Daves Panda. minor fettling

[Luckythirteen]

Top work Dave Numbers!

[dave21478]

Still waiting for these bloody balljoints - they are all thats stopping me getting it driving. They were supposed to come today but obviously never showed up. 

Once I have them I can fit the struts,driveshafts, bleed the brakes and its a runner.

 

While waiting I started checking out the electrics and the flashers are weird. The left rear indicator refused to work and the hazards would flash for a while then stop. The left rear bulb, connectors and wiring were ok and I eventually traced the fault to a bundle of wires going through a multiplug under the dash. One of the pins had been pushed out the back of the plug and fixing this fixed the indicator. The hazards still wont play though....they will now only give a half-assed click from the flasher unit every now and then with no lights working anywhere. Switching on the hazards stops the indicators working.

 

Im not sure if this is another loose connection or the flasher unit itself. Under the dash there are two units...one metal cylinder with three prongs which seems to be the flasher and a plastic relay with 5 pins which does feck-knows what.

 

Anyone got a wiring diagram for an '86 Panda?

[cobblers]

 

Anyone got a wiring diagram for an '86 Panda?

 

 

[Barry Cade]

Erk! Brake cleaner can turn into phosgene gas when burned (effects ranging from breathing difficulties through permanent lung damage to, er, death)

 

SRSLY? One of the "pastimes" in Kwik Fit, wen we were quiet, was to wait until someone went on the throne with the Daily Sport. We'd spray brake cleaner along the grout on the floor tiles under the door, flick the light off, then Blam, out comes a fella holding a  flaming,charred tabloid, trousers round their ankles and a little bit disorientated... 

 

Fu*k elf and safety. It were reet funny.

[Barry Cade]

Get rid of the metal cylinder and get a modern 3 pin flasher relay. X1/9's used to have this issue all the time..

[steve_earwig]

SRSLY? One of the "pastimes" in Kwik Fit, wen we were quiet, was to wait until someone went on the throne with the Daily Sport. We'd spray brake cleaner along the grout on the floor tiles under the door, flick the light off, then Blam, out comes a fella holding a  flaming,charred tabloid, trousers round their ankles and a little bit disorientated... 

 

Fu*k elf and safety. It were reet funny.

 

That's it though, if we worried about everything toxic we could possibly come across on our travels we wouldn't get out of bed (and die of starvation). Still I felt it my duty as a caring human being to point that out and, having sone so, I am now free to point and laugh as you flop about on the floor like a landed fish turning blue.

 

Sorry for the OT Dave. If it's got 3 pins I think that means it's already electronic. I bow to BC's experience though, it probably can't handle the current so an upgrade might help. I don't know what the other box is though, usually the switch cuts off the indicators (which is why they don't work)and shorts both feeds via the relay.

 

Spaghetti Marelli

[For Fiats Sake]

Found those photos of the doppleganger.

 

[dave21478]

Aaaaand now I feel inadequate! Thats minty. I guess a full bare respray?

 

Interestingly his roof looks like its done with stonechip. I have only seen pics of one other which was an ad on LeBonCoin, but couldnt tell if the roof was painted or vinyl. Since my car was hail damaged, I wonder if the vinyl was added to cover the roof damage or if it was factory fit?

[Vin]

Top work Dave2468-Motorway...I can't really help on the electrics as I'm shit at that sort of thing

 

But those pictures that 'FFS' has posted are very interesting. That's a 'ski clip' by the way, attached to the roof rack (I've got four of them in a box, collected by the previous owner of my Sisley)...Also that is a 'Sisley' roof rack which appeared on the MK 2 special edition in 1987... What I mean is I've never seen that on a MK1 before...

 

I did think Dave's example was a special edition, what with the red seatbelts and interior stripes, but there have been hundreds of special editions of Fiat Pandas over the ages it's difficult to be exact...

 

It's got to be this...

 

 

 

The site I lifted the images off says it has something to do with Belgium, but it could probably be anything...

 

http://www.autopareri.com/forums/topic/47450-varianti-versioni-ed-allestimenti-estere-non-venduti-nel-bel-paese?page=5

[cobblers]

Anyway further to my totally unhelpful post earlier, I'd start by having the hazard switch apart and making sure its not full of smeg and oily fluff. Mind out when you pop it open cos there'll be little ball bearings and springs flying all over the place unless you're careful.

 

You know if I had one of these I would be tempted to try and cob an engine in out of a Fiat 500, you can get a 10k mile one off ebay for almost nothing for some reason (I needed a thermostat and housing for the missuses car on a sunday afternoon. A full 10k engine with all the ancillaries was something like £125 and the only place locally I could get the bits for was £75 and wasn't sure if they had any stock, so I nearly went and bought the full engine to rob the housing off. Not sure if they fit but they're absolutely tiny and go alright even in a 500 with "Gears by Joey Deacon" auto

[Vin]

A bit more googling...

 

 

 

 

http://iruggentianni7080.forumfree.it/?t=64953406

[Barry Cade]

The metal 3 prong cannister flasher unit is an old relay type, and with a bit of lack of oomph in the circuits it can cause the above issues. You can check earths, hazard switches etc, but this type of flasher unit causes these issues- for the sake of a fiver, change it first to a solid state one.

 

 

I cancelled out the injestion of burning brake cleaner by spraying 2 pack without a mask, which is countered by smoking 20 fags a day. I do wear a helmet on my bike though, because it's the law.

[For Fiats Sake]

I was told that the roof was completely original though the rest of the paintwork isn't.  The car is a special edition, very special with the Arbath engine!  Roof rack is a bit rubbishy but the mini bull bars and overiders with headlamp washers in them make up for that.

 

I fell in love with that little car, and the uk mk1 that came on the trip too, took more photo's of it than all the others that came through out the weekend - about 40 I think.

 

The Italians love to mod their cars but officially aren't allowed too - original engines and tyre sizes must be adhered to, cars can be seized  which break the original spec of the car!

 

They get around using bigger tyres by having the legally incorrect sizes  manufactured with correct dimensions moulded into them!

[dave21478]

Still no balljoints. Fucking postie....last time this situation happened the parcel had been left at the mayors office and nobody thought to tell me. I only found out about it by chance. If it aint here tomorrow I will have to trudge to the main post office and see if they know anything about it.

 

Today was mostly spent getting waxoyl in my hair and eyes as I covered the arches prior to refitting the wheelarch liners and mud flaps. I am normally not a fan of mud flaps but these seem to be decent ones. I am missing the rear right arch liner, and when I was at the scrappy not a single one of the cars there had one....

 

I put the bumpers on, new reg plates, spent ages faffing to get the screenwash jets to work but they are both bunged up beyond saving so will need replaced. Tried to repair the rear side window catch but its buggered too, so I went to fit one I got from the scrappy last time I was there but obviously it doesnt bloody fit. They are a pain in the chuff to remove as you either need to drill out the hinge pins or smash the glass. 

 

The funky hazard lights turned out to be a corroded connection in the fuse box.

 

I put the driveshafts in as I wanted to see if the gearbox is oil-tight. I poured a few litres of gear oil into the box and half a litre up my sleeve. Nice.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

spent ages faffing to get the screenwash jets to work but they are both bunged up beyond saving so will need replaced. 

 

A good way to unblock screenwash jets is using a piece of thin, twist-tie garden wire with the plastic coating stripped off. It's flexible enough to pass through the jets and rigid enough to clean any crap out. This kind of stuff :

 

[steve_earwig]

I use a pin meself, sadly what happens is you push the crap down the jet so it works for a bit, then the crap rises up again to re-block the jet. The only sure way is to remove the pipe and blow through it with an airline. Of course, the pipe will probably snap off the bottom of the jet...

[matty879]

fantastic work,ive had 3 racing pandi over the years,first one was first car,903cc rotbox which I swapped for a shitty brown tr7 got 99mph down telegraph hill in torquay on way to fetch said tr7,had a 750 and a 1.0 theyre ace great work and I must say in pretty good nick to start with for one of these,doing it right was a great idea,you made my day

[dave21478]

The balljoints finally turned up today so I leapt into action.....after lunch, obviously.

 

However while I had been waiting for them to arrive I had given no thought at all to how I was to press them into the hub carrier. They are a bastard tight interference fit in the hub carrier with a snap ring to lock them in place. 

I dont have a press of any kind, so having looked on the internet, started messing with sockets and washers and stuff, trying to draw them into place, but it wasnt working well and I was worried about breaking them.

Then I remembered that I do have a press, albeit a very powerful and somewhat oversized one.....

 

Yeah, thats the towable log splitter I built a few years ago.

 

I fired it up and after much fannying with sockets and bits of metal and stuff I got them pressed in.

 

It was very scary, to be honest. This thing is incredibly powerful and easily capable of just squishing everything flat as fuck. Also due to free play in it, easily capable of firing bits out at 2000 mph if they slipped under pressure.

 

Anyway, with that done, the rest went together easily enough.

 

So, slightly over a month after starting, it made its maiden voyage from the garage to the top of the garden- about 20 meters.

 

 

Something isnt right though, there is a rythmic thump and jerk from the drivetrain so I think a prop joint is not swiveling as it should. 

Also, the ignition timing is way out - this is due to my own cack-handedness. When I pulled the distributor out I assumed it would be like an A-series engine which has a slot for the dizzy drive, so it can only go back the right way or 180 degrees out. Turns out this one has a spline drive so can go back loads of different ways. I took my best guess, but it doesnt seem right. A proper road test is needed once its rolling properly.

 

 

[Tickman]

Outstanding progress, Slightly over a month!

[cort1977]

Wow, inspiring stuff!   

[Rocket88]

That looks thoroughly magnificent..................

[320touring]

Fucking superb effort chap!

 

excellent:)

[Lacquer Peel]

Love that log splitter, it looks better than some branded ones. How does it operate? Hopefully with two hands on the controls.

[dave21478]

The main ram is one of a pair from the compactor of a rubbish lorry, apparently. There is a second ram from the rear door of a hay baler to lift the main part from horizontal for towing to vertical when splitting. Its got a Honda single cylinder air cooled diesel motor running a double drive belt to the pump. Chassis is random steel scrap from the farm and the suspension units are a pair from a rotten old car transporter I broke up.

 

Two handed operation....not really, no. Its got a single control lever for up and down and an ingenious (even if I say so myself) mechanism for it to retract automatically and stop at any desired height, ie 60 cm for splitting 50cm logs.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Brilliant work ! Not only have you gotten this ready so quickly, you've also managed to not kill yourself in the process, despite your complete disregard for health&safety ! Splendid !

[dave21478]

So the rythmic clunk and jerk was due to the front prop joint, as suspected.

I somehow managed to put it back together out of synch and it would bend one way but not the other. 

Its a horrible job to do this.....six large ball bearings are held by a cage in the middle of the joint and need slotted in one at a time as you turn it and angle it. Obviously you are on your back with hands in the air, everything is clagged in grease and its generally a hassle. First ball in, turn a bit, second ball in, turn a bit, third ball in, first ball falls out and hits you on the forehead, fourth ball in, second ball hits you on the forehead.....repeat for 17 minutes. Just seconds before you flip the fuck out and set fire to everything, it all slots together really easily.

 

 

While I was grubbing about under it I finished waxoyling. Its cold today so the goo needed a little help.

 

 

I then jet washed it, rolled it back into the garage and set about giving it a proper clean. The roof might need re-painted in satin black as Kevin the Peacocks shit has left plenty of marks that wont come off. I will leave them to soak in something and try again as a last resort.

I machine polished it with some general paint renovator stuff, then gave it a layer of Autoglym super resin polish. It will need a few more polishing sessions to get it looking its best, but its good enough for now. I cleaned the windows which were so filthy they felt rough to touch inside and out, and cleaned up the interior.

 

 

I couldnt move it any further out of the garage to take more photos as it crapped out there and refused to restart.

 

A bit of trial and error revealed as I suspected I had got the distributer timing well out, so I sorted that and it runs much better, although the idle is rather high. I will need to ask Brother in Law, but I think it was like that when bought.

 

 

I then got busy with my Trackace to set the front wheels, which were toed in so far it was tripping over itself as it rolled. My driveway is as rough as hell though so no idea if its perfect - I will look at it again later. No photos of that as it was getting dark.

 

On the down side, the radiator is kippered - it has a constant haze of steam comming off it due to I think many small leaks letting coolant seep out.

 

I am going to say its finished for now though. Needs the radiator, stereo, and a few other wee bits n bobs from a scrappy....better bonnet, better seats, a few wee bits of trim, better r/h door mirror etc etc but that can be done as and when I have the time. Sadly I have now run out of free time and need to go and do some work, which I have been somewhat neglecting to get this finished.

I will also wait until after 20th Feb to insure it as thats when it turns 30 years old so I can add it to my classic policy. It will then need a CT, so expect further comments then, depending on how it goes!

 

 

Thanks to everyone who has read and commented on here, I really do appreciate the input.

 

[Bobthebeard]

Just amazing.... Excellent!!!!

[beko1987]

fantastic!

[spartacus]

Nice one, good to see it preserved. Looking good for a 30 year old car.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Flipping great work Daverley_Hills_90210. It looks super tidy and you have turned it around mega quickly. You have got some grade A car skills man - RESTECP.