Inspector Morose

No it doesn’t.

You say that....

#STONEYLIFE

From R-L, dynamo and what looks like a magneto. edit: the ‘clutches’ are just couplings. Basically a rubber star inbetween two toothed wheels. Sometimes known as a Smiths type coupling or a Hants and Dorset coupling as they used this type to replace the useless plate coupling on leyland diesel fuel pumps..

Hello? What in the where in the what now?

Some pics what I took on the day.

I’m sure some leeway is factored in.

Matra-Simca Baghera

Just think of it as a modern day A35 but more practical. And Italian(Polish). And more economical. Thinking again, don't bother. No do! Look, they have 'just enough' power as they are so you can have fun with what's available, the nose heavy front of the diesel is predictably understeery that you can front drift up to a corner then just turn in using the throttle. Handling is bonny for such a mundane car and with a slick gear change (as long as it hasn't gone to shit) makes for some fun, if not that fast, motoring. If James Hunt was alive now, he'd have a Panda diesel.

I'd be less miserable.* *no I wouldn't.

Well, the first is only a few short days (but long nights) away now. Anyone still interested? Meet at the Severn Valley Railway, Bridgnorth Station about 10:30-11 ish maybe approximately?

I don't think they are. IIRC the Panda's box was bespoke and built 'just strong enough' to cope with the proposed power outputs. It does make me think that a diesel Panda wasn't on the cards till very late on in the design process as a lot of the specs for the diesel were right on the edge of specification for various components.

Issue with remapping them is that the gearboxes are made of cheese. They don’t seem to be able to consistently handle much more power than what the titchy-diesel originally puts out without spitting their gear trains out the side of the casing.

Strangely, they’re quite resilient to the daily short distance commute but don't get the one with the dpf (red lettering on back instead of blue IIRC). As I’ve said, ours has been with us for 12 years and counting. The reason it hasn’t been replaced is that we can’t find a car that’s as practical and economical for the size. It’s been our wedding car, it’s done trips around the country and further afield and taken it with aplomb. It’s been the wife’s commuter car, a van when we needed to move house. All that it’s needed over this time is two rear shock absorbers, two front wishbones, a set of disks for the front and a few sets of front pads. The rear drums have never been apart and have no need to be. It works, it does work and it does it well. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that fabled “ideal” car. It can do distance but others do it better. It can carry loads but my Saab can knock it into a cocked hat for that. But for what it is, it really can put up a good fight against the more sophisticated competition out there. Simplicity brings its benefits too. What has gone wrong has been fixed on the side of the road or on the drive. It is car distilled into it’s basic form. A practical, no nonsense machine that can move four people and their goods wherever they need to go. yeah, like ‘em.

The EGR is a water cooled jobbie that seems to be intertwined around the rest of the engine. Bit of an arse to de-tangle but not impossible. Other things I can think of is the actuator on the turbo sticks (TADTS) but can be freed of relatively simply. In fact most jobs on them are pretty simple (100HP excepted) so any of their little foibles aren’t much to loose sleep over.