Mystic Rado's mystic 'rado...

[Mystic Rado 0]

I thought it was about time that I started a gallery for my Corrado. It''s a Storm, a mystic blue one with about 92,000 miles on the clock. Improbably I've owned it for over a year now and he's lovely, but somewhat temperamental and has been running through the whole repertoire of classic VR6 misdemeanours - so far that means he's killed a tensioner pulley, sun roof, coilpack, battery and radiator usually at the least convenient possible moment. You gotta love 'em...

 

Generally though it's in fairly good nick, bar a somewhat ho hum sort of respray, which is on the list of things to sort out this year. I wasn't really too bothered about the whole Storm thing, but the colour's amazing, sort of anywhere between twinkly purple in the - rare - Peak sunshine through to much darker blue when it's moody and murky. Can't wait to get it resprayed and replace the roof strips / aerial base so he's back to pristine condition inside and out.

 

When I first got the car, it was running on Konis and Eibachs, but the steering felt kind of stodgy and lethargic in comparison to my tweaked Mark 2. Ended up putting on H&R coilovers - bought from Germany - which made a big difference just running about 40mm drop I think, which looks right too - no frightened cat impressions here thanks. What really sorted the handling was a rear Neuspeed anti-roll bar which just sharpened everything up and feels spot on to me.

 

Only other mods are an uprated wiring loom with better bulbs - made it myself and highly recommended if you like being able to see where you're going. I did try an HID kit for a bit, but the beam pattern was awful with light all over the place, the halogens are so much nicer. Got some 288mm front brakes waiting to go on once the calipers have been refurbed and Samco hoses on order to be fitted along with a Gruvenparts billet crackpipe and radiator elbow. Given that it's still probably on the original bushes, it could probably use a suspension / steering / rear beam re-bush as well, but things are pretty good as is.

 

Doh, forgot the Dieselgeek quick shift which made a massive difference. It's basically a modified standard shift with an additional side movement reducer fitted as well. Now feels more positive and less like a rowing boat and one of the best things I've done to him :)

 

Shamefully I don't actually have many pics, but here's a frontal to get it started

Edited September 11, 2015 by Mystic Rado

[Rob_G60 0]

looks good of what we can see

 

Get some more pics up :)

[Mystic Rado 0]

looks good of what we can see

 

Get some more pics up :)

 

Cheers, just need to take some - maybe if it ever stops bloody raining :?

[Rick 0]

Looks nice mate, you're right about the colour amazing how much it changes. My friend has a Mystic Blue VR Golf and no matter how much we polish it, it doesn't flip nearly as much as mine does :scratch:

[Mystic Rado 0]

Hmm, that took a while. A few more pics of my Storm plus one of my new-ish Mk2 GTi. Plans? Er, I have some 288mm calipers to go on the 'rado, just need a decent refurb. The Mk2 is getting the TSR Pack-C cylinder head, cam and manifold plus Jetex off my old, dead, Mk2 and probably a 1900cc bottom end.

 

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[Mystic Rado 0]

Wow, it's been, erm, a while since I updated this, five years even. Life got in the way and the Storm got sort of marginalised. Oh, and some ******* jumped on the bonnet a couple of years ago putting a terminal dent in it. The good side of that was that it finally spurred me into doing something about the 5/10 paint job, something being a glass out, bare metal respray and a lot of new trim.

 

The car went into my local paintshop almost a year ago and, again, life and mostly moving house and building work after the move got in the way again, to the point where it didn't re-emerge until almost ten months later. Oops, I felt guilty, the paint guys felt guilty, but it was totally worth the wait. The original paint job got more horrible the closer you got to the car, the paint now looks pretty much perfect.

 

I've also got a whole bunch of images and a couple of videos from the prep and spray process. Apparently everything was sound under about 50 layers of poor paint bar a small patch of rot on the passenger door which was cut out and repaired. On the trim side, most of the hard plastics were returbed and look great, but I had a couple of roof trim strips set aside, so they've gone on.

 

Other stuff: the wheels are now screaming out for a refurb and one of them is either porous or not sealing properly plus I reckon the tyres have flat-spotted from sitting around. Plus the siren on the annoying Clifford Concept 300 has died again - I have a replacement ready to go on once the car's back from being MOT'd. Also sat here is one of the Grüvenparts short shift kits which may or may not help with a slightly woolly shift at the first/second end of the gate, we'll see.

 

I guess realistically, the Corrado is almost going to take second place to my bikes - pedal-powered ones - but I love driving the thing and can't wait to get it back on the road. It's never going to be a show car, just one for driving on sunny days and weekends.

 

New tyres? The nasty steering flutter and vibration says yes, probably four of the things. Standard Solitudes and wondering about either Conti Premium Contacts or Bridgetone RE002s, which seem to get good reviews on the VR6.

 

Still haven't refurbed those 288mm brakes yet - I have the hoses - for them and I have a bit of a yearning for a Schrick manifold, but I'm finally happy with the way the car looks and slightly skint, the two not being unrelated.

 

Anyway, will post some process pics in the next few weeks and some proper shots of the car outside. Next post due in around 2020 on past form...

 

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Edited September 11, 2015 by Mystic Rado

[easypops 8]

Looks great, it takes me years to do updates too :lol:

[Mystic Rado 0]

So... since I got the car back from the paintshop, it's been in for MoT. Dodgy ignition switch in process of replacing plus a leaking rear damper on my H&R coilovers. A few months on google later and I work out that Bilstein UK in Leicestershire can apparently refurb them at around 80 quid per corner as the H&R dampers are mostly modified Bilsteins, allegedly. Anyway, the leaking one is heading off to be refurbished, after which it can get MoT'd and back on the road.

 

Also need to collect my spare Solitude from being refurbished so it can replace the one on the front that appears to be porous, which can then in turn be refurbed and used to replace one of the rear ones and so on... and then there's the small matter of the tyres which I reckon have flat-spotted from standing around in one one place for too long, which would explain the vibration. Bugger.... I'm thinking new Bridgestones and more regular driving in future.

 

And then I need to sort that bloody siren out, again :|

[Mystic Rado 0]

Oh joy... months later. So... turns out that H&R monotube coilovers actually use Koni technology, but what no-one will tell you and you cannot find on the web is that you can actually buy replacement dampers from H&R. They won't sell direct, but Eurocarparts, who are the UK importer for H&R can order for you. A replacement rear damper is going to cost around £140 delivered, which is a lot cheaper than changing the suspension set-up all round. Only downside is that it's going to take three weeks for the damper to be manufactured and sent out. Neve mind...

 

Also, in the mean time, a Gruvenparts gear change link thing is going on which'll hopefully sort out the reluctance of the gearshifter to find first - the original plastic one, I think, is goosed - and who knows, I might even fit those Samco hoses that are sat in the cellar.

 

At this rate it'll be back on the road just in time for next winter. I am a very bad Corrado owner :|

[Mystic Rado 0]

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Just about time for my annual post - the car's looking good after a thorough wash and wax. The H&R coilover damper turned up a couple of weeks after ordering. Oh, and the Gruvenparts shifter link thing completely sorted the gear-change issues, not least because the original VW plastic part was pretty much in two pieces, ooops... Now nice and tight and precise. I also stuck some of those alloy billet replacement bushes on the shifter bracket mount - don't know if it made any difference at all, but it's dead easy to do, so what the hell.

 

The Samco hoses are still sat in the cellar. And the red Mk2 is still the daily. Recently got a new Jetex backbox under warranty when the tailpipes fell off - what's amazing about that, is that I bought the system in 2002. Top service.

 

Back in another six months or so...

Edited December 4, 2016 by Mystic Rado

[mic_VR 3]

Love this thread, and the car looks amazing.

 

Is it in regular use now?

[Mystic Rado 0]

Cheers mate :-) Yeah, though it gets used mainly as a weekend car. The Mk2 does the practical stuff, partly because I properly hate leaving the Storm in any sort of public car park. The upside to that is that the Corrado still feels special when I do get out in it.

 

Mostly I'm pretty happy with it the way it is, but in an ideal world I'd fit a Schrick,manifold, a 288mm brake upgrade and get hold of some spare headlights and retrofit some HID projectors into them.

 

I love the way this place has everything through from bog-standard, through mildly modified to cars like yours with some proper serious changes. Always something to make you think. I really ought to fit those bloody Samco hoses though, I keep forgetting they exist...

[Mystic Rado 0]

Definitely not going out in this...

 

 

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[spen 0]

You need a garage!

[Mystic Rado 0]

Tell me about it :-/

 

I'd settle for a year-round dry and sunny climate with dry, smooth roads and low traffic density though.

[blue95 0]

Nice clean example!

[seanl82 23]

It's nice and warm in my heated garage. Just saying..............

 

 

 

:twisted:

[GrahamU 6]

It's nice and warm in my heated garage. Just saying..............

 

 

I had a snow day, went in the garage, fired up the space heater, it lasted 10mins and ran out of gas, so I went back in the warm house :)

[Mystic Rado 0]

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!