DieselMonte

Should have mentioned The 1.2l dogbone bush that I have is incredibly soft. I'm fairly sure the diesel ones made a bit firmer, so if someone was inclined that'd be a good way to stiffen that mount up without sacrificing NVH

Dogbone is a piece of **** on these If it took you a half hour to do I'd be surprised. Other fabias driving fantastic with the new front suspension, PS Bushes included. Had it out today and the horn has decided to come on itself lol.

I was a bit worried about those superpro bushes, didn't want to gamble on taking the car apart only to find they needed to be pressed into my old bushes. So I bought new Wishbones. Approx £25 each, including bushes and ball joints. Used a vice to press the old bushes out, and the superpro ones in. These bushes being offset need to be clocked so the hole is near the inside of the car. Fully assembled. Painted them hammered black, ready to go into the car next day. Choosing to keep the front wishbone rubber, as its a solid bush it doesn't make a bit of difference if I keep it rubber or switch to Poly. Also, Made a start on some new engine mounts. This time however I'm using proper polyurethane instead of tigerseal. Gutted an old engine side Hydroil mount, gave it a deep clean and paint ready to be filled next day. Also did a dogbone mount, came off the 1.2l petrol fabia I got the subframe for the mk1 from a while back. Filled this with 70 shore hardness stuff, spilled quite a bit because I hadn't sealed it properly to the cardboard. Debating whether or not to use 60 shore stuff on the hydroil mount. This dogbone will go onto the Monte, I have a powerflex bush in it now, but it is a 65 shore one and I want one that's just a bit firmer. Made a bit of a mess but otherwise went OK.

Small updates: Took apart some of the EGR/Intake system for a clean. This was last off December of last year, and it's done plenty of miles since. First thing I noticed was oil under this pipe, I think one or both gaskets are needing replacing. Restrictor plate is doing its job Rest of the system was very clean, mostly oil vapour instead of built up gunk like before. Gave this a good clean before reassembling. Anti shudder valve had basically no buildup, wiped off. I did end up making a bit of a mod to the intake, never occurred to me how much the egr piece in the intake obstructs the air coming in. So I decided to take it out and chop a lump off. End Result: While I highly doubt this'll make any noticeable impact, I hope it'll make the engine breath a bit easier Do want to clean the intake manifold properly if I get the chance.

Got a pot of Pantone 348 mixed up to paint the calipers, fronts were looking shabby. Deep clean and sanded Then paint Other side. Did the rears again also, no pictures though.

Got some sound deadening pads from halfords, only a little bit but they did work quite well. 15 euro for 2 little sheets though, not cheap. So, went down to kilkenny the other day to get two things, a lot of sound deadening and some spare boot trims. Why spare trims? Well I'll be putting a brace in the boot again, this time though I don't want to run it stripped out like before. I want to keep the original trims in one piece hence buying another set. Will either be the brace I had before or a k brace. 4 sheets of sound deadener ,4 sheets of felt and a roller tool came up to 60 euro. I've only used half it so far. Wasn't going for full coverage, but most of the sheets went around the wheel Wells. Put felt mat behind the plastic trims instead of the arches. Back together, a bit tougher than before. Don't think you'd be able to use thicker stuff as the trim might not fit at all over it. Looks no different than a standard car but it is much quieter. Have enough to do the doors which I do want to do.

Those spring rubbers look the same as those found on fabias, certainly look the same as the ones on my monte. They seem pretty cheap on ebay, might pick up a pair.

Very interesting! I have everything for a pair of 232mm rear discs except for handbrake cables and brake pipes. Rear brakes on my mk1 are still lacking, and it's been in my head to put rear discs on it. Whether I pull my finger out and do it is another story

Didn't realise stub axles were the same for drum and disc cars. Are the wheel bearings the same also?

Thanks for the quick response, did not expect any until morning! We were both a bit confused before as his cars blanks didn't have a release clip where my car does (mine has foglamps) but your answers cleared things up. I'll let them know thank you so much.

Hi all, A friend of mine is trying to retrofit fogs onto his face-lift Mk2 fabia. It seems the blanks won't come off like how the normal foglights come off. Does anyone know how they are removed? Thanks in advance.

I would absolutely disagree with you on these cars not being made to last. These cars are built very well, they aren't overcomplicated. Any parts that wear out are easy to change and cheap. If that's the standard clutch at 147k then that's impressive. A clutch is a wear item and a lot of cars can wear them out around 60k miles. I know Hyundai coupes are notorious for wearing clutches out quickly, speaking from experience there.

Coolant temp sensors cheap and easy to change, be at the back of the engine.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1433716326868923/permalink/3211379825769222/?sale_post_id=3211379825769222 Speak of the devil Full 312mm setup for sale.

Mk1 fabia vrs knuckles should fit but your best bet is to get one from a mk2 fabia as they'll 100% fit. Came on a few mk2 fabias not just the vrs, 105hp monte carlos also came with them. And I know for a fact 105hp 1.6tdi normal fabias have 288mm front brakes. As for sourcing the hardware for 312mm brakes, mk1 audi tt as Thomas says or Mk1 octavia vRS are your best bets.

Front Knuckles off a fabia that came with 288mm brakes would be best If there are any breaking near you you'd probably be best to get the whole lot including brakes from one of them.

All back together, went back together easily. Bit of weirdness with the ball joints but got it sorted. They were as bad as the track rods. Drivers side ball joint was a nightmare to get out. Had a ball joint fork bought, and it needed to be forced in with a sledgehammer to separate the balljoint. Think I bent the brake shields, they're scraping a bit now. Not the end of the world. Looks a lot fresher than the old stuff. Drives a lot better, feels a lot tighter and took out a knock this car had in the steering. Even tracks fairly straight. Suspension stuffs sorted now atleast.

Very hack project I've been working on As Ryan says trying to get a similar effect of a rarb without spending the money. I got the idea from this article. https://www.autospeed.com/cms/a_113302/article Your man did this to a roomster no less. I think my approach is lacking in a few areas, namely the metal I use is really thin compared to what is shown in the article. I use a 10mm threaded bar and bend it to suit same as that article, using my old drum axle as a reference to get the right shape. Then used a strip of thin metal to go over the open V part. Currently a pair of these fitted to both my fabias. I'm still fairly worried that I'm just experiencing a placebo effect on both cars, but I think it has tightened both of them up a bit more. Mk2 has quite a lot of work done to it, including a rarb, mk1 less so but still has a little bit done to it. I hope Ryan can weigh in if he puts them on his car. If I'm proven right then it's great, if not well it just means I need to go back to the drawing board. I do like these little hack projects, and the Mk1 is a great excuse for me to try these things.

In the process of changing the track rods this evening. Inners were going to be a pain with the subframe in so I dropped it All came apart easy since It's all fresh, took not even 10 minutes. These take a 32mm spanner to get off Might be able to use vice grips, but I had a 32mm spanner luckily. Quick video of the old one vs the new one. Have new Bellows and clips to go on. Will probably use heavy duty zip ties on the large end though, just easier. Will go back together next day.

Had tried to change the stalks today and the airbag would not come out. Gave up and made more clamps for this car. Firstly, I've realised that I could have just used some 80mm exhaust clamps. Anyhow. Fitted the ones I made up, easier to fit onto this than the mk2 for some reason, more access. Took it for a few runs and it seems to have made a bit of difference. Seems like it's giving a similar effect to a proper rarb, but to a lesser extent. Driving really well this.

So funny for me seeing so many reek spec yokes not being able to keep up with my standard (ish) monte. So many 316d "M PERFORMANCE" around here with **** exhausts acting like they have M3s.

Never left around me It's still the done thing Seen Mk6 and 7 golfs with smoke maps.

Mate I was referencing "Drive"

He drives

Also currently in the broken air con camp so wind deflectors are a big help there. I changed the pressure switch and it should just need a regas, but at the minute I want to see where I am at after fixing more important stuff.