"The Raging Mouse" Fabia Monte Carlo.

[Outofthi5world]

So, basically "it's not a project"  I started this thread so I wasn't spamming the WDYDTYST thread in the Gen car section, but we'll see how it goes and see what happens along the way.

 

So, firstly I bought the car on the 13th of October 2015, Completely standard, nothing changed:

 

 

Apart from the fact that as soon as I got it home I put my Columbus in, the boot springs on, theBrisky plate surround on the back and the sticker in the window of course:

 

Edited 11 January, 2016 by Outofthi5world

[Outofthi5world]

Stripes and bonnet:

 

So on my way home from the dealers I ordered a new front grill and bought a tin of red engine enamel (Halfords high temp) and did this to it on my day off:

 

 

A nice, cheap mod and definitely better than using vinyl like on the old Fabia.

 

It was, however quite dirty, so I washed it. And when you wash, you notice things that you otherwise wouldn't and I found that the bonnet was hanging over the front:

 

So I took it back and argued with the dealers and couldn't get anywhere so I E-mailed SUK who sorted it out and I got to an agreement that they would send it to a body-shop and pay for the repair.

Edited 11 January, 2016 by Outofthi5world

[Outofthi5world]

I had also ordered some mud-flaps when I got my new grill but unfortunately due to the arch extensions they don't fit, so I got a set from Performance Creations which are superb!

 

 

 

And they definitely help with the mud:

[Outofthi5world]

Then I took it round Snetterton. This was already booked before I bought the car and was a great opportunity to test its metal. I have to say, the breaks are brilliant as I'm sure BJB540 will agree however the track conditions weren't so. There's a couple of videos that show one of my sessions on track and I got a bit faster as the day went on.

 

 

 

Then of course, this happened:

 

 

 

 

 

So when Skoda rang me to ask when I would like the car booking in for the repair I told them they needn't bother because it had been crashed and pretty much left it at that really.

But luckily I had Track insurance with Morris and had bought the optional excess insurance which took the £750 excess off and left me with a bill of £125 for a £2262 repair. Which isn't bad considering.

 

All thanks go to Spray-Shack in Northallerton for doing an amazing job with the repair:

 

 

And the bonnet problem is now solved.

Then I got a pair of pressed plates for the car and fitted the back one. I am not quite happy with the front one yet so it's staying off until I revise my mounting idea. I want screws rather than tape but the holes aren't that good and the plate wants to stay straight and stick out at the edges which I don't like. But I'll get one on even if I have to buy another plate. Shame I've drilled it already. :(

Edited 11 January, 2016 by Outofthi5world

[Outofthi5world]

Bumper and breaks.

 

So I asked Spray-Shack to save the old bumper as they couldn't get the splitter off and they did, which was nice. So I spent a bit of time with a grinder and a knife and after doing this I managed to get a knife in and cut the sealent that was bonding the two together.

 

 

So now I have a spare splitter and arch extension piece.

 

£50 bought me a spare set of calipers off a VRS which I gave a few coats of the same paint I used on the front grill and using an old set of K'nex I was able to make some painting racks so I didn't ruin the job:

 

 

 

 

And today I took the car into VASStech to have a set of Osram Nightbrekers that I'd bought over new years fitted, these calipers and carriers fitted, the rear break drums loosened so I can take them off when I want to paint them (they were welded on like alloy wheels, but REALLY solid) and the Aux port cover that should have come with the car fitted.

Here's a couple of shots of the breaks fitted:

 

 

[Outofthi5world]

VRS wheels.

 

So back when I had the other Fabia I bought Stewpotz old VRS wheels. They were OK but nothing more than that, some of the pain was flaking off and the finish was a bit crap, but they were exactly what I was after. Cheap. Thanks Stewpots.

Here's a picture of them on the old Fabia for a before shot as I didn't take one before I started stripping them:

 

 

I did a quick test with the spare wheel (22nd of November, so some time between the crash and the repair. I know this isn't in chronological order due to grouping wheels, bumper ect but it is close) and just sprayed a can of gold over the paint that was on the wheel, no primer, no clear coat just some gold paint and a piece of card to mask it off a bit:

 

 

I test fitted it to the good side of the car:

 

Which I thought looked nice, so gold it was going to be.

[Outofthi5world]

Wheel prep and paint:

 

First sanding with drill brush:

 

Finer sanding by hand with some paper:

 

Masked off a corner of the spare room to be my "Spray booth"

 

But unfortunately the window can't be opened because there's no key. And I can't have the door open because the smoke alarm goes off

 

Masked the tyre off:

 

Primer:

 

Skoda Black Magic in the back of the wheel. A. I already had this spray so I saved a bit of Gold paint and B. I think the end result this gave was quite nice.

 

 

Some of these photos aren't exactly the best quality, sorry, it's a phone camera and it was very foggy in there. I did my best.

 

First gold on the faces:

 

3 coats were successful, minor runs but I wasn't aiming for perfection. However on the 4th and final coat the thing I didn't want to happen happened and I ended up with a massive lump of paint hanging off one of the spokes. So I waited for it to harden enough and sanded the offending area down:

 

 

Then sprayed over it:

 

See, you can hardly tell it was there.

 

Both wheels after (I think it was 3 coats) of primer, 4 coats of Ford Olympic gold and 2 coats of Skoda Black Magic and 4 coats of heavy duty PU lacquer:

 

Nice gloss finish, once again, I wasn't aiming for perfection and I didn't expect it either. I am happy with this finish and for winter wheels I think this will be more than fine.

 

 

And in the backs (there was more gold on the bottom side of the backs where I hadn't been rotating the wheel round when spraying the gold which is something to remember for the other 2, but this was pretty much fixed by spraying what gold paint I had left up onto the top sides)

First pic is before spraying in the back:

 

And after, with tape off:

 

 

It does also seam to show up differently depending on what angle you look at them from.

One last picture, back of one and face of the other:

 

Now I just need to get the other 2 done and get them re-balanced at the garage, get them put on the car and enjoy.

[Toxicvrs]

Subscribed, good read so far

[ChrisRs]

Great Job on the car and the Wheels

Well done

What's next? Or is that a secret?

[Outofthi5world]

Subscribed, good read so far

Thank-you kind sir, much appreciated. It will, however slow down from now. I can't do that much in a day

 

Great Job on the car and the Wheels

Well done

What's next? Or is that a secret?

Thanks Chris. Next job? Got to take the dealer sticker out of the back window as I don't like dealer stickers and I certainly don't want to advertise for a dealer that takes 3 months to get a lock nut key that should have been with the car when it was bought. Then I have had VASStech remove and re-fit the rear break hubs while they were on with the calipers and lights as I tried removing them and they were stuck on solid, not a bit of movement. So next time I get a day off and it's not absolutely chucking it down I'll jack the back up, put it on stands, get both hubs inside and paint them black rather than rust colour. Then while I'm on with that I may as well put the new lock nuts on.

 

And a bloody good wash, I'm sick of this rain making the farm lane dirty it's getting annoying. But what can you do?

Edited 11 January, 2016 by Outofthi5world

[Stewpotz]

Very nice, loving my old wheels....wish I had kept them and given them a proper paint job but they wouldn't have fit over my brembo 4-pots :(

[dan4291]

Looking good, didn't know you could put the vRS front brakes on the Monte, may have to consider that in future! Regarding painting the drums, can you not do that with them still attached to the car? I was going to paint mine by putting the car on axle stands, remove as much rust as I can with a wire brush then paint them using a brush with some Hammerite.

[Outofthi5world]

Looking good, didn't know you could put the vRS front brakes on the Monte, may have to consider that in future! Regarding painting the drums, can you not do that with them still attached to the car? I was going to paint mine by putting the car on axle stands, remove as much rust as I can with a wire brush then paint them using a brush with some Hammerite.

Here's the for sale thread from when I bought the calipers: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/380902-skoda-fabia-mk2-vrs-calipers-carriers/#entry4461502 And they have fit with the original disks and pads that were onthe car before. I haven't had the old calipers out of the box from the garage yet to inspect but I suspect they are identical. They work anyway, so all is well.

As for the rear drums, yes, you could get away without taking the drums off the car if you wanted but you'd want to mask off the bolt holes, hub, wheel contact area and the wheel arch area if you're spraying them or be careful if you're using a brush. they come off with only a torx bit once the wheel is off provided they haven't welded themselves on like mine did. And providing the breaks haven't worn a lip on them but a mallet will sort that eventually. But anyway, I'm spraying them and found masking them on my old Fabia was an easy job.

[Outofthi5world]

So today I did a thing.

Jacked the back end of the car up, took both break drums off and put the wheels back on with a couple of bolts just in case it happened to fall off.

Then took my drums to the spare room, as you can see, they are quite rusty and son't look that good at all. Time for a bit of a clean up.

7

 

A quick clean with the drill brush got them looking better:

 

Drums masked and painted:

 

And on the car:

 

The paint used was Halfords VHT metallic black which, to be honest, I don't really recommend. For one it's not black. It's more of a washed out grey, it is better than the rust that was there by a long way but black it is not. It also says on the can that it doesn't cure properly until it reaches a high temperature (can't remember how high but higher than it's ever going to get hopefully) So I won't be completely surprised if I have to do this again in the summer. 

 

As for the front calipers I had a look at the old ones and they are exactly the same, just the VRS ones come painted red from the factory.

[Outofthi5world]

Right, so Yesterday I washed it (finally!) and got rid of the dealer sticker from the back window, the service sticker from the front window and the forecourt ID sticker from the interior mirror. And I noticed that my rear break drums are starting to go rusty. Yep, that's right, not a typo! I said that paint was **** didn't I?

 

Oh, and I finished painting the other 2 wheels today so they can dry off a bit then I will take them to the balancey place to be de-wobbled.

 

And I have my eye on something on E-bay. Only 2 other people know what it is and I'm NOT saying what it is as I want to keep the price where it is if possible.

Edited 24 January, 2016 by Outofthi5world

[YetiVRS]

Try using a hot paint and bake it in the oven to cure it.

[Outofthi5world]

Try using a hot paint and bake it in the oven to cure it.

The paint that is on is VHT, I thought about sticking them in the oven but it says on the can that it gives of fumes. Is this much of an issue or not?

[YetiVRS]

It's probably not good for you but shouldn't be a problem with the window open and an extractor fan, if it's got up to curing temperature it should stop it rusting....... Unless it's really rubbish paint

[Outofthi5world]

Picked up the VRS wheels from the garage today and fitted them to the car:

 

 

 

I also put the new set of lock nuts on while I had the old ones off.

[Outofthi5world]

So it went to RS Tuning this morning for a dyno run, turns out it's pushing 115.3 BHP which is good:

 

 

It also looks like I'll have to put a set of Monte wheels back on and ditch the VRS ones as they are vibrating a lot once you get past 80 which I suspect is down to the lacquer pealing off 

[pip_vrs]

Or the fact theyre not balanced

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[Outofthi5world]

Or the fact theyre not balanced

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They are balanced, I had them balanced after I sprayed them, but the lacquer has decided it is crap and doesn't want to be on the wheels any more. They were perfect until I washed the car the other day.

[pip_vrs]

They cant be balanced or they wouldnt vibrate. Maybe some weights have fallen off.

Either way lacquer peel will not affect the way the perform. Just the way they look.

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[Hyphons]

They are balanced, I had them balanced after I sprayed them, but the lacquer has decided it is crap and doesn't want to be on the wheels any more. They were perfect until I washed the car the other day.

Use wheel cleaner? Might have reacted?

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[DanHarper]

You found your way off that roundabout then? :P