Hello

 

I've been lurking for a while and now i'm down i though i best start posting and what better way to start than a Journal. I haven't actually got any pics of the car when i brought it but it's a 2004 Fabia vRS in Black Magic. I think everyone knows what theese look like. 108,000 on the dial but only 3 owners and pretty much a FSH.

 

Any hoo, the first things i did was get it remapped by Faboka on here. A pleasure to do business with. Rapid turn around and excellent customer service. This made the go pedal much more fun.

 

Next, it was time to replace these

 

 

WIth theese

 

 

Although, it wasn't that simple. I ended up having to replace the Master Cylinder, which was a right ball ache, as it was leaking and i couldn't get a propper feel on the pedal. Also ditched the Tarrox cheese graterers and went with new Pagdet Discs and pads. I also upgraded the rears to 256mm.

 

Next i stupidly brought a set of theese

 

 

Spent a long Staturday here, swearing alot!

 

 

Turned out to be a right ballache. I ended up replacing the top monts and bearings, Track roads and ends as the nuts on both, had to be grinded off due to them being sized soild. New rear bump stops and new bolts all round. Managed to pick up a seat sport brace for el cheapo so put that on as well.

 

 

Then it looked Like this

 

 

Whilst it looks ok, the ride is horendously hard. Even on the Motorway if you hit a large bump, the rebound is rediculous. Saying that for the price they sharpen up the hadling a treat, compeared to the shagged OEM ones they replaced. They will be staying until i can justifiy getting some AP's or they break. Which ever comes first.

 

Next up was EGR delete and Elephant mod and some more red bits under the engine. YAY!!

 

 

I have since timmed the silicone and doubled up on the jubile clips and have a stainless 70 degree bend on order. With the fairly nice weather this week i decided to give her a first propper cleaning session. I used Deamon Snow foam for both the pre wash and two bucket hand wash. I then gave her a going over with Poorboy Black hole. Pretty impressed with this product, the pictures below don't really do it justice.

 

 

 

 

Then gave here two coats of Nattys wax but it was dark by then so no photos :(

 

That's pretty much as far as i have got so far but on the list to do befor Combe are

 

• New uprated Clutch - not sure which yet (open to sugesstions)
• SMF - Possibly
• Xman Hybrid Turbo
• Airtec FMIC
• Faboka Re-remapp
• Wheels refurbished and powder coated white
• White line rear anti roll bar referbished and powdercoated red
• Pasty badges front, back and wheel centers
• Cam belt and water pump changed - Mainly for piece of mind
• New rubber all round - probably RS3's
• Cupra console Bushes - just waiting for a tool to arrive
• Proflex dogbone and wish bone bushes

I think that's about it, all in all, i've had fun working on her and even now the car is 100% better than it was when i first went to pick her up and hopfully will be pushing ~200bhp by the time Combe comes around.

 

I hope to keep this updated regually as and when things arrive and get fittied.

 

All comments welcome

 

Cheers

 

Russ

Edited 8 March, 201412 yr by Rustyp81

Great start to the project. Look forward to the updates

Look forward to seeing this about Worcester

ATB Dave

Great start to the project. Look forward to the updates

 

 

Look forward to seeing this about Worcester

ATB Dave

 

Cheers for the kind words gents.

 

I'l keep my eye out for the Monty, Dave

 

A few up dates from the past week or so.

 

First up, picked up some new toys for the workshop. Had to travel the lenght of the country (litrally) but they were a bargain and should make life a lot easier!!

 

 

and

 

 

Got my new badges through from Pasty, so decided to take the grill off crack out the rattle cans and paint it Magic Black. Wet and Dried, 3 Coats of gray primer, 4 coats of Black Magic and 4 coats of clear coat later and i was left with this.

 

 

and with Pasty badge attached....

 

 

And fitted back to the car, sorry for the poor light

 

 

And the morning aftert. I've got to say, i'm really impressed with the finish and how close the colour match is, well worth the effort! :thumbs

 

 

Also got all the remaining pipes/conectors to finish off my top boost pipe. Pretty stright forward job. Removing the fuel lines and bulb cover helped alot with access, without having to take the bumper off.

 

 

Top shot

 

 

Think i have a bit of a boost leak as it sounds a bit like there are a bag of snakes trapped under the bonet when coming on boost, but i'll be spending all day tomorrow at the unit, so will have a fettle and get it sorted. Also hope to get the wishbone and console bushes installed, aswell as my team henko deflectors that have just arrived. Hopefuly, i'll get to do another update tomorrow.

 

Think thats about it for now, wheels are off to be powder coated on Friday and Turbo and FMIC are to be ordered come pay day. Which will give me just over 2 weeks to get them fitted, setup and remapped before Combe. This could get tight! haha

 

Cheers

 

Russ

Edited 22 March, 201412 yr by Rustyp81

Hopefully you make it for Combe

What's the significance of the 58?

Some silvertec indicator bulbs on the front will be a great addition

Hopefully you make it for Combe

What's the significance of the 58?

Some silvertec indicator bulbs on the front will be a great addition

 

In that font It's was Marco SImoncelli number (R.I.P) but it's also the number i used to ride Moto x as a kid. Cheers for the tip on the silertec mate, they have gone on the "to do" list!

 

Progres took a unscheduled detour on Saturday when SWMBO provided why she should stick to driving her Fiat 500 :'( :peek:

 

 

Wing was totally mangled so had to be removed.

 

Apparently she didn't notice the wall (which has been at her parents house sinice forever), or the sound of the car scraping along it!!!! All tolled the dammage is a new wing, both doors need to be stripped back and resprayed and possibly the bumper as well. If things were not tight before, they most certinly are now :|

 

On the plus side, i managed to get the Cupra console bushes fitted along with these

 

 

So yeah, i've had better weekends tbh, but the race to Combe is very much still on!! :thumbup:

 

Cheers

Russ

Not Really much to report this week. Been waiting on the paint etc to turn up and after nearly a week this arrived this morning

 

 

And picked up a secondhand wing from the breakers.

 

 

THat's about as exciting as it's got this week. Haven't had chance to drop the wheels of at the powdercoaters due to work commitments and haven't had time/money to buy any more fun stuff :(

 

I'll start the rubbing down and prep tomorrow and hopefully get it sprayed over the weekend.

 

Oh and in other news, the diff on the Stag also decided to give notice last week, so the unit now has two cars and a motorbike, none of which work and as such i have been demoted to a 1.2 corsa SXI (joy!!) of which i suspect a milk float is faster. Still the race goes on......

 

 

Russ

Well this weekend has mainly involved a lot of masking, sanding, filling, more sanding, rubbung down, a bit more sanding and at times actually watching paint dry!

 

3 Hours in and this is as far as i had gotten. I have a new found respect for body shops and the prices they charge. The amount of donkey work is unreal.

 

 

Another 2 hours later and every thing is sanded and filled and smooth, the bare bits just need to be primed.

 

 

Next the fun bit hook up the compressor and spray gun and get a spraying but always remember safety first :p

 

 

I put 4 layers of base coat on followed buy 3 of clear coat. This is taken after the first layer of clear

 

 

Left it over night and went back to check on it this morning. It's not perfect a few places will need sanding back, but over all i very happy with the result and all for the grand total of a nudge over £70 including the replacement wing.

 

 

 

i had to use a 1k clear coat as i don't have access to a fresh air respirator and i quite like my lungs so it will take a few days for the clear coat to harden. Once hard it with get wet sanded with 1200 girt and then be given the PoorBoys treatment. Then comes the scarey bit. Taking off all the masking and hoping it actually matches the rest of the car!!

 

 

That's about it, determined to get the wheels off to paint this week but things are getting really tight with getting a new turbo and inter-cooler fitted before Combe, so she may have to stay how she is but at least she will, hopefully, look pretty.

 

Cheers

 

Russ

 

Edit to fix photos

Rusty, I just changed my brakes this weekend, is the pic with the Tarox disc the NSF wheel as I think it is.

Because it looks to me like you had the right hand disc on the left hand hub meaning the vanes would have been travelling in the wrong direction.

Rusty, I just changed my brakes this weekend, is the pic with the Tarox disc the NSF wheel as I think it is.

Because it looks to me like you had the right hand disc on the left hand hub meaning the vanes would have been travelling in the wrong direction.

 

You're correct. I did put the disc on the wrong hubs at first. But to be honest they were way past there best. They wad a good mill and a half lip on them and even when on the right way, were noisy. Hence they were replaced for Standard Pagid Disc and Pads. Although I'm thinking about changing to Mintex pads after a bit of reading on here.

You're correct. I did put the disc on the wrong hubs at first. But to be honest they were way past there best. They wad a good mill and a half lip on them and even when on the right way, were noisy. Hence they were replaced for Standard Pagid Disc and Pads. Although I'm thinking about changing to Mintex pads after a bit of reading on here.

I'm on OE quality pads at the minute on my new brakes but the next step is either Ds2500, Mintex M1144 or EB red/Yellowstuff.

Although they are rarely spoke of well on here, Redstuff might give me everything I want, high operating temps, good bite at all temperature, low dusting. They are on a new formula from the problem days and my local supplier can give me a good price on them.

M1144 apparently give great bite and decent operating temps but are supposed to be hella dusty.

I'm running mintex M1144 in my Tarox six pot calipers. And yes they are dusty, but bite like hell once a bit of heat is in them.

I may go for something else next.

To OP good plans you have on the list. And well done for having a go at painting yourself. Look forward to seeing the results.

Was great to meet you at Combe. Chasing you round the track was brilliant fun

Good start fella

Have some pictures from me for

Saturday

Was great to meet you at Combe. Chasing you round the track was brilliant fun

 

Was great to me you as well, Charlie, just a shame we had to leave early. :( Hope you got your grill sorted?

 

Good start fella

Have some pictures from me for

Saturday

 

 

Thanks for the photo's mate!!!

 

Was really good to meet you and thanks for pointing us in the right direction when we arrived ubber late. Made it on track with minutes to spare. Did you get your ticking noise sorted?

 

Anyway, a small update since getting back from Combe.

All this was fitted the night before, along with having to put the old rear calipers back on when i realised that one of the pistons on the 256mm rears had seized. Finished/gave up around 4am Saturday Morning. :(

 

 

 

I've taken Charlie's sugestion and de-tango'd the front. Also, changed the sidelights for "Xenon White" which are actually more blue than white, so may not be staying long.

 

 

And for those that didn't see it at Combe here are a few photos of the passenger side i resprayed myself. Still, needs a decent cut and buff, but that can wait. Overall I'm impressed at how well it has turned out.

 

 

 

 

That's about it for now. Front pads will be getting replaced tomorrow, along with a fluid change, after getting pretty much destroyed on Saturday. A few Hairy moments when going into Quarry and the brake peddle almost hit the floor. Hopefully, get some more bits crossed off the list once my Dissertation is out of the way.

 

Cheers

Russ

Ha no worries, Russ, glad you made it Was good to meet you too mate

I dropped her off at my mates garage on way through, but he's usually busy, so will be a couple of days, then will be off the road for a weeks after for some choice mods and some other stuff hopefully

Haven't had a chance to touch the grille. I swapped the wheels back over on Sunday in the rain and one of them slipped and fell on its face, so will need a repair at some point.

The summer action day will be on the 13th September, so hopefully see you there