DieselMonte

Well you're half right in that its the front of a vRS . Its originally a 1.9sdi and its only got a vRS front on it to replace the front clip after I wrecked it a while back. My monte had the oem "sport" suspension standard and it was slightly lower than a fabia on standard suspension, could only be 10-15mm lower and the same applies with for example a mk1 1.9 tdi fabia and a mk1 vRS. You're right that the shocks and springs are different but it could be a case of the sport shocks being shorter as the springs are slightly shorter too, there are much better options outside of oem "sport" suspension and probably cost the same if not less. The suspension on mine is a set of coilovers that came off a vRS as the person who was selling them was upgrading to some fancier coilovers. They're just FK performance coilovers on the front and fabia vRS rear shocks with some lowering springs in the back another member off here gave me ages ago. I got the coilovers, top mounts and drop links (albeit normal ones not shorter ones) for either 50 or 70 euro. Obviously not the freshest set but for my uses they're more than enough. The person I bought them off told me they're set 2 inches lower than a standard vRS is, I don't think its that much of a drop on mine and I havent adjusted them. Can honestly say it rides really well on the coilovers, was impressed so much by them that when the shocks on my monte gave out I went and got coilovers for it too (New this time). On that car I have them set to a modest 25mm drop from its "sport" suspension. Rides great even on our very rough backroads. Also I felt it was simplest to get coilovers knowing that the shock and the spring would be designed to work together properly instead of worrying about not getting the right shock to go with the right spring etc. Also I recorded this video of a shock I took off my mk1 and a shock I took off my monte. I like to think of it as a good example of an ok shock and a shock thats worn out.

Few bits done on the mk1 today, changed the coolant temp sensor out, 5 minute job max and hopefully should make the temp read properly for once. I wonder if I could tap into the wiring for this sensor to go to the water temp gauge I got for it? Then I moved on to tackling the rear brakes, got so far and stopped because I noticed something. To me this looks like a disc axle has found its way under it. Especially compared to the mk2 Have made a thread in the mk1 forum so hopefully someone can 100% for sure tell me whether or not it is a disc axle. I've definately thought about putting a disc axle in the mk2 so what might happen is that I take the axle off the mk1, strip it down and freshen it up, get rear discs and swap it into the mk2. Then the mk2s axle can find its way into the mk1, ideally. I'll have this car 5 years come february and I've only noticed this tonight, I hope I'm right and this is a disc axle and I'm not getting excited over nothing.

Good evening all, I'm doing some more work on the rear brakes on my mk1 and I noticed that the axle it has seems to have the mountings for some calipers. I stuck my head under my mk2 and noticed it does not have the same mountings on it. I apologise for the poor pictures as my phones battery is pretty low but It should be relatively clear what I mean. Mk1 Axle: Mk2 axle: Notice the lack of mounts? I know my mk1 should be drums and i'm pretty sure it should have the same axle as a mk2 where there are no mounts for discs. Could well be a very stupid question I know but I'm very curious as to why it seems to have a disc axle under it.

For reference this was low enough to need shorter drop links. Not sure of how much of a drop it is because I didnt measure it before and after. Weirdly my mk2 is sitting about as low and Its perfectly fine with standard drop links.

I don't think my car is lowered 40mm and it still needed Mondeo drop links.

Box of goodies came in for the mk1 Set of Mondeo Drop links ARB Bushes (18mm) Facelift bumper clips Rear shoes Rear wheel cylinder Coolant temp sensor Cabin air filter License plate lights. Got all pretty cheap, obviously not the best stuff but more than good enough for now. I wanted to get the bumper clips done first, and of course it turns out they've sent me one prefacelift and one facelift one, so the vRS bumpers only half properly attached. Then I tackled the arb and drop links Happily that all went on as it should, no drama there. Should tighten up the front of the car and stop the arb rubbing on the driveshaft too. The old d bushes were far too big for the arb guessing they're for a vRS and someone assumed this would have the same size ARB. Have the brakes to tackle next and i'm sure that will be great fun. Atleast I have an eezibleed to bleed it properly when its done, should be braking better than ever hopefully.

Did some slight tweaking to the lights, added another layer of tint to try get them to look more yellow And I adjusted them slightly, had to replace the bolt that holds one of the pods in place as it stripped trying to get it tight enough. They aren't that yellow in person sadly. Side note I've found the abs kicking on a lot more than i'd like, and this just driving normally. Never felt the abs do much up until recently and it feels like even the most minor difference in grip sends it into a tizzy.

If its just a normal H7 bulb socket you can put in any h7 bulb. My mk2 has projectors and i've nightbreakers in it. If its just a normal H7 bulb socket you can put in any h7 bulb. My mk2 has projectors and i've nightbreakers in it.

Theres one or two hanging around Ireland and on southern plates no less. Saw one up on donedeal a while ago on an 07-MO plate The one that hung around me over the m50 was an 07-KE plate. Not very useful, but considering how expensive its gotten to import them its kinda cool to see such a rare car here in the south. Must be a handful of them here at most.

24,000 miles on a 2014? Wow that is low.

Yeah they're the same, monte rear lights arent any different to any other fabia I wouldnt think.

Got around to putting on the bits I mentioned last post, a pair of led spotlamps. I'm really not a fan of leds but for my purposes I couldn't really go with normal spots. Instead of putting them out on the bumper I wanted to mount them halfways hidden behind the grille so I knew I had to get something small. They were a bit of a pain to mount, had to drill the crash bar out which took ages to do even with new bits, and then discovered they would sit too low so I had to get much longer bolts and then fashion up a spacer to lift them up enough to be seen. I Tinted them yellow, made no difference except turn the light green, they are pure white normally so I didnt expect them to go green. Pic is of just the spotlights on, even behind the grill they put out a decent amount of light. And heres what they loom like behind the grille, should be noted that the grille isnt properly clipped on in that photo. I'll get a better photo tomorrow. Wiring them was pretty easy, had to use connectors to join it all together as I don't have a soldering iron. They're wired so that they only come on with the highbeams. So far they seem to be doing well. Definately can see a lot further out than what I normally would have. Another reason I put them on is that I think they'll make it more obvious whether or not my highbeams are on to oncoming drivers.

Yeah, bonnets are completely different. Best way to do what you're thinking of is just getting your stuff painted like the monte bits. The trim on montes is black magic pearl to match the roof not "just" gloss black, not really much difference though. Maybe a clearbra on top of the paint would protect it from stonechips.

Grilles are different, lights are different and not interchangeable.

Yeah that clip should be tightened up enough. Have been under it this evening and cant see it leaking so good chance it will hold. Been meaning to change the gearbox oil as I've noticed it being quite damp around the drain plug, been like that for as long as I've had it to be honest. Pit is a good job, if a bit sketchy. Might be worth doing spacers if nothing else to make it easier to get onto the pit. (Tell a lie this pic was taken yesterday when I was finding that power steering leak, point still stands though) You can see the grime thats built up around it, I brake cleaned that all off when I put the drain plug back in. Gearbox oil looked ok, bit darker than the new stuff but otherwise fine. Not a lot came out though. All back together and no leaks, shifting feels a bit nicer. Wasnt the only thing I did tonight, I have something i've had for a while and finally decided to put them on. Have had to hold off for a bit as I'll need bigger bolts and much better drill bits to make it work here.

Had a mysterious power steering fluid leak: The pump fell off, compared to the mk1 we can see it pretty clearly. Managed to get it back in and its not leaking so far , Looks to have been replaced at one point so most likely just wasnt put in right. Saying that, I don't know when it was changed, and I'll have driven the car 20000 miles since I got it in the next week or so, most of that done this year alone. In other words its held up for quite a while and taken quite a lot of abuse before coming apart. Happy the pump and all is still ok and it just took a bit of persuading to go back on.

So I did take a pic of the other side and you can see just at the top of the pump there is scrapyard writing, atleast I think it is anyway. It says "fabia" on it, naturally enough.

I managed to get it popped back in. Think I got a bit more tension on that clip but time will tell if it holds. Looks to be scrapyard writing on the other side so must have been replaced at some point before I got it. So far its holding fluid and i've topped off the reservoir. If it holds it holds, if (most likely) it doesnt, i'll send it off to get fixed proper. Of all the things to go wrong its certainly not something I expected! I'd be inclined to say our roads helped pry it apart lol. Most likely though it was just not put in right when it was changed.

I believe I found my problem Looks like the bottom of the pump "unit" has come off. I wasnt sure so I took a nosy under my mk1 to see... Not sure how to reattach it to be honest. Guessing I just have to push it back up?

I'll throw my 2 cents in here. With my 312s they do have proper sized heat shields but they're off some form of passat and were made fit. I had a mechanic fit them and left off new 288mm heat shields, he wasnt happy to fit them so kept them aside and put ones he found would work on. Would have just kept the original heat shields but they were stone rotten so needed changing anyway. Still have the originals and the ones I bought sitting in a box of 288mm brake bits.

I'll keep that in mind thanks. I do have my mk1 and all of its power steering stuff is fine, if needs be could I nick a hose off it or would they be different? Worth mentioning my mk2 is a 2012 and my mk1 is a 2001.

Good evening everyone, I'm after coming out to my car to see a some power steering fluid on the floor. From what I can tell its dripping from the pump area itself not the rack thankfully. I'll be able to get a good look under it tomorrow but I want to know if there are any known trouble spots that these leak from? Power steering was working fine but I can see it going off on me tomorrow if the level drops too low.

Not much of an update but Went on a short spin to wicklow this evening and had this Mk1 vRS SE running alongside us over the M50. Thing was amazing to watch, shooting sooty flames out of it and went like stink. Had a hard time hearing eachother on the motorway though, might be prudent for me to get some sound deadening and have a go.

Small update, saw a set of Fabia 2 floor mats, brand new being given away so I asked for them and... A mere 150 odd mile trip to get them but it was worth it. The original mats are now in the mk1. Its not much on camera but I think its made the interior look a bit fresher. They even came with these mounts for all 4 mats. Basically just screw them into the carpet, dead easy to do. The front of my car had the standard clips but the rears never did so the mats would always end up getting scrunched up. Oddly the rear mats themselves had the holes for clips to go through but the car didn't. You should be able to make out the screw in mounts in this photo. I only needed to use 2 pairs of them for the rears so I have 2 more pairs I can use to secure the old mats properly into the mk1. Averaged just under 59mpg for the whole trip, not terrible. That brown down the sides is just from todays driving, by the time I got it home it was even worse So its getting a wash, even if it will be just as dirty come tomorrow.

Mk1 fabia has 2 reversing lights, mine does anyway. Mk2 only has the one reverse light.