Alfie 168

I've sort of assumed that if they fitted the Favorit they will fit the Felicia, but now you ask I havn't actually tried them on a Felicia as both ours had/have built in roof rails, so it was no go with them. How far away are you? If you are close you are welcome to try before buy, or maybe someone else out there can confirm whether the Fav/Fel fitting is the same and save us some trouble. Actually, my daughter is supposed to be turning up tonight in the Felicia so i can see if the clamps fit the door apertures and come back to you. She was suppoed to be here ages ago.....Women!!! Alfie168

I've got a pair of Paddy Hopkirk roofbars last used on our Favorit and in perfectly good nick, but not quite perfect as they've been in the shed. £10 for the bars, collection preferred, but will post with extra for P&P. Item in Boston, but could deliver in Harrogate as thats where we are moving to, hence clearout of shed. Alfie 168

Thanks Tom, I sort of knew about the regulator, but is there any other bit..like the brushes? Indeed are there brushes at all in an alternator or is the AA man talking well meaning ollocks. At the end of the day its probably worth chucking in a regulator pack just to see if it works before shelling out on a new alternator. I'l do a search as you suggest...probably should have done that first,,of course Alfie 168

My Daughters Felicia gave up the ghost tonight and beign 'dad' I'm in charge of fixing it long distance....... AA man says its the alternator, which I concur with, but AA man seems to think its just the brushes/regulator unit. My question here is..can you get the brushes/regulator unit on its own and mend the alternator or does it have to be a complete alternator replacement ? Does anyone know how much they cost? I don't know which make of alternator is on it until daughter calls me tomorrow..assuming she can find the data label and read it :( How dare it break down after 114,0000 miles Alfie 168

Re:720. The side profile looks remarkably similar to that of the very first 5 series BMW, particularly at the rear quarter. One can only wonder at the 'political decision' that stopped such an evidently competent car being produced when its development was so far advanced. Perhaps the Kremlin did not like being shown up with its Ladas and Moskvitchs and got 'The Party' to lean on Skoda. I've no idea, but i'd not be surprised. The car showed far too much initiative. For 1970 it was really quite a technically advanced vehicle. What a shame. Alfie

Sounds like your van is just about ready for the scrappy do:D:D:D Alfie

Thats profound. Must have taken you hours:D:confused: Alfie

I got the impression that the very tasteless suicide in the VW advert was almost a challenge for the BBC to sack him. I thought it was disgraceful to show this when lots of young people watch TG. I'd sack him for that because they knew exactly what they were doing, unlike Woss and Brand who were just arsing about being offensive idiots. The VW 'joke' stopped being funny very quickly and went on far too long. and whilst I am a TG fan overall I thought this one was over indulgent crap...Thank God Jay Leno brought a bit of wit and levity and brevity to the show. Things are bad when it takes an American to 'lift' the show. I missed the first three this series, so perhaps i'm not best placed to judge it as a whole. The Aston bit...well I took his point, and I've always loved Astons, but I found it a bit self indulgent again, so it just made me feel cynical that he was just pulling the strings for end of series effect. If I have a single crit of TG these days it is that it has become more cynical over time, and cynicism is very destructive. I don't know what to replace it with though, and without doubt the 'new' TG took motoring shows right back out of the closet where the PC brigade thought they had imprisoned them for ever, so its been a fun ride the last few years. Alfie 168

PASSED RETEST:D Alfie168

If you use ordinary Mineral Oil then change it at 6,000 miles. With Semi Synth I'd let it go to 10,000...otherwise whats the point of paying the extra. The whole point of Synth is it holds its molecular structure longer. Our Alfa diesel easily goes 12,000 miles between changes....and before anyone asks..its done 106,000 miles with no problems and uses next to no oil. I've run two Favs and two Fels to over 100,000 and never had a problem using semi synth changed at 10,000. I'm old enough to remember cars that had an oil change interval of 1500 miles..yep 1500. Oils have come a long way since then:) Alfie

Using my one operational brain cell I decided to call on my local VW dealer.....it took about four minutes to order them...delivery tomorrow. Now why didn't I think of that first....Doh!!!!!!:confused: Job done! four new flexis, all the rear brake lines and two front ones fitted today. Thats what the MOT man wanted...so its back for a retest on wednesday...fingers crossed (The car has sat in my garden for 2 years..so I just bunged it in for a test to see whats what..it has suffered a bit I'm sorry to say) Tim

I'm a long way from a Skoda dealer. Does anyone know where I can get the slide in horseshoe type retaining clips for the brake flexi hoses. A couple of mine have fallen to pieces during the brake line renewal.:confused: Or a part number if I have to go to Skoda (98 Felicia) Tim

Blimey..far too nice to break, We bought a new Maroon LX in March 1990, G23 LUM (known forever after as GLUM:D)...It did about 112,000 miles before I moved it on. Ours didn't like unleaded much even with the timing checked (it pinked) but it was great fun and had better throttle response than the later single point injection cars (we had two). GLUM went to the cruncher in the sky may moons ago, but is remembered by me and the missus with great fondness (and I remember the explosion when I first suggested we look at a Skoda..how times change..we've had four now) Tim

Our Felicia Estate has been on SORN for two years. This week it was reawakened (I've kept it fettled and engine running OK) and sent for an MOT. It failed needing pretty well all the brake pipes doing..and an adviasory on the fuel pipe. I intend doing them myself.. I havn't had a good look yet. Has anyone any tips. Is it a real bu**er to get over the fuel tank or is it all manageable. I have wheel ramps, so I can raise the front or back. I've done brake pipes before, but not for many years now, so out of practice (I built a kit car and did some on one of my Alfas) I think I might buy some shares in a penetrating oil company first:D Any advice welcome Tim

There's not a lot of info on a redex bottle about whats in it, but on the STP petrol treatment the game is given away bigtime. The main component in STP petrol treatment is Kerosene..so get some off Easy Jet and you are away:rofl: I have used it from time to time, but I've no idea if it does any good. I think ultrasonic cleaning of the injector(s) is more likely to do good things as it restores the spray pattern, but its not pennies to have it done. I used to use Molyslip in gearboxes now and again, and that worked OK, but in modern units i'd be careful as it may not be compatible, and as for additives to engine oil. I think thats a no no as you are better off just changing the oil & filter. I'm not convinced about engine flushes either on older engines . All the crud settles and hardens quite nicely at the bottom of the sump, and all these flushes do is send it round the engine all over again. For modern delicate engines an engine flush might be advisable just to keep narrow oilways clear, but i'm still not convinced having never had an oil related problem on an engine ever. I think there is some merit in banging some redex in and then going out and doing 'An Italian tune-up' as long as you don't over rev it and blow it up in the process...seen it done you know..smoke from the redex..then nasty noises from a valve dropping and a lot more smoke:thumbdwn: . It was a friends mini 850 which we were trying to get to go as fast as..well anything really:D Alfie 168