Hello ,

 

My name is Eremia Andrei and i'm from Romania. 

 

I own two RWD skoda cars :

 

1. 1980 Skoda 120 L (production date July 1980) - Eastern block model ( was sell as new in the Socialist Republic of Romania in 1980 ) .

 

I have the car from 2008 and during this time i was able to restore the car and make some modifications on it .

One of the major upgrades is the Felicia 136 b engine with 68 bhp (, cheap, reliable and easy to modify and tuned ) . 

Second major upgrade is a 4 speed Garde gearbox with reinforced suspension (Rapid suspension system) and stiff dumpers.

The final upgrade are the rims - ATS classic  4x130 5.5 j x 15.

 

2. 1986 ( production date December 1985)  Skoda estelle two 130 LSE - exported model for the UK market

 

I was very lucky to find this model in Romania ( the only one ) . I have buy the car in 2015 and since then i have try to restore it .

The car was in a pretty bad shape and i have decided at the beginning that the project will be a Skoda 130 LR replica.

I have choose to paint the car white 1001 in case i will have a change of mind (the original car color was Brown 2094 with black vinyl roof).

The car was already converted from right to left wheel drive ( very bad made )

After 80 hours of body work and 350 hours of mechanical work  i have decided  to restore the care as a proper 130 LSE .

 

One major modification is the engine (Felicia 136 M 68 bhp ) the Ronal Rims  and side mirrors which where sell in Germany by Auto-Oberman.

Except that i want to restore the car as much as possible to the original state.

The bad thing is that the vinyl roof was compromise from the beginning and now i'm looking for a solution .

 

I have 4 solutions :

      -leave the car as it is

      -paint the roof black

      -put black car foil on the roof

      -mount a vinyl black roof

 

Questions :

 

1. Does a vinyl roof kit exist on the UK market (including the metal frame from the back wings)? 

If yes what should be the price for something like this?

 

2. Skoda 130 LSE is a appreciated car in the UK and worth the investment in the vinyl roof?

 

3.How hard is to find in the UK a 4 speed gear box with 3.9 final ratio ( only on Skoda 120 LE available only on UK market )?

 

4. Why the name of LSE was change to GL after 1987 ?

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) A UK market 130LSE would have had the 5-speed box and semi-trailing arm rear suspension. In which context the alloy wheels were "importer fit" and there were several different styles offered depending on stocks.

 

4) Trim level changes like this are almost always explained as "marketing", where the badge change supposedly makes the car "seem newer" without significant expenditure by manufacturer and/or importer.

29 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

3) A UK market 130LSE would have had the 5-speed box and semi-trailing arm rear suspension. In which context the alloy wheels were "importer fit" and there were several different styles offered depending on stocks.

I'm looking for 4 speed gearbox with final ratio of 3.9 for the green car . The white one has a 5 speed gearbox with semi-trailing arm rear suspension(also the green one has this type of suspension but was an upgrade done by me) .

For the moment the car is running with a 4 speed Garde gearbox with final ratio 4.22.

 

Quote

 

4) Trim level changes like this are almost always explained as "marketing", where the badge change supposedly makes the car "seem newer" without significant expenditure by manufacturer and/or importer.

 

bellow is a picture with the original look of my 130 LSE

Edited 28 February, 20188 yr by Eremia

@Eremia

3) OK; it wasn't clear that the 4-speed box was for the 120. Try a PM to @daverapid who may even have one spare.

 

4) I remember seeing cars almost exactly like that, except for not having vinyl on the A and B posts, back in the day.

thank you for the answers

 

maybe someone can answer me also on questions 1 and 2