ULEZ Expansion Solution* - Skoda Estelle , Czech it out

[ProgRocker]

18 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

I went to the 1988 London motor show with my dad (who had zero interest in cars)..

I went there with my dad too. Would have been 11 years old then. Coach from Norfolk. Got lots of brochures. Sure I spent some time on the Skoda stand too as even then I appreciated the Eastern Bloc marques as much as the others.

[wesacosa]

Just now, ProgRocker said:

I went there with my dad too. Would have been 11 years old then. Coach from Norfolk. Got lots of brochures. Sure I spent some time on the Skoda stand too as even then I appreciated the Eastern Bloc marques as much as the others.

cool. Yeah the FSO stand were good for that too.  

[Macscrooge]

Great stuff. Can’t think when I last saw one of these in the wild. 

[PicantoJon]

Top work! 

Only a smidgen envious... 

[wesacosa]

interestingly it had done 23,000 of its 29,000 miles by 1994

[wesacosa]

added bonus 

[Chuck Buckles]

I had a 130 LSE (I think) in 93-96. Great cars. I remember driving home late from Bournemouth when a HT lead melted. Chugged up the M3 on cylinders. Stopped by cops as was doing 50mph at 3am so they wondered what I was doing. Explained and they told me to play some louder metal and sent me on my way. Made it home fine. Real solid cars. Door locks used to freeze solid when I lived in Grimsby so had to hold door shut all the way to work each morning. Good times 😀

[CaptainBoom]

Top stuff sir, that is noice!  A little fettle and a ticket, and you've got yourself some head-turning transport.

Next step will be to go to the shops and open the 'frunk' to put your shopping in, will freak out the young 'uns who've not seen a rear engine car before. 

 

[somewhatfoolish]

Can I be the 1st to regurgitate the pub bore lore that these have cast iron heads and alloy blocks? Excellent buyage.

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Can I be the 1st to regurgitate the pub bore lore that these have cast iron heads and alloy blocks? Excellent buyage.

Which is great fun the first time you take an engine out and it tries to flip itself upside down.

[Dave_Q]

ULEZ free in only 7 years, this is a better solution than you think it is.

Now buy the 1984 eBay one as well and borrow it's number plates.

[tooSavvy]

Hmm.... Ex 130LSE (trailing links) & Rapid owner.

Stonking lights, woodstove grade heater 👌

Replace ALL the rubber hoses (especially the front  green 'bleeder' with the brass valve)....

Starter motors are toss *sample size 2cars!!

#personal choice#..... Weather will ruin spare wheel/alloy = I put mine in front boot.

PubLore buster..... Well, as an Ex IMP nutter >> I never had a 'bag o sand' in any of my cars 🤦

Lovely things, I would easy have another ✔️

 

[wesacosa]

thanks. The spare wheel is already in the boot as the previous owner had all  wheels professionally refurbished including the spare

Was going to add the hoses to the jobs list although not looking forward to bleeding the system, might look to see if I can get it vacuum bled

[tooSavvy]

.... To add = my experience of sitting for long periods, in queuing traffic, the engine will get HOT.... The rad fan switch is in the FRONT RAD and will lag the heat cycle.

My 100% fix was a dash switch 👍

[paulplom]

Does the 120 mean how many horse powers it has? Or is it it's top speed?

[tooSavvy]

3 minutes ago, paulplom said:

Does the 120 mean how many horse powers it has? Or is it it's top speed?

Price, about xxmoons ago! 😕

[wesacosa]

5 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

Price, about xxmoons ago! 😕

I do wish I had bought one when you could have got one for the price of a hot dog and can of coke.  surprisingly expensive now. I may have overpaid a little on this but who knows, prices are all over the place 

[tooSavvy]

A random FTP (rare, I will observe..) and it stalled in traffic. Absolutely no go!!

Breakdown guy (yupp, I always have had Green flag) did the 'no go >> walk through' = NO GO! 😱

*phone a friend*......

Mate tells him it was likely the 'anti run on/air valve' in the side of the carb... "Percussive Maint, M8!" = A hefty thwack with his screwdriver handle.... and BrummBrumm 🥂🍾

Knowledge Is Power, monami 🎱

[RayMK]

@wesacosaI'm impressed.  Excellent logic and choice of vehicle.  I've owned two Rapids (136 and 135Ric) and and two Estelles (120 and 105) and my son has owned three (two 136 rapids and a 130 Estelle).  Head gasket failure is common on these but replacement is straightforward and generally does not become an annual event.  I loved the handling of all of them, surprisingly preferring the 105 with its swing axles at the rear.  They really make you stay alert, all part of the fun.  Our last one was sold about 16 years ago.  Buying one now deserves praise and unfortunately £s more than we used to pay - ours were generally in the £600 - £1200 range and still had very sound bodywork.

[fairkens]

[wesacosa]

starting to have a little look around to see exactly what I have bought.  Some observations so far (most were already known from my viewings and speaking to previous owner)

- Paint isn't great, faded and blemished however hoping it will polish up. The NS wing has a fair bit of microblistering, not sure if it's had a blow over or perhaps a dodgy cover at some point..A few odd marks on the rear NS 3/4 panel

- Signs of fuel around base of carb , suspect this might be related to the poor running

- Rear lights clouded badly. Good second hand replacements already sourced 

- Heater appears not to work

- Washer pump doesn't work, apparently its the third one in as many years so I suspect some electrical issue somewhere

- Passenger side carpet is soaking wet. There is a small gap between the front quaeterlight glass and the frame, I hope this is the source of the water ingress

- Original dealer plates are tired. Planning to get some replicas made up. Rear number plate is gigantic for some reason!

Rear seat tops more far gone than I remember (TADTS).  rear squabs and front seats nice but need a clean. Carpet a bit manky but apparently they robust so can be pressure washed clean.  

- Wheels are nice , all refurbished a few years ago. Center caps all present which is nice surprise but one is off the car as its a loose fit since the alloy refurb

- I don't like the grille with the spotlights, there is a standard one in the boot but its from an earlier model. I think I have sourced a replacement

- Owner can't find the spare set of keys, will send them on as and when they turn up but might get a set cut especially as there are OEM blanks for ignition key on eBay at moment

- Some of the door locks/handles are a bit stiff due to lack of use

- bit of grot I spotted in engine compartment on NS wheel arch. Didn't poke it too hard on the viewing but seems like its not gone through and hopefully can be treated without the sparkly stick

 

[wesacosa]

seems like its in need of a service 

[tooSavvy]

To add.... Another TADTS 🙄🤦....

The U-cup, holding the bobweights, is hammer/peened onto the vertical dizz shaft.

Ergo..... 😱

The peen sort of work/ages to the point the shaft spins but the rotor arm doesn't*

*Ask Me How I Know

My own fix was a 2quid dizz ripped out of a 120 & rebuilt to original 130 (springs + weights) .... Good as Gold 👍

[somewhatfoolish]

10 hours ago, paulplom said:

Does the 120 mean how many horse powers it has? Or is it it's top speed?

Judging by the wiki it means it's 1200 cc.

[AnnoyingPentium]

10 hours ago, paulplom said:

Does the 120 mean how many horse powers it has? Or is it it's top speed?

Neither, unless off a cliff.

[eddyramrod]

I approve.  I bought one as a stopgap in 1995 when you could get them for £90 and it served me well enough until the MoT expired, by which time I had bought my first Capri.  It was orange; C856 BBU.

[Back_For_More]

Approval here too.... 

 I've been looking for one - fond memories of ragging my uncles around the local field once we'd replaced the clutch......

Burnt the clutch out as he tried to tow dads Mk3 Cortina fully holiday laden, up a massive hill outside Devizes after the Ford had snapped the cambelt..... Full holiday car fixing 

Best holiday evaz...... 

 

[Joey spud]

These are brilliant cars and I think drove much better than Lada and FSO's offerings at the time.

The Jikov carbs were a curse though and seemed way too complicated for an eastern European small car and would often drip fuel out the accelerator swan neck causing a chuggy idle and hard hot starts. I think getting the float level spot on was crucial.

A friend who was into hot rods had a lowered orange coupe finally gave up on the Jikov and managed to fit a twin choke Webber carb onto it although it didn't give him anymore speed or mpg just a better drive.

[wesacosa]

[montytom]

What a lovely looking thing.