It's amusing what actually motivates me. I've been procrastinating on this project for years. I've made small steps towards completion over the years. The unfortunate challenge is that I'm not compelled to reach completion. In the early years, I had to depend on my cars and my meager financial situation mandated I do repairs myself. This forced me to get repairs done quickly but oftentimes the tasks were not completed to my standards or satisfaction. They were done to get the car back on the road.
A few years ago, I adopted another vehicle which was more practical for daily driving. This relegated my old yellow car to the garage where I could now pursue the depth and level of restoration, refurbishment, and modification that I desired. That meant, I could tear down the various components to a deeper level and pursue some of the more potent performance objectives I had dreamed of doing but could not due to time restraints. I no longer had those time restraints but alas--I no longer had deadlines either. Days turned into months which eventually turned into years.
During those years, I had partially completed some tasks but the car remained suspended above the garage floor on jack stands for several years. I also had other parallel projects cars during the years and to confuse matters more, I began to confuse parts intended for one project car with another. At one point, I could not differentiate which parts went to which cars--there were four. I was eventually accused of operating a VW repair shop from my garage by a neighbor. So I was now compelled to sort the parts and decide which projects would be worthy of my focus and which ones should depart from my driveway. I chose two of the cars and concentrated my efforts on those targets in order to sell them and get them out of the driveway. Now what remained were the two I would enjoy the most. However, with the two remaining cars safely concealed from view, there were no more complaints from the neighbors and no reason to finish the cars. I would occassionally grab a wrench and rebuild a component. If I met a challenge, I would put it away for another day. This strategy turned a weekend transmission job into a three year waiting list. But I persisted slowly and installed the major components last fall. I was making progress but not quickly.
This week, I found another compelling reason to work on my car. My aging garage door needs to be replaced. It now hangs precariously over my garage and will someday collapse. In order to replace the door, I have to get the cars out of the garage. The other car, Golf 16V, is a rolling chassis and can be moved easily. However, the Corrado would require a bit more effort. I had to mount the transmission, replace the bumper, reinstall the passenger side fender, and then reattach the drive shafts. The biggest challenge was finding all of the screws and fasteners which have since faded from my meager memory. Fortunately, I was organized in my early stages and labelled each group in containers. Not 100% reliable but very helpful.
With that accomplished I could then inflate the tires and finally let the car sit on its own suspension for the very first time. She was now a rolling chassis.
After so many years, the proper assembly order has slipped from my memory. I realized later that the Intercooler and the right side fender need to be re-installed. This can only be accomplished with the removal of the front bumper, which means removal of motor mounts, etc etc, etc. Hopefully I won't relapse into my former self absorbed procrastination mode. I plan to spend another weekend getting these issues sorted out.
However, for now I can proceed with replacement of the garage door.
The former garage queen, the Corrado, has now emerged from the garage and into the sunlight for the first time in several years.
Seeing it in the driveway is encouraging. Hopefully Ill reach road worthiness by the summer. Wish me luck!
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