Small but important update here, 

Got the chassis straight finally.

All of the panel beaters around me either didn't want the work or kept pushing me off so got sick of it. Some heat, some hammering,  a very large pole and a very thick chain got it straight enough to have all the holes line up.

Leg itself isnt perfect but i cant be too picky. Much better than what it was and its not like i intend on selling this on ever.

Radiator in it started leaking today too, hardly matters now as I've got plenty spare.

Now the real work can begin it seems.

Wonderful! Glad to see some progress on this one.

Chipping away bit by bit. Pulled the front end off.

Removed the downpipe

Then set about freeing the subframe from the car

And finally the engine

It's sitting on a pallet now

It's completely free from the car but the coilovers are getting caught up and that's not letting me pull it all out.

Will pull them off next day and see what I've left to do

Is that this becoming a vRSDI-come-slightly irregular vRS? If so, I'm all for it!

31 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Is that this becoming a vRSDI-come-slightly irregular vRS? If so, I'm all for it!

Hopefully. 

Still debating whether or not to do the full vrs kit if the time comes.

See the likes of techies car and it looks amazing.

But I think the prefacelift front might suit this car better, especially all polished up. Set it at a decent height on the right wheels and such.

Keep to a more sleeper ish aesthetic. Seen on a thread here where someone darkened out some frame inside the lights so I'm considering splitting a set to do that, maybe paint the chrome grille surround a gunmetal colour. Keep it looking standard but with a few touches to set it apart.

 

Lord knows I have plenty of parts so I can do either option or both.

2 minutes ago, DieselMonte said:

Hopefully. 

Still debating whether or not to do the full vrs kit if the time comes.

See the likes of techies car and it looks amazing.

But I think the prefacelift front might suit this car better, especially all polished up. Set it at a decent height on the right wheels and such.

Keep to a more sleeper ish aesthetic. Seen on a thread here where someone darkened out some frame inside the lights so I'm considering splitting a set to do that, maybe paint the chrome grille surround a gunmetal colour. Keep it looking standard but with a few touches to set it apart.

 

Lord knows I have plenty of parts so I can do either option or both.

 

Could always do what @@Lee did with his PD100 and try and get a hold of a GT lip for the pre-facelift bumper? That's what I had intended to do with mine.

 

 

But regardless, it'd look pretty smart going for the Q-Car/Sleeper look, could catch a few folk out. Don a trilby, tweed jacket and some other stuff and you'll scare the sh!t out of the backwards bunnet folk in their BMWs.

5 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

 

Could always do what @@Lee did with his PD100 and try and get a hold of a GT lip for the pre-facelift bumper? That's what I had intended to do with mine.

 

/cdn-cgi/mirage/05c3525a90321d59cefcfd1d7d8b16342ded89941d84847b55ddf1a03d7b4eaa/1280/https://www.briskoda.net/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_02/AE53BXX.thumb.JPG.d062d99877dc63a00f8426b83d6dc0b1.JPG

 

But regardless, it'd look pretty smart going for the Q-Car/Sleeper look, could catch a few folk out. Don a trilby, tweed jacket and some other stuff and you'll scare the sh!t out of the backwards bunnet folk in their BMWs. /cdn-cgi/mirage/05c3525a90321d59cefcfd1d7d8b16342ded89941d84847b55ddf1a03d7b4eaa/1280/https://www.briskoda.net/forums/uploads/emoticons/emoticon-0102-bigsmile.gif

 

Still the best car I've ever owned tbh. That pic is from my poor rattle can attempt if I remember right. The professional job was much better. GT lips are like rocking horse **** and have been for a long time now. It was a genuine Skoda body part. 

 

Oh, and it was a PD 154.5 if you don't mind 😝

3 minutes ago, @Lee said:

GT lips are like rocking horse **** and have been for a long time now. It was a genuine Skoda body part. 

 

Oh yes tell me about it! I'm at the point where I'll buy a car just to get the bumper off it, I should have went for that ropey auld thing I came across a little while back.

 

4 minutes ago, @Lee said:

Oh, and it was a PD 154.5 if you don't mind 😝

 

That's me telt. 155 (we'll round up) is bloody decent out of that engine too. My wee trailer wouldn't know what had hit it if I'd had something like that towing it.

1 minute ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

 

Oh yes tell me about it! I'm at the point where I'll buy a car just to get the bumper off it, I should have went for that ropey auld thing I came across a little while back.

 

 

That's me telt. 155 (we'll round up) is bloody decent out of that engine too. My wee trailer wouldn't know what had hit it if I'd had something like that towing it. /cdn-cgi/mirage/05c3525a90321d59cefcfd1d7d8b16342ded89941d84847b55ddf1a03d7b4eaa/1280/https://www.briskoda.net/forums/uploads/emoticons/emoticon-0102-bigsmile.gif

Aye the old fella was quick alright. Plenty of torque as well. Saw a couple of red faced Porsche Boxster owners faces at the traffic lights GP 🤣

There was a fabia gt on marketplace not too long ago. Would love to have the whole gt kit that includes the little fender flares. Like a body coloured monte

2 minutes ago, @Lee said:

Aye the old fella was quick alright. Plenty of torque as well. Saw a couple of red faced Porsche Boxster owners faces at the traffic lights GP 🤣

 

Not managed that quite yet... just caught out an Insignia diesel that was in the wrong lane. Those 1.2 HTPs are grand until you get beyond third gear.

Engines out

Started disassembling the vrs and noticed oil seeping around the exhaust, and from the looks of it it's recent.

So maybe that rebuilt turbos gone bust already, fun

 

Now I think I know where I'm coming when I want a 2.slow dropped into my Fabia.

Been pretty cold of late so I've not been able to do much. But the weather is warming up slightly so I can work on my stuff without freezing.

Both cars are basically stripped inside now.

The sdi a little more so than the vrs

Then set about getting the pd lump out of the vrs.

Was done an hour or so at a time until this evening

Engines officially out, was a lot more stuff on this engine than the sdi, air con, extra wires etc.

Sat next to each other

From here it'll be swapping bits in the engine bays over and ofcourse the wiring behind the dash. If I want to make the air con work (and I do) ill have to rip everything out of the vrs it seems. Looks like the vrs had a new blower motor put on at some point and an air con condensor too. Both genuine VW bits to boot.

If I could have the engine in by the end of the month it would be brilliant.

It won't happen, but I can hope

The sdi is now completely stripped of its wiring looms, engine bay and body loom.

Need to remove brake lines next, Imagine I'll have to buy some new lines but AFAIK they'll be available from the dealers.

Left the wiring in the doors in as I don't think I'll need to change them. If I need to I will but both cars have crank rear windows and such so should be the same.

Stuff removed from its taking up more space than the car itself now.

Also took the turbo off the vrs to check why it was passing oil.

No play in it and everything seems OK. Guessing the return line was the issue. Will get a new return pipe and gasket.

 

Atleast I should have plenty of parts to sell afterwards which should cover some of the cost. Although I'm still not much into this. 

Still cheaper (so far) than buying a nice vrs let alone importing one so I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

Vrs engine loom out and ready to go in after some cleaning. 

Struggling a bit with this connector for an ac pipe but I think I've a solution figured out to do next day

Spent some time on the justy this evening but still made some progress.

Cleaned the bay down, which It desperately needed. Blew out all the crevices (which made a mess)

Then primed some dodgy areas with rubbed through paint

And used a spray can of cayenne metallic to spray it in.

If you don't look too hard it looks all the same colour and it should prevent any rust from forming. Be hidden behind wiring and piping soon enough so just needed to be presentable.

As much as I want to do some huge strip down and respray of the bay, and make everything look better than new. I'd end up chasing my tail and it'd sit for another 5 years.

Have the engine loom in place now too.

Small steps

Dash and carpets are now out of the vrs

Noticed the wiring on the fuel pumps are different. Might be able to just swap the tops but might swap the entire tank, not sure.

Kind of crazy how dirty the sdi is inside as a result of being a farm car for so long.

I seem to remember that there isn't a pump in the sdi tank, just a level sender?

Hope I'm not making that up.

If you'll have any black headlining or that going spare I'm sure I can book ferry tickets...

1 hour ago, Breezy_Pete said:

I seem to remember that there isn't a pump in the sdi tank, just a level sender?

Hope I'm not making that up.

I well believe it, it would explain the different wiring.

Whether that's attached to the top or its fitted to the tank I've no clue. Would be very stupid if it wasn't just attached to the tank.

I'm hoping whatever happens I can reuse the fuel lines on the sdi.

The vrs has a very rough looking fuel cooler, and the way its positioned is just asking for something to shoot up and bust it. 

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

If you'll have any black headlining or that going spare I'm sure I can book ferry tickets...

I intend on repurposing the black trim and headlining into the sdi.

Funny enough I bought some black dye to dye all of the carpets and such. It's good stuff but very strong.

Will probably still use it to make everything a slightly darker black.

I think it'll look great in my car with the sport (bohemia(?)) seats and door cards I already have.

 

Tell you what though, I've noticed more and more bits of extra sound deadening on the vrs compared to the sdi. It all looks factory.

Whether it's a spec thing or a year thing I don't know. 

Almost everything out.

Only thing that needs to come out is the wiring for the dome light.

Pile of parts grows bigger again

Wiring loom is fully out of the vrs now

Came across another obstacle in that the bulkhead is different, it doesn't have the hole for ac. Seems like it's removable so I'll swap it over at some point. Just more work.

Also got a new return line

And 312mm carriers

So of course I've started stripping down the brakes.

Plenty of life left in them clearly.

Stripped away at the vrs subframe, drivers console came out like butter, passengers side though...

It did not want to play ball.

And in typical fabia fashion, the bolts snapped. Atleast it snapped in a way I could separated it from the subframe.

Ill reuse the vrs subframe as it still has the nut for the dogbone welded on, and the drivers console too. I'll use the sdis passengers console and just cut a notch in it for the 6 speed. So may as well use the PSB consoles now for the sake of it.

And left some stuff to soak in vinegar for the last day or two. Took the carriers out and got to work on them.

Now sitting primed ready for paint.

The bolts for the Heatshields on the vrs hubs are very corroded so not sure how I'll get them out. May end up running no heatshields in the end, not ideal.

Engine bay and inside is stripped bare so taking on removing the seam sealer from the bulkhead.

It's not coming out easy. Will take a long time to chip away at it enough to remove the bulkhead.