Skoda Felicia? Mingebag motor BOUGHT

[320touring]

 

IMG_38321.JPG

 

Excuses? It was cheap and local and had plenty T&T.  There are doubtless better examples out there (though a quick trawl of how many left shown numbers are in freefall at the moment),   This being autoshite obviously I bought it and it sits as I type on the drive. Its the least pretentious and most image free car ive owned and I love it!

 

Key points:

 

Set the tappets!

2nd gear is for braking below 50mph

Lift off oversteer is available

Rear seats out = more beer in

 

looks good-enjoy

[Felly Magic]

Handling is comedic, especially when mated to Ho-lee-shit Ditchfinders. 

[320touring]

Handling is comedic, especially when mated to Ho-lee-shit Ditchfinders. 

I prefer to think of it as "challenging, yet rewarding"

 

The challenge is to get it to go round the corner- the reward is not being instantly backwards through a hedge

[vulgalour]

Put Mk2 Polo steels on to increase the handling funtimes by narrowing the track considerably.  We did this so my Polo had decent wheels before the Skoda was scrapped, the Polo still wears them and looks neat on them.

[Felly Magic]

I was once scared shitless when I was given a ride in one of the Felicia 1600CC 'kit car' rally cars at Sherburn in Elmet, when the local dealer was having the Fabia launch event

[mat_the_cat]

I used one of these for a few days when I broke down on the way to a job interview, and the recovery firm leant me one to continue my journey. It was faded red, but otherwise OK and at the time the newest thing I'd driven. Two memorable things spring to mind; the first is that I locked the keys in within 2 hours of picking it up - fortunately it was easy to get in with a loop of pallet strapping round the lock button. And secondly, my boss-to-be later told me that his "heart sank when he saw me getting out of a fucking pink Skoda". Fortunately I managed to get the job despite the first impressions...

[Czechered Flag]

Good cars these Skodas, i've owned loads over the years, reasonably reliable, economical. I've just bought this hedge find. 

 

 

Got it home and gave it a scrub, 

 

[Felly Magic]

I looked on evilbay last night, and I wouldn't touch a single one of them, they are all totally goosed in some shape or form, and most are MOT fails. One estate allegedly needing a 'rear caliper', erm drum brakes on the back ya arsecrisp. One 1.6 with severe laquer peel and no mention of a cambelt change in it's life either. I've had 4 and a half years out of this un, and probably by September it will be gone, and it will be the last Skoda I ever own. It's going to get chucked in part ex for something, probably a Mk3 Mondeo

[HMC]

As per the news 24 thread, this failed to start yesterday morning. Barely any oomph to turn it over. Following a bit battery swapping it fired up fine and has been faultless since. Maybe a duff battery/ parasitic drain/ idiot owner leaving something on? Haven't had a chance to investigate properly yet.

 

The car doesn't warm up fast, and over cools down hills, so either a stuck or missing thermostat may be to blame. When left to idle, it gradually gets warmer and the fan cuts in so all seems well otherwise.

 

Its quite a torquey little engine, keenly pulling from barely any revs and thrums away happily, though it sounds like a crude bag of spanners at idle. Timing chain thrash/ tappets I think. As has been noted, it doesn't handle particularly well, a bit tip toe, not helped by mega cheap ditch finders at each corner.

 

Despite all this, and the general air of grimness, I quite like it! Did an oil/ filter change with some 10/40 I had lying about and I'm going to have a look at the thermostat/ space where the thermostat used to be at the weekend if I get time.

[Felly Magic]

Stat jammed open, you will find the plastic clip that holds the stat in place has broken off, only solution is replace the stat housing & stat, not expensive, GSF stock em and Euro normally do too

[wuvvum]

This morning on the way into work I was sat behind a Felicia with a private plate, which I thought was a rather odd combination.

[320touring]

This morning on the way into work I was sat behind a Felicia with a private plate, which I thought was a rather winning combination.

Efa

[KruJoe]

Felly Magic in "Falls out of Love with Felicia" shocker!

[Felly Magic]

I'm getting fucked off with it tbh, it's got to that age where its time to get rid before it starts giving a weekly wallet rape, plus on long journeys its just not comfortable any more. The petrol Felatios are OK until they get to around the 100k mark, then the cheapness starts to show through, as the old pushrod lump starts to go wrong, and the gearboxes get notchy as the synchros wear out. These cars are vanishing rapidly now, and within 18 months you won't see many at all. In the last few months the ones turning up on evilbay have dropped too, you could find say 50+ every week, now it's in the 20's, and some of them have been for sale a good few months now, and are struggling to shift, and what survivors there are are a short drive from the bridge. Mine is simply going to get traded in. Its served me and the Mrs well in the 4 and a half years we've owned it, it's never broken down, but it's time to move on, plus the damn thing is not designed to cope with a nigh on 60 mile commute, it's killing it

[HMC]

Been using this as my daily, starts on the button after I bunged a spare battery I had lying around on it. I had suspected the voltage regulator bit of the alternator was playing up (not uncommon on these apparently ) but its been fine.

 

Thanks to felly magic's recommendation I got a thermostat complete with housing and temperature sensor as a sub assembly from GSF for about £25 and flushed through with new coolant whilst I was as it. Now it warms up speedily and Sits midway on the gauge and all is well. Actually the rad seems to have a weep at the base but they are something like £15 new so not a problem. Parts do seem nice and cheap, but I get the sense that skoda's parent company isn't that keen on keeping any ties with anything that whiffs of the old days so there's no interest in maintaining the parts side from them long term I suspect.

 

Was out in Plymouth this avo, and ended up finding a space next to a Czech registered Fabia of all things...

 

[Felly Magic]

Told ya it'd be the stat housing. Mine did exactly the same.  

[Lacquer Peel]

"Told you so."

[skoda_norman]

Voltage regulator can fail but it is an easy fix. I changed mine not so long ago but can't remember how much I paid for it.

 

ECU issues are caused by water ingress if memory serves me correctly.

 

Most, if not all jobs, are simple with plenty of room in the engine bay; particularly on the 1300 examples.

 

For parts may I recommend Skoparts International? An enthusiast run business sourcing parts directly from Czech. A life saver for those of us plagued by Skoda ownership!

 

For like minded people, look no further than the Skoda Owners' Club GB (www.skoda-owners-club.org.uk) with a cracking magazine edited by yours truely

 

I've attached a picture of mine. It's a base spec, 54bhp jobbie which we bought last year with a lowly 45k miles on the clock. In the past year it has covered 16,000 trouble free miles with minimal outlay. Despite the naysayers I've had no issues with head gaskets or cooling (quite a revelation coming from rear engined skodas!). The comical handling was never short of grip I found and bestowed it with a surprising ability to go anywhere. I've since swapped for some Gaz shocks and the body roll is now much improved now with no sacrifice of ground clearance.

It's a rubbish car but it is also entirely loveable. Personally I find it has a surprising level of character and always brings a smile to my face as I pilot it down the local lanes scaring other road users. As has been touched on, I don't think you can get a much less pretentious car too. Indeed, people's reaction to our's has served as a good judgment of character.

I've just bought another one after a drunken ebay splurge which dollywobbler has stupidly agreed to help collect!

 

 

 

It says something about its dependability that I don't have any standalone pictures of it. It's a reliable and trustworthy old thing.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. Next week's Felicia Spectacular road trip should be interesting. 

[warren t claim]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/19/sheffield-family-sofa-car-fail_n_5690454.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

 

Sofa so good.

[HMC]

I've been feeling quite charitable toward this old Skoda. Its demanded little except pez, which with the last tank it was sipping at 44mpg. For what it is I think that's not bad. The engine is a good summation of the car really. A clattery, old tech pushrod 4 with a non tensioned timing chain ( hence the extra layer of noise- soon enough even a newly replaced chain will pipe up) yet with vw funded Siemens MPI piggy backed on top.

 

I've replaced the dead heater blower and wasn't quite ready for the ferocity of the heater. It may say something about Eastern European winters, the system is, with the fixed 'stat, the most immediate and hottest I've ever had on a car.

 

It could do with a set of shocks but for now the to do list has been ticked and its plodding on happily.

[dollywobbler]

Good stuff. Sadly the Big Skoda Roadtrip has been postponed, so I'll have to wait for my own Felicia moment.

[skoda_norman]

Glad to hear it is treating you well.

[Felly Magic]

You have to be very wary of some parts sourced from the Czech Republic though, the shyster Jorily sourced from there, and more often than not, they were 'seconds' in his case. A lot of parts were 'lost' thanks to VW's policy on stocking parts for older cars,and nearly all the old dealers have gone too sadly, but if you can find one of the ex franchise garages, they can often be very helpful, and may even have the bits you need on the shelf.

 

And I see you've now experienced the blast furnace that is a Felicia heater, with the setting of hot, even hotter and 'fuck me am I on the surface of the sun?' That's a good sign all is well with the engine. Timing chains do start to rattle quite loudly from anything past 80k, water pump housings do corrode too, and as I've already said, on PAS fitted cars this is a bastard of a job. 

[320touring]

Re the suspension..

 

My bro's had an issue on the rear where the spring seat on the strut rusted through so the spring dropped.

 

Apart from a gangsta stancings, 33 quid a side saw replacements fitted