Daves collection caper. ANOTHER fuggin fail. I just cant even right now........

[dave21478]

WAKEY WAKEY TIME!

 

A quick spot of breakfast....

 

Its only a little over an hour away so no need for airline tickets or anything this time.

 

Lets saddle up.

 

 

I rolled up at the guys house and he proved to be a very brusque kind of chap...like it was a massive hassle for me to pay him money for a pile of shit that was cluttering up his garden. Anyway....

 

On the road again....

 

The journey involves a 15 minute run along an autoroute. I definitely wasnt pushing on hard as the pickup isnt particularly comfortable at speed, so I was cruising along with the lorries.

 

But wait....

 

Yeah, the temp needle shot up and it boiled over. There was a Le Halfords by my exit so I snagged a 5 litre drum of antifreeze and let it cool down, topped up the rad and continued on my way.

 

And then it was a tedious repeat performance of when it banged out on my original collection in UK. It will sit with the temp ok on downhill sections or on the flat if I dont work it hard, but after a few minutes of loading the engine it heats right up and boils over.

Its probably done the head gasket again? I just..... FUCK... I dunno. Fucking furious, tbqfh.

 

From there to my house is a road I travel a fair bit and it was punctuated by several cool-down stops. Weirdly, it only needs a few minutes ticking over at idle to bring the temp down to normal from the red zone. I would then have to slowly let the rad cap off, let it depressurise and then top up again.

 

Many times.

 

Here.

 

And here.

 

And other places I couldnt be fucked photographing.

 

I ran out of antifreeze but stopped by a lake where there was a massive selection of manky old plastic bottles lying all round the ground as far as the eye could see, left by filthy, lazy cunts who go fishing here. I chose the cleanest and topped up my 5 litre bottle.

 

And slogged it home...the problem is I live at the top of a fucking mountain, so it was working hard all the way up the road.

 

I rolled into home amid plumes of steam, and we can get a better look at the "prize".

 

Its another early Panda 4x4.

Its fucked. But I knew that in advance and it was priced accordingly.  No restoration here, its a breaker for parts....namely gearbox, there is a second gearbox in the boot too....condition unknown, back axle and various trim pieces, including the unobtanium passenger wing mirror for early mkI with opening quarterlight. Which I broke while loading it on the trailer like the useless, brainless, clumsy cunt I am.

 

 

So, if you will excuse me, I am off the cry into my pot noodle, then start removing the engine from the old pickup truck. 

[Tickman]

When it goes wrong for you you write it is such a way that I wanted to like the post but it doesn't feel right to do that.

 

I await the engine is swapped post or the I've put an axe through it post

[barefoot]

Toast looks superb

[Supernaut]

Toast looks superb

 

Yeah, the post is well written and I feel really sorry for dave about the OMGHGF part II.

But, that toast... WTF?!

[spartacus]

Bad news on the truck, we've all been there I guess but that doesn't make you feel any better I know!

If the Panda was cheap enough then it might cover the cost of repair to the truck if you're lucky.:-/

I've liked your post because I like to see a Panda being rescued, if only for spares.

[dave21478]

Toast looks superb

 

 

Yeah, the post is well written and I feel really sorry for dave about the OMGHGF part II.

But, that toast... WTF?!

 

 

Saves a few minutes time in the morning.

[drum]

I think I would rather brush my teeth with marmalade.

 

You should give up the day job and write a book.

 

When my p38 was playing this game, I wondered if plumbing a 5 gallon drum in before the header tank would give more mpb (miles per boil).

 

Good luck with...everything.

[taxi paul]

You have blue toast and you drive on the wrong side of the road. This really is an ecclesiastical mix on here.

[alf892]

Reads like the rad is buggered?

[Jim Bell]

Yay Panda, Boooooo overheating.  Yay toast, boooo boiling.

 

Did you break a (wing) mirror on a pick up truck and get 8 years HGF?!

[The Moog]

Smurfs on toast for breakfast... Start the day like a champ.

[johngarty]

Is that toothpaste on toast?? If so thats messed up.

Obviously the 4x4 on seeing possible replacement 4x4 decided to fuck you right off.

[Asimo]

Viscous fan thing gone weak? cross fingers

[panhard65]

Viscous fan thing gone weak? cross fingers

Thats what I am thinking as well if it is fine when not having to work too hard.

[John F]

You have blue toast and you drive on the wrong side of the road. This really is an ecclesiastical mix on here.

 

Think you mean "eclectic" mate...

[Guest Hooli]

Viscous fan thing gone weak? cross fingers

 

 

Drill a hole through it & make it a solid one with a nut n bolt.

[beko1987]

Yep, sad for your truck issues, but wiping tears of laughter away here. You should get on youtube/the telly...

[Tayne]

 

On the road again....

IMG_20180406_103412.jpg

 

 

Viewing this on a phone I really thought that was a fucked p38 Range Rover on the trailer.

[stephen01]

Viewing this on a phone I really thought that was a fucked p38 Range Rover on the trailer.

 

same here, but even a fucked one in france would be maga bucks I'm sure. 

[John F]

Viewing this on a phone I really thought that was a fucked p38 Range Rover on the trailer.

 

Me too, until I looked closer - the bonnet shape & seat headrests are wrong.

[Bren]

Dave after the grief it gave you last time I would say burn it with fire - it obviously wants to die.

[hairnet]

Banana engine from transit

 

I'd have towed the truck with the panda

[Supernaut]

I'd have towed the truck with the panda

 

Yes, but you're even more mental than dave.

[DodgeRover]

Those symptoms are odd - more like a lack of cooling than HGF especially as it drove there fine unloaded and I assume you weren't hanging around and it wasn't downhill all the way?

[dave21478]

Its gone 6pm, so I make that "beer stein full of gin and tonic o`clock"

And just when you thought the day couldnt get any worse, you realise you have run out of lemons. Fuck my entire life and everything connected to it.

 

In response to the helpful suggestions - thank you all...

The viscous fan hub has already been drilled and bolted. I did that after i changed the gasket first time around. I believe that the failed viscous hub was what caused the original breakdown

Radiator....yeah...its a strange one. I understand it overheating suddenly with a quick rise in temperature, but conversely, cooling down so quickly is weird, no? literally a couple of minutes at idle or coasting down hill will bring the needle down from pegged in the red to normal. That sounds like flow problems doesnt it?

 

So with that in mind, and with motivation to haul the engine out today non existent I raped the old truck for its radiator and while I was there bagged the water pump too. Its not an arduous task on these at all but my mood was not correct to be thinking about photographing the job for some perverts on the internet to look at.

With the "new" pump and rad in place I refilled with fresh antifreeze and went for a run.

 

I kicked its arse up and down the hill as hard as I could, but its unladen now so not a huge load on the engine. No sign of wavering though. I will have to keep my fingers crossed for next time I have the trailer hooked on. In the meantime its back to carrying a 20 litre drum of water in the back and paranoid gauge-watching.

 

Bren - believe me, if I could afford to burn this fucker I would happily do so. Unfortunately, I NEED a staunch 4x4 for work, and while ebay is full of tempting wonders, Im not sure if my luck and nerves can stand up to another crap-shoot of buying blind a thousand miles away from home.

 

So, enough about that pile of poopy, lets have a look at this wee panda....

 

My neighbours are sound, but while nobody has actually said anything, subtle rumours and hints about "all those old cars" have been picked up, which was part of my motivation for recent fleet clearing, weighing in 3 cars over the last few weeks. This Panda was too good an opportunity to pass up though. It wasnt too far away and the price was right....outrageous by UK standards, but cheap for over here. The plan was for a quick turnaround....I wasnt even going to unload it from the trailer, I planned on getting the oxy acetylene bottles from the farm and using the gas axe to roughly chop out the gearbox, rear axle etc where it sat on the trailer, and remove the trim and stuff that interested me. I was then going to weigh in the remains this evening. Obviously that plan fell out when the pickups water fell out.

 

With the plan in tatters I backed the trailer round the back of the house and unloaded the Panda in the "naughty corner" which is where I keep the old truck as its out of sight of all neighbours.

 

I snapped the bloody washing line going under there too.

 

I also ended up with my testicles somewhere up around my belly button, such was the effort of unloading it. Ever tried pushing a car with 2 flat tyres and partly seized brakes on your own? its not easy, despite the trailer being a tipping bed.

 

I am not sure about the nudge bars. I was considering putting them on mine. Obviously they would be stripped and painted, but I think I maybe prefer the cleaner look without them. 

 

Loading it at the guys house had been fun too. It needed dragged along a muddy track with his tractor, but the tractor wheels left ruts so deep the Panda just acted like a plow and even the tractor struggled. Made it in the end, but the panda got well bogged up in the process.

 

Its not pretty.

 

Lacquer peel to die for.

 

It has a plastic wheel-arch liner for the back right wheel. I dunno what the story is with these but of every Panda I have seen in every scrapyard I have never seen this corner having a liner. This one is a bit fucked but I should be able to do something with it.

 

Inside is grim.

 

In the back a sump guard frame, gearbox and transfer box, various windows, a pair of front suspension struts with hubs and brakes, and various other bits and bobs.

 

I had hoped the bonnet would be good so I could spray it and replace my badly hail-damaged one, but this hinge has seized in the past and someone has just raxxed it up and pulled the frame off the skin and distorted it all. Fucked.

 

The engine is apparently seized, but I dont give a toss about that. Its the same 965 pushrod engine that I just took out of mine.

 

This mirror, God damn, I am angry about that. With the car on the trailer, I was strapping it down and walking along the trailer mudguard and clouted the mirror with my beerbelly. Snapped the bastard right at the join. The parts fit perfectly together so I will need to find some hero-strength glue for this. Its under a lot of tension with the internal spring pressing against this part so I have doubts. I might just wob it up in a fixed position so it no longer pivots.

If anyone has a good suggestion for a plastic glue, i am all ears.

 

I bloody hope this has been worth it....

[OwdChina]

.

If anyone has a good suggestion for a plastic glue, i am all ears

Araldite 2 part epoxy resin glue............strong as fook.

[dave21478]

When my p38 was playing this game, I wondered if plumbing a 5 gallon drum in before the header tank would give more mpb (miles per boil).

 

Good luck with...everything.

 

Its funny*, this brought to mind an old episode of Scrapheap Challenge i re-watched online a couple of weeks ago where after spending all the time building their machine, they found the head gasket in their motor was kippered. The other team kindly suggested sealing a bit of hose-pipe into the header tank neck and running it up to a drum on the roof, full of water and open at the top so it wouldnt pressurise. Gravity and the large reserve of water got them through the challenge.

[timolloyd]

Much admiration for your perseverance. Enjoy reading these updates.

[Bren]

 

I take my hat off....

[hairnet]

http://alvadi.ee/en/carparts/fiat/panda-141a-1980/door-mirror/?tdType=2552

 

would this lot be any help the pic and details are early panda but thats a later/uno type mirror