DieselMonte's 2012 Monte Carlo Project.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Those wheels are looking stellar, DM!

[DieselMonte]

Probably should have made a comparison video before posting that pic, would have been neat to include with the coilover post. 

Fortunate again I have spare suspension to compare it to. Again with the rear shocks the mk1s are in better shape, although not quite as much of a difference in them compared to the fronts.

Was a nice distraction to do while watching paint dry anyway. 

Wonder they seem so weak and yet arent leaking.

[DieselMonte]

2 down, 2 to go!

All I have to do now is paint the other 2 and clear them so they will be done tomorrow.

Did a bit of experimenting with bulbs, the secret bulbs came quick as expected, a pair of 3000k Michiba bulbs.

Now I liked the colour of these, and they are legal judging from the NCT guidelines. One problem with these is that my car only has the one bulb for high and low beam, but they had the same range as the original cheapy white ones in it.

 

Of course the nightbreakers came in the next day, but I waited for a few days to give the yellow bulbs a chance.

I put these in this evening and they are definately a big improvement over the original white ones. Lovely crisp pure white light from them.

[HeavyMetalRich]

Those wheels look great.

[AnnoyingPentium]

The wheels look awesome. Want to do mine? 

[DieselMonte]

16 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

The wheels look awesome. Want to do mine? 

Ha! I don't think you'd say that if you saw them up close! I probably would have a go at painting some wheels again but ideally ones in better shape to begin with.

Although having such rough wheels to start with meant I havent set extremely high standards for the finish of them, once they look halfway decent I'm more than happy.

That hycote paint is very good , great spray from it and its almost a dead match to the original silver.

Might have a go at test fitting the two I have finished this evening and see if all my hard work has payed off.

[skomaz]

18 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

2 down, 2 to go!

All I have to do now is paint the other 2 and clear them so they will be done tomorrow.

Did a bit of experimenting with bulbs, the secret bulbs came quick as expected, a pair of 3000k Michiba bulbs.

Now I liked the colour of these, and they are legal judging from the NCT guidelines. One problem with these is that my car only has the one bulb for high and low beam, but they had the same range as the original cheapy white ones in it.

 

Of course the nightbreakers came in the next day, but I waited for a few days to give the yellow bulbs a chance.

I put these in this evening and they are definately a big improvement over the original white ones. Lovely crisp pure white light from them.

 

Any pictures of the difference?  Am thinking of these for the Kodiaq given we've got the Halogens rather than the LED's

[AnnoyingPentium]

7 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

Ha! I don't think you'd say that if you saw them up close!

 

 

7 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

I probably would have a go at painting some wheels again but ideally ones in better shape to begin with.

 

In my totally unbiased opinion, a good set (that you could restore) of 15" Bohemia alloys would smarten up your Mk1 if you're using the VRS 16s on your Mk2.

[DieselMonte]

The 16s are hopefully just "on loan" from the mk1 for Winter use, should be going back on the mk1 come spring.

Test fitted 2 of them this evening while the others are curing.

Looking decent on the car, not much room under em for the 312s though.

Other 2 are cleared now and just curing. Basically ready to get tyres on them whenever.

Reckon these will look great with some chunky tyres on em.

 

6 hours ago, skomaz said:

 

Any pictures of the difference?  Am thinking of these for the Kodiaq given we've got the Halogens rather than the LED's

I dont have any pictures of the difference no, but I can get a pic of how these new bulbs light up the road if thats any help?

[skomaz]

Only if you have time...   Might be interesting to compare to the michiba photo.

[HeavyMetalRich]

Yeah the wheels will look good with some tyres on.

[DieselMonte]

36 minutes ago, skomaz said:

Only if you have time...   Might be interesting to compare to the michiba photo.

Well I took some photos with my phone positioned on the dash, on top of the gauge cluster. In a completely unscientific test I put the front tyres on a crack between 2 slabs on the yard and aimed for a pile of dirt at the far end of the yard.

First up is just the Nightbreakers on low beam.

Second up is the nightbreakers on low beam with fogs on.

Next is the Nightbreakers only on Full beam.

Finally is the Nightbreakers on full with fogs.

Feel like I should include pictures with the fogs as thats how I (And every one else in rural ireland) drive. They do help a lot illuminating the sides of the roads, just last night they saved me twice from foxes running out on the road.

And this is just a photo with fogs only for reference.

This part of the farm had no lights on so there was no lights interfering with my "test".

 

They are a definate improvement over the normal bulbs from what I can see. The Michiba yellow bulbs are in the mk1 so next time I take it out i'll get a photo of those.

[DieselMonte]

And all 4 are painted now.

[skomaz]

Thanks for the pictures...   Those night breakers look good...   Definitely whiter and they seem to be a lot brighter than the fogs for example...   So I'm convinced!!!  Thanks!

 

Also those wheels look spot on...   You've done a great job with them looking back at how they started.

[DieselMonte]

Those fogs are yellow 3000k bulbs so yellow on purpose. Big help in bad weather. Certainly had quite a few nights where theres been seriously bad fog and I ended up relying only on the fog lights to see through it.  

But yeah the nightbreakers seem to do a great job of lighting up the road compared to the originals definately will be using them going forward.

[DieselMonte]

Had a go at adjusting the linkages on the gearbox, very easy job. Hardest part was removing the airbox and battery to get to them. Greased some bits on top of the gearbox and sprayed ptfe spray on the ball socket in the car. 

Have to say for a few hours work its made this car SO much smoother changing gears, always took a while to get into fifth gear, and reverse could be a bit of a pain too. Now it feels almost buttery smooth getting into any gear, almost exactly what I was looking for. 

On the topic of gearbox stuff, short shifter never came, complete and utter ****show with customs had it sent back to england. Got my money back anyway which has paid for another thing that should hopefully be coming next week. Hopefully. But honestly now with everything greased up and aligned I'm glad It didnt come, no need for it now.

 

I have a plan for the bushings on the cable ends. The ones on the car feel really soft and while I know some companies do make metal bushings to replace the ones on the car, I think I might be able to tighten them up a bit without spending much at all to do it. Next day i'm out I'll tear into the mk1 and see if the cable ends on it are the same as on the mk2 (they should be), I'll remove those, do a bit of work on them and swap them into this and see if it makes any difference. Can't hurt anyway.

Also, found my vRS intake was rubbing against some coolant hoses. Not too bad yet so I simply put some of that heat tape over the rub spots as a layer of protection for the hoses.

 

When I was so far in the car I checked the turbo out, feels like its in good shape still touch wood. When I did that turbo damper "mod" ages ago I cleaned out the intake hose and infront of the turbo of oil coming from the breather, and there was a fair bit of oily goop. Checked it today and there was barely any goop there to clean up. Fairly productive evening then.

[DieselMonte]

 

Next mod, rear strut brace. 

Arrived Saturday gone by but i've only gotten around to test fitting it and painting it this evening.

Test fitted it in the mk1 first to see how it fits.

Then a few coats of primer before being given 3 coats of Peugeot Cossack Grey, looks pretty good now.

Next day i'll get the boot trims off and fit the brace in place. Doubt it'll make a world of difference, but if it stops a few of the creaks in the car i'll be happy.

What has made a world of difference to my car atleast was adjusting the linkages. Nearly a week later and I still can't get over how much smoother it is changing gears now.

Edited 31 March, 2022 by DieselMonte

[AnnoyingPentium]

Let me know if this is any good. Would probably do my Mk1 some favours once I get round to doing something with the suspension. 

[DieselMonte]

4 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Let me know if this is any good. Would probably do my Mk1 some favours once I get round to doing something with the suspension. 

A rarb will do way more for a car that doesnt have it. The whiteline on mine made a massive improvement to the car especially on old standard suspension, just wish it was painted a little bit better its only on since January and the paints flaking off it already. Would keep an eye on Whitelines website though for black friday deals and what not. Might be able to get one cheap. The rarb for a fabia is a BWR19Z iirc, same for both mk1 and mk2.

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, DieselMonte said:

A rarb will do way more for a car that doesnt have it. The whiteline on mine made a massive improvement to the car especially on old standard suspension, just wish it was painted a little bit better its only on since January and the paints flaking off it already. Would keep an eye on Whitelines website though for black friday deals and what not. Might be able to get one cheap. The rarb for a fabia is a BWR19Z iirc, same for both mk1 and mk2.

 

Good idea. Depends how long I keep this Fabia for, of course. 

[DieselMonte]

Could always take the whiteline off the car and put it onto your next car if its still a fabia/polo/ibiza, if not worst case you throw it up on facebook and get most of your money back.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Just now, DieselMonte said:

Could always take the whiteline off the car and put it onto your next car if its still a fabia/polo/ibiza

 

I hadn't considered that actually. Planning on sticking with a Mk1 for as long as I can, so a RARB could be on the cards.

[DieselMonte]

Yeah they arent welded in place or anything of the sorts, only thing you actually replace on the car is the lower shock bolts which they give you longer ones. Like so:

Yesterday when I was waiting for the brace to dry between coats I went and swapped out the springs for the ones I got with the coilovers, liked the springs I had but I think they were either just too long or too stiff for the shocks so changed them.

 

But anyway, thats why I took the pic but it shows how the rarb bolts on. Only thing you "change" from the original suspension is the lower shock bolt, original ones too short to get the drop link on.

 

A strut brace is a lot more permanent as it (in my mk2s case) will require a bit of cutting out of the rear trim to fit. Again doubt it will make much difference and I'm 100% sure it wont make as big of an improvement compared to a rarb. RARBs are the go to mod in on these cars for a reason, makes them twice the car to drive.

[DieselMonte]

Fitted the rear brace last night, forgone the rear trims for now as I don't want to cut into the trim if i'm not keeping the brace. Managed to fit the rear bag hooks on their own, and thats one thing I don't want to remove as its so handy. Only thing I'd like to put back in now is the parcel shelf, not the end of the world though.

Havent noticed much difference in the car except that the creaking from the back is indeed gone, result enough for me.

 

Got tyres fitted today too, certainly looks the part and definately will be a better job for winter weather than the tyres on the car now.

Edited 28 October, 2021 by DieselMonte

[HeavyMetalRich]

What tyres have you gone for?