Figured I'd document some of the things going on with my car as it may help other or give others some inspiration or just give someone a giggle!

 

Managed to grab this one from my dad who brought it from new some 11 years ago. Apart from the first 3 years of ownership it's been regularly maintained and serviced by myself anyway so I was familiar with the car before I'd even brought it. Cars now done 54,000 after my 6 months of ownership, but from memory I believe I'd brought it at something like 41,000? (I have a fair drive to work plus I worked a driving job for 3 months to gain some funds) 

Best part about this car is it only cost me £1000, as my dad decided he'd upgrade himself to a 2015 Roomster 1.2 TSI.

 

It's absolutely poverty spec, smallest engine, no fancy extras, just the smokers pack was added on and a set of mudflaps! So far I've been messing around with getting the electric windows working properly (passenger side is fixed but for some reason the fuse keeps losing power but not blowing? And the drivers window currently only goes down) I've installed some cheap chinese radio that I got for free so I could use it's USB port as the 12v isn't working so I have no way of charging anything in the car, so figured the old dance radio could go and this would take it's place! Need to sort a lot of the body work out as there are some scrapes and a few dents around it, but overall it's a great little motor which I've decided could be turned into some low powered fun!

 

Here's some pics! 

Realistically my plans are to get the body work up to scratch and to improve the handling as much as I can, as let's face it, unless I plan on placing another engine into it, it's never going to be a rocket, and as this will be my missus' first car once she passes her test the power wouldn't be much use to her anyway apart from probably launching her into a ditch.

 

I've been nosing around quite a few posts on here looking at inspiration for what I plan on doing to make the car look how I want it to, and I'm in awe at a lot of the cars on here, and it's certainly fueled my motivation 

 

Currently the only modifications are my free radio which has questionable fitting since I couldn't find much information on making it all fit nice and flush, and some Green line alloys that I got for £60 with the tyres as I couldn't bare having steelies any longer 

 

Please, if anyone could give me some ideas/inspiration/help or to point me in the direction of cheap parts to help modify the car I'd be very grateful! Thanks for reading and hopefully more comes soon!

Had to change out the brakes today after 11 years of service! Coming to a decline and a car came around the corner at the bottom forcing me to slam on, took a good few seconds for the brakes to kick in properly after a few pumps, so figured I couldn't put it off any longer and they had to be sorted. Only took around 20 mins per side so wasn't a big job, could have been done quicker but unfortunately most of my tools are either missing or broken after having to move them around so many times 

 

Before...

 

And after!

 

For reference these are 256mm discs, mated to the FS111 calipers, research isn't too clear on whether the 256mm should be used or the 239mm, but I took a guess and the 259mm fitted perfect. I used a T45 and a T30 piece for the caliper bolts and the disc bolt respectfully (I know it's a 7mm hex, but needs must, eh?) Also, please forgive my lack of copper grease, I was in a rush with time and needed it done there and then, a lot of the older boys I've worked with would only curse the use anyway and say it'll just burn off down the road anyway. 

Great thread so far.

Cheap mod ideas:

Remove the dealer sticker from the back window

New style Skoda badges on the front and rear

Wind deflectors

Chrome indicator bulbs (gets rid of the orange tinge in the lights).

Maybe try painting or removing (if possible) the black side moulding on the doors.

Just a few inexpensive "mods" I'd do to start off with.  Look forward to updates on the project.

Great project. Sometimes the more simple cars that make better bases.

 

Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, if you're having to pump the brakes to get them to work, you might be worthwhile checking the rear drum brakes are clean and free and well adjusted. It makes such a difference to the feel of the pedal. If you do that then you'll be able to tick off being able to stop from your list of wants!

Any rarb massively improves handling on these cars, They are pretty cheap to get new but I would imagine you could find a used rarb off of a fabia/polo/ibiza being broken and buy it for this car. A htp might not be a powerhouse but that just means you can keep the throttle pegged everywhere you go, and with a rarb you can push into corners with confidence. 

A vrs intake could be a good shout too for how cheap they are, might free things up a bit. If you have a dremel you can get free up the airbox a little by removing the big flap in it, if its the same airbox my car has.

Its a weird thing to compliment but I like the look of the heater controls in your car, mine are the same as a mk1 but I think your cars look like a better job.

Cheers for all of the messages guys!

Really I'm looking to lower the car before I really do any massive style changes to the outside, as I think if I change everything too much with how it's sitting right now I feel it'll look silly. But so far my list of ideas are:

Tinted rear lights

Black headlights

Remove side mouldings

Wrap roof black

Spray grill black

Front splitter (Cupra, Laguna?)

Rear bumper with diffuser

Lower 30/40mm

Poly bush wishbones and dogbone

Rear anti roll bar

Get a 1.2 engine cover from a Polo

Sort out electric windows

Install central remote locking

Possible rear beam change to rear discs (depends on how I feel/amount of effort. Not really needed but it's just something I like to have.)

Spacers.

I've thought about the possibility of having some head work done to get a better flow, not necessary at all, more of a bragging and showy thing, but also affecting reliability is a major concern for me.

Obviously, these things are a long way off, but I feel having a plan of things that I'd like to upgrade to at least gives me aims so I don't lose direction. Handling is really the most important thing to me on this one, so that's where I'll aim!

21 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

A vrs intake could be a good shout too for how cheap they are, might free things up a bit. If you have a dremel you can get free up the airbox a little by removing the big flap in it, if its the same airbox my car has.

 

Do you mean the actual intake pipe to the manifold, or the inlet itself? If it's the inlet you're referring to it won't fit as the 1.4 is a 4 cylinder and mine is only a 3. But I'd be interested in transferring the airbox and intake pipe from a VRS if there is any gain to be had there? I wasn't aware there was much difference between them really.

On 07/04/2021 at 21:50, HeavyMetalRich said:

Great project. Sometimes the more simple cars that make better bases.

 

Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, if you're having to pump the brakes to get them to work, you might be worthwhile checking the rear drum brakes are clean and free and well adjusted. It makes such a difference to the feel of the pedal. If you do that then you'll be able to tick off being able to stop from your list of wants!

 

I'm going to look at changing the shoes later on, but luckily as I suspected the problem was coming from the front brakes, they'd done 54,000 from factory after all 

The vrs intake is the plastic pipe and piece that goes from the front of the car to the airbox, I've a picture attached to show what i'm on about.

I also have a pic of the difference between the two. And finally a pic of the deflapped airbox of mine. Theres usually a big plastic flap there and by removing it it should free things up a bit. Theres also a small drain at the bottom of the airbox and if you remove it you can get a bit of induction noise.

If you're going for a bit of power people have put 1.8t engines into mk1 fabias, cant imagine a mk2 is much different, i'm pretty sure someones put a turbo on a 1.2l recently if thats more appealing.

I happen to be doing poly wishbone bushes and ttrs balljoints on my car soon, I'll let you know how I get on. I would be careful doing the dogbone bush with a 3cyl, could be too harsh.

3 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

The vrs intake is the plastic pipe and piece that goes from the front of the car to the airbox, I've a picture attached to show what i'm on about.

I also have a pic of the difference between the two. And finally a pic of the deflapped airbox of mine. Theres usually a big plastic flap there and by removing it it should free things up a bit. Theres also a small drain at the bottom of the airbox and if you remove it you can get a bit of induction noise.

If you're going for a bit of power people have put 1.8t engines into mk1 fabias, cant imagine a mk2 is much different, i'm pretty sure someones put a turbo on a 1.2l recently if thats more appealing

 

Ah that's handy to know! I never knew that the cool air feed was any different between the models! In fairness those aren't things I've checked over though.

And it'll probably stay a lower engine unless my missus' wants a different car, if she doesn't want this one though I'll be well annoyed though as I hate having a small(ish) car 

 

And yeah man let me know how you get on with it, I've poly bushed most of my cars in fairness and never had any problems, unfortunately the last car I poly bushed (I had a diesel Leon before the Furby) wasn't a particularly great handling car anyway so I couldn't really tell the difference haha

1 hour ago, Coops164 said:

 

Ah that's handy to know! I never knew that the cool air feed was any different between the models! In fairness those aren't things I've checked over though.

And it'll probably stay a lower engine unless my missus' wants a different car, if she doesn't want this one though I'll be well annoyed though as I hate having a small(ish) car 

 

And yeah man let me know how you get on with it, I've poly bushed most of my cars in fairness and never had any problems, unfortunately the last car I poly bushed (I had a diesel Leon before the Furby) wasn't a particularly great handling car anyway so I couldn't really tell the difference haha

The vrs bits were 25 Euro when I got them. If you want it to be 100percent oem looking you need to screw it to the airbox and to the plastic deflector cause it sits just a little bit odd otherwise.

Sorry for lack of an update or replies, been busy repairing a bike and work and family and other boring stuff! Finally got my 12v working again though so that's something!  Managed to stumble on some MK1 VRS alloys for £30! Think it makes the car look much nicer! http://Fab https://imgur.com/gallery/MjbvOoE

Looking at acquiring some lowering springs to get it sitting a little nicer, anyone know how easy it is to acquire some sport/VRS springs new? Would usually go for normal lowering springs but don't fancy the cost and severe drop. Also looking for a nice splitter, any recommendations? Could really do with a new front bumper as when I was 16 I managed to crack the corner of the bumper and had to fibreglass it back, poor dad's first ever new car and his youngest breaks the bumper 

http://imgur.com/gallery/MjbvOoE

Maxton design do front splitters, side skirts and lip spoiler.

Never bought any of their stuff so cant say what the quality is but they look decent enough.

Edited 28 April, 20215 yr by WillSmithy

5 hours ago, Coops164 said:

http://imgur.com/gallery/MjbvOoE

Nice, what size tyres are they? Look meaty.

Soooo....

http://imgur.com/gallery/fKPaU0b

 

This was an absolute pig to fit  Went in with no information on how it would fit, in the end gave up trying to bond it as it just wasn't lining up anywhere and I decided that if it was going to go on then it'd have to be screwed. I'm really pleased with the end result 

Looks good, nice to see your project coming along.

In my opinion the back of a fabia is easily the worse part, so bland with no exhaust or diffuser of any kind.

I currently have a VRS one sat in my bedroom waiting to be fitted.

Yeah, it was bugging me for a while how basic the car looked, and I'd seen so many projects and such with these incredible looking furbys and I'd decided straight away that I need some kind of rear diffuser and either the sport bumper or a new splitter. Just so happens this monte one was up for cheap! And I hope it isn't as much as a pig as this one was for me! Kind of regret that I won't be able to have a tail pipe but it wouldn't really benefit mine as it moves faster in reverse anyway  

49 minutes ago, Coops164 said:

Yeah, it was bugging me for a while how basic the car looked, and I'd seen so many projects and such with these incredible looking furbys and I'd decided straight away that I need some kind of rear diffuser and either the sport bumper or a new splitter. Just so happens this monte one was up for cheap! And I hope it isn't as much as a pig as this one was for me! Kind of regret that I won't be able to have a tail pipe but it wouldn't really benefit mine as it moves faster in reverse anyway  

Can always cut the bumper for a tailpipe. Did you just put the rear diffuser on or did you change the bumper? Looks good.

I imagine you could get a spoiler off of a monte too. They just look to be put on with some sort of adhesive.

Edited 30 April, 20215 yr by DieselMonte

1 hour ago, DieselMonte said:

Can always cut the bumper for a tailpipe. Did you just put the rear diffuser on or did you change the bumper? Looks good.

I imagine you could get a spoiler off of a monte too. They just look to be put on with some sort of adhesive.

 

Yeah it was just the diffuser on it's own, took the bumper off and then worked around the best way to fit. Way too hard to fit it whilst the bumper is still on the car. And possibly in the future I might consider cutting it, depends if I could get a decent finish though really. And is the monte spoiler any different? I can never tell the difference of spoilers on the fabias!

I didn't know the Montes had a different spoiler either. You could get this one which is from the pre face-lift "sport" models.

They have a little roof spoiler on the roof looks to be the same idea as the mk1 vrs so its a very minor difference from a standard car. Unless they all come with that little 'spoiler' on the back. I could be mistaken.

Edit: Went out and took a pic of the "spoiler" on mine.

I happened to buy a sales brochure for A monte carlo on eBay last year and in the standard equipment section it says

"Black roof and Tailgate spoiler" so I imagine it is different.

Edited 1 May, 20215 yr by DieselMonte