skoda 136 rapid - updates updates updates

[bmboy]

Ok so I thought it was about time I made an appearance on here, I picked this little gem up at the beggining of the year and used it as a run about until may when I decided it deserved better.
So here are some before and after photos. The in between ones aren't so interesting and basicly comprise of me fitting tonnes of sound proofing and electrics.

So when I got it....





And how it looked this weekend....





The actual spec is huge, I have fitted loadsa gadgets such as alarm, immobiliser, and all that tracking nonsense, electric windows, a decent sound system (nothing excessive), leather and alcantara seats (photos will follow when its finished), the obvious two tone paint, wheels, springs, shocks, lenses, elecy igntion, etc etc......

[Deleted]

That's phenominal, the two tone paint and those wheels make it look like a totally different car. I'm seriously impressed.

[ab5olut]

That looks spot on!

[mrj]

wow, what a transformation.... it all works very well, the wheels, the paint and the suitcase ;D i think you can call it a result, when a finished project makes me want to buy a car, which i was not a huge fan before ....

[dubbedup]

I am loving this...

Reminds me of Street Machine's Skoda Rapid build that they did back in the day!

[davej]

what a transformation! It looks great now, more pics required!

[TheFrequentFryer]

Do like that. Was there much trouble redrilling the hubs, or did you use Beetle adaptors?
Nice to see someone giving a solid motor some modern touches.

[bmboy]

Thanks, I had to trim the ends of the wheel studs and make up some adapters. They are four stud hubs, one stud is shared and then there are helicoiled threads in the adapter which accept the four bolts. Make any sense...?

[jonnyf]

Lovely car.

Gatwick airport car park B? If that means nothing to you don't worry ha.

[bmboy]

Thanks, and yes well spotted (thats the second rr member to notice!) you won't find another rapid in the U.K. with those wheels!

[qwerty]

All I can do is echo others comments and say it looks fapping ace!! Needs another coil out though

[bmboy]

It has actually settled a little lower now it has 1000 miles under its belt since the rebuild. I am starting to run aground here and there so I think the current height will do. Will hopefully get it finished at the weekend and take some more photos (interior etc).

[bmboy]

Oh and I am afraid I am not a spring cutter, these are proper lowering springs!

[a112]

Wheels,paint and the Californians are nice touch!

[bmboy]

A couple of photos taken by a good friend of mine the other night;

[jonnyf]

Jul 25, 2010 9:55:50 GMT bmboy said:

Thanks, and yes well spotted (thats the second rr member to notice!) you won't find another rapid in the U.K. with those wheels!

Haha, small world. Seen it in there quite a bit. I've got a little green mini with banded steels. Don't drive it in to often. Drive a civic lowered on some bbs copies

[bmboy]

Sorry its been so long. No real progress as such but I thought, as I had a moment, I would show you some of what went into the project.
After getting it I tried to T-cut the paint to recover it but couldn't get a decent finish and went through to the primer in a number of places
Here it is after its first clean and spruce up:



And here it is lowered 35mm still with the original paint. I don't think it had fully settled at this point.


The head gasket the proceeded to fail on me so I removed the head to find it was rather corroded. After removing the corrosion I was left with this;


So I filled it in with chemical metal;


Filed it flat;


and it has been fine ever since.
I ran it about until spring when I used my BMW 528 (E28) as a daily while I dismantled the skoda ready for some new paint.
Look at that wiring! What a mess. And check out the state of the seat!


So the majority of the wires removed I am left with this;

and this


and here she is waiting to be prepped;


Meanwhile I picked up some bits and bobs, grill, clear lenses for the front, sound proofing, stereo, alarm, central locking, blah blah blah and had the seats reupholstered;



and here she is with a new coat on...


So then to put it all back together. Firstly I put a new layer of sound proofing throughout and added some expensive anti corrosion wax anywhere I thought necessary. Sills, floorpan, doors, etc.
More photos

New radiator;

Then I had a week full time rebuild with lots of small things like shortening the gearstick, building perspex mounts for the ICE install, electric windows, (all of which I will cover another time).
No photos uploaded of this at the moment.
Here is the interior almost finished complete with modified BMW 7 series rear shelf and new shagpile carpets!

and just for laughs here is a photo of lowness whilst I was fitting new rear bushes


I am sorting out a full set of polybushes for the car which will be fitted in due course.
One more parting shot (taken just before I went to a skoda meet in coventry;


Thats all for now, more another day (and there is plenty more where that came from!!)

Comments always encouraged.

Barclay

[skoda_norman]

Nice car. I like what you've done. More WIP photos though please.

[bmboy]

Spent the last couple of days making up a new exhaust system for the rapid. I tried using a 'sports' one from jorily but it didn't massively improve performance. I had an ashley system on one of my old skodas and that sounded great but was only from the standard manifold so was still a little limited so I built a new system from stainless steel.
I had the idea that if I kept the inner pipes from the outer pipes then it would have an good resonating sound so thats what I did. They meet only in the box, but only minimally as it is a straight through system.
So, photos!
Here is the pipe


Here is the box


and I had the flanges laser cut from 10mm stainless.

Manifolds made up

Mounts welded onto the box

Mounts welded onto the subframe

Fitted


I haven't cut the tips to size yet but here is a sound clip to give you some idea...

;D

[Porsche]

Your Skoda is awesome. I just love the Porsche Aloys and the stance.