First up, here's the bumper bracket with the remains of one of the 4 big bolts (the one on the right of the picture) you need to undo to get the bumper out. These bolts require a breaker bar to shift them and unfortunately one of mine has decided to become a part of the frame, probably at the molecular level. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do to get this out, but I've got a tap and die set, so hopefully that can get the remaining bits out once I file them down enough:
OK, the next two pictures show the common damage with a crack pipe. Firstly, the ends crumble away. Secondly the branch pipe that goes to the oil cooler snaps off. On mine this only snapped off while I was trying to remove the crack pipe, but other people have it coming off on its own. Mine may have been leaking there, but the real leak in mine was one of the oil cooler pipes, which I totally advise replacing at the same time. There's two of them and they're £6.50ish each. You may want to get new clips too as I snapped one of them trying to remove it. You'll note the seals are missing. The first picture is the engine end and the seal was stuck in the block part. The other end I think I removed myself. My crack pipe was original (manufactured in 1993, but my thermostat housing bits and radiator seem to date from 2001, so I reckon I've had work on my cooling system the year before I got the car.
The next two pictures show where the bolts for the bumper go. The first is from underneath, at the passenger side. The second is the channel where the bumper bracket in the first picture slides in. Note that on mine, the two bolts nearest the bumper were in good condition and came out OK. The two nearest the back of the car were much more badly corroded and one of these snapped. Take care with the back bolts.
Next, this is what your car looks like when you've got the bumper, slam panel and radiator out. Not pretty! Note the very rusty block behind the dipstick holder. This is where the leak was and may well have been contributing to the rust. Also note the oily part on the right. This oil appears to be coming from the rocker cover gasket, so I'll need to do that at some point. You can also see some general corrosion on the subframe bit, which I've now painted with some hammerite.
OK, the next two pictures show the engine with crack pipe and thermostat housing removed. The corrosion in the block where the crack pipe goes is really quite horrendous and it requires lots of cleaning up with emery paper or Dremels (taking great care not to remove too much material). I'm not sure how successful I've been because I got interrupted with the monsoon, but you need to check here carefully for leaks after doing the job. The mating surface where the thermostat housing goes was very good on mine. I cleaned up with brake cleaner and emery paper.
The next two pictures show the new thermostat housing assembled and also a mock up of how it goes with the crack pipe. Note the thermostat inside the lower part. Note how I've positioned it such that the metal pieces going to the apex of the thermostat are not restricting the flow of coolant through the crack pipe piece (you'll know what I mean when you see the thermostat). My old thermostat was positioned such that the flow was restricted by this piece which is probably not a good idea. Note the sensors assembled in their original order (or at least the original order in MY car!). In the second picture you'll see a jubilee clip on the oil cooler hose but I decided to just get a new clip to replace the one I snapped from the dealer since I was going there for bolts anyway.
Next is a still life of Corrado parts. Bottom left is the snapped bumper bolt next to an intact one. Bottom right is a snapped bolt inside the radiator spacing piece. This piece is almost £10 from the dealer!!! If you have the time, drill it out and tap a new thread in. Unbelievably the bolt was "on back order". There was not a single bolt for this in the whole of the UK. I declined to wait and bought an M6 bolt from Halfords to use with my replacement spacer piece. The original is 15mm long and the Halfords replacement is 20mm. If need be I can cut 5mm off it but I don't think it will be necessary. Top middle are two plastic clips that fit on the crack pipe and are used (I think!) to hold the alternator wire up, but it doesn't quite fit on mine as you'll see in later photos. Note the inclusion of daisies to finish off the piece. This photo should be in the Tate Modern really.
Next is a photo with everything re-assembled, but still missing the radiator. This is the point I was at when the monsoon started, so it's still in this state. To get the new crack pipe in was really tough. In the end I resorted to tapping it in with gentle force with a block of wood and a hammer. It actually goes in quite far and is actually very tight when it's in. I just wonder if I've tapped it in too far. I'll explain further with the next photo. Note that the pipe isn't horizontal (it's not meant to be). Note the careful positioning of the two oil cooler hoses. I think mine were under stress as they were very much more crushed up against the previous crack pipe. One had actually partially melted where it touched the crack pipe. Note the clips holding the alternator wire. I've had to remove the left one out of its alignment pin on the crack pipe (that's what those pins are for) to get it to sit nicely with the wire.
OK, here's a close-up of the right side of the crack pipe seated inside the thermostat housing piece. Have I tapped the crack pipe too far into the block? I'm slightly concerned that the alignment notch isn't hard up against the thermostat housing piece as it could be, but everything else is aligned correctly. I think it's still sealed inside OK and am hoping that this is deliberately designed to allow some variation. The thermostat piece is a smooth uniform channel inside, which is perhaps deliberately made like this to allow for slight variations. Only testing will tell.
Here's a close-up of the engine block end of the crack pipe. Is this too far in the block? Is that even possible?
Lastly, here's a close-up of the two £6.50ish rubber hoses that you'd be mad not to replace at the same time. I re-used 3 clips and bought a new one to replace one I snapped. Take care and time to position these hoses to minimise stress and to try to keep them away from the crack pipe. Note that the two oil cooler ends are of larger diameter than the crack pipe and block ends of the pipes. Take care to put the right pipe in the right place. They are shaped for their positions. Take care to position the spring clips for easy access later, a point neglected by many.
OK, that's all the photos for now. Hope this is useful for others. It's not a tough job (assuming you get the bumper bolts out OK), it's just a bit time-consuming.
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