The new news 24 thread

[grogee]

Thanks @Yoss I love them both. I think I probably got mixed up with the other (presumably standard) Fav. 

There's not many lucky people who can look out on their drive in the morning and ask themselves, "Which blue Favorit shall I drive today?" 

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Thanks @Yoss I love them both. I think I probably got mixed up with the other (presumably standard) Fav. 

There's not many lucky people who can look out on their drive in the morning and ask themselves, "Which blue Favorit shall I drive today?" 

Technically one is green though the photos don't do either colour justice. One is Adriatic Blue and the other is Carribean Green (like the Billy Ocean song). 

It's nice having two cars that look virtually identical, certainly to the average non Škoda licker, but which are so utterly different to drive in every way. It's not just the power and handling, one is a mk1, so true Škoda, and the other is a mk2 so has some VW money spent on it. The mk1 is brown and beige inside and the mk2 dark blue and black. The seats in both look exactly the same shape but are of completely different construction, the mk2 being much firmer as you would expect from VAG group. 

So it's not really like having two of the same cars at all. 

[richardmorris]

Typical national trust catering shot…

[stripped fred]

Picked a few bits for the TT. I've already fitted some Bosch wiper blades and I have some correct spec mannol oil I found for about £20. I need an oil filter and I might fit a panel filter at some stage. The climate unit is because the left hand switch has broken and it was cheaper to buy a new unit than a switch for £25 odd, worth more than gold for an original item. The air vent is if I want to fit a boost guage (which I think I do, 53 and never had one!), and a new door mirror switch as mine has snapped off. It should be pretty tidy inside then. I do like the glitzy and well made dash, even though I turned my nose up a bit when they first came out.

[IronStar]

10 hours ago, Yoss said:

Technically one is green though the photos don't do either colour justice. One is Adriatic Blue and the other is Carribean Green (like the Billy Ocean song). 

It's nice having two cars that look virtually identical, certainly to the average non Škoda licker, but which are so utterly different to drive in every way. It's not just the power and handling, one is a mk1, so true Škoda, and the other is a mk2 so has some VW money spent on it. The mk1 is brown and beige inside and the mk2 dark blue and black. The seats in both look exactly the same shape but are of completely different construction, the mk2 being much firmer as you would expect from VAG group. 

So it's not really like having two of the same cars at all. 

How does the Favorit compare to Felicia? Dad had 1.9D Felicia and I hated it, but it was beyond shagged, so probably a bad car to base opinions on. 

[HMC]

Nice Autumn day over Dartmoor so took the xk8 for a drive, and stopped for some refreshments and a quick spotted pic

[Yoss]

6 minutes ago, IronStar said:

How does the Favorit compare to Felicia? Dad had 1.9D Felicia and I hated it, but it was beyond shagged, so probably a bad car to base opinions on. 

The diesel is the one Felicia variant I haven't owned and I'm unlikely to do so unless somebody gives me one for free. 

The 1.3 Felicia and Favorit drive very similarly as they are practically the same car. They just rounded all the sharp edges off the Favorit. But open the bonnet of a late Fav or early Felly, which both have the single point injection set up, and you'd struggle to tell the difference. The interior fittings are more robust but all the dials, switches and warning lights are in the same place. In fact the lower part of the dashboard is the same moulding. 

My early Fav is on a carburetor and so only has 61hp but it's a bit lighter so performance is about the same. It's not the smoothest of engines, particularly on tick over but it seems happy to be wound up. 

The 1.6 was a wasted opportunity. It was VWs own underpowered and overweight unit. At 75hp it was only 7hp more than the Škoda 1.3 pushrod lump that could trace its origins back to the start of time. The Škoda engine was also all alloy so much lighter. The only advantage of the VW engine was that it was much quieter and had more torque so less gearchanging was involved so that did make it a more relaxing drive. But if you wound the 1.3 up it could easily keep up with the 1.6. 

The reason I say it was a wasted opportunity is because at the time of the VW takeover Škoda had their own all alloy OHC 1.6 ready to go. It produced 101 horsepower and was considerably lighter than VWs effort. It would have been a great improvement and just the right amount of power to make a light car like the Felicia nippy enough to be enjoyable without being over the top. 

But Škoda weren't allowed to use it which is why I will forever resent VWs involvement. I don't know why they weren't allowed, there may have been practical reasons, it may have been more expensive to mass produce but I suspect VW  had a shed full of their own engines with no cars to put them in and foisted them on Škoda. I have absolutely no information to back that up, it's just a hunch. 

The thing I like about both cars is their simplicity. They don't excel at anything but they do it well enough to make them enjoyable if not exciting to drive. And they don't have any real foibles. There's no 'They All Do That Sir' weaknesses. 

[dozeydustman]

6 hours ago, Yoss said:

The diesel is the one Felicia variant I haven't owned and I'm unlikely to do so unless somebody gives me one for free. 

My diesel Felicia was a great little runaround. At my height not many small cars are particularly comfy but the Felly was. The steering wasn’t too over assisted either so there was some feel, and aside from regular servicing it wanted for nothing.

The first time I drove a Favorit I was surprised at how light and easy to drive it was; would have been 1999 ish when I was at uni and my housemate and myself flipped cheap cars from the motor auction at Ashford in Kent.

[grogee]

9 hours ago, HMC said:

Nice Autumn day over Dartmoor so took the xk8 for a drive, and stopped for some refreshments and a quick spotted pic

Is that Two Bridges? 

Nice old Sebring apart from the stick on chrome*. 

[grogee]

9 hours ago, Yoss said:

I don't know why they weren't allowed, there may have been practical reasons, it may have been more expensive to mass produce but I suspect VW  had a shed full of their own engines with no cars to put them in and foisted them on Škoda.

I suspect it was a combination of reasons:

Cost considerations: Skoda's high-tech 1.6 OHC would probably have cost more per unit than the plodding VW 1.6 they were churning out in huge numbers. It may also have required new investment in tooling/factory to make it. 

Marketing reasons: VW would have felt the Favorit/Felicia threatened its small car line up, but if the Skodas were only available with low power engines that means Polo and Golf could exploit the upper ends of the market. 

In other words, VW used the existing Skoda line-up to plug the gap at the very bottom of its range, and it probably opened doors to increased volume in the then Eastern Bloc markets. 

[reb]

38 minutes ago, grogee said:

I suspect it was a combination of reasons:

Cost considerations: Skoda's high-tech 1.6 OHC would probably have cost more per unit than the plodding VW 1.6 they were churning out in huge numbers. It may also have required new investment in tooling/factory to make it. 

Marketing reasons: VW would have felt the Favorit/Felicia threatened its small car line up, but if the Skodas were only available with low power engines that means Polo and Golf could exploit the upper ends of the market. 

In other words, VW used the existing Skoda line-up to plug the gap at the very bottom of its range, and it probably opened doors to increased volume in the then Eastern Bloc markets. 

Surely the answer would have been to start using the Skoda lump in VWs too?

[catsinthewelder]

Nipping out last night to fetch my daughter from work I took a bend at the bottom of a dip fairly quickly and an awful noise emmerged from the N/S rear of the Focus.  I was in the middle of a series of bends on a dark and fairly fast main road so continued slowly for about half a mile until there was somewhere to pull over.   I couldn't see anything amiss, the wheel looked ok, the exhaust was attached as well as usual.  I had the fear that a rusty part had snapped but managed to convince myself that it was probably a bumper mount or something so continued at reduced speed, giving it another check over at her work and a petrol station on the way back.  Nothing to see, noise still horrible.

Jacked it up and took the wheel off this morning.

Rear shock mount casting has snapped.  Removed the shock (which was a work out with hand tools) and put the wheel back on for now.

Any experience of these? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283376072937?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=d8apNTNOQ2G&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=dvC0XcBaRN6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Will it last 18 months until the rust condemns the rest of the car?

 

[Westbay]

"Will it last 18 months until the rust condemns the rest of the car? "

 

Well, if you don't use the car - probably ! 

[IronStar]

11 minutes ago, catsinthewelder said:

Nipping out last night to fetch my daughter from work I took a bend at the bottom of a dip fairly quickly and an awful noise emmerged from the N/S rear of the Focus.  I was in the middle of a series of bends on a dark and fairly fast main road so continued slowly for about half a mile until there was somewhere to pull over.   I couldn't see anything amiss, the wheel looked ok, the exhaust was attached as well as usual.  I had the fear that a rusty part had snapped but managed to convince myself that it was probably a bumper mount or something so continued at reduced speed, giving it another check over at her work and a petrol station on the way back.  Nothing to see, noise still horrible.

Jacked it up and took the wheel off this morning.

Rear shock mount casting has snapped.  Removed the shock (which was a work out with hand tools) and put the wheel back on for now.

Any experience of these? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283376072937?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=d8apNTNOQ2G&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=dvC0XcBaRN6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Will it last 18 months until the rust condemns the rest of the car?

 

How much for Magnum shocks? I really wouldn’t go under that, that’s already as cheap as it gets with provisions to keep your sanity as it won’t fail on the day after being fitted.

12 hours ago, Yoss said:

The diesel is the one Felicia variant I haven't owned and I'm unlikely to do so unless somebody gives me one for free. 

The 1.3 Felicia and Favorit drive very similarly as they are practically the same car. They just rounded all the sharp edges off the Favorit. But open the bonnet of a late Fav or early Felly, which both have the single point injection set up, and you'd struggle to tell the difference. The interior fittings are more robust but all the dials, switches and warning lights are in the same place. In fact the lower part of the dashboard is the same moulding. 

My early Fav is on a carburetor and so only has 61hp but it's a bit lighter so performance is about the same. It's not the smoothest of engines, particularly on tick over but it seems happy to be wound up. 

The 1.6 was a wasted opportunity. It was VWs own underpowered and overweight unit. At 75hp it was only 7hp more than the Škoda 1.3 pushrod lump that could trace its origins back to the start of time. The Škoda engine was also all alloy so much lighter. The only advantage of the VW engine was that it was much quieter and had more torque so less gearchanging was involved so that did make it a more relaxing drive. But if you wound the 1.3 up it could easily keep up with the 1.6. 

The reason I say it was a wasted opportunity is because at the time of the VW takeover Škoda had their own all alloy OHC 1.6 ready to go. It produced 101 horsepower and was considerably lighter than VWs effort. It would have been a great improvement and just the right amount of power to make a light car like the Felicia nippy enough to be enjoyable without being over the top. 

But Škoda weren't allowed to use it which is why I will forever resent VWs involvement. I don't know why they weren't allowed, there may have been practical reasons, it may have been more expensive to mass produce but I suspect VW  had a shed full of their own engines with no cars to put them in and foisted them on Škoda. I have absolutely no information to back that up, it's just a hunch. 

The thing I like about both cars is their simplicity. They don't excel at anything but they do it well enough to make them enjoyable if not exciting to drive. And they don't have any real foibles. There's no 'They All Do That Sir' weaknesses. 

Thanks! I now must find a Favorit to test drive. I’d even hazard throwing a few notes to buy to test drive. I looked at cars for sale, and they’re all carb, so I’m not buying that, carbs are devious creatures that think overnight how to fuck your day up next morning. Are SPIs rare / were significantly more expensive, and less likely to be found as a consequence?

I remember the talk of VW supposedly saying no to that 1.6 and the other VW 1.6 from Polo GTI not to cannibalise fast (or at least warmed over) Polo / Golf sales. GTI one should in theory fit 1.6 Felicia with a few changes as it’s based on the same block, so mounts should be the same? 

[BorniteIdentity]

Taken the boy bicycling today. Sierra being as useful and helpful as ever. What a legend. 

And yes. The bike cost more than the car ! 

[Metal Guru]

23 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Typical national trust catering shot…

Are there any of those Citroen H  vans that aren’t catering trucks? 

[Yoss]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

I suspect it was a combination of reasons:

Cost considerations: Skoda's high-tech 1.6 OHC would probably have cost more per unit than the plodding VW 1.6 they were churning out in huge numbers. It may also have required new investment in tooling/factory to make it. 

Marketing reasons: VW would have felt the Favorit/Felicia threatened its small car line up, but if the Skodas were only available with low power engines that means Polo and Golf could exploit the upper ends of the market. 

In other words, VW used the existing Skoda line-up to plug the gap at the very bottom of its range, and it probably opened doors to increased volume in the then Eastern Bloc markets. 

I suspect you are probably right, though we'll never know for sure. I'm sure there would have been no problem making the engine. Škoda were already proficient in aluminium casting, it was one of the reasons VW were interested in them in the first place. 

But yes a reasonably fast Felicia would probably eat in to Polo sales. A higher spec Felicia is already a nicer place to sit, make it go faster as well and there would be no point in a Polo at all. In my completely unbiased opinion of course. 

 

29 minutes ago, IronStar said:

How much for Magnum shocks? I really wouldn’t go under that, that’s already as cheap as it gets with provisions to keep your sanity as it won’t fail on the day after being fitted.

Thanks! I now must find a Favorit to test drive. I’d even hazard throwing a few notes to buy to test drive. I looked at cars for sale, and they’re all carb, so I’m not buying that, carbs are devious creatures that think overnight how to fuck your day up next morning. Are SPIs rare / were significantly more expensive, and less likely to be found as a consequence?

I remember the talk of VW supposedly saying no to that 1.6 and the other VW 1.6 from Polo GTI not to cannibalise fast (or at least warmed over) Polo / Golf sales. GTI one should in theory fit 1.6 Felicia with a few changes as it’s based on the same block, so mounts should be the same? 

I think you might have enough projects to be getting on with without adding more but I'm not going talk you out of it. I would be genuinely interested to see how one compares against your Sana/Florida as they were aimed squarely at the same market. 

All mk1 Favorits are on carburetor and mk2s are SPI. The Fellys started on SPI and moved on to multi point injection fairly soon afterwards. Although different markets had different set ups. There was a chap on Briskoda (a Škoda forum) in the Dominican Republic who had a Felicia with a carb and after asking around found out they sold them like that in a lot of places, Egypt springs to mind. I guess anywhere with more relaxed emissions laws. 

I personally have had very little trouble with mine but I know they have a reputation for trouble. It is a Pierburg 3e2 the same as used by VW but made under licence in ČZ which might be why they give less trouble. The VW forums (I've had to use them for research occasionally) are full of people telling you to bin them and fit a Weber for which there is a conversion kit readily available. Only trouble with that is it has a manual choke so you'd have to find somewhere on the dashboard to fit it.

The only trouble I did have was the thermostatically controlled idle speed would sit too high, about 2000rpm most of the way to or from work and only drop back to normal just as I got there. So as I do a lot of short journeys I just removed it. This just means I have to keep the revs up manually with my foot for a couple of minutes while it warms up but that's no problem and I do it without thinking now. 

And yes, the 1.6 16v I have in green Favorit does use almost the same block as the 8v version used in the Felicia so it is a very easy swap, you just need to modify the offside engine mount (or nearside to you, the opposite end to the gearbox) but it's nothing anybody with a welder and a bit of thick steel plate can't knock up in a few minutes. Škoda made a conversion plate for the Felicia 1.6 and this also works for the 16v so it mounts straight on to Škoda gearbox. 

I've seen a few Felicias converted, usually pick ups as they have more of a scene attached to them but mine was the first Favorit I'd seen done which is why I bought it unseen off ebay. I'd always sworn that I'd never buy a car without seeing it first but I had to take a chance for this. It was something I'd often thought about but knew I would never get round to doing myself. I don't regret it yet. 

[richardmorris]

Bought a cheap snowfoam sprayer. Quite fun to play with.

[stripped fred]

Over at my parents trying to get the MR2 started, or at least closer to starting. It has a Cobra A8510 from 20 years ago which no longer has a working fob so we're trying to remove it. I have help from my two sons who are desperate to get this running again. Last time was about a year ago but it's been off road for 6 years now. It also smoked a bit when it did run which I suspect might be the valve stem oil seals. We've putting new ignition leads on it and it had an oil change and we cleaned up the spark plugs too.

[grogee]

2 minutes ago, stripped fred said:

Over at my parents trying to get the MR2 started, or at least closer to starting. It has a Cobra A8510 from 20 years ago which no longer has a working fob so we're trying to remove it. I have help from my two sons who are desperate to get this running again. Last time was about a year ago but it's been off road for 6 years now. It also smoked a bit when it did run which I suspect might be the valve stem oil seals. We've putting new ignition leads on it and it had an oil change and we cleaned up the spark plugs too.

My mate successfully removed an immobiliser from his Mk1 Golf, they are not all that clever really and it's obvious where the chopped wires are once you've found the unit. 

He's not that experienced with the spanners but even he managed it so it shouldn't be too tricky. Good luck, the world needs more Mk1 MR2s (the thinking man's X1/9).

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, Metal Guru said:

Are there any of those Citroen H  vans that aren’t catering trucks? 

Probably not in the UK.

[Six-cylinder]

2 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Are there any of those Citroen H  vans that aren’t catering trucks? 

 

55 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Probably not in the UK.

Sorry Richard, there is one that is non catering 5 miles from me.

[catsinthewelder]

Theres a camper H van that's usually parked on the street in Ludlow.  I changed the wheel on it once.

Any better or do I trust an eBay seller to have real Monroe's rather than fakes?

Sorry @IronStar, not seen any Magnums.

[cort1977]

A nice day north of the border so I took @GingerNuttz's nightmare for a bit of a spin.

Off the road at the end of this month for sodium chloride reasons.

[richardmorris]

21 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

 

Sorry Richard, there is one that is non catering 5 miles from me.

I know, was being facetious. I know one camper ( cafe rene owned by Tim Dodd) and a fire engine owned by a TOC member.

[barefoot]

12 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I know, was being facetious. I know one camper ( cafe rene owned by Tim Dodd) and a fire engine owned by a TOC member.

I think Joan Collins had a blue one and there were a load of them camping up at Donington Park recently where a very pleasant woman taught me how to erect my sunshade in such a way that it would never fall down again - and it hasn't.

[artdjones]

6 hours ago, reb said:

Surely the answer would have been to start using the Skoda lump in VWs too?

Its the NIH syndrome.

[BorniteIdentity]

News Chod. 

[IronStar]

6 hours ago, Yoss said:

I think you might have enough projects to be getting on with without adding more but I'm not going talk you out of it. I would be genuinely interested to see how one compares against your Sana/Florida as they were aimed squarely at the same market. 

All mk1 Favorits are on carburetor and mk2s are SPI. The Fellys started on SPI and moved on to multi point injection fairly soon afterwards. Although different markets had different set ups. There was a chap on Briskoda (a Škoda forum) in the Dominican Republic who had a Felicia with a carb and after asking around found out they sold them like that in a lot of places, Egypt springs to mind. I guess anywhere with more relaxed emissions laws. 

I personally have had very little trouble with mine but I know they have a reputation for trouble. It is a Pierburg 3e2 the same as used by VW but made under licence in ČZ which might be why they give less trouble. The VW forums (I've had to use them for research occasionally) are full of people telling you to bin them and fit a Weber for which there is a conversion kit readily available. Only trouble with that is it has a manual choke so you'd have to find somewhere on the dashboard to fit it.

The only trouble I did have was the thermostatically controlled idle speed would sit too high, about 2000rpm most of the way to or from work and only drop back to normal just as I got there. So as I do a lot of short journeys I just removed it. This just means I have to keep the revs up manually with my foot for a couple of minutes while it warms up but that's no problem and I do it without thinking now. 

And yes, the 1.6 16v I have in green Favorit does use almost the same block as the 8v version used in the Felicia so it is a very easy swap, you just need to modify the offside engine mount (or nearside to you, the opposite end to the gearbox) but it's nothing anybody with a welder and a bit of thick steel plate can't knock up in a few minutes. Škoda made a conversion plate for the Felicia 1.6 and this also works for the 16v so it mounts straight on to Škoda gearbox. 

I've seen a few Felicias converted, usually pick ups as they have more of a scene attached to them but mine was the first Favorit I'd seen done which is why I bought it unseen off ebay. I'd always sworn that I'd never buy a car without seeing it first but I had to take a chance for this. It was something I'd often thought about but knew I would never get round to doing myself. I don't regret it yet. 

I definitely do, and would only be interested in properly sorted, or at least one with no rust. 
So I’m looking for 93 and up model? What I’m seeing for sale currently are cars with facelift grille, but looking at the power they are carb, not fuel injection. Example https://www.polovniautomobili.com/auto-oglasi/25054545/skoda-favorit 1991 car.

We had mostly Webers here as that’s what went onto Zastavas, and my experience with carbs is godawful. I can only imagine how bad is it when those are an upgrade. That’s why I don’t want to touch anything with carbs. Vile devices with next to no one left who actually knows how to make them work as good as they can possibly work (for a week until something else decides to play up). There’s plenty of twin barrel autochocked Webbers around, and they’re generally cheap as autochoke is well known pain point that has a mind of its own.

I would also like to compare it to Florida, as I think that car is an absolute peach, and the fact it didn’t sell better is a proof of badge snobbery. Attach a VW badge to it in 1989 and they wouldn’t be able to make enough of them. Favorit’s beige/brown dash always looked more eastern-European and dull than Zastava’s grey/black/orange as well. If Favorit drove as well (or maybe sharper, as Florida is tuned for comfort rather than sharpness) I’d be very interested in seeing it in a regular daily-driving rotation.

Did they make any with the most important amenity for climate-changed Serbian climate - aircon? Or was it too much to ask from Skoda at the time?

[Yoss]

45 minutes ago, IronStar said:

I definitely do, and would only be interested in properly sorted, or at least one with no rust. 
So I’m looking for 93 and up model? What I’m seeing for sale currently are cars with facelift grille, but looking at the power they are carb, not fuel injection. Example https://www.polovniautomobili.com/auto-oglasi/25054545/skoda-favorit 1991 car.

We had mostly Webers here as that’s what went onto Zastavas, and my experience with carbs is godawful. I can only imagine how bad is it when those are an upgrade. That’s why I don’t want to touch anything with carbs. Vile devices with next to no one left who actually knows how to make them work as good as they can possibly work (for a week until something else decides to play up). There’s plenty of twin barrel autochocked Webbers around, and they’re generally cheap as autochoke is well known pain point that has a mind of its own.

I would also like to compare it to Florida, as I think that car is an absolute peach, and the fact it didn’t sell better is a proof of badge snobbery. Attach a VW badge to it in 1989 and they wouldn’t be able to make enough of them. Favorit’s beige/brown dash always looked more eastern-European and dull than Zastava’s grey/black/orange as well. If Favorit drove as well (or maybe sharper, as Florida is tuned for comfort rather than sharpness) I’d be very interested in seeing it in a regular daily-driving rotation.

Did they make any with the most important amenity for climate-changed Serbian climate - aircon? Or was it too much to ask from Skoda at the time?

Air con was a very very rare option on the Felicia. I've only seen two. I went to see one once specifically because it did have air con but the rest of the car was too shagged so I left it. The other one was at a rally on a pick up. The guy had removed it from another scrap car. It's not an easy retro fit as it involves cutting a big hole in the floor or bulkhead (can't remember which now). The guy who fitted it had the foresight to cut the panel out of the scrap car so he had a template. 

It was of course a much more popular option in other markets but I doubt Serbia was one of them. But if you could find one in a scrap car there's no reason why it shouldn't fit in a Favorit, the bulkhead is the same. There's a thought. 

I like the beige/brown interior but probably just because it makes it look older, which is endearing now but admittedly probably not what you want in a brand new car. Remember Škoda had the design ready to go in 1983 but were held back by the government at that point so it was dated by the time it was finally released. So a more accurate contemporary would be the mk3 Escort or the Maestro (sorry I don't know what Zastava were building in 1983).

Back to the carb/injection debate both types were available with high or low compression engines so that might be what you are seeing. The low compression ones are only about 54hp. On the mk2 they are easily distinguishable by a small e on the boot badge. So you get an LXI or an LXIe for the more powerful engine. Or a GLXI or GLXIe. Having said that you might have different badging over there, the home Czech market ones certainly did, just to confuse matters further. For some reason we got much bigger boot badges. That's probably more information than you need to know.