Seanl82's ringer Storm

[seanl82 23]

What makes it worse is the handbrake doesn't even hold properly! I'm gonna take it all out and get a new cable. Think the calipers could do with sorting. Certainly the guide pin boots as the calipers have been painted yellow, and the boots have paint all over them! There is a lot of work required on this one, although thankfully apart from the paintwork which I'll assess properly in the coming weeks, nothing too expensive.

[seanl82 23]

Interior cleaning is now finished. I'm gonna get the bolsters repaired professionally, and then re-colour the whole interior myself with the Furniture Clinic kit. There's only really the drivers seat, passenger rear seat base (has a big stain on it) and the hump that need doing badly, but worth doing the rest whilst I'm at it. This'll be in a couple of months though, I want to get everything done mechanically first which will start next month.

 

In the meantime, the majority of the leather has come up well, so I'm reasonably happy for now. Just a go over with the Surfex again 5:1 and a leather cleaning brush, a wipe over with clean warm water, left to dry, and then conditioned with Gliptone Conditioner.

 

Pics................................

 

 

 

 

 

First off passenger one has been done, it was just as dirty as the drivers, although not ripped and not quite as worn.

 

 

 

 

 

Drivers side after.

 

 

 

 

 

Door cards on the left are in fantastic condition now.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally headlining. I wish I had a before, as this was in an absolutely shocking state!

 

 

 

 

 

Mint now though!

 

I've ripped out the worst ICE install I've ever come across as well! Various lengths of random bits of wire, twisted together and not insulated, so just shorting out all over the place! I'm just gonna fit the wiring to the standard speaker positions for now, get the interior back in, then decide what I want to keep and what's being binned!

 

Next week will begin exterior detailing. That'll get me to a point where I know exactly what is needed with regard to paint in the future.

 

Updates to come next week with the exterior.

Edited March 21, 2013 by seanl82

[Jim 1]

What a horror show - and bloody good work so far... keep it up and keep the pictures coming.. find these sorts of threads hugely motivating! :)

[delfinis38 1]

What a horror show - and bloody good work so far... keep it up and keep the pictures coming.. find these sorts of threads hugely motivating! :)

 

agree on the motivation front :) although I'm still a wimp at the moment "too cold to play cars in a garage" only managed an oil change since xmas.

 

nice to see some good work going on.

[seanl82 23]

Indeed it is Jim! And thanks for the kind words. It'll get there eventually! :thumbleft:

 

Thanks also Delf, I'm lucky in that there is a heated workshop to do it all at work. No excuses for me!

[delfinis38 1]

Indeed it is Jim! And thanks for the kind words. It'll get there eventually! :thumbleft:

 

Thanks also Delf, I'm lucky in that there is a heated workshop to do it all at work. No excuses for me!

 

hope to see it out on the road in the summer.. I drive through Fareham most weekends. I will keep an eye out.

Edited March 21, 2013 by delfinis38

[clumpy1 11]

I know you shouldn't have bought that car mate but i am glad you did as you are doing a great job in bringing it back to life i had a bit to do on mine but nowhere near as much as you have :salute: keep it up mate we are all behind you :D

[robrado974 1]

Well done mate , bit of elbow grease and you have a clean interior , once the repairs are done it will be sweet .Jesus ,what plank welded that handbrake without covering up surrounding area first !!!. Keep up the good work , it will pay off .

[VAG-hag 0]

Great work on the interior mate! How did you tackle headlining?

[seanl82 23]

Headlining was done the same as the rest tbh, except less water. Just the APC in a bottle sprayed all over, dipped a soft bristle interior brush in warm water and flicked off the excess, and scrubbed! Rubbed over afterwards with a couple of dry microfibres to absorb any excess water and remove surface dirt. All the lads at work were amazed at how well it came up! Honestly I wish I took a before pic as it was disgusting! You cant even see the difference between where the hidden parts under the trim were now. I'm really really happy with how it came out mate. :smug:

[Alan h 10]

Well done on the start of transforming this raddo mate you are doing a good job

[Rams 0]

Great results there! Your bound to be more satisfied this way and seeing it transform which it already is. Could be a good idea to keep conditioning the leather, even if you condition them, get some warmth into them and massage them then condition again and wrap them in cling film. Sounds very doggy!

 

Keep up the good work, the guys on here will help you and keep you motivated, people like nothing more than seeing progress especially when it's your own hard work. Good luck for the new arrival

[VAG-hag 0]

Headlining was done the same as the rest tbh, except less water. Just the APC in a bottle sprayed all over, dipped a soft bristle interior brush in warm water and flicked off the excess, and scrubbed! Rubbed over afterwards with a couple of dry microfibres to absorb any excess water and remove surface dirt. All the lads at work were amazed at how well it came up! Honestly I wish I took a before pic as it was disgusting! You cant even see the difference between where the hidden parts under the trim were now. I'm really really happy with how it came out mate. :smug:

 

So the bh stuff gets a thumbs up then. Hardly surprising as ive yet to use a poor product of theirs. Again great work man.....

[seanl82 23]

So the bh stuff gets a thumbs up then. Hardly surprising as ive yet to use a poor product of theirs. Again great work man.....

 

 

It does indeed! As you've said as well, every BH product I've used I've been impressed with.

[bmwcompact 10]

I've just read the whole thread with interest. I too am impatient. I looked for a 16v for 2 months and nothing came up: the 16v were on the south coast/Norfolk/London (I'm in Cumbria). So the car I bought wasn't the best, it was the first possible purchase that came up. That was a little over a year ago.

 

I now have a car thats mechanically good, looks fine for a 19 yr old car, and runs well. I've had the fun/frustration/satisfaction of all the work (I bought it as a toy/hobby car). I doubt I could recoup my outlay. At present there seems to be a stream of 16v cars for sale, many of which appear to be in better nick than mine for £800-2000. But maybe they all need lots doing to them?

 

I admire those immaculate cars that appear here like most other corrado owners. Maybe I should have waited and waited until that immaculate car came along at a bargain price. If I had such a car maybe I'd be afraid to use it. Maybe I'd just spend my time admiring or polishing it.

 

What am I rambling on about? I'm trying to say that for many of us a large part of ownership is knowing, and being able to share, that the car you have, only goes and looks as well as it does cos of all the effort you've put in.

 

So don't look back, keep up the good work, and you'll end up with something you will be proud of, even if it costs more in time, money and frustration than you had intended.

 

I almost forgot to say its nice to know you bought a car that had just had that major engine work done for £970: thats one job you wont have to do.

Edited March 22, 2013 by bmwcompact

[Jim 1]

At this point it's fair to say that no-one can possibly own a Corrado for the possibility of making any sort of money or, to be honest, even breaking even on any outlay they spend.. speaking from my own experience of spending about £4,000 on the car, sinking a good £1,500 on maintenance over the last couple of years, and now being in a position where the car needs a complete respray and some engine TLC and is probably barely worth £1,500 I'm long since past trying to rationalise it. But the Corrado for me is part of my life and transcends rational thought in terms of justifying keeping it. I'll spend what needs spending to keep this great car on the road for as long as I can afford to.

[bmwcompact 10]

I bet those 2 guys on channel 5 could buy a corrado for £500, scrape some carbon of the distributor contacts, clean the seats, polish the paintwork and get it valued for £5000 and only take a week to do it with a team of 6.

[clumpy1 11]

At this point it's fair to say that no-one can possibly own a Corrado for the possibility of making any sort of money or, to be honest, even breaking even on any outlay they spend.. speaking from my own experience of spending about £4,000 on the car, sinking a good £1,500 on maintenance over the last couple of years, and now being in a position where the car needs a complete respray and some engine TLC and is probably barely worth £1,500 I'm long since past trying to rationalise it. But the Corrado for me is part of my life and transcends rational thought in terms of justifying keeping it. I'll spend what needs spending to keep this great car on the road for as long as I can afford to.

Good for you Jim you are a true enthusiast :thumbleft:

[seanl82 23]

Indeed Jim! I feel your pain brother!

 

Well didn't get as much done as I would have liked today. Decided to start on the wiring, but when I got there, I realised I'd left the cable for the laptop at home, and battery is knackered so only lasted 2 minutes. Reason I need the laptop is that I only have the Bentley on CD for the wiring diagrams.

This was the state of it all behind the dash!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, like the rest of the car, its a hell of a mess!

I'm an Weapons Engineering Technician by trade, but even this made me mutter a few profanities! I don't envy me!!!

I've just tidied it all up for now and put everything back in for the time being. Will visit it at a later date when I have a bit of enthusiasm for it, as Friday a'noons aren't the best time to dive into this type of work!

 

Bad news for getting parts for next month too. Got a phone call from the Letting Agent that manages our house in Plymouth that we rent out today, and the Boilers playing up. Got someone round to have a look, and apparently its the diverter valve. All in all its gonna cost me £400! Bang goes the budget for next month now! Will just have to get the essentials I think.

 

Gonna start again probably Monday or Tuesday. Will begin putting everything back in I think, before tackling the bodywork.

Edited March 22, 2013 by seanl82

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Massive respect for what you are doing with this car! Up until I found out you are an armourer! Tut tut

[seanl82 23]

:nono: Bugger off Sean, I'm not an armourer! I'm a Petty Officer Engineering Technician (Weapons Engineer). Or PO ET(WE) for short. RN not Army mate. Senior Service and all that! :salute::grin:

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Our Armourers (RAF) call themselves technicians. It's not accurate

[seanl82 23]

Emphasis on the Engineering then mate. TBF, the Weapons bit is quite broad in the Engineering Branch. It incorporates Weapons (obviously), Sensors (Radar/Sonar etc), CIS (computers), and Comms/Electronic Warfare - which is what I deal with. Maintaining and fixing Transmitter/Receivers, Encryption systems, Integrated systems and networks, Exchanges, CCTV, Infra Red, etc etc........ Sounds more exciting than it is though mate.

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

So in the RAF, you'd be called a fairy then lol! Or Pinky as your flying lot call them :)

 

I digress, nice car!

[seanl82 23]

Yes we're known as Pinkies too! And thanks! :grin: