1995 Sherry Pearl 8V

[James. 9]

My sherry amour ...

...Lovely as a summer day.

 

Ahh the euphoric joy of Stevie Wonder and Corrados.

 

My little bumblebee of a runabout has been feeling the strain recently. And as such, is just about to fall apart, a la circus clown car (I can't complain as i've had it since new in 1995 !).

 

So seeing as the Campaign is in a thousand pieces and not getting finished anytime soon. I felt the only solution to quench my Corrado thirst was to purchase another.

 

The seed was sewn late last year when the VR went into hibernation. But it's only recently that I've wished to do anything about it.

 

And wish I did. For a a good looking 8V to come and share my life. Something with experience, not been ridden too hard, easy on the eye and has the most essential component for Corrado ownership: A bloody good sense of humour !

 

Passed from the loving care of Yacobwood on the 14th of May 2011. She now resides a short journey north, along motorway number 6 in West Lancashire (Where according to the artistic road sign, it's "A place where everybody matters". Hopefully this extends to Corrados !)

 

Currently I'm desperately trying to avoid scratching the "Mint it" itch. Allowing a small budget to resolve some small issues.

There's a few "faffy" fixing items to attend to, but I'll list them all here so I can keep track of what happened and when:

 

Noisy alternator. **Done** June 2011

Power steering noisy. **Done** May 2011

Radio aerial amp. **Done** June 2011

Front headlamp replacement **Done** August 2011

Front grill for better condition one **Done** May 2011

A half dozen or so interior trim pieces to replace. **Done** Aug 2011

Front VW emblem to chrome. **Done** May 2011

Side indicators to OE orange. **Done** June 2011

Service the sunroof mechanism. **Done** May 2011

Foilage seal. **Done** Sept 2011

Heater blower noisy. **Done** Sept 2011

Heater/blower direction cable is a little stiff. **Done** Sept 2011

Wiper arms/blades to TT units. **Done** Oct 2011

Radio setting to switched live. **Done**Sept 2011

Fix spoiler motor (cutting out). **Done** July 2011

Seat belt runner sleeves. **Done** Dec 2011

Leather interior (from grey cloth to leather). **Done** Dec 2011

Wing mirror gaskets. **Done** Aug 2011

Scuttle trim refurb. **Done** Aug 2011

Gutter trim refurb. **Done** Aug 2011

Machine polish the full car. **Done** Aug 2011

New coil pack. **Done** Sept 2011

Alternator adjuster bolt. **Done** June 2011

Replace drivers door in Sherry pearl. **Done** July 2011

Replace passenger wing in Sherry pearl. **Done** July 2011

Uprated headlight loom **Done** Oct 2011

Lower approx 30mm **Done** Nov 2011

Boot and spoiler in Sherry pearl. **Done Feb 2011**

16" wheels to replace 15" ones. **Done April 2011**

Rebuilt and greased starter motor **Done April 2011**

Replaced ABS sensor (rear left) **Done April 2011**

Front and rear discs / pads / bearings. **To be fitted**

Timing belt change. **To be fitted**

Oil and filter service. **To be fitted**

50mm spoiler to replace 90mm. **To be fitted**

 

 

The bigger jobs are the rust bubbles on the car. Rear boot below window seal. Bottom of drivers door. Rear number plate light. Rear edge of drivers front wing, rear edge of passenger side front wing and the upper part where it meets the a pillar.

Additional to above, the bonnet has fracture marks all over it, along with part of the roof also.

There's dings and other scrapes all over it.

 

But it drives a treat and puts a massive smile on my face everytime I think about it.

 

I think a "Paint my waggon red" fund will shortly be announced so watch this space for the odd part and trinket to be bought.

 

Long term: 16 inch wheels, lowering, Leather, paint

 

But in the mean time here's a couple of images (Sure you've seen the car before. But not under the slate grey skies of the north west). Please excuse the quality, as they are from my mobile telephone device.

Edited February 10, 2022 by James.

[KIPVW 0]

HA HA! love the description james, you ought to be an auther :)

[ben_wooduk 0]

Really sad to see her go!! Its looks so weird seeing it in pictures that havent been taken by me or Jake!

I'm sure you'll make her look twice as good though! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread :)

[yacobwood 0]

A little sad to see her on another drive but it seems she has had a little make over already. Looking forward to seeing her put back to her fully gorly :)

[Big Adam 0]

looks lush james :)

[Butterfly 0]

You have joined the official nutters club (as opposed to semi nutter).

Enjoy all the pleasure an 8 will bring :)

[James. 9]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

 

Really enjoying the purchase. Hopefully the sun will shine long enough to do some jobs on her outside. Seeing as the Campaign is hogging all the garage space.

[James. 9]

Fun sized update.

 

So far I've had a little tickle of the 8 valves foibles (Oooerr missus). And in doing so corrected the following:

 

1, Foilage seal. The old one leaked like a 80 year old (much so and usually in the middle of the night).

 

2, Radio. Old one didn't hold it's presets and didn't have a changer connection so swapped over to the JVC unit that came with the Campaign. Eyes on the "Becker" prize though.

 

3, Aerial. Usual shonky internals. Stripped out, re-soldered/wired. Can now pick up Manchester Rock radio for full metal action.

 

4, Indicators, Replaced the milky/yellow aftermarket ones for OE orange. They'd faded more than a german rockers jeans.

 

5, Speaker grills and dash vents. Scratched and scruffy looking. Decided to change them to satin black. Might help break up the grey interior a little. Looks like John Majors wardrobe in there some days.

 

6,Headlight. Passenger headlight tabs (bolt to slam panel) were broken off. The headlight was wobbling round like a right pi55head. Butchered another headlight for it's casing and voila !

 

7, Grill and badge. Old grill had tabs missing and a black VW badge. Chrome VW and a better grill are up front now.

 

There'll be another update in a week or so as there's a whole host of parts on the way. Panels, paint, bits of trim, wipers, alternator.

 

It's all good...

Edited June 2, 2011 by James.

[Portent 0]

I love the writing style more than the actual updates :D

[KIPVW 0]

Another quality read lol!

[James. 9]

A mixed bag this week.

 

Travelled down to Birmingham to collect some body parts (Bonnet, pass wing, drivers door). They're all in Sherry pearl and all in pretty good shape (or at least better than what I have).

Set to work with the Dremel and cleaned out the small amounts of corrosion. Followed by an airbrushing with some Zinga (galvanising primer). Leaving it a couple days before I treat it to some top coat (By the way VW don't list the paint anymore, so had to buy it from paints4you !).

 

Took the alternator off for a bearing rebuild at the weekend as it's noisier than a pikey wedding. The bracket that the alt connects to was all cracked up and needs replacing so I dropped in at my local VW parts counter...

 

...£75 plus the Vodka + Tonic !!! Crikey !!!

 

Bought one off ebay for £6.50 - Superdiscount days a plenty.

 

Asked VW to quote on a new alternator (just in case). Blow me down with a feather duster if they didn't want £750 sheets for a new one !!!

 

Safe to say that after I picked myself up off the floor, I politely told the parts manager that I'll have a shop around. He smiled and agreed that this would be the thinking mans option.

 

Thursday brought a set of Lupo wipers and arms c/o Emu. Gave them a good demo and good grief what a difference. I no longer fear the perils of the great british summer and all its intermittent showers and inclement weather patterns.

 

Friday saw me getting a right sweat on due to the one day heatwave that occurred. Re-fitted the passenger door card and the dashboard speaker covers and trim (that I painted last week). Decided to paint them satin black and as a result I am very pleased with the results. The black helps break the grey up a little...

 

Which is no bad thing.

The sun melting my gutter strips and ruining one of them is though.

 

 

Hopefully will have him* on the road the first of July.

 

* I say him. This is due to the fact that:

 

a: I already have a Corrado, and it's a girl. So thought it only right that this one be a boy.

 

b: I've named him Arthur. As in Arthur the Daily.

 

 

I'll get my coat.

[Big Adam 0]

i see your building a nice collection of parts their james!

[James. 9]

You're not kidding. I've had to start keeping parts in the shed, what with one Corrado in a million pieces and the other being " refreshed" I'm rapidly running out of room.

 

Took the alternator apart yesterday. Seems it's the outer bearing thats had it. Going to put a new one in and see how it holds up. Watch this space...

[Bryndlemotorsport 10]

I'll be keeping an eye on this

[Big Adam 0]

You're not kidding. I've had to start keeping parts in the shed, what with one Corrado in a million pieces and the other being " refreshed" I'm rapidly running out of room.

 

your more than welcome to store some on my car :)

[James. 9]

your more than welcome to store some on my car :)

 

I might have to at this rate.

[James. 9]

Following on from a previous post. When I bought Arthur, he had a noisy alternator and a broken alternator bracket.

 

So after I successfully obtained a second hand bracket from "the bay" I moved onto the dark science of auto electrics.

 

After catching my breath from my recent visit to to mein stealer for an eye watering quote for a new and re-conditioned alternator. I thought it prudent to

allow myself an attempt at fixing the old thing.

 

Off I went and bought the bearings from Abex power components in Pemberton

 

6203-2RS

6303-2RS

 

Just short of £11 for the both. SKF units so none of this Chinese fudge metal.

 

Broke out the pullers on the bearings, put it all together and was quite pleased with myself.

 

Until I realised I'd managed to break one of the brushes on the regulator when re-assembling.

 

£10 for a new one.

Still, £21 all in for an alternator rebuild as opposed to £200+ isn't bad in my eyes.

 

Here's a handy link I found ( http://www.3dzubehor.com/Rover/Boschrepair.html ). It's for another cars alternator (still Bosch though), but the internals and process is the same. I'll be doing the same to the VR alternator...

 

... some time this millenium.

[James. 9]

Just a little update before it hits the road at the end of the month.

 

Got the alternator fitted after much swearing and cussing and now it works well and doesn't make a horrible grinding noise.

 

That wasn't before I had a debarcle with the electrics. Replaced the ECU relay, smashed a laptop, replaced a coil pack and got the old thing running again.

 

ABS light sticks on now though... boo

 

Think I'll treat it to a new set of brakes as there's 25% off service parts and free postage at Eurocarparts till the end of the month.

[Dox 23]

If you haven't got pullers to get the old bearings off you can grind through them being carefull not to damage the shaft

[James. 9]

Good tip, though grinding is usually my "last chance" solution. Pullers have saved me on many occasion. A very worthwhile piece of kit ( and not bad money from machine mart ).

[Dox 23]

Sometimes its better to sacrifice a nut with a grinder to keep the bolt servicable, tidy the bolts threads with wirebrush and die, its much better to replace a standard nut than order up an obscure bolt - usually because its sheared on a Saturday afternoon when the dealers are shut and you're 4 days without a car.

[James. 9]

What with the old boy working again, thought I'd set to work smartening him up a little (whilst the service items I ordered are on the way).

 

Ground away some blemishes on the door/sill/rear wing before they took hold more seriously. Applied jenolite, acid etch primer and will top coat in the morning.

 

Vacumed/dusted/cleaned the interior. Removed oil/grease marks from the carpets and re-aligned the steering wheel for the umpteenth time.

 

Removed the gutter strips and scuttle trim. keyed the surface and applied a generous coating of primer, followed by satin black. Did this on the VR6 and was very happy with the results.

 

Next up is installing the service parts and giving it a damn good machine polish.

 

Phew, it never ends.

[VWVW 1]

Good job on the trims gonna give that a go myself...where about did you get your genolite and Zinga from ?

[Big Adam 0]

good to see it coming along, did you manage to get the old boy started?

off topic but i got that job in the lakes :)

[James. 9]

Good job on the trims gonna give that a go myself...where about did you get your genolite and Zinga from ?

 

Jenolite came from eBay and the Zinga came from Frost restorations ( they have a website with great products on as well).

 

Really happy with the results, though I did have to use double sided on the gutter strips to hold them down.

 

---------- Post added at 10:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 AM ----------

 

good to see it coming along, did you manage to get the old boy started?

off topic but i got that job in the lakes :)

 

Yes I did and great news. You'll probably find that by speaking to other people in and around where you are, there'll be another job when you finish that one. Word of mouth goes a long way in getting work at the moment.