1995 Sherry Pearl 8V

[James. 9]

Pushed on some more this week.

 

Wasn't happy with the rust and the associated lacquer peel on the drivers door, so decided to change it for the second hand unit I had earmarked for fitment next year.

 

Fitment was a journey in scraped knuckles and frustration. But perciveirance won the day and by the end of it I was pretty chuffed. The window scraper is the only part I'm not happy with, as it bent like a curly wurly on the way out. I may surrender the one from the VR6 in the future, but for the time being it will suffice.

 

Whilst I was on a roll with the door, I decided to continue with this ere' panel fitting lark and immerse myself in the front passenger wing. The old one had a right scabby lip on it so I decided to dive straight in and execute a swap. Managed to take a little chunk of underseal from the neighbouring sill, but hey we can deal and live with that.

 

Sunday morning and a long time valeter friend called in to spend the day getting back some of the long lost shine. The film/dist/grime that came off the car was amazing. First he hit it with a deep cut. Then onto a softer compound, followed by Polish and Wax. The results are amazing and he demonstrated just how easy (with a little care) it is to keep the car well polished. The wax he used is called "Harly wax". I'll be buying some very soon, as I don't know much about car cleaning products, but this is top drawer. Went out to the car this morning and there was some serious beading going on. A short drive and all the water was gone. A truly astonishing product.

 

Today the postman bestowed an uprated headlight loom into my clammy grasp (Twas a muggy morning). So without pause for thought, there we were, head under't hood. Baying to see the light.

 

Lastly I decided to install some water channels to the inside edges of the wings. I saw this upgrade a number of years ago in a copy of the "Sprinter". It was pasting down this afternoon and as such I timed my mid morning upgrade to a "T".

I used some 1cm foam that's used to fit sinks. Snaffled a couple of rolls of this when my career took me on a spate of kitchen fitting.

 

So that was this week. All ready for Tatton Park on Sunday. Just hope the sun makes an appearance. Slightly apprehensive that my car is in a lower "condition band" than those of the other cars, but hopefully good enough.

[aide 0]

lol James, arthur's looking great, and some very witty updates on your work!

[James. 9]

Picture update, as it's been a while.

 

Replaced the front wing due to the old tin worm. Attended Tatton Park, Harewood house and then met up today at Jodrell bank observatory. (will stick these on shortly).

 

I've discovered a new wax. It's made by a company called Harley and it comes from across the pond in America. It is simply astonishing. It's about £18 and quite honestly it's the best wax I've ever used. I'll let the pictures set the scene.

[iR6 0]

Car looks great :) Just brought some of the 'Harley' wax, now cant wait to try it!

[James. 9]

What with looking for some replacement wheels. I've been (forgive me father) spending time on Edition38. Now I'm not going to be plastering the bonnet with stickers or pouring acid over the roof. But something may have come out of it. And that something is the idea of a gentle lowering procedure.

 

In an ideal world I'd push the boat out and get an all bells and whistles suspension set up. But we don't live in an ideal world, so therefore plumped for something on a lower rung of the ladder.

 

On my first 2.0 corrado (back in't day) I used some lowering springs to attain a higher aesthetic. And was pleased with the ride to boot !

 

Fast forward eight years and here we are. Working on the same model of car, the same job, in the same place, under the same slate grey sky.

 

I chose PI springs (40mm drop) combined with the existing Boge/Sachs gas standard shocks.

 

The lower front bolts were, ahem, shall we say... challenging. The rears were straight forward enough though.

When I first stepped back to light my pipe and admire my handy work, the car seemed to offer up the same ride height. A quick drive to shake down any potential fitting issues and it was time for indoors to a warmer climate and tea.

 

Sunday morning brought a dry day and also a small smile as the springs had settled over night.

 

Today, my son and I had a short drive over to Southport. The car performed wonderfully well. The handling is still sharp, and the ride is still firm without being harsh. If anything the ride on a good condition road is slightly softer. Speed bumps were a small issue, but we can live with that. The 50mm spoiler I have in reserve will also help.

 

Here's a picture for reference.

[ben_wooduk 0]

Looks great James, its been waiting 6 years for that job!! Makes it look 100 times better.

[James. 9]

Thanks Ben.

 

I agree. It transforms the look of it no end. Still unsure wether to get some 16" wheels or keep as is ?

 

Think I'll drive it for a few weeks and see how I feel at the end of November.

[James. 9]

Behind the sherry scenes, there's some changes going on. Rolling stock, internal refinement etc.

Don't want to reveal too much, but the old boy returned a quite astounding 46 mpg on an automotive procurement trip to Crewe this evening.

Who needs Bluemotion with those numbers (okay maybe round town then !).

[Big Adam 0]

Sounds like some interesting changes, whatever could they be?

my altinator has give up the ghost, was driving up the Langdale Valley using a head tourch the other nite!!

i will drop "them things" round next week when im home.

[James. 9]

Sounds like some interesting changes, whatever could they be?

my altinator has give up the ghost, was driving up the Langdale Valley using a head tourch the other nite!!

i will drop "them things" round next week when im home.

 

You'd never guess...

What's up with the alt ? regulator ?

Ooooh things. We like things and stuff round ere !

[Big Adam 0]

What's up with the alt ? regulator ?

QUOTE]

not sure, its was making a grinding sound, the lights went dimer (as if they wernt already dim!) windscreen ticklers (would be an insult on wipers to call them wipers) slowed so tuned the lights off and used my head tourch. when i got to the top of the valley there was an industrial sound come from a pully and the ticklers whent faster, odd! i was not very fond of the idea of breaking down miles from civilisation on a dark wet windy night down a narrow, twisty, hilly roud with no phone signal or jacket. i think that would of called for a Bazil Faulty moment if it had.

suppose what im saying is its intermittent!

[James. 9]

miles from civilisation on a dark wet windy night down a narrow, twisty, hilly roud with no signal !

 

Yeah, I was passing through Appley bridge the other day as well. Fnar fnar

[James. 9]

What with all the family having presents bought, and smiles with miles of wrapping paper. A certain someone has been left out in the cold (literally) over the festive period.

 

Having yet to strike a deal where I am allowed to replace the front door with a garage door. It remains that I am unfortunately forced to leave the 8 valve outside.

 

So what with it being the time for giving, I thought it fair to spread a little yuletide love to that sometime forgotten arm of the family... Arthur the daily.

 

A couple of months ago, I managed to source locally a leather interior from BigAdam. Since its procurement I've dutifully deep cleaned and conditioned it with the quite wonderful Gliptone. Replacing a couple of tired bolsters along the way, and re attaching any seams that have come away.

 

What with having a four year old boy and the car being used for all duties, leather is a much more user friendly material over the light grey fabric. One wipe and any marks are gone. The leather is far from perfect (like the rest of the car), but commensurate with the vehicles age. And as such I'm not going to get too upset if anything serious happens to it.

 

As with all things Corrado, the amount of jobs that "should" be easy, can be counted on the one hand. I refer to replacing a rear bench seat with a humped one.

 

Fortunately as Adam is stripping his car out, we managed (with the aid of an angle grider) to remove the rear seat bracket. Once the bracket had been transfered across I set about pulling out the rest of the carpet set out.

A generous oil spot treatment and wash down with shampoo and conditioner (because he's worth it) and we're on the right side of a spotless interior.

 

A few days later and the carpets are quietly drying out like a recovering alcoholic in the corner of a room and the seats are ready to be installed.

 

Fortunately when I came to re-install, Adam had very kindly given me the rear part of his tunnel trim (to allow for a humped rear seat), luckily in the same colourway.

 

Today I performed a small interior refresh (hoovering, cleaning etc). Here are the results (with the gift of leather added:

[James. 9]

Feeling the Christmas love for Arthur. I thought it only right to iron out some of those small "faffy" jobs. You know, the ones that in your head start out as taking a couple of minutes. But end up taking an hour.

 

First port of call was the rear number plate plinth. The small nodes on the rear had become detached. A small blob of black silicone and it's back stuck again, waterproof styleee.

 

Next was the under dash fuse cover. The small obsolete black squares had never been in place since acquisition. Cue a spare, cut down speed clip and an interior screw. Et voila !

 

lastly was a real annoyance. I'm not sure if the bean counters at VW had omitted them from the design, as part of the 8 valves price point. Or whether they had been taken out at some point, but the small plastic inserts from where the front seat belts attach to the rails were missing ???

 

I called down at Corkills VW Wigan and wasn't surprised to learn that they were obsolete. A few days prior I'd been given some old till rolls (don't ask) and I immediately noticed that the black plastic tubes that the rolls were coiled around would be almost perfect for this task.

 

I cut one down to about an inch long, cut a slot the length of the tube, prized it over the rail (it won't fit over each end), wound some double sided around it, inserted it into the seat belt opening and the seat belt no longer "sticks" to the rail when it's unclipped. A triumph !

 

 

 

Arthurs pampering was completed with a deep wash and wax.

 

Happy Christmas Arthur.

[James. 9]

Dressed up nice at Christmas

[fla 9]

continued superb work there James. Ther paint in those pics is absolutely spot on. Perhaps care to share some valeting tips?

[James. 9]

continued superb work there James. Ther paint in those pics is absolutely spot on. Perhaps care to share some valeting tips?

 

Thanks for the praise but the pictures do flatter the paint somewhat. I gave him a good wash with an extra cap full of turtle wax. Then after allowing time to dry, applied a good coat of Harley wax. Wonderful stuff and not priced out of reach for the home enthusiast.

I'm no detailer by a long chalk, just a regular guy who likes to look after his cars. I'm still very much learning with all this cleaning lark.

 

Had a short drive out to a friends house last night and he attracted quite a bit of attention. Show off !

 

I'm itching to get the new wheels on though...

[Big Adam 0]

Looks spot on james, glad the seats whent to a good home as they would of been ruined in my corrado van.

[James. 9]

Yeah, you should weld up the rear windows and put a "No pies are left in this Corrado overnight" sticker in the back to finish the van off.

 

Lifted the wheels out yesterday to see how much refresh work will be required. Not that bad at all to be honest, so I'm off to order the paint now. Tyres on in a few weeks, so I'll post up a fitted picture then.

 

Andy (C5 OEM) I blame this mod purely on you. I could have probably suppressed my Borbet urge. Until I saw yours at Tatton.

 

in the mean time, a visual trinket to whet your appetite...

Edited December 30, 2011 by James.

[ben_wooduk 0]

Very very nearly brought a set of those for this car 6 years ago, will obviously looking amazing when done, cant wait for pics!

 

Still love the paint after all these years, simply the most gorgeous colour for a C. The polished pics look great. :luvlove:

[KIPVW 0]

Oooomph! that is without a doubt the only after market wheel i'd ever fit to any of mine :)

[James. 9]

Thanks Ben / Kip, I agree they are one of the best period wheels available. That said, I've been quietly looking for a set since I bought the 8 valve. They're surprisingly rare in 16". Plenty available in 15" guise, but 16"s don't seem to pop up. I think they must change hands through word of mouth.

Problem is (if it can be classed as a problem) that my other choice of wheels have popped up on a certain online auction site.

I'll give it a few days to decide.

 

And yes I also agree that the colour is superb. One of the Marshall old boys drove a VR6 at Prescott hillclimb in sherry pearl back in the late 90's. Since seeing that, I had to have that colour one day.

Sad I know.

[Redfox 10]

NICE! That looks so good and elegant in that colour with those seats! Black wouldn't cut it here, only grey leather ;) Good Job.

 

Question: Since I got myself a Recaro leather interior in same grey colour with a apprx. 10cm broken seam on the sidebolster of the drivers back, how did you repair that?

I can supply a pic if so needed.

 

Cheers,

Redfox.

[Portent 0]

Looking good. I never knew there should be those plastic inserts for the seat belts. Mine are missing too (VR6 not an 8v). I may have to copy your idea :)

[C5 OEM 0]

Attention to detail is superb james....just shows what can be done...love the wheels..!!