dinkus 10 Posted September 5, 2004 Oh, maybe it wasn't you then, I just assumed from the positive gestures as it went past and pulled off on to slip road, towards Cambridge, and it was a 306 etc.... I now realise I've admitted to being over-taken by a Peugeut 306 on the Forum needlessly!, yeouwch :oops: Nah you would have know about it if it was me :D Lovely dark red 306 with bright green lettering. Disappointingly you don't get a big smoke screen out of it when you thrash it though :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kvwloon 0 Posted September 5, 2004 ....and , check they haven't just tried to get away with poor masking up to the window rubbers. Good point... how do I check that? Just prise up the rubber and see? Should be pretty noticeable, it certainly was when the lazy w#nkers tried it on my first 'approved' repair. Just look for overpainting on the edge of the rubbers at the bottom edge of the rear window seal and lower edge of front window rubber trim at top of door, if they have just badly masked up to the rubbers instead of removing or lifting the rubber a bit, should be easy to spot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 5, 2004 ....and , check they haven't just tried to get away with poor masking up to the window rubbers. Good point... how do I check that? Just prise up the rubber and see? Should be pretty noticeable, it certainly was when the lazy w#nkers tried it on my first 'approved' repair. Just look for overpainting on the edge of the rubbers at the bottom edge of the rear window seal and lower edge of front window rubber trim at top of door, if they have just badly masked up to the rubbers instead of removing or lifting the rubber a bit, should be easy to spot. Ok cool, will do. I'm gonna go over it all with a magnifying glass before I cough up the excess, but specific points to look for are always good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted September 5, 2004 Ok cool, will do. I'm gonna go over it all with a magnifying glass before I cough up the excess, but specific points to look for are always good. quite ironic how Karmann weren't so intensive with their quality control when the C was in production :D ......seemingly the Corrado was one of the worst painted VW products of the time Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kvwloon 0 Posted September 5, 2004 vr6storm, Nice to know Norwich Union Directs 'approved' bodyshops were doing their best to match the original standard with their attempts at my repairs then. :roll: I always understood the original paint was a good job, with well built up layer? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted September 5, 2004 vr6storm, Nice to know Norwich Union Directs 'approved' bodyshops were doing their best to match the original standard with their attempts at my repairs then. :roll: I always understood the original paint was a good job, with well built up layer? must have had an ex-Karmann employee there then.............IIRC the paint on new Corrado's was always noted for the orange-peel effect :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 6, 2004 vr6storm, Nice to know Norwich Union Directs 'approved' bodyshops were doing their best to match the original standard with their attempts at my repairs then. :roll: I always understood the original paint was a good job, with well built up layer? must have had an ex-Karmann employee there then.............IIRC the paint on new Corrado's was always noted for the orange-peel effect :wink: Well I had a look at the rear quarter panel on all of the C's I saw at E38 at the weekend and nearly all of them had a slight ripple in the paint, both original and re-sprayed ones. But then the front wings are nearly all a perfect mirror finish. Tis rather odd. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 8, 2004 Ok, got a call from the bodyshop today and I've bent the rear axle and driver side stub axle. Kev also informed me at the weekend that we were going more like 45 at the time, not 25 as it felt... ho hum. This is bad because it means I don't get my C back for another gawd knows how long :( However, it's also pretty good because I get an entirely new rear axle and I also get the new suspension and brake parts that I've already got fitted for minimal cost. :D So, out with the old, in with the new shocks, springs, top spring plates, disks, Mk4 calipers, hoses, pads, brake bias valve, axle and bushes! All for an hour or 2's worth of labour cost to me. Result. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted September 8, 2004 You'll have a newer chassis than me soon! Are the insurance company going to cover that cost aswell then? I suppose they have to really..... new axle.... ouch....let us know how much a new one of those comes to..... or are they going to bend yours straight again? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 8, 2004 You'll have a newer chassis than me soon! Are the insurance company going to cover that cost aswell then? I suppose they have to really..... new axle.... ouch....let us know how much a new one of those comes to..... or are they going to bend yours straight again? I'm working on it.. just the entire front setup to do now :roll: :lol: The insurance company have OK'd it and it'll be a brand spanking new axle. Which aint gonna be cheap. I didn't ask if they had ordered a brake bias valve as well, but I'll let them work that out for themselves. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted September 8, 2004 Thats good news really mate! - You have to wait a bit longer but at least you have the Pug, the car should feel fantastic when you get it back, the only problem is you'll have to buy more front end parts for Stealth, new wishbons and bushes / ball joints etc... The impact must have been fairly hard to bent the axel (£500 from VW by the way) but maybe the wheel took alot of the force directly? I like the way your sticking with the OE suspension now as when its all done it should feel like it did brand new! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted September 8, 2004 rear axles and stub axles actually bend remarkably easily... :| I bent the one on my old 16V when I wrote it off and was only doing 30 when I span it... :? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 8, 2004 Thats good news really mate! - You have to wait a bit longer but at least you have the Pug, the car should feel fantastic when you get it back, the only problem is you'll have to buy more front end parts for Stealth, new wishbons and bushes / ball joints etc... The impact must have been fairly hard to bent the axel (£500 from VW by the way) but maybe the wheel took alot of the force directly? I like the way your sticking with the OE suspension now as when its all done it should feel like it did brand new! Yeah I was initially thinking it might make my trip to Stealth a bit cheaper, but I think it'll just mean I spend the money on something else instead :) I'll give Vince a call and see what he suggests. As far as the impact goes, yeah the front wheel hit the tree and actually drove up it, but the rear wheel got smacked by the fence post, so most of th force went through it. Oh well, at least it should be like a brand new car when it comes back! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted September 8, 2004 Yeah, you should make it your project to get all the standard wear items replaced with original parts as your half way there already and just drive it for a bit and get used to it before any mods... 8) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 8, 2004 Yeah, you should make it your project to get all the standard wear items replaced with original parts as your half way there already and just drive it for a bit and get used to it before any mods... 8) That was my plan before I even bought it, but yeah you're definitely right about getting used to it :roll: Some track days are definitely in order once she's all fixed up :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted September 8, 2004 Some track days are definitely in order once she's all fixed up Well at least there are no roundabouts on any of the tracks... :wink: ...altho the way Formula one is going there could be next season :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pat_McCrotch 0 Posted September 8, 2004 Quite lucky insurance didn't know about the rear axle before they began the repair, otherwise it'd probably sitting in a scrappy by now! :shock: :( Still, another one saved! :D Hope to see it soon :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 8, 2004 Quite lucky insurance didn't know about the rear axle before they began the repair, otherwise it'd probably sitting in a scrappy by now! :shock: :( Still, another one saved! :D Hope to see it soon :) Yeah tell me about it. It seems odd that the bodyshop didn't jig it before anything else. But then again, they wouldn't have gotten the job if they had ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted September 8, 2004 Nelson_Wilbury wrote: Quite lucky insurance didn't know about the rear axle before they began the repair, otherwise it'd probably sitting in a scrappy by now! Still, another one saved! Hope to see it soon Yeah tell me about it. It seems odd that the bodyshop didn't jig it before anything else. But then again, they wouldn't have gotten the job if they had Hehe - good points there chaps... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 9, 2004 I just got back from dropping all the bits at the bodyshop today and the C is looking good! They've taken out the ding in the passenger door and mechanically polished the car all over and it looks like new. The ripples in the paint that I was worried about aren't any worse than other C's I've seen so panic over on that. They said if the axle parts have turned up at VW today then I should have the C back 'by the weekend'. I'll have to pay them some extra to build up the suspension and brake parts, but it's not the end of the world and is still going to be a lot cheaper than paying for everything. Oh and the extra work to do the rear axle is another £1k... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted September 9, 2004 Does the new axle come with the bushes pressed in already? If you get it back for the weekend, you can come to Ragley :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 9, 2004 Does the new axle come with the bushes pressed in already? If you get it back for the weekend, you can come to Ragley :wink: The part itself doesn't come with bushes, but they're getting new ones pressed in at the stealer :) So nice result there. They're also putting in new rear brake lines and I presume brake bias valve too. And yup, I'll be at Ragley if I can :) Not gonna make the effort in the (now even more squeaky) heap though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted September 15, 2004 I just got a call from the bodyshop and bugger me, it's all fixed! They were a bit concerned about how high the rear of the car is with the new suspension on it though :lol: Standard ride height on a Corrado isn't fun :( Oh well, at least it's all new (apart from the sodding top mounts :roll: ) The cheeky buggers also wanted to charge me £104 + VAT in extra labour to fit the new suspension/brake parts on top of what the insurance company were coughing up for which was a bit cheeky. I got em down to £100inc VAT in the end tho, so it's not tooo bad. Lastly, they couldn't get hold of the plastic surround that goes in the fuel filler cap, as it's on back order with VW in Germany. Anybody got one of them? Right, I'm off to return the red heap and get my C back!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted September 15, 2004 Good luck! I hope they've done it properly!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites