come on dave, get those pictures up

my inital plan was to use a felicia clutch and flywheel, but the spline on the gearbox input shaft is totally different so i've resorted to some trickery... the 1.6 felicia flywheel fits perfectly into the estelle gearbox bellhousing, also i removed the estelle starter motor, the estelle starter motor has a different tooth pitch for the flywheel ring-gear so it tried a felicia starter motor in the hole and it fits absolutely perfectly like it was designed for it, but it has to be fitted upside down with the solenoid at the bottom due to a clearance issue..

still waiting for a few bits to be laser cut atm

Edited 18 September, 201015 yr by TeflonTom

Why didnt you just remove the ring gear in the oven and marry the 2 together????

yes good point hawkeracing , i'm using a vw engine which has a 6 bolt offset stud pattern so the 4 bolt skud flywheel won't fit the crank. and although i do have a working estelle starter motor, in the event of it blowing up it will be far easier to source a felicia one in the future so i decided to do it that way

You can get a recon Estelle starter for £25 on Ebay....I have one and a spare (and half a dozen used ones too!)

Edit - Ive checked and theres no £25 ad......but it will be back...he had 15 to off load about 6 months ago!

Edited 19 September, 201015 yr by hawkeracing

Pictures up tomorrow been busy gardening in Tef's Garden today - arbeit with his pickup to move it to dump

Edited 20 September, 201015 yr by Czech Bra Size

The Pictures from this last weeks head scratching session in Tom's office.

Most important that the carbs sit in a position where the float chambers are level (ish)

Cam covers back on

A custom engine mount has to be made from the centre casting reaching down to the back crossmember, then the right hand engine mounting point on crossmember to be cut of to allow for the alternator to mount to the engine block in it's original position with a standard belt

Although just sitting the engine doesn't look that interesting or much progress - there's nothing like mocking it up for the first time to see how everything sits - we have to take it all back out when our friction plate turns up in next day of so, then need to get an alternator with brackets and a hand full of m10 bolts. The engine has done a scrapyard 70,000 which could be 370,000 realistically - but checking the paperwork looks like we got a genuine 37K Skoda.

Mark my paint guy came around and weighed it up - he really likes it and the ideas for paint and trim - but that's for future picts and feedback.

While Tom was busy swearing at the engine being awkward I bizzied myself doing the most important job of the day - putting an all important sticker on the back window.

Edited 20 September, 201015 yr by Czech Bra Size

just thought i'd add, this fitment of the engine in the above pics is using the standard 1.6 petrol felicia bellhousing adaptor plate so the engine leans over 30 degrees or so, i'm still waiting for the guys doing the laser cutting to get back to me with the custom adaptor plate and then we can go form there.. the engine should sit more or less vertical upright with than fitted instead of the felicia one which will make fitting the alternator and backets easier, not to mention fabricating the engine mounts as there's less awkward angles to deal with

also note that the thermostat housing and distributor have been removed at this stage due to clearance issues which will be solved in due course

Edited 21 September, 201015 yr by TeflonTom

Looks like its going to be a tidy fit. Does the engine have an iron block?!

Czech bra Size.....you should beable to find the older style grill no problem...advertise on the OC site....people were chucking them away not long ago to replace them with the single piece job. Ive binned at least one in the last year (oops!)

clutch plate arrived today, it fits ok but it is only 180mm instead of the 190mm one i wanted.

I don't know wheather it's iron? it could be made of kyrptonite as it is really hurting Tom's bad knee!

Tom is the mechanical whizz-kid, I'm just acessory, details and paint guy?

Get the alternator tomorrow maybe Tom - we will go down the scrapyard for a real good guys day out!

I just wondered weight wise how it compared to the old Skud unit.......if its much heavier it will make the handling a little tricky.

What power do they put out? The standard gearbox will start to break up at much beyond 100bhp if you give it stick.

Edited 21 September, 201015 yr by hawkeracing

yes it's a cast iron block, it's not very much heavier than the skoda unit, only 15kg or so.. and to be perfectly frank there aint much you can do to make this thing handle well unless you put the engine in front of the rear axle

yes it's a cast iron block, it's not very much heavier than the skoda unit, only 15kg or so.. and to be perfectly frank there aint much you can do to make this thing handle well unless you put the engine in front of the rear axle

Youve obviously been driving the wrong Estelles then! They handle beautifully when set up with decent suspension. You can sort the weight bias a bit by moving the fuel tank to the front (now would be a good time while youve got it in bits). Getting a semi trailing rear set up helps too....they let go a lot later and are easier to slide. You can also toe the front suspension out a little and even up the ride height front to rear.

The Skoda engine is super light (even lighter than the featherweight k-series that is the prefered option for a few current converions) so if the Polo engine is only 15kgs more then it should be fine.

Edited 21 September, 201015 yr by hawkeracing

i've never driven an estelle before, but i've driven rapids.. and they handle really badly full stop!! i think you've confused your parties a bit here tbh, going sideways and showboating isn't the same thing as going fast, sideways isn't the fastest way round a corner! i think this is beyond the scope of this thread though tbh

i've never driven an estelle before, but i've driven rapids.. and they handle really badly full stop!! i think you've confused your parties a bit here tbh, going sideways and showboating isn't the same thing as going fast, sideways isn't the fastest way round a corner! i think this is beyond the scope of this thread though tbh

I know a bit about going fast and not sliding - I'm a 3 times (former!) speed champion (Scottish and Northern x 2) and had a single seater up until last year. Rapids dont handle as well as saloons because they are less rigid but all can be made to handle nicely with the correct setting up. If youve driven a Rapid on cheap Czech tyres with worn bushes and standard dampers then it isnt going to go so well.

i'm not denying they can probably be imroved a lot with a few tweaks here and there, but if you compare it to something like a peugeot 205 there is absolutely no comparison handling wise, or an mx5 has awesome handling compared to this, i understand it's no comparing like for like.. i think this conversation is better saved for a different thread... this is aimed more at the technical processes of fitting a different engine in there..

I will find out how well a sorted (ish) Estelle lines up against a comparable 205 in a couple of weeks time at Kames sprint...assuming I can finish getting my injection mapped.

I wasnt intending to detract from the thread I was just asking about the weight of the engine to see how much extra weight you were adding to the rear of the car....as it is theres only really appears to be you, me and the owner reading it anyway!

It will be great to see it finished......just dont go mad on the power or you will need to find a different gearbox.

Might get an uprated campervan box? see what hapens - I think if the clutch goes quick that's proabably the sign we need it's all going wrong?

We went and collected the parts we had Laser cut from metal steel I think. These are all prototypes for the proper ones to be laser cut in a couple of weeks.

The bell-housing adapter plate to mount the engine upright rather than slanted. It does need a bit of tweaking before the final one is laser cut - we are glad we made prototypes.

A jig to weigh up gauge of Honda CBR 600 bike carbs

Lower engine mount plate - a plate we can weld a mount to in effect.

ebr valve blank plate for exhaust manifold

Carb Inlet manifold flange.

Does not look like a lot of progress - but at least we are moving in a forward direction to getting this engine installed in this Skoda. Back to the drawing board with the bell-housing adapter - to tweak it by 5 degrees to get engine to sit up straight in the bay. Will be amazing when it is in and a major milestone in this project.

Edited 15 October, 201015 yr by Czech Bra Size

dave, the revised drawing is completed

You going to make it out of card this time rather than hand over another 50 notes? print it full size then check it.

Tom are you sure you don't want to use the engine and any other bit from my Octavia RS - I am sure it is only going to be scraped!

don't scrap it, i'll take it off you and pull the engine out and rebuild it properly

Come on Tom lets get cracking!

Going to start up this project again from scratch - just scratching my head.

Does anyone know how much different the Skoda Estelle gearbox is to a VW Beetle/Camper gearbox?

Looking down the lines of a subaru lump instead of the Polo gti twincam?

Second question is. If the gearbox is the same as a VW Beetle/Camper does anyone know of a supplier of adapter plates. I see them once in a blue moon on ebay but for mega money