DieselMonte

So I put them on this evening: They're a touch larger than the 17s, I think they look good with a chunky tyre on. Seems to be plenty of clearance in the wheel wells anyway so won't rub, hopefully. The 312s are a tight fit but not touching.

Yep 195/50 R16 tyres. I didn't know 205/45 was a hard size to come by but I don't doubt it. I think I got these rims with 195/45 tyres on them, guessing thats because thats the easiest size to get that would fit? Looked fine on the mk1 but when I put then on the mk2 a while ago they looked very rubber bandy. I cannot see these lasting for 3 winters, I'll be happy if I get this winter out of them . It got down to 2°c last saturday here, in the daytime its about 10°c but I do most of driving most in the morning and evenings so its due time to get them on I think.

Nights are getting to 2°c here and daytime is rarely breaking 10°c. I have a set of winters ready to go, daft question but should I be putting them on now or am I being too premature? Car sees a fair bit of driving day or night, and our local council only ever seems to salt the roads once or twice in April when its not needed. Maybe i'm answering my own question...

I reckon they'll be too big, I've got a set of 16" spyders in a 195/50 size for winters and they seem to be the absolute biggest you can fit under a fabia without rubbage. For reference your tyre size is on the left and my tyre size is on the right.

Could be left alone it doesnt effect anything in the slightest.

Pics of the tread as promised.

Full blown Winters, hence why they arent on the car just yet, I reckon they'll go on in a week or two though. I'll only be able to tell once they're on the car. Look like they'll be decent though.

Nothing fancy, Aplus A701 is the name of the tyre. 65 each fitted. No rim protectors to speak of, but plenty of sidewall. Treads on them certainly make them seem like they're fit for purpose, i'll grab a photo of the tread pattern next day. And I take back what I said a few hours ago, it would seem that the brace has made a difference after all, not by much but I was out in the car on some backroads and the car certainly felt a bit sharper turning in, and going through some S curves it certainly felt more planted. Should note it was a much tighter fit in my mk2 compared to my mk1 for whatever reason, had to employ both a scissor jack and a rubber mallet to wedge it into place.

See some confused faces so: https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/vw-polo-1-2-petrol-f-s-h-one-lady-owner/29560491 https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volkswagen-polo/29247162 https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volkswagen-golf-auto-2012/29565657 Not the same golf I'm referencing, that ads either been taken down or the car sold!

Saw a 2012 polo come up for sale for 9000 euros, 1.2 petrol and has a few marks on it. And its a northern reg so would cost maybe 1500-2000 euro to import. Saw a 2012 1.2l petrol golf match up for 9999 euro, you think englands bad look up irish cars for sale.

vRS alloys go well on any mk1. Jesus that is low miles. My mk1 has 196k miles on it and my mk2 has 106+k miles. At that point i'd be worrying more about stuff perishing from age rather than wearing out from mileage/use.

Fitted the rear brace last night, forgone the rear trims for now as I don't want to cut into the trim if i'm not keeping the brace. Managed to fit the rear bag hooks on their own, and thats one thing I don't want to remove as its so handy. Only thing I'd like to put back in now is the parcel shelf, not the end of the world though. Havent noticed much difference in the car except that the creaking from the back is indeed gone, result enough for me. Got tyres fitted today too, certainly looks the part and definately will be a better job for winter weather than the tyres on the car now.

If you're doing anything with it i'd make a project thread of your own, nice to be able to have a place to document everything. vRS wheel goes straight on, I have one in my mk1

Yeah they arent welded in place or anything of the sorts, only thing you actually replace on the car is the lower shock bolts which they give you longer ones. Like so: Yesterday when I was waiting for the brace to dry between coats I went and swapped out the springs for the ones I got with the coilovers, liked the springs I had but I think they were either just too long or too stiff for the shocks so changed them. But anyway, thats why I took the pic but it shows how the rarb bolts on. Only thing you "change" from the original suspension is the lower shock bolt, original ones too short to get the drop link on. A strut brace is a lot more permanent as it (in my mk2s case) will require a bit of cutting out of the rear trim to fit. Again doubt it will make much difference and I'm 100% sure it wont make as big of an improvement compared to a rarb. RARBs are the go to mod in on these cars for a reason, makes them twice the car to drive.

Could always take the whiteline off the car and put it onto your next car if its still a fabia/polo/ibiza, if not worst case you throw it up on facebook and get most of your money back.

A rarb will do way more for a car that doesnt have it. The whiteline on mine made a massive improvement to the car especially on old standard suspension, just wish it was painted a little bit better its only on since January and the paints flaking off it already. Would keep an eye on Whitelines website though for black friday deals and what not. Might be able to get one cheap. The rarb for a fabia is a BWR19Z iirc, same for both mk1 and mk2.

Next mod, rear strut brace. Arrived Saturday gone by but i've only gotten around to test fitting it and painting it this evening. Test fitted it in the mk1 first to see how it fits. Then a few coats of primer before being given 3 coats of Peugeot Cossack Grey, looks pretty good now. Next day i'll get the boot trims off and fit the brace in place. Doubt it'll make a world of difference, but if it stops a few of the creaks in the car i'll be happy. What has made a world of difference to my car atleast was adjusting the linkages. Nearly a week later and I still can't get over how much smoother it is changing gears now.

Definately reset the linkages first, its an easy job to do and makes a difference. This is the video I used when I did mine the other day. Probably have to remove the battery and airbox like I had to, not difficult just a bit time consuming.

Had a go at adjusting the linkages on the gearbox, very easy job. Hardest part was removing the airbox and battery to get to them. Greased some bits on top of the gearbox and sprayed ptfe spray on the ball socket in the car. Have to say for a few hours work its made this car SO much smoother changing gears, always took a while to get into fifth gear, and reverse could be a bit of a pain too. Now it feels almost buttery smooth getting into any gear, almost exactly what I was looking for. On the topic of gearbox stuff, short shifter never came, complete and utter ****show with customs had it sent back to england. Got my money back anyway which has paid for another thing that should hopefully be coming next week. Hopefully. But honestly now with everything greased up and aligned I'm glad It didnt come, no need for it now. I have a plan for the bushings on the cable ends. The ones on the car feel really soft and while I know some companies do make metal bushings to replace the ones on the car, I think I might be able to tighten them up a bit without spending much at all to do it. Next day i'm out I'll tear into the mk1 and see if the cable ends on it are the same as on the mk2 (they should be), I'll remove those, do a bit of work on them and swap them into this and see if it makes any difference. Can't hurt anyway. Also, found my vRS intake was rubbing against some coolant hoses. Not too bad yet so I simply put some of that heat tape over the rub spots as a layer of protection for the hoses. When I was so far in the car I checked the turbo out, feels like its in good shape still touch wood. When I did that turbo damper "mod" ages ago I cleaned out the intake hose and infront of the turbo of oil coming from the breather, and there was a fair bit of oily goop. Checked it today and there was barely any goop there to clean up. Fairly productive evening then.

My whitelines paints also flaking off and I only have mine on from the start of the year like yourself. Let me know how you get on with the H&R one and if you notice any difference. I think the H&R ones a thicker bar than the whiteline.

Looking well for its age, only thing I would do is get some mudguards. Even the universal moulded ones are fine. Imagine it might be a bit hard to get original mudguards for a mk1 these days. Otherwise I'd save up over winter and get some new shocks/springs in it, definately makes a big difference from worn out original stuff. You never know, might find yourself some low mileage shocks/springs on Facebook Marketplace and the likes. Worth a shout anyhow.

They look the part! hopefully you like them. I found the rubber "nubs" annoying cause of the shoes I wear. It can be a bit annoying to get them to sit right on the pedals, just takes a bit of time.

I could just put the passat seat from the other fabia in and put a resistor on the wiring for the airbag, probably what I will end up doing if I do it. I want to say its a 3 ohm resistor thats used to "remove" airbags without tripping the airbag light. I kept the foams and covers from the mk1 but they're quite bad, mouldy too. Thats another thing, make sure your rear door carrier seals actually seal before winter sets in. Mine were bad and it destroyed my car inside, albeit my car was sat for about a year outside when that happened.

Looking at the way the projector light works in the monte I'm not as much against using LEDs in it. Because its got a shutter that cuts the light down for the dip beam i'd say LEDs wouldnt be as bad in it, going to keep the osrams in mine anyhow.

Any upholsterers should be able to repair the foam on your seat, I was/am looking into it to repair the drivers seat base on my monte. Of course that means being left without a seat for a few days.