Hi all,

i have had a felicia 1.3 for a road car for the past year and recently purchased an ex challenge rally car off a friend of mine.

Entering my first rally for some 20 years a week on saturday , and will be looking to change the engine to the 1.4 16v after this event so advice will be sort !

this is the car in question

Hey, how did the rally go?

Hey, how did the rally go?

Hi,

a bit of a disaster really, 1st stage was 8.4 miles and the front left wheel departed company after 7 !

seems the bolts lost there threads looking at the ones we found , so will be changing it to a stud conversion now .

Apart from that the car handled a dream, pulled well in first and second then struggled with the hills in 3rd.

Not sure wether to go to the 1.4 16v conversion or look to get more from this engine, struggling to find anywhere with info or parts to do this at the minute though

heres a video from the in car, bare in mind its my 1st time out for 20 years , and spinning after 3 miles was'nt in the plan !

Go for the 16v engine it completely transforms the car.. And it's cheap to do too rather than spending a small fortune tuning up the 1300 Engine

ah hard luck,

What harm... Next time...

Yeah, studs and nuts would be a proper way to go, hate those bolts myself

So for any type of rally event i guess it's a must to have a rollcage...

and i understand you would be annoyed when you spun the car, but trying to run over spectators afterwards was a bit OTT.

:-P

So for any type of rally event i guess it's a must to have a rollcage...

and i understand you would be annoyed when you spun the car, but trying to run over spectators afterwards was a bit OTT.

:-P

Yep roll cage , extinguishers and seats and harnesses are just the tip of the iceburg !

As for trying to run them over, i had no choice as it was the only place to turn...the fact that their evo was parked in amongst the trees tells me they were having a worse day than i was !!

go 16v it will be far cheaper and last longer than tuning the skoda 1.3 motor, my 1.3 was running around 108 bhp give or take but needed new shells every other event :wonder: oh and buy your self a decent suede covered steering wheel and some decent driving gloves it makes the world of differance to gripping the wheel after a few miles.

I fitted 14mm vw van studs to my front hubs as the cheapo ebay screw in stud adaptors sheared off on one event just like yours did, they required the drive flanges removing and drilling for the studs to press into and new bearings fitting tho.

The old pushrod engine is a good design and as the various rally teams who ran them back in the day will testify they can be made to perform and be reliable, but in all honesty for rallying you would be better going for a 1.4 16v and run it as standard. The pushrod 8v needs a fair bit doing to it to match the power and reliability that you'd get from the newer engine. I run a hillclimb and sprint Estelle with pushrod engine (now out to 1350cc) and it is fairly robust and putting out 100+bhp but it has cost lots of money and I wouldnt want to vouch for it over several hundred competetive miles. (oh I'm in Cumbria too :) )

If you do decide to but the 1.4 16v engine in I can supply you with the custom engine mounting needed, I need to make one for another member on here so it's better to do them in batches anyway.. I've also go a fuel injection loom here ready to go too with all the necessary mods to run the 16v engine, just match up the immo unit (30 second job with vagcom) then it's plug and play... So to speak.

Edit; I'm sure jimbo may be able to supply you with the vast majority of the other parts you would need for the conversion too.... Also for rallying you would be better off using the radiator and fans from the diesel model because it's bigger than the petrol engined one

thanks for the info fellas.

I do have an OMP suede wheel , but when fitted with the boss its far too far back to feel comfortable so i put the other one back on.

I will start collecting parts for the conversion shortly so will be in touch with you about the brackets and loom.

I am planning on doing the RAC in december so will keep as is until after that event ( up to 1300cc on this event )

Edited 7 September, 201114 yr by dave-sbs

i was joking about the running obver of spectators btw hehe.

i'm surprised there are still rollcages available new for a Felicia..

much be a complete ball ache making one up from scratch good enough to pass the inspection/regs of the event

i was looking into using my 190E 2.0 manual for rallying about a year ago, but the cage, and seats and helmet equipment and all the necessary to qualify where coming in at over grand before i even modified the car with studier suspension/wheels! so i decided it was a no go...

do you mind me asking how much it cost you to get your cage in the felly

Edited 7 September, 201114 yr by Sonner

My full weld in cage from custom cages was over £600 as a kit of parts, most of the cage manufactures will do you one for a felly but don't list them in the adverts usually, safety devices did a tidy bolt in one for around £500 I believe also OMP do I think.

It is possible to make your own if you stick to the correct size tubing and the drawings in the bluebook.

thanks for the info fellas.

I do have an OMP suede wheel , but when fitted with the boss its far too far back to feel comfortable so i put the other one back on.

I will start collecting parts for the conversion shortly so will be in touch with you about the brackets and loom.

I am planning on doing the RAC in december so will keep as is until after that event ( up to 1300cc on this event )

there are 2 different length steering columns fitted to the felicia too as the airbag one is shorter than the non airbag (could be the other way round not sure now)

Safety Devices will only make them in batches (I think 10) now... I have a weld in one from Custom Cages, it was about £500, but as Jim says for National stuff you could easily make your own, although I think it's best to have a decent one with everything tied into it - safer and makes the car handle way better.

Safety Devices will only make them in batches (I think 10) now... I have a weld in one from Custom Cages, it was about £500, but as Jim says for National stuff you could easily make your own, although I think it's best to have a decent one with everything tied into it - safer and makes the car handle way better.

I'm not sure that's true, Darren. I bought a new Safety Devices cage for my Felicia in 2009. It took a good few weeks to come, but I only ordered one.

Really? When I asked they said they were only doing them in batches (and you'd have to buy the entire batch), and someone else said the same (bloke who bought my shell off me in the end). Did seem mental...