Lofty

The only way to get factory fitted washers in the UK was to option the Xenon headlights from new - from memory about a £500 option, similar to the electric sunroof. They never fitted or offered the washers with the Halogen lamps. Even at dealer fit level as the bumpers themselves are very different internally (to support the washer mechanisms) There is one way of telling what your car would have come with as standard.. 1.) do you have a headlamp levelling control inside the car by the headlamp switch? Xenon cars do not. 2.) what size is the screenwash bottle under the bumper? Xenon cars have a much bigger bottle - 5 litres I wouldn't get too hung up on the factory xenons as even new their design is now very old and light output is only slightly better than good Halogens.

The boot liner i bought years ago from TPS, not hugely expensive from memory. Now no longer available I'm afraid. Same story with the boot storage bags, got them off a friend who had a vRS Fabia from new then broke it for spares, they'd been in his boot for 13 years and never been used, so thought they'd fit in just fine on mine, and continue not to be used...

ha ha - this reminds me of how i used to fill mine up on a trackday, keeps the funnel in the right place for sure for some jerry can action.

New engine looms are available still from TPS but they are circa £500, used ones obviously a lot cheaper but how reliable the used loom will be - who knows?

The vRS uses a large diameter air flow meter to other Fabia models, even the other 1.9 Tdi PD models so i suspect the Polo will be the same. The Polo GT TDI shares the same 130bhp engine so i'd "assume" that if the lid is from a GT 130 model it should fit. Next best thing would be a good used air box of which there are plenty for sale on the usual places.

You'd have thought the heritage fleet cars would be spot on? Rear mudflaps missing off the MK1 Octavia and the MK1 Fabia vRS rear badge is a mile out of place. Plus they need to have a word with their valeters... Joking apart, nice to see that Skoda even have a heritage fleet, 20 yrs ago that would have been laughed at.

Yeah i've got the relay from TPS, starting to remove the lower dash this evening to get it swapped over. Wish me luck Wino - i may need to pick yours and Ross's brains some more as we go on!

Well, she's proving to be a challenge for sure this one! I'm still hunting down a running problem which only manifests itself when the car is hot and up to normal operating temperature. So, she starts perfectly fine from cold, revs cleanly, no misfires or anything daft. Idles fine. Once it's been running for say 20 mins it'll cut out as though it's run out of fuel. Then refuses to restart. It tries to start but it's literally as though the tank is empty. So far we have replaced the following with new items. Lift pump in tank Tandem Pump Crank Sensor Cam Sensor Fuel Temp Sensor Coolant Temp Sensor Engine loom The injector loom was new, along with the DSSR injectors when the engine was put together. New injector Bosch seal kits fitted as well. Cam timing is spot on, torsion value flicks between 0.0 and -0.5 I'm now in the realms of changing the "109" relay under the dash as it would appear this could also be an issue? Struggling for motivation at the moment with it to be honest for obvious reasons. I've run VCDS and there are NO faults showing anywhere, nothing, nada, zip, zilch. Annoying as hell. Anyone have any ideas before i reach for the matches and a gallon of unleaded.......... Matt

Hey glad you've got it sorted, i forgot to mention that the Crank Sensor fixing bolt is an odd one, 9mm multi point socket, difficult to tell what they are as quite often they are all corroded up. The sensors themselves often take a fair bit of effort to get out as they are a tight fit, especially after 15 years or so!!!

Yeah that's the puppy, the door cards and seats in the red were a bold choice, especially back in the mid 2000's.

No the crank sensor fitting normally involves at least dropping the large (32mm from memory) bolt that goes through the BOTTOM of the oil cooler and manipulating it out of the way. Don't disconnect the water pipes and have something to catch the mug full of oil that will drop out. Budget for the lower two oil cooler seals as well to be on the safe side.

Key thing is with these cars is to leave them well alone if they are running ok. Keep it serviced and tidy and they will last years and years.

Hi, The bottom of the airboxes are i believe the same on vrs and other diesel models but the lids are 100% different. The MAF on the vrs is a larger diameter and the vrs is the only one with the ribbed / grooved lid as well, the others are flatter mouldings with part numbers all over them.

Tidy sunroof car looks like a good base.

I thought I was alone in never replacing them TBH. Unless they've been tightened to Ape strength and they're ruined, they go again, time after time. The sump material being alloy is softer than the washer so it tends to find it's own seal perfectly well.

Like a lot of MK1 Fabia trim parts nowadays, the badges are all NLA, best bet would be to keep an eye on eBay as sometimes folks offer them unused in the packet for sale still. Failing that you'll have to widen the search to eBay Europe and try to locate one there.

Anything is more hard wearing than the original Fabia vRS colour trim. Imagine something made from Moths, that would stand up better than the OE Fabia upholstery.

My ultimate favourite Fabia Mk1 interior was the LCV version, the Praktik. Based on the Europe only "junior" edition, it made do without glovebox or radio, just had storage pockets. Speaking of the Junior model, here she is! They even fitted the slightly larger diameter Octavia Mk1 4 spoke steering wheel as these 1.0 OHV models didn't have power steering either..

Another which we never got over here. Fabia Mk1 Tour de France edition. I "think" only available in Lemon Yellow and had rather fetching Bright Yellow (with a subtle black edge) seat belts. I tried for months to get TPS to find a set of belts for my Yellow vRS but alas they are discontinued.

On a roll now... LHD Market only, Fabia 100 Edition, came with vRS bumpers, chrome exhaust trim, and almost white / grey plush leather, like the UK model Mk1 Superb 100 Edition..

And what is not to love about Mystery (or was it Mystic?) Beige on the Elegance. Like falling over into a molten Caramac...

If you want weird and wonderful interior shots, i had this saved on my pc, i think it was a design study for the Fabia vRS, although I may be wrong on it. The exterior looks race blue to me so that dates it at 2006/7 I guess? The seats look like vRS/Bohemia/Sport items with F/L Ambient cloth centres but piping on the edges? Could even be white / silver leather edges? Gear knob was F/L Sport item, Knee bars i've not seen on any Skoda but the wheel and the clocks look great!

No worries, i'm trawling through memories from years ago TBH, 2004 feels like yesterday but is far from it!! I've been to bed a lot since then. Wino - I've no idea what the twin letters mean, sometimes the ETKA system makes complete sense, other times less so.

I think you may be surprised to hear that the fabric is not dyed, it's one of the optional colourways that the comfort model came with at the time, it was either the default dark grey outers with light grey inners - which came with black door panels, or the customers could choose blue or red colourways as well. At the time the majority of conservative buyers went with the default grey but we supplied a number with the red and blue trim. Not normally on a car in Admiral Blue metallic like this one i admit. We supplied a number of Corrida red comforts to a company with the red trim, and a number of private buyers had the blue trim with Laser blue exterior - looked ok in fairness. At the time it was easy to order these odd colour combos on the Skoda dealer ordering system, although the factory did tend to build the majority with the grey. I think the home made stitching on the seat of the car in question in the OP is a red herring, looks like the seat was falling apart to me.

Those wheels really suit the car, wise choice!