# 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


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## alan_mcc

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


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## Invisible Touch

Very kind, thank you Alan.


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## Sportspack Mark

FANTASTIC work!!


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## dann2707

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


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## zsdom

Thats a pretty epic turn around!!


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## MattDuffy88

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


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## Derekh929

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


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## Lemongrab

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


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## 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.


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## jake4

Thats some job


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## Baker21

These are the types of details you just have to love, a 'true' motor in poor condition, completely turned around to something you would just love to have sat on your drive.........:car:

Really great work and I am sure you were as pleased with the end results as the owner was?

Big thanks for posting this, great read........:thumb:


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## Spaceman1

truly epic buddy top trump of threads


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## ted11

great work


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## 888-Dave

Fantastic Christian. Actually looks like a car again, a very nice one at that.

Cracking effort :thumb:


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## steve from wath

what a thoughly enjoyable read and acomplishment

you have certainly worked hard on this car and returned it to its former glory

this has to be the thread of the year

not only were you happy with your work ,and rightly so,but i bet the biggest and most pleasing part was the owners reaction

well done,stunning work


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## CraigQQ

what a f*king write up mate..

thats some brilliant work and a truely great write up mate.

:thumb:


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## simonfoy

That is not the same car, WOW what a superb turnaround. Hard work I bet but well worth it. Lovely car under all that crap. Well done. It looked like a scrapper but looks great now, thanks for sharing.


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## R9SH G

Great work, nice to see a classic corrado saved from the scrap


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## Pezza4u

As said on WIM cracking turnaround Christian :thumb:


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## 500tie

Absolutely amazing looks stunning bud top work


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## ginge7289

That is a mouth dropping turn around. One of the best write ups I have seen on here.


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## Norbreck21a

Forget David Blane and all the other magicians..... that is what I call real MAGIC !

Absolutely jaw dropping (you sure it wasn't resprayed )


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## McClane

Its hard to imagine looking at the early pics that the car could've been turned that much. Truly awesome work. Shame they didn't get the bumper sprayed as you said... But the car still looks a million dollars otherwise. I'd love to own a classic like this that had benefitted from soo much work and attention... Both mechanically and visually.


Brilliant thread :thumb:


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## McClane

Ps, was there any rust to contend with?


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## toni

Fantastic save! Looks great :thumb:


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## TubbyTwo

Fantastic work!


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## 028butlerboy

I absolutely love rado vr6's, and this one looks awesome, great work guys and a fantastic 
Write up!!


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## horned yo

HOLLY  :argie:


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## Invisible Touch

Baker21 said:


> These are the types of details you just have to love, a 'true' motor in poor condition, completely turned around to something you would just love to have sat on your drive.........:car:
> 
> Really great work and I am sure you were as pleased with the end results as the owner was?
> 
> Big thanks for posting this, great read........:thumb:


I was certainly pleased with the results. It was a bit of a shock seeing the car on delivery day, but i knew there was something special hiding under there


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## Invisible Touch

McClane said:


> Ps, was there any rust to contend with?


There were some minor patches on the lower halfs. Perhaps in the future the owners will look at some paintwork, but the first step was to rescue the car from sitting around deteriorating so it could be used regularly again.


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## dubber

You deserve a gold medal for that!! awesome turnaround there :argie::thumb:


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## dazzyb

great work bringing it back to life
looks like new now


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## alxg

Jesus, what a snotter that started off as :doublesho

I agree this has to be the turnaround of the year, fantastic work well done :thumb:


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## Scrim-1-

Stunning work! One of the best turnarounds ive seen.


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## Dwayne

Now that is one hell of a turnaround!!! 

loved reading that, thanks for posting...


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## maikolo

Cracking job!


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## si hoc

awesome job mate on an awesome car, makes me want another one!!


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## athol

Awesome work there, glad to see the car brought back to life !


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## butler

amazing attention to detail


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## Trip tdi

wow, thats a incredible detail, the car looks great afterwards, a totally different car all together.

This is the detail of the year for me.

You brought the car back to life, credit to you.


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## GJM

Invisible Touch said:


> Hopefully now those memories will continue.


Cue the timing chain tensioner giving way 

Totally amazing turnaround, really impressive job!

Fancy doing my one....mind the makita wouldn't correct the rust spots 

Did they not give you authority to change the rear plate


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## Refined Detail

Fantastic job there Christian! Good old restoration project there; totally different car by the end!


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## Daffy

That car looks like it has just rolled off the production line not covered 160K. I want it although not keen on wheel colour choice but looks stunning.


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## Brummie_Nige

Brilliant job! Great to hear people still want to make cars like this as good as new rather than scrapping them and buying new. Beautiful car!

:thumb:


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## peroRS

Stunning transformation :doublesho
I wish more legend cars like Corrado got this much attention :thumb:


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## Huw

Nice work, good to see a 'Raddo saved & restored.


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## SimonBash

Fantastic read, one of my favourite details I have read full stop.


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## Dingo2002

alan_mcc said:


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


+1 a truly epic transformation. One of my favourite cars on the road and its fantastic to see it treated which such love and care. It could so easily have ended up on the scrap heap but the owners clearly felt that it should be given another chance to shine....and shine it does.

Well done on a very inspirational thread. Ebay here I come


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## M4RC

+2 Truly amazing turn round. My favourite write up on here by far.:thumb:


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## alfajim

that's another one saved from the scrappers jaws.
great work doesn't do you justice. 10/10 :thumb:


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## fla

a link to this has been posted on the Corrado forum. Impressive work indeed!


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## simonfoy

Is there not a DW competition for the best turnaround in a year, This has got to be up there with the best.?? Just read it all again.


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## bimmersean

That is what I call "going fom he ****-house to the pent-house".....
Beautiful work...I just did a 1997 Z3 in the same condition..The alloy wheels were completely black...Anyhow, I love write-ups like this. great work.

Sean


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## yetizone

One of my all time favourite cars. Delighted to see it brought back to the condition a car like that truly deserves. Love it! :argie: Wonderful work from start to finish and thanks for sharing


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## Ns1980

Epic work!


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## Invisible Touch

Hi guys, i just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone that has posted on this thread, your comments mean an awful lot. Not only to me, but also to the team of mechanics as they also did not have an easy task and the hours involved by all of us was huge. And finally to the owners of this car, they have seen this thread, read all your comments and i know equally feel very passionate about what has been written. The reason this car came to me to be made roadworthy in the first place involved many personal reasons, this is a hugely special car to them and i am so glad the detailing world community and other forums have embrassed the work involved in the way you have.

Once again, many thanks :thumb:


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## Invisible Touch

fla said:


> a link to this has been posted on the Corrado forum. Impressive work indeed!


What is the link please, cant seem to find it?


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## Invisible Touch

Invisible Touch said:


> What is the link please, cant seem to find it?


Found it.


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## scooby73

Fantastic detail, write-up and photos too!:thumb:

Nice to see the Corrado back to its for glory.

Well done to everybody involved.


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## Kane.

Possibly my best thread I have seen on here  Brilliant work.


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## Ashtra

amazing. top job well done


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## The_Bouncer

Jesus !!! absolutely outstanding. You have basically given the owners a brand new car again.

Probably of of the best saves I've seen on DW. !! 

Credit to your skills and superb work.

:thumb:


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## Court M3

Looks as if it just rolled off the showroom lot! Detail of the year?


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## Ronnie

I have to admit that is pretty amazing really great work!


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## JBirchy

Best thread i've read on here - very interesting and the level of work, astounding. 

Amazing job, full credit to you, it looks like a new car!


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## AaronGTi

Studio post of the year for me too.


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## zak20vt

I stopped reading 'The Studio' section because it seemed to be full of dirty new cars becoming shiny new cars.

Really glad I decided to give this section another ago - lets see more of these 'real' transformations! Well done!!!


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## WEDEL.1

Not only fantastic work, but a great "feel good" story.

Unbelievable finish.


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## alan_mcc

WEDEL.1 said:


> Not only fantastic work, but a great "feel good" story.
> 
> Unbelievable finish.


Couldn't have said it better :thumb:


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## KADVR6

very very good work done there, but why did they let it get into that state in the first place?? my corrado gets washed at least once a week.


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## Detail My Ride

I LOVE transformations like this, its what detailing is about. 

Top work, looks stunning now :thumb:


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## EliteCarCare

Serious work there, I prefer jobs like that to regular ones, much more of a challenge.

Amazing turnaround on a great car! :thumb:

Alex


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## BeeZy

Amazing work!
These cars are rare and should be in good shape!


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## ahaydock

Excellent work and what an amazing turnaround :thumb:


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## detaillover

ive always wanted one of these espescially the storm.... great job!


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## Leemack

Brilliant mate - Top job :thumb:


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## B&B Autostyle

Brilliant restoration,truly exceptional work. I love these write ups,a legendary car brought back from the brink!

I can only imagine how pleased the owners must have been.:thumb:


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## fizzle86

For me this is the best detail iv seen on here since i joined :thumb:

(no disrespect to all the other fantastic detailer)


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## pebblemonkey

Fantastic job! Well done on bringing it back to life.


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## R0B

Excellent work and a top drawer save on a classic.

well done Sir


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## TheMattFinish

amazing work!


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## kemslea

Superb work, nice classic car too.


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## mk2jon

Fantastic work :thumb:


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## JJ_

You added a few hundred quid to that !


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## Suberman

Amazing turnaround! Looks like a totally different car. Thing was disgusting to begin with.:doublesho What a detail! :thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## robtech

amazing stuff ,the corrados not the easiest car to work on esp in the interior,wow what a job and a fair few quid must have gone into re commissioning this beauty.nice 1


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## riggsy

WOW what a great turnaround that is... bl00dy cracking work


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## Beau Technique

Brilliant. :thumb:


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## NurburgDetail-1

It makes no sense. how people neglect things like this. i saw a mk1 golf recently that was chained to a tree in someones garden. It was a real mess.


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## nick.s

This makes me want one even more! Fantastic turnaround doesn't quite cover it


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## Rowan83

Detail of the year? I would say so!!!! Absolutely awesome transformation :thumb:


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## Fat Audi 80

Top drawer resto there. Love it. :thumb:


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## RefinedDetails

It's hard to believe thats the same car! Superb work!!


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## PaulN

Stunning turn around... Poor old Classic...


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## Baptist

I can honestly say, that is the best turnaround/best detailing thread I have ever read.
Well done, sterling work.


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## ALANSHR

Fantastic work on a bit of a rarity these days, well done


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## corradophil

This thread is the reason I joined detailing world


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## indydulay

Fantastic turn around on a cracking car


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## bigslippy

Take a bow sir...... Now this is what I love to see......a car that looks well past its best needing resurrected and you have delivered.... there should be an applause emote to add to this:thumb:

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us.


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## bigslippy

RefinedDetails said:


> It's hard to believe thats the same car! Superb work!!


I know , was it not green at the start :lol:


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## Godderz23

Best one i have ever seen.

Amazing.


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## Hasan1

Nice work


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## 123quackers

Now that was what detailing is all about :thumb: Great work and the end results really give that satisfying feeling especially when ypu see the owners faces............

Great to see another one of these VR6 Corrado's back on the road, thanks for posting


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## NornIron

Exactly the kind of Studio post I love... great work!


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## tonyy

What a turnaround...amazing work..


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## littlejack

What a turn around.. Amazing work....


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## Claireeyy

Epic work, great write up too.

Stunning cars.


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## e32chris

i bet that scuff on the rear bumper was annoying, maybe now they will have that sorted as you have done such an amazing job of saving the car. really impressed with the work done:thumb:


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## SuperchargedLlama

beautiful work! The only think I don't like is what you did with the engine cover, but my god that is minor compared to the rest of it.

Utterly superb work.


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## badman1972

Stunning work on a true classic :thumb:


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## MAXI-MILAN

Simply amazing.


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## KissmyICE

Beautiful car! Nice work!


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## s3 rav

Brilliant work there!!


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## J3FVW

I'd somehow missed this thread before but I'm glad I found it now - what an enjoyable read and what an amazing transformation on a beautiful car.


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## cotter

Missed this thread before. What a fantastic turnaround on a great classic in a really nice colour. Kudos to all the team involved, amazing finish especially given what you started with :thumb:


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## DiscoTD5

Now you don't see many of them any more, darn good work and those VR6 lumps ate a sweet motor....


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## AlexTsinos

magnificent work! well done


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## ALM

Great work on a great car!


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## ihiba

Tremendous effort :thumb:


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## Woody_02g40

Brilliant write up! Nice corrado brought back to life


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## Mr.Ry

Amazing job


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## macrostheblack

Amazing job and so nice to see that brought back to life again. Always fancied a Corrado. One of the first cars with the little electric pop up spoilers.


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## jimboc

amazing work, i love these cars.


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## AlexTsinos

Stunning job! well done!


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## orienteer

Now THAT is what it's about!!! What a superb resurrection of a classic. 

Many thanks, Ian


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## President Swirl

Great save. i bet you made their day mate.


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## Ali

Great transformation!


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## AndyC

THIS post is what DW used to be all about; no offence to anyone at all but it brought back some memories - good ones.

Excellent work Sir, truly excellent.


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## ffrs1444

wow great thread top work done there


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## Top Gear Dog

Fantastic job mate!! Shame they didn't want that R/N/S scuff repaired


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## *MAGIC*

I love these jobs.

Great turnaround.


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## john2garden

This is what makes detailing world great. Fantastic work


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## vaughn1

Fantastic work, a real credit to you.


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## 10737

looks fantastic :thumb:


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