CONTINUED!

Changed the headlight bulbs but obv wont have a pic until its dark. Also ordered a set of Bridgestone door sill protectors (Silver with blue chequers)

Afew shots when i had finished (on the iphuuuun!)

Still need to sort that damn dent in the boot out! Other than that, im pleased with the progress so far

Edited 5 April, 201214 yr by keeno93

Lookin' good, mate!

Exhaust is gonna be **** when you lower the car though. Make sure its mounted higher, like you spoke of earlier, before you install the coilies. Gonna be a pain on speed bumps otherwise.

Yeah i can imagine how slow imma need to go when im out n about. I work at a hospital which has 2 speed bumps going around the staff parking area lol, so id experience it daily. Plus the seafront has at least 3 speed bumps, so if i ever pay a visit il need to go mega slow if im slammed! Defo looking forward to having it done now though Just gotta decide whats next. May leave doing the roof for a while as i see the window tints and/or vrs front bumper more important

Yeah, hospitals have this weird fascination with speed bumps. My sister (So we're not actually related. But she's the older sister I never had) is an OB/GYN nurse at Karolinska Uni. and I always drive her to and from work since its a two minute detour when I drive to school, or work for that matter. Anyway, they have these f*ucked up speed bumps that needs careful manoeuvring, even if you're driving a stock car... Throw in some snow and ice and even my Fabia gets stuck. You can forget driving anything that has the words Sport, RS or GTI in its model designation.

Yes, you guessed it correctly, the swedes have a speedbump fetish. And a speed trap fetish. And a roundabout fetish. And a...you get the point.

Agree with the guys on the exhaust, just fixed the dent for ya too easy peasy haha!

Oh and I tinted the rear window too

You are aware that the TAs are incredibly stiff? I have got them on the Polo and its as bouncy as hell! Wish I had wound mind down more as 25mm seems a lot less than I originally though.

Cheer Leon! That looks nuts

The exhaust is perfectly placed and the dent-less boot is much better haha. Only grumble is id want limo black tints. Going for the slammed ninja look.

I am not aware no Ross. These are my first set of coilovers so i bought blind. I'm not much of a fussy driver in all honesty, i will drive however haha. I got a £160 quote from the garage il be using, which i think is good? I know they will do a damn good job! I said to the guy i werent fussed about him setting the height up as id do it myself, just said to leave them stock. I will probs try out afew different heights. Whatever is safest will be it!

Headed down to my local scrappy today and picked up a few metal interior clips so i could fix the boot panel. Also got myself a Seat Cordoba front splitter! Good condition for £15 which im pleased with. May need shortening slighty, but not gonna be alot of work at all. Should be whacking it on tomorrow along with the door sills and 2 stickers which came in the post! Forgot to mention that i sprayed my grill yesterday! It's now in gloss black with a silver surround (Basically changed the chrome and badge part to black) Looks pretty tasty, need touching up where i over masked. I'll get some pics up !

EDIT: Forgot to mention that i've ordered a set of grommets to de-wiper the rear! Pretty sure i have a 32mm in the garage somewhere, if i can find it, i may get the wiper motor out tomorrow!

Edited 7 April, 201214 yr by keeno93

A few pics showing the new bulbs off. Really impressed with the 6LED bulbs i have on the rear number plate, £1.50 off ebay! Headlight bulbs aswell, very happy with!

Some pics of the grill. Came out really well, like i said though needs touching up in one of the corners and a small piece along the top and around the badge.

COMMENTS yO!

Dunno about the painted badge, mate. Looks kinda weird. But the full black grille looks darn good.

About the leds bulbs. Are the headlights led too or just the licence plate lightening? I've been thinking of getting led headlights myself. I know they're illegal an all (over here at least. dunno about the UK), but honestly, the coppers wouldn't notice if it was shoved up their ar$e. And they light up the road splendidly.

Also, what's the length on the licence plate bulbs? 41mm, right?

Edited 7 April, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Nice job with the grille looks very good

Cheers guys! I may carbon fibre wrap the badge, what'dya think?

The number plate LED's are 36mm (Straight swaps with the originals) off Ebaaay

The headlights are just Xenon bulbs They do the job just fine! LED headlights are illegal over here too i think !

Cheers guys! I may carbon fibre wrap the badge, what'dya think?

+1 Go for it!

The number plate LED's are 36mm (Straight swaps with the originals) off Ebaaay

The headlights are just Xenon bulbs They do the job just fine! LED headlights are illegal over here too i think !

Ah, I see. Ta, mate. Good thing I didn't buy the ones I was looking at. 36mm, got it.

Good evening guys!

Had quite a successful day on the car Managed to get the Cordoba splitter on plus i got a grommet on the wiper hole ! (25mm FYI) Also gave the Fab a clean, just a shampoo job but it always comes up very shiny and clean!

(Cleaned with the new bits on )

Coilovers will be on by Friday evening! Not sure whether they'll be set up but il try get a pic on here

The splitter is a bit unusual, but it gives the old bumper character. It looks good. Which model did it come from btw, MK1 or 2?

To be fair, the pics do it no justice! Think i need to start using my Kodak, quality would be far better!

As far as im aware its the first generation one. Because the 2nd generation has the mk2 facelift. I was after a splitter which stood out, alot of people use polo/clio and cupra splitters so i wanted something different.. Plus this one adds some 'low' to the front, it will no doubt scrape when the coilovers are on lol

I agree, you need to get the lighting better on some shots, I guess overcast doesnt help! but it's difficult to see the darker bits

Ahh I did think it was a little high haha! Was wondering if you had fitted springs yet or not :p

Leon

So guys!! Picked the Fabia up front work yesterday. Approaching it i could see that it had lost arch gap already which was very pleasing! When i got home i straight away got it jacked up n was fiddling with the front suspension. Made it a little lower than it was when i picked it up. But as the wheels are fairly wide, they are literally 1cm away from the adjustment rings on the coilovers. So ive ordered a set of 10mm wheel spacers which will give it enough room to drop as much as i want

When i get home today from work (around half 3) i will set to work on doing the rear! Gonna drop it as far as i can without causing damage. Then il do the same with the front once the spacers come. I havent got any decent pictures at the moment so i will just get some tonight if i do the rear n then obvisiously the overall look once the front is dropped some more.. Defo giving it a better stance now, makes the front look a little mean. Now deciding if i want to get a bonnet bra, i know alot of you wont be fans but as im going for the euro/dub look it will go well. Also got some sticker bomb sheets through, may do the petrol flap and front badge.

Watch your rear arch mate! :p I had spacers, and then I also had rubber rubbing when I was fully loaded!

that was only on a 40mm drop with TT comps!

ha ha, sounds good mate!

Really should get a pic of the Polo up just to show why dont dont seen low ones much - Its on 14s with a 25mm drop and its nearly tucking the rear wheels (well it was when I first got it but I cant find the pics I took!)

You do know that the 1cm to the lock rings won't get any more!

Spacers surly will push the rims out the arch

Unless your going for this trendy poke rubbish don't bother with spacers

This is a 25mm drop on TAs on the Polo (yes it has 14" wheels and yes the fuel tank was pretty much empty) compared to a stock (if slightly loaded up) variant. Like I said, they are a bit bouncy so hope your enjoying the ride so far!

I bought a Y-reg fabia 1.4mpi estate in silver too! Same price as well

am watching this thread with real interest - Picking up some ideas like :p

best of luck with your motor mate

Watch your rear arch mate! :p I had spacers, and then I also had rubber rubbing when I was fully loaded!

that was only on a 40mm drop with TT comps!

Got both the front and rear slammed had to cut some arch lining out when i fit the BBS'S anyway. Not having any problems as of yet

So just a little 'written' update. Got the coilovers all on there lowest as mentioned above. Not been having any scrapes or rubbing which im very happy with!

However... i do need some help with something. When i had the coilovers fitted, that was literally all i had done. No drop link, top mount or bushes changed! Literally since day one of having them done (Once id lowered the front) i started getting a sort of knocking/rubbing noise coming from the front. It was immediate where the noise was appearing (the top mounts) . so i whacked it in google and a massive amount of people had the same problem when moving to coilovers. Many coming back with the suggestions i mentioned (drop links, ARB bushes, top mounts/top mount bearings)

As it is, i am considering getting new top mounts, ARB Bushes (Just standard ones as im unsure on the state of the current ones) and as im alot lower than standard, have the drop links gained a lot of pressure, therefore not sitting appropriately?

If i could get feedback on my problem and maybe solutions id be massively grateful! I have a few days off coming up (Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue n Wed) so id like to try and order the bits n pieces and get them in the garage and done before im back at work!!!

* What size ARB Bushes will i need. On eurocarparts it comes up with 2 different diameters for my car; 20,8 or 16. This means literally nothing to me! lol

(According to someone on ebay, they have stated the 2000-2003 Fabia's have a diameter of 19.8mm)

* If I do indeed need shorter drop links, could someone suggest what to get. I think i remember seeing Mondeo ones being used throughout the forum?

Cheers!!!!!!!

EDIT: My brother just mentioned that when the shock was put back into place than the guy at the garage may have tightened the top mount bolts too much therefore crushing the bearings?

Edited 17 April, 201214 yr by keeno93

You do know that the 1cm to the lock rings won't get any more!

Spacers surly will push the rims out the arch

Unless your going for this trendy poke rubbish don't bother with spacers

I fitted the 1cm spacers to the front yesterday. The intention of moving the wheel away from the spring adjusters worked as i wanted and the difference is barely noticeable with no chance of touching the arch at all.

Anyway while i screw your heads for some help, here are afew pics of the car in its current state

10mm Spacers

Spaced yO!

Exhaust to floor ratio