'91 G60 Rado Build

[Slider388]

Hey guys,
long time lurker me finally bit the bullet on a 1991 Red Corrado G60 and decided to join vortex.
I bought WVWDB4500MK009450 with 138,420 miles on the odo and I intend to perform a full restoration. Once that's done, I get to start tweaking and building

The body's in pretty good shape, no rust in the wheel wells, a few scrapes on the body, the jack points are a bit jacked up (ha). There's no clear from the B pillar back, and a few small spots where corrosion is starting.
The engine's had a new head gasket, timing belt, and waterpump at 120k, but I'm worried about the g-lader. I read the boost on the MFA before I bought it and it read 550 at idle, and 1520 at almost top 3rd gear, which is about 7.5 psi. I'm gonna guess it's been rebuilt at least once, otherwise the g-lader would probably be dead by now. A BBM rebuild kit is one of the first things I'm getting, I'm just scared that the billet will be damaged because of the high miles. Could anyone give me their opinion on this?
Previous owner also put on adjustable FK street coilovers which I just raised 3/4" because he didn't have it lowered, he had it slammed. Wheels rubbing when you turn slammed.
Interior is solid except for a chunk of foam missing from the driver seat.
Also, I got 4 bbm rz 4x100 wheels with it, with two tires down to the steel and the other two might as well be racing slicks I also got four rusty steelies with two bad tires, two okay.

Anyways, pics! I took most of these before I bought it and I'll obviously add as I work.






Here she is after the drive home:


Something tells me that the rear pass. rotor cover was stock it was so rusted it fell off on its own.


Here's what I know has been replaced so far:
-Suspension with adjustable FK street coilovers 12k ago
-Waterpump/Timing belt/Head Gasket 18k ago
-CV joints and driver side drive axle
-Rear Rotors
-Brake pads still have 50% left
-2 New brake lines
-All new motor mounts 10k ago
-New starter 10k ago

Here's my to-do list for the next few weeks/months (so far):

-Get a Bentley - Ordered
-Needs lifted approx 3/4" - Completed
-Driver's door handle needs new striker - Ordered
-Master brake cyl R&R - Ordered
-G-Lader rebuild
-Upgraded G-Lader Oil Line
-Polish BBS's, replace stolen center cap
-New tires (any recommendations? I'm considering getting some yokohama s drives)
-E-brake cables R&R - Ordered
-Antenna R&R
-Speakers need wired up and radio needs replaced
-Ashtray needs replaced
-Exhaust has leak (Probably just gonna go with a techtonics catback)
-Pass. Automatic seatbelt needs rebuilt
-Coolant/ Oil flush, clean k&n air filter
-Auto seatbelt spools need cleaned and lubed
-Hood needs shocks or prop
-Clean up vacuum lines
-Paint! I dunno whether to stick with red or not. I have some time to decide though.

She definitely needs some love, but hey, the sunroof doesn't leak and it even works!
Let me know what you guys think!

[RedYellowWhite]

Welcome
Definately looks like it needs a lot of love I never understood why people leave Corrados so neglected


-oe sunroofs (metal) don't tend to leak anyway
-maybe consider euro-spec seatbelt conversion rather than trying to rebuilt to us-spec ones

Good luck

[STARIONCORRADO]

Looks like it has potental, love the stock bbs wheels on it..

[vdubCorrado]

i wouldn't assume the charger has been rebuilt because of the milage. i have had higher milage chargers still boosting that haven't been rebuilt. now by boosting i mean not fully. even found some spaghetti (Apex strips) in the silencer box on a boosting charger...

not a bad start, keep it red though or otherwise a color change will not be worth your money and time cause you'll need to do all the jams and the engine bay. no one seems to understand how much paint work is when they jump into a color change.

i also have a functioning set of auto belts if you end up needing to replace the driver side. good luck

[vwflygti]

Just curious, what did you end up paying for the car?

[Slider388]

Thanks for the feedback, I love the stock bbs wheels too!!

I never understood why people leave Corrados so neglected :

Me either. The guy I bought it off really loved the car, but he did some retarded stuff. Lowered it too far, had 3 different size tires on the bbs', never once got it aligned. Stuff like that. I don't see how you could love a car and not want to fix everything correctly.

Thanks for the tips on the chargers and paint. I'll crack the g-lader open in the next few weeks and hope for the best!

I paid 1900$ for it, I feel that was a pretty fair price for what I got. Opinions?

Right now I'm having some issues with the rear pass. rotor/hub. The wheel I took off was stuck on and I had to hit the tire with a sledge to break it free. Now I can't fit either steelies or bbs wheels back on. I can put them on the hub and thread all the bolts, I just can't get the wheel to seat properly on the hub, even though the mating surfaces are clean. Previous owner never said he had an issue with this and the last time he had the wheels off was 3 months ago. Tomorrow I'll sand down the center of the hub a bit and hopefully that's all it takes.

[passthefetus]

damn looks like fun

[6BangSneezer]

Congrats! But yes as RYW mentioned go for a set of eurobelts. Not cheap, but a solid improvement on the car

[vwflygti]

I would say that's fair. I got mine with a nuked motor for $1200. Clean body and interior though....

[RedYellowWhite]

I think you paid too much $$$ for it, just my opinion tho

[vwflygti]

I think you paid too much $$$ for it, just my opinion tho

Thats US dollars....

[RedYellowWhite]

Thats US dollars....

I am aware of it

[vwflygti]

I am aware of it

[Slider388]

Congrats! But yes as RYW mentioned go for a set of eurobelts. Not cheap, but a solid improvement on the car

I'm undecided about this. I know that eurobelts would be a lot more convenient, and call me crazy but I kinda like the auto ones. Enough that I can't justify buying euro belts right now. Maybe if the driver side craps out too that will change things.

And yeah, maybe I did pay a little too much, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.

[RedYellowWhite]

...And yeah, maybe I did pay a little too much, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.

And at the end of the day, that's ^^ all that matters

[Sr. Karmann]

Welcome, good year

[Slider388]

Wheel issue was fixed by lots of delicate sanding/filing.
A few days ago I did a major cleanout cause the previous owner left this car dirty as ****.

See what I mean? Granted, the tools are mine...but still. I pulled the seats and vacuumed everything out, and I cleaned all of the plastics and glass. I ran new e brake cables but they won't work until I get new guide tubes.

Then I got started on my G lader rebuild.
Started pulling parts and found how bad the serpentine belt is. Glad I caught that in time.


My rado as of right now:


Engine bay sans charger:


Ready to split the case:


Pop


Pulling oil seals:


Old bearings and seals


I love gear pullers. They're just so badass.


Here's the displacer:


And here's the two hairline cracks I found on the intake side of the case:


Everythings in pretty great shape except for those two hairline cracks. I'm tempted to ignore them, but I don't want them to chip away at 15000 rpm. I think I've sourced a used case so I'll probably just use that to be safe.

[Sr. Karmann]

Nice to see you digging into the charger

[HavokRuels]

Congrats! But yes as RYW mentioned go for a set of eurobelts. Not cheap, but a solid improvement on the car

agreed, just make sure you get a kit with the seat belt receptacles, they are a bitch to get separately and most sellers don't want to remove them from the seats.

G-lader rebuild would be my top priority aside from typical maintianence. All new vac lines and make sure the line going to the digi is exactly 1 meter in length if you replace it. Power wash the engine bay (makes a world of difference when working on anything, damn g60 grease latent bays)

Inspect all wiring for dry rot and cracking especially the ISV harness. Check all connections for looseness and clean contacts and re-tighten any female connections.

Avoid engine fires by inspecting fuel system and inspect relay panel under dash for any relays that may have signs of arcing (burnt discololration).

Lastly, you may fall victim of typical small electrical components going bad but read up on testing wires and practice. Get familiar!

I think your gonna be ok

[Slider388]

Thanks for the tips! I definitely need to get my engine bay cleaned, I've been thinking about bringing it to a detailer to have it steam cleaned. I'm not too worried about the electrical side of things as I work as an electronics tech.

Its taken me a while to update as the full time job/full time school combo takes its usual toll on the financial and timely side of things, but here we go.

Our story picks up with two hairline cracks in the G lader case. I found a new case from a vortex member and was pleasantly surprised when I got it. The case was bead blasted, the intake side had been hand ported to about 68mm and streamlined a little on the inside, and it was in pretty good shape.
Here's the new and old:


Everything ready to go together:


I did find a hairline crack in this one too! But I'll just have to live with it. The crack hasn't gone all the way through and there's no risk of anything breaking off to fod out the compressor.


Look at those beautiful cases with all new bearings and seals!


Taking shape:


And presto!


Even got the timing right on the first try!


I had to remove the bottom charger support in order to fit the reinforcement plate back on.


Engine bay with new lader:


And that's that! I changed the serpentine and v belt along the way as they were both in pretty bad shape. It got a new oil filter along with some mobil 1 full synthetic 15w50 for the summer.
I ran the charger in for about 300 miles, today I broke 500 miles since charger rebuild. Unfortunately, the highest reading I've been able to get on the MAF is 1650, or about 9 PSI, not the stock 12 it should be.
For now I'm going to assume that vacuum/boost leaks are to blame. Anyone know of some good places to check? I guess I'll probably have to take the bumper off to check down by the intercooler.

[HavokRuels]

Bumper is easy. 2 bolts underside of each frame rail with 17mm heads, disconnect directional and fogs and a few screws that may be attached to it in the fender well.


Sent while sitting on my ass VIA my iPad

[Slider388]

Got a few more parts today. Replaced some small stuff like the clutch pedal cover and the dipstick holder tube.

The stock exhaust resonator was hurt pretty bad, it was leaking in 3 or 4 different places. All of the hangers had ripped off too, I had to safety wire the exhaust in place when I got the car. I had the resonator cut out and got straight pipe welded in from the cat all the way back to the fuller. I love the sound, its not too loud when idling and its quiet on the highway, but can make myself heard if I want. Here's a shot of it:


I got a new fuel filter and man that old one was nasty. Definitely long overdue.


Yum


I decided to give the whole bracket a good sanding and painting, along with all new hardware:


Also, the emblems were in pretty bad shape:


I sanded them down, gave them a few good black basecoats, and let that dry. Then I saturated some paper towel sheets with silver paint, and I pressed the emblems into them until the silver had coated just right. Here's the finished product:


Here's what the car looks like now: The emblems made quite a difference imo.




Here's my immediate to do list:
-Steam clean/power wash engine bay
-Clean ISV
-Still need new front tires
-Still need E brake guide tubes
-Need to put in new brake master along with fluid flush and bleeding.
-I found that my pass. CV boot cracked all the way around and most of the grease is gone, probably cause the previous owner had it slammed. What a pain. I'm considering replacing the axle too as the other one's already been replaced, but it's not giving me the dreaded click click clicking so I'll probably decide once I have it apart.
-Also, I raised the car another 3/4" of an inch and the ride is just horrible. I guess it's just the ****ty cheap shocks, or maybe the previous owner was running them too low. I guess I'll have to save up for some konis.

[Slider388]

Bumper is easy. 2 bolts underside of each frame rail with 17mm heads, disconnect directional and fogs and a few screws that may be attached to it in the fender well.

Thanks man, I'll definitely do that soon. Soapy water method should work just fine for finding leaks?

[jeffs vw]

Doing a really killer job!

[Toffeerado]

never get enough of these builds.

[fox-16v]

That funky shaped couple on the intercooler and the copot sensor are typical culprits for boost leaks. Nice build, happy to see another g60 resto like mine

[Slider388]

Thanks for the tips fox, your builds looking great.
Yesterday I decided to check out my vacuum lines and do a carbon canister delete. I bet the carbon's completely useless after 21 years. The main goal is cleaning up the engine bay a bit and making space for a cai duct.

Here's the bay pre-delete:


Look at that cute little cap.


I can't believe I didn't find this earlier. My fpr vacuum line was just broken in half. So was one other vacuum line, it had just sheared off.


Sanded and painted the rusty fpr bracket cause I mean why not?


Here's everything that I took out


Here's the bay post-delete:


Still need a bit more cleaning up but I ran out of vacuum line. I'm happy with the start. I did a half assed mfa boost check and got my highest reading so far, 1780: 11.2 psi!
I'm real happy cause this means my IC lines aren't leaking and my charger's in good shape. A little 3mm vacuum line was robbing 2-3psi. I hope to reach 12 psi when I get a chance to really test it.

[RedYellowWhite]

...Here's the bay post-delete:

That airbox connecting hose doesn't look like the oem one

You need to remove the valve cover and alternator and polish or paint them - it will make such a difference in how the engine bay looks

I would also suggest you get an RSR outlet to replace the oem plastic silencer box ----> good investment especially if you oe silencer is leaking boost (which most do anyway after 20 years)

[Slider388]

That airbox connecting hose doesn't look like the oem one

You need to remove the valve cover and alternator and polish or paint them - it will make such a difference in how the engine bay looks

I would also suggest you get an RSR outlet to replace the oem plastic silencer box ----> good investment especially if you oe silencer is leaking boost (which most do anyway after 20 years)

It sure isn't OEM. The intake side of the g lader case I got doesn't have any drilled bolt holes and it doesn't fit the oem hose, the guy I got the case off of included the one I'm using now which is kinda not too awesome but it works for right now.
I definitely want to clean up the engine but I'm probably going to leave that a bit longer till I pull the whole engine for some more serious work.
An RSR outlet is definitely on my wishlist
I replaced the silencer box o ring so it shouldn't be leaking but yes, I wanna get that thing outta there!

[Slider388]

Here are some of the pics of the C that we took at the eurovagens meet. Came out awesome for a car that needs paint pretty badly!






The C was running perfectly all night long, exactly the way I wanted, till I drove back and took it out of 5th gear while getting off the highway at 6am. Then I realized I couldn't shift into any other gears.
I could move the gear shifter around but it wouldn't actually lock into the notch of any of the gears. Eventually I managed to force it into third and I got it home.
Today, I'm able to shift it into reverse and first but it won't shift into any other gears. I put it in reverse and as I let out the clutch it suddenly kicked in as if I had just dropped the clutch.
The gear shift also sticks in reverse a lot more, it doesn't pop out by itself once I push it back in.
So yeah, I really don't even know where to start looking for the problem. Could be cables, could be gearshift, could be clutch, I dunno, transmissions are my weak point.
Gotta tear my front driver axle apart too in order to slip on a new cv boot.

[wed3k]

maybe check the shift tower. i have an awful amount of play in my shift tower but it's kind of difficult to track one down.

eventually ill need/want lsd and a better 5th gear. i hate not having traction in 1st.

[fox-16v]

When was the last time you changed your gear oil? Mysterious issues sometimes come up when you need a oil change. Requires a 17mm Allen for the drain plug and fill hole.

[Slider388]

Here's the update on the situations.With the shifter rod on the gearbox I can only put it in first or neutral, it won't engage any other gears. If I put the car in first the clutch and everything work just fine and I can sometimes even put it in second. This would make me conclude that the linkages are ok and its something inside the gearbox.
If I put it in reverse (using the gearshift) and I slowly let out the clutch, the engine just bogs down. If I keep giving it gas and letting out the clutch it'll then suddenly bang into reverse.

I would put money on the gear oil still being stock. Should I try changing it before I do anything else? If that doesn't fix it and I have to pull the gearbox then I'll just have wasted all the fresh oil

[g60301]

Coming along nice man, I kinda wish I started a build thread

[Slider388]

Well, I've been reading up on 02a's and how they work and I'm learning a bit more every day.
I drained the gear oil and only 250ml-500ml came out as opposed to the 2.1 liters it should hold. Well. Thats a problem. I dunno if theres a slow leak somewhere I have yet to find or what. But I filled it up with fresh fluid and now I can shift through all gears pretty well, but I have a different problem.
When I disengage the clutch (let go of the pedal) it makes a horrible grinding/rubbing noise. In every gear, even in neutral.
Someone said this could be a blown diff. but my drive axles have no play in them. Someone else said pressure plate, which is my next guess. Looks like I have to drop the transmission either way so I can figure out if its a diff/clutch/gearbox issue. So much for trying to get out of this the easy way