fruitbat

HI Frederik, There are a few places you can buy a suitable manifold for the for the Jenvey's for the 1.6 engine, https://www.sp-el.cz/zavodni-sani-felicia-1-6-kitcar The Sp-EL ones are not cheap though, but do appear to be based on the Works Kit Car spec. These are cheaper, and offer a kit involving the TB's too: https://dbilas-shop.com/en/intake-tract/inlet-manifold/seat/1046/intake-manifold-for-vag-1-0-1-6-8v?c=10969 https://dbilas-shop.com/en/intake-tract/throttle-body-kit/racing-version/vag/174/mutli-throttle-intake-system-for-racing-vag/seat-1-0-1-6-8v?c=10930 I'd suggest you'd also really need a stand-alone ECU to make the best of a set of ITBs on that engine, and it would be worth changing the cam too if you're going to this much trouble. This place does a cheaper option for the AEE motor using Suzuki GSX-R throttle bodies. https://danstengineering.co.uk/VW-Polo-14-8v-ABU-APQ-AEX-AEE-Inlet-Manifold-to-Suit-Standard-Spaced-GSXR-Throttle-Bodies Cheers James

When I built the motor for my Felicia rally car, I sent the standard cam off to Kent cams and they reground it with a better profile. My motor was a 1400 8V from a Fabia (basically a long-stroke version of the 1300). It made 113bhp with head work and throttle bodies.

I know that Peter. I just wanted to flag my post, because I know that some folk don't visit the classified section as often and some of the parts I've got for sale will fit the RWD cars.

Hi, Hope this isn't breaking any forum rules, but just thought I would draw attention to my post in the classifieds section. Some Skoda tuning parts for sale, including Felicia kit car inlet manifold and throttle bodies, kit car body panels and lower ratio box with LSD. Cheers James

Hi, Hope this isn't breaking any forum rules, but just thought I would draw attention to my post in the classifieds section. Some Skoda tuning parts for sale, including Felicia kit car inlet manifold and a couple of sets of big valves for the OHV engine. cheers James

Love this - excellent work!

Speedpro in Czech dopolyurethane bushes for the Felicia. http://www.speedpro.eu/tvrde-silentbloky-predni-napravy-skoda-favoritfelicia-p-16112.html They also do them for the rear beam mounts: http://www.speedpro.eu/tvrde-silentbloky-zadni-napravyskoda-feliciafavorit-p-16113.html I have a set for my rally car, though I've not put them on yet. They also do what I suspect are the old uprated rubber bushes which were homologated for the Group N cars for the Skoda Challenge. The first of these are the front bush for the track control arm, and the second the rear bushes. (These are a ****** to get out of the bracket that bolts to the car.) http://www.speedpro.eu/tvrde-silentbloky-predniho-ramene–predni-ulozeniskoda-felicia-p-4970.html http://www.speedpro.eu/tvrde-silentbloky-predniho-ramene–zadni-ulozeniskoda-felicia-p-4969.html If you register on the site, put them in the basket and then check out, they'll email you with a price in Euros including shipping to the UK which you can pay by bank transfer. I've bought stuff from them a few times, and whilst delivery isn't fast, they've been very reliable. Cheers James

I couldn't run to a set of cams from new blanks (like the Shrick or similar ones) when I built my AFH engine, so I got the standard ones reground by Piper. http://www.pipercams.co.uk/pipercams/www/product.php?pid=POL16VBP270H With a worked head and bike throttle bodies the engine makes 160-odd BHP, which I was pretty pleased with. It's quite peaky though - I'm not sure I would describe it as having brought the power band down the rev range (though to be fair, I never drove it with a standard AFH engine, so my only comparison is the old 8v motor). cheers James

When are you installing the cage and getting it logbooked? ;-)

That should have been m10x1.25x65 by the way - typing error on my part!

Hi Ian, The bolt specification is on the page you linked. If you find your local bolt or fastener specialist shop and ask them for an M10x1.25x64 high tensile bolt that will work fine - it doesn't have to be from a Skoda dealer. Try yellow pages. I got my Skoda dealer to press out and replace the last wheel bearing that I changed, but again, pretty much any garage with a press will be able to do it for you. Regards James

Be careful fitting a new pump. I had a real difficulty getting mine to prime when I first rebuilt the engine. I used the old engine-builders' trick of priming the pump with vaseline, but it wasn't sucky enough to draw the oil from the sump. My advice would be to make sure you properly fill the pump with clean engine oil before you fit it to the car and indeed to turn it round by hand to really make sure there are no dry spots. In the end I ended up assembling the pickup and pump off the car, immersing the pickup in a cup of oil and turning it over on a battery-powered drill to make sure it was actually drawing, before re-fitting to the car. Complete nightmare.

Indeed. Even the numbers for sale on eBay are dwindling. This place looks to have a pretty comprehensive range: http://automeisner.cz/en/ But hasn't replied to my email, and appears to only accept Cash on Delivery if in Czech, or a bank transfer, but I can't see how to make the payment. I have a Czech colleague at work - I might ask her to give them a ring for me.

I'm putting a straight-cut, close-ratio gear kit in my felicia. The box I am using to house this is a bit old and of unknown provenance, so I'd like to refresh some of the other parts whilst it's being built up - bearings, synchro rings etc. But, it turns out that all of these parts, which were available from the dealer a couple of years ago, have now been discontinued. I know they are still available in Czech, because I can find Czech parts websites that list them, but so far I've not had any luck in getting a reply from one of these sites when I've emailed them to enquire about shipping to the UK. Can anyone recommend a UK-based contact for Skoda parts who might have some useful contacts in Czech and therefore be able to help out? cheers James

If it's a Lupo GTi engine, it should be 100bhp. I had a fairly highly tuned 1400 8v from a Fabia in my Felicia rally car - head, cam, tubular exhaust, TB's, kit car inlet manifold, dual injectors etc. It made 116bhp. My 16v 1400 AFH motor, with a similar spec (but single injectors) makes 161bhp.

I bet they are surprised - I rang them yesterday and ordered another one for my Felicia too!

Is that a solid or metallic colour? Looks to me more like this colour, which makes me wonder if someone has replaced the bumper at some point with a second hand one and painted it white to match the rest of your car.

Hi Tom, Did you get anywhere with your plans for the bottom mount? I think I'm suffering from a similar problem. I was going to replace the part with a rose-jointed link, but that will only work in controlling fore-aft movement - don't suppose you have the video you took of yours moving about do you? cheers James

Well, we finished! After a fairly hectic week beforehand to get things ready, we had a good day out on the Tour of Hamsterley to get to the finish. Stages were very slippery, and I was pretty rusty after 18 months without driving in a rally. We finished 20th out of the 23 finishers but sadly fourth (Ahem, last) in the up to 1400 class. I changed the thermostat for the lower temperature one and this resulted in her running a lot cooler - probably if anything too cool - compared to before. Inevitably what the event has revealed is that I really need to spend some money on a decent close ratio box. First is now too low, and there's a big chasm when I shift up into second. Probably would be OK on tarmac as I would have gathered some momentum, but on gravel it just spins its wheels in first and then bogs down when I shift up. Once going though it flies. Next event will probably be the RSAC Scottish rally on 287th/28th June in Dumfries. cheers James

Yup, mines a 1.6 then, not a diesel! Just ordered a diesel rad from my local motor factors. Should be here tomorrow. You're going to tell me that the fan and cowl are different too, aren't you? ;-)

That's definitely the one I've got then - it's the full width of the aperture.

Thanks Jim, I thought I had the biggest radiator possible - Vagcat implies that the 1.6 and 1.9 radiators are the same size (6U0121253A). But that's a good point about the fan cowling. I think I might take it off and do some judicious modification with the air hacksaw before the event... It will no doubt get worse with the sumpguard on if I dont!

That's good to know Tom, thanks. I found the part number for the stat that opens at 80-95 rather than 87-102, so hopefully that will help. Plumbed in the oil cooler tonight too.

I thought I had discovered some that would fit, but they didn't, so I just used new standard ones. Same with the flywheel bolts, but I had the flywheel dowelled to the crank too. The bottom end is balanced, but otherwise standard. I might have a go at doing the bottom end properly with forged rods and pistons and then upgrade to billet cams from Schrick or similar at some point in the future, but for now I think I'll just try to keep the revs to a reasonable level to try to preserve it best I can! I'd like to do the gearbox properly next - still have my eyes on Kalmar Motorsport's six speed dog kit. It runs a bit hotter then I'd like - not boiling over, but temp is around 95-97. I'm changing to a cooler thermostat but might need to look at an alloy radiator. Have you had any temperature issues with your 16v motors at all? What would you expect it to run at? cheers James

Thanks Tom, and thanks for all your advice (and the mount!) The pump just wasn't priming, and the trick of packing with vaseline had just made things worse - the poor thing had virtually given itself a hernia trying to create a vaccuum. I primed a spare pump off the car with an electric drill by pouring oil back down the outlet, and then installed that. It's running a little hotter than ideal (but not boiling over), so I'm going to try a cooler thermostat (there's one that opens at 80-95 rather than the standard 87-102).