Somersetdub's Aqua Blue VR6

[seanl82 23]

I can vouch got how good this car is! A travesty to loose a member who has been so meticulous in all work carried out on this, but an absolutely perfect one (imo) for any potential buyer.

[somersetdub 0]

Thanks Sean, I'm not fully decided yet, but I can feel my feet getting itchy!

I need to decide on a price too, which may sway me against selling as i probably want more for it than it's worth potentially.

How's yours doing now Sean?

[chazrad 0]

Hi there, Would be sad to see you leave Corrado ownership after recording such a great refurb. I have only just stumbled upon this thread for the first time, which is a shame given our reg numbers are one digit out (mine is L11 VRG). Would be good to get the cars photo'd together and I am only in Warminster too. Interested also to see what you think the car is worth should you finally decide to sell. If you do, let's hope the car goes to another enthusiast who will cherish it as you have done.

Charlie

[clumpy1 11]

I am contemplating selling this car soon... I love the car and have enjoyed driving and working on it, but feel like a change, current thinking is an Audi TT QS or an S3.

NNNNNNNNoooooooooooo :suprised: Don't you dare ;)

[seanl82 23]

Thanks Sean, I'm not fully decided yet, but I can feel my feet getting itchy!

I need to decide on a price too, which may sway me against selling as i probably want more for it than it's worth potentially.

How's yours doing now Sean?

 

 

I know what you mean Theo. I hear 6.5k is the new buzz word............ would be worth every penny too!

 

Engine is back in and running on mine now. I'll be getting the head I got from you refurbed in a few months. Just gotta put the bonnet on now, and finish the interior which should all be done by the end of the weekend hopefully.

[somersetdub 0]

If I could get 6.5k I'd be a happy man!

 

Glad to hear yours is getting there Sean, bet you're looking forward to driving it again.

[somersetdub 0]

Charlie- yes we should get the cars together, I'm up for meeting up sometime :)

[somersetdub 0]

Feeling pretty pleased with the latest addition to the Corrado.. An audi S-line gear knob and gaiter :-)

After a bit of faffing around, it fits beautifully.

Here it is:

 

 

 

The car will be coming off the road at the end of the month as the tax is running out. I'll use it as an opportunity to do some more tidying/painting/polishing under the bonnet etc.

[somersetdub 0]

I have spent the last few weeks underneath the vr, cleaning up everything back from the engine Bay Area as that was done only a year ago.

I removed most things from underneath, everything except the axle basically. I chose not to remove the axle this year because the bushes were replaced with Genuine Vw items not many miles ago. I think I'll drop the axle next year or the year after to get it powder coated. In the mean time it has been repainted in situ using Hammerite smooth black.

I have removed the stainless Magnex system and polished it up as it was starting to look a bit sorry for itself- it had been fitted to the car for ten years though, to be fair! It has cleaned up nicely and given the system a new lease of life.

The floor pan has been cleaned up and painted using underseal with waxoyl - this area gets exposure to bumps and scrapes, so I wanted it well protected.

The boot floor was cleaned and found to be perfect, so I have left it as it was with the factory underseal on show.

The fuel tank straps have been powder coated, along with the disc heat shields and numerous other metalware from around the car's rear.

I replaced both rear flexi hoses and any metal pipes as required.

A new fuel filter was fitted along with the newer style plastic filter holder, to replace the rusted old one.

I bought three cans of Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 and pumped all the cavities and box sections full of the stuff, it goes on really well and is so much better than waxoyl imo. I also pumped it into the wishbones and subframe and cross member up front as realised they would be starting to rust from the inside out after they were blasted and coated last year.

So the underside of the car is nice and clean and protected now, which is nice :)

I repainted the mk4 rear calipers and fitted new discs and pads to finish the mechanical work.

Next up I shaved, sanded and painted the rear lights to all-red spec... They look ace! - I will post some pics as soon as I have cleaned the car- it's currently pretty dusty and filthy from being sat in the barn.

I will probably do a few more jobs on it (maybe a sunroof swap if I can be bothered) and then put it back on the road in the new year when the weather starts warming up again :)

[somersetdub 0]

[seanl82 23]

Ooh shiny! Thanks on my to do list next winter Theo. Looks ace and glad you are planning for the future with the car, after the little wobble a few months back! :thumbleft:

[somersetdub 0]

Thanks Sean.

Yeah I have decided to keep the car and keep trying to improve it each year. I have come quite a long way with it already and there isn't really much else I would want car wise to replace it.

It ticks all the boxes for me as its performance is great, it looks good, it's easy to work on and it's got the rarity factor these days too.

I was a bit annoyed with myself for not dropping the axle and getting it powder coated, but figured i can do it another time.

Another thing I did when the rear silencer was off was to bash a big dent in it to stop it knocking on the shock bolt- after fitting the Eibach on there, the bolt sits closer to the exhaust.

I just hope the dent is big enough, but won't know for sure until I take it on the road next.

[somersetdub 0]

Oh yeah! One other recent addition- a Votex (Nardi) 3 spoke steering wheel.

I used to have one of these on my old mk2 vr6 and loved it. Regretted letting it go when I sold the car. Then one came up on eBay recently, so I had to get it.

They were available from VW Dealerships back in the day I believe, so it is almost OEM!

It is identical to this one:

[somersetdub 0]

Hey guys,

Well I haven't done a great deal to the Corrado for a while, except drive it every so often. I keep thinking I should sell it and move on, but I haven't been able to bring myself to actually advertise it! I've had the car since 2009, so quite a while.

I recently sold my Passat estate and bought a Leon Cupra r to use as a daily... It probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had! The Leon is great car, but has already needed quite a few jobs doing on it. And the temptation to modify it go get some real power is becoming overwhelming!

If I did end up modifying, I don't think it would be a suitable daily driver any more!... So that keeps bringing me back to selling the Corrado and buying another sensible car as a daily and turn the Leon into a monster!!

But then when I see the Corrado I love it, and I can't really say that about the Leon. Even though it's an excellent car.

 

[somersetdub 0]

This winter I gave myself another little project on the Corrado - to fit obd2 engine management and Teves 20 abs system.

I completed the work a couple of weeks ago and I have to say I'm really pleased with how much smoother the car runs now. The idling too is very smooth. And the brakes- now I've managed to bleed them properly(!) are a huge improvement in feel and in action.

With the dashboard removed, both upgrades are fairly straightforward wiring wise, with help from some of the guides on the forum.

And also with the dashboard being out it was a perfect opportunity to upgrade the heater. I had read about people fitting Climatronic to their Corrados and I very nearly went ahead with that, but I really wanted the car back together and decided that a cable-operated mk4 golf heater box would be much easier and quicker to fit, for now at least :)

I would definitely recommend the mk4 heater setup to anyone wanting a more reliable system - the switches turn with ease and it feels much more robust. It always felt like I was going to snap something with the old system.

To do the swap you need the heater box, cables, wiring loom and the control panel.

Two extra holes need to be drilled in the bulkhead, with one of the original holes being retained by the mk4 box.

I will post some pictures of the car once I've actually taken a few :)

[20vtvw 0]

Would like to see some pics of the mk4 heater setup and how well it fits in the dash ..

I really like what you've done to your car ,all updated bits but still looks original,,

[seanl82 23]

Sounds like you've been busy Theo, taking it to the next level as always!

Sounds like you had a bit of a mare bleeding the brakes too, I feel your pain! Got it all to do again when I change the rear beam hoses and put the mk4 calipers on. Not looking forward to that! Glad your keeping hold of it too, LCR looks good though!

[somersetdub 0]

Would like to see some pics of the mk4 heater setup and how well it fits in the dash ..

I really like what you've done to your car ,all updated bits but still looks original,,

 

Thanks... Here's a couple of photos with the new control panel that i took for another thread the other day. Note that I also needed to modify the back of the glove box and the lower dash panel too as the mk4 box is slightly different/larger, even than the Diavia setup that was in there.

 

 

[somersetdub 0]

Sounds like you've been busy Theo, taking it to the next level as always!

Sounds like you had a bit of a mare bleeding the brakes too, I feel your pain! Got it all to do again when I change the rear beam hoses and put the mk4 calipers on. Not looking forward to that! Glad your keeping hold of it too, LCR looks good though!

 

Thanks Sean, yeah bleeding the brakes was a nightmare, particularly as it was dry system. In the end with the help of a friend we bled out every Union; both on the master cylinder, all the ones on the abs pump too. I also wound back the rear caliper pistons and elevated the calipers while bleeding them and in the end they came good.. Good luck for when you do yours!

Will you be taking yours to any shows this year?

The Leon is long gone now.. Couldn't deal with having two performance cars to worry about! Plus, as capable and quick as it was, it managed to be quite a boring drive really.

[seanl82 23]

Ah thats fair enough. I'm hoping to go to a few shows this year. I'm registered for the Corrado display at VW Festival but its hard to plan too far in advance unfortunately.

[somersetdub 0]

It's been a while once again!

I was very close to selling the Corrado and getting something newer like an Edition 30 or similar. But then I thought that as quick as a newer car might be, I would probably regret selling the Corrado and it is hard to match, let alone beat for character.

So I have decided to turbo it :-)

Plans are afoot, but so far I have managed to source some bigger brakes and some wheels to accommodate them. The brakes are 330mm Alfa Brera discs, with Porsche 996 calipers.

The discs actually rub on the ball joints, so I've had to grind them down a few mm!

Hope I'm making the right decision as the car was very good as it was. I just found it was starting to suffer power wise against modern machinery, so a turbo should rectify that issue!

 

 

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[odub 0]

Good choice in keeping the Corrado, you're right that newer cars don't have as much character.

I would have thought a turbo will solve all of your problems

[somersetdub 0]

If there's anyone on here with a Turbo'd vr and fancies demoing it for me, that would be awesome :-)

 

 

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[spen 0]

Car looks great pal, what are the alloys called? size your running?

[coullstar 0]

Look like Evolo's, they are nice and wondered what they would look like on a C. Shows of the brakes nicely.