I'm so glad you came to your senses over this.. Spending that sort of money on a project is ludicrous unless you are minted or can do it all yourself for free.

Not sure I read your response correctly, but I'm not giving up on the idea.

I'm thinking to start with a well set up Fabia that has a lot of good parts on it rather than a basic classic model that'll take around £10k to get to the same standard as my VRS SE before the engine and 4x4 work. I get the same result, just cheaper.

But it means making serious changes to (possibly) the last registered mkI Fabia. :(

I guess you need to ask yourself what you really want to achieve from the 4x4 fabia

or to put it from another angle, what isn't the GTR doing for you ?

A Skoda that kills expensive sports cars and is fun to drive within legal speed limits.

The GT-R is too refined. At 160mph you can have a conversation with the passenger without raising your voice. It has been built to do a job, which it does very well. But it's only really fun when you are doing things you really shouldn't be doing.

And being a well known car that's very fast it's not discreet enough.

Everyone knows what it is. No surprise. People always expect you to win, so nobody ever wants to play.

I prefer something (much) more subtle. Hence my VRS SE looks standard.

A Skoda that kills expensive sports cars and is fun to drive within legal speed limits.

Any car that can serve up humble pie to an expensive sports car will be so competent at the NSL, it will be a tab boring TBH

My Octavia is already at this stage. Its very pleasant to drive at NSL, but its just easy relaxed cruising ~ 5th and 6th gear 'map-of-the-earth' on twisty roads, where I'd be 'racing-line' in 3rd and 4th in an Octavia vRS.

Your current plans for a 4x4 Fabia will result in a car of similar nature. You'll have a 'mini GTR'.

IMO to have fun at the NSL, you need a car of lesser ability - a rawer, simpler driving experience - no computer aided driving (eg computer controlled 4x4, computer controlled brakes, etc etc).

Mk.1 Golf fits this bill spot. Excellent chuck-able chassis, but FWD so not a huge amount of traction (enough to be fun, but not all conquering). With sub 200bhp, enough power to be fast, but not so much that the NSL flies past in the blink of an eye.

Everyone knows what it is. No surprise. People always expect you to win, so nobody ever wants to play.

and the down-side to a car that people expect to be 'slow', is that folks don't bother to see how fast you're going, and pull out in front at junctions, on the motorway and the like.

You're going to need a damn fine set of anchors & eyes outside the cockpit.

Not trying to put you off your idea, just food-for-thought

- Keep the SE, sell the GTR and build the Fabia 4x4 with the money ?

Oh I must have misinterpreted the last, I read it as you deciding it wasn't worth bothering. :wonder:

That's a tough call Richard,

I can see what your saying, starting with a very good base car might save money, but it would be ashame to "break" the SE as in future times when you are bored of the 4x4 and may sell, at least you would still have the SE.

Would it really save that much? as you already have the seats and a donor car and the classic. so what parts would you need to make a 4x4 SE in addition to what you already have?

You already store the SE for a large proportion of the year over winter.....how about the option of keeping the SE as a SORN car, put the Classic bits onto it in exchange (as you've already bought the car?) and have the option of converting it back again once the initial novelty of a 4x4 has worn off, at which point you'd get your SE back as it is now, and have a unique shell to sell on, and a load of Classic bits?

Failing that, if you do decide the 4x4 is definitely a keeper, sell on the SE bits (I would imagine that the engine would net you quite a bit on its own, plus things like the seats, etc) and raise some cash that way?

Would work out very expensive though, as I'm guessing you're not planning on doing much of the work yourself?

That's a tough call Richard,

Sure is. Not sure I can do it.

I guess at least if it ends up not as good as I planned I still have a nice Fabia to fall back on.

Would work out very expensive though, as I'm guessing you're not planning on doing much of the work yourself?

I will do what I can, and want to.

But I don't trust my welding enough to be going round a tack at 100mph+ knowing I did it and it's holding the rear wheels in place...

Plus the engine and management will have to be done by a tuner obviously as it has to be a big power conversion.

The more mundane stuff I can crack on with when the difficult stuff is done by the experts.

I am quite fortunate to have the workshop with a four post lift and all the usual stuff at work I can use.

Have you looked on Edition 38? There are a few 1.8T's and 2.0T's engines for sale.

Have you looked on Edition 38? There are a few 1.8T's and 2.0T's engines for sale.

Not yet.

As I am not rushing it now and will finish it over the winter the engine is not a major concern. If I go for a 1.8T or 2.0T (if I can't find that 2.5TFSI) I don't think I'll have a lot of difficultly finding one.

Thanks for the heads up on another place to look when I am ready though.

No worries - i'm always on those forums as I used to own a pimped Ibiza FR TDI and always on the look out for wheels etc

Funny enough i've just aquired some lightweight OZ alloys which would suit your new car

There was a 20vt 4x4 octy for spares on edition38 the other day,timing belt issues but only £350 for a full car with tax and mot

I started stripping the interior out of the 1.2 Classic yesterday... nice feeling.

Project is a GO!

I started stripping the interior out of the 1.2 Classic yesterday... nice feeling.

Project is a GO!

Sweet.

I started stripping the interior out of the 1.2 Classic yesterday... nice feeling.

Project is a GO!

No, that'll be on Monday week at Bedford when I'm having a look at your car Harry.

I started stripping the interior out of the 1.2 Classic yesterday... nice feeling.

Project is a GO!

Excellent news

You won't mind a straight swap when it's done then?

I started stripping the interior out of the 1.2 Classic yesterday... nice feeling.

Project is a GO!

Let the fun begin.

I'm certainly interested in following this project.

This would be a nice engine to put in it.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f051a0f65

However I have that slight feeling that your budget may not allow it...... well unless the right 7 numbers appear on a Saturday or Wednesday evening.

Are you sure it's a rallycross car? They normally have glass/perspex windscreens, not a metal mesh. Who raced that car, do you know?

To give you an idea see my post on the Ultimate Fabia: http://www.briskoda....ost__p__2370145

I'm certainly interested in following this project.

This would be a nice engine to put in it.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f051a0f65

However I have that slight feeling that your budget may not allow it...... well unless the right 7 numbers appear on a Saturday or Wednesday evening.

why on this planet would he put a 52k yb lump in lol

not the most reliable engine and for that money you could build 10 of them

why on this planet would he put a 52k yb lump in lol not the most reliable engine and for that money you could build 10 of them

I knew that there is no way he could afford it, unless the right lottery balls comes up .

However, 543 BHP and 920NM of Torque is very nice, especially built by Julian Godfrey who builds championship winning engines for a lot of British and European Rallycross teams. (The Current British and ERC champions uses his engine).

I knew that there is no way he could afford it, unless the right lottery balls comes up .

Or sells the Nissan.

But you can't downgrade a Skoda with a Ford engine

Are you sure it's a rallycross car? They normally have glass/perspex windscreens, not a metal mesh. Who raced that car, do you know?

You are looking at the top class rallycross cars that 2nd hand are still making £50k+, although there is a half built one with a lot of bits missing up for £30k.

This was in a lower class, more budget based cars. It has it's FIA approved log book, but is not a money no object machine.

Yes, I know who raced it as I bought it from the owner/driver. It was a chap in the Czech Republic.

If money was no object I'd just buy a WRC car and drive that!

But let's be sensible... you are talking the kind of money that buys a house then.

You can't race a house.

While you can't race a house, you can sleep in a car