Duggie

So you all know, Jewsons is part of Ridgeway garages, who also have several VW/Audi/Land Rover/Jaguar dealerships all over the south, not to mention Mercedes, VW Commercial and several others dotted along the coast. Stuart is now Sales manager at Ridgeway Skoda Newbury and the team there is brilliant, I have just spent 3 weeks there covering fleet sales. Of course, the sales team at Oxford is still going strong and always happy to help (and brilliant in my eyes too). I have showed your comments to the service team at Jewsons and we are on a constant strive to improve the service that is given to our service, and indeed sales, customers. I can only apologise for the negative experiances of previous posters. Take care all! -Duggie.

The Landy has already been under the knife severaql times, mainly due to stuff needing to be fixed but some mods too! -Duggie

Hi guys, Thought I'd give you all an update: As some of you may know I have been working at Jewsons Skoda in Oxford for almost 4 years now, last year I finally bit the bullet and decided it was time to sell the Fabia, Octavia and the Felicia. I just didn't have the enthusiasm to work on my own Skodas when it was Skodas I worked with on a day-to-day basis. So the Fabia is gone, 1.8T engine sold off but memories remain. Just wanted to take this chance to say thanks bundles for all of your help, thank you to Skoda for making me a first car that led to me finding a career path within Skoda and a huge thank you to Unit18 Automotive that carried out all of the work on the Fabia and the Octavia and who put an even bigger smile on my face! I have now moved onto the dark side of the motoring world, or, more specifically, a green ovally side of the motoring world. a 2004 Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 CSW to be precise. I'll still be around though, believe it or not, Briskoda, though at times the worst enemy of a Skoda dealer (from both sides) is actually very helpful when we can't answer a question! Take care all, Duggie.

Druggie... Ha ha... Been a while since I've been called that! Sorta stopped once I got myself off of the heroin and crack.

It's not going back to stock, if it gets to that point it will be trailered to my gran's garage and forgotten about for a few years.

^ that is a little unfair, trade price comes out at 1800. I work for Jewsons in Oxford so am aware of what it would be as a standard car.

As I said dude, it's not a 'for sale' thread. PMs would be the way to go. -Duggie.

Funnily enough i have a 1.8T block, loom, ECU, intercooler pipework and ancilleries sitting at mine... was exactly what I was going to do... Just have to say no some times. =(. I only have these in black and white arty farty mode: Ohh we had some good times! Cheers guys, I was thinking about £2.5/£3K without the wheels... -Doug.

So guys, firstly let me say this is by no means a 'for sale' thread, if and when I want to do that I'll sign up to freedom and post in the relevant section. This is more me thinking out loud and wanting an opinion. It's my Fabia, all it's doing is sitting in the garage doing nothing, no Tax, no insurance and MOT runs out in September, I haven't driven it more than 10 feet in over a year (apart from the 4 miles to the MOT test centre) and I am thinking of letting it go and moving on. But it's not that simple, it's heavily modified as most of you will know and I have the Octavia for daily driver duties, and that is becoming a project in itself. Added to that, I have the urge to get a bike, of the loud, low and American variety. Thing is, I am very attached to it and I am sure it isn't worth as much as I think it is. I thought I'd list the spec here and get as many people's opinion as I can. She's a 1.4 8V with 75K on the clock, you already know the drill about Tax and MOT but mods are as follows: Weitec Coilovers Fully poly bushed, front and rear VRS (BIG) front ARB – Painted orange Forge Front upper strut brace Jabbasport rear ARB Forge rear upper strut brace (painted anthracite grey) VRS Rear disk conversion (whole rear beam) VRS front brake conversion (Hubs too) Standard Disks with Greenstuff performance pads HEL Stainless (orange) brake lines Fabia VRS Cloth Seats (seats only not door cards) Wires for subwoofer run to boot with quick connector blocks by Oxford Car Audio Bumpers front and rear – rubbing strips removed, plastic welded, filled and smoothed, then painted body colour. Colour coded front grill De-badged at rear, badge holed welded and painted. Side rubbing strips removed Towing strap Smoked side repeaters Headlights and foglights lamin-x light smoked Tail lights tinted red LED reverse, LED indicator and LED brake bulbs LED number plate bulbs Osram Nightbreaker headlights, dipped and full beam. Pressed rear plate and stick on front plate (to avoid drilling front bumper) 2 Piece fully refurbished Schmidt TH lines in direct 5X100 fitment 7.5J front 8.5J rear with Radinox lips. Centres matched anthracite grey. New Falken tyres on fronts and rears have 3-4 mm tread. (ideally sold sepreately or kept by me)... Can sell on Different wheels Upgraded Jabbasport solid dog bone engine mount (rear) K&N panel filter included in sale Jabbasport Remap to 75 BHP – originally 68 BHP – all paperwork to support mods. VERY well taken care of at UNIT18 and always kept in a garage. I have actually no idea where to start but those of you who remember the car will remember just what a minter it is. Thanks all, little emotional about it but i think it's time to move on. -Duggie.

FYI, never convert a 5 stud car to 4 stud... only upwards in number is sensible!

I am afraid this is copied and pasted from Stanceworks as I am on lunch at work and have a lot to get done. And so it seems that the very short British summer we had is drawing to a close, not that I saw much of it anyway. Work has been very busy and the money for a project has been rolling in slowly, this has meant no shows this year, not much work on the project this year, and to be honest, with family leaving for University and bigger things and friends wanting to catch up, I have been happy of the time spent with my nearest and dearest rather than in the garage. So, as some of you may remember the project that started this year on bright, sticker-bombed steels (above is from January) and a ludicrous roof rack, has come to the end of summer with nothing much new. Good times for a catch up and a memorable summer, I love the friends that I have made over the years and the family seem closer than ever. Bad news however, for an itch that needs to be scratched, an itch of the four wheeled variety. A little has happened but fo te most part, she's been chilling in the garage. (Below from right just now) That said though, there is some news, whilst the show season was in full swing and the sun was out on a select few days, parts were rolling in. For something big is taking place this winter. The car that I passed my driving test in, which has taken me from place to place over the years and has created memories for me, is going into hibernation. Hopefully a faster, lower, and more beautiful butterfly will emerge. Expect nothing fast, I’m going to say spring next year might be a good time to look for updates but it’s time to extinguish those summer cigarettes. I need to use the holiday that the year of work has built up so far and give the boys at Unit18 a call. It’s going to be cold, there are going to be lows but let’s fire up the gas heaters, roll the car out of the garage it’s all to comfortable in, and get it to the Unit. We’ve got a long winter ahead, and work to do. Peace.

Tapered seats to the bolts? Because I think they are standard like that anyway? Does anyone have details on lengths etc? I'd just feel more comfortable with 3-4 more turns... Many thanks.

Hey guys, Here's the story, I have bought some Schmidt TH lines for the Fabia and the standard wheel bolts only go in 2 and a half turns, while this looks pretty, I don't feel I could drive on them like that... Where can I get longer bolts from? Sizes and specs would be useful too. Also, prettier bolts wouldn't go a miss! Any advice is welcomed, as usual! Many thanks, Duggie.