Never actually made a post like this before but here we are. Anyway, as the title suggests, I want to do some wee odds and ends to my Fabia just to make it... erm, great? I mean, better would be a good start. Throughout this project thread, I'll be documenting all the things I've done to my Fabia to make it "great again"!

 

This tale begins late February/early March. At this point, I needed a motor vehicle of some description as I couldn't stand driving my Mum's Dacia Duster anymore (was like driving a tower block). As a learner, it was really intimidating. So the pair of us decided it was best if I were to purchase a car for myself, I frantically scrolled through Auto Trader looking for something, most of my results were clapped out Yarises (Yarii???) and Citroen C1s. Now, there's not a fibre of my being that'd want to be in a C1 or a K12 Micra for that matter. I had a budget of £2,500 and it needed to be within 45 miles of my house because I couldn't be bothered travelling too far. I came across two Fabias, both about the same age, same trim, about the same mileage but almost £500 of a difference. I decided to go for the cheaper one, plus it was red over beige and looked better in the interior since the red one was all black on the inside.

 

So here it is, my '56' plate Skoda Fabia 1.2 HTP Ambiente with the BME engine code and 51,000 miles.

 

 

Here's a view of the dashboard from a few days after I got it.

 

 

When I received the car, it drove home perfectly for 40 miles and then by the time I got to the Halfords car park and went to reverse into a space, the damned thing started bleeping and then wouldn't start for a good few minutes.

 

This took me about a week to fix after plugging in OBD readers, taking a Jeremy Clarkson approach "hammer" to fixing things and then my Grandfather (an ex-motor mechanic) finally piped up and said "have you checked the ground connectors from the battery in the body?" And therein laid the fault, the ground connector was really dirty.

 

Since then, it's just been adding wee bits to the car and looking after it. Currently waiting for a pipe so I can remove the oil from the sump to replace it with my fancy Mobil 1 stuff I've ordered. More things that I fit will be posted here... should I remember to update this .

Edited 18 December, 20213 yr by AnnoyingPentium
Title Change.

Just to actually bring an update to "today" - or yesterday, actually. I have fitted a new Kenwood KDC-BT640U to it and it sounds so much better since my old one was skipping like no-ones business.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

(Yes, the CDs have changed too, but here we are)

 

 

Additionally, I decided to pull out my magic T-Cut stuff. Which my Grandfather also used on his polar white Dacia Sandero Stepway and had to scrub it off really quickly!

 

 

The car now looks a bit like this:

 

Love a Cayenne Metallic Orange car, best colour offered in my (biased) opinion.

43 minutes ago, DieselMonte said:

Love a Cayenne Metallic Orange car

 

I don't believe my camera picks it up well, but this one isn't actually the Cayenne Orange, mine is 'Flamenco Red' which I discovered after being on the phone to a guy from Skoda when trying to find paint codes... Without knowing about the sticker beside the spare wheel well, I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed on a telephone call in my life .

 

I did look at a Cayenne Orange 1.2 54bhp model from 2003/04 or so, but it was a little far away from me.

Looks nice and tidy

6 minutes ago, TMB said:

Looks nice and tidy

 

Thank you! It was really mint beside some stupid scratches in stupid places 

Just now, AnnoyingPentium said:

 

Thank you! It was really mint beside some stupid scratches in stupid places 

 

Haha

 

Mine used to be owned by an Asda worker, so it has a few trolley scratches from the car park. They are not too bad though.

6 minutes ago, TMB said:

Mine used to be owned by an Asda worker, so it has a few trolley scratches from the car park. They are not too bad though.

 

Mine belonged to an older fellow who wasn't that great at manoeuvring, as can be seen from one of my wheel trims!

 

 

Otherwise, I do think someone had a grudge against one of the other owners perhaps... This cracker is above the tailgate

 

 

This one at the bottom of the glass...

 

And also this one in front of the driver's headlight

 

 

I'll snap a couple more in the other places should it be sunny tomorrow, not holding out too much hope though haha!

Edited 16 April, 20214 yr by AnnoyingPentium

Yeah, there's always a few battle scars on an old car.

Been a wee while since I last updated this, but I haven't really done too much with the car besides driving it! 

 

I did change the oil using one of those electric pump thingies* last weekend since it was so sunny. I'd attach the small video on here directly, but uploading it to YouTube will do.

 

*This is my best method since I don't really have the driveway space to jack the car up or anything of the sort.

 

 

I have returned yet again, this time with some very nice things fitted to my little Fabia!

 

A drunken purchase of some wind deflectors at £37.45 and some nice wee wheel trims at £16. Car is looking sweet and got a decent run from my house to my Grampa's today (about 80 miles all in) with a spirited drive along some B-roads either way!

 

 

 

Edited 27 September, 20213 yr by AnnoyingPentium
Fixed images.

Another little update for the red nugget. Got some new brake discs and pads fitted (Eicher brand, got them in ECP's sale) after having to exchange the set that I had ordered as we sent for 256(?)mm instead of 239mm which is what the car takes. Also had to get the set of bolts for the callipers as the ones there we rusted and in terrible condition (rounded a couple off trying to get them out). Overall, braking is a lot more effective compared to the way it was before!

 

Here's a pic of the brake discs and pads that came off of one side of the car:

 

Also gave the car a little scrub up... only for the House martins that are nesting on the side of my house to perform target practice on the car about 10 minutes later...

 

Edited 27 September, 20213 yr by AnnoyingPentium
Photographs replaced.

Well, it hasn't died quite yet. Had to get my drivers side wheel bearing on the front replaced since it was getting really bad. Car is now running sweet as a nut as before!

 

Next things on the list are:

• Get air-conditioning serviced.
• Look at replacing the gas struts on the boot. This will be a home job but isn't a necessity right now.
• Look after it.

And that's about it for now!

Well, here's all of the fabulous things I have done to the car since the last post:

 

• nothing.
• absolutely nothing.

 

The car is as it was, except with more fuel and in need of a wash. Snapped this pic today when it finally dried up at a wee bit near me!

 

 

Also, I am aware of the fact that some of the photos are broken, it won't let me edit the posts to include them as the issue has been rectified on my website. Photographs have been fixed.

Edited 27 September, 20213 yr by AnnoyingPentium

What brand are those wind deflectors? Team Hekos?

Just now, DieselMonte said:

What brand are those wind deflectors? Team Hekos?

 

Yep, got it in one! Bought them off of the 'net for just shy of £38. I reckon they smarten it up a bit. 

Well, it's time for an update I think!

First of all, I passed my driving test! So now insurance is a little bit more expensive than before! Secondly, the wee red nugget is still going as strong as before!

 

Managed to average 50.4mpg on it somehow. I'm highly doubtful of that figure but here we are.

 

 

And a little snap of the car itself.

 

 

Unless you're hard of sight or just genuinely unobservant, you'll notice the plastic wheel trims are gone! This is because I have a set of Sport/Bohemia alloys going on it tomorrow hopefully since they were declared on my new policy!

 

I shall post a photo with the alloys soon.

Well done on the test. 

Also glad it's running well, and efficiently for you. 

7 hours ago, Wino said:

Well done on the test. 

 

Thank you very much!

Well, the car now has a set of tyres to compliment the lovely alloys which have been lying in my loft for the past 5 or so months. 

 

From the front:

 

 

And the back:

 

 

I don't have anything else planned for it quite yet as I'm happy with it as it is... for now. There's no centre cap on one of the alloys and the rest are missing their Skoda emblems so I have sent away for a set that'll arrive sometime next month apparently. I managed to procure a set of locking wheel nuts from my local TMS branch so that I don't have to sit beside the car at night! 

Those wheels really suit the car, wise choice!

 

 

I've ordered 2 sets of caps for both my fabias, coming from China so probably wont get them for a while! The spyders I picked up were missing the caps and the original ones on my monte are pretty poorly. Don't be like me and get stick one ones, they were great for about 4 months and then they slowly came off one by one. Heard one of them shoot off the car at 60!

 

4 hours ago, Lofty said:

Those wheels really suit the car, wise choice!

 

Thank you! I was aiming for a set of the 14" 5 spoke ones from certain Elegance spec (ideally pre-facelift) models but there weren't any local or on eBay at the time, but these do the trick!

 

3 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

I've ordered 2 sets of caps for both my fabias, coming from China so probably wont get them for a while!

That's exactly what I did, I grudged paying £20 for tatty ones pinched off a set of alloys off of eBay but Amazon were advertising these ones from China for just shy of a tenner so I bought 'em.

 

3 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

Heard one of them shoot off the car at 60!

Sounds pretty scary if you ask me!

Must have been for the car behind me 

Heard a PING coming from the car, got home to find one of the caps gone. Wasnt hard to figure out what happened 

Recently decided to fix a little thing that had been niggling away at me for months, the stereo didn't fit right and I accidentally left a CD in the factory one. 

 

It now looks a bit better since the adaptor bracket now fits without jutting out quite as much.

 

 

Next is going to be repairing the gouge in the passenger mirror, fitting the alloy centre caps, and begin to repair tired suspension parts. Watch this space...