Ant's VR6

[tony_ack 0]

I had been lurking on the forum for about 12 months, umming and aahing about getting a Corrado. My first memory of wanting a Corrado was when I used to look through the new/used cars section in old top gear magazines and I loved the shape, and the fact it was a VW. My dad had a MK2 Golf GTI at the time, which must be responsible for my VW-lust in later life!

 

My first VW (well actually it wasn't mine - it was my parents' second car for a while) was a 1989 Tornado Red MK2 Golf CL. It was a tidy car, not rapid, but it felt so smooth to drive compared to my previous cars. I drove it over the summer before going back to uni and loved it, and I was gutted when my dad sold it. Fast forward to 2009 and I could finally afford to get another MK2 Golf - this time a GTI. I got a lovely 5-door 8v J-reg in Pearl Grey (underrated colour...), and spent a lot of time getting it standard and making it shine. Then last April some twonk pulled out of a blind junction in front of me leaving me nowhere to go, and in a flash the car was written off.

 

I seriously contemplated getting a Corrado then, but I decided to get another MK2 instead, this time a Royal Blue 3 door 16v. It was a bit of a mess when I bought it but again I spent a lot of time fixing it up again, and it's looking a lot better now.

 

I got the itch for a Corrado again in the summer, and scanned the classifieds. I made a few enquiries but didn't seem to get anywhere. There was a VR6 which had been for sale originally at £2500, but reduced to £1250 over a period of a couple of months. I took a look at it on the way back from London - it looked pretty good for the money. Apparently I was only the second person to have seen it - the first left a deposit and never came to collect the car! I was finally the owner of a Corrado!

 

History

I've done a bit of digging into the history of the car. It seems to have spent a lot of time in the London area, and has a full VW service history until about 175000 miles. It has had 5 owners before me - the first appeared to be the VW dealership, so I suspect it was a demo car for the first 12 months. The next two owners serviced it meticulously at VW, and then it looks like it was sold to the 4th owner in 2008. They put on about 20000 miles in a year, but also got the chains and clutch chained in that time, before selling it to the 5th owner that I bought the car off. He stripped out the grey cloth interior and swapped it for beige heated leather and changed the heater matrix. Unfortunately someone also attempted to break into it under his ownership, so there was some damage around the tops of the doors.

 

Even so, I landed myself with a Classic Green VR6 with a beige leather interior, with a super-smooth (even if high-mileage) engine.

 

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by tony_ack

[tony_ack 0]

The car wasn't without a few problems of course. There were a few bits of beigie trim still to find. The headlining had been trimmed in Alacantra - it was an okay-ish job, but not perfect, and there were still a few ripples in it where it had been glued on. The sunroof didn't work (I was told it was the motor, but assumed the worst anyway), and the passenger window also didn't work. Externally there was a bit of damage where they had tried to break in, a deep scratch on the passenger door, and loads of marks/dents/scratches across the swage line. There was also quite a bit of rust on the tailgate and a little on the driver's front wing. One of the foglights was cracked and there was a push button start installed.

 

A good list to get stuck into, but the rest of the car was good. The front end was gleaming - it looks like it has had a spray on the front end at some point as the paint is perfect with no stone chips at all (I've checked and no signs of accident damage, so not sure why it was sprayed..). The engine is amazing. So tight, smooth quiet and torquey - I really can't believe it has done over 200000 miles. It burns clean and doesn't use any fluids except a tiny bit of water around a pipe going into the aux water pump. It runs a little cool, and I've never seen the oil temp over 105 (usually 90-100 on a spirited drive).

 

So far I've done the following:

 

Foglight

Got a replacement for fairly cheap, easy swap!

 

Push button start

I looked at the wiring for this and connected back to the ignition switch. As expected, it didn't work. I couldn't really understand why someone would want to drill a hole into the trim and install a push button rather than replace a cheap switch. I ordered a new ignition switch, and managed to change it (after butchering the old switch to get it off!). Works fine now

 

Beige trim

Struggling to find this - I keep scouring the classifieds and even eBay but nothing yet. A few overpriced items, but £125 is too much for a gear surround. I got a black boot carpet to replace the grey one left over in the car.

 

Aero wipers

I didn't believe the Corrado wipers could be as bad as people said they were until I drove the car on the motorway in the rain! It had to be changed as the car is a daily, so I went for the TT wiper conversion. I also got a VW aero wiper for the rear so it all matched. I'm not fond of the style of the wipers, but they work

 

Sunroof, headlining

I made an attempt to get my sunroof working with a new motor. It tilted, and didn't slide... typical. I tried winding it back by hand, but then felt a 'snap' as the cable guide broke. I closed the sunroof the best I could and unplugged the switch so it couldn't be used.

 

I managed to pick up a second hand classic green sunroof panel and mechanism for quite cheap (and free motor, and switch, and cover, and headlining - cheers Phat!), but it seemed to stick a little when sliding back. I decided to dismantle the whole mech and clean it out. Wasn't too bad, but the 'fur' on the cables took a while to remove. I put it all back together, and sprayed in endless amounts of white grease. The cables were aligned, and the panel now slid back and forth freely. I then set to work cleaning the headlining using some Biobrisk and a damp cloth, and it came up a treat!

 

The big day finally came to fit it all - dismantling the old sunroof and removing the headlining is easy if you work methodically, and it was out in about 30 minutes. Then it was a case of installing all the new stuff. Before the headlining went in, there was the moment of truth... Testing... and it worked perfectly with the motor! Took me another 15 minutes or so to align the panel properly and a little while more to get the new headlining in. Looks much better now!

 

Passenger Door

I picked up a replacement door in classic green, complete with rubbers, glass and working mech. It had quite a few light scratches so I gave it a good polish before putting it on the car. It's definitely a two-man job to replace the door, but foolishly I pressed on alone. Got there eventually though. Looks good now, though I still need to adjust the striker pin a little. I think I need to redo the weather seal though

 

Tailgate

Got a replacement one of these too - the old one is rusting around the window seal, and under the spoiler. Not fitted yet - theres a bit of rust inside the tailgate that needs treating first.

 

Rear brakes

It went in for a service and I was told the rear brakes were shot, as were the wheel bearings, and the handbrake was lousy too. I got all VW parts, as the discs weren't too pricey. Took me a day to do, but not too bad in the end once I had pressed (hammered) in the new bearing races. Also did the bump stops at the same time. One of the handbrake cables had got stuck in the guide sleeve, so that took a lot of huffing, puffing and swearing to get out.

 

Front suspension

The lower n/s ball joint was pretty bad, and got steadily worse. I was also told the inner track rod joint was worn on the o/s and a wishbone bush had split. I got the garage to do this as I didn't fancy tackling these in a cramped lockup. Much better now

[tony_ack 0]

I'm still thinking about plans for the car. With the Golfs, I liked to keep them standard-ish, but I want to play with the Corrado a bit more. I still want to keep the looks though I'd love a set of 16" BBS RXs at some point...

 

My first plan is to lower it. I don't want to comprimise the smooth ride, but it sits far too high. I'm thinking about getting some lowering springs - 30mm H&R seem to be recommended if you want to keep the original shocks, though they seem pricey. I've also heard you need to trim the bump stops, to stop the car riding on them?

 

I don't think the brakes are bad at all on the VR6, so no plans to upgrade these yet. Engine side, a K&N panel filter, to start with, then possibly a Schrick VGI and upgraded cams, folllowed by a remap... all very pricey though! Also, it currently has the standard exhaust - I appreciate the quiet sound and don't want anything loud, though it would be useful to get something that breathes better (6-branch?)

[easypops 8]

So when's the real work starting?...........only kidding lol :)

[tony_ack 0]

The real work starts in a week or two I hope! I've heard good reviews about 288 brakes, and managed to find almost everything I need on one of the Golf forums for about £40 - hopefully these will arrive in the next couple of weeks.

 

I gave the car a good wash and wax today, and I thought the speedlines really do look lost with the current ride height. Lowering is going to be one of my first jobs...

 

I've picked up a spare set of speedlines with half decent tyres and put them on the car. The old tyres look pretty bad, and were wearing unevenly - probably because of the ball joint being so bad. Going to get everything aligned once the springs are swapped. I'm planning to refurb my Speedlines (myself) and get some decent rubber on them.

 

Power upgrades will have to wait for now..

 

I foolishly forgot to take pictures of the clean car today.

 

I've been driving around whenever it's not wet outside with the sunroof open... BECAUSE I CAN!!!

Edited February 13, 2011 by tony_ack

[tony_ack 0]

Probably shouldn't have boasted so much about the sunroof...

 

Headed to Dubfreeze today, and I had the sunroof open - it wasn't really sunroof weather, but it was warm in the car, and I was driving down some nice B-roads. After a couple of times opening and closing, including once on the full closure, I opened it again, but when it had slid fully open, I heard the relay click twice instead of once... I tried to close it again, and nothing! The relay clicked if I tried to open it more, and if I tried the tilt functions, but nothing when trying to close it. Then it started to rain too..

 

When we got there, I got the panel off (easier said than done - I butchered the screws with the flat screwdriver from the Golf's VW toolkit, as the screwdriver was missing in mine), and started to wind the sunroof back with the crank. Moved freely and easily. I then tried the motor again and it worked fine the rest of the way!

 

How odd.. not really sure what has caused this, though I have a suspicion that the end caps on the rails were missing from the replacement sunroof - maybe this was the problem?

 

Needless to say I have the sunroof closed since then.

 

Not many pics today due to manky weather - just one of the Corrado and one of the Golf

 

 

[tony_ack 0]

Sunroof is now FIXED (again)

 

I think it was a dodgy motor. The roof opened fine, but when I tried to close it, there was nothing, not even a click from the relay. It also wouldn't tilt up on the motor, but would tilt down absolutely fine, again no clicks from the relay in the motor at all when trying to tilt up.

 

It must be an iffy connection somewhere in the motor. Luckily I have two spares, so I swapped it over and all is fine now... shame we don't have the weather to make use of it.

 

Managed to get hold of a Schrick VGI last week... I've also got some 268 cams coming. I'm plucking up the courage to fit all this myself, and have been practising my soldering skills for the splice into the ECU. I am currently running the standard engine mount at the front, so it looks like I could do with a VT mount to avoid cutting away too much of the bonnet. When I think about it now, there is a lot of lurch when changing gear, so the engine mount would be a good upgrade anyway. I also need to think about where to mount the vac tank.

[tony_ack 0]

Bit of a day from hell today...

 

I planned to wire in the Schrick control unit at home (no power at the lockup) and then head up to my lockup to install my fresh-sparkly-new VT front mount. The idea was to get the final preparations in place for the Schrick VGI to go on. Unfortunately the purchase of the cams fell through, so I'll have to look out for another set.

 

My soldering skills aren't the best, but I had been practicing indoors, and had managed to do a few tidy splices. Outside, in limited space and good old northern rain and cold it was a different matter. The ECU was fiddly to get out for a start, and it took me ages to get a decent soldered join bewteen the loom wires and the Schrick control unit wires, as the wind kept cooling down the iron and the wires. Got there in the end - not as tidy as I'd have liked, but pretty solid. I started it up to make sure it was working - it struggled to start first time but the green light was on the control unit - hurrah! I revved to 4000 and the red light came on so all was good, but then the engine cut out. I started up again and it seemed to be running on 5 cylinders for a while, before the last one coughed into life. Odd... It's been fine since though.

 

I went to the lockup to make a start on the 'easy' front engine mount. It didn't bode well when I snapped the stud on the first nut holding the plate on undert the bottom of the mount. The other two nuts were seized and starting to round, so I decided I had had enough of being nice, and broke out the Plusgas and Irwins :) Other two nuts were off a minute later.

 

I looked at the nut under the mount, and it was nothing like what I was expecting, it was an allen key bolt. Maybe it's not a standard mount? Either way, it came off pretty easy, and I was starting to get some momentum

 

Next for the top bolt. I reached down for it, and caught a pipe slightly, but immediately heard the sound of coolant gushing out of the engine. At first I thought I'd knocked a hose off, then I saw that a flange had sheared off... bugger. I looked carefully, and realised it was the infamous crack pipe!

 

So the Corrado is now off the road. The missus isn't pleased as she'll be taking me to work next week. And it means the half-finished MK2 project is in the car park, while the Corrado takes the lockup space.

 

I started the front end strip down this afternoon. I got my first good luck of the day when all 4 bumper bolts came out without a single one snapping, rounding, or breaking the captive nut.

[tony_ack 0]

Up early this morning to try and get the Corrado back on the road this weekend.

 

I went up for half an hour yesterday - I still couldn't work out how the bumper slid out - I think I just need to get the arch liners out of the way.

 

I started on the slam panel bolts, but nothing is ever simple... both of the radiator bolts were stiff - one of them ended up coming off its thread, and is now just turning freely, and it looks like a support has broken on the other one, so that's not coming out either. I don't have time to get the bits from VW, so I'll have to get the bolts from B&Q, and order a new support next week to fit later.

 

Hopefully, if all goes well today, I'll end up with a fully working Corrado, with a fully bled cooling system, new suspension fitted, and schrick VGI fitted.

 

It's amazing how optimistic you can feel at 8am when the sun is shining...

[8vMatt 1]

Best of luck today mate, watching the thread with interest.

[v8rumbler 0]

Good luck this weekend!!

 

 

Sent from iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

[tony_ack 0]

Well, it's been a long weekend wrestling with the car. A battle of wills... Ended in a draw.

 

I started at 10am on Saturday morning. I got the bumper and slam panel off okay, and the radiator bolts came out in the end with the help of the dremmel.

 

Unfortunately almost all of the thermostat housing bolts rounded, which held me up for a while. The crack pipe itself came out with little persuasion, though the end had disintegrated in the block. Dremmel time again to clean up the block connector.

 

Getting the crack pipe in was a bit of a struggle due to the corrosion. I rebuilt the new thermostat hosuing and eventually got it on, but the seal between the crack pipe and block looked distorted. So off it all came again and I replaced the seal. On went the rad, and all the hoses... finally ready for testing!

 

Testing didn't go well. I started to fill the system with water, and immediately water started dripping out of the new housing. So off it all came again. I put some bathroom sealant in the leaky part, and put it all back together yet again. This time I started to fill from the rad pipe before putting the radiator on, so I could test it was holding the water... this time it was fine, so on went the rad and I topped up with coolant. Finally ready to start her up

 

She started first time, and I ran her up to temperature, trying to bleed the system as I went. The thermostat opened when it should have done, but the fans stayed worryingly silent, so I gave up when the water was up to 105 degrees.

 

With the front of the car off, I decided to have a go at fitting the schrick. It went pretty well, though I wish I'd have done it before putting the rad back on. With darkness drawing in and with no lights in the lockup, I decided to call it a day. I also needed to look into the fan problem and where to connect the last Schrick vac house.

 

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------

 

Today, I started really early. I was up at the lockup for 7.45, agian full of optimism.

 

I tried the fan by shorting the thermostat switch plug, and it came on like it should, which is kind of good as it narrows it down to an airlock or rad stat. I'd also worked out where the last schrick vac pipe went, so I connected it up, and braced myself for the big switch on

 

She refused to start. She just turned over and over, and I could smell the fuel, so that was one of the triangle of fire ruled out :-) I checked and checked again, and found the problem - the big intake hose for the throttle body wasn't on properly - it seemed attached at the top but there was a gaping hole in the bottom. I resecured it and tried again, but nothing. So off came the manifold and I tested for spark. Plugs were covered in fuel but I cleaned up the first one, turned it over, and got a spark, along with an explosion as the fuel in the engine shot out of the lower manifold. I cleaned up the rest of the plugs in the front bank, put everything back together, and.... hurrah!... the sweet sound of the VR6!

 

The coolant level was pretty high, but the header tank was soon empty, so I kept it topped up. Once the level stabilised, I put the cap back on and let the system get up to pressure. And then the fans came on at 100 degress - more success!

 

Making reasonable progress I decided to try fitting my new Koni TAs and H&Rs. Having done the rear bump stops recently, I was confident that the rears would come off okay, so I started on the fronts. The hub bolts were tough, but they loosened up eventually. Then I got to the top mounts.. problem was I didn't have the right tool to get it off! I gave up - I was already a little pushed for time anyway.

 

So time to rebuild the front end... Everything went back together pretty well, and I was ready to roll after an hour or so. It was getting into the late afternoon now, so I decided to crack on with a couple of other jobs. I replaced my black tunnel trims with the beige bits I'd been collecting, then gave the car a wash. I kept the engine running while I dried it so it would be up to temp and ready for a test drive when I had done. Looking good, and I was looking forward to what the schrick had in store!

 

Then disaster... I noticed a small plume of steam coming from under the bonnet. Great. What was the problem now? I took a look and it seemed to be coming from the top of the radiator. I wished, hoped and prayed it was just a bit of water left over from my various water drops over the past two days, but the steam smelt like coolant, and was coming from a specific point. I checked the coolant level, and though it was a tad low, it was stable, so I decided to take it for a test drive and see how it went.

 

The water temp behaved itself, though I swear the heater is much hotter now. I checked when I got home, and the coolant level was still the same, and the steam seemed to have gone. I haven't had a chance to fully test the Schrick yet, but there is some serious grunt low down now!

 

Another problem manifested itself on the test drive though - there seems to be a whistling coming from the engine - it's more pronnounced on overrun, but it does it all the time. At first I thought it was the ISV, but now I think it's coming from between the Schrick and lower manifold. Now I think back, I don't remember torquing the bolts up properly, and I left the bottom-left bolt out because it was a different shape. I'll need to get it fixed within the next couple of days as it's really loud, and very noticable to people in the street. Hopefully it is just the bolts that need tightening.

 

So here we are after a whole weekend of work. Ass I said - I think it's a draw. Really not looking forward to the replay as I'm going to have to drain the system again and strip down the front end again to change the radiator.

 

At least the car is running again now... I declared the Schrick on the insurance and it cost a whopping £10 extra, so I'll take that!

[tony_ack 0]

New rad is £240ish inc VAT from VW.

 

Hell of a lot of money.

 

It arrives on Wednesday, along with new rad bolts and rad fan switch (£26!)

 

I'm just dreading which part of the cooling system will fail next... at least the matrix was replaced recently

[tony_ack 0]

A small update...

 

I've not collected the rad from VW yet. I've done 120 miles since the weekend - I checked the water level a couple of days ago and it was right on the money, but I need to check again. No warning light yet though, so it can't be too bad. I'm going on holiday in the car next week, and going to visit the folks this weekend, so the rad will have to wait until I get back.

 

I've had a play with the Schrick now and I like it a lot :-) It flies from about 2.5k rpm and it sounds better too. I was expecting a massive flat spot at 4k rpm having read other people's experiences, but it wasn't too bad. Still want to get some Schrick 268s and a remap when I can afford it though.

 

The biggest surprise has to be the solid mount I fitted. The car feels so connected now - it feels tighter in the corners and tighter on the power, and is just so much better to drive. I haven't really noticed an increase in vibrations, so all is good!

 

I'm picking up some new wheels at the weekend too...

[little andrew 0]

Slow down a bit! Your putting the rest of us to shame :)

[tony_ack 0]

Slow down a bit! Your putting the rest of us to shame :)

 

When it's all fixed I'll slow down!

 

May be a long wait...

 

I looked into the whistling the other day. Some of the manifold bolts were loose, but it wasn't that. I narrowed it down to the left-front of the engine bay, and it dawned on me that it was one of the aux pullleys - it actually turned out to be the tensioner. It squeaks constantly, but you can only hear it on idle and overrun as it is otherwise droned out by the induction noise from the airbox

 

I took the tensioner off and gave the bearing a spray with some grease - I needed to quieten it down as it was embarassing to drive. It's quieter now, though not silent. Looks like another part to replace...

 

I also checked the water today and it was almost at the bottom of the header tank, so there is a leak from somewhere. The car is also leaving water patches after being parked up. They appear to be from right at the front, so I still think the radiator is to blame (I've now collected the new one from VW, and my wallet feels so much lighter..). I've decided to change the water pump too - I'm getting tired of refilling with coolant now, so surely once the rad and water pump are done, there's nothing left to go wrong with the cooling system?

 

The good news is that the crack pipe and thermostat housing appear to be bone dry.

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

good stuff, im kinda going through the same thing, picked up a banger last week,already replaced the following.

:-new leads :-plugs:-rotor arm:-bonnet cable:-oil and filter change:-oil cooler seals:-alternator belt:-rear discs and bearings:-rocker gasket,

 

hopefully this week i can get my mk4 golf rear calipers on and finnaly have a hand brake,{where i live you need one}

also picked up some mk4 golf steel wheels on ebay,which im getting banded, still unsure of the dimensions but standard there 15" 6j and have a 38et, might get a tyre on and see how it fits?,

[tony_ack 0]

I had a revalation whilst lying in bed this morning - it dawned on me that the car was leaving the water patches on the driver's side, and not on the passeger side, which was where the radiator leak was. The plan today was to clean the car and then head off to my folks, before heading to Wales on Monday on holiday. I thought I'd better check to see where the leak was coming from, just to put my mind at ease. I noticed the patch was under the water pump, and the frame under the water pump was dripping. It all makes sense now - the leak which I assumed as a weep of oil on the driver's side of the engine, was actually a mix of coolant and grime. The squeak of the belts and pulleys was probably the coolant interfering with the operation of the aux belt.

 

I quickly realised that the car would be lucky to make it to my folks' 50 miles away, let alone a 500 mile round trip to Wales. I had to cancel my plans. A nice relaxing day in the pub with the family and friends would give way to a day at the lockup yet again.

 

I headed to GSF as soon as it opened for the pump, and opted for the more expensive of the two on offer. I checked and it had a metal impellor. A VW one would have been better, but options are limited on a Saturday morning.

 

Once at the lockup, I checked the water again - it had used half a litre in about 10 miles - it was getting worse. I wasted no time stripping down the front end again - I decided to change the radiator at the same time. It's amazing how easily it all comes off when you know where all the bolts and screws are, and you don't have to deal with seized bolts. 30 minutes later, I had a naked VR

 

 

With the radiator off, it was pretty easy to spot the damage. Other than this the radiator was fine, such a shame that it's scrap now

 

 

Next I turned my attention to the water pump. I did the front mount last week, so the bolt for that came out easily. The rear mount was a bit more tricky. I took the airbox and pipe off for easier access, but I didn't have an extension long enough to clear the bay. Luckily I had just enough room to crack the nut loose, and with a little more perseverence, it was off. I jacked up the engine to give me access to the water pump. Out in the open, the leaks were all too obvious.

 

 

The pulley came off easily enough, and the bolts for the pump weren't a problem. However then I hit my first problem of the day - the pump had somehow managed to seize itself into the block! I tried to get a hammer and chisel behind it to chisel it off, but just ended up breaking the pump casing. Next I tried cutting into the casing to get better leverage, but soon realised that wasn't going to work. Finally I decided to throw caution to the wind and just hammered away at the pulley bracket. Slowly it started to tease out, and eventually it was free

 

Old pump

 

 

The impellors were pretty good given they were plastic, and given the condition of the rest of the pump

 

 

New pump now ready to go on

 

 

I slipped a little bathroom sealant onto the o-ring just to be on the safe side. The pump in, bolts in, pulley on, belt on.

 

Next I put on the new radiator - really straight forward, and it even came with the top elbow which I wasn't expecting! I also fitted a new VW fan switch. All went on okay (except I forgot to put the fans and rad cowling on the first time - d'oh!), and I was ready to start filling.

 

Again, I put in about 2-3 litres of water first to make sure it was all leak free under normal pressure. Then I topped up with a couple of bottles of G12. Time for the big switch on! She started fine, and I let it run to temperature, while bleeding the system. Thermostat came on as normal. The fans were a bit late again, kicking in at about 100 degrees but I put this down to air in the system while I was bleeding. I had the radiator box under the car to collect any leaking coolant, and checked it when I switched off the engine. Not a drop!! Hurrah!

 

Bleeding the system under Bentley's watchful gaze..

 

 

I put the front back together in no time, even put a bit of copper grease on the bumper bolts this time, and torqued them according to Bentley.

 

She drove home fine. The whistling seems to have gone too now (I cleaned the belt and pulley while doing the water pump). Hopefully the cooling saga is now over!

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

awesome job dude, very inspirational!! i want to replace my thermostat houseing soon, how easy is it to remove the front like you have? cheers.

[tony_ack 0]

Aide - I'm starting to think that the tensioner is fine now the water pump is fixed.I think the coolant was getting into the pulleys and belts causing slippage and squealing. so far the tensioner has been quiet since the water pump was done.

 

I had considered just changing the bearing, but would have replaced the whole thing at the right price. £120 is not the right price though so I'll opt for a bearing replacement if it does need changing!

 

VR_owner - Like most jobs on the Corrado, it could be really easy, but then you're stuck if you come across a seized bolt. When I took it all apart the second time,it took me about 30 minutes, as I knew where every bolt and screw was, and they all came out easy as they'd been out the week before. The first attempt took about 2 hours though, and to be honest I still didn't hit any major problems.

 

The biggest two dangers with the job are the radiator bolts into the slam panel seizing/shearing, or the bumper bolts seizing. I was lucky with the bumper bolts as it looks like the bumper was replaced recently, but on both MK2 Golfs I've had, which has the same bumper set up, I've run into problems.

 

For the radiator bolts, a dremmel will be useul to cut the bolts off if they give you trouble, and new bolts are pence from VW

 

For the bumper bolts, I would soak them in WD40,or even better - Plusgas the night before to give them a chance of coming off. I have a 4 foot long 1/2" drive breaker bar to get the bolts loose, and a set of Irwins on standby. The biggest risk with the bumper is snapping the captive nut on the bumper bracket that the bolt screws into as you'll then need to access the nut while it is sill in the chassis leg.

 

Once the rad bolts and bumper bolts are out, you're pretty much home and dry!

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

Like most jobs on the Corrado, it could be really easy, but then you're stuck if you come across a seized bolt.

 

LOL prety much sums it up, iv owned mine for almost 3weeks and already finding it an absolut pain undoing bolts etc,

i deffo want to replace my thermostat houseing and my rad does need replaceing as its developed a slight leak just below the top connection, so think i'll just do the lot in one go, wheres the best place to get a rad for these badboys? {vr6} and what kinda price should i be looking to pay? cheers..

[Novastrike 0]

Got to admit, the shot with the bumper off it a little scary, but I am glad it went to such a good home!

[tony_ack 0]

She did fine on the trip to Wales last week - used no oil and water which was good news!

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating her 215000 mile'th birthday

 

[tony_ack 0]

New rims! Photos to follow...

 

Otherwise it's been a bad week for the Corrado.

 

The factory immobiliser started playing up on Wednesday and Thursday, but luckily it was at home so I wasn't left stranded. Finally got a chance to clean the contacts on Friday morning, and all is okay again for now.

 

Yesterday evening, having now got a deep offest ring spanner for the front top mount nut, and a good hex bit/ratchett to hold the shock in place, I had yet another go (fourth attempt) at undoing the top mount nut. One came loose, but on the other one I ended up destroying the hex 'bolt' on top of the strut (not rounding it off - actually cracking the whole thing). I'm at a loss now as to how to get the damn thing off. I may have to cut off the nut/top of the old strut which isn't ideal. I can't believe how hard these have been tightened on.

 

And then today the driver's door handle broke - usual problem.

 

When does it end??

[tony_ack 0]

It is the internal hex nut - that's the best way of describing it I think!

 

Dremel now on charge, time to get a new nut from VW :-)

 

Had one day of trouble-free motoring today at least (well, except for having to reach through the passenger side to open the driver's door, and the intermittent ABS light that's been causing grief for a while)