Invisible Touch Detailing - VW Corrado VR6

[Invisible Touch]

Hi, some older work here but one that involved lots of photos so thought i would share. This VW Corrado VR6, owned by a lovely couple, had sadly been left to sit on a driveway for some time and was in need of some tlc!

The car arrived to me at 6am on a cold winters morning late last year. Arriving by trailor as it required more than just detailing to get this car back on the road and the owner only wanted to put his trust into 1 company to handle the project rather than transfer the car to various places himself.

So, this was the VR6 on arrival



















































One of the items not working was the central locking



Continuing around the car





















The heating system was broken and had been 'looked at' before












To begin with a new battery was fitted as the old one was finished



After a good jet wash, the car was snowfoamed twice and then washed using the 2 bucket method and shampoo plus. It was then clayed, washed again and dried. Taken into the garage to be inspected and a report was produced regarding the paint on the car. The owner decided that no paintwork was to be done despite several areas really requiring this. It was unknown at this point what further issues there could be with the car and the priority was to return the car to be useable on the road. The wheels were not cleaned as they were to be removed and refurbished





I then proceeded to bring the paint back to life using the Makita rotary, menzerna 3.02 and a Sonus cutting pad with smaller pads where required





































Once this was complete, the interior required a basic clean so the car could be made ready to go to the mechanics.











Everything was cleaned with APC and hoovered











The hubs and calipers were to be painted black so were scrubbed with a wire brush as preperation



Once the car arrived at the mechanics, everything was inspected and another report produced on what the car required to pass an MOT and even be able to start and run, as currently it was struggling to do so! The following work was carried out:

Oil filter
Air filter
Fuel filter
Cabin/pollen filter
Spark plugs
Brake fluid
6.0l of premium oil
Inner cv boot
Suspension stabiliser links x 2
Suspension wishbone assemblies x 2
Brake compensator valve block
Rocker cover gasket
Front suspension top mounts x 2
Barke pipes/unions
Front track rod end
Interior heater module replaced as was previously attacked and most of it was broken. Trying to get one from a non air con model wasnt an easy task
Coolant flush

Unfortunately the owner could not recall where the locking wheel nut key was, so these had to be removed and a new set purchased, with key! At this point the wheels were sent off to be refurbished.

Things were going well and the car was started for the first time. Sounding much more healthy, especially for a car with over 160k miles, the injectors were also then cleaned out which also improved the smooth and responsivness. Trouble occured at this point when the passenger footwell became wet, the heater matrix was gone! Which involved the interior then looking like this to replace it!



Once this was replaced, the car was road tested. It was hoped that the discs would clear up after some driving but they had also had it. New discs were fitted at the front and new pads all round, the front discs were then repainted black. The front passenger wheel bearing was also replaced as this had some play in it and was causing a vibration through the gear stick area of the console



With the mechanics now over, it running and driving like a totally different car, and a fresh MOT, the car returned to me. An electrician was now called out to repair the central locking and also the motorised rear spoiler which failed to go upright at 50mph. Both tasks completed whilst i investigated the stereo not working which turned out to be a missing fuse. The wheels were ipa's down and poorboys wheel sealant was applied in 2 coats.







Tools taped up to protect the wheels as they were re fitted



The engine bay was then degreased using APC and engine & machine cleaner, various brushes and lots of elbow grease. The plug cover was looking very tired and stained. This was removed and painted to freshen it up









With so much work being done to the car in this time, it was washed again and then polished with menzerna 106fa and a 3m polishing pad









As time was available the paintwork was then machined again using menzerna 85rd and a 3m finishing pad



Returning to the interior, all carpets were wet vac'd and hoovered. Plastics were cleaned again with APC and dressed with natural look dressing. The leather was cleaned with gliptone and conditioner applied twice over 2 days. Glass was polished inside and out. All door and boot rubber seals were treated with bumper care

















The front grill was removed, fully cleaned and dressed. The VW and VR6 emblems had badly corroded so these were also painted front and rear





The tyres were dressed with 2 coats of endurance gel and inflated where required





The exhaust was polished



Exterior plastics were treated with bumper care. The paintwork then had swissvax cleaner fluid applied and buffed off. This was followed with Swissvax best of show wax





These were the final pictures taken before the car was delivered back to the owners. This was a car which the lady had had from teenage years. Both of their reactions were amasing This was a really interesting project to be involved in and was a car which i know created lots of happy memories from the past. Hopefully now those memories will continue.



















































Thanks for looking,

Christian

[alan_mcc]

Awesome writeup. Looks like a totally different car. Studio post of the year for me

[Invisible Touch]

Very kind, thank you Alan.

[Sportspack Mark]

FANTASTIC work!!

[dann2707]

Absolutely amazing work. Agree with Alan, thread of the year!!

[zsdom]

Thats a pretty epic turn around!!

[MattDuffy88]

Awesome work! It's nice to see a Rado restored to its former glory

[Derekh929]

Wow amazing transformation looking amazing now , great review and started in very poor state, thanks for sharing

[Lemongrab]

Simply amazing. It seems to me that you love what you do. Congrats!

[concours g60]

Thats superb work even more so as i have a concours corrado g60, that was one neglected VR6, but they are getting collectable and they are good to drive.