lewist123

Hello!

Some of you may or may not have seen my mid engine rwd Favorit project. Well, that is currently on hold atm (due to having some reservations about a few aspects of what needs to be done).

So, in the mean time I purchased a reasonable example of an F reg (89) Skoda Estelle 120L Five.





She is not bad at all, but the paint is a pritty dead, she has no MOT or TAX, and a exhaust made of rust!

My plan is to get her running and MOTed and start to drive her, and in the mean time, to turbo the 1300 engine i took out of the Favorit (135 lump)

lewist123

The first thing to be done was get rid of the bumpers!

I personally think she looks a lot better with the bumpers removed!





and then stick on some clear indicator lenses that i had



(I have also removed the front bumpers hangers now as well!)

lewist123

Well today i did a little work on the Estelle.

The exhaust was well and truely dead! it was more rust than metal, and most of the internal stuff had fallen out/gone!





I really hate removeing exhausts, ALL of the 5 bolts holding it on were rusted solid. The three manifold nuts did eventually come off with lots of WD40, a big pry bar and a gentle touch, but the other two nuts and bolts sheared!

I then bolted the new exhaust on, but found that the mounting holes in the body of the exhaust itself were in a slightly different possition so the last two mounting bolts wouldn't fit! A bit of fiddling should see it fit though!

lewist123

I also had a few little jobs to sort out.

There is a strange recurring fault with the horn/full beam. I think the stalk is not working propperly because the full beam would flash on if you just even touched the stick, so the previous owner had taken the fuses out. The horn was a little funky as well.

I took the steering column cowl off and had a fiddle, and managed to sort the full beam out, but the horn is even worse now! I think i will have to look for a new indicator stalk!

The heated rear window is also not currently working. I tested the window itself and that is still good. There is no power getting to the window, so either there is a problem with the switch (i doubt because the light comes on on the dash) or there is a break in the wireing!

I also had to replace one of the side repeaters that didn't work, but turned out to be totally rusted.

So with that all done i sorted a little of the surface rust in the bonet area out! I think this is the singl largest area of rust on the whole car!





I have started to rub this down and can confirm it is definately only surface rust, so will just get a prime and some white!

lewist123

Most of the work you see below was carried out last week. This part of the build is penciled in to take a couple of months (more a money issue than anything else)

so...

Here is the engine in question still in the donor car



its a 92 favorit Forum plus, with aprroximtely 75k on the clock and runing really well. The favoirt is currently my other project, and is being converted into a mid engined RWD skoda supercar (well sort of! )

Once out of the car the engine spent a month out in the elements and ate a cylinder full of water!

so i pulled the head off and so and behold a slightly rusty piston



and the same deal with the head





you will note that this is the 135 engine with the pocketed pistons so the compression ratio is already fairly low, (low enough hopefully!)

Nice pile of pushrods.

oilburninnut

top stuff mate
could do with smoothing the holes and bracket bits left after the bumpers came off,but they do look better without the bumpers

lewist123

yeah mate, due to the rubbish paint (its all cracked and crazed!) it will have a full respray (thinking black!) and when that happens the whole body will be given a good going over!

i think all smoothed (but still the same lines) it will look great!

I am also thinking about re-machineing the hubs. At present the wheel PCD is 113 (the same as old beatles) which means te only wheels 'of the shelf' are bug wheels which are not going to look right. If i remachine the hubs to 100 mm pcd then i have the choice of a million different (cheep!!!!) off the shelf wheels!

oilburninnut

yep i agree don't alter the lines,just smooth the lot,dub style oem+ never looks bad when done right,

lewist123

Here is the head with the rockers in place



Its going to need a lot of cleaning up!!



I am also going to put a cut in the squish area of the head to help stop detonation (seen a lot of the volvo guys doing this!)

As standard the intake and exhaust ports are not too bad, but they will be enlarged and smoothed!



here is the exhaust port



Here is the standard exhaust manifold, and although it is a cast item, i may (or may not depending on cash and time) use this. The idea was unbolt the section of exhaust that is still attached, then make an adaptor section to take a lambda sensor and then mate to the turbo.



The block already has oil take off points (or looks like it anyway) for the turbo, and an oil cooler will also be fitted!

daverapid

You're obviously eccentric and rather cool!

__________________

David McKinney
TREASURER OF SKODA OWNERS CLUB GREAT BRITAIN
www.skoda-owners-club.org.uk

lewist123

Hi again

Yes i am a little crazy! but hey, i like to be a little different!

So more stripping of the engine last night!

Firtsly i am having a PIG of a job removing the valve springs.. something is stuck or the springs are so stiff that a standard compressor won't work... it is just bending the spring compressor frame!



SO i then pulled the sump off the engine and proceeded to make a huge mess!

then the oil pump cover was next



here is the oil pressure relise valve on the pump



there are altready oil take off points, but no return that i have found as yet!



Timing chain



I then pulled the bearings off the crank and pistons and pulled the pistons out



the bores look good, a little hone should sort them out



Here is the 3 bearing crank



appently fairly strong but can break around the 3rd main bearing/flywheel boss area!

main bearing surfaces look nice



as well as the bearings



but a new set will be fitted.

The same goes for the piston bearings





And lastly for this update the rods.... i think they look capable of 150 bhp, as do the pistons, but i can't be sure



Thanks for looking

Lewis

daverapid

Skoda valve springs are always a pig to remove as the colletts get stuck. The trick is to whack the top of the spring cap HARD with a spark plug socket and hammer before you apply the valve spring compressor. This jars the colletts which can then be removed using the spring compressor. Protect your eyes though in case of a flying collett/spring.

__________________

David McKinney
TREASURER OF SKODA OWNERS CLUB GREAT BRITAIN
www.skoda-owners-club.org.uk

Leeboy

Nice one.

Funnily enough I was reminishing about my previous Estelle and Rapid drives the other week and thought that surely an Estelle would be the perfect vehicle for a mid engine converions. Take a 1.8T engine and gearbox, mount it longitudinally with the gearbox at the rear of the car (a Passat or Superb-sourced engine would be just the ticket assuming these are mounted like so as is the case with diesel unit in my 1.9TDi Superb), make up suitable driveshafts and swap the front and rear brakes/hubs over for good measure.

If I had the skill, time and garage space I wouldn't hesitate..... How cool would that be especially if you wack a IHI blower on to knock out 300 + bhp!

__________________
Lee

Want to be carbon-neutral while driving? Hold your breath!

lewist123

tbh i would hate to cut this car up! its too good. if you went mid engined, you would have to cut out the rear bulk head and have the engine where the back sets are!

if you want a mid engined rwd skoda check this out



my mid engine favorit! getting a 2ltr vauxhall turbo engine in the not too distant future!

TeflonTom

nice

oilburninnut

you really are crazy,in a good way of course
keep updating us this thread is great

lewist123

Hi

thanks for the comments!

as for updates, i will have one in a few days.

I have managed to remove the blasted valve collets and springs and valves, but my god it took at almight thwack with a big hammer to get them to free up!

I am having problems removing the slot headed screws that holds the fly end of the crank and the cam shift into the block! i have even used my bench grinder to grind a large screwdriver to be a PERFECT fit, and i just can't get the bloody things to budge!

The plans for the spec are as follows-

* replace all bottom end bearings and seals
* replace favorit sump with an estelle sump (and oil pickup)
* replace piston rings for sure
* I may have the pistons machined slightly to lower the compression ratio
* a slight skim to the head (crusty as funk at the moment!)
* standard cam for the time being, although i may see about a custom grind for high lift but no overlap!
* custom intake manifold with multipoint injection
* large plenum with single large throttle body
* stock exhaust manifold with an adpator to the turbo and lambda probe
* suitable sized turbo (thinking garrett T25 or something allong those lines)
* injectors, maf and lambda from a vauxhall 2ltr XE as well as ECU (aftermarket if the budget will stretch
* rapid 136 water pump


I am aiming for about 150 bhp from the motor running about 20psi of boost!

i am a little worried about the crank (3 bearing) and the gearbox and clutch!

anyway thanks for looking

Lewis

oilburninnut

would it not be cheaper to run a slightly thicker steel head gasket to lower compresion?

__________________
Gary
www.dogboxmedia.co.uk

lewist123

yeah it would, however at 20psi of boost there stands a chance of blowing past a thicker gasket!

the compression is fairly low to start with and tbh i may just leave the compression ratio as it stands and hope for the best. I have alittle trick up my sleave to help guard against knock (something the volvo tuning guys do!)

lewist123

Just a small update - I have purcahsed a Garrett T25 turbo from ebay. Just waiting for it to arrive, although it has been a few days and the seller has yet to claim my money?!?

edit - money now claimed.. hoping it will turn up early next week then i can start to mock up and exhaust manifold.

lewist123

well the turbo arrived today.

10 points to the first one who spots a problem!





dispute open!

djswivel

Nasty! Hope you get it sorted.

__________________

http://www.myspace.com/lackofpower

devonutopia

looks like that turbo's had a cracking time in it's past....

__________________
Jason - Only a Skoda.
Custom Fabia Bonnet Lifter Kits - £45! Click Me.
Cheesy bonnet lifter video to "raise me up" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnGECEi5Oc

See the mongrel's 260bhp Dyno Video!

lewist123

ba-dum-tish!

well a little update. I have decided that this type of turbo (the garrett T25) is the perfect size for this engine! (this particular turbo is obviously knackered though!) i offered it up to the standard exhaust manifold, and i think that i may be able to reuse it with a little adapter section. The little adapter will also be a good spot to install the lambda sensor!







I am still porting the head at the moment





a little trick form volvo tuners is to put a little slit into the squish area on the head!



helps prevent detonation/knock

my plans to pritty the rocker cover up... satin black then sand the raised areas back. this was just a little knock up

lewist123

Well a little more work to the car today

It got hit with the big lowering stick!

this is how much was removed from the front coils



the result -

before



after



you will note that its not quite level! needs a little more fiddiling with the position of the strings