I like mine ...

Cheers for the support,

I haven't baldy about the crank. When we get the bodywork complete I intend on askin the previous owner a list of the full spec of the engine he gave us to put in. I know there is some form of high lift cam in it but that's about the height of it.

An Ashley exhaust you say? Is that a good thing?

I would say it looks better than an Ashley...the standard Ashley incorporates the standard cast manifold and is very noisy but no one ever seems to beable to say its a massive tuning aid. Youve got a tubular manifold.....they arent available off the shelf in the UK (if you fancy selling that I would definitely buy it.....and send you my cast one in exchange.....becuase even the cast manifolds are rare and expensive now!)

Probably wont sell it. As we'll be looking all the power we can get. :lol:

:)This is fantastic to see! There aren't an awful lot of people out there restoring old Skodas, most people don't think they're worth bothering with unfortunately. Well done!

The original engine you removed is from a FWD Skoda, either Favorit or Felicia.

:)This is fantastic to see! There aren't an awful lot of people out there restoring old Skodas, most people don't think they're worth bothering with unfortunately. Well done!

The original engine you removed is from a FWD Skoda, either Favorit or Felicia.

We already have a few local business's interested in sponsoring us for the events, just for the fact it's a Skoda and something different and quite rare now. And they came to us. We haven't really considered or thought about sponsorship yet. Theres a fair bit to do untill it's ready for the road.

Any idea if the new engine is favorit or felicia or is it rapid? I think theres a picture there somewhere.... it's a bit blurry

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...a/S6300735.jpg

The bigest give away is the position of the dipstick. Rapid is next to the water pump, FWD is further along towards the middle of the crankcase.

Right more photos on the way. Went out for an hour on thurs afternoon. Took her down off the axel stands, rolled her outside, turned her round, and rolled her back in the shed. Shes now up on the passengers side. This gave us a chance to look at the fornt of the car which we hadn't been able to get a good look at in about 3 months. Before I left on thursday I removed the grille headlamps and indicators. We also removed the front valance and passengers side wing which came off as one piece. WD40 just wasn't enough to move those bolts. :lol:

So yesterday went out at 1.00 and worked solid til 8 in the evening. Got the wing and valance split. I love my trusty grinder. We now need a passengers wing as its in a bad way along the top lip. There was a fair bit of patch work to do to the passengers inner wing. Then the drivers headlamp mounting needed straightened and bent back into line (she was hit at the front). Then we had to refabricate the wee "ear" things that sit behind the indicators on both sides. So as it stands drivers side is complete and passengers side just needs two wee support brackets welded in. I also managed to straighten out the front valance.

So in one day we have the front end almost complete. I'd say another 10mins would have it sorted. Then its onto the passengers sill. Pictures to follow. About 30!!! :lol:

Here are the pictures.

Thought it would be easier to make an album you can view.

Pictures by EstelleRebuild - Photobucket

If you need a passenger side wing Ive got a new one in the garage. PM me.

Another update.

On tuesday night my brother joined us down to the shed to get stuck in. All the welding on the front end is complete. Next step was the passengers sill.

So it was marked out and cut away. Most of the rust has been cut out. The new section of the lower rear wheel arch has been fabricated, but we are struggling to remove the wheel so we haven't welded it on as yet. A good lot of front floor has been cut out and replaced. We have tried to avoid the jacking point area so far as the rot throught the door post above it is critical. We have had to weld in temporary support to keep the floor and door post attached, while we remove the honeycomb section.:eek:

So the to do list is as follows:

remove last of old honeycomb section

remove wheel and patch and rebuild rear arch

fabricate new shelves for front and rear

repair front arch

weld in new honeycomb section

weld on new sill

remove temporary support

remove rollcage

refabricate bottom of door post for both sides

Once all that is done the bodywork will be complete. And its engine time!!!

Keep the cage, it adds to the stiffness of the shell. In my early car we tagged the cage to the top of the pillars, which made the cars handling a bit more consistant. Believe me the shells arnt that torsionally stiff. Some people use to weld tubes inside the sills.

Keep the cage, it adds to the stiffness of the shell. In my early car we tagged the cage to the top of the pillars, which made the cars handling a bit more consistant. Believe me the shells arnt that torsionally stiff. Some people use to weld tubes inside the sills.

Oh the cage is only coming out to give us better access to repair the bottom of the door posts. Then its going back in.

One (relatively) common mod back in the day was to fit the sill stiffeners from the cabrio to the saloons. According to my build articles they just slot in through the rear arches (well, if you can find some or at least the length and section data).

Excellent project this, a cracking read.

Keep the updates coming!

Oh, and mucho respect for undertaking such a task!

One (relatively) common mod back in the day was to fit the sill stiffeners from the cabrio to the saloons. According to my build articles they just slot in through the rear arches (well, if you can find some or at least the length and section data).

This is what i am doing on my roadster, exept i am welding it in before i fit the new sills

Fully seam welded, so it wont bend when i remove the roof

On the rapid cabrio the, extra support goes on the inside of the honeycomb, on an Estelle it has to go on the outside. Been down the route of cutting holes in the wheelarch and finding it will only go half way in

Sure you're using the same section stiffeners? My info was based on actual rally car builds and how Rapid coupes were made into convertables (it was a UK conversion, not a factory build).

Yup, same section, exept mine is a bit thicker

Nice idea but only reading it now. We have the drivers side complete and the passengers side is slow as we have had a few set backs. Managed to pick up 8 minilight type rims for it and a bird bath spoiler as well as a full set of spax adjustables. Looking at the paintwork we have decided to respray the whole car white , but being on a budget it will be done with cans. And we might decide down the line to paint it the works rally colours.

Is it possible to get headlight bowls new for the estelle. we have plent of the glass units. But the passengers side bowl is split and the spring has broken.

I think Jorily does new headlamps at £30 the pair complete bowls and glass.

Bargain!!

Excellent attention to detail.

I'd love to be involved in project like that so if anybody needs help, just drop me a line!

PS: I'm in Dublin.

Dont paint it with cans they are crap! If you carnt afford 2 pack try a synthetic and ask around to find someone with spray equipment.