Felly Fav and Trum. *Wanna see a fupped engine?**

[Yoss]

40 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

dare I suggest the title can now be changed from "wanna see a fupped gearbox?" to "wanna see a fupped engine?"?

 

thats pretty Awesome how you can get whole big parts like new and complete heads for the engine still, I wonder how many of those they sell in a year! and of course Awesome work on getting it rebuilt, its always very interesting to see the insides of engines like this and see how everyone did things in their own way etc  

Changing the title would be a good idea but I've just been back to page 1 where there used to be an option to change things and it doesn't seem to be there. Have things changed or am I missing something?

I don't know how many new heads they sell but to be able to sell them for under £200 (it was €227) they must have made quite a lot. It looks like you can get all the moving parts except the crankshaft, I think you'd have to get that reground. 

There's still a lot of things that aren't available but maybe they'll get more stuff reproduced as time goes on. It is, always the first place I go if I need something out of the ordinary. 

[Rust Collector]

23 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Changing the title would be a good idea but I've just been back to page 1 where there used to be an option to change things and it doesn't seem to be there. Have things changed or am I missing something?

If you edit your first post, then it should let you edit the title within the editor.

[Yoss]

12 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

If you edit your first post, then it should let you edit the title within the editor.

That worked, title amended. It's been so long since I changed it, I'd forgotten that bit. Cheers. 

[LightBulbFun]

17 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

If you edit your first post, then it should let you edit the title within the editor.

3 minutes ago, Yoss said:

That worked, title amended. It's been so long since I changed it, I'd forgotten that bit. Cheers. 

also if you go to any page in your thread and click and hold on the title it will let you edit it, like so 

 

[Yoss]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

also if you go to any page in your thread and click and hold on the title it will let you edit it, like so 

 

That doesn't seem to work on my phone but it doesn't matter, it's sorted now. Thanks anyway. 

[wesacosa]

Top work @Yoss , and great news that the heads are available given the tendency to pop head gaskets and to corrode

 

[Yoss]

14 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

Top work @Yoss , and great news that the heads are available given the tendency to pop head gaskets and to corrode

 

Yes, the underside of my old head is quite pitted. One of the reasons I decided to splash out on the new one, not just the damage from the nut. 

So following on from yesterday, a quick investigation revealed that number 3 did indeed have its con rod on the wrong way round. I'm no engineer but to look at it it looks completely symmetrical, both from the front and the side. And yet once I turned it round the engine felt exactly as it should, whilst the wrong way round the crankshaft was seized solid. Even with a breaker bar on the pulley it wouldn't budge in the slightest. So it obviously isn't symmetrical. 

This is a view I've been getting very used to the last few weeks. Lying flat on my back looking up into the crankcase. 

I spent a good while cleaning it all out as best I could. Same goes for the sump which was full of gunk. Obviously some dirt will be left behind. Inevitable trying to rebuild an engine in a garage without removing it from the car. It's for this reason that I haven't changed the oil filter. The plan once it is finished is to run it for a very short time with the cheapest new oil and the old filter to catch and crap that has been left, then put in some decent oil and a new filter. 

 

Again I spent a lot of time and rags cleaning out the sump until it looks like this. I think someone has been rallying in it in a previous life but I've checked it over and it looks sound despite the gouges. Even the sump plug has had a corner worn flat. 

 

I use Wellseal for gasket joints rather than any silicone sealant, it's far superior. It never totally sets and is harmless if any gets in to the oil. After few minutes it is also tacky enough to hold the gasket in place which is handy as it takes a bit of manoeuvring to get the sump up in to place. Of course I doubt Škoda ever intended it to be removed with the engine still in the car, it's just a happy coincidence that you can. 

Gasket in place. 

Then another coat of Wellseal before lifting in to place. 

At the end of play today I had all but one of the sump bolts in. There is one that has an inner CV joint underneath it. It came out with the help of gravity but getting the thread to catch whilst lying underneath with an arm wrapped around a driveshaft was proving problematic. So that can wait until tomorrow when I might have more patience. The other 15 are in place so it's not going to leak anyway.

But once that's done I think I will have finished crawling around on my back with a torch. Everything else is on top so that will feel like an achievement. 

[Cookiesouwest]

Top work

[Dyslexic Viking]

Impressive work and well done.

And find it incredible that so many parts are still available for these engines. There must be many who fix and keep these cars alive since that they can offer so many parts for them. 

[Yoss]

Yes luckily they still have quite a following in CZ and Felicias are still quite common as everyday cars. Hopefully enough to make remanufacturig parts worthwhile for years to come. 

[Yoss]

Once the sump was boxed up I could move back up top. I could technically now take it off the axle stands but let's not tempt fate. 

Both heads. The new very obviously stamped with Viká, not Škoda. There will be no hiding the fact that it is a replacement head. 

I assume this means it was made in October 2023.

One of the reasons I just though sod it, let's buy a new one was that when I took the old one off, as @wesacosa has already alluded to, the old gasket had started to dissolve and where it had the head was starting to get quite pitted. 

I suspect the missing bits constitute at least part of the stuff that had built up around number 4 liner. 

 

And close inspection here shows the pitted area getting very close to the important areas so it is quite likely it was going to fail at some point in the future anyway. It could still have taken five years, we only do about 5k miles a year, but it was going to happen, so in some ways it's handy that I broke it in the garage and not when I was out somewhere inconvenient. 

 

New head gasket. 

 

And head plonked on. 

 

I also bought new head bolts because why not? I don't think they are stretch bolts, the Haynes BOL doesn't mention replacing them but some of the threads look a bit grotty and they are readily available so it seemed like a good idea. 

As you can see, most are the same length but there are two longer ones and one shorter. The long ones are obvious, they go through the rocker shaft pedestals but the short one I was less sure of. It was going to be one of the end ones where something else gets in the way. Turned out to be easy to find because if you drop it in the wrong hole it goes all the way down, like this. 

Ah, so it'll be this one then. 

 

It was getting a bit late (and more to the point cold) so I've just done them up to the point of contact, I've not started torquing them up yet. But I did clean up and put the pushrods back in. 

The pushrods had been sitting in this bit of cardboard in a corner of the garage for several weeks. I don't know if it was actually that important to keep them in the right order seeing as all the valves are new but it's the done thing so I did it. 

 

And lastly a general view of my work area. It's a bit of a mess but it's grown like this over six weeks or so.

It's actually quite a good size for a single garage but it really could do with being a bit wider. I can do most jobs in it but some of them take a bit of planning and moving stuff around. 

[Yoss]

Meanwhile, in Up! news. We've had it three weeks now and it was only yesterday I noticed that I think we have cruise control! 

Obviously I have no way of trying it out in the two and a half miles between here and work but I've started looking at lesser Up!s*  and they have a simpler stalk without the buttons so it's not just a case of using one stalk for all models. 

So I need to go out and try this at some point. Obviously I don't really know how it works. I've read the manual and I'm none the wiser. I think I need to just go out and have a play. 

 

*Is the plural of Up! Up!s or Ups!. I didn't consider this when buying it. I didn't realise it was going to be so complicated. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

My i10 also has cruise, which is very nice, but I had never had a car with this before also, so I found a YouTube video that showed how it worked, this is probably also possible for the Up.

[Yoss]

3 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

My i10 also has cruise, which is very nice, but I had never had a car with this before also, so I found a YouTube video that showed how it worked, this is probably also possible for the Up.

That is probably a better idea than reading the handbook which makes it sound unnecessarily complicated. The car has only done 33k in ten years so I doubt it has been used very much. 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, Yoss said:

Is the plural of Up! Up!s or Ups!. I didn't consider this when buying it. I didn't realise it was going to be so complicated. 

I'm sure you'll find the up!side 🤣

[Yoss]

10 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I'm sure you'll find the up!side 🤣

I still think we need a face palm reaction emoji. This would be the perfect opportunity to use it. 

[jim89]

22 hours ago, Yoss said:

Meanwhile, in Up! news. We've had it three weeks now and it was only yesterday I noticed that I think we have cruise control! 

Obviously I have no way of trying it out in the two and a half miles between here and work but I've started looking at lesser Up!s*  and they have a simpler stalk without the buttons so it's not just a case of using one stalk for all models. 

So I need to go out and try this at some point. Obviously I don't really know how it works. I've read the manual and I'm none the wiser. I think I need to just go out and have a play. 

 

*Is the plural of Up! Up!s or Ups!. I didn't consider this when buying it. I didn't realise it was going to be so complicated. 

From yeti memory, switch the top switch to on.

Attain preferred speed.

Push lower side of stalk end "Set".

Light should come on in dash, take foot off gas.

Proceed.

Any touch of brakes or clutch should cancel it.

Can still use gas to overtake* & it will stay on and drift speed back down to set point.

After being forced to slow, stop, etc get back into correct gear then top half of end stalk "Res" will get you back upto set speed.

Whilst in Cruise, pressing end of stalk upper + or lower - changes target speed by +5 or -5mph so you can adjust target "on the fly" for roadworks, unnecessarily annoying A road speed camera hot spots etc.

Oh and flicking the top switch to midway "Cancel" er cancels it all & back to manuel.

HTH 🙂

[Yoss]

59 minutes ago, jim89 said:

From yeti memory, switch the top switch to on.

Attain preferred speed.

Push lower side of stalk end "Set".

Light should come on in dash, take foot off gas.

Proceed.

Any touch of brakes or clutch should cancel it.

Can still use gas to overtake* & it will stay on and drift speed back down to set point.

After being forced to slow, stop, etc get back into correct gear then top half of end stalk "Res" will get you back upto set speed.

Whilst in Cruise, pressing end of stalk upper + or lower - changes target speed by +5 or -5mph so you can adjust target "on the fly" for roadworks, unnecessarily annoying A road speed camera hot spots etc.

Oh and flicking the top switch to midway "Cancel" er cancels it all & back to manuel.

HTH 🙂

Thanks, I took @Dyslexic Vikings advice and looked on YouTube and found some videos but your explanation was much clearer than the handbook so thanks for that. 

We took it out and tried it today and it does work exactly as you describe. I have to say it's not the most comfortable feeling and I think living round here there is very little use for it. I tried it where the M27 turns in to the A31 for a few miles. If I set it at 70 I was catching people up so I moved in to the inside lane and sat at 60 so most people could overtake.

But it seems to take more mental effort than just driving normally. Maybe going up the M3 at 3.30am going for an early flight but the rest of the time I'd say the traffic round here is so busy that it's easier just to drive normally. 

Maybe that's just me not being used to it but I would never spec it if I was ordering a new car myself (which, let's face it, is never going to happen). 

I will admit I like the heated seats though. They are much more effective than the normal heating on a cold morning. It's only two and a half miles to work so by the time the normal heating is coming through you're nearly there but the seats are instant. 

[Wibble]

2 hours ago, Yoss said:

Thanks, I took @Dyslexic Vikings advice and looked on YouTube and found some videos but your explanation was much clearer than the handbook so thanks for that. 

We took it out and tried it today and it does work exactly as you describe. I have to say it's not the most comfortable feeling and I think living round here there is very little use for it. I tried it where the M27 turns in to the A31 for a few miles. If I set it at 70 I was catching people up so I moved in to the inside lane and sat at 60 so most people could overtake.

But it seems to take more mental effort than just driving normally. Maybe going up the M3 at 3.30am going for an early flight but the rest of the time I'd say the traffic round here is so busy that it's easier just to drive normally. 

Maybe that's just me not being used to it but I would never spec it if I was ordering a new car myself (which, let's face it, is never going to happen). 

I will admit I like the heated seats though. They are much more effective than the normal heating on a cold morning. It's only two and a half miles to work so by the time the normal heating is coming through you're nearly there but the seats are instant. 

I tend to agree with you. My Superb has cruise and I’ve never used it. The roads are just too busy. I last used cruise control in the mid 90s in a Carlton CDi, when I’d leave at 4am to drive from Reading to Glasgow.

[Yoss]

I've posted this in the lazy spotters thread before, I see it around Shirley quite regularly. 

But today I finally saw the owner so wandered over and had a little Škoda chat. He showed me his engine. It is the standard 8v 1.6 Volkswagen lump but with a bespoke manifold and exhaust. He says it doesn't make that much difference powerwise but it sounds lovely. Much nicer than standard. 

[IronStar]

On 02/02/2025 at 20:17, Yoss said:

Thanks, I took @Dyslexic Vikings advice and looked on YouTube and found some videos but your explanation was much clearer than the handbook so thanks for that. 

We took it out and tried it today and it does work exactly as you describe. I have to say it's not the most comfortable feeling and I think living round here there is very little use for it. I tried it where the M27 turns in to the A31 for a few miles. If I set it at 70 I was catching people up so I moved in to the inside lane and sat at 60 so most people could overtake.

But it seems to take more mental effort than just driving normally. Maybe going up the M3 at 3.30am going for an early flight but the rest of the time I'd say the traffic round here is so busy that it's easier just to drive normally. 

Maybe that's just me not being used to it but I would never spec it if I was ordering a new car myself (which, let's face it, is never going to happen). 

I will admit I like the heated seats though. They are much more effective than the normal heating on a cold morning. It's only two and a half miles to work so by the time the normal heating is coming through you're nearly there but the seats are instant. 

Driving on cruise takes some getting used to, but once you get a hang of it, you’ll be very frustrated once you get in a car that doesn’t have it, especially for longer motorway or speed camera galore trips. Possibly the best thing fitted to a car.

[Yoss]

Progress on my own car has slowed down whilst I'm at work. By the time I get home, have some lunch and pay the dog some attention there is little more than an hours daylight left. January really is a crap time to be working on cars and I try not to if I don't have to but needs must. 

But I've got a few little jobs done during the week. Little and often all helps. 

I've refitted the rocker shaft and adjusted all the tappets. 

They were pretty close considering its a completely new head and valves but I'll do them again once I've run it for a bit and let them bed in. 

Then refitted the thermostat housing and alternator bracket which don't really warrant a photo. Here the exhaust manifold has been put in place but not done up. 

I have now fitted  it at the exhaust end but not to the head. 

Started putting the spark plugs back in and noticed one looked like this. That's no good is it? I started trying to think if I'd dropped it at some point but then it occurred to me that this is probably what happens when you have a 13mm nut rattling around inside the combustion chamber. 

 

I'm now starting to wonder if I should try and polish the rocker cover up a bit. It looks a bit manky next to the nice shiny head. This is clean, it's just the natural finish of the aluminium. Now we have the Up! there's no real rush to get it finished so I could spend a bit of time on it. 

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, IronStar said:

Driving on cruise takes some getting used to, but once you get a hang of it, you’ll be very frustrated once you get in a car that doesn’t have it, especially for longer motorway or speed camera galore trips. Possibly the best thing fitted to a car.

I'll take your word for it but I rarely find myself on those sort of journeys. Although I can certainly see the benefit in avarage speed camera areas where I spend more time looking at the speedo than I do looking at the road ahead. 

[somewhatfoolish]

If you have a dish washer put the cover through it, it's a lot easier than trying to polish a rough casting.

[Yoss]

6 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

If you have a dish washer put the cover through it, it's a lot easier than trying to polish a rough casting.

The only dishwasher in the house is me so it'll just be down to me then. 

[Yoss]

So I've tried cleaning up all the stuff attached to the head. The inlet manifold started like this. In fact it was worse than this, I'd already given it a wipe down. 

 

With the aid of wire wheels big and small... 

 

... I got it to this. I doubt it'll stay like this but it was quite satisfying to do it. 

 

Over the last couple of days I've refitted the carb and all the hoses and filled it with coolant. 

In theory I just have to put oil in and it should work but I've got a bit carried away with the rocker cover. 

It was really never meant to be this shiny, you can tell by the standard of the casting. It is by no means finished so I shall save that for the next post. 

[stuboy]

keep up the great work

[grogee]

On 10/02/2025 at 19:16, Yoss said:

In theory I just have to put oil in and it should work but I've got a bit carried away with the rocker cover. 

It was really never meant to be this shiny, you can tell by the standard of the casting. It is by no means finished so I shall save that for the next post. 

More shininess = more BHP as everyone knows. 

When I put an alloy MG rocker cover on my Mini 1275GT, it definitely* went faster. 

Great work though Yoss. I love to see the humble Favorit treated to this much love. 

[Yoss]

14 minutes ago, grogee said:

More shininess = more BHP as everyone knows. 

When I put an alloy MG rocker cover on my Mini 1275GT, it definitely* went faster. 

Great work though Yoss. I love to see the humble Favorit treated to this much love. 

Yes I have an aftermarket alloy one on my Triumph and can confirm your findings that it is definitely much faster with this on. 

[Yoss]

I said the rocker cover wasn't designed to be polished, it has far too many imperfections in it but I've given it a go. 

The saying about you can't polish a turd turns out to be incorrect. You can polish a turd but you just end up with a shiny turd. 

These show a lot of the imperfections. 

The raised bits I managed to rub down but there, are all these sort of veins which would require an awful lot of sanding and you'd end up making the walls of the rocker cover thinner so I'll have to live with those. I just kept polishing. You can still see them but they're not as noticeable once it's all shiny. 

But then I thought we'd go for a bit of bling on top to detract from the imperfections on the side. 

This is Bonda Primer, it'll stick to anything. 

It's just the right size to fit on the radiator to help it dry. 

I quite liked the look of it as is but being primer it would soak up any oil which would inevitably end up on it. 

I thought of doing it a bright colour but ended up with the classic gloss black. 

 

Meanwhile out in the garage, I've put some oil in and turned it over a few times by hand and I can feel compression as I turn it so that's good. All I really need to do is put the rocker cover back on and connect the fuel line to the carb which goes over the top of the cover which is why I haven't done it yet. 

I am definitely prevaricating now, I've cleaned up the air filter box and associated pipework. I'm sure it will work but if it doesn't I will be a bit depressed which is why I keep putting it off! Tomorrow I will put the cover back on and turn it over without ignition to see if the oil light goes out before I try actually starting it but hopefully the moment isn't too far away now.