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Cluffy’s Corrado VR6 - Love/Hate/Love saga...


Cluffy

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You’re right I should get some more pictures in. I’ve added some here just of the few I’ve taken but will endeavour to get more as the rebuild will progresses. 

Here we have my happy fit of grandads spanner to save buying a flywheel locking tool and the position as we speak. Basically as disassembled as it’s going to get

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4451EF99-0B58-4EBE-88E8-701586B0BF9E.jpeg

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29 minutes ago, Stanky said:

Nice work, it's not until you see a pic with the head off the block that I realised just how narrow an angle the V is on these. What is it, 15 degrees or something on these vr6 engines?

You know, after owning three different VAG 2.8 VR6s, I'd never actually realised that?! Looking at it, it's barely a V6! 

@CluffyGreat to see the 'Rado steadily coming back together. I see values are climbing - about time too!

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On 10/2/2022 at 9:40 PM, Cluffy said:

I also need to replace my fuel hoses. Can anyone recommend a good brand to use? eBay is full of it. I need R9 these days but where to get it from...!?

I would avoid eBay for fuel hose! I've used Gates Barricade last time I changed any, 3 years ago. That was bought from Moss, and so far still remains flexible and in visually good condition. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Slow progress but we’re at a point where the head can go back on with the VR6 machine

12D659EB-4D46-4752-8E56-78D9430EE844.thumb.jpeg.a7828846dffcf2515c4e49a15d7b4dd1.jpegAll valves in and the tappets fitted. I managed to do the valves with my Pain in the Arse compressor so happy days. 

17895FBF-892A-40D1-8E19-B97696F860A7.thumb.jpeg.7b0c57775b151520a5244729ce0e86e9.jpeg

Cams fitted and torqued down (plenty of thick oil to lubricate!) Then i fitted the lower inlet manifold as it won’t bolt on the car with the alternator in the way. 

14F3DACF-4D1F-4ECF-AA71-D39A5AD5999A.thumb.jpeg.58c81b677758a5481a7353d482e02ffe.jpeg

So, fitting the new gasket and dropping this on the top comes next! @grogeeto the Garage for cups of tea and heavy duty thinking on timing, please!

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  • 1 month later...

Happy New Year All! I have a resolution  to get the Corrado out a lot more this year, so back on the VR6 rebuild this morning with great assistance from @grogee   

Lower chain on with only minor fiddling to get the tensioner to work. Lots of painting bits to make sure they’re correctly aligned  

Then on to the faff of the top chain. At some point VW switched to a single upper chain which would’ve made life so much easier. We fannied about with cam sprockets, intermediate sprockets but in the end we got there. Then on torquing things to spec we had to make some fine adjustments to get everything aligned “just so”. 

Top cover went on with the top chain tensioner and happily after four rotations, cams, intermediate shaft and crank are all where they should be...!

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Next to come will be bottom cover, fly wheel, clutch and hoiking the gearbox back in. I then want to do a compression test to see if I’m getting better readings this time. If it’s not behaving, frankly I’ll feel like putting the whole thing In The Bin...!

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A little more progress this week after the timing was done. Lower cover back in place which was a right pain. Gasket seal everywhere but got there in the end. Reading someone’s experience later that day suggested fitting lower cover before the upper one (which has a chain tensioner through it). They may be on to something...

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I then used significant muscle doing the flywheel bolts up and have just come in from putting the clutch / pressure plate on. 

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Next job is gearbox back in. Oh how I am looking forward to that....!

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  • 3 months later...

I’ve been meaning to update this thread for a while. The car is now back together but waiting for a trip to Stealth to fathom the running issue that’s still apparent second time around. 

Highlights of fun on the way:

Got the new starter motor fitted after borking the original

63FEF6B6-9DC0-402B-B965-471B031E9BF5.thumb.jpeg.63abcd5b1542087c36a04e3171ed03aa.jpeg

Then when fitting the driveshafts back in, I read off the wrong torque value from the manual. Oops:

B852C3D8-EDA3-4527-A80D-0887AE716C3E.thumb.jpeg.303282ce967e7a25f773dfe0a2da883b.jpegLuckily, given Corrado+Old VW Megatax (a real thing), twelve new ones weren’t expensive. 

New HT Leads you say? Too fat for the routing strips! A bit of judicious filing will sort that:

2C4CC398-5D2D-41E1-AE0B-F74E15536F78.thumb.jpeg.41a7fa013675d71707240833c7737516.jpeg

And back together. At least sufficient to get her mobile and to the mechanic:

AFE3BE94-6FB2-427A-B7A6-730B6C0B6B54.thumb.jpeg.199df6dd6ce8f39d42cbdb3a4c716325.jpegIt would’ve been nice to get it back on the road fully on my own (ahem! MASSIVE shoutout to @grogeefor all the help and patience when i was being stupid/dumb). However, it’s at a point now I dont know what else I can try. It starts fine, idles nicely  for about 90 seconds and then drops to about 600rpm. Give it any throttle and it bogs down/is easy to stall. One of the temp sensors, TPS, MAF sensor, Cam and crank sensors all swapped about as I had spares in store with no effect. 

Another annoyance is the ABS light has come on. The car has been pretty stationary so i guess maybe the pump has seized partly as the sensors/rings won’t have rusted in a dry garage. The frustration is added to as my VCDS decided to stop working (it’s been fine for about 5 years..!) and although a new cable has fixed one issue, I still can’t get at the codes to confirm the problem. To be fair, it should take Stealth all of 3 seconds to discern what’s wrong if there’s is running OK. Might help diagnosis of the running issue too. 

So it’s off for some TLC in a couple of weeks and hoping to pick up with a fresh MOT and not to have to take out another mortgage to pay for it...!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Afternoon All,

So the VR6 is back to full health. The rest of the car however is not quite there yet...

stealth found a cracked cam timing disc (on the camshaft I hadn’t messed with...) and also a sub-par Fuel pressure regulator (yep, hands up my fault)

For the ABS the pump needs a rebuild. I’ve nearly got it out to send for a refurb but am stuck with these two connections. Any thoughts before I break something?

50C228AA-C58B-4D28-8CD2-9AEB96AAF067.thumb.jpeg.954a7aa7aad7875dca84e7f615f3c5c2.jpegThey look like some kind of quick disconnect thing...

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Managed to miss this thread up until now, nice car. One of my brothers has just bought one and I was gobsmacked how nice they are to drive, more akin to a FWD Porsche than a fancy Golf, much more than the sum of its parts.

F7F909F3-793C-4E78-AB3B-4E63765F5787.thumb.jpeg.e9cdf65fa695e1fc7125183dffef5430.jpeg

Yes he’s a bit of a Dubwanker, but don’t worry it came with a set of re-furred proper wheels and will be kept standard.

 

 

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14 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Managed to miss this thread up until now, nice car. One of my brothers has just bought one and I was gobsmacked how nice they are to drive, more akin to a FWD Porsche than a fancy Golf, much more than the sum of its parts.

F7F909F3-793C-4E78-AB3B-4E63765F5787.thumb.jpeg.e9cdf65fa695e1fc7125183dffef5430.jpeg

Yes he’s a bit of a Dubwanker, but don’t worry it came with a set of re-furred proper wheels and will be kept standard.

 

 

That looks pretty special. They are really sweet to drive. Mine is mainly stock so manages our dreadful roads nicely. Not fast but the noise is just tremendousl!

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On 5/1/2023 at 6:20 PM, Cluffy said:

I’ve been meaning to update this thread for a while. The car is now back together but waiting for a trip to Stealth to fathom the running issue that’s still apparent second time around. 

Highlights of fun on the way:

Got the new starter motor fitted after borking the original

63FEF6B6-9DC0-402B-B965-471B031E9BF5.thumb.jpeg.63abcd5b1542087c36a04e3171ed03aa.jpeg

Then when fitting the driveshafts back in, I read off the wrong torque value from the manual. Oops:

B852C3D8-EDA3-4527-A80D-0887AE716C3E.thumb.jpeg.303282ce967e7a25f773dfe0a2da883b.jpegLuckily, given Corrado+Old VW Megatax (a real thing), twelve new ones weren’t expensive. 

New HT Leads you say? Too fat for the routing strips! A bit of judicious filing will sort that:

2C4CC398-5D2D-41E1-AE0B-F74E15536F78.thumb.jpeg.41a7fa013675d71707240833c7737516.jpeg

And back together. At least sufficient to get her mobile and to the mechanic:

AFE3BE94-6FB2-427A-B7A6-730B6C0B6B54.thumb.jpeg.199df6dd6ce8f39d42cbdb3a4c716325.jpegIt would’ve been nice to get it back on the road fully on my own (ahem! MASSIVE shoutout to @grogeefor all the help and patience when i was being stupid/dumb). However, it’s at a point now I dont know what else I can try. It starts fine, idles nicely  for about 90 seconds and then drops to about 600rpm. Give it any throttle and it bogs down/is easy to stall. One of the temp sensors, TPS, MAF sensor, Cam and crank sensors all swapped about as I had spares in store with no effect. 

Another annoyance is the ABS light has come on. The car has been pretty stationary so i guess maybe the pump has seized partly as the sensors/rings won’t have rusted in a dry garage. The frustration is added to as my VCDS decided to stop working (it’s been fine for about 5 years..!) and although a new cable has fixed one issue, I still can’t get at the codes to confirm the problem. To be fair, it should take Stealth all of 3 seconds to discern what’s wrong if there’s is running OK. Might help diagnosis of the running issue too. 

So it’s off for some TLC in a couple of weeks and hoping to pick up with a fresh MOT and not to have to take out another mortgage to pay for it...!

 

What an ungrateful barsteward your Corrado is! I loved both of mine, even though they were only valvers rather than 6 pot. Corrados still look really good for a design which is almost 35 years old.

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Been a while since I updated. So it turned out there was nowt wrong with the pump. £60+ quid for not a lot, although what price for peace of mind...?

Having replaced the front left ABS sensor, the ABS wakes up no problem with the light coming on and going off. I got a replacement ECU too, just because it was an EBay bargain...

@grogeeand myself spent a bit of time this evening getting some form of pedal so it’s going for a proper bleed and MOT next Tuesday! Fingers crossed for that and then I can tax it from 1st July and thrash it through the summer! Will report back this time next week I guess..!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Evening All,

Exactly a month since the last post - the car has been mainly at the friendly mechanics for a couple of weeks.  It sadly  needed a new catalytic converter and it took a while to order one we were both happy with and then the first one was damaged....

Anyway, I just collected it this evening and it’s driving really well! Just a blast around the bypass and MY GOD I’VE MISSED THAT NOISE!!!!

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Sorry for just the two pictures but didn’t have much time (plus it’s filthy!)

Next up, sort some Road Tax (possibly from 1st Aug) and enjoy. Needs a damned good scrub and polish first though...!

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This was my dream car whilst growing up, and still is! I think they look fantastic, a proper step up from the scirocco that preceded them. 

I suspect I’ve probably missed the chance of having one, so have to get my fix by reading about other peoples - half to see yours is up and running again after a proper fight!  

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7 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

This was my dream car whilst growing up, and still is! I think they look fantastic, a proper step up from the scirocco that preceded them. 

I suspect I’ve probably missed the chance of having one, so have to get my fix by reading about other peoples - half to see yours is up and running again after a proper fight!  

There are still some bargains about but they will likely need a fair few £££ to get them into a reliable state... But you never know what you may find out there - the megabucks being asked by some are daft and only there because of some 40-50k mike immaculate cars that have done £20-30k through some posh auctions....

A useable vr6 should be about £5-7k these days I would say. Doesn’t stop people asking for five figures though....

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