DBP '92 Corrado VR6 (Barney!)

[Hairyarse 10]

Nice pics ;-)

[Abdul 0]

Looks great, I'd imagine it handles very well now.

 

Is the paint as tidy as it looks?

[Philuk 0]

Looking really smart mate :)

[unclean 10]

Thanks all!

 

Abdul, it's certainly not, haha. Somebody put a nice dent in the front wing last summer, the bonnet isn't a perfect match and there's some imperfections on the bottom of the doors. It passes the 5-10ft test ok though. I absolutely love the colour though, especially when it catches the sun.

[unclean 10]

I do have some bad news though. I was finally getting some confidence with the car and starting to use it semi-daily given how good the weather has been for the last couple of weeks.

 

Unfortunately, that came to an end yesterday when I managed to blow the headgasket. Bummer. Big bummer.

 

[mic_VR 3]

Gutted mate. But all fixable!

[unclean 10]

I've been having cooling issues for a few months where the second stage hasn't been kicking in. However, it hasn't recently been anywhere above 90, and mainly even lower than that (I believe my thermostat has stuck open) and when it failed it, coolant temperature was indicated at around 80 degrees.

 

After chatting with folks who know more about this than I, it's been suggested that previous neglect with the coolant lead to corrosion on the head which caused the gasket to fail. I had noticed a large amount of gunk in the coolant when I swapped it for G13 last year, but it looks like that work was too late as the damage was probably done over a period of years previously.

 

It's a huge pain though as I'd pushed to get work carried out and have the car ready for spring and, in particular, Le Mans. I'm going to inspect the head in the next week and devise a plan from there. I may swap another longblock in and push to get the car driveable again, which will give me an opportunity to rebuild the original engine properly and deal with the chains, uprated cams, ported or big valve head, etc. However, depending on the condition of everything, it's tempting to just stick a recon head on and replace the chains. I am somewhat nervous about destroying a new head if the block has been in any way damaged though. I need to keep this economical and I'm committed to carry this work out myself.

 

Sigh. I guess I wanted a project car and that certainly is what I now have :blackeye:

[g0ldf1ng3r 15]

ahhh poop!

[unclean 10]

I blame the noise from the BMC CDA I just put on, I don't think it's dipped below 4k RPM since

[g0ldf1ng3r 15]

I blame the noise from the BMC CDA I just put on, I don't think it's dipped below 4k RPM since

 

ha ha ha they are addictive arent they lol

[unclean 10]

Right, so a few extra tools now purchased and I'm going to make a start stripping the head this weekend!

 

I've been doing some research regarding whether to rebuild the head myself, use a second hand one for now or even swap the whole engine. I've decided to just strip the head and have mine refurbished. I'd considered doing some of the valve guides, seals, etc. myself but I think it's simpler to have the lot done professionally.

 

Obviously some jobs make sense to perform whilst the heads off, and I'm currently budget conscious, but also don't want to be paying twice for poor quality kit/doing the job again.

 

With that in mind, my current plan of things to do:

 

- Strip head

- Get head remanufactured including skim, clean, valve guides and stem seals as appropriate

- Replace gaskets

- Replace thermostat whilst coolant is drained

- Replace serpentine belt

- Replace water pump (with metal impeller version)

- Replace timing chains and guides

- Inspect camshaft sprockets

- Replace clutch

 

Now some questions for you lot :)

 

- There seems to be mixed opinions about whether to use metal head gaskets or stick with OE. Thoughts on this?

- I'd like to use a water pump with metal impellers, I can see a Febi one is available. Is this decent?

- Regarding the timing chains, I've seen some kits mentioned, is there a good source for these or just go with part numbers to the dealership?

- I've heard the Sachs clutch kit is fine, any opinions to the contrary?

- There's a local reputable engine/head remanufacturing place that have estimated about £200+VAT to sort the head. Any other recommendations?

- Does the flywheel need any love/replacing at 140k or what should I look out for whilst I'm in there?

 

Finally, any other things you'd be looking to fix with the head off?

 

Cheers, Phil.

[GlosterOx 0]

When I did mine Phil I used the MK4 Golf metal gasket, it raises the compression ratio slightly to about 10.5 to 1 for a bit more power but you MUST then use good 98/99 octane fuel.

 

Ian.

[robrado974 1]

Bummer about the gasket , it was all coming along well too . Hope all goes well in getting it sorted .

[Jim Bowen 1]

-Used a standard replacement head gasket on mine, by Victor Reinz, Stealth racing seem to use the block gasket kit and the head kit so was good enough for me. Saw a thread somewhere about the mk4 gasket having one coolant hole that doesn't line up properly (only seen one person mention that so might not be an issue)

-I used a VW water pump and chains, just didn't want to risk anything for the sake of a few hundred pounds.

-Sachs Clutch kit is fine, it what the dealers supply, same box same clutch kit, only VW charge £260ish and other places its about £100-£120

-Never did anything to my flywheel, its 220,000miles old, (not too sure if it requires anything done to it)

 

One thing Vince at Stealth mentioned to me was using some "wellseal" when fitting the gasket, but only use it on the area shown in red below

 

^^Where the red dot is (off the engine is where in an ideal world there would be another head bolt, and this causes a weak point so quite common for gasket to go in that point of engine)

[unclean 10]

When I did mine Phil I used the MK4 Golf metal gasket, it raises the compression ratio slightly to about 10.5 to 1 for a bit more power but you MUST then use good 98/99 octane fuel.

 

Ian.

 

Ah ha, good to know. Would this ideally get a remap?

[unclean 10]

Bummer about the gasket , it was all coming along well too . Hope all goes well in getting it sorted .

 

Thanks man. Yeah, quite a bummer, but these jobs really needed doing in the next year or so anyway I guess :)

[unclean 10]

-Used a standard replacement head gasket on mine, by Victor Reinz, Stealth racing seem to use the block gasket kit and the head kit so was good enough for me. Saw a thread somewhere about the mk4 gasket having one coolant hole that doesn't line up properly (only seen one person mention that so might not be an issue)

-I used a VW water pump and chains, just didn't want to risk anything for the sake of a few hundred pounds.

-Sachs Clutch kit is fine, it what the dealers supply, same box same clutch kit, only VW charge £260ish and other places its about £100-£120

-Never did anything to my flywheel, its 220,000miles old, (not too sure if it requires anything done to it)

 

One thing Vince at Stealth mentioned to me was using some "wellseal" when fitting the gasket, but only use it on the area shown in red below

 

^^Where the red dot is (off the engine is where in an ideal world there would be another head bolt, and this causes a weak point so quite common for gasket to go in that point of engine)

 

Really really helpful, thanks Jim.

 

Sure enough, that's exactly where mine went!

 

Budget permitting I'd like to get some ARP headbolts in there. It does seem like these flywheels last forever, too.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Yeah, i went with the ARP headbolts. There were quite a lot being sold on ebay last year not sure if they are still on there but paid about £200 for mine, i used standard rod bolts though.

 

There is also a way one valve in the block that you may as well replace. Its on that pic i posted on last page, right next to the top left head bolt hole.

[unclean 10]

Thanks Jim. Given the great Euro exchange rate at the moment, I've found a place in Germany which should be able to do them delivered for under £200.

 

I made a start this weekend, some pictures to follow later; but essentially inlet manifold off, valve and upper timing chain covers off, arch liner out and bumper/slam panel off. Timing chain guides and tensioner are very worn as expected! In a way, glad I'm doing this job now rather than having anything more serious happen with bits of guide floating about. I've also found a local firm who should be able to refurb the head for a reasonable price.

 

Also, late last year I got a slim line SPAL fan bracket from ChrisL (as my aux fan bearing was shagged). I thought now is a good a time as any to sort it, as I'd rather not blow up a rebuilt engine; so two 9" and 11" SPAL fans should be with me to install this week! :smug:

[unclean 10]

It's been a while since I made much progress due to weekend commitments and a hilariously rainy start to the summer.

 

I've been accumulating some parts and stripping down what I've got. A friend generously brought back some parts from the US for me, including a Gruvenparts Crack Pipe (interesting customs discussion no doubt!) and ARP head studs.

 

The gearbox and head are now off. The tensioner was absolutely shot with huge groves in it and about 5mm was missing from the end, presumably floating around in the sump. It's clear why the head gasket failed as there was loads of corrosion, yuck! Luckily the bottom end looks in pretty good nick with no scoring or obvious ovalisation on the rear left cylinder. I'm sending the head off to a local remanufacturing place later this week and have begun the process of cleaning everything up before getting the chain gear and gaskets in place.

 

I'm trying to keep the budget reasonable, but am very tempted to get a few pieces powdercoated and install an oil pressure sensor to make sure all the new gubbins are running peachy. I've taken a bunch of pics which I'll get up here later this evening.

[unclean 10]

Well, I finally uploaded all the pictures of the process so far.

 

Naturally, the original scope of the work quickly escalated, so I decided to whip the whole lot out to give me the access I need to do a more thorough refurbishment and give some parts a lick of paint. I should really have just done this from the beginning!

 

It started innocuously enough.

 

 

Catch can should stop this happening again.

 

 

"Lowered" the gearbox in a semi-controller manner and started tarting it up

 

 

Next up was getting the head off, which is was in a very sorry state, look at that pitting! Pretty obvious the source of the headgasket leak. Methinks a previous owner didn't think any anti-corrosion was necessary.

 

 

Crackpipe then lived up to its name, fortunately I'd had the foresight to order a shiny Gruvenparts piece to replace it. Since I was getting some parts brought back from the US, why not go whole hog and get ARP headstuds, too? This was also the point at which I thought it'd be for the best to really clean up the bottom end.

 

Edited September 1, 2015 by unclean

[unclean 10]

At this point we're about in the middle of summer, so cue some faffing about, visiting friends, holiday, a trip to Le Mans and generally ignoring the car for a couple of months.

 

The car was ideally meant to be ready for the trip, but it wasn't too bad as we got to take a friends Beetle down instead. In comparison to last year's trip, sans A/C, it was all far too civilised.

 

 

The GTI holding up nicely after covering 12k since February, eek!

 

[unclean 10]

I decided to gently ease myself back into the joys of Corrado ownership. Cover swept back for the first time in a few weeks. Some simple tarting up with new alarm stickers and period correct Euro 96 sticker which I unearthed, still affixed to a can of Castrol, from my folks' garage!

 

 

We're beginning to gather pace again. Cue trip to a local, and I mean local, engine shop to get my head skimmed and new valve guides & seals installed. It's essentially three very helpful men in a shed with some old Landies, Type 2s, Renault 4s and a Rolls scattered around them, but inside is crammed with lathes, mills and all manner of other machinery and tools. I'm not entirely happy that the corrosion hasn't been welded up, but it's saved me money and they've made sure all the bits that need isolating are sorted.

 

 

When I suggested lightening the flywheel to the chaps at Meridian, they recommended I take a trip to Mass Racing to get it lightened and balanced. I didn't want to take pictures inside, but it's like an Aladdin's cave of classic race engines. They do a lot of historic builds, particularly V8s and in the proprietor's words "[we do] everything up to the flywheel, the rest is boring"!

 

 

Some shiny bits and tools arrive. Checked with GSF to make sure it was a Reinz gasket set. Metal impeller pump from Febi! All OEM timing chain parts, aside from the blasted top chain, which is now out of manufacture. I think I may have gotten the last one of a couple of tensioners, too. Sorry about that :smug:

 

 

Off came the rest of the front, visit to a sandblaster/powdercoater immanent.

 

 

Now time to get this sucker out and on to the engine stand. Turns out it's not entirely easy on your own.

 

 

Et voila!

 

 

Finally, cue helpful landlord with JCB lifter to shove it in the barn.

 

 

So, that's where I'm up to now. I had a quick go with the angle grinder yesterday and managed to remove quite a bit of rust without hacking my hands off. Hopefully now I've got the engine somewhere dry, I can really get stuck in and start the reassembly within the next week or two.

Edited September 1, 2015 by unclean

[mic_VR 3]

I'm thinking of getting on and doing a similar strip down with mine over winter. Having dry space to work is key. If you need a spare pair of hands just give me a shout.

[loepan 11]

only just caught up on this, gutted about the head, but hey ho, cracking on with it aint you! id be tempted to have a tidy up of the bay while the engines out ;-)

 

good luck keep up the good work