beezera10

Hi folks I'm fairly new to the forum despite owning Skodas for donkey's years (2xFabia, 2xOctavia, 1xCitigo). My question: My wife manage to hit my Octy (MK2 1.9 TDI PD Ambiente estate 2008) whilst parking in the drive (don't ask!). She managed to scrape the rear N/S door and dent the frame/side panel (where the door sits in). It would appear that this section is replaceable as a complete unit, but I can't see how it fits as the roof and side panel seem to be one piece. Does one have to cut it along the roof line and reweld? Just asking about how big a job this is and whether it'd be just as well to fill the dent and spray (colour is LA7W Reflex Silver I believe). See link for panel I'm referring to. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skoda-Citigo-5-Door-N-side-Side-Panel-2015/254055850093?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3D93251126785f42738c207ed6f53c1a8c%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D254055850093%26itm%3D254055850093&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507 I've used the forum loads in the past for advice about how to fix my cars, so thanks in advance!

Quality US company

Yup, Fords too.

As someone said before, I use knowledge and experience. I've never used a torque wrench for spark plugs, only for engine components and some parts of the suspension.

If you find your plugs are pretty solid when cold, just loosen them slightly when engine is warm. Once slightly loose, a drop of WD40 will work its way into the threads. I then gently retighten and loosen a few times until the threads start to free up. When the plugs are all out, I put a new plug in each cylinder with a drop of WD40 and make sure they screw in easily before cleaning the threads and nipping them up. Never had any problems with cars or motorcycles. Can be a bit worrying when loosening really tight plugs, but following these steps will help. After all, it doesn't matter how tight they are, they have to come out one way or another.

Dunno what Emil is on about. When the engine is hot, both the spark plug hole and spark plug will expand together. If you remove a hot spark plug from a hot engine, then put a cold spark plug in, the cold spark plug will be a slightly looser fit - although not really enough to strip threads. Probably a good idea would be to put the cold plug in finger tight and allow the temp between the engine and spark plug to equalise before nipping it up.