Mr-Bishi

It's a fairly simple brief really as I'm going with this Fabia. I want to gut it completely, swap the rear drums out for calipers, put in the 1.8T and appropriate gearbox, full cage, racing seats, harnesses then get out onto a couple of track days. But I want to enjoy the process of building it above everything else. I've spent a bit of time up to this point fitting new hubs, 312mm front brakes, pulling out unwanted interior, bigger wheels, researching and planning out the next steps. I really respect your philosophy and I agree, modifying a car is all about having the freedom to play around and turn it into what you want. When it comes to the JDM crowd, especially the Silvia, getting the RB, rebuilding it, fitting the gearbox from a 350z, all these things that should have been deal breakers in the build have been little more than bumps in the road. All the times the Mx5 threw it's auxillary belts off down the motorway, the head gaskets it blew, oil cooler exploding.... At no point did either of the owners give up and decide that they'd had enough or that it was impossible. We supported each other and kept going until we got it right. I have so much admiration for that level of ambition, determination and perseverance. It fills me with confidence in my own project, it might take a while and involve a lot of faffing about but I'm enjoying the process so far and I'm really looking forward to the next stages in the build.

Thank you @fabia220, there's some great info there which is really food for thought. The photos as well, wow! That's such a clean install, and the intake manifold given the old switcheroo, there's so much to take in from just those few photos. Boosting the engine was another factor I've been looking at over the last few days and exploring the various possibilities. I can fully appreciate the guidance and experience that is being shown so far through this thread, it's not falling on deaf ears and I'm fully expecting to come up against a challenge that I'm simply unable to overcome or totally unprepared for. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm being pigheaded or stubborn, I just really enjoy getting stuck into things like this and the satisfaction that comes when the key is turned for the first time with a successful firing of the engine (or not!)

I know it sounds a bit daft but this is all because I really want to push myself to my limits. I've spent the last couple of years with close friends putting engines into various Japanese cars, rebuilding an S2000, swapping an RB into a Silvia, Turboing Mx5s... it's all good fun and the journeys have been really enjoyable. I want to enjoy that same journey on the car that got me started. My TDI Fabia and the help of a group of good friends were the first baby steps I took to get into the industry. I started as a hobbyist and decided that I wanted to do it professionally, went to night school, got qualified, worked in a crappy garage and now I'm at the point where I'm a Professional Technician for a main dealer with a number of years experience behind me. I've had a lot of luck over the years, coupled with hard work and I have a job that I can't wait to get out of bed for. And it all started because I had to change a Track Rod End on a Skoda Fabia back in 2010. I feel that, had I not bought the car and decided to try and fix it myself, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. So this is me, going back to the car that started me down the path and stepping out of my comfort zone. I know that there are things I have to overcome to make everything work correctly, I know there are easier ways of doing it (FR swap) and I know it'd be easy to sell all the bits off on eBay and make back the money I've spent. But I want to build a Fabia that makes me grin when I eventually take it to a track. For me this is all about the journey and getting to test my skills as a technician. I'm not putting any time frames on it, there's no urgency to finish it for next summer or anything like that. It might sound crazy but, this is fun. I enjoy the journey.

@Tech1e This was the thread I found, is this a different project?

Cheers @Tech1e I've had a bit of time to read through that all and a catch up. You've got a pretty involved project going on! Some interesting stuff there. Did you trim back the ancillary plate holding the alternator/PAS/AC pumps? The engine is incredibly clean without all the extra pcv/sai Medusa lines running amoc. My other query is cheating a little as I was looking to try and figure this one out solo but, the Fabia PAS system, from the information I've found is column based (possible I've misunderstood this) and is electro hydraulic? Have you found a way to run this effectively using the loom from the donor car? I've started looking through ElsaWin at the circuitry involved with the system but haven't had too much time to scrutinize it. Does the pump receive a traditional signal from a steering angle sensor in the column via ECU or is this system relatively self contained?

Thank you @Tech1e for the information. Is this a conversion you have done in the past and do you have a build thread at all I can spend some time looking at? There are a few 02J boxes about on eBay at the moment so I'll be looking to pick one up in the coming weeks before I begin the swap. I have a leisurely timescale for this, the build is more about testing myself than chasing any Dyno numbers or lap times. Just reread your post, is an 02j not the correct box for this application?

Thanks for your responses chaps. So source another box before proceeding? I'm not sure if I was a bit ambiguous before, I'm not intending on smashing this car round any B roads or tracks as it is. Everything will be uprated where possible, though I'm trying to do this in stages and still have the capacity to drive the car to the workshop and back after completing a phase. Current phase is grafting the engine into the Fabia and getting it running. It would be nice to drive the car home afterwards, though if this is not feasible then it will be towed.

Heya all, Long old back story for another day but, I have a 1.4MPI Fabia and I'm going to stick a 1.8T lump into it. I'm going into this build with an open mind and the intention of challenging myself on a mechanical front. I've read and scrutinized many of the other build threads out there, most of which are geared around swapping all the guts from an Ibiza FR to create a Fabia FR. I'm a dealer technician for Mitsubishi so mechanically and electrically, none of this is too crazy but my decision was to build this car in a different way. A couple of areas here and there have caught my attention as bits that may end up being slightly bumps in the road for what I'm planning to do. I have the car. I have a complete AUQ lump with clutch, flywheel, ancillaries etc (From a Léon). I have the ECU, convenience module, keys, immo coil, clocks etc from an Octavia VRS. I have several spare engine bay looms, auxillary looms and fuse box looms. I have access to ElsaWin. I have a week booked off work, though my boss has allowed me use of my bay and ramp for this week, so technically still at work only not working. As it stands at the moment my intention is to use the original gearbox on the Fabia with the AUQ engine for the short term, to fit the 1.8T into the Fabia and keep it running with the intention of uprating the gearbox at a later date. My main reasons for wanting to do this are that I don't have much knowledge as to the interchangeability of the drive shafts (Length, splines, hub fitment etc) And I would like to limit the amount of faffing with the engine mounts and such as much as possible. Here the main issue I have is that I'm fairly certain the clutch assembly that came with my AUQ will not be compatible with the shaft on the stock gearbox as I think the splines are different, possibly the clutch mechanism too though the Fabia lump is still whole and driveable. My current work around idea for this is to look into getting the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate for a Mk1 Octavia VRS running the AUQ lump and a 5 speed box, with the expectation that the bolt pattern will be the same on the flywheel/crank as the original Leon kit. But my concern is that the Fabia starter motor will not mesh correctly with this flywheel, the spline teeth to output shaft will be different, essentially I'll be making assumptions that this will work only to find it won't. Through my research I've found that the majority of VW engines and gearboxes have the same bolt pattern regardless of being 5/6 speed and that there are many combinations out there. TL;DR: Is there a clutch/flywheel combination that will mate an AUQ engine to a stock Fabia 1.4MPI 5spd gearbox?