Alex's red Mk1 Fabia vRS BMN/BLT 16v hybrid - GTBvklr

[alex_e3]

Well I've been on here for a fair old while, so thought I should get around to popping up a project thread!

 

Quick run down... I've had the car for the best part of 3 years now. Bought at 62k with very rare factory leather with red piping...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So after a bit of time leaving the car as standard I decided it was time to begin with the modding!

 

First up was a cheap set of JOMs to start with, along with a Piper cat-back 0 silencer system...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car was then treated to a Shark stage 1 re-map by Ant at AP Automotive. Cracking guy and awesome to deal with

 

 

Some nice legal pressed plates were purchased from the group buy off here, along with some Team Heko wind deflectors...

 

 

Originals...

 

 

New...

 

 

 

Since I was beginning to get very tired of having to constantly clean the shiny exhaust tip, I decided to get the tip powdercoated in matt black...

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 September, 2017 by alex_e3

[alex_e3]

After this, the first bit of inevitability came about.... the standard turbo smashed itself to smithereens!! At this stage I opted for an upgrade. Ant at AP supplied and fitted a brand new Garrett PD150 hybrid turbo. The car was mapped again to about 200bhp due to still running the standard intercooler. I also completed my Piper exhaust system with a de-cat pipe. I picked the car up and was impressed with the difference! Plus the de-cat made the car sound like an absolute beast when it comes on boost 

 

 

In the meantime, I'd managed to source some 17" Spiders off an Octavia from someone on the forum. I had these professionally powdercoated in gloss black by a local company called The Wheel Restorer. Absolutely fantastic finish and the guy was very attentive to detail. These were fitted with a set of new Yoko Parada Spec II tyres and then 3 coats of Chemical Guys wheel sealant. New centre caps were bought and fitted at the same time. These transformed the car...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, a LCR splitter also made it onto the car 

 

 

I'd finally decided I'd had enough of the chrome on the front grille. So stripped things down and went about properly prepping both parts of the grille, fog light surrounds & backing plates, and the mirror covers for a few coats of Black Magic paint. Took a fair while but got a good finish so the effort was worth it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did the same for a second pair of door handles that I'd acquired off the forum, but instead colour coded them to the Corrida Red...

 

 

 

I bought brand new front and rear Skoda badges along with a newer Mk2 Octavia grille badge. Before fitting them I thought that they were too light, so I bought some headlight tinting spray and darkened them slightly before going over with lacquer...

 

 

 

A nice big Pipercross foam filter was wedged nicely into the engine bay to give a bit more of a growl...

 

 

 

To start to finish the outside off a bit, I lowered the car a bit further so that it sat better on the 17's. I also applied a very light tint to the front headlights for that slightly darker look...

 

 

 

 

 

The rear was de-wipered with a nice plate sealed in from behind, as I don't like the Polo wiper arms at all, and the original is very big and clunky...

 

 

 

 

A nice moody picture at the end of a late night at work (last one in the car park!)...

 

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Next up I picked up a Forge FMIC setup off Kev off here (coskev). I found this really nice and straight forward to fit - almost plug and play!...

 

Old cooler...

 

 

New cooler...

  

 

 

 

The elephant mod was done at the same time to help keep the inlet system a bit cleaner...

  

 

 

A further trip to Ant at AP to get my map tweaked saw a rolling road result of 219bhp and just over 300ft/lbs 

 

  

That ladies and gentleman is where I got up to before I half-heartedly made the decision to sell up and buy a fast turbo petrol motor. As a result the Spiders, FMIC, exhaust and suspension has been removed and put back to standard. The car is however still running the hybrid for now until I remove it! I even sold my leather to Dan!!!

 

I've since decided I'm going to keep the car. Hence the next steps will be to get the hybrid off and sold and a 2260 on there. An Airtec cooler will be joining the party also! One of the main issues with the car is the handling and comfort. So it will be getting a wedge spent on a decent suspension system so that it handles quite well whilst still being bearable - trust me when I say that people should avoid cheap coilovers at all costs!!

 

Tomorrow I should be going to pick up a half-leather Audi A1 S-Line interior to fit, as I found these more comfortable and also have lumbar support. Cruise control will be retro-fitted soon, as I do a fair amount of commuting and motorway miles, along with a decent armrest!!!

 

 

Will update as things SLOWLY progress!! 

Edited 9 September, 2017 by alex_e3

[Toxicvrs]

Glad you've decided to keep it! Great little project you've got going! I'm surprised you haven't had the bump strips off!

[alex_e3]

Thanks mate

 

I actually really like the bump strips! I think that they break the car up nicely. Otherwise I personally think it's too much red.

[Dark_Hero]

Nice start to a project. Glad your keeping it mate

[DanHam]

You'll wake up one morning and those bump strips will be gone! I'll leave the glue for you to clean but the strips will be gone!

[Lofty]

Be interesting to see how the 2260 conversion goes..... make sure you take plenty of pics!

 

I can see that you have done the EGR delete (on your BLT Engine), did they map the engine managment light out as well or is it still showing on the dash?

 

Keep up the good work Alex

[redcupraboy]

Lovely looking motor you have, look forward to more updates

[alex_e3]

Thanks guys  It's far from as nice since I took some of the parts off though!!

 

Lofty, the EGR got mapped out with my Shark stage 1 map, as it was malfunctioning anyway so I thought I'd get it taken out. No BLT stutter after either

 

I'm afraid the bump strips are on with the strongest glue that's known to man and will never come off

[Toxicvrs]

Thanks guys It's far from as nice since I took some of the parts off though!!

Lofty, the EGR got mapped out with my Shark stage 1 map, as it was malfunctioning anyway so I thought I'd get it taken out. No BLT stutter after either

I'm afraid the bump strips are on with the strongest glue that's known to man and will never come off

Dental floss

[alex_e3]

Ok, today's work. Went snowboarding in Manchester and then onto Huddersfield to pick these up...

 

 

 

 

Couldn't get pictures of all the seats, as I'm running out of clean places to put stuff in my unit! Here are the ones I managed to take though...

 

 

 

 

 

Had a quick sit in the fronts and they're sooo much comfier than the standard shape seats! Really nice to look at and high quality too. Both fronts have height and lumbar adjustment as well, so good for my back! Very chuffed with these for sure

Edited 10 September, 2017 by alex_e3

[alex_e3]

Dental floss

 

 

You mis-understand....  I do not want them to come off ha ha!!

[joelk2010]

Good to see you keeping the Fabia mate

 

Think your going to be a little shocked, in a good way, once the new turbo is fitted lol.

[DanHam]

When are we swapping seats again then?

[alex_e3]

Thanks Joel! Yeah it was a close call for selling it I'll be honest....   It's gonna be much improved this time around though

 

I'm counting on being blown away by the new turbo

[alex_e3]

No chance with these bad boys Dan

 

Your persistence paid off with the last set, but these are even more special

[DanHam]

Have you ordered the turbo yet?! Joint meet for the fitting? I'll come along and help just incase it's different to the 1756 as then it will guide me if I upgrade mine

[alex_e3]

Not yet. Gotta wait until I get paid before that! It will be soon though  Also I need to pay a visit to the guy who fettled yours and Kev's exhaust for a price on a side exit system.

 

I need to speak to Kev even more nicely than normal to see if his mate will chop and weld the end like his and yours!!  But yeah feel free to join in with the fun ha ha!

 

I still can't believe you're talking about an upgrade      !!

[alex_e3]

So I started swapping the interiors over today. Whipped the standard fronts out and gave the underneath a damn good vacuum first!

 

I neatly cable tied the side airbag wiring underneath the seat out of sight, then put them in. Had a bit of trouble with one captive nut threatening to thread on me - but realised before it was too late and sorted it with some gentle precision for once instead of 'hammeeeeeerrrrrrrrr' !!

 

Haven't cleaned and treated the seats just yet, but they're a huge improvement over standard  So much comfier and they hold you tighter. The lumber support makes a difference too! I genuinely think the colour of them suits the car so well - even the white/cream stitching. As a result I'm going to get some new all black mats soon, and get the doorcards, gear & handbrake gaitors and steering wheel trimmed in the same fashion.

I even prefer these seats to my old factory leather!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rears are a different story....  Been talking to Kev about how he did his. Luckily he's been a gent and offered his wisdom on Tuesday  So in the meantime I went to my local scrappy and picked up some poverty spec split seats so that I don't have to butcher the really nice standard vRS seats!

 

 

Edited 10 September, 2017 by alex_e3

[faboka vrs]

Very nice seats.

[alex_e3]

Ah John, sorry I completely forgot to message you back!!! Was on holiday! PM coming your way in a bit

[DanHam]

Should have said you had the Hoover out I'd have brought mine round

Looking good Alex!

[TommyH]

Glad to see you're keeping it mate! No way you're getting the spiders back though

Those seats look class as well, loads better than the standard cloth ones!

[AP Automotive]

I knew you couldn't part with it

[alex_e3]

Ha ha it's ok Tom, I have other plans  Thanks mate - they're mega comfy!

 

Ant, I caved in to peer pressure....  Mainly Dan ha ha !! I will be visiting for cruise control fitting soon - operation 'comfier' has begun!!!