Lofty

The only easy one to add is the middle rear headrest - by finding a backrest for sale with the headrest in. Theres no way of retro fitting it as the parts are no longer available from Skoda. I found a complete (but dirty) interior for sale for not much money, with the extra rear headrest, bought the lot, chucked the rest of the interior away as it was worthless and have the backrest to be valeted and fitted in my yellow one. The complete list of factory options for the Mk1 VRS are as follows - Note not all options were available from launch 1.) Metallic Paint ( Silver or Black) 2.) Electric Tilt and Slide Sunroof 3.) Xenon headlights (with headlamp washers in front bumper) 4.) Cruise Control 5.) ESP (Electronic stability programme) instead of ASR (Anti slip regulation - normal traction control) 6.) Passenger airbag deactivation switch 7.) Heated Front seats 8.) 6 disc CD changer (under passenger seat) 9.) Third rear headrest (middle) 10) Front Side seat airbags 11.) Sat Nav (came with Maxidot clock set and 6 cd changer and different Aerial base) 12.) Full factory leather (with red piping round rear of front seats) - these are the same as vRS SE seats but un-numbered and with the red piping instead of blue - Note these still had the normal black cloth trimmed door panels. This was a fairly late addition to the Fabia options list - probably 06 onwards. Now this is where I need Ross to confirm - the rear "sundym" tinted glass was never available as a factory option on the Mk1 - if you see a Mk1 with it, it's been retro fitted Dealer fit options were . 1.) Seat Surgeons full leather interior - this usually included the door cars and could be in a number of colour options 2.) Mudflaps - Front only. The dealer would refuse to cut the rear bumper to fit normal fabia rears 3.) Boot liner 4.) Headlight protectors 5.) Rear boot storage bags 6.) Under parcel shelf storage bag 7.) Roof bars There are prob things I've forgotton from my time selling these cars new - it was a long time ago now!!!

Bit of an update folks... I loaded the new map onto the ecu, a base map for a 2.0 PD with the bigger nozzles, repaired the broken wire to the fuel temp sensor and then went for a fire up. It ran but badly, wouldn't rev up, as soon as any revs were applied it died, showing up crank sensor fault. Replaced with new genuine crank sensor and while it'll now rev up, it wont idle, throwing up Glow plug flashing light and eml light. Still showing as crank sensor fault. Could it be another faulty sensor? Anyone got any ideas how to check the sensor in situ to see if it's duff? Or how to check for wiring breaks up to the sensor connections? I kept the original crank sensor just in case as well.

Love the colour coding Ross, Will look very much at home in the Cayenne bay.

I got distracted over the weekend just gone, ended up doing a full exterior and interior detail on this.. It's my dads Fabia 1.9 TDi 100PD Ambiente which he's had from new and only done 40k. He's approaching 80 so has reduced enthusiasm for scrabbling about polishing cars so I took pity on it and gave the old girl some love. It's a lovely old thing, drives perfectly and so smooth. Anyway, I have now had all the wheels back from Project Powder Coating in Brierley Hill and they are utterly flawless, glossy and smooth. And Yellow. Fitted back up with the new tyres, and back on the car. The cars still up on stands as it's easier to work on while we get it running. Speaking of running.... The running in map is now loaded up, just need to change a bit of fuel hose i'm not happy with and replace a suspect crank sensor with new genuine one and we should be good to fire..

So what's the plans Ross? Keeping it fairly low key or going for a chunk of power?

Well good news is the engine turns over freely, nothing has stuck or siezed in the 2years since the engine went back in. Only wound it over with a ratchet on the crank bolt but it’s a start. I have now got a running in base map from Faboka (John) which will allow me to at least get it started and run in. Boost pressure is standard VRS which is more than enough to bed everything in. Battery is on a long trickle charge, hopefully it’ll come back to life after 4yrs off the car. Tomorrow evening will see the battery reconnected, a test of all systems, then try and load the new map onto the ecu with my mpps cable- if I can remember how to do it?? I’ll try and bleed some fuel through up to the engine and check everything for leaks. I’m not going for the big start until my two mates who’ve helped me out so much are round, beer and pizza have been mentioned so all will be good I hope. I have fitted the spare wheel tonight, cleaned all the tools and that’s the boot finished.. More tomorrow

No worries, from memory it was about a week and about £150

Good progress with the loom Phil, I must admit I hate wiring jobs, so fair play to you!

Hey, I had a set of Fabia vRS projector bowls refurbished by a place in Birmingham called "Dual Metallising" https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjT8ZTT5Z_sAhXPX8AKHeSBBy0QgU8wAHoECAsQMA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dual-metallising.co.uk%2F&usg=AOvVaw03KRejezrjjpNmiAMtrCfZ You need to strip the headlights down to their component pieces and then take / send the bowls to them. I dealt with a lovely lady called Maz in the office. They do a lot of this work for new car manufacturers so they know their stuff. Be warned, it' not a cheap thing to have done.. One thing to be wary of, even when as good a new the Fabia MK1 Factory Xenon unit is no where near as bright as a modern day headlight, in fact even when the cars were new it was a marginal upgrade over the standard Halogens. Matt

The wheels are certainly dividing opinion but I’m of the thought that I’ll run with them for a year, then can always change the colour again... tonight has seen only some mild tinkering, I got all the boot plastics out of storage, built everything back up, cleaned all the boot latch with small detail brushes and Surfex HD. I then dug out a rare set of genuine Skoda accessory boot bags, and a new genuine Skoda boot liner. In readiness for the big start up, I’ve put 2x Jerry cans of Shell V-Power Diesel in the tank, connected all the fuel pump wiring back up (it’s been disconnected ever since I had the tank out to do the floor resto..) so we can connect the battery and cycle the fuel pump and check for leaks. I’m going to pull the glow plugs out next week and put some oil down onto the piston tops, let it sit for a while then crank the engine over from the bottom pulley. Reason for this is the engine has been sat in the car for over two years now, and hasn’t spun at all apart from the initial turning over by hand. Just want to make sure nothing is stuck or overly dry in the block. more soon

Look at this, two updates in two days, bit like the old times... Right, here we go. I've fancied doing something different with the wheels for a little while, as the car will be a very lightly used garage queen / show pony etc, I feel able to exercise some "bravery". I'm not 100% certain where this idea / inspiration has come from, in my mind it was old press pictures of the mid 90s Porsche 968 Clubsport in Yellow, and someone also pointed out a similar color scheme on the Felicia Fun.... so judge the following based on either of those two mental images LOL Yellow wheels. There - I've said it. For now (disclaimer alert) I have had only one wheel done, which happens to be the full size 17" spare wheel - same style as the rest of them so you'll get the idea.... I'm letting the idea settle at the moment before, or indeed IF I commit to having the rest of them done. It's a marmite move, but i'm certain I've not seen any UK Fabia's in Sprint Yellow with matching wheels. Let me know what you think? (might regret asking that ha ha ha) Matt (EDIT - I know the front needs lowering, that's next on the list)

Wooah - another 1.8T swap for the Elegance then Ross?

You have been a busy fella! What's this wider track rear beam you speak of. Tell me more....

Rejoice! i'm starting to get back onto the yellow car at last. The yellow vRS is fitted with the Bilstein B14 coilover kit which for those of you who have seen it, has the height adjusters on TOP of the rear spring, between the spring and the body. Ever since I fitted the kit, and despite the adjusters being wound all the way to their lowest setting, it looked a little high on the back. I ordered from TPS a pair of new rear spring rubbers, and set to work the other evening. I lowered the rear beam down and removed the Bilstein rear springs and height adjusters, replacing them with the new OE rubber mounts. Fitted like a glove and has now lowered the car by about 25mm. The springs are still held in tight between the rear beam and the body, so no danger of being too low. I still have a access to the Black vRS which I sold to a friend so I was able to ask him to measure up the height of the top of the rear arch from the ground, and now the yellow one is EXACTLY the same as that. That car was lowered on some cheap Stance + coilovers and the height was always bang on in my mind. No pics of this as the car is still in the garage so it's hard to get side on pics. I have however started mocking up the rear tailpipe on the exhaust. Its a brushed stainless 3" downswept tailpipe welded onto a 3" pipe which will be joined to the new back box (when made) with a stout V-Band clamp which will make cleaning the tailpipe easy off the car. Just need to sort the back box out once the car is running. I'm working through a list of small niggly jobs but hopefully we'll be at the point soon of turning the key. I do have a "marmite" update on the yellow one which i'll share with you soon. That will 100% divide opinon…. Matt

Finally got the floor finished, I used the garage floor epoxy resin from Resincoat, two thick coats has seen it transformed. So, no excuses to get back on with the yellow one..... he says hopefully. In other news the Black daily vRS Fabia is moving onto pastures new, i'll update that thread accordingly. Cheers Matt

In the style of Jim from Friday Night Dinner.... "Hello All....." It's been a while, nearly 12 months in fact since I gave a proper update, it's been a busy old year. We moved house mid November 2019, not far, less than 2 miles in fact but we have gone from renting to owning again after a few years. Needless to say, the house that was pretty much perfect, move straight in etc has occupied every single hour of spare time and money and the poor car has sat under cover in the new garage. Good news is the house is pretty much finished and the enforced COVID-19 lockdown period has allowed me to finish 5 years worth of house DIY in 6 months! Some of you may remember the slightly bigger garage at the new house, in fact it's a usable large tandem garage that has been significantly enhanced in the period we have been here. I have insulated the roof, plasterboarded, 7x new 6' Twin LED lights, cut and installed a large double glazed window where there was a plain wall, new composite door to the patio as well as grinding the whole concrete floor by hand before laying a screed of Ardex K301 concrete floor compound. Oh yeah and a new electric roller door. The plan was to build a lovely space to keep the car / cars and have a well lit, warm and dry place to do detailing & maintenance, so I have fitted the end of the garage out with units and worktop/tiles to finish it off. Here is how the garage looked to start with.. Fast forward many months of graft, DIY injuries, late nights, early mornings and we're nearly finished now... Coupled with the internals, we have had the front of the house changed, new driveway, fences, as well as rear decking - and I though cars could absorb money.... Upshot is, if anyone's still reading, is that i'll be back on the car soon, getting some more part from TPS the weekend so I've no excuse now to get stuck into it. Just need to Epoxy resin coat the garage floor first.... Thanks for reading! Matt

About time I started to document the changes that have happened to my Fabia vRS in the last few years.. Back in 2003 I was working for Skoda and had the chance to run the then new Mk1 Fabia vRS as my company car when they were launched. I had a fair few of them with various option on and fondly remember the punchy nature of the car, the frugal nature of the unstressed PD130 power train and the rarity on the roads. Fast forward 12 years and I'm now in a position to replace a rather crusty Peugeot 206 GTi 180 that I'd been using for high days and holidays with something different that could still see the occasional trackday, and be a willing B road car when required. At this point I'm still in the motor trade so the new toy would be a garage queen most of the time, and be a hobby for me to indulge in. I was quite specific in what I wanted in the Fabia, it had got to be Yellow, and more importantly it had to be the later (2006 onwards) brighter Sprint Yellow as I preferred that over the earlier more pastel like Lemon yellow. Downside was there were not many sold in the later brighter colour as the SE models were out at the time and they were easily more popular... Why Yellow? Why not, I drive very nice but very grown up cars every day so wanted something a bit in your face and obvious... odd for a 40 something bloke but hey ho.... I looked at a few utter turds in the process and finally stumbled across a vague badly photographed trade advert for one on the Autotrader "oop north". From the add I could see it had a sunroof, but there were no mentions of the Xenons, or heated seats that I could see in the pictures. One phone call later and myself and my car geek sidekick are heading north to pick it up. Quite a reasonable if old fashioned used car garage, when I got there I noticed it had in addition to the Electric Sunroof and Xenons, that it also had ESP and side airbags.... on the downside it had a swimming pool in the rear footwells and the rear brakes were about dead. Cue some hard bartering and I drove away, happy with my purchase.. Pics from the Autotrader advert.. The car was originally a company car for Hitachi Capital fleet and still had their rear number plate on, it had done 80k in the first four years of its life down south and had got a full Skoda FSH with it, One private owner and continued history from then until 90k. It was showing 99k when I bought it so was rapidly approaching it's 100k birthday. First pictures when I got it home.. The more eagle eyed amongst you will notice the rear door cards missing in the last pic, yes, first job on day one was to reseal the rear doors with plumbers gold and dry the rear carpets out. The car was at this point utterly and totally standard, due a 100k service, needing rear brakes, a couple of tyres and the wheels refurbing.. being a fussy old bugger means if its worth doing it's worth doing right. The next few weeks saw very little driving but an awful lot of driveway fettling. I drew up a list of items to replace upgrade in one go, sounds daunting but sometimes getting stuck in is the only way. The car would be used for trackdays and European holidays so braking and suspension upgrades would be necessary and why replace with standard if QUALITY performance parts could be utilised. No cheap upgrades here. So, suspension wise the following were purchased (all new.... ouch) Bilstein B8 Dampers front and rear Eibach 30mm Pro-Sport lowering Springs Genuine Drop Links Gen Top mounts and bearings Gen Bottom Ball joints Gen front damper dust bellows Gen rear top mounts Gen rear bump stops I sourced a good used Jabba RARB and sent that off for powdercoating. Braking wise the 312mm conversion was the most obvious upgrade so I sourced a set of low mileage Octavia mk1 VRS front calipers, got a new pair of genuine VW 312 front discs and a set of OMP road and sport pads which I have used for many years with good results. The rears were treated to a new pair of Genuine skoda green rear calipers, new VW 232mm rear discs and gen skoda pads. While the car was living its life on 4 axle stands the wheels were taken to City Powder coaters in Birmingham for a full refurb in Light Gunmetal, and a set of new 205/45/16 Hankook V12 Evo2 tyres fitted. I had also bought new genuine alloy centre caps and a complete set of wheel nut covers in black from TPS. End result after a few weekends of skinned knuckles and swearing.. My private number plate had also found its way on by this point. More to follow... mostly intense detailing and really getting into the car to get it looking its best.