PeteG

Ta Chris for the advice - luckily I'm not going in blindfolded, I've got one ex-police car on the drive already. Admittedly currently in pieces and needing work, as you say it does soak up the saving. The main thing is I like to have a car that isn't pristine (and one with a bit of history), so I'm not worried about it getting dinger when I park it up... and I don't feel too bad when I start drilling holes for handsfree kits and the like.

Ey up chaps and chapettes. Long time member, but I've been without a Skoda for about four years now. For the sake of cheapness, in the future I might fancy one of Cleveland Police's old unmarked Skodas - I know the newer black one, FTP, sold on Ebay about a month ago. I'm wondering if any of the others live on with Briskodians?

I'm pondering getting another Mk1 vRS, having sold mine a couple of years ago. Only difference is, Woman will be hoping to drive it this time round - last time she tried in mine she couldn't get on with the (admittedly tricky) clutch. Chiefly the 2mm between it being released and fully engaged. Is it something that can be adjusted to be more... relaxed? I haven't got one kicking about to have a nosy at...

Aye, clutch pedal had broken the welds, as is seemingly common - got the new pedal and couple of clips, but for reasons I shan't discuss on a public forum, I also now need a new master cylinder - is £42 still the rough going rate from TPS?

I like this talk of cheap fixes - I'll get the car recovered home today and have a nosey. Ta muchly everyone!

So. Driving to work this morning, about 600yds from the gate I'm slowing to turn left. Went to push the clutch down, and it just went "BANG" down - and stayed down there. Limped it to work, stuck in 3rd, and abandoned it in the yard. I've been out all day, and not had chance to look at it - any ideas what it might be? There was a small piece of plastic laid on the floor mat, about 1/2" by 1/2" square. Bloody thing.

Would have been ideal as well - ta anyway mate! Wouldn't fancy picking it up in this weather...

TPS, £190 + the dreaded, which is silly money - but given the weather, I don't fancy trying to get anywhere for a custom box (at the same price anyway) - and Ebay is a bit of a faff, and the shifts I'm on, I can't hang around bidding. So, that's wheel bearings x2, back brakes, back springs, exhaust, then I need to see if this fixes the emissions or not - it wasn't far off being right. If it's still too high, its VAGCOM time. Cheers all!

D'oh, CTS, of course. Should be OK - I got a new one six months back, since it was easier than changing the thermostat... which I then ended up changing anyway. Temp gauge on the dash is reading normal, if that points to the CTS being OK? Cheers mate.

Do you know, I had a look in the TPS catalogue, none listed, didn't think to ring and see if they could get hold of one... I'll give them a bell in the morning. Any ideas on price?

I need a new backbox on my 2001 vRS 1.8T - does anywhere do them off the shelf, or am I looking at £200 for a custom-made one? I want it as close to standard as possible mind...

vRS not listed sadly - had a good look through the book. CTS? Is there a way to diagnose further with VAGCOM or similar, rather than replacing parts willy nilly? I'll be looking at getting a back box first, then retrying the emissions test.

Right. After a couple of wheel bearings, and some brakes, and some springs, my Octavia is almost ready for MoT. Only thing is, it's failing now on emissions. The EML is on, with the code for the SAI solenoid - firstly, is this going to be affecting emissions for the MoT test, and secondly is it easy (and expensive) to fix or replace? There's also a leak around the backbox that isn't helping matters... where's the best place to get one? Even if I have to cut the existing one-piece pipe to fit the new back box, that's not a problem.

Is the bearing assembly the same as the Mk4 Golf?

Handily, my neighbour (of many years experience playing with cars) was about - he reckons also wheel bearing. Be getting it sorted tomorrow. Cheers chaps