_Matt_

Yeah you've done it right and can start from scratch treating it well. It really is pot luck without the rebuild if you're buying in at 150k like I did. I do expect the bill at some point! It is a bit of bad luck on your engine though, wonder why a SEAT dealer did it? Wonder how much experience they really have on that motor. At least it all behind you now though.

Oh btw - depends how your engine is burning oil. If it's from cold and clears up, during stop strat driving or acceleration from stand still it's likely to be valve stem seals but evenutally clears up a top end rebuild will solve. Your spark plugs will also foul up. If piston rings, and therefore bottom end rebuild, the car is likely to blue smoke all the time. The garage you take the car to, if reputable, will carry out the required leak down and compression tests to advise whether it needs a full rebuild or not. This is what happended for me at Stealth and perhaps JMR did that for you if they are advising a full build - ask/be sure though! Tbh I didn't have a clue at the time but Vince explained it all to me - the whys and what for - so now I know.

Just to add here - I've never heard a bad word said about Stealth but cannot say the same about JMR if you see the various social media posts cropping up frequent enough to cause me concern. Where there is smoke there is fire and all that and considering labour rates, expertise and customer service Stealth is an absolute no brainer for this type of work. It helps they have done more VR6 rebuilds than I have had hot dinners as well and Vince is an extremely knowledge and approachable chap - he will no nonsense tell you what is needed and what the options are and you never ever feel like you're being taken for a ride. Geniune chap and equally the boys he has working for him are real decent lads as well. For me I had my top end rebuild and chains done and am at 155k currently. Vince inspected the bottom end and it was fine but of course has done 150k at the time so no guarentees. What I can say is that over the last 1000 miles it has not used a drop of oil and it had 263 cams put in and made 220 hp / 212 Ibft or torque so must be pretty healthy. That said if down the line it started to smoke or show signs of needing repair I would simply remove the engine from the car, use the oppo to clean and paint the engine bay at home and deliver the engine to Vince for magic hands. The top once removed won't need any real work, assuming no catestrophic failure of the bottom so it will be a bottom end job only at reduced expense. I went my particular route becuase my engine had an odd vibration and it turned out the tensioner was battered, I added on the head refurb becuase I wanted a new headgasket to prevent problems. I had to draw the line somewhere so opted not to do the bottom as it wasn't needed. I dont mind sharing my costs - for head refurb, chains, clutch, new fuel pump, injectors, every single bush, new brakes, new brake lines, all new engine sensors (oem or bosch), new abs pump, 263 cams, rolling road map, new bearings, miltek non res, the bill was £6k INC PARTS. The only original parts left are the steering rack, radiator, bottom end and manifold + cat. As you'll see that is well within in your 10k budget and you could stretch to an engine rebuild if you got the car to Stealth. The VR6 is a strong engine, 150k isn't the norm for death, it really depends on the history of the engine for mainteance and how it has been used. No reason why it wouldn't last 250k with sympathetic use (i.e. wait till oil is 90degrees before hooning it). The maintenace stretches on to the ancillaries - cooling, electronics - keep them in check and you're mitigating your risk.

lol very true 😆

I would do as you plan in the short term but for the longer term - get some bigger jobs done whilst it is a weekend car. Keep the car on the road and running regularly otherwise it will just detoriate - tyres, calipers will stick, fuel will go stale, pumps will sieze, injectors will block up from crystalisation, MOT will run out and years will fly by. The car will end up a full on project come disposal or recommission if moth balled and perhaps cars that are stored away right now already had bodywork issues so that compounded with mechanical issues from sitting could be unnecessary curtains for the car. I'm not saying this will happen to you(!) but it's how I see it playing out for moth balled cars. I'm bringing back a mk3 golf 16v that has sat moth balled since 2017 and did little mileage during its life - it has turned into a massive recommission of welding, mechanicals and bodywork. New bolts alone are already at the sizeable cost. It looked really tidy when I got it aside from lacquer peel! Then you have to ask yourself how many people are likely to go to that effort - not many.

I have considered selling mine, even contacted car and classic last week for an appraisal. They said Corrado's unusually do better at auction than private ads but I had my eyes open that they earn commission so of course would like to see it listed. They said they'd put a reserve on it as £11-12k if I went for it as a fairly standard Corrado VR6, black leather, 155k, 5 owners, big mechanical refurb mostly at Stealth, 25 years of service stamps and receipts, only top end of engine rebuilt, windows out paint and I showed them pictures of the underside + sills (arrow straight, no rot) but I never powdercoated the frames. I did not offer my 16in Speedlines. I'd still be upside down at that price as many who have tried to restore know the game. If I was sensible I probably would get out now and buy something else as I will still perfect the car if it remains with me. That said the only winner would be the buyer in that sceanrio and it feels a bit gut wrenching to sell it for only a few grand more than a "low mile" example that has had no TLC/Restore work done. I know first hand how bad low mile old cars are - I have a 78k mk3 16v golf I am working on and it is a right little biatch on crusty bolts. Having thought about it over the weekend I am 80% sure I am keeping it. For me it is the regret that will get me if I see it go and if I end up buying another one I will have to do all the work again at great cost. Better the devil you know and all that. Touch wood the car is reliable and I don't really think twice about doing a 100 mile trip plus over the last 1000 miles it has not used a drop of oil on the dipstick so fingers crossed nothing major to deal with in the near future. The car is also well rust proofed with cavity wax everywhere. Edit to add - agree with Keyo - its spares that are the key to ownership. I have some fogs and am putting corrado farm yard plastic fogs on the car. I want to find spare headlights. I've got quite a few other things but it's the front end that worries me the most - a minor prang could make life very difficult in future but if I had the parts in stock then it would be less stressful.

Similar experience recently. Had 288s fitted and braided all round and the pedal travel was a bit longer than before, which was not as good as my modern car so did make it feel odd. It has firmed back up and as Dox says c200 miles is about right - that's all I have really done since having the work done. One test you could do is put you foot on the brake pedal firm and make sure it doesn't sink to the floor.

He's wrongun alright. I cannot for the life of me see how the parts were broken, and ended up looking like late parts in my eyes may I add, given the packaging and they are not exactly easy to snap off like that. You'd have to use something like pliers to break them - if they were damaged in transit the whole package would have been crushed length ways and even then the flexibility of the entire moulding would have just bent with the packaging - i don't believe for a second it was done in transit thinking about it logically. So if that had happened then it would be obvious on delivery that the package was well battered and something might be up - which don't correlate with the 12 days he took to tell you.

I did wonder what that wardrobe door was all about. The tailgate you have is for a US spec car - not a bad move actually though - it means you can add a 3rd high level brake light and be seen more on the road.

That's interesting fender, recently found out the earlier roof moldings were different shaped at the ends and a different length also not listed on ETKA/Part diagrams also and this hinge issue could well be that. I have a spare early green coloured door in my garage will dig out it out for measuring.

It's that part I put in red - 1994 on there was a body change but not sure what "F" added to part number as well. There is something odd on what you're experiencing - Keyo will measure his early doors to help clear it up. Assume your car is broadly standard, no known accident damage?

That is odd I have not heard of that. I have just checked part numbers on a 1989 car vs a 1995 car and they are coming up as the same part number. The parts diagrams can be wrong on early cars, missing early versions of parts but not normally on a late car. Are you able to get measurements on top and bottom hinges on your car? Attached a couple of pics of mine to help

Good to hear it sold quickly and was a pain free experience. I did have a quick look back to page one. My god - hats off well done.

Hi, the part no for your injectors in the 9a 2.0 16v is 035133551F. A set of 4 has gone up to £150 since I last looked: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-FOR-VW-4X-BOSCH-FUEL-INJECTOR-0437502043-/373946944932?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 Not many people realise but when testing the kjet in these cars you have to lift the flap/disc ontop of the airbox, under the intake boot to simulate vacuum pressure to allow fuel to flow from the metering head (also above airbox). If this isn't done it looks like fuel isn't making it to the injectors. Also E10 fuel is very bad for these cars if you leave them sitting. I had a 9a I put e10 in, left it a few months and had similar problems to you. There were little crystal like deposits on the injectors which blocked 3 of them. An alternative rather than buying new injectors would be to get them cleaned and flow tested but I would guess the labour is about the same as buying new. Assuming the garage you're using may not know the way kjet operates it might be worth you requesting they flow test each injector - it is possible to do this on car with each injector put into little jars. The disc in the metering head (under air intake boot on top of airbox) must be lifted by hand. This is what happens when the car runs under vacuum - the disc/flap lifts slightly to allow fuel to flow from metering headto injectors. This is also why vac leaks on kjet cars can cause you havoc. It is worth finding a garage that specialises in kjet to save you grief. The general garage on the street just doesn't have the knowledge to deal with it. Kjet is simple and relatively cheap to fix but if you're a mechanic from the "computer says replace sensor era" you will struggle and feel like your car has a major issue when it does not. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Its likely to be blocked fuel injectors but most general garages don't understand the cars. If you have fuel to the metering head it's not going to anything further back in the system. Ideally fuel system needs pressure testing but I would ask for the injectors to be changed- 80 quid for 4. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Opps sorry I didn't see this - have just replied.

Bloody hell that looks impressive JF

Looking lovely. As you know I am doing the same job on my mk2 16v too but sans the pro alloy housing. Thanks for getting me the clips, they look good 😄 Pro Alloy housing is a great bit of kit but too rich for my pockets today.

Sorry to hear Graham but good to hear she is on the mend at home. You are a master at retro fit and customisation!

God this brings back memories of my drive home from the bodyshop - awful creaking noise from the windscreen area and CRACK straight down the middle on the way home. Lucky for me I got a replacement for free. The chap that did apparently had done loads of them for the local VW garage when the cars were newer but clearly had forgotten the knack. He said he put a support/rubber/something or other right at the point it cracked. It has been a really enjoyable ownership experience. I try to keep my head straight though, it's not the car it's the people working on it.

Bodywork can be a nightmare and once you start you go past he point of no return if stuff isn't quite right. I've learnt to make sure at least the lower sections of the car are taken back to metal and to only use restoration specialists. Place I had it done was a refinisher/painter/smart repair who had done old cars and I had looked at them in the flesh but clearly was only any good at painting over long lasting repairs. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Probably some elements of the recent respray / bodywork done. Paint is nice but I'm not happy with the drivers 3/4. The body shop didn't repair the fuel filler door area correctly and the door sits proud & they didn't bare metal the arch lip and there is rust coming back. I supplied two arch cuts to go in if needed but they tossed them in the bin and said mine were fine. It's booked in to a proper fabrication resto place in about 15 months time (waiting list). I have a new 3/4 from Classic parts to go in as needed and they will be basically bare metalling both sides on the lower sections and sills, making any repairs and I expect repainting the sides. It will cost me the same the again as I paid for the first respray. I look forward to posting the progress on my instagram account where the original bodyshop follows me 🙂

I get you on the paint stuff and equally for me damage of fogs and lights I don't want to fork out to replace. I cracked an indicator on my first proper drive out a month ago. I'm going to see how this year goes for usage and may consider selling mine if I don't start using it more.

Great colour and pretty rare. Lovely golden fleck. The only black id want. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Looks nice and I don't mind the wheels tbh - they look period correct and easy to clean. Is it black magic met black or solid black? R32 sounds a nice future plan