Whitedog's VR6 - No. 2

[Whitedog 0]

Well, as some of you may have noticed i'm back after being away from the forum for nearly 2 years, and a lot has changed. I've now got twin boys, was made redundant from a well paid job and managed to get a job that doesn't pay so well, and i got rid of my mint low mileage flash red vr.......

 

....this is where this story begins. I always regretted getting rid of it and it wasnt long after that i started pining for another corrado, although this time i was gonna do it properly....ie. have it as a second car.

In the past trying to run a vr rado as a daily was just too expensive, but this way round i could do everything at my own pace and throw money at it when it was there.

 

So i got on ebay one drunken night and the next morning i had discovered i had bought a flash red 1993 vr blind, thats right, i hadnt even viewed it. Well the pics looked good and i got it for £1020, t+t'd. It was another auto but i didnt worry about this.

 

So i went and picked it up and this is it the morning after.....it seemed like quite a good buy, mint interior, clean bodywork and it drove without any problems at all.

 

 

Myself and a friend then decided to remove all the old alarms (x3) and imobilisers and was left with this pile...

 

 

Now after removing all this junk the auto box decided it wasnt going to play ball anymore and went into limp mode. This was just the problem i was waiting for so before i knew it i had started collecting the bits to do the auto to manual conversion.

 

 

And so it began....

 

 

 

My mate Paul helping...

 

 

And its out...!!

 

 

Box off

 

 

At this point i was talked into carrying out an engine rebuild, so i agreed, spent a lot of money on all the bits and cracked on.

 

One worn chain guide..... :shock:

 

 

Hole for clutch master cylinder

 

 

Out with the old, in with the new...

 

 

 

Now at this point i seemed to not have taken any photos of the progress for some time as not a lot happened in the following 18 months (well except kids and redundancy)

 

But earlier this year (2010) we decided to have a final push to see if we could get it back in and running. So this is it in, but not running....confused and trying to figure out why.

 

 

After some help (thanks Fla and the guide) i was confronted with this...... :shock: :scratch:

 

 

Finally it worked, one running engine, two very happy chappys (me on the left)

 

 

Thought i would brighten it up a little with a can of left over hammerite

 

 

Getting there

 

 

And as it stands tonight, all done and back together :D :clap:

 

 

 

 

Theres still a few things to sort out like the reverse light wiring, and i've been told the speed sensor wiring, but at the minute i am one happy chap who cant stop smiling :grin:

 

I'm never getting rid of her now, not after going through all that :lol:

[Philuk 0]

looking good man. how has the hammerite held out on the manifold or you not had chance to find out properly yet?

[coullstar 0]

Good job. Bargin as well.

[Whitedog 0]

looking good man. how has the hammerite held out on the manifold or you not had chance to find out properly yet?

 

Cheers phil, its been a long old process but its well worth it now to hear her ticking over again.

 

Seems to be ok, although i havent had it running for longer than about half hour at a time at the minute. PITA to keep clean though :lol:

 

My mate has done his with black hammerite and is holding up very well.

 

Good job. Bargin as well.

 

Cheers. Thats what i thought too.....got plenty of plans for it but it seems like a very good base car for the money.

 

Are they intergrale rims on your red one in your sig??? They look nice.

[OllieVR6 0]

It came with strange wheels for a VR. White - brave but looks awesome! Nice one! I will look forward to seeing what's next.

[Whitedog 0]

It came with strange wheels for a VR. White - brave but looks awesome! Nice one! I will look forward to seeing what's next.

 

 

Yeah, think the lad threw the mk3 ones on shortly before selling it. i have a reciept from a breakers for them. They went to a friend who buckled one of his, so i picked up the p/pots quite cheap for the time being. I like them, and they are near perfect, and they'll just be a winter rim in the long term.

[KADVR6 0]

hi mate, bet it feels well nice to finally get it all running :) manifold looks cool by the way.

 

karl

[fla 9]

well done on the conversion! How long did it take you btw? I also had help (from Zak) doing mine. Always good to have two perspectives on this kind of job. So there are now officially two nutjobs on the forum :)

[Whitedog 0]

hi mate, bet it feels well nice to finally get it all running :) manifold looks cool by the way.

 

karl

 

Cheers Karl, yeah its nice to hear a vr ticking over on my drive again, and after the rebuild it just sounds so smooth, looking forward to taking it for good blast once its all been ran in.

 

Manifold was just a quick tidy up, really pleased with how its come out, will probably get it powder coated white eventually for that harder wearing finish.

 

well done on the conversion! How long did it take you btw? I also had help (from Zak) doing mine. Always good to have two perspectives on this kind of job. So there are now officially two nutjobs on the forum :)

 

Cheers, i started it about 18 months ago, but had to stop when i got made redundant shortly after...but if you have all the bits i reckon you could do the conversion in a weekend. The conversion was the easy bit really, the full rebuild was what i didnt have a clue about, but help from friends has taught me alot. Yeah you can never have enough help and advice on jobs like this. Think it certainly helps to be a nut.

 

Have you informed dvla about your swap?

[mattnorgrove 0]

Looking good mate! 8)

 

Good work on the conversion, doesn't look a small job!! :nuts:

[Whitedog 0]

Looking good mate! 8)

 

Good work on the conversion, doesn't look a small job!! :nuts:

 

Cheers Matt

 

The conversion is ok, the rebuild was all new to me. Its fairly simple once your shown what to do, just nuts and bolts at the end of the day, just make sure you've got the torque settings right :shock:

 

Its still daunting when it fires up for the first time, but all was good. :grin:

[fla 9]

Its still daunting when it fires up for the first time, but all was good. :grin:

 

You're not wrong there! I honestly didnt think mine would start, but its actaully quite a simple engine withoout 1001 sensors and computer systems to control everything. Plus as you've said, some invaluable help from the forum helps cure most issues.

[Whitedog 0]

Right, done a bit more tonight, as well as a bit of spraying for my mk3, got myself a loom clip for my reverse light switch, just need to know where to wire it into now.

 

Does anybody who has either already done this conversion, or is incredibly clever, know which wires i have to connect my RLS loom to. This is the leftover loom from the auto box. Now i'm guessing the centre one of the three (2 wires yellow/white) was the auto reverse light switch loom? Do i just splice into this? Is it that simple?

 

 

 

Also, it says on the guide that i need to replace the accelerator cable as the two are different. Can anyone fill me in on this, my auto one seems to work fine, why does it need replacing.?

 

Cheers all.

[Whitedog 0]

Well, did a bit more tonight. Picked up the pipe that goes from the brake master to the clutch master today, fitted it when i got home then got the wife to help me bleed the clutch. After ten minutes and getting nowhere i went round to check the pedal only to realise she'd been pumping the pedal then releasing it when i cracked the nipples, so i had no pressure built up at all....doh. :bonk: Once i'd informed her of the correct proceedure (again) we got it bled in no time.

 

Fired her up and threw it into first , and away she did crawl (about 3 foot on my drive). Threw her into reverse and low and behold, she went backwards....ace. :notworthy:

 

Well now that she could drive the urge was too strong, so i took her for a quick spin around the block.......purely to free up the brakes a bit :lol:

 

Wow, it drives mint, much better than i remember. Engine was so smooth, and the gear change was effortless. One chuffed bunny. Brakes squealed a bit though, think they'll need stripping down and cleaning up.

 

But overall i'm well pleased, only got a handful of jobs left now and i can throw it in for an mot, hopefully aiming for the end of may :clap:

 

1 mile down.....999 to go.....

[Jonny777 0]

Good work matey. :)

 

But i think the entire forum could have a party in your arches. :lol: :tongue:

[Whitedog 0]

Good work matey. :)

 

But i think the entire forum could have a party in your arches. :lol: :tongue:

 

 

Ha ha, trust me i know, thats the next thing on my list to buy, just need to sell some bits on ebay to fund it.

 

Can wait to see the transformation then. Standard ride height is just ridiculous :shock:

[Jonny777 0]

I don't even think the word ridiculous sums up standard VR6 height. :lol:

 

Look forward to seeing it lower then!

[Whitedog 0]

Yeah, watch this space.

[mattnorgrove 0]

Good stuff mate, I bet chuffed ain't the word!!

 

Loving that too manifold btw!

[Whitedog 0]

Good stuff mate, I bet chuffed ain't the word!!

 

Loving that too manifold btw!

 

 

Cheers matt, yeah just a little :lol: :lol:

 

looks alright for a rattle can job, really need to do the rocker cover now though.

[robrado974 1]

nice work this well done mate :)

[Whitedog 0]

Well yesterday i had a go at wiring up my reverse lights. Spent an hour outside only for them not to work....gutted to say the least, so today i've had a good think whilst at work and this evening went back out there and within 15 minutes....hey presto...working lights. :clap: :notworthy: :clap: i'm chuffed to bits as thats the conversion all finished now. Just need to get a bonnet release cable and fit that and then i can start prepping her for the mot. Although i've had a good look and can only see 1 drop link needing changing. I'll get them and replace both sides being as they are cheap.

 

Even better news is i've had a bonus at work this month so tomorrow i can finally get some coilovers ordered....woo hoo. :clap:

 

So give it a week and watch this space, and prepare to be amazed, i'll no longer keep getting nose bleeds whenever i sit in her.

[Whitedog 0]

Coilies on order, just waiting for them to arrive...like a kid at crimbo.

 

Also ordered a pair of drop links so i'll whip them over at the same time. May order some new top mounts too depending on what condition they are in when they come off.

 

cant wait to see the difference.

[Whitedog 0]

Today, well tonight, i stripped out the wet carpet in preparation for tracking down the leak. Looks as if its coming from the area of the foliage grill seal. This would also make sense as the clip was off the grill, so a good seal is not gonna be achieved. Think i'm also gonna check the sunroof seals and door skin membranes too.

 

Gotta love soaking wet original sound deadening....good for nothing now. Think i'm gonna get some of the acoustic sound deadening, and then place some decent waterproof underlay on top to give it some spongyness for when the carpet goes back in. Need to hire a carpet cleaner now too.

 

PS. also found the obligatory broken glass under the carpet...

 

PPS. coilies still arent on.....aiming to get the car back on the road at the start of april, so gonna fit them next year once the winter is out the way, pointless having them sitting on it through the winter if its not being used.

[fla 9]

Stu? Hang on to the black heavy layer of the sound deadening - remove the sodden foam, fit some new stuff and then use the black blocker on top. It'll help with noise reduction.