Current

2014 Skoda Octavia vRS TDI estate

1997 Skoda Felicia L 

1990 Skoda Rapid 135RiC

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

Past

2007 Skoda Octavia vRS tfsi hatch

1995 Skoda Felica LXi

 

 

 

2014 Skoda Octavia vRS TDi estate

 

Not much to say on this car yet as we have only recently ordered it. The Good Lady and I popped into Benfield Skoda just before Christmas and came away having ordered a new vRS. Practicability has persuaded us to go for a diesel this time and I hope it offers the mix of performance and economy that I am hoping for. Nothing more to say just yet, but this is what we ordered.

Octavia vRS 2.0TDi estate, manual

Black magic

Cruise Control, Heated Front Seats, Canton Sound System, Panaramic Sunroof, Spare Wheel, Colour Maxidot.

1997 Skoda Felicia 

 

 

I bought this from my old primary school teacher last May. I think we were persuaded most by the colour which we both absolutely love; Atlantic Green is the official colour. It is an L so very basic with manually operated doors and windows and no power steering. None of that bothers me particularly although The Good Lady does find it heavy at parking speeds, but the 54bhp engine can be a trifle slow. That said, it returns quite good MPG and costs us very little to run.

 

 

To date it has been up and down the country several times and across the water to Belgium with no fuss. The Good Lady uses it daily and winter has taken its a toll a bit with some rot appearing around the rear arch which I’ll hope to sort out in the spring. I’ve also got a Pacific interior to go in – should be a bright colour combination! – and I have a tow bar and sump guard to fit.

The adventures of PMOL continue! 

1990 Skoda Rapid 135 RiC

 

 

As the certificate from Kvasiny testifies, this is the last rear engined Skoda coupé produced; and the only one in silver to the best of my knowledge. It was ordered by Lord Strathcarron who owned the car from new, right through to his death in 2006. The whereabouts of the car then gets a bit sketchy but I understand it was left to his Groundskeeper and stored in a barn until it was destined for the scrapyard last March. Thankfully I was able to step in and rescue it.

 

 

 

 

 

A little recommissioning work was required but with new brakes, tyres and a thorough service she passed her MOT without worry. I used her quite a bit last summer; probably more than I ought to; which is testament to how nice these injection cars are to drive.

It is in the garage at the moment hiding from summer but I can’t deny the fact that the car needs a full body restoration so I had best get saving.

 

 

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

A project journal for my beloved Skoda Rapid. It's quite a long story behind this one and in the hope of keeping you interested, I'll just go over the history quickly.

I bought the car in December 2005. It had been in the same family from new and only covered 23,000 miles. However the engine was buggered so with the help of Daverapid we rebuilt and reshimmed the original 136. This was popped back into place and with a spot of welding on the sills it passed its MOT and was ready for me to use once I had passed my test.
Having passed my test I put the car into daily service. I used it every day and covered 7,000 miles before the bodywork really began to show signs of age. I left the car with Daverapid for a couple of months whilst I went to sea and came back to a bodily restored Rapid. In all both inner and outter sills were replaced along with both rear arches and front inner arches. Two new front wings and front panel were also fitted prior to a complete respray in the original ermine white. The results were stunning. Unfortunately it was still my only car and was used daily again from January through to July. Another period away had the car in storage until December 2009 when things started to go wrong. The head gasket blew and this eventually led to a the core plug going but not before a period of annoyingly unreliable times.
I then replaced the engine with a Felicia 136 and the gearbox as that failed too. A new radiator was fitted and the car was tarted up a little here and there. I n my wisdom I also fitted some lowering springs and then set off with the missus on a 5 week roadtrip around Europe. We covered 4,000 miles and visited France, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia & Poland. It was great fun.
Upon return to the UK the car was put into storage so that I could concentrate on my studies. Once completed I then went away to work and before you know it we're in October 2011. I've relocated to Wales and bought an Octavia vRS to keep it company. Somewhere in between the car has accumulated another engine and is almost ready to go once the clutch release bearing has been replaced.
So that's its story. I'm hoping now that I am in a position to have a bit more disposable income and don't require the vehicle daily that I can lavish some attention on the car and get it to a condition I would be proud of.

Some pictures from our time together:

As bought:


Engine rebuild:




Daily service:

RN153642 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


RN193241edit by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


RN273330 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr

Body restoration:

01122008569 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


01122008577 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


RN204625 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr

Further daily useage:

RN104810 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


RN074992 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr

At it's peak:

RN215269 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr



Further mechanical issues:






Roadtrip:










Moving to Wales:

2011-10-09 16.28.06 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr

And in Wales with my partner, dog & Octavia:

2011-10-10 10.28.46 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


RN139201 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr


RN139204 by Rob'll Pics, on Flickr
(No engine, hence stance).

And I've just bought my first ever clay bar which I will put to use to bring back the paintwork to its beautiful shine.

Thanks for reading.

Nice Selection.

Do like the Rapid 136.

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

Back in September 2012 I took this Rapid off the road as the MOT had expired and I'd just left my job. Whilst I found a new job I decided to touch up the sills and keep her in good order. I got a new job within months thankfully but the work on the Rapid took considerably longer and became a whole lot more in depth. Eventually I got her back on the road last week with the deadline being my wedding on Saturday (8th). The car still isn't finished but it is better order and once the wedding is out of the way I will continue and get the sills finished with a top coat and the underseal underneath. 

 

I'm afraid I haven't been very good at taking pictures and the progress has been awfully slow (its amazing what a deadline can do to your productivity!) but here are some pictures from along the way.

 

 

 

 

All back together and on the way to the MOT centre (ran out of petrol...)

 

  Long live "The Cow"

 

1990 Skoda Rapid 135 RiC

 

 

 

Nicely timed - as it's now appeared in pride of place on the Briskoda calendar. I think this is my favourite shot of the lot.

Yeah I noticed that when I swapped my calendar onto February. The funny thing about that shot is it was spur of the moment. I was driving home and thought, "blimey its a nice day." So I pulled over and grabbed the shot with my phone. 

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

So after running out of petrol I finally got to the MOT station. During the test the car stalled and wouldn't restart so I had to abort the MOT. Two days later, after chasing some faulty earths at the headlights I went back to the test centre. I didn't change anything in the engine as it appeared to work fine... ! Thankfully I got a pass as this was the last chance I had to get the car on the road before my wedding.

 

 

The car performed faultlessly on wedding duties despite the best effort of some of my guests... I don't know if this link will work, but see if it does:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152222443482859&set=vb.596162858&type=3

 

 

Following the wedding we had to get to Gatwick for our honeymoon and choose to take the Rapid; again despite my friend's best efforts! 

 

 

 

 

After an eventful early morning drive east through snow and rain we reached DaveRapid's house who had kindly agreed to look after the car whilst we were away. Dave adjusted the comical headlights that had been so badly in need of alignment and we collected the otherwise working Rapid upon our return. With me due back at work early the next morning we set off for Wales hoping to make good time and get a decent night in bed... after 40 miles the car began to stutter and loose power. Not wanting to loose time I pulled over, checked all the obvious things were in order and carried on. I managed almost another 100 miles by driving with very light throttle and below 3,000rpm as anything more would result in massive stuttering; my reckoning being that the closer we got to home the less time it would take for the AA to recover us! By the M6 Toll my bladder could take no more and I conceded defeat and pulled into the services for much needed relief. pulling out of the services, enjoying the new Yorkie Chocolate Buttons, onto the M6 Toll the old faithful gave her last breath and we coasted to a stop. Once again the AA came to our rescue and recovered us back to deepest Wales. 

 

 

I don't know what the fault is; the car has a very weak spark. I think a service is in order and investigation of the ignition system. Unfortunately I'm back at work again so the car will have to wait. The adventures of CSX continue! 

Good luck with that, Rob! So jealous of your fleet...

  I don't know anything about the coil lead falling off [in the facebook video]

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

I got the Rapid running again! It turns out that the distributor cap was very badly worn and wobbling about all over the place. With a new cap and rotor arm the car fired into life almost instantly. I then set about using it locally to find any other issues. With none becoming apparent and growing confidence in the car I took it to Carmarthen yesterday for a hospital appointment. 

As yesterday was a stunning day I decided to take the scenic route home and planned a route along minor roads which were, it has to be said, stunning. The Skoda agreed, and in wishing to spend more time taking in the view, it promptly stopped work. At the bottom of a hill, on a one-way lane. Oh dear. No sooner had I stopped hitting the car with a branch that a pick up truck came round the corner. In an attempt to clear the road I rolled the car down the hill and steered into the verge. The car stopped abruptly with a horrendous scraping noise. He was thankfully able to squeeze past the car; as did the following minibus, but I was left with a broken down car, stuck in a ditch on an unknown road and with no tools. Oh dear.

 

 

 

Thankfully the next chap to arrive at the impromptu road block was a farmer in a Defender who very kindly offered to tow me to the next village. The car was still unwilling to cooperate and I reckoned the fault lay with the points. By pure chance the farmer had dropped me outside the house of a guy with another Defender in the garage and a comprehensive supply of tools. I borrowed a socket set and screwdrivers and set to work. After an hour or so the sun was going down and I was getting cold (shorts and no jumper), my phone battery was close to dying and the car remained steadfast in it's opposition to fire. 

Seeing no progress I admitted defeat and called the AA. I got the call out logged just in time for my phone battery to die. Rather than sit and wait for the AA I decided to continue to fiddle with the car and 40 minutes later I got it to fire up! It was then a simple matter of returning the tools to the local resident and asking to borrow his mobile to call the AA and cancel the call out. I then hopped in the car and hoped for the best. 

It must be said the car was running terribly with a flat out speed of 60mph but it did get me the 25 miles home! Woo. Needless to say, the car is booked into the local garage tomorrow for a full ignition timing check-up. 

Never a dull day! 

wow, you are dedicated to the old Rapids

 

What uniform were you wearing on your big day?

Did Skoda UK come up with the superb on your big day?

Grat thread. A lovely selection of cars too.

Reading about the rapid breaking down and you fixing it again is pretty funny in all honesty. It makes a really interesting read. Normally I would scan through this amount of writing on a project thread but I was pulled in from the off with the rapid. I really do hope you get her working again thou. And I am looking forward to your next updates

Brilliant thread and nice collection.

wow, you are dedicated to the old Rapids

 

What uniform were you wearing on your big day?

Did Skoda UK come up with the superb on your big day?

 

Dedicated is one way to put it - long suffering and stupid are another two commonly used adjectives. 

The uniform is merchant navy. I'm a Second Officer. 

Skoda UK did come good with the Superb request. Full details here. 

 

080214-1 Skoda Wedding by skodanorman, on Flickr

 

Grat thread. A lovely selection of cars too.

Reading about the rapid breaking down and you fixing it again is pretty funny in all honesty. It makes a really interesting read. Normally I would scan through this amount of writing on a project thread but I was pulled in from the off with the rapid. I really do hope you get her working again thou. And I am looking forward to your next updates

 

Thanks for your kind words. I must admit I generally can find the funny side which does help when trying to run one of these cars. We'll get it sorted, I always do eventually, but the road to success isn't necessarily straight forward! Lets see what the trip to the garage tomorrow brings. 

1997 Skoda Felicia 1.3

 

It is actually quite hard to write much about this car simply because it works very hard and always without fault. Rather than try to put that workhorse behaviour into words I have instead documented a week in the life of PMOL. 

 

Saturday

Visit my gran for the weekend (215 miles away). Collect a new fence section. 

 

 

 

Sunday

Returning home after the weekend away.

 

 

 

Monday - Friday

Used daily for work, social trips, shopping, etc. And a trip to the beach. 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 

Parts hauling and helping a friend work on his car. 

 

 

 

 

I haven't kept an exact record but in the past week we've covered around 700 miles and that isn't unusual. Meanwhile the car returns around 37mpg on the country lanes round here and costs us very little to maintain and keep. And you can park it anywhere without fear of theft or damage. A great little car! 

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

The Rapid is now at home after an extended stay with a local garage. All is not as it should be though. Originally I booked it in for them to check the tappets, points and timing. Having overrun by a few days I eventually went to collect the car only to find that the running problem was now much worse. I returned the car and asked them to sort it out. The car stayed with the garage for a further 3 weeks and only moved when I told them on Friday that I would be in on Monday to collect it. 
I went to collect the car today and was told that the running fault was due to one of the spark plugs being faulty. They hadn't changed the spark plugs for me though so I limped the car home after stumping up £50 for the privilege of them doing very little in such a long period of time. Needless to say, I won't be taking any cars to that garage again. 

Undeterred, I did what I should have done in the first place and investigated the problem myself. Upon removing number four spark plug I was greeted by this:

 

 

Well that would certainly explain why it wasn't providing a spark. I stuck a spare plug I had lying around in and borrowed a HT lead from the silver Rapid and the car ran rather nicely. I even managed to pick the wife up from work in it today without a hitch (aside from running out of petrol... again!). Here she is up on the moors during a shake down run.

 

 

Plenty more to do but currently I need to find the spark - no pun intended- again with this car. Once I've driven it a bit I'm sure it'll come flooding back but right now it does seem like a whole lot more hassle than it is really worth. 

1997 Skoda Felicia L 

 

With the dark days of winter almost behind us it is nearly the time to assess what damage daily use has done to the Felicia. Certainly the O/S/R arch has developed severe acne with another small outbreak on the front wing. Gladly nothing is too serious so I shall tackle these problem areas once the weather has finally put its Summer Hat on. 

When we bought this car it had no stereo and whilst the tappets do provide some degree of musical accompaniment the Good Lady has been asking for some time now for some ICE. Initially I simply slipped in a headunit I had lying around but then discovered that the wiring was quite badly messed around with and nothing seemed to work. This simple task has turned into quite a feat and I've had to wire in a 12v constant feed and a switched feed. I also had to replace the non-existent speakers in the front doors and wire up in the electric windscreen mounted aerial as the proper one is missing on this car. 

I then got a bit carried away and fitted a subwoofer in the boot (on a reinforced boot floor) and two 6x9s in the rear parcel shelf. 

 

Alpine headunit; £5

6x9s: Free

Subwoofer: £30

Door Speakers: £25 (the only new part!) 

 

It isn't without a hitch though. Firstly the rear parcel shelf doesn't look very good and the free 6x9s, whilst undeniably good value, are past their best. My head is now filled with ideas of custom shelves with hidden speakers and fancy trickery so we'll see what comes of that. More pressingly though is the stereo's insistence that we listen to music quietly. No matter what you do, any attempt to turn the dial above volume 10 will result in the headunit turning off, and then back on again. Mildly amusing at first it soon becomes a major source of annoyance and I am now led to believe the fault is in the headunit. Both the earth and power feeds are good and reliable and the fault only occurs once the volume dial is turned above 10. Another budget stereo is in order to test this theory. 

 

At the in-law's at the weekend. Part of a 600 mile Skodaful weekend! 

 

Elsewhere I have investigated why the the engine runs cold. Turns out that numpty here had forgotten to remove part of the old broken thermostat when I changed it last summer. I would love to explain that to be the root cause but actually, even with a new thermostat (kindly supplied by Skoparts International) the car still runs cold. A change of sensor is in order now to see if that makes a jot of difference. 

 

Thermostat and a half

 

 

And lastly, I've secured some Favorit alloys from a Skoda Owners' Club member. Despite being intended for the earlier model I think the suit the Felicia really well and for no logical reason at all they make the car feel much quicker. Of course it isn't and it remains a big bugbear that cheap to run though it may be, this is a dreadfully slow car at times. 

 

The old style, new look wheels.

 

Moody at night - new LED rear numberplate lights. 

1997 Skoda Felicia L 

 

Late last year I bought a trailer tent for a bargain £125 off eBay. At the time I had a Land Rover Discovery so towing it wasn't a problem but since selling the Discovery in January I haven't had anything with a tow bar. With winter now over I was under pressure to get the trailer tent moved off the patio and into a recently acquired lock up garage. 

 

Collection day

 

So I dragged the £20 Felicia tow bar out from the back of the garage where it has been hiding since last Summer. To make the job of fitting the tow bar easier I removed the rear bumper and after a couple of hours of fiddling managed to get it bolted into place. Wiring was a simple task of piggy-backing off the rear light loom (aren't old cars brilliant) and I had it all back together and running within 6 hours. I had issues getting the back box to clear the tow bar, but given the back box is past it's best I just cut the last two inches off and saved myself the hassle.

 

 

The trailer tent isn't particularly heavy but even so the Felicia tows well. Given I placed the bid on a whim because the colour matched (near enough!) the Felicia it was good to finally get them rigged up together! 

 

1989 Skoda Rapid 136

 

So after the faff with the spark plugs the Rapid gave some days of reliable service; so much so that I entrusted it with the task of getting me to the airport for a weekend break in France. Setting off at 4.30am to reach the airport in time I enjoyed a quiet blast down the Elan Valley and across mid-Wales. Unfortunately, the fuel light began to flicker whilst I was still deep inside Wales.

Having passed three petrol stations which were all closed the situation began to worsen quite rapidly (see what I did there?!). The fuel light was on fully now and if there is one thing that can be said about this engine it is that, despite the driver's best efforts, it never comes close to being anywhere near economical. I did have a jerry can of fuel in the front but even so, this wasn't likely to extend my range much beyond 20 miles. 

At 06:20, just as the car began to jump and stutter as it sipped the final remaining fumes from the fuel tank, I mercifully stumbled upon a Total garage. Despite looking closed I noticed a HGV parked by the pumps so, with little other options, I decided to investigate. "Half past six" came the reply from the cheery sales assistant when I enquired as to what time they opened. Counting myself lucky, I waited the ten minutes and then brimmed the tank with Total's finest high octane unleaded. 

From there it was an event-free blast to the airport followed by 4 days exploring the Ardeche. Stepping off the plane by in Blighty I was buoyed by the prospect of the drive home and found the Rapid waiting faithfully for me at APH's drop off point. All was well as I dropped in to see a friend who lives just down the road from the airport.

 

 

 

After chatting for an hour or so I pressed on to my next destination, another Skoda nut's (Jay) house, to pick up some recently acquired spacers. Quite without warning the Rapid simply stopped exactly one mile from Jay's house. Jay very kindly arrived to offer assistance and diagnosed a catalogue of faults - ill-fitting rotor arm, loose wire to the coil and suspect HT leads.

With several new parts fitted from his stash I headed due West into the setting sun. The roads were lovely and quiet and I enjoyed the most thrilling and engaging drive as we crossed the topsy-turvy landscape of Wales. The car performed excellently and served as a reminder of just how good this car can be (when it wants to be!). 

As some of the ignition issues I've recently been suffering from have been caused by the troublesome points and condenser I resolved to fit a Skoparts Electronic Ignition module I'd got hold of a few years ago. The fitting process is quick and easy and the kit promises reliable spark delivery. With the kit all fitted up and running I took the Rapid for one last blast before returning to work. It seems you actually can't drive this car sensibly - it's a little terror - and an absolute hoot to pilot. With a broad smile I slowed for the left turn off the main road into my village. It was then, as I went to select 4th gear, that my smile was briskly removed for the gearstick moved freely and without any discernible change to gear in use. Bugger. 

 

 

 

And so it sits, at the side of the road, awaiting my return to see what this next saga will reveal. Never a dull moment...!