DieselMonte

Not much, near due it's next service, already started pulling more off of the spare engine, relatives car popped an injector so used one off it and spare bolts seals I had for mine to do the job. Easy enough job, did have to get torque wrenches as the bolts are notorious for breaking. Got yet another car so this won't be used as much, still going to keep it but it's going to be seeing more downtime now. Is wanting some work done Heavily Considering putting the oe turbo off the spare engine onto this, mine is pretty poor. Play and knock in the steering too, knock was always present but the play seems a bit excessive lately, all joints good (you would hope Considering) most likely the rack or Intermediate shaft for the column, also finally will do Injector seals since I know now for sure how to do them properly. Can't really find anyone to properly map it on the 170 turbo I got years ago, as much as I'd like to. Also got yet another car which I've started a page for in the non skoda section.

Yeah non clearcoat, I meant. Was wrong. It's mazda A3F which a Base/Clear paint. So we'll see how it comes up

Not intending to do much with it other than drive it,although I won't do many miles on it really since it'll be split between the rest of the cars. Shortlist is: -Full valet, Polish, refit badges -Diff Oil -Fix foglamps -Fix intermittent airbag light (loose wire) -Fix cluster temp gauge. -Fix shifter rattle -Fix windows (stuck) -New Number plates. -Fix Oil leak Just general Clean up really, I'll drive it as is happily. In spite of it's shabby looks it is a very nice car, I probably won't do track days in it, but it may replace the monte as the car I use for my expeditions into the UK, atleast the monte can have a long overdue rest. I'm going to spend this week cleaning up my other cars, working on the vRSDI too, and tackle buffing this paint at the weekend.

So I've done it yet again, I've bought yet another car, This makes it my fourth road legal car (currently). Considering my Mk1, the whole reason I joined this website is back in bits, again, (and still not finished) it is a touch silly, but I said that about the justy, and another car I've not bothered to make a page for. So here we go, a friend had a mazda mx5 for ages, not really used, long story short I offered to buy it for not much IF he got it MOT'd, he did, so I bought it. 83000 odd miles, 10(!) Owners (including me), not quite a looker. It is a pretty well specced car from new. A 2001 but prefacelift, 1.8 with LSD and hardtop with heated rear screen, that alone is worth the majority of what I've bought it for. Has some wheels on it, rainsport 5s on the front and old Yokohama semi slicks on the rear. Coilovers on it, pretty decent mid range ones with damping adjustment. It's not a show car, but drives better than any car I own, simply cannot get over how tight it feels. I did have to go to Scotland to get it, but wasn't far from the ferry,so made a day out of it. This is my first RWD car, although I have driven and "enjoyed" some before. Drove really well and was very well setup, it is a touch low for the roads I drive but so far no problems. Big radiator in it, hot air intake etc but otherwise it's standard. Engine is sweet as could be, slight weeping from somewhere but perfect otherwise. Got on the ferry and all the way home no problem. Being first Sunday of the month, the local car show is on, so, not bothered to go out and get the justy I took this exactly as it was. Packed doesn't describe it, a good time as always, funny I never bother bringing my one working Skoda to it anymore. Some questionable stickers on the back glass, may leave them, probably won't. Took it back out to give it a good clean, wasn't washed in a long time, moss etc growing, spiders made the engine bay and cabin their home. I quite like the wheels, they aren't perfect but a bit of metal Polish should clean them well. Light is fairly sympathetic here, but it cleaned up pretty well in all, was parked outside so paint is oxidised. These are single stage AFAIK so it will come up decent. Probably the one time single stage is worth anything. Pulled apart the boot and cleaned it, gave the interior a mild cleaning to get the rough off it. Gave the headlamps a rough Polish with a rag, they are pretty poor, and the lenses are very dull. Pretty good pic of the oxidation here. Found a lot of documentation for it behind the passengers seat, Owners manual, service book etc, even a diary of sorts from a previous owner. AND the badges that are missing from it. Pic of the interior, originally had an OEM nardi airbag wheel, which I got with it. Currently has a Momo millennium on a quick release. Very 2000s, I love it. Even found some buttons on a bracket in the glovebox, they go on the steering wheel, look like something from an early fast and furious movie. Has an odd mismatch of gauges, oil temp sensor (coolant temp on the cluster is hot when at operating temp) and a genuine smiths volt meter from an MGB, also got a boost and oil temp gauge with it, useful for other projects. Has a short shifter also, very tight, very notchy but makes an odd rattle when driving which I need to fix. Nice pioneer head unit, speakers are surprisingly good and meant to be original ones to boot. It has had welding done a year or two ago so for MOT purposes it IS sound. Some cosmetic areas I'd like to fix are the rear arches, not catastrophic yet, but will be a cut and weld job If I wish to pour money into it.

Cars driving fine, needs clutch changed soon, didn't slip lately but it can and will, plus release bearings been making noise since I got it. In typical me fashion I've gotten yet another project, making a post for it now infact.

Not a whole pile with this one, not driven much being winter and all, had it out for local cars and coffees, and took it out to carlingford a few weeks ago. Driving just about perfect, Little stretch of motorway and it happily kept up with traffic. Started chugging slightly as I got home so pulled the fuel filters, again. Replaced them of course, going fine since.

Not much here, Replaced a worn bodged gearbox mount with another bodged gearbox mount. Tightened up a few things, greased the shifter tower, etc. Not a hard job to do and considering how cheap I can stiffen these up for I don't mind replacing them every so often. Also noticed some oil weeping around the outlet of the turbo, lo and behold the seal wasn't sealing very well. Guess boost pressure pushed it way out Repaired it with bits from the parts car, running all the better for it. Also dropped the engine and gearbox out of the parts car. Know it ran fine beforehand and although my engine refuses to die it's nice to have on hand. Been debating stripping and refreshing it or leaving well enough alone. It's there when I need it anyhow

Never ending pain. Timing belt and water pump done. Little drama here, water pump was poor so well I changed it, no clue when it was last changed so atleast I'll be starting from "now". Building all back up. I even took some time to paint up the tinware, it won't last but I tried. So last thing to do, just about was the oil pickup tube. Pulled out the lower gearbox bolts, soaked in oil, odd. Cracked the sump taking it off, typical. Also damaged the rear main seal, if it wasn't leaking before it is now, so needs replaced, which means box off... Again... On the bright side, This engine looks spotless, I'm about 80% sure it's either been refreshed or it's a much lower mileage unit than the vrs was (given the rust on the outside, I'm leaning towards being the original vrs lump was stripped and rebuilt at some point.). Especially how clean the head looked, this is quite the fresh engine atleast. Have a new pickup tube here, though it's not blocked, there is scuzz stuck into the corner so ultimately glad I'm replacing it. Considering I bought this with a blown turbo, it's well I had a look. Been amassing parts to do the rear main seal, and fix what I've broke. -New gearbox bolts from darkside. -New sump -RMS on the way -Rear main seal tool -Solid shifter bracket bushes -New metal coolant pipe on route (not related) -Magnetic sump bung (see blown turbo) Put one of those in the monte on its most recent service (November?) anyway, it's soon due for another so we'll see how much **** it's picked up. Clutch alignment tool I've to get, atleast I'll have it. All things considered, parts are silly cheap so I'm not too worried. And atleast I'm not paying for my own labor.

Well lovely frost hasnt done me any favours, but I stripped the front of the engine off, and since I am committed to burning money on this thing I've gone far deeper than I need to. Committed myself to prettying up the front of the block, enough rust on the front of it, you'd have swore it came out of the titanic. Wire wheeled it all off and soaked it in rust removal gel, which was a mistake. None of my tape would stick to mask it off, so I slathered it in hammerite. None of it will ""really"" be seen so I suppose it's not going to matter much. Had bought black VHT paint to do it initially. Have bought a lot of new parts for it. -Oil filter gaskets -Thermostat and flange -Oil pickup pipe -Timing belt and water pump kit -Tensioner and belt -Timing belt tool -Yet another oil and filter. -New set of glow plugs. Least the frost is over so I can put it back together (again)

So had to put it aside for a while due to ongoing work in the shed. But I now have functional pit lights, and better overhead lights. New injector loom, new cam sensor, no luck. Got a crank sensor, got the specific socket for the crank sensor and stripped. No access at all so front came off it yet again. Damaged the rad taking it off so gonna get a new one, plus oil filter housing had to come off so more gaskets to get. Lucky an ez out got it out easy. Wasn't much torque on the bolt even, threads looked fine just the head was rotten. I may just end up cleaning down the front of the block and painting it at this rate, plus fix any scabby wiring, since I'll be waiting for parts to come.

Trade rates are great. Used to get parts at near cost when I worked at a skoda dealer. Still get trade rates at motor factors at least. PSB is solid. I had them on the sdi and monte. Come to think of it the Rebuilt sdi subframe did basically no miles, and I swapped it out for a MK2 style now so that was a bit of a waste.

Where you getting the deflectors from? At least parts on these are dirt cheap Shocks shouldnt be too bad Console bushes im fairly certain meyle do the solid ones as a HD version

Already has a white line rarb and K brace. Not really much extra I want to remove since I use it on the road plenty. AC hasn't worked for a few years, have a compressor been meaning to fit. Had spare wheel and all out. Aside from rear seats which Im not bothered pulling in and out there's not a whole pile. Really it's lacking power which I have the solution for but the engine won't give up so hesitant to do that either.

Yeah think that was a common theme for most bar the regulars. Since then I've blown out my undertray. And I need it soon for test. Pulled it off, not much if any damage aside from it. Got a full service kit for 170k -Quantums finest bag in a box oil. -Oil Filter -Air Filter -Fuel Filter -Pollen filter -3 remaining glow plugs -Magnetic Sump Bung -Liqui Moly engine flush (on the cheap) Also got some injector seals and bolts from darkside, but didn't get doing them. New rocker cover injector gaskets too. Hoping to not see anything on this sump plug when I change oil next. Magnet on it is really strong so if there is anything in there I'm sure it will be caught. Remaining plugs looked fine, fair bit of gunk around the top of them so was careful to blow air around the wells to clear them, soaked the threads in penetrant too. New ones in so all should be working as intended coming into winter. Battery is weak again, want to get the biggest battery I can find to fit in the tray, as it does sit. Also came upon this photo on the RMS forum. Laughing it got up on 3 wheels. Full credit to the photographer. Want to do the injector seals soon. Brakes looking scruffy so need painting too. Never stops.

Was told something to the effect of not worrying so much about the apex and just following the shape of the corner, could have been tighter there surely. Used the section after it and the back straight to let cars pass. Didn't time myself or anything, was more so about going out and doing a track day.

Also got a new set of pilot sport 4's for cheap, so these will go onto my normal wheels soon enough.

Was careful to cool it down after each session, not leave the handbrake on etc. Opened the bonnet and let it idle between sessions to cool it as much as possible. Few people came over and had a look, Some very fast cars and drivers, did my best to keep out of the way and keep pace. Didn't want to leave a bad impression. Think I did fairly well for a first time out, the semi slicks were a big help, but otherwise it handled pretty decently for what it is. No calamities, kept a decent pace. Car held up very well all things considered. Was able to drive there, do a lot of laps I think I got roughly 60 laps in all said and done. 1.5 mile course, and get home. Tyres are fairly done for, ridiculous how good they felt. Nearly 171k on it now so it is due another full service. And test soon too.

Productive weekend. Got my semi slicks on some spare alloys. Tyres that have come off are in really good shape so can use them for the VRSdi Inners on my pilot sports are heavily worn as per usual. Booked a Trackday at Kirkistown for today so went up. Just shy of 2 hrs driving each way. Drove up on the semi slicks. Quite a few cars. Was pretty nervous for my first Trackday but it was absolutely fantastic. Everyone was extremely nice, fantastic atmosphere. Some really quick cars too. Brakes held up fairly well, paint melted on the calipers a bit, but they were due for a refresh anyhow. Track debris stuck to them like glue. Kirkistown is a very fast track that's very heavy on the front left tyre, I'd been warned before hand. Made the mistake of having tyre pressures too high, so wore the middle a fair bit. Was warned to not use the handbrake either so used a suicide jack as a wheel chock. Intercooler sprayer came in clutch. Even though it is November, and a mild 12°c, intake temps were wanting to stay around 50°. Used torque to monitor water temp and boost. Water temps were quite warm, didn't overheat but peaked at 108°, kept the heater on full and fan on to help. Boost seemed to pull back with high intake temps. Normally peaks at 22.5 psi, pulled back to 18 ish when it was heat soaked. Swapped the front wheels around to try balance wear. Running 215/45/17 Ar-1s, even though they were near the end of their life they held up really well, and they were free. Did get some minor rubbing however.

Replaced cylinder 1 glow plug as it was showing a light. Was well due. Came out easily considering it's most likely original. Might just replace the other 3, can't imagine they're far behind.

Hello all My lovely mk1 fabia I've reshelled a vrs into continues to drive me nuts. Was running driving etc, tidying up a few things over the weekend, went to start it and it started then died. Cranked and cranked and it will not fire unless I spray something flammable down it, and it will run for a second. I knew the Cam sensor was throwing codes so I changed it. Some abs memory codes (battery does be on and off) and a map sensor code (which I've replaced) inspected timing belt fearing the worst but it seems fine, popped off the valve cover and it is all surprisingly fresh. Since I had the cover off, and not knowing what else might cause it I put a new injector loom in, still didn't make any odds No codes showing for the engine, cranks strong so I'm at a loss. Any fuses I should check, relays etc? Cleaned all grounds to be sure and no difference there either. Pulled fuel lines past the filter, lift pump is squirting strong so it is getting fuel. Hoping there is a very obvious smoking gun I'm missing. Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you VID_20241015_210440081.mp4

So this has been torturing me as usual. Running driving then wouldn't. VCDS said cam sensor no signal, so prayed it was just that. New one sourced, fitted easily. Cleared the code fine but still will not start. Pulled fuel lines, lift pump is priming, it is getting fuel to the hard lines to the engine. Rev counter is showing revs, cranking well. Belt seems fine no teeth missing etc etc. Only hope is injector loom. Pulled off the valve cover for a look and... It all looks very fresh. The parts car had 216k on it, I don't think this head has near that in it. Cam and all looks fresh, lifters etc look healthy. Very nice surprise to see. But doesn't solve my problem. Map sensor code still there but was there when it was running so not too worried about it, yet.

Went to Melbourne last week. Was really busy all weekend Still slow but markedly faster than last time Found by pulling a fuse I could cheat the soft limiter and make it quicker off the jump. Fair spin to to Yorkshire and back, and getting searched at Holyhead is never fun nor surprising. Still got solid fuel economy. Persistent check engine light which is either the map sensor or a glow plug. Left with a lovely gift of 4 semi slicks in my size, which will hopefully be put to use before years end. Nearly at 170k so almost time for another full service, and test.

So got some odds and ends. RHR calipers handbrake mechanism failed, even though it's nearly a year old Otherwise worked fine but having half of an already meager handbrake is very annoying. Also fitted new handbrake cables at the same time. Gathered some bits to refresh the shifter New cable ends, new bits for the shifter box also. Can't post the before video but a vast improvement, still not amazing, but better than before. VID_20240922_202622009.mp4

Not much new Fitted and wired in the spotlamps Usual trick of tapping the high beam didn't really work. They work in such a way that when the lights are off the high beam gets 12 volts with ignition, and no power on dips, then power with main beams. So simple solution was to use a blank from the parts car, drill it to accept a switch and run it so I can decide to have spotlamps only or at night (when the dips are on) they will come on with the main beam. Not ideal but useable. Video of them. They do help give more light but the lights on this are shockingly good anyhow. Snagged the rear emblem off the parts car, it has little dowels to snap into the boot which mine doesn't have, if I use it I'll just get crafty with double sided tape. Front emblem on the grille is pretty rough also. Also fitted my metros which I'm undecided on. Number plate surround is a bit much I think.

So finally found a way to get it over the pit. NCT was due end of month, got a date this evening to get it tested, spent yesterday prepping it, cleaning some spots, tightening the handbrake etc. Cleaned it up nice outside too. They spent ages looking at it in the test which had me very worried however Clean sheet aside from the Vin. Problem there being it's so old it doesn't show the vin on their system, so I've a form to send off if I want to update that. Pre 93 so old logbook, so not computerised. But now tested to this time in 2026. Going fine too. Finally Still have the parts car there but nothing else really needed for mine. Yet Getting 40mpg to boot.