but haven't much to show for it.

I've refurbed the heater box and cleaned all the ductwork. I've had it in and out of the car a few times, along with the dash, while trying to tidy up the wiring looms.

I've most of the interior looms tidied and ill start working on the headlight looms shortly.

I'd like to test all the interior electrics first before I wrap the looms, as it will be much easier to trace the wires.

Hopefully I'll get that done this week.

 

I'm also redoing the DBW pedal bracket so it doesn't foul the fuse box and footrest.

[paddy26 3]

As title says, how does it work?

I know how a non abs booster works, but I'm not sure what's different for an abs one.

 

As part of my restoration I will be removing the abs system from the car.

To keep costs down I'd like to reuse my brake booster and master cylinder if possible.

I have ordered a brake bias valve which I will fit inside the car so I can adjust the rear brakes as needed.

I have already removed the original proportioning valve from the rear axle as it was rusted and not working anyway.

[Jim 2]

I've refurbed the heater box and cleaned all the ductwork. I've had it in and out of the car a few times, along with the dash, while trying to tidy up the wiring looms.

 

Did you swap out the heater matrix whilst you were at it? Would have been a worthwhile job if not as these are a known weak spot on the Corrado!

[paddy26 3]

Thanks Jim. Heater matrix has been replaced and i've a new fan motor in aswell.

Hopefully i'll get to test the interior electrics and rear light this evening. Then i can wrap that set of looms and tick another job off the very long list.

[VRSICK 0]

Good progress mate, it makes such a difference when you know how to do everything yourself! I continuously have labour charges to face

[paddy26 3]

Got a few bits done at the weekend.

Pedal box is now back in the car and the fuse box is hopefully refitted for the last time.

I cleaned down the rear calipers/carriers and gearbox ready for painting.

Sorted through some of the engine bay looms and removed all the old tape.

Got the carpet cleaned aswell.

Before:

 

After - 1 of them wasn't fully dry as it was just out of the washing machine:

 

I think I have a mk3 golf as a donor car. I'm going to try get the brake booster and master cylinder from that and also the plastic fuel lines that run from the pump to the bay.

Question: Can you replace the banjo bolts on the plastic pipe? Possibly by heating the end in boiling water?

[paddy26 3]

Got the rear calipers and carriers cleaned up and painted

 

 

Stared cleaning down the fronts aswell. Hopefully I'll get them painted at the weekend

 

 

This also arrived

 

 

Along with this

 

 

The job list just keeps getting longer...

[paddy26 3]

Got the rear of the car on axle stands now so here are some pics of the underneath of the car and of the wheel arches.

 

 

Last weekend I fitted the rear carriers, calipers, discs and pads.

I also connected handbrake cables and then connected braided hoses to the calipers.

 

I will join the rear calipers lines with a t-piece and then run a braided line into the car, under the rear seat.

i will then run a hard line up the tunnel to the bias valve and from there through the bulkhead to the master cylinder. You can just make it out in this pic

 

I'll also be fitting the battery in the boot, so i ordered a 0AWG amp wiring kit and ran the heavy cable from the boot to where the abs controller used to be mounted. I'll be fitting a distribution block here and i'll also be fitting the relays for the side lights, low beam, high beam and fogs here.

 

 

Removed the front wings

and connected the sunroof drain pipes

 

Here's a pic of the engine bay at the moment. I'll get some better ones next time the bonnet's up.

 

 

And here's my failed attempt at brembo refurb. Nothing worse than having to redo jobs :(

WARNING: dont lacquer on top of hammerite paint, unless it's specifically designed for the job. i think that 2K lacquer works ok.

starting again

 

More updates later in the week.

[paddy26 3]

Well now that i have most of my house jobs finished I finally got some time to work on my corrado again.

 

I sourced a servo and master cylinder from a non-abs mk3 golf.

the only issue was that the corrado servo has a fork connection to the brake pedal and the golf has a ball and socket.

to fix this i cut the ball from the golf servo and threaded the remaining bar to M10. this was the same size as the corrado servo so i was then able to swap over the fork without any issues.

i never thought of taking a picture before i installed it in the car.

 

 

I got the gearbox and engine painted. The inlet manifold was painted by its previous owner but I'll be redoing it after I have the car running again.

I also painter and fitted the alternator and starter.

 

once i had the servo and pedal box reinstalled i test fitted the engine.

 

 

 

 

I was going to make a new bulkhead heat shield (temp install shown in pic above), but I might just get a sheet of heat reflector material and stick it to the bulkhead. I could then wrap the steering uj in a heat shield sock.

 

I also decided to upgrade the gear shift mechanism while it was easily accessible so I ordered a polo shift casing and got the internals, cables and shift tower*from a mk4 golf.

I'm waiting on the gear selector from the dealers, as it is on back order.

Below is a comparison of the old and new setup. I still have to thread the gear stick so I can reuse the corrado gear knob.

 

 

 

 

i have the power steering connected but i'm still undecided on what resevoir bottle i will use.

 

Last night i was working on the coolant hoses. i'll be keeping the coolant bottle in the original location.

I'll update with more pics tomorrow.

[GrahamU 6]

nice work

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

I got my selector tower from the local scrappy, £20 and a choice of loads!

 

The rest is looking good! The 02j shift is definitely worth the time!

[axcel01uk 0]

Coming along really nicely. Nice bit or paint work on the engine there and admire your improvisation skills refurbishing and replacing various parts. WOuld love to take my engine out and give everything a proper clean, but just not brave enough.

[paddy26 3]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

Small update on the shift mechanism...

I cut the gear stick so it's the same length as the original.

I'll get a die during the week to thread it to take the original gear knob.

I also found the gear selector on a shelf! I have ordered so many parts at this stage i had forgot that I had ordered it. I'll get the seals from vw tomorrow and then refit it all to the car.

 

I also got some of the intercooler and coolant plumbing sorted. I just need to get a few joiners and spare pipe when I'm in the scrap yard next wknd.

 

 

Next step will be refitting the electrics. I'll start with the battery, alternator and starter and then work on the main wiring looms.

[paddy26 3]

Small update. I'm in the process of removing the engine bay looms from a mk3 golf. I'll use this to extend my looms so they won't clutter the engine bay as much. I hope to get some of the looms started this weekend.

 

\Paddy

[paddy26 3]

I spent the past 2 days on the wiring and I'm still not finished!

I have the fusebox back in and all the engine bay looms extended. I got extra wire from a mk3 golf so most of the wire colours match. All joints are soldered and heat shrinked.

I'm not sure if the routing for the loom will work, so I want to get ECU loom finished 1st before I shorten it.

I'm waiting on some tools before I can start the ECU loom.

 

I've removed the aftermarket wiring for the battery and replaced it with a loom from a BMW. This already has the connections on the end, a mini fuse box and a very neat connection for going through the bulkhead. It also has a jump lead connection which I can use in the engine bay.

Now I need to decide on a sealed battery or lead acid + battery box.

 

I'll try get a few pics tomorrow evening.

[paddy26 3]

A few pics of progress as promised. The last pic is of the BMW bulkhead connection with the cover pulled back.

 

 

 

 

I've been working on the other engine loom the last two evenings. I've got everything labelled up and after a number of trial fittings I'm almost ready to start shortening it. I'll wait until I have the car running before I wrap the looms, as I usually find one more wire to run as soon as I wrap a loom.

 

I also have a battery ordered so I should be able to start testing at the weekend.

[andyhudson 10]

Great build any more updates?

[spiderfish 10]

Great build thread paddy where are you based ? Would love to have a look