After looking at a Volvo S70 earlier that was sold by an Iraqi gentleman that couldn't pronounce the word "service", I had a sudden epiphany and drove roughly 150 kilometres for a 2000 Skoda Fabia Classic 1.4MPI. About 120000 miles on the meter and it set me back give or take 1200quid. (13000SEK) I'm the seventh owner. The first three all worked at the company that sold the car, the fifth worked with lorrys at Scania and the sixth is a bus mechanic for Storstockholms Lokaltrafk.

My parents were actually going to buy one of these a few years back. They finally settled on a Octavia. But the Fabia has a special place in my heart.

Since this is my daily driver I wont do anything too complicated until my Mercedes is finished since I need a car to drive to school and work in. Planned mods are listed below. I will however say, that I'll be putting a lot of effort into the engine because, lets be frank, even if its only 1200kg, the 68bhp engine does jack ****. This is the second injection engine I've done any serious work on so I'll learn as a go along. Besides, I work with electronics and body repair, not engines.

Well without further ado:

Modifications: [/] In progress, part purchased or ordered. [X] Finished.

[X] Fix unstable rpm

[X] Fix fluctuating interior and exterior lightening.

[X] Replace engine - air filter tube. Temporarily repaired (roadside repair). Possible reason for unstable rpm and lightening.

[/] Repair rear bumper

[/] Replace front left fender

[X] Mount lower grille (front bumper)

[X] Replace back left tail light

[ ] Remove rust on rear drum brakes

[X] New license plates

[X] Fix front left speaker

[X] Rewire stereo to fit replacement Panasonic. Pioneer.

[ ] Paint interior details

[ ] Paint rear wiper cover

[ ] Paint engine cover

[ ] Paint licence plate holder

[ ] Paint the black details on the bumpers

[ ] Paint door handles

[ ] Chrome interior details

[ ] Matte black hood, roof and boot.

[ ] Various engine mods (Goal 100bhp) Advice is appreciated.

[ ] Turbo (Possibly in the distant future)

[ ] Suspension and brakes from Fabia RS

[/] Leather seats from, well anything that fits. Fabia RS or Octavia probably. (Upholsterer contacted)

[ ] Rims (17 inch probably)

I've probably forgotten something...

Also, English is a second (well, actually fourth) language for me, so bear with me, will ya? I'm bound to bugger something up on occasion. And while I do have a job, I have to prioritize school. So my budget is pretty strained as it is.

And besides, I don't even know why I bother. My girlfriend, who's a major Skoda maniac, will steal this car the moment she gets home anyways, and I'll be stuck with her crappy Nissan Sentra that eats gearboxes (barely 7000miles / three gearboxes) if I'm lucky. If not, I'll be banished to a rusty future in a 400000 mile Volvo with right hand drive. Women... *sigh*

Cheers

Johnny "The Doc"

Edited 19 April, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Today's progress: Slim to none.

I got some parts but due to the rain, and my Merc cluttering the garage, I was unable to do anything aside from buying a black wonderbaum. I did however manage to get my diagnostic computer running and scan the ECU. To my surprise, the following error codes showed up. Well, you can never trust sellers...

16825 P0441 - EVAP Emission Contr.Sys.Incorrect Purge Flow

16500 P0116 - Engine Coolant Temp.Circ Range/Performance

16687 P0303 - Cyl.3 Misfire Detected

16514 P0130 - O2 Sensor Circ.,Bank1-Sensor1 Malfunction

65535 - I'm uncertain about this one. Something about the airbag.

What I don't get is that the misfire alone should make it run like crap. But I've driven new cars that ran worse. Now, the computer battery died before I could clear the DTC's but I have a feeling something is wrong here. It should run poorly as hell, but it doesn't'.

EDIT: SERVO WAS BUGGERED.

Edited 18 April, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Well, I haven't had the car a for a while now since its at the shop having its servo fixed. But I was at Bilsport Performance and Custom Motor Show (helluva name...) at Elmia in Jönköping today and I bought some stuff. I picked up two more parts from Din Bil (VAG Sweden) on my way home as well. Front bumper mid grille and the tube that goes between the air filter box and the engine. I don't think it has a name. VAG Swe described is as "Tube". Well, can't argue with that, I suppose.

2 X Hertz DCX165 speakers. These will either end up in the front doors or in the boot somewhere. Hopefully the door since the speaker in on the driver side is buggered. But I dunno if it'll even fit.

Pioneer MVH-1400UB. I already have a stereo but this one set me back 44 quid and it has all these lovely AUX, RCA and USB ports. It lacks an optical unit though. (CD's are so 90's anyway.)

Newest pic I have of the car btw. I fitted a new EU style licence plate in the front. The bolts that held up the rear plate more or less dissolved after I sprayed it with rust remover so I'm stuck with the old rear plates until I can drill out the bolts. Also, I removed the rear bumper and refitted it. The crack under the right rear lights is more or less invisible and it almost fits perfectly to the body on the right side. Even if I fix the crack, it wont fit very well since the clips are broken, so this is the best I could do without replacing it.

EDIT: On an interesting sidenote that might be worth mentioning, after nearly a year of nagging, I finally got to drive my girlfriend's father's 2010 BMW 750 (4.4l V8 Twin Turbo). Damn, what a car.... I nearly crapped myself the first time I let the ponies loose. He wouldn't let me use the sirens ( :( ) but the military plates were enough to scare everyone outta my way. I WANT ONE OF THOSE!

EDIT": Also, it turns out that my godmother's brother is an upholsterer. So I'm gonna see if he can fix me up with some nice comfy leather seats.

Edited 7 April, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Today's progress:

Assembled the front end. I now have all the grill components. Better yet, no rubbish extra lights in the front.

Fixed both front speakers and installed my new stereo. The radio is buggered due to the fact that I removed the signal booster. But that will be reinstalled once I get one that will actually fit. The new stereo is lightly longer than the old one and the wiring is a mess back there anyway. Also, why does it reset every time I start the car? Clock, settings, everything...

Installed my new K&N panel filter and I also bought parts to modify the intake system so it gets more cold air. I also replaced the plastic tube between the intake and the air filter box with the spare one I bought from VAG.

Also removed the old boot badge and put on the new one.

Best for last, I got the car back from the shop and apparently there are no spare servos here in Sweden. They had to order one from god knows where. So after two weeks I finally have the car back. Runs like a dream.

My gf got home yesterday and immediately claimed my car. I got a consolation prise though. I've been after one of these for a long time, but nobody on ebay wants to ship outside the UK. Unfortunately I managed to talk one seller into international shipping before I got this one, so now I have two... Oh well. Still love it.

PS: Pardon the background. My mam's taste in tablecloths is well, flowery...

Edited 18 April, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Did a service on the car today. Flushed the coolant system too. But I'd going to do it again next week when I change the plugs and the generator belt. As you can see from the second pic in the first post, you couldn't even see how much coolant it had because of all the rubbish. Probably gonna replace the coolant tank altogether, but I've got bigger issue atm.

I'm probably going to need a new oil plug too. This is what I saw once I removed it. Apparently the previous owner (or mechanic) lacked the tool to removed it and decided to force it off. Bugged the hell outta me until I found the magic skoda bolt, so I kinda understand. But still, wtf did he use? A bolt cutter?

I'm probably going to rip it apart and take a look at the cam chain, I have a bad feeling that I'll have to need to replace it. I've got 120k+ miles on the clock and quite frankly after what I've seen of this car, the previous owner was a bloody barbarian. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him.

As for my clutch, I reckon its going to die within the next 700-800 miles. Still works decently enough, but 4000+ rpm on first and second is outta the question. Its not slipping per-se, its more like it won't release once I take my foot off the pedal.

I'm getting mayo in the oil cap, nothing major however. Might have to replace the thermostat as well. No smoke and the temp is fine, though. Oh, well. We'll see.

looks like things are coming on nicely, its the few simple things that can make all the difference. good luck!

Agreed - looks like you're making progress

As a point - I made it a requirement to disconnect the feed back to the air intake from the rocker cover in order to ensure the throttle body doesn't get gunked up regularly with oil vapour from the engine - and instead vent the rocker cover to a catch can which works well.

As for mayo on the cap - if you're using the normal engine cover you'll get that as the cap on the engine cover doesn't sit completely flush. If you remove it, and have a spare cap underneath the cover - you're better off using that.

If you're having compression problems and misfiring - i'd suggest head gasket replacement. Just remember... The original torque figures for torquing the head down are probably lower than they should be. I torqued mine up to 50ft/lb's after replacing the gasket and it's ran fine ever since.

As for improving power... Better plugs, maybe a bit of porting of the intake/exhaust ports on the head and the manifolds to match them up... Improved pipe going to the airbox to make sure you're pulling in cool air... And a less restrictive exhaust should improve matters.

If you need any more info, let me know

Ta, guys!

Right, I ordered a new oil sump plug from VAG last week, but I haven't had time to replace it. The old one turns out to have originated from a citroen. Car's been standing in the lot for three day now since I've been in Latvia, so its been slowly dripping away. Had to fill it up with nearly 2 liters of oil so I could even drive the damn thing. Anyway, I drained the oil and replaced the plug. Its tighter than a nun's... On second thought, lets not go there.

Spent 50 quid on oil too since I no longer have access to the workshop and the barrels of engine oil. Blue dressed, doughnut eating creatures have taken up residence in and around the area. Time to call the exterminator, I reckon. The authorities decided to start abusing their powers in our neighbourhood. We have the whole bloody alphabet here. Hell, judging from how some of these lads are dressed, I reckon some of them don't even have abbreviations. So much for keeping things in the house. I never thought that the day would come where LoneAtom Racing would become a soap opera...

Word of advice, when men in suits, driving dark cars without licence plates decide to seize your property, just do as you're told.

Anyway, enough whining. Buffed up the engine a bit. Nothing major, but for ten minutes of work its pretty good. fasteneed the bolts on the sump as well i was leaking slightly, nothing major, it wasn't even dripping. But lets face it, I cant do anything halfway.

New skoda plug.

old citroen plug

engine

Agreed - looks like you're making progress As a point - I made it a requirement to disconnect the feed back to the air intake from the rocker cover in order to ensure the throttle body doesn't get gunked up regularly with oil vapour from the engine - and instead vent the rocker cover to a catch can which works well. As for mayo on the cap - if you're using the normal engine cover you'll get that as the cap on the engine cover doesn't sit completely flush. If you remove it, and have a spare cap underneath the cover - you're better off using that. If you're having compression problems and misfiring - i'd suggest head gasket replacement. Just remember... The original torque figures for torquing the head down are probably lower than they should be. I torqued mine up to 50ft/lb's after replacing the gasket and it's ran fine ever since. As for improving power... Better plugs, maybe a bit of porting of the intake/exhaust ports on the head and the manifolds to match them up... Improved pipe going to the airbox to make sure you're pulling in cool air... And a less restrictive exhaust should improve matters. If you need any more info, let me know

The compression/misfire issues turned out to be, well we call them "ghost faults", I dunno what the English word for it is. The servo was stirring up trouble, I get no DTC's now that its been replaced. She's purring like a kitten now. An angry kitten with digestion issues, but a kitten nonetheless.

I've been looking into a new exhaust for a while now. Its better to put the old exhaust out of its misery. It pretty rusty, so I have to replace it before the MOT in November anyway. Also, I fitted a K&N panel filter, but I'm probably going to replace it with some sort of cone filter since redesigning the cold air intake with the air filter box is a pain in the ass. Any ideas on a good filter?

Porting is a sound upgrade, but I lack the equipment for it, and we don't have it at the 'shop either. I'm probably going to drop the car off at the guys at Trendab, they ported my gf's bike and they did a great job too. Its pricey though. I'd rather just swap out the engine altogether, but with the current regulations, its a living hell. I already have three illegal cars and one bike, I'd rather not make my daily driver illegal as well.

As for better plugs, in my experience they do very little. If you use $hitty ones then yes, but so called high performance plugs do very little when you go from quality plugs. But all right, I'm willing to do anything when it comes to this car, any recommendations?

Also, I decided to do a Angry birds theme, in case anyone interested. As a die hard trekkie I've ordered a "live long and prosper" sticker as well, but the main theme will be AB.

EDIT: This project has now officially earned its name. I honestly didn't feel the seen since this isn't and official LAS project, but I was bullied into it. Also, I didn't want to use our normal naming system so I decided to "turn to a force stronger than myself," Star Trek.

Project Ihs'ree is a go.

Edited 6 May, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

You'll get more performance from getting a decent cold air feed to the K&N filter than sticking a cone that will pull in warm air from the engine bay. I know it's marginal, but it makes a difference and certainly makes my mpi feel much more lively.

a 100/200-cell cat (if you could get away with it) would improve matters as it would obviously remove the restriction on air flow from the engine to the exhaust. So if you are going to replace the exhaust - you may as well do the whole hog else it'd be wasted.

As for angry birds... I got a little red one to hang from the mirror. Great minds and all that

If you want bigger gains... You _could_ get yourself a camshaft and get it re-machined to make it more lairy...

...And afterwards if you really want as much as you'll get from it relatively standard you could get it mapped to take advantage of extra airflow/camshaft...

Depends how much you want to plug into it really.

I was going to use a bit of those bendable exhaust pipes and use it to route the cold air from the front to the filter, panel or cone. I have a race-cat I can use, 100 cell I believe, it failed the SBF MOT but it should be fine for road use. The engine is in good condition for 120+k miles so i doubt the exhaust testing will pose a problem, even with the race cat.

As for cams, apparently there's a company in the Czech republic that sells tuning cams for the MPI, I'll probably pick one up on my way down to Italy this summer.

The car is already, at least partially, mapped. We have the equipment necessary, but my programmer lacks the skill. And she's out of commission a for a few months now anyway. It doesn't run any worse than stock, so I guess that's good enough lol.

I dont mind sinking money into this thing. Despite my earlier comments, I grew pretty attached to this car. I don't want to, but I can get rid of my Audi if it proves necessary. I have no use for it anyway. It was fun, but ultimately it was merely an investment.

EDIT:

I also got myself a new key.

Edited 7 May, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Fitted the cold air intake today. Its not quite finished yet, it going to get wrapped in exhaust bandage and I'm going to alight it with the intake on the front. But i'm driving the car to school tomorrow and I didn't want to drive it without an air filter.

Just snapped this outside school. Isn't she a cutie?

How are you finding the new air feed?

Its incredible, mate. I knew it would make a difference, but not this much. Feels like I'm driving a different car.

Would be interesting to see how much power it develops? Obviously with it being 12years old + having fair few miles on the clock, you've probably replaced the horses that had gone missing plus given it some new ones! That air feed was obviously a good piece of cost effective DIY! Nice one, look forward to more updates

Well, according to my mechanic, the engine is in remarkable good condition for 120k+ miles. So I doubt the power loss was major issue. It was very well cared for mechanically, otherwise, not so much. But the engine is healthy as a horse. Everything else can easily be fixed.

As for the extra ponies, while the intake did help a lot, I reckon the remap, albeit only halfway done, helped a bit as well. I'm gonna settle for a new exhaust, a proper remap and coilies for now. I need this car as a daily driver after all. The porting, or possible BBZ transplant, will be done later.

Now to updates.

I was going to "unrust" (I have a way with words, don't I? ) the rear drums, but they ended up to far gone to save. Well, I'm sure it can be done, I just wasn't comfortable cutting corners on my brakes. I know how it feels to drive at 70+mph and realise that you have no brakes at all. Call me paranoid, but I really don't want to relive that experience. So I ordered to new drums. But I removed all the rust that I could and then painted them in white hammerite. It's not optimal, but it'll do until I get the new ones.

Before:

After:

From a distance. Not that bad, considering:

I also got my Fabia decals. I put a variation of this on my sister's Mini Cooper (Alright, so were not related, but she's sister I never had.) And it looked great. Obviously hers says Mini, instead of Fabia.

Just a quick shot, the car was sitting on jack stands. Also, the decal is on straight, the pic was taken from a dodgy angle.

I also inspected the suspension when I had the wheel off. The absorbers are knackered, and I think they decided to whack the bushings as well. The springs are practically new though. I think I'll have to swap to coilies sooner than I thought.

Over and out.

Edited 17 May, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Would be great to see some more about how you attached that new air intake mate! Probably gonna do this to mine at some point - would be good to hear some ideas from an someone who's done it before. Nice looking car btw

Definitely coming along

I've still to find the cost of bumping you over that throttle body...

Would be great to see some more about how you attached that new air intake mate! Probably gonna do this to mine at some point - would be good to hear some ideas from an someone who's done it before. Nice looking car btw

Harry - there are some guides on Brisky for just that.

It generally comprised for me of:

Buying neoprene ducting, and the same size spigot flange

marking a circle around where the old intake port is on the airbox

dremel old hole out

Fit spigot flange and secure into place (with either screws or tigerseal)

Fit pipe to new flange

Re-fit airbox

Fit other end of pipe to the opening in the front grill (I used a meccano screw of all things)

Harry - there are some guides on Brisky for just that.

It generally comprised for me of:

Buying neoprene ducting, and the same size spigot flange

marking a circle around where the old intake port is on the airbox

dremel old hole out

Fit spigot flange and secure into place (with either screws or tigerseal)

Fit pipe to new flange

Re-fit airbox

Fit other end of pipe to the opening in the front grill (I used a meccano screw of all things)

meccano screw FTW cheers for your help chris...will attempt to make a post of how it goes when i give it a shot :p

oh, where did you get the flange from to match the diameter of the ducting?

Here are some more pics from how I installed the ducting. Basically exactly how Mr. Coates described it, except I used something called "marine seal" when the hole ended up being slightly too big. That's the white gunk you see in the pics. Its normally used to seal the glass fibre bodies of speedboats and caravans.

Edited 18 May, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

That's a great help DaKKs, thanks mate

No problem, mate. Glad to help out.

I've been looking into exhausts since my custom one didn't turn out all that well. Simply put, I messed up. Anyway, I was going to buy a Simons exhaust for the vRS, but i recently saw an ad that a local company has started to sell Milltek. Now I've heard good and bad about them but I wanted to hear your opinions. The price is about the same. Now I've used Simons before and I know they make solid stuff, but Milltek might be a good alternative.

meccano screw FTW cheers for your help chris...will attempt to make a post of how it goes when i give it a shot :p

oh, where did you get the flange from to match the diameter of the ducting?

The bay of E. Just search for a 100mm spigot flange...

a la:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100mm-flanged-spigot-ducting-extractor-fan-hydroponics-ventilation-/180866676311?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a1c7e7657

No problem, mate. Glad to help out.

I've been looking into exhausts since my custom one didn't turn out all that well. Simply put, I messed up. Anyway, I was going to buy a Simons exhaust for the vRS, but i recently saw an ad that a local company has started to sell Milltek. Now I've heard good and bad about them but I wanted to hear your opinions. The price is about the same. Now I've used Simons before and I know they make solid stuff, but Milltek might be a good alternative.

Milltek stuff has always been a popular brand, can't go too far wrong either way I wouldn't have thought.

Depending how loud you want it - if you want it louder, go for non-resonated and vice versa.