I've been driving this as my daily over the last couple of months and the Golf has been garaged. I originally meant to swap them every so often, but then the weather turned and the rado was warm and cosy...
I really could do with getting the Golf out again, but it seems a shame since it's nice and clean and the roads are a bit of a state at the moment.
Took the Corrado for a service at a VW specialist last month - I would usually do it myself but I fancied another stamp in the well maintained service book, plus I think it was several thousand miles overdue. Nearly £200 in the end (most of it parts) and a list of customer notes as long as your arm:
-Rear bump stops perished
-slight play in rear wheel bearings
-play in n/s lower ball joint (aka CLUNK)
-slight play in inner steering track rod inner joint (i.e. whole new track rod needed)
-rear brake discs poor
-n/s rear tyre tread pattern distorted
-leak on PAS pipe (pump to rack)
-o/s wishbone bush slightly split
-front to rear and rear metal brake pipes starting to corrode
-osf tyre 3mm
Shet that's a long list!
I've got most of the parts - I started with the rear bump stops as I thought they'd be hardest, turns out they were really easy
Then I moved onto the rear brakes. I've also got a snapped handbrake cable, and the remaining cable freezes in the cold. Unfortunately I had nothing to press the new bearings into the discs with, and I almost destroyed the carrier bolts (Mr. Irwin saves the day again) so I've had to order some of those. End result: Same crappy rear brakes and noisy bearings for now.
I've got a front bottom ball joint but I thought I may as well wait until I get a track rod too so I only need to do the alignment once. Track rods are £100+ from VW... f that, I'm off the ECP... Also, I don't dare attempt the wishbone bush so I'll get a garage to do that.
I picked up a set of speedlines second hand - the original plan was to get some budget winter tyres on them, but the rubber on them already looks okay. Only thing is they're 195's instead of 205's, and two of the tyres look like they've been rubbing pretty bad on the inside of the wheel.
I still think it rides a little high - it would look good dropped 30-40mm, and handle a little better too. I'm still have some doubts though as the ride is fantastic (am I getting old?). If I could lower the car without sacrificing the ride, I'd be happy.
Also think that a set of 16" or 17" wheels may finish it off nicely, though the speedlines have grown on me. I do like the BBS RXs (single piece), but I am not paying stupid money for them. Any other suggstions for good quality and good looking wheels that suit the Corrado and don't break the bank? (pics please!)
I also need to do a few more jobs... I'm picking up a replacement sunroof tomorrow, as the cable guides are borked on mine. I've also got a new passenger door with glass and mech, as the one on the car is pretty dented and scratched, and the window doesn't work. There are other little niggly bits wrong too - heater controls (levers on the heaterbox are broken - just what I wanted - a dash-out job...), heated mirrors don't work, leather needs a refurb, cracked foglight..
That's all the car's getting for now, I'm out of money, so nothing else until I sell some parts! My next priority has to be a new set of tyres unless I decide to use the ones on the spare speedlines.
Here's a pic in the peaks yesterday:
And a belated pic in the snow: