James.

Before and after on the wheels. Slight difference 🙂. Landed some of my favourite Harley wax this week, so thought it prudent to try it on for size. Sun was shining today, so after leaving it in the sun to get soft ‘n’ sticky, I finished up fitting the last of the acoustic “treatment”. Finished off adjusting the moonroof and taking a few shots for the folder. Has to go back once it has an MOT for corrections but lovely to see it coming together. Next up, interior 😎

Yeah, cheers I did that years ago. Soldered in a jumper cable between the aerial mast and the coax (VW in their infinite wisdom supplanted the amplified circuitry inside a piece of water permiable foam, which is why the reception is shocking at best) This is more of a wholesale replacement. But thanks for the heads up. Long term looking at going DAB, with what will look like a powered aerial setup. Lord only knows how I retro fit one of these. Maybe it’s time to make the change ?

It’s okay, I worked in the bike industry for 14 years, so am au fait with the nic knackery of “the cycle game”. Terminology gets lost in translation sometimes. The piece wood cracked me up though. All this money we spend on cars, and a piece of timber solves a problem. Genius. I’ll shoot some pictures in the sun tomorrow (weather permitting). Just itching to get the rear qtr windows in !

That's a great idea, and thanks for the images. What's the small anchor/nut/bolt behind the trumpet referred to (Belt and braces is not a bad thing in Corrado world) ? Also the piece of wood. Am I missing a tensioning trick ?

I'm trying to source a new aerial as the one I have is buckled after I had the roof bars on and some timber press down on it 🙁. Thing is, I'm struggling to get a replacement. The one fitted currently, has a female fitting on the aerial, and all the ones I see on ebay are the other way round. Anyone out there been in the same situation and have a solution and/or know where to obtain a new unit ? Here's the one I have:

Cheers Hasan. I have to tip my cap in your general direction regarding the soundproofing. Yes, I've used a panel damplifier @ about 50% coverage. But also added it to any items that have a "tinniness" to them. Then added a decoupler @ 10mm thickness. Followed by some open cell foam where space allows. Because of the thickness and weight, the only space I could get the perfect situation was the floors. But I have the door / rear cards off to see if there's opportunity to load them up on the reverse. The doors certainly close with a thud rather than clunk now 😎. The flocking is pretty straightforward in principal, but very frustrating if you were to follow the supplied instructions. It's not a large open piece (like a dashboard) so wasn't too precious about the result. First time I did it, I followed the instructions to the letter, and the glue ended up drying before I had chance to get round the piece. Lesson learned, but I put a thick coating on the second time and went round twice with the flock "puffer". I then left it in the potting shed where it's warm and not likely to be interfered with. After a couple of days, I went back to it and removed the low tack masking tape: I'll get a shot of the wheels this afternoon in the sun (very happy with them) as I'm going to adjust the handbrake cable. The bike brake cable fitting is a great idea. I'm going to revisit the bracket sooner rather than later, as I'm not happy with the cable fouling it. Was it a bicycle brake adjuster like this :

As is the way when new paint arrives, it makes all the other parts look a little... meh ! So it’s set to have the door handles and scuttle trim painted black by the bodyshop. New windscreen fitted last week and that all went well. Had the wheels refurbed by a company in Burscough called Spectrum coatings. They had the lathe remove the ten years of curbing and finished them with new coats of paint and lacquer. The service was superb. Whilst with them, they fitted some new Vredstein Ultracs in a 205 45 16 for the front pair. I’ve been a long time user/fan of Uniroyal rainsports, but fancied a change. The Ultracs have a better energy rating and a lower DB figure. Talking of noise reduction, I’ve wanted to add an acoustic treatment for a few years, but it never made sense and couldn’t warrant it time wise till now. With this in mind, I used a combination of 2mm deadening sheets and 10mm insulation foam from Silent coat. Trouble is, it’s that long since I drove the car, I can’t remember exactly what it was like before 🙄. Sure it’ll be great. Riveted the NOS bonnet pin shrouds to the slam panel and set about adjusting the cable. What an ordeal 😳. Took me the best part of a morning to get right. And just as I did ... SNAP. The clip retaining the outer housing broke. Crumbs, I’d better fashion a bracket up or else I’m stuffed. Turns out one off a Landy fits. Ah well, you get so used to parts being obsolete, I tend to not even look for them anymore🙄. Lastly was the sunroof. It’s a glass unit from a Passat, it’s performed faultlessly over the time I’ve had it, but the seal has lost its fur. As you can imagine a new seal is unavailable. It’s at that point I remembered a job I completed a number of years ago (but on a small tray/coin holder for piece of furniture). Flocking. I bought a small flock kit and after some trial and error gave the old seal a new lease of life. It’s come out rather well I thought 🙂. Booked in for an MOT on the 4th. Just enough time to free off the rear brakes and fit the rear qtr windows. I hope...

Good luck with the sale. Someone’s getting a well cared for car there. But you’ll be back, they always are 😉

I’ve just bought and fitted (this week from Camskill) Vredstein Ultrac in a 205 / 45 / 16 for the 16 x 7J Borbet C fitted to the 8v: https://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s344p0/Car_Tyres_-_MPV_Tyres_-_People_Carrier_Tyres_-_16_inch_R16_inch_-_205_45_16_205_45R16 I’ve run Uniroyal rainsport for what feels like forever, and have always been very happy with them. I just fancied a change. They have a better energy rating and also a lower decibel figure. The reviews were also very positive. Added to the recent acoustic treatment of the 8v, I’m looking forward to a slightly quieter cabin. As an aside, the recess / kerbing lip is slightly more pronounced. But not offensive. I’ve just had the wheels refurbished, so I see this as nothing but a helpful feature.

Brilliant, I can’t wait to see this. Looks like weather behaved as well 🙂.

I used some soft foam on one of mine. Springs back and doesn’t squeak.

It was available as part of a Sky subscription, but as it’s now owned by Disney+, it seems to be getting hawked around. I would have liked to see the programme “live”, but happy to settle for seeing it at a later date on youtube etc 😎

Definitely not OE. Redundant tracker ? It’s not ticking is it 😳

Nice. Just as others have said, easy to live with, easy to work on (all that space in the engine bay is a blessing at times), but be cautious with parts (lights especially) as parts are getting hard. Fun to drive and rarer (by some way) than a Storm. What’s not to like 🙂. I had Estorils on my first Corrado. They had diamond cut faces ( they were an option at the time) and looked great. Having run mine everyday for ten years, I’d recommend changing the wiper arms/blades to aero type. As the standards are hopeless. Lupo GTI or Audi TT is the way to go. You may also benefit from an upgraded headlight loom as well. There’s loads of replacement/upgraded parts available. Lastly, stick the MPG setting on the clocks and see what you can get up to on a long drive. 47.7mpg before you ask 😎.

I swear down when I saw what it had done to all the other items in the roof space, I felt sick thinking about the leather interior I have sat up there 😞. Alright, it’s in a well used condition, but so far all seems ok 🙂.

The way parts are now, not as much as I’d like. I really should have had better foresight and hoarded more. Hey ho 😞. 90mm spoiler - 10 years Battery cover - 12 years Bonnet foam - 12 years Various bolts / nic naks from Germany. Bought some door striker pins last week for the 8v. Found a set in the boot of the VR 🙄. Along with door to jamb foams, bonnet pin / slam panel plastic shrouds and other forgotten about trinkets.

Welcome fellow 8v owner 🙂. Are you engine code 2E or ADY ? (just curious). We like pictures round here. Feel free to share.

They’re buried in the roof of the garage under the 8v interior at the moment. Are you in a rush ? As I may have a spare glove box cover as well, but I’ll have to check.

On my glovebox, VW covered the recess and then trimmed the rest. They use a process called skiving to taper the adjoining edges of the material. Granted mine is leather and may lend itself better to the process (as it’s thicker) , but may be worth a try. If it’s thin material then machine stitching is a lot easier than you think. The use of a french seam would also help with the visual appearance of the end product.

281k is brilliant. Hope I can get to that one day.

Strange you mention that (not the usual thread of conversation is it🙂). We live backing onto fields, so have grown up with mice, but the last twelve months has seen them chew/eat practically anything. I’ve never had them in the garage until late last year. They’ve eaten their way through my home brew and camping gear, all the caps from my stash of screen wash, foam from my bike rack, leather from a spare (mint) steering wheel, and get this, the plastic petrol cap to my lawn mover (right through it). And don’t even get me started on what they’ve done through the house ( Pricks ate all my Ibuprofen last month !). The common theme has always been that they’ve mostly nibbled/eaten where there’s been human physical touch with an item (residual finger grease perhaps ?). I’m wearing gloves round the clock from now on 😄

There was a spate of cars/bikes being shipped abroad (Poland for one) a number of years back. And whilst I’m not abdicating such action, it does ask the question whether this would be a workable solution in the coming years. If you’re capable/willing to strip and scuff the car, perhaps a generous saving can be made ? But it does appear that there is (along with many other businesses) a backlog of work within the car repair industry, leading to those quick turnaround insurance jobs being at the top of the pile. With the rest of the jobs having to wait in line. Maybe reach out to other local classic owners/clubs and see who they recommend. There’s garages out there that do work on full cars, it’s just finding and catching them at the right time that’s the issue.

Looks great from here. Serious question though: do you prefer looking at it or driving it ? Once you get into restoring the car, driving it can fill you with fear when you realise how rare parts can be to replace (again) along with the amount of personal time and sacrifice needed to finish it. I've just had my daily 8v painted (which has been loooonng overdue), but I'm not going to let it get in the way of me enjoying it on a day to day basis. T'other one I have is a different story. But that's just because I've spent sooo much time getting to where it is now.. Sat in the garage under a dust cover. Where in the UK are you ? as it seems full hit prices differ wildly across our fair isle.

So what did she say ?

That's the next job 😎 Thanks Hasan. you've been a great help already. My working theory is to apply the acoustic treatment whilst there's nothing inside the car. Get it Mot'd and drive it around to see what the noise is like as I'm adding layers. Adding the interior will hopefully be the icing on the cake. Many thanks for the advice. Probably best to buy some of the products I've been reading up on and see where it leads me. This company looks thorough if anyone else is thinking of attempting something similar: https://www.deadening.co.uk/pages/advice