My Daily Drive - 6 pot Smoothie

[vw_singh 10]

Hi All,

 

I am a new to Corrado.net but have been reading into topics since buying my 1st Corrado in Feb so though it was only polite to put up some pics of my car. It's a late model VR6 in Twilight Violet. I bought it from a friend as an almost completely standard car. The only addition being some 288mm brakes from a Golf VR6.

 

Being used to driving Golfs etc, the Corrado driving experience was certainly a pleasant one. I like the low down feeling when sitting in it and the poise when changing direction. However, the 4x4 ride height lets it down. Here it is.

 

 

Took the car into work and had the fuel pump fail on me! This was the 1st day I had started to use it. Oh well, pump replace and has been going well since. There are some other small issues that need rectifying such as the tilt 'n' slide that doesn't work, the one touch windows that can only be used separately and not together and the ABS system that doesn't work (ABS light permanently on).

 

The bonnet had seen better days and was heavily scored so some time spent with the buffer and a little Menzerna soon fixed that.

 

 

There are still some areas that need addressing but can wait for now. The paint on the car is in very good condition bar the lacquer peel on the front bumper only. Easily sort that in the future.

 

So while trying to find a deal on suspension, I can across someone selling a Bilstein B12 (The later Eibach version) kit for very little money. The set was described as a little rough looking but in perfect health. I took a gamble and went with it.

 

 

No leaks or damage present so on they went.

 

 

Already sitting at a much more pleasing height. Good thing is the Wishbone angles and suspension geometry is all still at usable angles and haven't put the roll center through the floor. Should handle nicely. After settling down a bit, the height leveled out nicely.

 

 

The old shocks were shot to pieces so now the chassis really woke up. The turn in is much better and on/off throttle and high speed corners are much better controlled. It really is true that the harder you drive, the better this suspension performs. Also, the ride isn't at all unconfortable as these kits seems to be described and I drive to work over speed bumps and residential roads. The car also sits level when it has a full tank of fuel but becomes higher at the rear when near empty.

 

Next up, a friend of mine was running a rolling road day so I decided to take the car over for a power check. It was strapped to the Dyno Dynamics rollers know as the heart breaker for it's less than optimistic power readings compared to other places.

 

 

Not bad results for a car with 125k miles on it. :thumbleft: And yes, it's not a Storm but a typo from the operator.

 

 

So that's were I stand in almost a year of Corrado ownership. This weekend? Water pump replacement as it seems to have sprung a leak.

 

Gurds

[Jon_vr6 1]

Welcome looks like you've got a solid car there, the one touch window where they cant go down at the same time is how its supposed to be im afraid think i was told in the past that you can change the window module over to a golf one which makes the windows go down at the same time but dont quote me on that.

[coullstar 0]

Nice, recognise the username from Clubgti. Not been on there for a while. I am coming round to the fact that a slightly fettled VR is the best thing now.

[GlosterOx 0]

Interested to read your comments on the B12 kit as I've recently bought one that is just a few months old and will be going on over the winter.

 

Car looks good,keep the updates coming.

 

Ian.

[GrahamU 6]

Looks like a real nice one.

 

Like many others I'm sure, I've read your mk1 thread on clubgti and cant wait to see how this one progresses

[vw_singh 10]

Thank you very much everyone. Yup the car is very straight and rust free. The underside is the same too. I wasn't in the market to buy one but this was offered to me at the right time and was too good to pass up.

 

Yup, that's me on CGti with my red mk1 Golf track car. Remember your name too Coullstar.

 

GlosterOx, I've just seen your sig. Interesting as the rear screen has a weathered Corrado Club of Great Britain sticker on it. I left it on there even though it's quite tired now.

 

The B12 kit I have isn't the dedicated Corrado VR6 kit but the mk3 Golf general kit. I don't think the harder specific kit is required for a daily.

 

Gurds

[Craig 0]

Looks lovely mate. And the best colour ;) makes me realise mine needs a good polish

[VAG-hag 0]

Nice ride & welcome along buddy

[axcel01uk 0]

Looks a really nice example and healthy engine, great to see another twilight violet car as well but then I am biased.

[matt59876 0]

Very tidy example you've got there mate.

[vw_singh 10]

Thank you all for the pleasant welcome and appreciation.

 

So with a basic service carried out last week, a small water leak had been revealed on the offside end of the engine. With the water pump and crack pipe being the only things to leak at that end, I popped into VAG for some new parts. Only problem, parts are on back order with a 5 day waiting time at least. With the car in daily use, I couldn't afford to wait so Euro Car Parts is was then.

 

Patient in for surgery

 

 

Airbox and gubbins out the way. Rear offside and front engine mounts unbolted and gearbox mount loosened. Unclip rad fan wiring and jack up the engine until the water pump is clear of the chassis leg.

 

 

Undo pulley bolts while belt is still tight.

 

 

Release the tension on the belt using an M8 screw into the tensioner. You can just make it out in this pic.

 

 

Pump out and a lot of water on the garage floor.

 

 

In this pic you can see that the main shaft had been leaking water from the pump. Clear evidence of failure.

 

 

Reassmbled with new pump and belt refitted. Don't forget to tighten those pulley bolts after tensioning.

 

 

Put the airbox and stuff back in. Tighten the engine mounts and reconnect the rad fan wiring.

 

 

Man the aux water pump certainly makes a racket while all the air works itself out. Not a bad job on the whole though. Happy with that and back in service.

 

Gurds

[VAG-hag 0]

Well worth doing. Do ecp do part exchange on old pump?

[vw_singh 10]

Well worth doing. Do ecp do part exchange on old pump?

 

The didn't ask for the old one back an no surcharge on the bill.

 

Gurds

[corradophil 3]

Gurds welcome to the forum :)

 

Glad you're still enjoying the Corrado.

[kerrly 0]

Love it.

 

Also wonderful to see another largely standard car with just enough of a suspension drop and standard Speedlines - this is exactly what I plan with mine.

[vw_singh 10]

Cheers Phil. It is a nice car to drive. Pity there aren't some nice bends on the way to work instead of outer London traffic.

 

Agree Kerrly, these cars are pretty sorted to start with so minor tweaks makes them good everyday cars. Although the urge to modify is always strong. I have 4x friends with R32 powered mk2/mk3 golfs and having driven them tempts me so. They even return better MPG in the lighter shells running on factory management. Also I really do like how these look:

 

 

Gurds

[corradophil 3]

That does look very good - OEM+

[maff 10]

Cheers Phil. It is a nice car to drive. Pity there aren't some nice bends on the way to work instead of outer London traffic.

 

Agree Kerrly, these cars are pretty sorted to start with so minor tweaks makes them good everyday cars. Although the urge to modify is always strong. I have 4x friends with R32 powered mk2/mk3 golfs and having driven them tempts me so. They even return better MPG in the lighter shells running on factory management. Also I really do like how these look:

 

 

Gurds

 

Your twighlight vr looks v very nice:-)

 

I also maybe on the lookout for the above wheels, are these the corse challenge speedlines? I don't think I'll have much luck sourcing a second set in 16" of these and I bet they cost £££ new

[vw_singh 10]

Your twighlight vr looks v very nice:-)

 

I also maybe on the lookout for the above wheels, are these the corse challenge speedlines? I don't think I'll have much luck sourcing a second set in 16" of these and I bet they cost £££ new

 

Thank you. Yea the Speedlines are very pricey new. Pity really as they'd probably sell a lot more if the price was more favorable.

 

Gurds

[GlosterOx 0]

The 16" Speedlines suit the Corrado so well, should have come as standard on the VR6?

 

Ian.

[g0ldf1ng3r 15]

The 16" Speedlines suit the Corrado so well, should have come as standard on the VR6?

 

Ian.

 

If only they did......then we wouldnt need new alloys just to fit bigger/better brakes :(

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Good thing is the Wishbone angles and suspension geometry is all still at usable angles and haven't put the roll center through the floor.

 

I thought I was alone in giving a toss about stuff like that, but thankfully I'm not! Welcome sir :)

[vw_singh 10]

I thought I was alone in giving a toss about stuff like that, but thankfully I'm not! Welcome sir :)

 

Thank you too Sir. I spent a long time correcting the roll center, adding caster and generally improving the handling on my Mk1 Golf track car so yes, I hold it in high regard. When I first bought the Corrado, the wishbones were pretty much level at factory height and was worried the Eibachs would ruin it. Thankfully they stayed in a usable height.

 

I will be replacing the bushes soon as they are pretty tired now but will be looking to fit OEM rear beam bushes and fitting Superpro rear wishbone bushes which have added caster. Should all make a notable improvement.

 

Gurds

[vw_singh 10]

So as the Corrado chugs on ferrying me to work and back, I am still smiling! I love driving this car! Until a couple of weeks ago that is....

 

The Clutch pedal has started to play silly games with the occasional loss of travel and a flick of the foot required to bring it back up. I started off with looking at the clutch master and slave cylinders.

 

Looking rather crusty from 19 years odd in service.

 

 

A Pagid replacement sourced from Euro Car Parts.

 

 

And the master cylinder was swapped out for good measure too.

 

 

 

However this didn't solve the issues and a clutch slip now became evident... Did I mention I hate fixing clutches?

 

With the summer holidays in full swing, I could use the mk1 golf for daily driving while I operated on the Corrado. So I had no choice but to remove the gearbox. I didn't want to remove the front panel or cross member so did it the hard way.

 

 

 

With the clutch out the extent of the wear was pretty obvious...

 

 

 

Looks like it was the factory part too.

 

New Sachs item in to replace.

 

 

During reassembly, my attention turned towards the release fork. Found the cause of the dodgy pedal at least!

 

 

Slightly bent then.

 

 

The next day Rambow popped over and gave me a hand to put it all back together again. I really wouldn't have been able to wrestle the box back in on my own, thanks! A few hours later the car was back on all fours and purring like a kitten. Clutch now feels mega light and back to wafting to work.

 

For 2x years ownership, I have to say I am really very happy with it so far.

 

Gurds

[James. 9]

In some ways it's annoying that you have to replace other parts to find the eventual problem. But in others it's satisfying that the clutch should be good for the foreseeable future.

 

For a while, I've been thinking these "dirty hands" updates were banned from this site. So kudos to you for restoring the balance.

 

Do you mind if I ask what kind of mileage you cover in a year ? And how do you find running a VR as a daily ?