Special K

[Leeboy]

A new acquisition; going old skool with a bit more than first meets the eye. 1989 136 Rapid 5 Speed no less

Purchased this start of last month from up near Sheffield and drove it 230 odd miles home to the sunny south with no worries. Had my first rear engined Skoda when I was a student, 20 years ago, at which time this one would have been a couple of years old already. 44K miles on the clock, and was off the road for a good five years back in first half of the last decade.

Presentable interior:

A few rusty bits and paint work is U/S, but a good solid car underneath.

Front edge of bonnet is in far better condition than most Estelles/Rapids…

O/S rear sill has been patched…

Rust creep around rear screen will need new metal for a permanent fix me thinks…

Paint is dead, no point in using polish here…

And rear arches bubbling but may be salvageable…

[Leeboy]

Continued...

Shopping goes in here, though make sure its not too tall when closing the lid!

So what is the twist to this one? Ermm that’s not a Skoda block…

1.6l 16 v twin cam Rover K-series block on 33mm Yamaha FZS 600 bike carbs…

Very loud, very revvy, :rofl:

I’m well aware of K-series rep for blowing head gaskets so we’ll see how it goes. Original Skoda box and diff seem fine for now, and as you’d imagine without an engine over the front end and power steering, despite the various bits connecting the steering wheel to the road wheels being the best part of 23 years old, it is wonderfully direct and communicative!

Conversion was done around a year ago, look up these threads of Skoda Forum for a run down.

http://s3.zetaboards...topic/643373/1/

http://s3.zetaboards...opic/7391380/1/

So first thing to attend to is body work. It has been booked in for a complete glass-out respray with all rust shot blasted or cut out at a local body shop in January next year. I need to decide does it stay black or do I go for something different? Original Skoda colours of that era were a little bland and I’ve always been weary of black as its always in need of cleaning and shows up marks, swirls and minor scratches all to easily. VW did a wide range of colours for the Corrado also on the market in the late eighties, early nineties so maybe something to be had there; I’ve always liked this particular shade, but would it work on a Skoda which doesn’t quite have the body work curves…

Suggestions if you care. No point banging on about keeping it standard because the engine is hardly that.

After body work, brakes and suspension need tightening up. Reasonable supply of aftermarket brake and suspension parts appear to be readily available but having trouble locating uprated suspension bushes but I’m sure someone can point me in the right direction. Engine bay will get some detailing too; I don’t think it needs any additional power through the standard box!

Finally the interior will get a re-trim.

Next to my yellow Octy which is ten years old in itself!

[Graeme B]

Love this, will be keeping a close eye on this project !!!

[robk1]

^ +1, that's a cool little 136

[skodanorman]

Nice car! Love the sound of your plans.. I think I'd keep it black but purple would also be very cool!

[robk1]

Nice car! Love the sound of your plans.. I think I'd keep it black but purple would also be very cool!

Yep, black looks great but tends to show the dirt. I'd stick with a darker colour option.

[Leeboy]

Update on progress since earlier this month. Ahead of car going to a local bodyshop in just under a couple of weeks from now, I’ve been stripping the car down to its basics. Interior floor is all very solid, just outer sills need attention and rear valance behind the near side wheel arch has rusted through.

I haven’t had a look at what might be lurking under the front wings, but hopefully it is generally as sound as the rest of the car.

So a few work in progress photos to be getting onwards.

Body colour has been decided, but we’ll keep that as a surprise.

Finally first box of new bits, new washer water bottle, new brake fluid reservoir cap, and front suspension bush set, thanks to Sko-Parts International.

Made a start of removing dashboard this evening, then it’ll be ready to go to the bodyshop.

[Leeboy]

Nearly ready for Saturday trip to the bodyshop. Dash is out and all bits removed that can be. Ohh it's so exciting!!

[Leeboy]

Car now at bodyshop, expect to be away for about six weeks, so fingers crossed it'll have an outing at JKM RR day at start of March.

In the meantime, many bits to attend to that have been stripped off the car.

[Leeboy]

eBay purchase arrived today.

Bit of a punt with these, Audi S3 circular air vents. Skoda issue vents are nothing more than a flap of pastic which can be rotated and opened/shut. Not particularly exciting.

Offering up, the dash holes need to be opened up perhaps a couple of mm, then when it's offered up to the bulk head I'll need to rig up some sort of ducting.

Should look decent when in, and I'll have vents that I can modulate air flow AND direction!

[skodanorman]

That's a great idea!

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[daverapid]

Ironicaly being a vent, that's rather cool!

[Leeboy]

Ironicaly being a vent, that's rather cool!

Particularly so in this weather I should think.

[Leeboy]

A couple of hours later with a flat and half round file and we have a rather smart outcome.

[Leeboy]

Been down to the bodyshop this morning to see progress, further along than expected and will have a look at paint this coming week to. Bodywork has been confirmed as in pretty good order.

Bodyshop is taking photos as they go but here are a few iPhone (3GS) pics to give an idea of what's occurring.

Rear engine support beam has been removed blasted and powder coated

Rear N/S wheel arch work

N/S sill work

O/S sill; sound metal to work with

O/S rear wheel arch work in progress

Doors, bonnet and bootlid have all been prepped and ready for topcoat.

[V8 Dave]

Hang on, my missus works round the corner from there! Must a local boy then?!

Loving the Rapid BTW, looks like a tidy conversion too!

[Jonny5ive]

Cracking work Lee. Resourceful as ever with the air vents.

Go on, tell them the one about replacing a split boost pipe at a track day with parts from a local Tractor Supplies shop

[Leeboy]

Hang on, my missus works round the corner from there! Must a local boy then?!

Loving the Rapid BTW, looks like a tidy conversion too!

Where's the other half work then, Sainsburys, Lucketts Travel or the like? Yes Airport Body Shop Fareham is very local to me, about a mile and a half away. Popped in today while my wife started the weekly shop at Sainsburys!

[Leeboy]

Go on, tell them the one about replacing a split boost pipe at a track day with parts from a local Tractor Supplies shop

Oh yes, worked a treat though!

[skodabluecat]

Looking great, good to see another skoda like mine with a k series in it..

[V8 Dave]

Where's the other half work then, Sainsburys, Lucketts Travel or the like? Yes Airport Body Shop Fareham is very local to me, about a mile and a half away. Popped in today while my wife started the weekly shop at Sainsburys!

Nah, firm at the top of t' hill. I work in Portchester!

[Leeboy]

Right then, it's all coming together this week, doors, bonnet, boot, and front and rear panels still to paint, then stick it all back together, so look here for sneak preview of chosen colour:

Body shop have done an outstanding job with the quality of the finish,

By no means an original colour, don't think pre-VW Skoda had metallic paint technology. The colour is from Ford (performance blue) as per Focus RS and has quite a fine metallic contents so its not over the top, it is a little darker than Skoda Race blue, and apparently looks good in sunlight (it was far from sunny on Saturday morning). Expect to pick it up next Sat ( large credit card bill awaited :( )

[daverapid]

Looks fantastic!

[skodanorman]

That is gorgeous. This is going to look fantastic!!

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[favguy]

Looking superb so far, can't wait to see it back together