Removing Radiator and associated parts

[plummer 0]

Hi All,

In the process of replacing the radiator on the Corrado and spotted some rust on the lower member so I want to get those cleaned up while I am at it.

 

Firstly what is in the pipe the come through the rad support?

Secondly how is the rad support removed?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance

plummer

[VR6Pete 0]

That's for your power steering pump. There will be flexi's each end on the rear on the support.

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

support your engine via a jack and take the weight of it slightly, and then remove the bolts on the ends of the cross memeber holding it to the chassis legs and it should just drop down , just drain your power steering fluid out and disconnect the hoses before that tho.

[plummer 0]

I have a jack(with a block of wood) under under the engine mount point, is that enough or is more support required?. Also what other parts should I replace while replacing the radiator?.

 

Thanks.

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

yea under the mounting point is fine, but your going to want to remove the cross memeber so idd put the jack under the sump and then remove the bolt {17mm? } holding the front engine mount bracket to the big rubber mount and then jack up the engine until you see the mount bracket come up a few mm and then you can un bolt the cross memeber and remove the rad support along with it knowing that the engine is supported at the right height,

 

idd look at replaceing the rad temp sender for the lower temp one while your there , awesome sell them, ill try and link you

[plummer 0]

More progress today, now with radiator and rad support out along with cross member.

 

 

 

Not to say there was no swearing and knuckle bruising but things went generally okay. Two rusted bolt heads meant some vice grip action resulting in knuckle damage and that clip keeping the cooling hose on the bottom of the radiator was the cause of the swearing, had to remove the fans, then the temp sender before finally being able to get at the clip clear enough to get a good hold and to work free, it there a specific tool or method to removing these types of clips? Or is my lack of mechanic skills just showing through here?.

 

The same clip on the bottom of the radiator was difficult to remove(see photo of top rad pipe)

 

 

Next step is to clear up a few parts and either go down the painting or powder coating route. Slam panel got to be painted as parts of it seen but have to make a decision on the other parts. Think I would like to get the cross member powder coated and maybe the radiator support as I would like to get it blasted to remove the rust that is on there. The bumper section I think would suffice with my own painting skills. The fan cowl is also suffering a bit of rustiness so may well go with a sand blast and powder coot on that, on removing the plastic fan guides I think managed to break all the little plastic clips so will need to purchase some replacements.

 

 

 

 

The next step will be prepping these bits for which ever method of finishing I decide to go with, but just looking at the cross member, how are the bushes at either rend removed?, I’ll also need to remove the engine mount, so is it best to replace the mount or how can I tell is there is life in the old?

 

 

 

 

Looking at what started all this off was the leak in the radiator and you can see that the radiator is a bit distorted at both the top and bottom ends, is this common for a VR rad?. The leak itself can be seen on the first vane down from the top and about 150/200mm in from the right(see the white spot on the photo), is just a pin hold. Anyways have a Hella radiator as a replacement and has already arrived, purchased here in Ireland at 275 euro, i was a bit impatient at the time and ended up purchasing without doing full search on here.

 

 

 

 

Any other parts I should look at now that I’m gone this far?.

[daleyboy 0]

I hacksawed through the bushes horizontally, then poked them out.

The front engine mount i would change while your there, as its the only one at the front it does take a bit of pounding, and will make a lot of difference. Those hose clips i use a set of mole grips on, but they do ping off easily, yours look a bit rusty so you may want to change those for jubilee's.

I did the job your doing two years ago and i ended up taking everything off the front of the engine, cleaned, painted and then put back, i would pay close attention to the crack pipe and thermostat housing as these get brittle over time, also check underneath the slam panel for rust.

[plummer 0]

Thanks Dale, yes the slam panel needs some looking after, particularly in two areas, on the top over where the radiator was leaking and second where is joins to the radiator support. So i think best to get it completely re-sprayed, just need to find a good painter for the job. I have the stainless bolts set from for the refit(thanks Dave) for the lights and slam panel but has anyone got a sources for a lot of the other bolts screws, those attaching to the radiator or power steering cooler etc?

 

 

 

 

Is it best to stick with VW bushes/engine mount or is there better I should be looking at?

[daleyboy 0]

Lots of people (including me) have gone for the Vibra-Technics mounts, as for the bolts just go to a Dealer the bolts are pence, and ive yet to find any bolts that are obsolete.

[plummer 0]

Just looking at the bushes and the engine mount, after removing the bottom cover on mount how is the mount actually removed?, I see an allen key bolt inside on the bottom view but is flexs left and right so does something need to be held for it to be lossened?.

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

never removed a front mount so cant say, but look underneith it , maybe another bolt?

as for the spring clips, i use plumbers water pump pliers, but my m8 has the best tool for them, hes got long nose pliers with the noses tweaked in at an angle, so it grips them clips an absolute treat! there probabaly is a special vw tool out there,

[daleyboy 0]

I think you needed to have undone the bottm bolt before undoing the top bolt, what happens when you undo the allen key bolt does the mount twist with it ? The rubber in the mount goes like sponge and is quite pliable so that bolt moving indicates how perished the rubber is in the mount.

[CazzaVR 0]

Bolts are on top and underneath (you need to remove the little cover with 3 bolts to get to it).

 

Check out the Group Buy section, as Jay has got a group buy for engine mount inserts. Got them in mine and they're great. Much cheaper than VT and just as good IMHO.

[plummer 0]

Engine mount and bushes now removed, all looked to have being is fairly good nick, the cross member itself does need a small bit of clean up but nothing much

 

 

Back to the engine bay and I noticed one disconnected wire(that I didn’t disconnect), anyone know of its use?. Yellow-black wire with a white connector on the end

 

 

If I go for the Vibra-Technics mount should i they replace the other 2 engine mounts with the same or are they good to leave standard?.

[plummer 0]

Treated the 2 lugs in the engine bay to which the slam panel connects too, just applied some Krust gel to both after a quick run of a wire brush. Will have to give them a lick of paint during the week.

[plummer 0]

With the front bumper off, I decided to look behind the rear bumper, the 4 17mm bolts came out without any major resistance and the bumper pulled out cleanly to the rear. A nice piece of rust then fell to the floor(seen in the photo between front and rear bumpers), not sure exactly where this section was originally placed. There is a nice bit of rust on the metal section of the bumper so I will that to the list of parts that need

[CazzaVR 0]

Think that bit is the heatshield. It's fitted to the right of the tow eye hole in that pic. Pretty sure you can still get them from VW.

[plummer 0]

Cheers Cazza, i will check with me local stealer tomorrow as need some bits and pieces to start putting this back together.

[plummer 0]

So yesterday, finally dropped most parts down to sodablast.ie in Cork to get them cleaned up. I will get the cross member and bumper pieces cleaned & powered coated and the slam panel and radiator support painted after blasting, so will need to do a quick pick-up and drop-ff of those parts during the week. Hopefully everything will be ready next.

Before shipping everything out I removed all the part off the slam panel, unfortunately I did break the end of the bonnet release cable guide, so will need to pick one of those up, hopefully still available. Will need to clean up the catches as fairly rough. Will also try to pick-up some new part of those in the picture(white background), not sure if there are still available)

[ANDREW 30 0]

I've got a full set of new vibratechnics engine/gearbox mounts that I never got round to fitting if your interested.

[plummer 0]

Am going the vibra-technics route alright, at least on the front mount for now. How much you looking for?. Send on a photo ot the kit, you still got the invoice from the purchase?. Thks.

[plummer 0]

The more I look the more I want to continue restoring, I think it’s great but my wallet doesn’t agree. With everything off the front I have a clear view of the Corrado’s horn(s), which resides behind the bumper on the front left corner, a little bit of rust on it so would like to get it cleaned up if possible. Are these sealed units or can the metal and plastic section be separated?

[ANDREW 30 0]

I'll get a few photo's up for you in a bit, yeah I must have the invoice here somewhere!

[ANDREW 30 0]

I haven't managed to find the receipt/invoice so far, but I know I paid close to £300 for the 3

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[plummer 0]

Thanks for the offer Andrew, jut going to purchase the front myself. GLWS on yours