Daves Panda. minor fettling

[cort1977]

I thoroughly approve of this thread - moar please...

[Vin]

That is a pretty cool thing to have. That will make a a lot of the UK Panda folks very jealous. It's something I've never seen before. I know the European utility companies used to have the 'Panda van' package with the back doors and the side blinds (there are a couple of the kits on Pandas in the UK), but that's a new one on me...

 

[Felly Magic]

That loadliner is a real score and a half. Happy days

[dave21478]

More welding this morning.

 

This inner wing needed work. I cut off the face, re-welded the captive nut on the inside then put a new skin on.

 

 

 

I then cut off the bulge along the front valence as it was pretty crispy along 2/3 of its length. I just lashed a flat sheet in its place. Its under the bumper out of sight and will be covered in stone-chip so no need for prettyness.

 

 

 

 

 

[dave21478]

The other sill needed a little spot of welding here and there at the ends which I was happily plodding away with when I noticed something....

 

whats that?

 

Looks like a.....surely not?

 

Yep.

 

Through the grommit in the end, there are loads of them...

 

kinda dangerous when welding nearby, I would think. So I cut a hole...

 

And found quite a lot...

 

 

along with the soggy remains of their cardboard box. It looks like the previous owner was a hunting fan and dropped a box of shells down one of the holes in the boot, probably where the seatbelt mechanism sits.

 

[Tickman]

That would have been an unpleasant surprise with them enjoying the heat!

[For Fiats Sake]

The other sill needed a little spot of welding here and there at the ends which I was happily plodding away with when I heard a massive bang and shat myself....

 

FTFY

 

 

That load area plaggy thing is ace though, never seen one before, does it have Fiat markings on it or aftermarket axesoarie do you reckon?

[dave21478]

It has "Panda" stamped in the plastic, on the metal divider and stencilled on the wood, but no actual Fiat logo that I have seen, so probably aftermarket.

[dave21478]

Its nice to start putting things back after a big dismantling. Pez tank, prop shaft and support, rear axle, brake line and handbrake cable re-fitted.

 

 

Looks nice.

 

The rear axle isnt fully on as I am still waiting for the gear shift gaiter and leaf spring shackle bushes I ordered from PastaBay.

 

I spent this afternoon on a few online sites doing price comparisons and have now ordered pretty much a whole new front clip.....shocks, bearings, balljoints, bushes, lower arms, top mounts, cv boots, discs, pads etc etc, also rear shocks, exhaust and clutch kit.

 

My steering rack is gubbed, with a huge amount of internal free play so I will need to see if its repairable or if I need a new one, and whether I can find a good used on in the scrappy.

 

 

[dave21478]

My leaf spring shackle bushes and gear lever boot arrived today so I put them on this evening - no dramas at all. Not very photogenically interesting either so I didnt bother.
 

I then stripped down, cleaned and painted the bits I need to re-use from the front suspension....various brackets and stuff.

The calipers were strange - neither piston would slide back in at all, even with a proper tool to wind them in. I unscrewed the flexis and a grease gun fitting is the same thread pattern so screwed one in and filled the gun with brake fluid. It took a fair bit of pumping, then it suddenly popped and moved out, and could then be pushed back in quite easily. I took the pistons out and there was no corrosion on them so I assume the seals must have dried out a bit and stuck. Anyway, seem to be working now.

 

 

Some painted bits....

 

[mouseflakes]

My leaf spring shackle bushes and gear lever boot arrived today so I put them on this evening.

 

And I bet you looked lovely in them too.

[hairnet]

eek

 

respec

[andrew e]

The shotgun shells is something Ive never seen before in a box section! You really look like your enjoying this fella.

[oldcars]

This is great, loving the Panda shooting brake

[dave21478]

I went to the scrapyard today for bits, but like a plum forgot my telephone, so no pictures.

They have about a dozen pandas and Marbellas in at the moment, but none are 4x4s.

 

On the down side, I put my hand into a bunch of turbo-strength nettles under one of the cars and now several hours later its still stinging like a mofo.

 

I got a good steering rack.....gaiters, inner joints and even the outer joints all seem to be in good nick, so a clean up is all thats needed. 

Got a windscreen - there was only three left so I took the best of the bunch. No risking smashing it I just took a knife to the seal and lifted it out.

Got various plastics, bits of trim and knickknacks, including a newer style fuse box that takes blade fuses which I will try and swap into my wiring loom to replace the one that takes those rubbish bullet fuses.

And while its not the hardest part to fabricate, I thought I may as well while I am here so chiselled a bit of scuttle out to patch mine.

 

Didnt get - bonnet.... lots there, but none the right colour. I will think about that later. didnt get a passenger door either, so will probably have to repair the skin on mine. Didnt get any boot struts either as every single on had been nabbed. Mine are too weak to hold the boot open so I guess I will have to splash on new ones.
 

I also had a quick look round for potential replacement seats. I will need to go back with the relevant measurements but saw a few I fancied including an unripped but dirty set from a sporty mkIV Astra.

 

 

Back home I turned the shell back onto its wheels and I got this bit of scuttle trimmed down and welded in and theoretically thats the welding finished.

 

Apparently the new shock absorbers will be delivered tomorrow, but the top mounts wont as they are out of stock.... the rest of the suspension stuff is from another supplier and still awaiting dispatch.

I will seta bout the engine bay and clean it up. I will probably repaint it too, as there are a lot of scratches at surface rust.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Crikey... You're really motivated to finish this one ! Brilliant work !

[tooSavvy]

Do the FIATforum have 'alt swap' struts option?

 

TS

[dave21478]

Not really. A few of the 4x4 owners are fannying with different springs to raise them up, but IMO its a waste of time without longer travel shocks - changing the springs alone means you are running the shocks fully extended (or nearly) at normal ride height.

[dave21478]

Crikey... You're really motivated to finish this one ! Brilliant work !

 

Work is slacker than a hookers panty elastic in January and February so I am cracking on while I have the time.

[Vin]

Shame the Marbellas didn't yield any doors, as under that plastic trim they still have the corrugations of the MK1 Panda door...

[dave21478]

There were a few there and a single mkI Panda, but the doors all had various problems...dents, scrapes etc so I would be no better off. Best just repair the one I have. The rusty bit is on the corrugations so I reckon I can filler it ok, and have decided to paint the lower half in black stone-chip which will hide any minor flaws.

[stephen01]

Dave, where about in france are you? I'll be working for the FIL for 3 weeks at the start of April, In france, and again further on in the year, I'd be all over pandas if there were any in scrap yards here!

 

Top work by the way.  

[dave21478]

I am in the Tarn, nearest city would be Albi.

 

 

Since I couldnt bore you all last night with my progress, you can have a double dose this afternoon....

 

 

I set about scrubbing up the interior. I tried various products and while they worked...some better than others, the best solution (solution - ha ...see what I did there?) was a skoosh bottle full of petrol and a load of clean cloths....squirt, wipe, squirt, wipe, squirt, wipe.

 

The boot and rear seat area came up nicely. I never tried too hard on the front floorpans as they will be covered in carpet again, so Ijust gave it a good hoover and quick wipe over.

 

 

I then set about the engine bay, which was really minging with thickly caked on oily goop. I had hoped it would clean ok and not need painted, but there were a lot of scratches and various bits of missing paint including a lot under the battery location probably due to acid spills so I scraped it all, degreased it and painted the lot. Would have been neater to remove the master cylinder and brake lines, but meh....im lazy and this isnt a concours competition.

 

 

I then removed the extra bits from the engine and set about cleaning it up. this is probably the smallest 4 cylinder motor I have seen - thats a 35cm ruler across the rocker cover.

 

 

Snowing? perfect time to set up the jetwash and soak myself with oily splashback and kill off a circle of grass with petrol.

 

 

It has come up ok. I am drying myself in front of the fire and waiting for the engine to dry and I will probably paint it black.

 

More later if I can be motivated.

 

 

[dave21478]

Oh, and does anyone know where I can get crankshaft oil seals? The flywheel end looks normal so I can probably get one locally, but the other end is some weird thing that seals against the bottom pulley rathen than the crankshaft itself.

[stephen01]

Was in Carcassonne in august for two weeks, went all over the place.

[Vin]

They are a small thing aren't they...

 

When I was rebuilding my van engine my mate couldn't get over how small it is for a 4 cylinder motor. He was amazed at the engineering that had gone into it to get it that compact. My mate is a Mini nut and the A-series is his bread and butter.....

 

Oil seals...

 

I guess you are talking about the seal that pushes into the alloy cover that then bolts on the block. I am familiar with the 903cc unit, but yours will be the 965cc, so I am assuming they are the same when it comes to the block...

 

Best pic I can find in my van collection...

 

 

You can see the 5 or 6 holes that the cover mounts on, with the oil seal over the end of the shaft...

 

I THINK (emphasis on think) it should be this one on the Ricambio site....

 

http://www.ricambio.co.uk/1723-front-engine-crankshaft-oil-seal--classic-fiat-panda-new-panda-cinquecento-seicento-punto-doblo-uno

 

When I did the van, it was a full gasket set and it was included...

[dave21478]

I took the rocker cover off the engine and it was thick with nasty black sludge....I guess the poor Panda hadnt had an oil change for a while, so I decided to take the sump off while I had it on the bench to clean it out.

 

 

 

Inside the sump was clean enough, but it came with some bonus parts....

 

 

A broken circlip and a random bit of metal. The only circlips I can easily see are on the rocker shaft and they are present and correct so I will have to assume this one was lost during a previous job on the engine and just left.

 

I got the crank oil seals out. I will check that site you listed Vin, and see whats what. if not I can probably find stuff locally at a bearings and seals place - they seem to be fairly standard sizes.

 

 

Gave the block a quick skoosh of high temp paint - I only had anthracite to hand so thats what it got.

 

 

I did the sump and rocker cover in normal black, which shouldnt get too hot.

(needs another coat of paint)

 

 

I then jetwashed the gearbox.

 

Its got a scrapyard yellow paint pen date on it, so must have been changed in the past.

 

And then in preparation of it going back in, I made a trestle thing...

 

 

After the hassles of the engine hoist sinking into the floor during the Escort engine swap last year I hope this will go better. I have a block and chain hoist to go on it....put the engine on a board, lift the shell, skoot the engine back underneath, lower the shell, lift the engine. simples.

 

[Parky]

Slightly off topic but the roof looked pretty rust free - has Kevin the Peacock inadvertently become the generator of an eco friendly rustproofer?

 

I suspect I will refer to any sort of rustproofing as Peacock Shit in future

[dave21478]

I am at a bit of a stand-still now, waiting for stuff to turn up. Cant reassemble the motor until I get the oil seals and sump gasket, cant build up the suspension until I get the bearings, top mounts etc....

 

I had planned on starting the exterior bodywork but its snowing and the garage is like an igloo inside, so not the best for paint and filler drying.

[dave21478]

Raining but much more mild today so I cracked on a bit getting it back together.

 

I took the rotary wire brush to the bottom of the rusty door. Its got a lot of holes along its length but just the outer skin so not catastrophic.

Buffed it down and hit it with rust killer.

 

 

Skim of wob.

 

 

Sanded it down with my palm sander as it doesnt have to be perfect, then hit it with a squirt of red oxide.

 

 

I then set about cleaning the carpet.
Step 1 - nail it to the garage door.

 

 

Step 2. Jetwash the fuck out of it then use the wetvac. Repeat.

 

 

Step 3, Wrestle it into the kitchen and prop it up in front of the wood stove. The joys of being single.....

 

 

 

I then set about putting the interior back together, but before I fitted the instruments I took the clocks apart; not for a haircut but due to a sticky speedo needle. It had warped and was jamming on the perspex cover so it never dropped below 40kph, so I went to ever so gently bend....*snap*....fuck.

 

 

I spray painted a bit of plastic white and hot-glued it to the hub. Looks pikey as fuck but will do for now.

 

 

Soundproofing in, carpet in, dash on. The dash is a hammock type of thing fixed to the bulkhead and the lower dash rail and just hangs loosely. The dash doesnt site very well, it has either shrunk or is rumpled up so it doesnt reach the end caps. 

 

 

Under the bonnet I got the heater box in, wiper motor and a few other wee bits.

 

 

I got the new windscreen in without incident too.