DieselMonte's 2012 Monte Carlo Project.

[DieselMonte]

All done and put back together this evening.

I ended up painting the wishbones silver to try freshen them up and keep rust away. Bushings went in ok, I attached a pic of the "rig" for getting the front wishbone bush out, after drilling out most of the rubber the rest pushes out easy enough.

I was wrong earlier about hopefully not needing an alignment. With the wheels straight theres a visible amount of toe out on each side, It pulls to the left a bit also, i'll get the alignment done early in the week. I was able to drive it a bit after getting it done and it definately felt tighter, no clunking and the steering feels a little heavier too, more responsive.

I am a little annoyed at needing the alignment done again, but at least that means I can have some data to compare before and after.

I can't think of anything else to include now, will post up the alignment sheet when its done. Fingers crossed I havent made a mess of it and need to do it all again...

[DieselMonte]

Alignment should be getting sorted tomorrow afternoon. Looked over everything this evening and checked all the bolts. I put some pics of it before and after the mods. Standing next to it I can see a lot of toe out and a little more camber. Angles of the 2 photos arent identical so its not perfect, but should be enough to see some difference. Definately feels much more confident driving around. Once the tracking is sorted I should be able to get a good feel for it. Only trouble is that since i've only been pottering around town in it the cars started doing its high idle "thing" again, must be something DPF related. A good hard drive should sort it out.

[seanders]

You've got the same engine as is in my A3, and the 1000 RPM idle is normal if the auxiliary draw is high e.g lights on, AC/interior fans or heating on etc.

 

DPF usually isnt a problem if you're routinely getting engine up to operating temperature, but a spirited drive every now and then doesn't hurt. 3rd gear at 80/100 km/h around a few twisty backroads and she'll be spotless

 

Nice car fella, as I've said before.

[DieselMonte]

57 minutes ago, seanders said:

You've got the same engine as is in my A3, and the 1000 RPM idle is normal if the auxiliary draw is high e.g lights on, AC/interior fans or heating on etc.

 

DPF usually isnt a problem if you're routinely getting engine up to operating temperature, but a spirited drive every now and then doesn't hurt. 3rd gear at 80/100 km/h around a few twisty backroads and she'll be spotless

 

Nice car fella, as I've said before.

Hmm, high draw could be a culprit. If the stamp on the battery is to be believed then it could well be original. If its starting to get worn out that would explain it. Saying that its started in below freezing weather over the winter and hasnt missed a beat otherwise so who knows.

I do usually get it out on some backroads its just that i've been gentle with it so as to not chew up my tyres. For a diesel it does like to he revved out, insane to me how it can get past 80mph in 3rd gear!

[seanders]

1 minute ago, DieselMonte said:

Hmm, high draw could be a culprit. If the stamp on the battery is to be believed then it could well be original. If its starting to get worn out that would explain it. Saying that its started in below freezing weather over the winter and hasnt missed a beat otherwise so who knows.

I do usually get it out on some backroads its just that i've been gentle with it so as to not chew up my tyres. For a diesel it does like to he revved out, insane to me how it can get past 80mph in 3rd gear!

 

Could just be your alternator drawing more engine power to charge the batter too. It does happen to my car too. The gearing might be longer in my A3 because it's a 5 speed but she does pick up in 3rd for sure.

[DieselMonte]

9 hours ago, seanders said:

 

Could just be your alternator drawing more engine power to charge the batter too. It does happen to my car too. The gearing might be longer in my A3 because it's a 5 speed but she does pick up in 3rd for sure.

Mines a 5 speed too. Afaik all manual mk2 fabias are 5 speed. Amd87's car is a 6 speed now cause he changed it out.

[DieselMonte]

After getting it aligned, wheels straight again and toe is back to normal. Ended up only costing 20 euro cause I was in a few weeks ago after doing the tie rods. I did not get a print out this time but that doesnt really matter now.

[AMD87]

10 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

Mines a 5 speed too. Afaik all manual mk2 fabias are 5 speed. Amd87's car is a 6 speed now cause he changed it out.

To be fair mine was a 4 speed swap to a 6 speed swap

[DieselMonte]

After driving it for a few days I can say there is definately a worthwhile improvement. Front of the car is a lot quieter, no knocks over speedbumps now save for the odd squeak when cold. Handling seems to have drastically improved too, much more grip when being pushed hard through corners and feels much more stable through a corner too. The urethane bushes were pretty cheap direct from psbushings, about £40 shipped. Both ball joints worked out to about 40 euro from the place I ordered them from. I havent noticed any difference in NVH either, so its not really noticeable driving normally except for the car feeling tighter. 

Strut top mounts do feel like they'll need changing, given most of the rest of the front end has been renewed. I want to hold off as long as I can and do the suspension in one shot, No sense to me in going through all that hassle only to be replacing the suspension in a few thousand miles (hopefully). 96,000 miles on it now so I do want to replace it in the future. Having said that it still performs just fine, but I do know that these roads will blow out the original struts eventually. The springs look pretty new though, so if I do replace them I might use the front springs on the mk1 as its dampers seem ok.

We've been experiencing some warm weather here lately and since then I've been getting a p0101 code for the maf. Car runs and drives fine, no loss in economy or power. Might need to use some maf cleaner on it or something.

[DieselMonte]

I think the next round of mods for this will be a bigger intercooler, stronger gearbox bush and a remap (Finally).

I've been looking on here and saw someone use a skoda yeti intercooler in a fabia with a little bit of work. I figure I can get one in a scrapyard easy enough and it should help lower intake temps. With this warm weather I noticed it getting to nearly 40 degrees on Torque Pro! I know powerflex do dogbone bushes and they seem to be a good option. I also saw a thread on here (iirc) of someone buying resin and doing it themself. I think it would be interesting to try and do it myself, this way if I had some left over I could do it on the mk1 too. Finally, a remap will let it be as quick on the straights as it is in the corners. More oomph trying to pass people on these roads would help, constantly running into cars going 10mph, then slowing to a crawl for every corner and not having enough space to pass them is getting pretty old. 

My mk1 is far from forgotten though, Its still sitting quietly in the shed waiting for a parts car to come along (or some bits off of a breaker) to see it right for the road. Covered in an inch of dust at this point but still there. I have been waiting and watching for a parts car to come up but nothing lately. 

[DieselMonte]

Different sort of post today. I've had this brochure for a while and thought I should upload it on here. I had tried to scan the pages but they came out looking naff, so I ended up just taking a photo of them with my phone, hopefully they are readable.

[DieselMonte]

Powerflex Dogbone bushing was delivered today, so I set about installing it.

Removal of the old mount was stupid easy. 

Looked to have been replaced at some point not long before I got it. Looked fresh but still felt very soft and mushy.

Cut out the old bush with a hacksaw, only difficulty was the hacksaw getting stuck in the rubber. Needed to sand off the white oxidised crap in the console. Got 90% of it off and the console felt smooth so I was happy to leave it there. 

Install of the bush itself was a bit fiddly, The photo on the listing I bought it from showed it as a 2 piece design. The bush I got was 1 piece. That said it was not hard to do with a vice, just took a little more planning. I didnt get any instructions with it and accidentally put the bush in wrong (I think). The relief in the bush looks to be for helping with installing it into the car. I had to take it out and install it 180°, relief facing the back of the car.

I removed the black part of the mount when reinstalling to make it a little easier. Took a fair amount of effort to get it back in, seems that since the new bush is thicker it has a hard time going in.

I did all this over the pit, didnt need to take the wheels off or even lift the car surprisingly. Actually made it easier as I could sit on the step and work away. It was a little sketchy at first as this pit is made for lorries and the like, not small hatchbacks. Had a half a tyre over the edge on either side .

I decided to go for Powerflex's PFF85-620R, their softest dogbone bush. Its a 65 shore bush and felt surprisingly squidgy out of the box, I wonder if a stiffer bush would be harder to install as it wouldnt contort as easy to fit through the bush? 

Having done a bit of driving on it I can say that it has improved the car nicely. Its a lot easier to change gears, much more predictable. I have not noticed any increased vibration at all. The only time it is noticeable is on starting the car and turning it off. Turning it off feels similar to turning off my mk1, as I removed the ASV from it. Its a difference, but not a big one in that department. I suppose it will soften up in the next few days, hopefully not much. It feels good now, feels like what it should have come like from the factory. Feels much more consistent even under some hard gear changes. Definately worth while for the cost and time to do. The great thing about having 2 fabias is that if I want a stiffer bush in this I should be able to put a stiffer bush in the mk1s mount and swap them over, both look identical so I imagine they are the same part.

Overall quite happy with this mod, I like the feedback when starting and turning off the engine and its not noticeable at all under normal driving. Its the sort of mod that I love to do, much like the RARB.

Next thing up is a remap, all goes well It should be mapped by the end of the month.

The place i'm going with claims 145 hp and 310 nm of torque. While I think thats a little optimistic it should make a big difference.

I'll hold off on the intercooler for a short while, since the weather has cooled off again its not gotten very hot since. Looking at doing a wellycooler job to it. I have my eye on an alloy intercooler that should do the job.

[WillSmithy]

Jesus that looks sketchy as ****. Nice work though.

[DieselMonte]

1 hour ago, WillSmithy said:

Jesus that looks sketchy as ****. Nice work though.

Looks sketchy, but it wont slip off so it is fine. I have actually fallen down it before in the mk1 fabia, not long after I got it. Even a big l320 range rover has a little bit of tyre hanging over the edge. The pits really made for lorries and such.

[AMD87]

How’s the vibration 

[DieselMonte]

1 hour ago, AMD87 said:

How’s the vibration 

Hardly noticeable! Used to be that the steering wheel would be visibly shaking on idle, thats gone now. Gear changes feel better but I think there is still a little slop in one of the mounts. Still has a little kick driving around town but its a lot less than before (might it be tune related? It has had dieselgate after all) I only went for the 65 shore one anyway. Can feel it on start up and on shut down it feels like the asv was removed but otherwise you wouldnt tell it was different unless you had driven it before. The old mount looked pretty fresh though, so I can only guess they are a bit crap from standard.

Might be picking up those bits I was talking about tomorrow evening, got a bit of a deal on it and another part the lad's selling. Honestly wasnt intending on going down this route, but it is what it is and If they're as advertised it should work out just peachy.

[DieselMonte]

[DieselMonte]

After a 120 mile round trip, here it is.

I found out the downpipe has been leaking when I was doing the dogbone bush. I think you can see 1 of the leaks in one of the pics earlier. I honest to god didnt intend on going this route, but I know if I go to weld or otherwise seal the exhaust back up it'll just keep blowing and blowing again. I wasn't actively looking for a downpipe either, it happened to come up in one of my search alerts for old fabia parts cars. Ended up getting a bit of a deal, 140 euro for the downpipe and backbox. Anyway, heres what I got:

Darkside downpipe: Removed from a 1.6 tdi fabia, was cracked along one of the welds on the 'C' section of the pipe, but was fixed. Has been on that fabia a while but still in good shape otherwise.

Ulter Backbox: Also on the same car, has a few scrapes on the bottom from the car having coilovers but otherwise fine. Looks like a nice exhaust to be honest. I'm in two minds as to whether or not install it on my car, as it would mean trimming the rear 'diffuser'. I'll either sell on this one cheap, or sell the nearly new backbox I put on the car last October.

Dead happy with them, I understand the downpipe has been repaired but I still think I got a good deal. AFAIK darkside ones are stainless so it wont rust (although thats generally less of a problem in the south). Irelands NCT rules means that my car has NCT until December 2022, so I have plenty of time to run with it. I would need to swap it back for an NCT but thats a problem 18months away so not going to worry.

Game plan now is to get it remapped in the next few weeks, have the dpf software removed and install the downpipe as soon as I get home.

Still, managed to get 56mpg on the trip, 90% was spent on Regional roads tipping along at 50-60mph. Lots of tight turns and steep hills too. Great fun. 

[DieselMonte]

Spent the last hour giving them some tlc. Checked the welds on the downpipe, not the prettiest but theyll hold. Wrapped it with some wrap I had. Ended up scuffing up the backbox as I remembered I had some silver exhaust paint. Scuffed up now and will get around to some paint tomorrow most likely.

[DieselMonte]

Spent the evening freshening up the downpipe and backbox. Downpipe took a little bit of Brasso and came up a treat. Its looking good, nice shine to it now. I left it next to the heater as I worked to wick some of the water out of the heat wrap.

The backbox took a little bit of sanding and wire brushing and was ready for paint. I've covered up the tips so they dont get sprayed. Its just some aluminum coat for exhausts, nothing fancy or expensive and it was only lying about, so its not cost me anything but my time.

Obviously I didn't 'need' to spray it, but I'm glad I took the time to do it, its coming out fantastic. The tips got a rub of turpentine earlier to get some tar off it. I have Meguairs metal polish and it will do a good job, wonder if I can use some fine sand paper to make them shine. 

I was undecided earlier but I now fully intend on putting it on the car, even if I have to cut the bumper to do it. I think it will give a nice note to the exhaust, from hearing a few straight piped 1.6tdis near me they are pretty quiet anyway, so mine with a 'sports' backbox should definately give a nice sound (for a diesel) while still not being obnoxiously loud. Not even for myself but for everyone elses sake this seems to be the way to go for me.

[DieselMonte]

Pipes polished up and ready to be put on the car. I've opted to send it off to get the exhaust fitted and remap done at the same time. Hopefully sometime next week.  Standard pipe is leaking rightly, can cover the exhaust tip with my hand and it all just rushes out of the downpipe. Even still its not very loud, just louder than stock. Hopefully it'll give the car a nice note thats a bit quieter than a full straight pipe.

[DieselMonte]

Mini Update:

Exhaust still sitting on the shed floor, couldnt get it done last week, I ordered a gearbox mount for the car as there is still a "kick" driving around town, hopefully that will solve it but I imagine the engine mount will also need done at some point. I attached a few photos, first ones just a nice pic of the car from the other day, second one is of the leaks on the exhaust and third is of the new gearbox mount, bilstein one so hopefully it'll last another nearly 9 years.

Edited 27 May, 2021 by DieselMonte

[DieselMonte]

 

Exhaust got fitted yesterday, along with a remap to 140hp. Nice sound off the exhaust now and its still far from being "loud". I thought the bumper would need to be cut but no, it just fits nicely under the standard bumper.

[DieselMonte]

 

Edited 28 May, 2021 by DieselMonte

[DieselMonte]

Had the cars alignment checked today too, its eating through the inner edge of the fronts. Was checked, apparantly nothing wrong. I ended up swapping the fronts to the back and vice versa for now.