That beige Polonez: EUROTRIP 2014

[theorganist]

Excellent news!

 

For some reason the most exciting thing I found about registering an import was wondering what registration number I was going to get!!

[SambaS]

Aye, I just found it more stress than owt as it's the first time I've done it, so when told it would take 48 hours by the man at DVLA Swansea I took his word for it! Took at week. And my insurance company were on at me threatening to cancel my policy if I didn't get the reg to them, and the woman in local office seem to hint i was in some kind of trouble with Customs! Anyway, maybe now I can chill and enjoy the FSO.

 

I might add driving it reminds me of just what a wonderful car my Lada Riva was, comparatively speaking the Lada was an agile, responsive, FAST car

 

I'm really not surprised there are so few left.

[SambaS]

Was driving it with Clarkson in my head repeating Marlon Brando...... "the horror!"

[eddyramrod]

Great news! Proof that someone cares for these old things, may it serve you well.

[SambaS]

it wont idle with choke off and its not the jets and it needs a good rev at junctions or it wont set off sell them all buy an anonymous new car ):

[dollywobbler]

Could just be the ignition timing off? If it's too retarded, it won't idle and will struggle at low revs.

[SambaS]

It's very lumpy and hesitant with choke off. Discovered warm air feed to air filter housing was disconnected and something else. This didn't remedy the problem. Youd think the main jet was blocked

[dollywobbler]

Possibly, but poor running is more often ignition than fuel, so I'd start there. Just recall my old Mk2 Fiesta getting so out of tune that I had to use the choke to keep it running at junctions. Until the local garage mentioned ignition timing. I twisted the dizzy a bit and it was fine. (T'was my first car, so it was all guesswork!)

 

Could also be that the mixture is too weak. Have you got the emissions from the MOT?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I would just go round it checking the usual guff, plugs + points clean and gapped, then the timing, fuel supply OK (any shite in the tank etc), general condition of ignition bits etc. If the main jet was blocked it would be un- or barely- driveable.

 

Good work on getting it on the road anyway, don’t you think the DVLA service is pretty good? OK they screw up fairly often on their SORN declarations etc but when you can walk into their office having bought a Polish-registered car (from a defunct manufacturer) out of a scrapyard and within a few days be driving it around 100% legally thats something to admire i think. I don’t think you could do that anywhere else in Europe.

[Lankytim]

I seem to remember that FSO used balance weights in the dizzy to control the advance/retard. These always seem to stick or go funny, they also act as a rev-limiter as when they swing out at high revs they earth against the side of the dizzy and cut the ignition. Worth checking?

 

IIRC These wanky FSO dizzys can be replaced with one from Mk2 Ford Fiesta with a bit of bodging.

[SambaS]

DVLA, all they needed to do was be a bit clearer how long things would take. I guess it was ok. And I'll check a few things over the coming weeks, its got electronic ignition so no points? With choke out you get a sudden boost of power and responsiveness, I wish my skills went as far to be confident at checking timing!

[SambaS]

twist dizzy until it sounds better, I can do that i guess. And i can check plugs to a point but have no feeler guages

[dollywobbler]

Just pull the plugs out and have a look at them. They should be sort of brown and healthy looking. I wouldn't worry too much about the gap. If you're playing 'guess the ignition timing,' make sure you don't go too far. If it starts pinking (a light rattling sound) under load, it's too advanced and is firing before the piston has got to the top of its travel. Not good for engines. The joy of shite is that you tend to find out how engines work very quickly!

[SambaS]

Aye, I've done some things like headgasket on my Escort, my dad and me did timing on my Jimp with a strobe but thats since broke. And i forget anyway. That said. FSO hasn't skipped a beat all day!

[SambaS]

[M'coli]

Get in...!!!!

[SambaS]

Oh yes! Been pottering about in it all day, its great!

[skoda_fan]

Congrats and well done for getting her on the road

[SambaS]

Thanks! A good valet is on the agenda tomorrow. Although i quite like it in matt beige i guess it deserves a good polish

[SambaS]

The V5 came today, so that's the end of the saga. Can just enjoy it now. Had it on the A1 yesterday, she's a top speed of 138km/h or 85pounds and pence. And I had a Polish man follow me to petrol station for a pic on Saturday, and 2 Polish lads out the pub sat on the bonnet getting a picture taken on the night

[eddyramrod]

That's great, isn't it! It's like they can't believe anyone outside their homeland would/can appreciate what they think of as just a crappy old shed. I've had similar reactions from Americans with my American autos.

[YugoLada]

Well done for getting it on the road

[SambaS]

I managed to fix the daft handbrake problem today. Took the plastic trim off to get a better look. There was a bar linking it to the cable underneath the car that I removed, in doing so the handbrake pulled up near verticle. I thought to myself that will be a bastard to put back on.

[SambaS]

Tadaa! I wont be unscrewing that f*cker again in a hurry!

[SambaS]

Oh, and to add insult to injury. That bar was a TOTAL BASTARD to get back in

[SambaS]

And a problem that reared it's head just as I was about to set off for MOT and hasn't bothered me since has reappeared. The car keeps immobilising itself. It is this block connector at fault or one of the many wires:

[SambaS]

Other miscellaneous problems are: strange rattle from behind dashboard, sounds just like a tired rattly fan bearing. But no fans on. Windscreen that keeps misting up and a gutless heater blower - hmm. And 2 tyres that go flat over 48 hours or a week respective. Old tyres had inner tubes, new old tyres dont. I have 4 cars with this problem and an old foot pump only.

[M'coli]

IIRC, some Lada rims were tube-type only - could the FSO have similar rims?

[SambaS]

Quite possible, both garages I used had trouble fitting the valves, saying that the rear stay up and they were done by my garage of choice. T'uvers were done by my most local garage :/

[CYANIDE STEVE]

Just joined this great forum and was so pleased to see someone had rescued an Fso!

I've had 4 of them in the past including a 125p in which I stuck a 2 litre twin cam fiat 131 engine and box.

I reluctantly sold it after a year and a half, then 2 weeks later the new owner wrapped it round a tree!!

I only sold that particular one as I had the oppertunity to buy a brand new polonez prima (top of the range) for £3500 as I was then working for an fso dealership at the time in 1990. I had that one for 5 years and covered over 100'000 miles in it. I also sold that one to a friend who then seized the engine as he couldn't be bothered to change the leaking waterpump and let it run out of water. Theres still a place in my heart for these great quirky cars!