JasonB-70

Josh, more than happy with the arch I got from you. Good solid panel with no rust :grin: , getting the rest was wishful thinking on my part. The arch structure was the critical bit because it would be nigh impossible to fabricate from scratch or would have needed about 3 gallons of filler and days of rubbing down to shape it and cover up the mess. Once done, Frankenrado will be solid for a few more years with the inner arch and sill being the only give aways that work has been carried out. I think I have found where water was getting in between the panels. On my inner arch, looking up from the wheel towards the filler neck there is, should say was, a small hole through the underseal and the panel. I'm pretty certain, in cases of rot in that area, the filler boot can rub through the paint over time, any water splashed up there hangs in drops on the filler boot and slowly the rot begins. Once through, every puddle you hit sends water up the arch and on its way down drips round the filler boot and into the hole then running down inside the panel. That's the only hole I could find that went in between the panels. Taking with it dirt which clogged the drain in that back part of the panel. The sun roof drains are clear so I think that's how water got into the lower rear quarter but the sill has me stumped, I may never figure it out. Anyone got any theorys. Definetly advise you people to have a little looky next time you jet wash out your arches. Have a look with a torch to see if the underseal is still fully intact up behind the filler boot. Any underseal peeling away will hold the water up there and help it rust. kipVR - Love the 3.2 implant, don't think my rado is worth doing that to though :( If I ever get an excuse to transplant this VR engine into my mkII Golf then I might invest in a newer Corrado and do some mods. Fingys crossed I'll have my new garage built by the end of the summer, the missus will have her new big kitchen and we'll probably never see each other again (her words, not mine) except for eating and sleeping. Warmth, lighting, a bench with a big vice and a 2 post lift if I can get one. Then I can do some real work again. Driveway DIY sucks big time!!

WARNING - THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE NOT TO BE VIEWED BY CORRADO OWNERS OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION :pale: Book1.pdf1. Just A Small Hole - Easy Peasey.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] What started out as small hole at the bottom of the rear arch was the doorway to a much bigger world of problems once the bumper was removed... stromlaufplan_gamma4.pdf2. Then After The Bumper Came Off.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] ETKA Corrado.pdf3. Does Not Look So Easy Now.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! Oh well, s**t happens. We have the tools, we can rebuild you. You won't be pretty but you'll be tougher. Then when the bumper is back on you'll be hidden too, woohoo, bonus!! stromlaufplan_gamma4.pdf4. The Rebuild Begins.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] Corrado92.pdf5. Panel Seal It, Paint It, Refit Bumper Jobs A Goodun.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] Thanks to Josh (mariojoshi) for the quarter panel, shame it didn't have the rear structure still on it but it had the necessary inner arch material that is essential to this reconstruction. passat climatronic wiring diags.pdf6. The Donor Arch Trimmed To Fit.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdf7.First Trial Fit, We Progress, Inner Arch Good Too.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] Before the arch is fitted the sill work is being done whilst the gap is there at the arch to give better access and so the whole area can be flooded with sealer/waxoyl once all welding is complete along there. The seam where the floor and sill meet was a bit ropey so a piece of new angle was welded in to give the sill plate something strong to be welded to. 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdf8. New Sill Metal Needed Something Better To Secure To, New Angle Welded In Place.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] The MoT tester :hitler: won't be tapping his little hammer through this bugger at the retest 9. Front Part Of New Sill Welded And Ground Back Ready To Be Sealed And Stone Chipped.jpg[/attachment:2uczlhxv] Well that's about it so far. Weather stopped play today :( but hopefully a few good nights this week and it'll be pretty much done. Thanks to all of those that have left comments, I know your thoughts are with me :notworthy: Thanks

The reason for the TIG is to be able to run a much lower amperage and therefore reduce the amount of heat that is going into the job, less heat = less distortion. It's a bit like gas welding but with a tiny electric flame. You get a tiny pool of molten metal at the end of your torch, just like gas, and then run along the seam adding the filler rod as necessary. If I had a gas setup then I probably would use that but sadly I'm all electric. My background in the aero industry where TIG is extensively used especially on jet engine components where heat distortion could cost you hundreds of thousands in scrapped parts. You can weld just about anything with TIG from aluminium alloys to ferrous metals even copper sheet. With TIG you don't get that pidgeon s**t effect like you do when the MIG 'stutters' (for want of a better word). I choose when to add the filler rod instead of the MIG feeding it out the nozzle at a rate of knots whether it is arcing and melting or not. I will tack the arch in a dozen places to get everything where it needs to be and then, once I check my profile guages for correct positioning, fill in the gaps.The rest of the job has been MIG welded and ground back to make it look neater. If the TIG proves to be a pain after tacking the arch in place then i will drag the MIG out and do it that way. Then slap on the filler but if going slower means less distortion then that's the way it has to be.

Happy New Year All, Haven't had time to post for a while as I have been trying to get this monster job tamed. Huge amount of rusty metal cut out on the inner arch :-( which has to all be replaced. You can't weld onto s**t rusty metal and expect it to survive very long can you?? I sourced a cut off rear quarter with some inner arch still attached but sadly it was cut a bumper level at the back so masses of heating bending bashing and MIG welding to rebuild the lower quarter area where the bumper bobbins fit. The end is in sight for that area now, just got to match it to the profiles I copied from the left side and flipped over. Plywood, a router, some filler and clingfilm are much better than the profile gauges I tried first. Once the lip has been recreated and all sealed up it will be fit to fly, well the back part anyway. The arch will have to be TIG welded in to keep the distortion to a minimum, which will take me ages, better stock up on the gas bottles now!!! Then I have to try and recreate the back end of the sill, the curve, the lip and the endplate (part of inner arch originally). First attempts have been close but just not good enough :shrug: but once the arch and sill are solid it should make it easier to do, I hope. I was going to attach some photos but I haven't got them off of my camera yet, DOH!!! Maybe tomorrow...... Money is too tight to think about another car at the moment and what with the 205GTi and the 16v Golf on my drive already strip mining is not really an option, divorce would be more highly likely I got got a 4th car too.

I must have been lucky for once because when I scraped and then blasted the area around the filler today it was pretty much all surface rust. It has a few little dimples but no swiss cheese here :D several coats of Kurust went on straight away to seal it all up, Hammerite tomorrow. It's the amount of mud and other crud that is up behind there that annoys me. The back wheel basically picks up whatever it can and the throws it up into this nice little crap-trap that VW so kindly placed up there out of sight. Add a little bit of movement/vibration, the mud gets between the filler neck rubber and the panel and does a lovely grinding job on the painted edge which then lets the moisture get under the paint. I'm tempted to give that little orrifice a ruddy good powerwash then dry it out, empty half a can of stonechip aerosol paint up there and follow it with a generous squirt of expanding foam. That'll keep the shite oot!!! Got to check the breather routes first and what that little white plastic thingy does that is attached to the filler neck behind the panel. If you peel back your filler skin and stuff your finger in behind there it'll bring tears to your eyes :lol: .

Firstly thanks to VR6 (The mod) for not deleting my 1st post and making me stand in the corner for mis-behaving :nono: I got a bit carried away, sorry. Secondly, Toad, is this a real possibility? You have a second body with an arch that could be used? If so that would be brilliant. Let me know. My car had definetly had a blow over on the rear quarter way before I got it. I don't know if it was to cover the start of the rust or somebody had scraped it. I know now that there was a very thin layer of filler on the edge but no lumps filling damaged areas so rust is most likely. As for the filler surround, and any other rust spots/areas. I have a Clarke grit blaster that I am going to use to blast the rusty filler cap surround and then Kurust the heck out of it before giving it some rust resistant primer and several coats of protective paint before a final colour top coat. Hopefully that will keep any problems at bay for the next couple of years.

Wow, quick responses people, thanks. Just been out in the cold to do a cardboard template of the n/s rear arch to compare to a front wing. Sadly it is not as close as I might have hoped :( It is still a possibility though but it'll take some bashing/stretching in the right places to pull it in tight enough to achieve the radius. So before I go down that road hands up who has got a body with a 'good' rear arch that they would like to cut out for me in exchange for good ol' cash and the knowledge that they saved a dying Corrado? I'm based near Southampton and could travel to remove/collect it myself if you are not too far away. Come on people don't be shy :help: please? JB

Hi All, Quick intro... I have owned my 1994 VR6 C for 5 years. Bought with a number of 'issues' like heater matrix, CV joints, wheel bearings all needing attention. Paid a fair price compared to the 'going rate' at the time so did all the work myself to get it back up to scratch. Rebuilt the engine top end, replaced rings, replaced the timing gear, clutch, big ends 3 years ago. Ignored the little bubbling rust on the drivers rear arch, hmmmmm hindsight whatta tool . OK, on with the not so quick post... Had my annual Moment Of Truth (MoT) last week, failed on a split steering gaitor, easy fix, and a few rust holes as they are within 12inches of seatbelt mounting points. Thought it could all be patched up so no big panic...yet. I thought if I'm gonna do this and pay a sprayer to paint it, plus a few other little blemishes, I'm gonna do it right. So eliminate all the rusty metal back to good solid structure, make the patches, weld them in, flat back the welds, apply the fine surface filler and off to the sprayers easy eh? Well up to the point I got the angle grinder out with the wire brush on it I was pretty confident. 20 minutes later I am sitting on a cold driveway with a corrado that has a 2 inch gap between the under/inner body and the rear quarter panel all the way from the rear bumper over what's left of the arch and along the sill to the door pillar. Scrap it, don't scrap it......panic :pale: . See pic below What I need is a rear arch repair kit, or a gallon of petrol and a lighter according to my brother!!! Most of the shape of the arch is still there so I don't want a quarter panel replacement which is a big job. The sill is very plateable but reforming a new arch will be near to impossible to get right. I have 2 well 3 choices as I see it. 1 - Source an arch repair kit and fit it, hopefully someone on here can help find one :-) 2 - Find a shell and cut off of it the arch 'bulge' all the way round plus 2 inches of under arch for welding to or 3 - Scrap the car and next year drop the engine/box into my KONI modded MK2 Golf with KONI Fahrtronik suspension on it. As I don't have a garage at the moment the engine swap is not really feasible so options 1 & 2 are the way to go. I have searched all over the net for an arch repair kit but I keep finding myself back at the main stealers looking at a new rear quarter at almost 600 squid which I'm then gonna cut off 2 inches around the arch and ditch the rest, I think not. There has to be somewhere out there with a pattern arch kit, doesn't there???? :scratch: Can anyone help? Please? I did have one flash of brilliance, a front left wing, could it be cut down and used? New or 2nd hand it is much cheaper that a new 1/4 panel. I haven't measured radii etc yet so I don't know. All suggestions / comments welcome except 'Just scrap it dude!!' ofcourse Cheers, JasonB