Lofty

Exactly the kind of internet videos that reaffirm the current vRS image. The yellow car that was crashed was a lovely, lovely thing but in the wrong hands they're an expensive wrecking ball. Hence i'm hopefully keeping mine long enough for that image to fade away and they'll probably then become rarities out there.

I probably speak for a fair few on here but the image of Mk1 Fabia's especially the vRS's isn't great at the moment. Almost a default cheap chav wagon round here. I'm looking forward to when they've got through this stage and there's only the nice ones left - look at the Citroen Saxo VTR/VTS - everywhere then gone over night. The only ones I see round here are either owned from new (old man spec and mint) or ragged to death covered in soot.

As far as I know, the Torsion value you are seeing is about what a PD is supposed to have so I suspect there are issues elsewhere. Always worth ruling the cam timing out especially if you have not long done a belt change.

I'd be up for a pair as well, just saying. 🙂

To retrofit a set of xenons back to original factory spec is very involved and probably only best attempted if you have a breaker car with them on - side by side - so you can get all the bits you'll need. You'd need the following Headlights (you have these) Factory ballasts Ballast bracket for drivers side (under rad support panel) Front Bumper with washer jets & jet covers 5 litre screenwash tank Pipework for washers from tank Xenon specific dash trim (round the headlight switch) as there is no internal levelling option Wiring loom to leveling sensor (on rear beam) Levelling sensor itself Heat proof shield for leveling sensor Technically speaking for them to appear "factory original" the washers will need to work for MOT purposes, unless you have a friendly tester. To refurbish original xenons will require patience and deep pockets. The last set i had re-metallised (the projector bowls burn off the original silver mirror coating) cost me about £160. You'll have to strip the lamps down completely and rebuild with new D2S bulbs etc. Downside is to original xenons, well frankly they are a bit crap, even when they were new they were not night and day better than the OE halogen units, they just looked funkier and were very "modern" in their day. Certainly they are nothing like modern headlights for output or reach. I'd suggest a retrofit of new projectors and bowls if they are reasonable, although i've never done it, they appear to give good results.

You've done a cracking job on that. The only correct way to repair as well. It'll look lovely when finished and painted. Any remedial work needed on the inside of the folded sill lip? I've found that they can hide nasties under the factory underseal especially when you remove it.

If it's a 56, then odds on it'll be Sprint Yellow, this being confirmed by having body colour door handles. The earlier Yellow was Lemon Yellow, a lighter more pastel shade of Yellow and this shade was a little more prone to paint fade. The Sprint Yellow - when you look at it from a refinishing / repainting perspective is a bit of a swine to match as it also fades a little, and there are two different shades of it when you talk to paint manufacturers. Park the two variants of Yellow Fabia's side by side and the difference is very noticable. As for rescuing the current paint finish, a regular machine polish should improve it, although if you dealing with different quality levels of previous paintwork then it still might come out as uniform as you hope. If you are in the realms of things needing painting i'd advise to get the whole side done as if its just a door that needs painting etc, as it'll be easier than trying to blend and fade the paint into existing.

They fit ever so well I find. Love mine.

HeavyMetalRich is correct, Skoda did not list rear mudflaps for the vRS as the lower bumper extension means they did not fit. You can of course persuade the standard mudflaps to fit but you'll need to trim off the bumper return lip in order for the flap to go over the lip. Kind of a one way street as once it's been cut off it'll never grow back! It helps to also soak the mudflaps in hot water for a bit first as well, as that makes them a bit more malleable.

Agree totally! Retro chic.

Having worked for dealer groups for many years you'd be surprised how wide of the mark your thoughts are. All dealers are chasing profits and upsell opportunities. They'd unfortunately see a 15 yr old car as a white flag for needing everything doing. Plus not many of the tech's there would have been around when the Fabia's were new. Sure thing, if a dealer stamp is that important then go for it, I've always trusted my own handywork over a tech chasing bonus and rushing to get jobs done. A trusted specialists stamp and invoices would carry much more weight with enthusiasts when it comes to selling time

No you'll just need to unplug the level sensor at the back and manually adjust the headlights in situ. The car will not have any headlamp levelling function as the xenon cars never had the thumbwheel with the 0/1/2/3 leveling selector on the dash whereas the halogen ones did. You may need to adjust the headlamp leveling motors in the headlights to max height and then bring them down with the allen key adjusters on the lamp itself, when you're on the MOT beam tester machine etc. The danger of leaving the headlamp leveling motors at the lowest height is that there might not be enough manual adjustment on the lamps to bring them up to level.

I suspect someone's been in there before as the drivers ballast should live in a bracket under the front panel, between the top of the radiator and the plastic surround supporting the rad. They can flicker if the ballast itself is breaking down, or the power to the ballast plug is not quite secure.

The rear mounted actuator that controls the self leveling sensor is probably toast at this point, and they're no longer available new from Skoda. The price alone when they were available was crazy expensive as well. If the sensor is goosed, it'll default the headlamp aim to the most downward position, and as you're supposed to use VCDS to set the headlamps in the middle of their range you'll not have any luck trying to adjust with the laptop either. You can manually set the headlamps, but only when you've had the adjuster out of the unit and manipulated it to it's max height setting, then you can adjust them using the allen key adjusters on the units. Be sure to unplug the adjusters and leave them unplugged. This will at least allow you to align them enough for MOT purposes, as to the light output from them, they are old units now, and even when new they were not "modern LED laser light" bright back then, barely any better than the halogen offerings, so you can invest in restoring the silvered bowls, but that's not cheap either. Cheapest bet (if you're not hung up on originality) is to replace them with new halogen units.

If it's got a factory fitted spoiler like the standard vRS ones then yes you can remove them, but it'll take some doing if you don't want to cause any damage. If it's the same tailgate as Ryans above then no what you're looking at is part of the tailgate pressing.

A genuine Milltek system & downpipe will be in three parts. The downpipe from turbo, through the flexi will end under the drivers feet area roughly. The mid section will go from there, and curve round the fuel tank, terminating just over the rear axle join, and the rear box will be just that, the silencer joining just above the rear beam. They never sold Milltek with a single piece from cat back to tailpipe - how would folks fit it at home? I suspect what's there isn't a Milltek, close up photos would help.

Classic models came with the factory option of the "Plus Pack" which was remote locking and (i believe) electric front windows. Comforts and above all came with remote locking as standard.

I had the ABS pump off mine as part of the resto, aside from the brake unions there are only a couple of bolts holding it to the bracket. As the brake unions are in the dry and warm they tend to come undone ok thankfully. Not sure if there are differences in the pump for ESP cars, just incase you get a choice of units??

Cracking picture that. Is this the 1.8t Fabia that Trevor built?

Have a look in my project thread Ryan at the seat base refurb, regarding the removal and install of the seat base foam. Looking at ETKA, the part number for the "sport seat" base foam (ie vRS / Sport / Bohemia) seats is 6Y0 881 375Q and there is only a single part number indicating that the foam should fit both sides so if you were to get a tidy used vRS passanger seat (worth pennies these days), you could then strip it and use the foam in your drivers seat, therefore ending up with two tidy seats??

Agree on the flush - not needed these days and liable to cause more harm than good. The few PD's i've stripped down to bare bones have all been clean inside, no sludge or build ups, even with big mileages on them.

Yes the Bohemia had the same seats as the Sport, just did without the red seat belts. The 1.9 PD100 Bohemia Estate was a useful thing back in the day, even came with the same steering wheel as the VRS but trimmed in smooth leather instead of the perforated.

Certain Sports came with factory Sundym tinder rear door glass/1/4 windows the same as the SE. That's where the rear door glass came from in mine.

Was that plate on Rob Larby's old SE John? Car looks great by the way.

The Fabia Sport seats are a nice touch Ryan, they look completely at home in there.