Dan's 20v 1.8T Fabia Estate

[benjen]

Nice wheels

[DanHarper]

Nice wheels

 

Ultra high performance steels.

 

Oh my brother and I also moved the Ibiza out for collection... manually! Wasn't too bad using chipboard flooring to save the tarmac, until we got it to the bottom of the drive, moved the Fabia off the lawn and my plan was to drag it back up the drive a bit with the Fabia so I could park on the drive still (can get 4 cars on the drive nose to tail). The Fabia's towing eye is missing, and the Cordoba eye doesn't fit, so we had to push it back up the slope... which was less easy. But its all ready now, the guys picking it up are going to bring a skip wagon and just pick it up like a skip, will try and get some pics

[BossFox]

Surprised Foxy hasn't weighed in yet as he's driven every different model of Fabia (saloon excluded) he should know if there are any differences

 

I didn't want to intervene in your nice little chat with Jack.

[Toxicvrs]

I didn't want to intervene in your nice little chat with Jack.

:yes:

[DanHarper]

I didn't want to intervene in your nice little chat with Jack.

 

:yes:

 

   

 

 

Bye bye Ibiza...

 

[DanHarper]

Had a shot at the timing belt this evening. The TDC on the cam pulley and flywheel appear to be slightly out (TDC on the flywheel comes when TDC on the cam is still 2 teeth away), so I'm thinking I'll need to get the timing checked when its back on the road. I'm not confident that I'm right so I'm just putting it all back how it was, though with a new belt and pump.

 

I followed http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2840728-Ultimate-Timing-Belt-DIY! and everything seems to be fine, except my tensioner appears to be single shot:

 

 

There is no way to wind it back in and no pin hole once it is back in to keep it in until ready. So I'll need to order one of them then :(

 

Crappy QH water pump with plastic impellers removed though, thankfully fully intact.

[DanHarper]

Well I found that the tensioner could be 'wound' back in very slowly using a vice or G clamp. So I made my own holding tool (2 pronged flat piece of metal that slots through a slit) in a few seconds with a grinder and a bit of old seat, and got to work

 

So tensioner back in, marks on the belt lined up and the pin pulled, I set about checking it all worked. Found that to get TDC on the fly and cam was actually easier if I just went very very gently, it was so easy to overshoot on the flywheel side making it look like the timing was out. So hand cranked everything round several times and made sure it all lined up every time, and put it all back together.

 

Next, SMF and clutch to fit! This things never going to work first time I bet... will be so nervous when I finally get to start it up 

 

We will get some Fabia action soon, I promise :P

[DanHarper]

Well I've been reading up on the benefits of LSD, while doing so I had a trip and decided to install some sort of limited slip differential...

 

It makes so much more sense to do it now (as I can't do it myself I'll need to take the box somewhere) before the car is in use and its no longer practical. Not to mention the gearbox was hard enough to get off the engine while it was out, I don't want to try it on my back!

 

Puts the build cost up by quite a margin :(

[benjen]

Yep mine started as a budget build, but a wavetrac LSD later and a few other parts its more like a £5.5k build. You will love the lsd

[DanHarper]

Well not a very exciting weekend. Have been tinkering with the engine and removing some guff:

 

SAI

N249

N112 - All of the above are so simple on the Ibiza engine. I was following a Octavia guide, I think its much more involved on the Octy :P

A bunch of brackets

Breather pipes

Intake manifold - will be fitting a BAM manifold in its place so the TB is on the left which will make intercooler piping a bit easier.

 

Also had a frustrating lesson in VAG parts bin operations. Its almost as if teacher (VW) gave 2 groups of students (Seat, Skoda) a bunch of parts and told them to make something, but not to copy each other. So, the door lock on my Fabia is faulty, the lock itself is identical to the one from the Seat, the plug is the same, the main bolts are the same. However, the Seat has a secondary mounting system attaching it to the inner panel. The Skoda door has a hole that is smaller then the Seats which means my Torx bit on an adapter won't fit in order to slacken off the handle to remove the pull handle wire (I need to get a Torx driver set for sure). The wire's to the locking mech, although they do the exact same thing and work perfectly on either lock, are completely different colours on the Seat loom compared to the Skoda loom. If it comes to splicing bits of loom this could get needlessly frustrating. Why don't they share the same schema for the loom colours! Madness.

 

While we're on madness... I checked the car over for the MOT, couldn't figure out why one of my fog lights wasn't working. The bulbs there, the element looks good, bulb from the other side doesn't work either... hmm there's a wire short here... oh right, its only supposed to have one. So why put dual element bulbs in? So I have a spare?

 

Anyway, its all terribly dull I know.

 

Oh I seem to have bought a Wavetrac LSD.

[Toxicvrs]

Well not a very exciting weekend. Have been tinkering with the engine and removing some guff:

SAI

N249

N112 - All of the above are so simple on the Ibiza engine. I was following a Octavia guide, I think its much more involved on the Octy :P

A bunch of brackets

Breather pipes

Intake manifold - will be fitting a BAM manifold in its place so the TB is on the left which will make intercooler piping a bit easier.

Also had a frustrating lesson in VAG parts bin operations. Its almost as if teacher (VW) gave 2 groups of students (Seat, Skoda) a bunch of parts and told them to make something, but not to copy each other. So, the door lock on my Fabia is faulty, the lock itself is identical to the one from the Seat, the plug is the same, the main bolts are the same. However, the Seat has a secondary mounting system attaching it to the inner panel. The Skoda door has a hole that is smaller then the Seats which means my Torx bit on an adapter won't fit in order to slacken off the handle to remove the pull handle wire (I need to get a Torx driver set for sure). The wire's to the locking mech, although they do the exact same thing and work perfectly on either lock, are completely different colours on the Seat loom compared to the Skoda loom. If it comes to splicing bits of loom this could get needlessly frustrating. Why don't they share the same schema for the loom colours! Madness.

While we're on madness... I checked the car over for the MOT, couldn't figure out why one of my fog lights wasn't working. The bulbs there, the element looks good, bulb from the other side doesn't work either... hmm there's a wire short here... oh right, its only supposed to have one. So why put dual element bulbs in? So I have a spare?

Anyway, its all terribly dull I know.

Oh I seem to have bought a Wavetrac LSD.

If you need a motor drop us a PM as I can get one cheap for you

[Taylor93]

Also had a frustrating lesson in VAG parts bin operations.

 

Lol ive experianced this too, for example fitting a FMIC the crash bar has to be modified on the Fabia, but not on the Ibiza/Polo.

 

But if you change the crash bar to a Ibizia one, i have a suspicion that the VRS bumper then wouldn't fit onto the car lol despite them all being a similar platform.

[danny6189]

The dual filament bulb on both sides is for left or right hand drive. Just wired to the correct side for where the car is being used. Why make 2 different types of lights? Skoda logic.

[DanHarper]

If you need a motor drop us a PM as I can get one cheap for you

 

Nope, but I do need a drivers side electric window switch if the Ibiza one can't be made to fit. And the pass side arm rest cover if you have one.

 

 

The dual filament bulb on both sides is for left or right hand drive. Just wired to the correct side for where the car is being used. Why make 2 different types of lights? Skoda logic.

 

Could even just put a single filament bulb in... thought I guess then I'd be assuming the last owner put the wrong bulb in and be in exactly the same situation :P

[Toxicvrs]

Nope, but I do need a drivers side electric window switch if the Ibiza one can't be made to fit. And the pass side arm rest cover if you have one.

Could even just put a single filament bulb in... thought I guess then I'd be assuming the last owner put the wrong bulb in and be in exactly the same situation :P

The window switch is somewhere within the parcel network lost, the armrest cover however s lying about somewhere in the car.

[Dark_Hero]

The window switch should be ok to swap from the Ibiza. They use the same unit, typically just screws in place

[DanHarper]

The window switch should be ok to swap from the Ibiza. They use the same unit, typically just screws in place

 

Good, easy job then hopefully

 

Seems to be more spending/pondering than doing at the moment.

 

Starting to think about suspension, looking at Bilstein B12 kits... £600+ in the UK, £420ish shipped from Germany. What gives? Are these fake kits or something?

[Taylor93]

Good, easy job then hopefully

 

Seems to be more spending/pondering than doing at the moment.

 

 

Measure twice and cut once and all that isnt a bad mindset you know!

 

No point starting a job getting half way through to find you have missed a bit and need to redo days worth of work.

[DanHarper]

Measure twice and cut once and all that isnt a bad mindset you know!

 

No point starting a job getting half way through to find you have missed a bit and need to redo days worth of work.

 

As long as you can remember what you've already measured. I find myself going back over things several times forgetting what I decided to do :(

 

I need to get on and start fitting some parts to the car so I can make proper decisions...

[Taylor93]

As long as you can remember what you've already measured. I find myself going back over things several times forgetting what I decided to do :(

 

I need to get on and start fitting some parts to the car so I can make proper decisions...

 

Notepad!

 

my job would be impossible to remember everything/task/job/ tec specs without one!

[Toxicvrs]

Notepad!

my job would be impossible to remember everything/task/job/ tec specs without one!

I can remember the parts code for a E60 M5 sump plug copper wager but that's all I can remember. Everything else is written down.

[DanHarper]

Notepad!

 

my job would be impossible to remember everything/task/job/ tec specs without one!

 

Too much like work. And if I'm writing down loads of car stuff on a notepad sat at my work desk... may as well sit making a noose :P

[DanHarper]

Before:

After:

 

(Didn't seem to get a before of the drivers side or after of the passenger.. but they were roughly the same)

 

Fitted the lock from the Ibiza in to the passenger door, more swears... different connections on the internal handle, wire easy enough to swap though thankfully. Got everything back together and went to connect it to the external handle, the wire is too long (presumable the Ibiza doors are thicker) So all back apart to swap the wires over. Ibiza trim clippy things, much more robust than the Fabia ones... sadly the Fabia holes are too small... many broken, need to buy some :(

 

Also spent a few hours on Saturday cleaning rust off the rear beam, stone guards etc. ready for a few coats of hammerite, not that anyone is going to see it except for me and the MOT lady, but its a nice to know its protected

 

Picking up a front and rear brace on Saturday, and hopefully dropping the Diff and box off at Awesome for fitting while I'm in Manchester.

 

MOT next Friday. Hopefully it will pass and I can crack on with removing bits. 

[DanHarper]

The Broken Bucket is now a road legal bucket! MOT passed with 3 advisories:

 

1. Exhaust corroding... don't care, going in the bin.

2. Front brake discs pitted... few more miles and they are fine now, but don't care, going in the bin.

3. Under trays fitted... don't care.

 

No mention of the oil leak that would put BP to shame.

 

All moody and grainy at Tescos on the way home:

 

 

Now time to take it apart 

[Taylor93]

The Broken Bucket is now a road legal bucket! MOT passed with 3 advisories:

 

1. Exhaust corroding... don't care, going in the bin.

2. Front brake discs pitted... few more miles and they are fine now, but don't care, going in the bin.

3. Under trays fitted... don't care.

 

No mention of the oil leak that would put BP to shame.

 

All moody and grainy at Tescos on the way home:

 

 

Now time to take it apart 

 

Woooo! what a sexy beast!