'92 Corrado VR6 (Barney!)
'92 Corrado VR6 (Barney!)
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immunda

Original Poster:

47 posts

154 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Long time lurker, I've been to a couple of Sunday Services (in my Polo estate no less!) and I finally thought it was time to get something a little more PH-worthy sorted.

After much sleuthing on various forums and classifieds, I took the trek up to Norfolk to check out a nice looking example of a VR6. I was still undecided as to whether I'd end up with a G60 or VR6 at this point, further complicated by a nice G60 with stage 4 charger I'd driven earlier that day. It was a bit of a gamble, with the advert's description consisting of two lines; one about a questionable clutch but the latter a reassuring "selling to make room for an e-type". It's an early spec VR with around 140k, but seemed clean and most importantly, for the right price.



Joined by a pal (Kovac), roads went from three lanes, to two, then one and finally what I'd say was half, at which point we were well and truly out in the sticks. We wound through lanes until around the next kink there's a sight to behold, a clean Dark Burgundy Pearl Corrado VR6 just visible form the road, with E-type roadster peeking out from the garage behind. We approach and exchange pleasantries with Brian the owner, an older chap flanked by Monty the great dane. Radio 4 blared from the workshop on this Sunday afternoon with the rare February sun beginning to dip. Well and truly living the dream!

A brief test drive ensues, at which point I test the brakes; or rather don't, because there aren't any. This alarms myself as much as the rapidly approaching Focus. I make my apologies and limp the car back to Brian and let him know that there might be a problem. I'm sure it's just corrosion on the discs, confirmed when he informs me the car has been in storage for the last 9 months. Brian proceeds to jump in, "Shall we have a quick check?", I oblige and take the passenger's seat. The road flows through the forest and then opens up into a 1/4 mile or so straight, but with pretty poor quality surface. Brian then proceeds to mat it through 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Fast! Noise! THAT NOISE! He stamps on the anchors; "seems pretty good to me". Hero. We repeat this procedure a few more times, point proven.

Now happily warmed up (and smelling just a little of brakes!), Kovac and I go for another jaunt and the car feels great; definitely some spongy brakes, not much clutch left, slight knocking sound over bumps from the rear left but new stainless exhaust sounds great. However, no sign of timing chain rattle, which is notorious with these VRs. All the electrical gubbins work too, quite a rarity with the electric windows, sunroof, early ABS and pop-up spoiler. The only complaint I can level is the slightly dicky O/S electric mirror adjustment. There is a bunch of history, and it looks to have been only subject to a few thousand miles a year since an initially high milage few years. The front is indeed a little too mint, and on further inspection the bonnet is a very slightly different shade. Then there's the truly great thing about the car, no rust! At all, anywhere. And aside from that bonnet respray it's all dead original. Before I can say "mayo on the oil cap", I'm sold and so is the car. Brian informs me that he and the wife are off with Monty the great dane to Sunday roast at the pub and that we can follow him to the nearest cash point to get the deposit. I reiterate, Brian is living the dream

After a nervous couple of days having realised I forgot to check the oil cap for mayo, I arrive to pick up the car. Fortunately everything is sound and Brian digs out a couple of extras including some unused floor mats. Turns out this was his third or fourth Corrado, including a previous G60 and VR6 since new (one of which was stolen within a week of delivery!), I'm reassured that Brian knows what he's talking about. That said, he did regale me with the story of his dissatisfaction when his 68mm pulleyed G-lader blew up and ejected itself into the motor whilst "having a bit of a go at a 325i" circa 1993. I'm assured I'll have a very pleasant drive back to London, which I take easy and do.

Here's a few more pictures from the sale:










Over the next few days, I drive the car wherever I can. This isn't all that much given I'm London (it'll eventually live outside town at the folks' house). This decision is crystallised immediately. The early 90mm front splitter scrapes on almost every speed mountain we have in Islington (suspension is stock!), the mileage is atrocious, I wince every time I have to bring the clutch closer to its inevitable demise and sitting in traffic (which is the entire time) seems to overwhelm the VR's cooling alarmingly quickly. The drug dealer spec blacked out windowed drug dealer chariots of Hackney (120Ds, GTDs & A3 TDIs) are also a constant source of suspense as I find myself caring more about the body work of the 22 year old car than I had intended. My attachment to the car is then cemented when I inform my girlfriend "I have bought a silly 90s coupe in purple(ish)", and she immediately names it Barney after the purple dinosaur of the same vintage. I sigh, but secretly don't mind.

After some research, the temperatures are definitely not healthy, so I'm currently in the process of debugging just exactly what is wrong with the cooling. I've followed the invaluable "Definitive VR6 cooling" thread over on the-corrado (a *very* helpful bunch for any would be owner) and it seems the fan, although the slave bearings are noisy and shagged, is functional but not coming on at the right temperature whilst the ignition is on. This implicates the radiator sensor. I'm also at a loss to explain why the aux pump doesn't remain on for the ten minute period the same thread claims it should. Anyway, new sensor is in the post and I plan to fit it next weekend in time for the Pistonheads Silverstone Sunday Service, whilst taking the opportunity to fully drain and flush the coolant to check for any other gunk.

The car also has an original (I believe) early spec red badge on the back, but the front seems to be a late-spec silver badge. It's also only got a single open slat in the grill for airflow, which also seems to be late-spec. Either way I've also got a VW heritage grill with all three open slats on order.

Regarding future plans, it's all aimed at taking stock and getting the car working in original fashion, and then apply some choice upgrades. Right now this roughly looks like:

- Upgraded headlight loom (factory loom isn't up to it and only gets 10v to the headlights)
- Braided brake lines (probably take this opportunity to fit Mk4 rear callipers and uprated fronts)
- Alpine headunit
- NERD: First aid kit to replace the then redundant CD changer (although I love that )
- KW Variant 1/2/3(?)
- 50mm front splitter to deal with the drop
- Panel filter or BMC CDA
- Replacement driver's seat bolster
- Mocal oil cooler
- Replacement slave fan
- 16" wheels (looking at Compomotive bronze splits or maybe 7J BBS Mk4 Golf Anni RXIIs)
- Eibach/KW/H&R 22/25mm ARBs
- Helix clutch

Finally, a few more pictures of my story with the car so far:









Edited by immunda on Wednesday 12th March 00:41

tali1

5,286 posts

230 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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One of the nicer colours and K reg make for one of the earlier cars.Nice to see rare cloth trim as most seem to have optional(apart from standard storm) leather

missing the VR6

2,539 posts

218 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Legendary car, had one myself and it was by far and away my favourite car I've ever owned. They make such a great noise.

You're looks very nice. Those mods should be just the ticket to bring it up to date.

Andy665

4,160 posts

257 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Lovely, I had two G60's, my second was Nugget Yellow and became quite a regular at shows

Both were incredibly reliable - the Corrado remains a great car

mustdash

360 posts

157 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Beautiful cars! As a kid growing up these were the car I wanted 'when I could drive'.

Dr G

15,944 posts

271 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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That, sir is bloody lovely. Colour me jealous and take good care of it.

Nice to see a 'rado that hasn't been tastelessly ruined by 'the scene'.

omgus

7,305 posts

204 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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thumbup

Good work, Kovac called me to say you were buying a VR6 from the arse end of nowhere so glad it turned out well.

andymc

7,616 posts

236 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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I can remember the storm model i had, nice car

aka_kerrly

12,505 posts

239 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Snap, I also have a dark burgundy pearl Corrado VR6 to as a daily to compliment my G60.

What is the service history like with your car? have the timing chains and tensioners been replaced at any point?

If you are planning on having the clutch changed it is VERY worthwhile having the chains done at the same time as you will save a good amount of ££ on labour. With regards to the clutch I've always used Sachs ones and that includes on my brother's 230hp VR an my 200+ g60 and am not a fan of those alloy/lightweight looking things. Oh an it's worth looking into a lightened flywheel as well as a VR one weighs a tonne.



EDIT - do something about those HT leads to, BERU do OE ones at a fine price and in my experience they are better and more durable than any of those red/blue/green lead kits you get.

Edited by aka_kerrly on Wednesday 12th March 16:30

Dave Hedgehog

16,300 posts

233 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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lovely car with a great sound track

immunda

Original Poster:

47 posts

154 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
Thanks all! As some people have mentioned, it makes a lovely noise, especially with the stainless system on there. I'm not normally so affected by such things, but it was definitely one of things that lured me away from the G-Lader.

Dr G said:
Nice to see a 'rado that hasn't been tastelessly ruined by 'the scene'.
Right! And I thoroughly intend to keep it that way (although you'll have to excuse me lowering it an in or two wink ).

aka_kerrly said:
Snap, I also have a dark burgundy pearl Corrado VR6 to as a daily to compliment my G60.

What is the service history like with your car? have the timing chains and tensioners been replaced at any point?

If you are planning on having the clutch changed it is VERY worthwhile having the chains done at the same time as you will save a good amount of ££ on labour.

EDIT - do something about those HT leads to, BERU do OE ones at a fine price and in my experience they are better and more durable than any of those red/blue/green lead kits you get.
Haha, truly committed to the cause smile What's your G like - something a bit special to warrant a VR daily?

The history is pretty complete, in so far as stamps with intervals and dates, MOTs, etc. but I feel like there's a few receipts missing. It looks to have been nannied by the last two owners (I'm number 4) after the second put on the bulk of the 139k. I'm assuming the chains and tensioners haven't been done and I had intended to change them myself or get them done with the clutch (which I'm not sure yet if I'll try myself) when it expires. Obviously both these might be expedited when I start to hear rattling.

I had heard the Helix clutches were happy with a bit more power and I had toyed with the idea of a low compression S/C kit on stock internals, but I'm not sure this is the car for it given the good condition.

Are you suggesting the leads as something to just get done now (I don't have a record of when they may have been changed) as preventative?

I'd also love to hear about what's gone into the 230hp VR; I'd like to try my hand at getting a bit more out of it (without resorting to silly expensive Schrick/VSR manifolds).

EDIT: Lightened flywheel, sounds a good shout and added to my list.

Edited by immunda on Wednesday 12th March 16:57

aka_kerrly

12,505 posts

239 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
immunda said:
Haha, truly committed to the cause smile What's your G like - something a bit special to warrant a VR daily?

The history is pretty complete, in so far as stamps with intervals and dates, MOTs, etc. but I feel like there's a few receipts missing. It looks to have been nannied by the last two owners (I'm number 4) after the second put on the bulk of the 139k. I'm assuming the chains and tensioners haven't been done and I had intended to change them myself or get them done with the clutch (which I'm not sure yet if I'll try myself) when it expires. Obviously both these might be expedited when I start to hear rattling.

I had heard the Helix clutches were happy with a bit more power and I had toyed with the idea of a low compression S/C kit on stock internals, but I'm not sure this is the car for it given the good condition.

Are you suggesting the leads as something to just get done now (I don't have a record of when they may have been changed) as preventative?

I'd also love to hear about what's gone into the 230hp VR; I'd like to try my hand at getting a bit more out of it (without resorting to silly expensive Schrick/VSR manifolds).

EDIT: Lightened flywheel, sounds a good shout and added to my list.

Edited by immunda on Wednesday 12th March 16:57
Total VW nut but Corrados are very special to me.

My G60 is rather unusual in the UK it is the Nugget Yellow US import, one of only 4 known USA imports the others being a white G60 and two red VR6 (2.8SLC not 2.9 like Euro). I've been restoring it for the last 3 years which is too long, it was killing me not driving the Corrado. Sampling my brothers a few times a week was not enough of a fix. As a result I recently went out to buy a new daily driver - something modern & reasonably frugal was the intention but I came home with a Corrado VR6!!

The reason for mentioning the timing chain was because until very recently (well 3weeks ago) I was a believer that in less a VR6 timing chain is rattling/knocking then it was fine.

This was backed up by three previous VR6s that have over 150k on their original chains/tensioners plus numerous friends plus knowledge gained from multiple forums. My brother's VR6 was pulled apart at 177k due to the piston rings being worn and his chains looked as new an the tensioners only had light scuff marks on them.

My daily VR6 is on 92k as confirmed by a huge service history but completely out of the blue the lower timing chain snapped! Luckily I was only doing 20mph @ 1000rpm so my list of replacement parts so far is..

- 7x new valves
- 4x new guides
- head gasket kit & bolts
- waterpump
- chains & tensioners - i've converted to the later single top chain set up as per later OBD2 cars
- sachs clutch kit and release bearing (already replaced slave cylinder a few months ago)
- oil pick up filter + sump seal kit
- lightened flywheel
- rear crank seal - which fits into the lower timing cover! - if this leaks then it's bye bye clutch as my brother found out a few weeks back.

I'm in for about £500 of parts and doing the work myself with the assistance of a Bentley manual (WELL WORTH GETTING!!!!) and a few How To guides on the Corrado forums/VW Vortex.

The ironic thing is my clutch was also starting to feel a bit on the high side with a faint bit of slip so I'd planned on doing chains/tensioners/clutch soon. Worse still was the week my chain snapped there were 2 other chain failures on the Corrado Club both late spec engines with around 100k on them.

In terms of my brother's VR6 engine spec it is:
- Grant motorsport ported/polished head with uprated triple cut valves, uprated retainers/springs
- 264* custom cams
- skimmed head & steel head gasket to raise compression to 10.5:1
- ported/flowed inlet and throttle body
- 6 branch manifold>full 2.5inch stainless system - yes it's quite loud
- was running a BMC CAI but that was found to lose power as the opening is SMALLER than the MAF, now running a Jetex cone filter with a heat shield
- Custom DG Auto remap with raised rev limited to 7000rpm

All I can say is compared with my standard VR6 is you can drive them around at under 3000rpm and they feel largely the same but beyond that my brother's pulls much harder all the way to 7000rpm with no let off and sounds far more exotic than even some V8s/v10s. The consequence is his average MPG being 3-5 worse than mine.

We both have threads on the-Corrado.Net , mine are under username Kerrly, my brother MrGinge.

Neil G60

697 posts

253 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Love a corrado, had a G60 and VR6. Andy665 and I both had them lovingly looked after by a great guy in littlehampton if you ever need work done on it...

ubbs

710 posts

246 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
Awsome! I had 2 of these in the 90s a moonlight blue pearl with grey cloth purchased new, and an interestingly specd aqua blue pearl one with grey electric leather recaros which I'm told were a 2k option at the time that was bought with only 16k miles on the clock in 1999 fantastic cars, 13 years on the guy I sold the last one to still owns it I still have the original first aid kit and warning triangle that fits in the top of the rear seat pm me if your interested I don't think you can get the genuine ones anymore
Ubbs

aka_kerrly

12,505 posts

239 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
Neil G60 said:
Love a corrado, had a G60 and VR6. Andy665 and I both had them lovingly looked after by a great guy in littlehampton if you ever need work done on it...
JMR ;-)I will trust him with my G60 when it comes to rebuilding & spicing it up a bit.

There are very few places left who know G-ladders , that's one of the major advantages of the VR6 - far more average garages will be able to plug in a diagnostics device an replace a sensor or two.

billzeebub

3,911 posts

228 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
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Congratulations on the new purchase. I love my VRs and couldn't see myself without one for long I have owned 7 to date and love everything about the car. A great community around these cars too, the Forum and Owners Club extremely helpful/pleasant. Look forward to seeing what you do with it. I would always advocate keeping it fairly standard aesthetically and improving beneath the skin...

..oh, and get yourself a BMC CDA, this amplifies the lovely noise to a spine tingling level. Sounds so much better than my Boxster S when pushing on, but barely noticeable when pooltling around town.

Edited by billzeebub on Wednesday 12th March 21:07

bloodfart

170 posts

200 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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Great car. Don't supercharge it though, if you want forced induction then turbo is the only way to go with the VR6 wink

Neil G60

697 posts

253 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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aka_kerrly said:
JMR ;-)I will trust him with my G60 when it comes to rebuilding & spicing it up a bit.

There are very few places left who know G-ladders , that's one of the major advantages of the VR6 - far more average garages will be able to plug in a diagnostics device an replace a sensor or two.
That's the place, I've been down there recently having suspension fitted to my new (non-VAG) car as he's the only guy I trust with big work.

And I had plenty of nightmares with local so-called specialists looking at my old VR6 - I ended up taking it the 60 miles to JMR and he diagnosed the problem in about 10 minutes.

There's a built G60 lump in the there at the moment with lots of Schrick bits and headwork, good for 240bhp apparently

pedrotunes

166 posts

214 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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Great cars, I've had 4 and miss them all, especially the noise! My last VR had the chains done and was still running great at 166k when I sold it.

One of the best colours aswell.

Enjoy.

immunda

Original Poster:

47 posts

154 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
quotequote all
aka_kerrly said:
My daily VR6 is on 92k as confirmed by a huge service history but completely out of the blue the lower timing chain snapped! Luckily I was only doing 20mph @ 1000rpm so my list of replacement parts so far is..
Ouch! Saw some of the details over on your thread over on the-corrado, I definitely think I'll change the timing gear along with the clutch then, which should be fairly soon. Interesting to see what's gone into that VR, creasing the rev limit also sounds fun smile

Really good to hear about JMR, it might well be worth me taking a visit down depending on how the cooling system work pans out this weekend. It would be nice to have someone good with these give it a once over for peace of mind either way.

I've been collecting a few other bits and bobs to install this weekend. Replacement radiator temperature sensor has arrived along with some G13 and I managed to track down a red front VR6 badge and original 3 open-slat grill. Kovac jokingly suggested getting a few of the badges 3D printed with the silly money they can go for now. I've decided this is actually a good idea and have been in touch with a friend who does this type of thing who might be able to help out.

Alpine 173BT has also arrived, which is just about inoffensive enough and has matching(ish) green backlight to the dash.



ubbs said:
Awsome! I had 2 of these in the 90s a moonlight blue pearl with grey cloth purchased new, and an interestingly specd aqua blue pearl one with grey electric leather recaros which I'm told were a 2k option at the time that was bought with only 16k miles on the clock in 1999 fantastic cars, 13 years on the guy I sold the last one to still owns it I still have the original first aid kit and warning triangle that fits in the top of the rear seat pm me if your interested I don't think you can get the genuine ones anymore
Ubbs
Lovely; I'm actually a big fan of cloth seats - would love those Recaros in cloth (apparently along with everyone else frown ). Definitely interested in that, will drop you a pm.