Skoda Rally Blog

(In the style of David Bowie)

Well, everyone has a right to change their mind, don’t they? The Fabia engine conversion has been put on hold. This was initially because I’d got the sump modified, and everything ready to go, and only had one more thing to do – put the bottom pulley from the Favorit engine onto the Fabia engine so I could use the alternator and water pump (with the uprated mounting). The Favorit crank that I bought from eBay had a multi-ribbed pulley on it, which fitted the Fabia crank, so I assumed that the single-V pulley from my Fav would also fit. And you know what they say about assume meaning ‘make an ass out of you and me’. Because the Fav one is the same OD, but different ID. So it wouldn’t fit. Which then meant getting a new water pump and alternator. And then I found out that the driver circuitry I’d need for the coilpacks on the Fabia engine wouldn’t be in the country for a couple of weeks. And then to cap it all, it turns out that the wasted-spark software for the Megasquirt is buggy, so it wouldn’t be a great idea yet!

So, a solution was needed. And it was found in the shape of a Felicia MPi engine. It solved the problem of getting a new alternator and water pump, and also meant that I’d have an engine I could just put a distributor on; the Felicia MPi engine is normally run with a wasted-spark coil pack (like the Fabia engine), but being based on the Favorit block and so on, it means that it’s possible to put a dizzy on it, which meant ‘all’ I’d have to do was fit it and map the fuel for the Megasquirt. Oh, and make up a new wiring loom. And replace the missing engine mount, which meant drilling and tapping the block.

So, I was just about to fit the new engine and thought I’d clean the engine bay. Good job I did, as I found a huge crack in the front subframe, on the left-hand side! Seems I’ve been a little hard on the poor thing, and it might explain the driveshaft issue – it’s probably 5mm wider than it should have been!

Luckily I had a spare one (which will suit the kevlar/carbon sumpguard I have, so maybe that will be going on the car), and it’s actually really easy to get off if there’s no engine in the way (otherwise getting to the steering rack mountings is a little difficult, but it’s only 10 bolts anyway – half an hour, and it was changed!

Hopefully the engine will be wired up by the end of today, and maybe even running later in the week – I’ve got new wishbones and other bits coming, and I don’t want to try to start it until all that is fitted so things don’t flail around (like driveshafts and stuff – I’m quite old fashioned like that….)