knightrider

Have you sold this yet?

Update. Having driven the car to JMR Littlehampton with no real issues was pleased to learn the head gasket wasn't gone. In a subsequent phone call I was told that the head gasket was now gone and the car would not run. I was unable to discover why and what happened and what had been done to the car to cause this. I got a health check report and a bill for that (£168.00 which was fine). I asked for estimates, not quotes, for the extensive list of works required identified in the Health Check. The end target of these extensive works seemed to be to get it 'immaculate', like the ones you see up for £18k or so. That wasn't where I was going with a 189k miler. Just wanted a decent runner that I could drive daily if I wish. Which I tried to impress upon them. There were some extremely difficult conversations in which listening and understanding seemed in short supply. Never got the estimates. In fact was told such estimates would take a lot of work to sort out. Which is odd because I thought with the significant knowledge they have of Corrados it would be reasonably straightforward. Evidently not. Presume too much work? So without being able to budget for the items that could be done to get to my 'decent runner' requirement and as nothing seemed to be happening and because it was driveable but no longer appears to be driveable, I have had it removed and trailered back which cost about £160. So I've spent just over £300 and I've got a car sat outside that was a runner and now isn't. I leave you all to make your own deductions with regards to the efficacy of taking it to JMR.

This is the car with the potential head gasket issue (posted in another thread)that I took down (only 50 miles) to JMR - John Mitchell Racing in Littlehampton. There are numbers of jobs that need doing, apart from the coolant loss and rough running, one of which is to replace all the suspension bushes and joints . Very tired, 190,00 miles. I've asked for estimates so I can decide which jobs to do this time round and which I can leave for the moment. Whilst I'm happy to spend a fair bit of money, I'd like to have a rough idea what each 'job' will cost. I've intentionally not asked for quotes - thought that was unfair as you don't know what you'll find with a 24 y/o car. I don't want to go down the route saying "whatever you think needs doing and to whatever quality, just do it". That will be completely open ended and I will have no idea what the final bill will be. Aligning my 'target end point' needs agreeing. Do I want a nice driveable car that I can keep and gradually sort out over time (yes) or an immaculate completely refurbed, like new 'investors, store in a heated barn, concourse winning car (no). Apparantly the work for him to provide these ball-park estimates will be difficult and time consuming for him - spending time on the phone and on-line sourcing parts, calculating the number of hours labour involved and so on. Informed me of this in a phone call on Wednesday. So I thought I'd try and help him out by choosing one 'job' to provide him with at least the parts costs. Thanks for your responses so far, much appreciated. I've a feeling this may run a bit!! As per Geeba's post above, anyone got a full list of all the bushes/parts needed handy? And yup, I have in mind that the rear beam bushes need to be such that they provide the flexing/rear steering.

I want to replace ALL the bushes and the ball joints on my 1994 Corrado VR6. It's al;l pretty knackered so want to do the full monty. I want to keep it all 'OEM', dont want poly such as Powerflex. Which make does the job? Febi? And who would have all of them, where can I buy them?

Thanks Jim. Yes it'll cost a fair bit. But it'll be money spent 'going forwards' rather than the engine re-build which is kind of 'going backwards', in that it just gets you to where you should be in the first place. I'll post updates, assuming people would like top know, as JMR go along.

Update from last post nearly 3 months ago. Drove the car to John Mitchell Racing on Wed 8th Feb. 50 miles. I must admit driving down it didn't seem to me the head gasket HAD gone. Used a bit of water, half litre. No 'pressurising' in header bottle. Ran consistent temp (a bit low actually) except in the traffic you get on A27 in Worthing. Crawling, went up a bit. Turned on fans with override switch fitted and it came back down quickly. Rang JMR today 13th Feb. Good news all in all. Head gasket isn't gone. He 'stressed' it big time. Water leak from header bottle, needs replacing. Cap dodgy, not pressurising, needs replacing. Leak around thermostat, needs replacing. Will put full set of Samco on it. Oil was 2 litres down. He topped it up and top end went quiet, chain and tensioner good (stethescope). Oil leaks - oil cooler unions (bad, ****ing out), rocker cover gasket. Sump had some scrapes, needs a bit of welding, so new sump gasket. Deep joy really as the quote to rebuild the engine was £3,000. Was hunting on idle. ISV knackered. Needs replacing. I have one on a 1997 OBD2 Golf VR6 with 75,000 (the rolled one) - anyone know if that will work on the 1994 Corrado VR6? He said the car has obviously been v well maintauined over it's life - true. Floorpan is excellent. Needs full re-paint. No panels needed. Some usaeage dings. Lacquer peeled in places. Getting a quote from him/his body man. Suspension (188,000 miles) is knackered and needs replacing. All the bushes etc. should be replaced. He is keen to put a set of coilies on it (he is a coilie evangelist). KWs are his thing (or ST or AP which are made by KW). Not sure about coiliies. What other options might there be for simply springs and shocks? Don't think OE standard are available any more. Thoughts?? So it wasn't Options 1,2 or 3! Option 4 - spend and end up with a pretty nice Rado.

Couldn't got your link to load but John Mitchell said knackered chains sounds like running a spoon over a corrugated iron roof.

Hi All, update following more research and phone calls. Long chat with John at JMR yesterday. Also called VEGE who are big in refurbed engines. VEGE can do a complete 'long' fully refurbed AAA engine for £3,010+VAT plus £120+VAT to deliver and collect. It comes from a firm in Holland. It's 4 days work to swap the engines over(JMR). Means my car would have a brand new engine but no longer have matching numbers. So far this doesn't seem to be an issue with Corrados. I know from having messed with E Types in the past that matching numbers are holy grail. If you look at ads for any top class classics it is always mentioned. Knocks a shed of money off their value if they don't have them. According to John, as Corrados move from being 'enthusiasts' cars to 'investors', cars having matching numbers will become more important. His customers are already changing in this respect. I agree. As per GlosterOx's post John says the bottom ends of the AAA engine are designed and engineered to do way more than 200,000 miles. So my 190,000 miles shouldn't be a problem ref bores and so on. Heads are a problem. As posts, he suggests get the head off and have a look. An issue with the head is that the tolerances are so tight that 'skimming' if it's warped is potentially tricky/not an option. Probably go this route, as most of you have kindly suggested. And I think JMR are the guys to use as he knows these engines backwards. Incidentally he reckons the chains are usually OK. The 'shoe' tensioner wears (still available). As I'm sure most of you know getting at that is a further mission as box has to come off plus all the covers etc. Sprockets are NLA. My chains sound OK. Has anyone had a refurbed engine from VEGE?

GlosterOx, good call. Yeah I'd thought about JMR. Took the car there in April 2011 when I first got it. He healthchecked it (2 hours), serviced, did wipers and headlights, changed rad, other bits and pieces. Very, very knowledgeable guy that's for sure. Littlehampton isn't that far from me. I'm in north of E Sussex, near Forest Row. It's about 50 miles, just over an hour. I'm lucky to have someone like John Mitchell quite near. Should be able to make it with a big bottle of coolant in the car! I'll call him tomorrow, see what he thinks. I'm worried about 'fixing' an engine with so many miles on it. He'll have an informed point of view and be able to advise for sure. I'd really like to put the Golf VR engine in. no doubt he could do that. Question is - how much!

I think from your first post - no VR6 engine? Is it available?

Have you sold the engine? As posted recently, head gasket gone on 190,000 miler (maybe oval bores?). Thinking replacing whole engine with a lower miler might be the best bet.

Thanks for replies. Mark2, agree, wouldn't break it myself. Maybe give it to someone to do it. Maybe for a small commision to me? Any thoughts as to which of the VR6 specialists could do the Golf VR6 transplant? Yes, ages ago I saw the thread about that transplant. I'll have to have a look for it. And also believe it is a 'better' engine. I also read somewhere that the OBD2 golf engines actually develop about 190bhp, not 170ish. Apparently at the time people were having trouble insuring the Golfs so VW didn't bother to change the 'published' bhp. No idea if this is actually true. Driven a later Golf 2.8 VR6 and it did feel a bit smoother and more modern than the Corrado 2.9

Corrado VR6 1994 190,000 miles. Was losing coolant and diagnosed as head gasket gone. 'Sniff Test' at local VWAudi specialist shows this. I'm not a DIYer so wondering what best options are. Option 1 - write it off and break for spares. All the things that need doing/go wrong have been dealt with over time. Wipers, headlight upgrade, sunroof, heater matrix. It's dragon green with black leather. It has a resonted milltek and BMC CDA85 silver induction kit. Otherwise car and suspension standard. 2 x sets of original Corrado alloys, one set with winters. Option 2 - Replace head gasket If so, what else should I do at the same time. For some reason the local VW specialist doesn't want to do it. In Sussex. Where is good place to get it done? It still drives. I'm told that at this mileage the bores could have gone 'oval' and, if so, reboring isn't really an option. Find a complete replacement engine and transplant it? Option 3 - Replace with Golf VR6 engine Mate has a late 1997 Golf VR6 OBD2 75,000 miles. It was rolled about 5 years ago and has been stored under cover at a nearby farm since. Perfect service history, ran perfectly before the 'accident'. I understand that it is possible to transplant this engine into the Corrado, albeit the engine management and electrics are different and other mods would be needed. How feasible is this? Is it difficult? A mission? What would need to be changed? The Golf rolls and can be trailered to wherever it gets done. Again, any advice on who/where this could be done? Is it worth it? Any other options? I love the Rado and really don't want to scrap it.

Thanks robrado974. Is that on here or more widely on google?

As title. Any know the VW part number for front fogs? If so, can you please post. Thanks.