My Diamond Silver xG60 build...

[Zinni]

Hey guys!

SO this year I bought a G60 Corrado with a blown charger and some "cosmetic flaws".
The car was nearly stock which is pretty much why I bought it. Even the fenders were untouched. Only some coilovers, some ****ty rims and a mattig "eyebrow". The car wasn't in good condition though.

At first I only wanted to clean the car (dirtiest bay I've ever seen!) fix the rust spots and put a G-Charger in it (as I had a freshly rebuilt one laying around). Get it back to stock as much as possible... I think I didnt even believe that one myself. It's my 3rd C now and as you all know when you start digging and thinking of making it properly in the next moment the car is stripped and you find yourself sitting in the halfway cleaned bay demotivated and pretty much looking like this guy:


Which is where I am at the moment.

I don't clean the bay. Rather just tidying it up a bit. The car will only get coils and some ABTs otherwise stock so a cleaned bay just don't fit the car and don't like the bay too smooth.

Under the hood is where some better things will happen but I'm sure the pics will tell you...

Anyways I won't post all the pics at once as I already made more then 250 until now...
Just some selected ones as most of them are crappy too.

Every picture is made with an Iphone... *flamesuiton

So to the guys who like to post tl dr here are some pics of the diamond:

[Zinni]

more pics:











the brother drinking some fine proper sized danish beer...

[Zinni]

even more pics:
the "donor" of some parts...





engine bay:



















Still haven't finished cleaning (literally) the bay... 20 years old dirt isn't that easy to clean off... And it gets frustrating very fast.
There are two rust spots in the bay as you can see on the pics. One of them already cut out and repaired...

[Zinni]

and some parts at least:



This intercooler was too big and I changed it for a smaller one...


2bar gauge will have to do it for now.


















some rims at last...







what's this?

[petethepug]

Congrat's Zinni! You sank your teeth into that like a mad dog! You're pretty lucky to have your Bro giving you a hand .. or does he just drink beer and watch you get bloody knuckles?

IMO a silver Corrado is one of the best looking colors. The contrast from the black out trim makes the style lines pop. Thanks for all the pics!! Gute Nacht & Prosit Neujahr! !!!

[RedYellowWhite]

I spot 2 different set of ABTs

Turbo VR6???

...and if it were me I would at least give the bay a fresh coat of paint, seems to be a shame to do all this work and not paint the bay

[Zinni]

Petethepug:

No, in fact we build it together not just a helping hand. You were right on the beer though... There isn't a single time working on the car without asking him for beer.
Vielen Dank und einen guten Rutsch wünsche ich! rip pete!

@RedYellowWhite:
Yes one set of A9s and one set of A10s.
Of course I will paint the bay. But won't be welding the frames and things like that. Some little parts removed/relocated (power steering reservoir and such) and freshly bainted bay does it for me.

thanks for the input guys

[RedYellowWhite]

@RedYellowWhite:
Yes one set of A9s and one set of A10s.

Which ones will you be running? A9s look better IMHO

Of course I will paint the bay. But won't be welding the frames and things like that. Some little parts removed/relocated (power steering reservoir and such) and freshly bainted bay does it for me.

^^ I feel EXACTLY the same about fully shaved bays (ie. smoothed/welded frame rails ). Plans above sound good Don't forget to relocate the battery to the trunk aswell, lol

Looking forward seeing more engine bay progress

[Zinni]

As you can see I already removed the battery support.

First I also liked the A9s more but when I put them on the car and the A10s the A10s are my winner... You can see in my signature that I decided to let the A9s go. Someone will be more happy with them. Of course the A9s are waaaay more special and harder to find, but I just like the A10s better now that I saw them on the car...

I will be in the garage again tonight and will be doing the bay... I hope to get the bay painted with filler until 2012 (mission impossible)...

[Zinni]

some progress I made today:




not too happy how the welds turned out but it will have to do... I'll sand it down and put another layer of spray-bondo on it and will work from that point on...

another hole:



from inside the bay:


some before and afters:








and last but not least:

[Zinni]

some progress I made the last couple days:

So I found out that the b3/35i vr6 passat k-frame doesn't fit (impossible thing) though 3 people on here claimed they used them when they did their swap. I was pissed off. There are more and more things which throw me back in time and I am already late (wanted to have the engine running in Dec). Maybe there are more versions of the k-frame on the b3 vr6 (which I hardly can imagine).
Luckily I had a Mk3 one laying around which will fit after little modification...
Only issue was a small rust hole which I crappily repaired when still was pissed off (meh, will have to do...)








Then I continued with the bay and got so far that I layed a first thin layer of primer/filler... I ran out of filler hence the thin layer...

I will use spray bondo where it was rusty and things but I'm positive it will be all done until the next weekend and ready for paint...

I don't know if I will paint it now as I am considering a spray can job at the moment so I can put the engine in and leave it in there and move on. Otherwise I will have to take the engine out again when the outside will be painted later on...








greets

[Zinni]

After quite some time I got around to a small progress update.

Some parts arrived, such as my clutchnet clutch and Bosch 044, but no pics of them yet...

Also I made some progress on the bay, but STILL I'm not finished as there are some areas that still need work...










You can't see any difference in the pictures and I do not want to have to do this bay shaving and painting thing again in a long long time and I'm not even done yet...

Then to keep me motivated I started to make the engine look like I want it to look... No polished and golden stuff... everything will be matte black and red...

Paint is still wet on the head but it did turn out great!




This is the engine where I will use some bolts and other stuff, so that I won't have to paint the golden bolts black or buy new ones...



Took the turbo off... I will paint the compressor housing black, the wastegate red... Manifold will be wrapped in ceramic band too...









So what do you guys think???

[bbwhaling]

not to be a retard but what is the red block of metal that u painted red used for on these cars?the reason i ask is during my build i have some how lost it.it drives ok tho

[bbwhaling]

by the way good job so far on the car.

[Zinni]

Hi!

It's a mass that helps preventing the engine vom vibrating at a certain frequency or rpm... Most people I know remove those due to weight savings... Honestly I haven't had the chance yet to do a test with or without mass to see if the vibrating is better/worse...

Thanks for the support!

[DeckManDubs]

[cstanley19]

Zinni!! The car is looking awesome man. There is a ton of work in that bay! Honestly I am really diggin the A10's. Did you get the Decals yet? I know it can take a while..(obviously haha)

[Zinni]

Hey casey! Didn't get the decals yet, but I'm bearing with "some more days"!

I will leave the bay alone for a few days, as I'm getting more into the engine... Still have to clean it from head downwards as it is a bit dirty... Ran out of brake cleaner... And I want to get rid of those polished parts... Of only those were easier to sand...

Continued the painting today and wrapped the turbo mani in ceramic ribbon and painted the visible areas black... Tomorrow I will hopefully have the vr manifolds finished (also will be wrapped) so that I can start assembling the exhaust and turbo back together again...





Valve cover













and the MESSY garage...

[Zinni]

It's been a long week and I got some more work done on the engine... Not as much work as pictures I'm about to post, but I don't mind it (yet).
The reassembling of the Turbo was a PITA but now seeing it's result heals the wounds a bit.

Wrapped the exhaust manis in ceramic ribbon:


I wanna see it painted black, painted black
Black as night, black as coal.





new valve cover seal (big time spending right there )



Valve cover not yet mounted, missing the bolts.



more darkness:


Mounted the exhaust manis only to find out I have to mount them with the turbo mani first, so took it back.



Showed the engine some snow, so it knows what's that.


Here more darkness mounted, only need to buy the turbo blanket and figure out where exactly to run the oil feed and I'm done back there.
Maybe I will mount a small catch can hidden under the exhaust mani, still not sure what to do with the crankcase ventilation.







Had to grind down some material of the intake mani to clear the belt tensioner.


Test fitted some stuff. I will have to take off the intake mani again though to drill two holes for the blow off and boost gauge... Not sure where though as the material seems very thin on the desired spots. Don't know if it will work out there?


Mounted the water pump and wiring harness holder:


Oil Filter Housing:


Had to cut some stuff of to clear the repositioned oil cooler lines so they clear the Boost tubes...


Back on the engine again:



Then painted the Pulleys... I'm not sure if the paint will hold up on the water pump pulley though I gave it a good scuff...




before:


after:



So I still haven't figured out where this plug goes... It's at the area where the water sensor plugs are... Can anybody help me out?




And can you guys give me some advice how to tap the intake manifold, as I'm not sure it will work out with only little thread...

[Davedubbi.n]

^^^^ it plugs into the distributor its the hall sensor i believe... looking good keep it up

[Zinni]

oh lol totally missed that one

Thanks!

[Davedubbi.n]

no prob

[Zinni]

Hi guys...
Just a small update as I have very little time at the moment for the car...

But the big news is that the engine bay is going to be painted on sunday (if my painter keeps his word).

So I'll just show you some more parts I got over the last few weeks...

Turbo blanket... I have to take the turbo off again to get it on... Again that pita to do...


Got my water silicone hoses and my 90degree 4" to 3.5" reducer for the turbo inlet...



Got my tires. I'm positive they will look good on some 8.5 wide rims


Put the gearbox together again, installed a strengthened clutch arm and a new sachs throw out bearing while I was at it... Gearbox is a stock one that got a overhaul... Hopefully it will hold up until winter 2012 as there are some big plans for the car, even though I haven't even finished the first stage.



Got my tail pipe, which I really like. It's exactly the size I wanted, fits perfectly and even looks a bit oem.


Spark cables. I wanted red ones, but these were so cheap I had to buy them...


The bay now:
Nowhere near perfect but will have to do as it's flaws are only seen from a few centimeters... I know it will be more noticeable with the paint on. Even then it won't bother me that much, as it won't be a show car anyway...




Hope to get some pics with some paint on sunday! Wish me luck!

greets

[JamesS]

I really like your all black engine with red highlights- it looks different in a good way and I think you will be able to pull it off.

[Zinni]

Thank you JamesS!!!! It still looks a 100% like as I planned and I'm still convinced I will like it when it's done!

So today was a big day for me, as the bay is finally silver again!

Pretty happy with the result, one little flaw in the clear, will take care of it later...

So here's the result:

Before and after!
















Then it was time for some beer!

After that I installed the blanket and realized I had no mounting hardware so still have to do that...




A quick mock up rims and tires:



Still have to get my two inner barrels, bolts and sealant. Then I have to polish the rims again as they have some scratches in the lips and faces... I'm curious how they will look on the car!!!

So next thing to do is get the wiring harness sorted out and completely redone with proper length as some parts will be in other areas such as maf, tb and other stuff... At the same time I will start putting the front together again to get it standing on it's own feet since a long time!

Oh and anybody got any spare manual adjusters for the headlights left for me, as this is how all 4 of my adjusters look like...



Greets!

[eurosportgti]

good build but you are REALLY gonna regret all this spray painting...TRUST ME!!!!

[Zinni]

Hey thanks for the input!
Do you think the paint won't hold up on the engine?

Greets

[dogger]

I did a lot of spray paint, mostly wrinkle black, and even when prepped well it still didn't hold up over time. Slowly I have been powder coated everything. Wish I had done it that way from the start.

The engine it just depends on how well you prepped it and the primer you used. It also depends on how much you end up working on the engine later too.

[Zinni]

Yeah I know it won't hold up over time, in fact it won't hold up a single cleaning with pressure water I guess. I will have a look when it's finished and if I like the look I will keep it that way and fix the spray paint, if not it will be easier to change later on. :-) next winter I will take the engine out again so basically it's just a temporary thing!

But I have to say, that this paint that I used is really really tough! I tried it on the grille of an audi and it still looks fantastic! I pressure washed it a couple times. Really hard, hasn't chipped or whatever on the grill yet.

But basically I'm assuming that it won't hold up, so I won't be surprised if it will happen. :-)

[Zinni]

Just a small update as I haven't made much progress...

Lighter pressure plate:


Yet some more spray painting...




Quick mock up of the abs unit... Still have to get some parts to repair the wiring harness. This will take a week, then I will repair the harness ant install it. After that I will get the engine together and in... At the same time I will order some polishing stuff to redo the rims. I already have gotten my halfes!





Then I found some time to get some wiring sorted out for the Mk1 (G60 swap)... Pita to say the least...



And another pic of the wheels


Greets!
Zinni

[Zinni]

A small update after a couple of months...
Had no motivation to even look at the car for some time. Now I am back at it.



Mounted one wheel at the rear and saw that I will poke quite a bit but I'll wait and see how these will look with tyres on. Still have to polish and assemble them.



Engine harness repaired, lenghtened where needed and wrapped.




Ground-terminal nearly hidden in the frame.



Positive-terminal for relocated battery. Went protected and sealed into the frame.


Some lengthening and wrapping on the harness...



Some pics of how the harness looks at the moment.





Still have to buy some plugs for the holes in the firewall and the frames.
Then I'll mount the clutch cylinder and the brake lines after I took care of those too.

And then finally I'll get the engine in! So I hope to see the engine in the bay the next couple weeks.

[Zinni]

Thought I'll update this real quick.
Engine has been in for some time now.
But Maybe I have to take it out again ad I forgot to put the exhaust temp sensor in the manifold. -.-

Two pics for you:

[Zinni]

Engine went out and back in. had no chance putting the exhaust temp sensor in with the engine in the bay...

I did some wiring too, now I am nearly finished with the wiring in the bay. I only have to lenghten the wiring for the driver side headlight and adjust the wiring for the slim fans. and I'm done.

Test fitted the watercooler. Unfortunately it is too big. Bought another one, which is a little bit smaller so I have more room for the boost tubes.

Made a fan shroud and a bracket for the n75.

Onto the pics:
First cooler:









What do you think!?

[RedYellowWhite]

Looking good


One question tho: how are you supposed to see if you're low on coolant through a black painted reservoir?

[Zinni]

Thanks pal!

I'll put the "right" amount of coolant in and then start and let it run until it gets warm. Then I'll turn the car off and wait. Then I'll take the cap off and look into the reservoir and try to get it just about right.