kentdale

Hi can anyone advise which way the brake calliper pistons rotate when pushing them back in the housing to allow new discs and pads to be fitted on my vrs. I read somewhere that either the front or rear callipers were just push back without rotating, I know to remove fluid from the reservoir and have its lid off whilst doing this proceedure. I have a 'G' clamp but not a wind back tool assuming its required or has anyone got advice on doing it without . Is there anything else I ought to do. I took advantage of last weeks money off and bought Pagid discs and Brembo pads from euro car parts. Thanks Martin

Hi Lee, just found your head gasket thread, not sure how I missed it, hope its still running well.

Hi dougie, smart looking vrs,paint on the cills better looking than mine at the moment, I note you are running it with a de cat exhaust, how about the mot, does it still pass. Smart wheels as well. Martin

Hi Steveo1,good to know the similar issue to my vrs worked out for you and to hear its hopefully recoverable for me as well. Appreciate your input.

Thanks for explaining, it's to keep and enjoy for as long as derv power is allowed or cost prohibited.

Hi Trevor, looking smart,interesting read.

Hi Luke,hope things work out for you. All the best.

Hi again Sepulchrave, I appreciate your thoughts, just a couple of things if the same thickness of head gasket is used once the head is skimmed would that not effect the compression and secondly what does mls stand for. I have already bought pd 150 head bolts last year ready to use. You see the car requires new break discs and pads all round, the rear shocks look weapy and the front struts look very pitted with rust , needs an exhaust back box minimum, all consumables I know but adds to the initial outlay before I can think of an mot pass. I also want to remove the power ecu flash to back to normal acceptable power. Thanks Martin

I know I have mentioned this before, I have received conflicting advice on how to move forwards with my suspected vrs head gasket issues, It is sorned at the moment and is only started every couple of weeks to keep the oil circulating and only run for a max of 5 mins, to move out and back in the garage. Visited an independent garage yesterday who was recommended, looked a tidy place. I said what I knew had possibly happened to the car and that my son had to add water to the expansion bottle fairly infrequently, and that it had a sniff test carried out confirming combustion gasses were present in the bottle. I was told yesterday they did not carry out cylinder head jobs any more as they recently had issues with a couple of jobs with the gasket failing again, a BMW and Ford diesel and both could not be resolved , having both to be fitted with used engines. Their thoughts were that the block to head which were alloy must have been warped causing failure again. a member on here suggested trying up rated head bolts ( I bought some last autumn from Dark side) but as yet not tried , I have spoken to a VW specialist who said never done a head gasket yet! To an engineering firm who are old school who said its ok to skim this engine type head as long as its a small amount requiring removal, not sure what that means, maybe gasket thickness options. To re manufactured new heads at quite a cost. Bit of a dilemma really, I would like to sort it out but at the end of the day its value is of course minimal. Any advice , reassurance would be very much appreciated. Ps I would carry out all work ,stripping , replacing with best quality parts as required. thanks in advance Martin

Hi Wino, been looking all evening ,slam panel looks generic, air filter box appears the same but ASZ has lots more pipes going on. So at least looking ok. Doors and hatch ,bonnet look good but would take up too much room for a just in case needed scenario.

Thanks for the help Wino.

I am scavenging interior trim parts that are compatible to my vrs from a scrap yard owned by mate, just a couple of questions, the scrap car has suffered mechanical failure so not one bit of damage at all, its a 2003 1.4 mpi version. The bonnet slam panel is in good condition am I correct in assuming that it will fit my 2006 vrs. Also a question on the air filter air box, not sure if it looks the same, can anyone advise if it is as my vrs one. Would all the glass be the same or is it a waste of time getting it out (not windscreen) mine is ok except the creeping delamination on the lower edges of the hatch glass. Anyone suggest other possible parts that would be generic to mine worth getting. The steel wheels look quite rough tho. Its due to be crushed shortly. Thanks Martin

HI Luke, yes that's spot on, will be sorting my sills shortly. Much appreciated. Martin.

Its a car that looks probably better than new, always liked that colour and the wheels go really well, grill looks very smart.

Interesting reading about your mods/build, the lights look spot on as does the grill.

Hi Luke, still not sorted my sills as yet, what make was the high build primer you mentioned, the top coat and the body filler/hardener, also what grade wet/dry paper to use, also is that a tub of cleaning fluid or something? Cheers Martin

Not nice working in mess like that, sure it will be tidy when finished, looking forwards to your progress.

Hi Lofty, pleased to see you back, I might possibly have garage envy, mines still ok for one car tho.

Having started to replace the near side front window regulator new panel I found that the previous owner (not my son)had already drilled out the ten panel rivets and two of the four speaker ones. Not sure why of course unless it was leaking water. Anyhow once I took the panel off the door and started to remove the wiring to transfer to the new panel, I noticed the lock plastic support bracket was cracked where it was riveted to the lock part so I plastic welded it and It worked out ok. Then after that I dry fitted the lock panel to the door, but being pretty tight to ease in the door the plastic push fit thingies holding the lock bracket to the new panel came loose so I withdrew the panel and used stainless steel nuts and bolts in place of the 3 original thingies. all looking good, I re fitted the door pillar 4 electrical plugs and rubber boot again all good but what an difficult part of the job. That left me to fit the window winder motor and try it out and all good there, nice and smooth as you would expect. Now to the big issue, when I had the car that door handle was strangely sitting proud at the opening edge from the fixed section when the door was closed and worked ok, on re fitting the moving handle with the cable that pulls the lock catch, I thought it would be an idea to see if the available adjustment would hold the handle more flush which it did, I took several attempts with a screw driver working the lock to the locked position and checking that the handle would actuate the lock and every thing worked perfect. The locking unlocking worked perfect with the door in an open position, then to my shock when I closed the door and locked the car on the plip then unlocked it the door would not open, all others did. So anyone got a solution to this, I haven't riveted the door panel yet but quite shocked it has happened. Martin

I am wondering if it is possible to fit a tow bar to an Octavia vrs, estate or hatch for caravan towing. I cant say I have ever noticed one towing only non vrs models. My local skoda garage eventually said yes but say they have never fitted one, I also know that the vrs models have reduced ride height. Thanks in advance.