Hi.

Thanks for letting me join. My first Skoda was a 1000mb mk2 bought in 1974, after that I had virtually every model till my last a 1997 Felicia L. I was a member of the SOC for years and won a holiday to CZ in 1980 given by Cedok. I did loads with Skoda back in the day. Marriage and kids came in the way and TBH I didn't particularly like the VW influence.

I have just bought a very cheap 2015 Octavia 1.6Tdi from my neighbour, very cheaply, an ex private hire Taxi which has the oil pump belt break at 196,500 miles, there is some slight big end noise when hot and I'm going to set about fixing it. At 71 I suppose I'm daft but why not?

Kind regards

Trevor MM0KJJ

Hello Trevor

Good luck with the fixing up 👍 At ten years younger than you, my inclination to scrabble around under cars has all but evaporated, so in that sense I admire your daftness!

Gaz

Hi, welcome Trevor.

Er, yes, you might be daft, but hopefully at least it'll keep you out of trouble. 😁

My Skoda ownership only goes back to 1985 and like you I wasn't a fan of the VW style of corporate Dealerships getting rid of the friendly helpful small back street Škoda Dealerships and the car quality actually went down when VW fully took over. Other than perhaps a Golf GTi Mk1 I've never been a VW fan, or German marques generally.

I don't know if you saw there's a 'Classic Škoda' section of Briskoda where your knowledge and experience could be very helpful indeed. Only yesterday I was asked if the head bolts need changing with the head gasket (on a 135 engine IIRC) and as I didn't know for sure I didn't want to guess and now I have to search the threads and posts there to confirm what I guess.

'Classic Škoda' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/173-classic-%C5%A1koda/

In the mid-80s the(friendly and helpful back street ) Škoda Dealership lent me their "flagship of the fleet" Mk1 105 Estelle which they told me they couldn't kill and it's wiliness made up for it's lack of speed but boy was it's steering heavy compared to the Mk2(s) I had.

All the best, Nigel.

Hi Nigel.

No the head bolts on the 135 are not stretch types. From memory not even final angle tightening, mind you I'll check for you to be 100% sure.

It's a long time since I've had a head off an OHV Skoda 🤓

Thanks I didn't think they would be but if I ever knew very little I forget and am unsure now and this final angle torque stuff is too new and VW (German marques?) to me.

I used to like helping those new to "classic" over-priced and over-valued old cars that were 60s and 70s MGs as I used them as dailies, until 3 years ago for 16 years my one and only daily car was a 1973 MG Midget, as I was at a beginners level of mechanics but had decades of experiences and latterly forced into doing some work myself as I found I had to correct the work I'd paid others to do and as some jobs I could do it better only because I cared a bit more and wasn't out to rip myself off.

I used to have lots of notes, mainly for application to those types of cars but they could be applied generally but I deleted them when I changed computer just after selling the Midget.

The new subscribers to the Classic Škoda forums tend now to be new to old cars and their repairs, servicing and maintenance just when the old-hand regulars have drifted away.

When I owned my three Estelle 2s in the mid-80s to early 90s, and my wife had a Favorit, they were new cars under 2 years warranty (1 for BL and other makes) so the helpful and friendly back-street Škoda Dealership looked after them, and VW had barely took over.