Brett's Vr6 a hopeful build thread

[BrettS 10]

Thought I had better start some sort of build thread up. Anyway been hankering for a project for some time, and was looking for a 60's beetle or a Mercedes w114/w115 or possibly a w123 at a push. But after much thought and the fact I have zero storage or work space to do any sort of restoration, It meant I had to buy a Rolling, road legal one and that sort of defeated the object and they demanded a premium for the pleasure. So having a look around like you do and remembering the cars from the 80's and 90's I have always fancied, I began to look at mk1/2 golfs and clippers and corrado's. After viewing a couple of vr6's and g60's. This one came up on eBay, and looked alright except for its bright orange wheels and high millage. I Messaged the seller and found that it had full extensive history for the car. The engine had been replaced with a rebuilt unit about 20k prior. Decent spec and plenty of spares came with it. So a road trip to bishops Auckland to collect it, and the car was in great condition. And the deal was done.

This is the wording from the original add.

 

 

Moonlight Blue metallic, 1994

 

Near full service history with a mountain of paperwork (2 folders full!), complete with both original keys and full closure alarm.

 

MOT till March 2015, car is also taxed for viewing purposes only due to DVLA's brilliant new rules.........

 

 

 

Spec

 

electric windows, sunroof & spoiler (all working)

 

tilt steering wheel

 

Original factory heated leather

 

Original motor replaced with lower mileage (140k), timing chains, water pump & clutch replaced during swap.

 

 

 

Bought earlier this year completely stock and added the following;

 

 

 

AP height adjustable coilover suspension

 

BBS RX228 17 alloys (inc spare) with excellent Toyo Proxes 205 40 R17

 

Miltek stainless steel resonated exhaust & 6 branch manifold (cat retained).

 

Red tinted rear lights

 

Rear wiper removed

 

Lupo front wiper upgrade.

 

Headlight loom upgrade.

 

All original parts including refurbished 15 inch Speedline alloys with good Falken tyres will be included in sale.

 

 

 

Very original car, mechanically right with very good body work although as with most of these cars the front is a little stone chipped.

 

 

 

Bad points;

 

Small amount of surface rust on back panel and under spoiler

 

Car park 'ding' on body line of drivers door, paint not broken so should be easily sorted by dentmaster repair.

 

Small oil leak from after crank sensor replacement, again easily sorted.

 

Not long after getting it home I removed the orange bbs rims. The dynorod look wasn't for me and put on the speedlines

And it looked and drove great but it just wasn't the route I wanted to go with the car. So steeped away from going back to original. And sold them on. And fitted some jbw 8j et 25 wheels and lowered it some more.

 

All though I wasn't a fan they were to only tie me over until I found something different.

So while the search went on I swapped the vr6 steering wheel over for a momo wheel. Set about doing some repairs, such as door switches, refitting door cards with new clips, replacing the grab handle cover and putting a new stereo in ect.

The car had all red lights that I did like, but the orange indicators of the oe lights look at home on the car IMO so they were changed.

To these.

Now I have a habit of picking wheels up ect. And I had come across a set of very rare audi a8 winter wheels. These are forged 16" 7j wheel that are different to the other versions that have a rounder hole in the face.

I had a some spare 16" tyres knocking around so they got built up

Also added some orange side repeaters. So this is as far as I have got so far. Plenty of jobs to do on the the car and lots to learn about the corrado but enjoying ownership so far. Any comments good or bad are appreciated.

Edited March 2, 2015 by BrettS
More pics

[coullstar 0]

Looks good, small little touches make such a difference. Where did you get the LM reps? Audi wheels look nice as well.

[BrettS 10]

The lm reps are for sale if your interested. They are made by a local firm called midland wheel supplies near southam. Jbw stands for john brown wheels, they make a lot of reps for the air cooled and mini scene

[lilfuzzer 1]

Did thionk this was a sweet car best of luck with it

[BrettS 10]

Cheers. I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get with it.

[BrettS 10]

Well I'm guessing progress with this car is going to be a lot slower than I thought. Unfortunately work, having young children and a mrs that works most weekends topped off with no work space is making it exceptionally difficult to get time to do the simplest of jobs.

The vacuum pump for the central locking was constantly running when unlocking the car. Traced the air leak back to the pump it's self. The outer case of the pump had looked to have deformed it's shape ever so slightly. And if I pinched it together it sealed a treat. Bit of heat from a cigarette lighter and push the case back into sharp and it seals a treat and works as it should. Just need to find out why the passenger door don't unlock or lock via the central locking. But judging by the faculty that pretty much lock is opened by a different key I'm guessing that a non central locking handle has been fitted if that's possible? Strangely the passenger door handle does unlock the boot central locking when you unlock it with the key, so it could be something completely different. Also if anyone is interested I may be open to swaps on the audi a8 winters. So let me know what you have got.

[Hairyarse 10]

Nice VR - I liked those JBWs - the Audi winters look surprisingly good on there too. ;)

 

What are you thinking of putting on now if you're up for swaps?

[BrettS 10]

I'm up for swapping with anything interesting really. I have been tempted to fit some alfa gt 17"s they are similar design as a mercedes alphard. Well in a fashion. There was some for sale locally, but had just bought a set of 19" bbs ch wheels for my leon

and the Mrs was getting a little annoyed at all the wheels I keep buying and selling.

I had put up against the car the leon fr 17" to see how it looked. They are et 52 so adapter friendly. But they are going to look as bad on the corrado as they did on the leon.

Ignore the ballon tyre, would have changed them to a 195/40/17

I like the audi wheels though. I think with a little spacing and some adjustments and I would prob get on with them more. Look great on a polo though

[Hairyarse 10]

You're a proper wheel whore then! lol :thumbleft:

[Drucey 10]

Sweet looking car m8!!

[BrettS 10]

Managed to get a little bit of time to do some pressing jobs. Took the idle control valve off and gave it a clean out with a bit of brake cleaner. Also gave the throttle body a quick clean. Put it back together, and the idle was hunting bad. Sounded like air leak, so had a bit of a squirt of brake cleaner around to see if any was drawn into the system to identify where the air was drawing in from. But nothing, unplugged the idle control and nothing still the same. So gathered the unit was at fault. Removed it again and this time cleaned it with a bit of wd40 and airline. Put it back together and idle returned to normal. Will be looking at replacing in the future mind, but for now it's fixed. Now the ride hight has annoyed me for a while as well as the wheel fitment. They just didn't work imo, but I do like the wheels. So I spaced the rears out. Now at 30mm and the front are now 25mm. Also lowered front and rear of the car to get it sat right. Whilst in the wheel arches I gave all the arches a good wash out, up by fuel filler ect. Front brake was also binding a wee bit so gave it a clean up but, I'm upgrading the brakes soon. Just undecided on 312mm or 288mm. Also picked up a debadged grille, it sets the front end off, and really please on the look there.

Other wise just bits of general maintenance and seems to be running good. The wheels and ride hight really now works so well now. Just thre rest of the work to do now

 

[BrettS 10]

Not much being done at the moment. Managed to get it running lovely after the irratic idle and cutting out problem. And managed to refit some of the interior panels correctly. And also painted my headlight innards black. Bit of satin black paint that I used to paint my front door on the house and it's looking great. Just need to source some yellow filters for the main beam from a lexus to finish the look.

Had a few good offers to sell it, but just can not bring myself to do it yet. Really starting to get the whole love for these cars that I read about.

Waiting on my 288mm brakes to turn up then it's mot time. Let's see how she fairs on that one

Edited February 13, 2015 by BrettS

[thamouse1981 0]

Hi if you do decide to sell please let me know...(i sent you a message on facebook after seeing it on corrado chat )

[BrettS 10]

It's passed its mot today. I think it is time to sell. I love the car I really do. But this merc itch is strong. But more than likely I'll end up using the money towards the house deposit. I think this is going to be a something I'm going to regret doing

[diarmaid16 1]

It always is! But a house for your family is more important(just!).

 

Did you ever sell the LM Reps?

[BrettS 10]

Yeah I sold the lm reps a while back. And the cars is now sold as of tonight. Deposit taken. Will I regret it. I have no doubt in my mind I will. Would I buy another corrado? 100% yes. I fell in love with that car. I have owned over 60'motors and have only had an attachment too two or three. And this is defiantly one of them. The grin factor from the vr6 is brilliant. The appreciation by people for the car is fantastic. And to drive around in a motor that is rarely seen is cool in its own right. So a close to this chapter. It's been short but bloody fun while it lasted.