Mystic Rado

On the foliage cover you want one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CORRADO-Heater-Blower-Intake-Gasket-191819166-/182881641078 It's under the passenger side of the scuttle cover, but you can access it, if you're careful, by just lifting up that side of it. Then you want to clear out the debris, check the drain in the corner isn't blocked too. There's a clip that holds the cover in place, you sort of slide it off with a screwdriver (from memory) and take off the cover leaving you with a hole. Scrape off the remains of the old gasket, which will probably be in bits by now, degrease with isopropyl alcohol, stick on new gasket - it's self adhesive - and replace cover. It'll likely be pretty messy under the scuttle cover so it's worth cleaning it out properly and checking the drain is working by pouring some water down it once you've replaced the seal. Easiest way to get deal leaves out, if it's dry, is with a vacuum cleaner. Enjoy :-) ps: the other possibility if it's not the intake seal is a leaking door membrane, the plastic sheet under the door card. Also, pretty much every Corrado fault has been covered somewhere on the forum, so it's always worth searching through past threads.

That's lovely. Liking the OE stereo. Mine is sat in a box in the cellar, I might just put it back in for added authenticity. So... my driver's door has just had a hard life and has some rust below the window line and on the bottom corner. I'm sure it's salvageable, but the joy of Tornado Red Golfs is that they fade so much, so any sort of respray colour match is a nightmare. So I'm patiently holding on to see if a good condition matching door comes up. Plan B is maybe to find someone who'll paint the entire driver's side of the car, in which case I can also get the fuel-filler properly sorted at the same time - it's maybe just starting to go :-(

Can't see the Golf pics, comes up with an error for me. Mine's a 3-door Tornado Red, 8-valve, but with a TSR head, cam, branch manifold, chip, Jetex and mildly lowered on Konis. Drives really well, but needs a new driver's side door and I ought to do something about the sunroof deflector. Can't justify a 911 unless I sell the Storm and I really don't want to do that.

We've all been there :-)

Erm, 2005 I think. Maybe 2006. I've mostly had a Mk2 GTi as a daily driver - still do - so the Storm's done a pitiful mileage and lived a pampered lifestyle. Always wanted one from the day I saw a Corrado 'somewhere in London' and had to find out what it was. I'm an ex motorcycle journalist and road-tester and mostly cars just leave me cold. The only three I've ever had any interest in are the Mk2 GTi, the Corrado and the 911. I guess I'm just odd, but I still get a gormless grin from the VR6 noise. I get that there are faster, slicker, more expensive cars, but after spending years testing insanely fast motorcycles, it doesn't really matter to me. Toyota Supra? Just no :-)

There are other special differences, but Storm owners aren't allowed to talk about them publicly

I'm pretty sure they would. The first generation version has quite a big control box, but the 2nd generation I linked to has a really small control box and you just stick it inside the headlight housing. Fitted fine in the T5 and I think it would go in the Corrado too. Yes, they're expensive, but the life expectancy is claimed to be up to 12 years. If you look at uprated Philips halogens they go for around 25 quid per pair and the more uprated they are, the shorter their lifespan, so potentially it ends up cheaper in the long term. Ultimately I figure that it's a relatively small price to pay for being able to see where you going and they're pukka Philips, so you know that they're properly made and tested unlike random eBay LEDs. Anyway, when I get the chance, I'll try them in the Corrado and report back.

Yep. I ended making my own loom using heavy gauge wire, did all the joins using heat shrink crimp connectors and sourced waterproof fuse holders and relays. Ideally you want a set-up that has separate relays and fuses for each headlight, so if one relay or fuse goes, you're not plunged into instant darkness. I've been through about four aftermarket looms on my Mk2 and they all fail eventually because: the wires are just crimped with no sealing / the relays are not waterproof and get soaked under the bonnet and fail - ideally you want either waterproof relays or a sealed box - and always carry a spare in the car - it''s a pretty hostile environment under the bonnet and eventually the water just gets to them and things corrode and die. There was an American site doing what looked like really good quality aftermarket looms for the Corrado, erm, Eurowires I think, but they don't seem to exist any more. The Rayne Automotive ones are okay, but the relays are exposed and one of mine on the Golf just corroded to death, to be fair, they sold me a replacement block of relays quite promptly. Bottom line: making a bombproof wiring loom is actually quite time consuming, which is why the decent ones are expensive. With the Corrado, you ideally want to use a loom with the OE headlight connectors which adds another layer of expense and complexity, especially as it's a shrinking market. A bit of a curve ball. I fitted a set of the Philips X-treme Ultinon H4 bulbs to my Mk 2 and they are brilliant. They're not road legal, but the beam pattern is spot on and they are super bright in the standard Golf headlights. These things, they always have a 20% or 25% off code at the top of the site, so more like £120, which is a lot, but they are supposed to last for years: https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/x-tremeultinon-gen2-led-headlight-bulbs-h4-twin We also fitted a set in the legendarily awful headlights of the missus' T5 and though they're not as good as they are in the Golf, they're a lot better than anything halogen we've used - really that thing needs new headlights. I haven't tried them in the Corrado and it's off the road for winter, but I'm planning on sticking a set in come spring time. Expensive, but supposed to last for years. Super simple to install too. I'm not sure that's much use, but it might help someone. They were a total revelation in the GTi, I've tried all sorts in there and they're far and away the best thing I've used and like I said, the beam pattern is as good or better than the halogens. I guess Philips know what they're doing.

Spot on! The only reason I knew my badge was missing was that the car felt sluggish and aerodynamically compromised, my guess is that it's worth at least 20bhpm maybe more and that's before you factor in the handling improvements. Big thanks for whoomphing over that diagram - it's nice to know exactly how the badge should sit for maximum benefit

I've just messaged you my mobile number and an e-mail address in case that's easier - really appreciated. I saw a pic of that Storm with the badge on the wrong side of the car, it was kind of painful to look at :-(

I'm just about to stick a Trimsport Storm badge back on my Storm after some ******* stole the original a while back and I'm wondering if anyone has a copy of the original fitting instructions. I could just stick it back where it looks right, but if anyone has a copy of the template thing that came with the OE VW badge set, itd be much appreciated. Thanks!

I bought a Mk3 8-valve GTi as a stop-gap after my tweaked Mk2 GTi died and I couldn't find a decent Mk2 replacement. It was properly uninspiring, slow and gutless with a weird hollowed-out feeling to it and nasty, spongey handling. The 16v has a better reputation tbf, but after the Mk2 the whole Mk2 experience was a disappointment. I chopped it in against a neat, one-owner Mk2 after about a year of dullness. That interior does look okay though.

Yep, that looks proper nasty. You'd think someone might like, you know, have bothered cleaning it. It also looks like there's a small dent in the bonnet just above the non-drivers side headlight, you can see it in two pics, so I'm thinking it is actually a real thing rather than an optical illusion.

I use Forever Black on my Mk2 GTi, which has a lot more black plastic than the Corrado, mostly bumpers, wheel arches and door strips. Coincidentally I just spent most of the day cleaning the Golf and just re-did the bumpers etc after about three years. They'd faded a bit, but still pretty good and I'd happily recommend the stuff. I've not used it on the Corrado door side-trims, but I don't see why it wouldn't do the job. It comes with a pre-cleaner included which you need to use to remove traces of past treatments, wax, polish etc, then it's just a dab-on thing with small sponge like that liquid shoe polish. Using some masking tape to keep the stuff off the paint isn't a bad call. It's what I'm planning on doing when I finish off the Golf if it ever stops raining :-( I've never used the Wurth stuff, so can't really comment on how that compares. Hope that's some help.

Yes, add me please. Both sides.

Thanks for the feedback. It does genuinely only seem to happen under snow melt conditions - twice in the last couple of years. The last time water pooled under the rear seat squabs to the point where I had to take them out of the car to dry them. I've poured water into the sunroof channel and it all seems to drain out as per intended and comes out under the car. On the edge of the Peak here and we get proper rain, which doesn't seem to be an issue, just the bloody snow :-( I'm thinking of getting the roof liner redone soon, so will have a proper poke around then.

+1 - I'd definitely look at buying one of those if you brought it in.

Yep, it would have been nice it had come with a Schrick inlet manifold and some hot cams, say. Wasn't the idea that it sort of marked the end of the Corrado, rather than it was genuinely special in terms of spec. Was there anything extraordinary about the Scirocco Storm editons? My take would be that it only really matters if you decide it does. Otherwise it doesn't. Or something like that.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the pipes are in place - water drains just fine from the sunroof channels and comes out where it's supposed to. It really does just seem to be snow related, but I'll double check when I have time. No issues with normal, torrential, Peak District rain at all :-(

I'd agree that there's no inherent advantage to having a Storm, unless you can find someone prepared to pay a premium to own one. I bough mine mostly because I like the mystic blue colour on a Corrado, suits the car really well and kind of changes in direct sunlight. Solitudes suit the car too imo, but as has been said, look best with a modest drop. So, nothing really, but I kind of like mine. The first C I ever saw was dark blue and I think it kind of goes back to that.

Yeah, I know it's not topical in weather terms, but I'm wondering if anyone else finds they have problems with leaks which only happen when snow accumulations on the car thaw out. It's happened twice to me now and my theory is that maybe the sunroof drains freeze solid and when snow on the roof melts it then basically drains into the sunroof opening then spills into the car because the drain is still frozen. Any other conditions, the car's fine, but where heavy snow's involved, all bets are off. I'm starting to think the solution is maybe a partial cover to be put on when snow's forecast and off once it's gone, but I kind of wanted to sanity check my thinking first. Anyone else have the same problem?

I rode big, fast motorbikes for years - used to work as a magazine road tester - then finally learned to drive in my early 30s. First car was a 1.3 Polo Coupe S - pretty gutless, had the worst brakes of anything I've ever driven or ridden, too small. I don't know what I was thinking. I upgraded to a Mk2 GTi a year or so later. Oddly I quite liked the Polo and it was the start of my VW thing, but it wasn't really ideal, even after I'd lowered it and upgraded the brakes. It was an 'S' though... I did make me want a G40 for a while.

I think they still do them. They have an eBay shop, erm... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-Exhaust-Rubber-with-Built-in-Chain-ERSHD/370946786675?

Mostly, over the past few days, I have been feeding blackbirds in the backyard. Normally we get one or two, always singly. In blizzard conditions we had five of them, all at the same time and all eating pretty much non-stop. The Corrado has just been sitting there asleep and dreaming of spring. Once things calm down, I'll give it a good wash and wax and then roll on spring!

Tell me about it :-/ I'd settle for a year-round dry and sunny climate with dry, smooth roads and low traffic density though.