Andy's awful autos: Panda pondering

[High Jetter]

Did it repel the cat tho?

[Andyrew]

More heavy old shite. 

Our largest customer at work has relocated and purchased all new equipment. The very large building and old setup they had was getting levelled and redeveloped.

Id informed them a a while back that i may be able to help rehome a few bits and was after some bits myself. I can usually find a home for most things. 

Time ticked by and nothing was heard. With a few days till the keys were handed over i got the call and lowball offers were welcome. 

Got these 3 for a mate who works for a classic bmw restorer at just £200 each.  Very nicely made bits of kit.

I nabbed two 4 poster jacks at 20 quid each. 

My main purchase was a changer and balancer for £150 each, with the need for power to use a 2 poster to lift said items onto a trailer and having been informed the power was being shut of on friday. With the tuesday being my only day off a text and a call later to arrange a tow vehicle and trailer for the following day. Our spare van and a very handy trailer from a lovely chap on the same farm as me , sorted. 

Combo moves!

Loaded up with the help of a friend and some of the guys clearing the building.

Unloaded with the help of my friend, nephew some bits of box section and the 4 post lift. 

Now to learn how the balancer works! Came with loads of weights and a few tools. Even have the adapter from centre less wheels.  Probably never use them but still!

Trail run of the changer. Popped the tyre of a panda rim. Go Smoothly it didnt. Many a wrong pedal was pressed. 

 

[Andyrew]

16 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Did it repel the cat tho?

It did not.

Both leave large oil stains so have a common interest. 

[Andyrew]

Balancing act.  With the panda leaving me shortly to be a temp car for mother-rew while hers is in the workshop for welding. Its Time to address the tyres and tracking. 

The tyres @Floatylight collected for me were switched from the battered and rusty wheels they had been fitted on. One had a bead leak aswell so i wanted to switch the wheels round. Look at the state of that rim!

Swapped and balancing*

Pair of nexens up front fitted.

Wheel trims might get a quick spruce so its scabby steel wheels for now. 

Starting to get the hand of the tyre machine. Need to get a bit more practise in. 

 

 

*i think. I have no instructions, only youtube videos of a different model!

[Andyrew]

I also agreed to purchase a scruffy MOT failed sprinter. 

[catsinthewelder]

That looks truly dismal but is probably worth a few grand with an MOT on in the current climate.  How high will the tidemark need to be?  The campervan types like two tone paint and a bright colour with silver above could look quite good.

[Andyrew]

4 minutes ago, catsinthewelder said:

That looks truly dismal but is probably worth a few grand with an MOT on in the current climate.  How high will the tidemark need to be?  The campervan types like two tone paint and a bright colour with silver above could look quite good.

Ive known of the van for years. As my mate worked there and had to arrange the fleets to be worked on, he told me of a scabby van named "Tizzy" that just doesnt die but everyone loved to borrow it. It was however looked down upon by the higher ups as it was used to go to jobs where hundreds of thousands had been spent for an installation/equipment and the guys would turn up in this.

That was about 10 years ago!

Fastforward and my mates dad now works for said company. And after one journey in the van. I just wanted it, i shouldnt, but lifes to short to not do stuff you want to. 

The MOT repair was quoted at 1k plus vat. And as it was ment to be going in a few months anyway. Its time was up. 

Welding is needed but Not for testing purposes shockingly!

Bulb , headlight polish, fit the spare wheel. Exhaust repair and sort the rear brakes. 

 Its surprising tidy underneath and was mercedes commercial dealer serviced with the company as they had a fleets of new mercs over the years. 

We used it to shift the 2 fly press and other parts pre mot fail and it pulls lovely. Its a 5cylinder lump and only had a mere 250k on it. 

Handily i know the guys there and i got it for less than the scrap/export man was offering (£600) .

At £500 quid im happy and its staying there till after chrimbo. So i can make some room in the workshop.

 

 

[Andyrew]

Its small its red and its not Ms-rews ugly pugling. 

Its our delivery Citroen c1. Only on 33k miles but being povo spec with no C/L its door locks have already been replaced with some ebay shit. The boot one is original , however it was a bit iffy when we got it 6 or so months ago. Opening an average of maybe 30 times a day 6 days a week its given up.  With the standard water ingress issues filling the boot up its time to fix it. 

Having been here before i repeated the same process id done on the Pug. Which is still doing grand service by the way. 

Anyway, Bumper off reveals the grime and the gaskets on the vents are pretty shagged. 

Lock out. I stripped it down and filed the edges from the tumblers(?). I filed away any damage in the casting and will a blast out and some lube it works fine. 

So much shite behind here!

 

 

[Andyrew]

Rinsed, soaked with a bit of APC then scrubbed with a brush. Rinsed again and all grommets/bungs were removed. I then dried it with a cloth and an air line to get in the nooks. 

Some cheapy polyurethane sealant dooted around the place and around anything that goes through the bodywork. Vents get a big thick bead around them off the car then clipped in place. As we are not fused about looks everything was smeared with a finger and has now been left to dry. 

Rear highlevel recieved the same as id done before. Light out, scrape off degraded  sponge seal then light back in and mask off a neat area and run poly sealant around it. 

The car is in the workshop drying and ill be collecting it later today.

[Andyrew]

And back together ready for another day of parts haulin' (and yes, sadly We do make and sell those awful 4d tat plates) 

The drive home however will not be pleasant. The previous owner liked purple melting their eyes  it seems. 

The photo doesnt show how bright this is!

[LightBulbFun]

19 hours ago, Andyrew said:

The drive home however will not be pleasant. The previous owner liked purple melting their eyes  it seems. 

The photo doesnt show how bright this is!

ahhh I was wondering where my 500W reprographic metal halide lightbulb had vanished off too!

[Andyrew]

Pandering.

Righto wheres the panda at? 

Well for the past few days ive been using the 107 as MsRew had an Op 5 or so weeks back and the pugs been sat idle. After it squealing into life with possibly a sticky alternator i decided a good run about was needed.  It was used for weekly duties as pictured. I was also "feeding it the onions" most days as the car does a lot of pottering around. These engine are great to hoon. However the 107 has a bit of a front end shimmy that needs finding, when giving it full pelt off a roundabout it feels a little squirly. For test purposes the same driving style and route was taken in the works c1 and no shimmy was felt. The c1 does have 50k less miles difference to help it. 

Pictured, These two share some silmilar features. Knocked around, 4 wheels that are out of wack and full of cheap shite (Aldi is behind me)

Having used our 107 and the work c1 for a few days it highlights how fun these cars are to drive. Nippy and handle well when pressing on. 

The panda however, while pleasant i cant find the fun in driving it.  With 4 mis matched tyres and tired rear shocks probably adding to this. 

As previously posted its now sporting two matching pairs of decent brand tyres. Front shocks and top mount have been done.  

This just leaves the rear end. The other week we had a damaged batch of hammerite at work so free paint came my way. I hate the stuff but with the pandas scabby sorry looking springs at the back i felt it might have a use. 

A few weeks back i popped out the springs and gave them a lick of paint, While out i needle scaled the spring cups and treated them to some corroless paint. All seems good.

Yesterday i decided that the tired rear shocks needed to go. Will this give me the chuckable little town car id hoped the panda would be?

With them on the rest of the rear axle was give a quick going over to get the loose crust off. A tail end of black paint sprayed on and will eventually get a lashing of wax. 

Handling is much better, although maybe a little choppy now?  Tyres are at 29psi which a bit of google seems to suggest is correct. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andyrew]

Running old crocks with usually worn out suspension means tracking will usually need to be done so i decided to keep an eye out and won these for a good price.  Very basic two wheel stuff but good enough for the shit i drive / fix.

 

Introducing Andys Awful Alignments

"Where you'll leave with more toe out than charlie chaplin"

 

 

[Andyrew]

Combo-nation of things. 

Another kwality work van. With astra wheels with the wrong offset giving little arch clearance. 130k suspension was allowing some regular interferance. 

And theres this aswell . . .

 

 

 

[Andyrew]

BIN!

IN!

 

[Andyrew]

Festive felicia fumble

If you have read through the previous pages of drivel on this thread you will have seen a wee skoda appear a few times. This is mutha-rews, previous owner to this was grampa-rew so theres a bit off an attachment even tho its been knocked around and has a wiff of horse shit inside. 

As a grandparent during the week, a stable hand on saturdays and with sunday being her day off the cars used every day.  Corrosion issues take time to fix and with me not being able to get the car for any more than the odd day or 2 during halfterms etc etc the rust issues have gone on for too long. With gaffa tape MOT repairs a plenty 

While she can drive other cars the Shit i drive has been "too big" so in step the Panda! Perfect timing and small enough for her to drive.

Yesterday the test expired on the skoda and i dropped it at the workshop. 

Its crusty in the usual places with added crash damage.

Yummmy

Second rear end shunt for this little skud. 

Its looking rougher than school bog roll. 

[Andyrew]

[Andyrew]

Whats the plan then? 

2 new front wings, weld in new rear archs. Remove rear valance panel and weld in straight used one. 

Then its off to my friendly painter who im in credit with for the sides to be blown in and ill try and machine polish up the rest to match. 

4 new tyres, and paint the wheels a fresh silver. 

@Yoss also has kindly kept some bits for me to collect including some seats so ill try to get down to him and get them out his way.

Can it be done in time for crimbo day? 

 

[Yoss]

Funny, I was just thinking about that this week as I've finally put the Triumph back together and there is a possibility it might work. I don't know for sure as I've only moved it about ten feet in and out of the garage. 

This is relevant (in case you were wondering where this was going) because the Felicia front seats are in the back of the Triumph. Anyway, whenever you're ready, they're here. 

[Andyrew]

Junk in the trunk. 

The other day i decided id chuck the full size spare with new tyre in the boot of the mx5.  Now having been crumpled in the rear the carpet is all loose. It was like this when i got it and ive done nothing about it. Its never really been an issue untill it the carpet got stuck in the latch! 

Key barrel and boot release, nothing. 

Battery dead and stuck caliper! 

Cut a hole was the first thought but i walked away and cam back with a less brutal method. 

Surprisingly stron g bootlid! Id chocked the wheels to stop it moving. 

I see you!  

Some slow spanner work undone the hook part and the boot fired up at quite some speed. 

Some bending did happen but a chuck of wood between the locks and a few very heavy slams and a bit of twisting and its back to normal, looking as shit as always! 

 

 

[Andyrew]

Today i carefully unbolted the wings.

[Andyrew]

Seems things are a smidge worse under there, its unwanted but not unexpected.

 

[Andyrew]

2 months and no update. Doesnt time fly when your having fun? 

Well that fun part, Not so much.  The corrosion on the felicia is worse than expected as always so some time was booked off. This was of course the really bloody cold week with snow and shit roads.  So thats that plan all little knocked out the window , the end of my week off see me at a wedding and the following few days  i came down with something and was rougher than a rough thing. Few days pass and we arrive at christmas with now a covid positive test so a very quiet christmas for me. For about 3 or more weeks i just couldnt shake it some days fine others i was shivering and coughing untill breathing was an issue.  Sleeping pattern knocked right out so when i did feel okay i had hardly had any sleep. But it did eventually go in  early january. Along the theme of things going my partner and best friend of 17 years also decided she was going. Packed up some furniture a fucked off and ive not seen her since. This leaves me in a flat that feels like a constant reminder of failure, i hate it here so much now. 

The following week of her leaving, i arranged to have the week off as i needed some headspace, with a bed that smells of her being the last thing i wanted to be in so i shut the bedroom door and I crashed on the sofa. I needed away, but had also planned to collect a gearbox for @puddlethumper . I collected this on the monday and delivered to the 6s place for it to be shitely'd north.  Whilst on that drive i decided i needed away and fast and with a trip to scotland being something ive put off for ages and ages now was the time. Theres another thread on that on here. 

I guess here we get Back to what your here for and not my woes. 

Old "shit" cars. 

A quick oil change before i left , check the tyres and pour in some screenwash. I threw some clothes in some Aldi bags for life and at 4 in the morning fucked off in a northern direction to just escape here. 

It was amazing, i listened to some smith and sniff podcasts most of the trip and stopped thinking. I just drove and took in the beauty of scotland.

Sadly All good things come to an end and reality is the exact opposite of scotland. From driving empty roads with nobody for miles and miles , i return to my sad reality via luton. Urgh. 

This however is to pick up my two best friends to go for a cheer up meal and beer. They return with me to my  "home" that has now been fully stripped of all stuff that she owned or paid for.  Back to feeling like shit then.  They drag me away to pub.

Im very lucky to have people around me that want to see me happy. And the offers of places to stay should things go more south really are appreciated. 

A ball has to hit the bottom before it bounces back, i just have to see what direction i bounce off too. 

[Tickman]

I've liked that post because of the friends you have.

I hope the bounce back journey is fun. Make it the adventure you want it to be.

[Andyrew]

Crap cars then. 

Painter on the farms daughters Ka 2, a panda in a dress , i gather parts at work but the first evening i just got it up on the lift to see the damage. 

Hmmm 

Seems fine . . .

Okay. 

 

[BeEP]

Liked for the Scottish scenery and for the fact that, as Tickman says, you have friends looking out for you.

Here's hoping the rest of your 2023 turns out to be (much) better than the beginning.

[Andyrew]

Got the old ugga dugga 2 threads upgrade package last tyre change clearly.

 

[Andyrew]

2 cylinders, shoes, drums, 1 new brake line and a new n.s wheel bearing with flange  also 4 new bolts later the backs done (hubnuts not done up in photo) 

Fronts got new discs and pads. The old pads were wedged in place so a really good clean up was required. I Even busted out the brake grease instead of copper slip. Ooohhh fancy.  New wear lead cliped in and job done. 

Took longer than i wanted but thats just how it goes sometimes.