Andy's awful autos: PLAS!

[Andyrew]

Start again. 

The first cold start i did the day after delivery see the little panda start but then shut off seconds after. Confused i jumped out and locked and re locked the car incase there was some sort of imobiliser was kicking in. 

Tried again and a bit of throttle got it going.  After a few mins i shut it off and it fired up no issues, odd. I had noticed that the clock on the dash had reset itself. 

A google of the clock thing suggests the battery is shagged. Too much voltage drop while cranking see a control unit unhappy and shuts the lot down. 

The panda should have 202 battery a small qube sized thing.  It had a 012 fitted which is the same as an 063 but about a inch taller. 

I pinched the 063 out the MX5 id drove over in, for testing purposes and we fired up no issues at all, Noice!.  I will modify the strap to suit an 063 battery as of the 3 battery options an 063 is the cheapest to buy pretty much anywhere should it require one in the future. 

 

 

[Andyrew]

Im just as shocked as you. 

New shocks and top mounts going on!

 

[Andyrew]

Worn out. 

The lower arm on the nearside had a failed bush. A common thing and arms are fairly cheap at work. But im working to a budget here so i just rebushed the arms. The ball joints and front bush seemed fine. I went with 12 quid on 2 new febi units, the 36 quid saving over replacing both arms almost covers the cost for 1 shock and its top mount.

 

[Andyrew]

[Ian_Fearn]

These Pandas are friggin amazing little things. I miss mine soooooo much! I could run that thing for years for the cost of a single main dealer service on its replacement.

[Andyrew]

Today see some more panda scrubbing. 

The mats and rear seats were scrubbed and wet vac'd.  Then they were put on the professional drying rack.

Onto the first wash of the outside. 

First up a quick wet sand and polish of these murky mothers. 

Wash, clay mit and dry.  Wants another going over the nooks but for now its better. 

[Andyrew]

Gave the wheels a scrub on this cheeky little red bastard and its now declared sorn so into storage it goes for now. 

Hopefully MOT the panda on thursday. 

[Andyrew]

Just squeezed though the emmisions but we are back on the road. 

Not convinced i like it! But maybe it will grow on me. 

[Andyrew]

IS IT SHIT?

This particular example? no, After the few repairs and a very deep cleaning session later i think its cracking little car for what it stands me at , all in im at £575 that includes.

2 pairs of new ish decent brand part worns, two top mounts, two front shocks, a pair of rear shoe adjusters, a full service and the MOT.  

The Panda design tho? Im still not convinced (sorry @Jim Bell ) Looks wise i like it but i find the seating position pleasant enough for short trips but its not a comfortable car to me and i think i feel a bit cramped inside. 

As a small 4 seater city car type motor goes I feel the aygo/c1/107 was a better design space wise although the panda feels more solid.

Once the 4 tyres are on and the tracking done i think the handling will be transformed over its current state.  Then ill chuck it about and see if driving it italian style wins me over. 

The City mode for the steering tho is great!

Ill update after ive banged some more  miles on it. 

A thanks to @NorfolkNWeigh for flogging me the motor and delivering it.  Also a thanks to floatylight for collecting some panda wheels and tyres and keeping hold of them till im passing or a FOD days happens. 

[UltraWomble]

1 hour ago, Andyrew said:

@NorfolkNWeigh for flogging me the motor and delivering it.  Also a thanks to @UltraWomble for collecting some panda wheels and tyres and keeping hold of them till im passing or a FOD days happens. 

Have I?
Ive got some Mini wheels at the back of the shed... I dont recall any Panda wheels😧

[Floatylight]

24 minutes ago, UltraWomble said:

Have I?
Ive got some Mini wheels at the back of the shed... I dont recall any Panda wheels😧

That's me, I've got the wheels & tyres..

[UltraWomble]

Just now, Floatylight said:

That's me, I've got the wheels & tyres..

Thank fuck or that  - I seriously thought I was going doo-lally-tapped in the head for a minute.

[Andyrew]

1 hour ago, UltraWomble said:

Have I?
Ive got some Mini wheels at the back of the shed... I dont recall any Panda wheels😧

How the hell did i get that wrong.  I was eating food at the time so that takes most of my attention span!

 

[Andyrew]

 About 100 +  miles in and the little pandas charms bringing me around. 

A set of plugs went in yesterday. Id noted a wee miss on idle. I suspect a lead or one of the coil packs but as I had picked up some plugs when i ordered the filters i decided to lob in some fresh ones. The plugs removed looked fine and with a gap adjustment probably been good to go again. Bit oilly from a rocker weep. 

Why denso plugs? Because they were the cheapest!

The new cat arrived. Hope the old one weighs in at enough to cover the cost.

The controls didnt illuminate so changing the heater setting was a pain at night.  

First thing is to grab your knob and give it a good tug. 

Some new 286 bulbs in 

Sorted 

 

 

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

You need one of these. I remember selling them when I worked at MDC (Motorists Discount Centre) back in 1984. Its full of gritty stuff and runs off the cars battery. 

 

[High Jetter]

13 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

MDC (Motorists Discount Centre)

I'd forgotten about them! Ex-Longlife myself, though can find very little evidence of their existance.

[tooSavvy]

Gearbox, Chillingham Rd...... Saturday >> absolutely the LAST place GUARANTEED to have your starter motor.... 🦸

👍.... Aye, long gone.................

[Six-cylinder]

18 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

 I worked at MDC (Motorists Discount Centre) back in 1984. Its full of gritty stuff and runs off the cars battery. 

Was that the MDC, RC Hartley Ltd out of Nottingham?

[MiniMinorMk3]

6 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Was that the MDC, RC Hartley Ltd out of Nottingham?

Yes it was. All the cheques had to be made out to RC Hartley. They disappeared shortly after I left.

[Andyrew]

 

[Dan302]

How small does the Allegro look next to the Panda?

[Andyrew]

What a lovely day it is. Sun shine with a light breeze lovely.

 

[Andyrew]

On 10/16/2022 at 7:52 PM, Dan302 said:

How small does the Allegro look next to the Panda?

They are close in size except height. The pandas feels really tall. 

[Andyrew]

 

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

I'm surprised that rear spring hasn't broke yet, perhaps Fiat ones are better than Ford ones, 'cos my Focus rear spring snapped with just a minor bit of corrosion on it. 

[Yoss]

7 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I'm surprised that rear spring hasn't broke yet, perhaps Fiat ones are better than Ford ones, 'cos my Focus rear spring snapped with just a minor bit of corrosion on it. 

Don't know what it is with modern springs. My Triumph springs have looked like that for decades and I've never had, or even heard of them ever snapping. 

Edit;

I really shouldn't have said that should I. Really tempting fate. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

7 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Don't know what it is with modern springs. My Triumph springs have looked like that for decades and I've never had, or even heard of them ever snapping. 

Edit;

I really shouldn't have said that should I. Really tempting fate. 

I think that the steel is not good. Here it is not unusual for certain car models to have to change some of the springs for every MOT, which is 2 years.

[mk2_craig]

3 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I'm surprised that rear spring hasn't broke yet, perhaps Fiat ones are better than Ford ones, 'cos my Focus rear spring snapped with just a minor bit of corrosion on it. 

If anything is going to break on the Panda, it’ll be the cup that the bottom of the spring sits in. Ask me how I know!

[Andyrew]

With the hope of welding up the exhaust out the window as the pipework was just too far gone being full of pin holes and wafer thin i turned to something positive. 

When i got the little motor it had 2 very recent toyos (one now largely bald on the inner edge due to the lower arm bush being shot) a mohawk and a firestone winter tyre.  The bald inner tyre was getting though to the cords in places . A mate donated a new but old tyre that it turns out was 24 years old! Anyway it was only a temp solution until i could nab some part worns. 

Matching pairs of good part worns in 155 80 13 seem to sell pretty sharpish on ebay.  But eventually Some 2021 nexens for 44 quid the pair came up that works for me! . Then about a day later another pair of okay falken tyres appeared on the bay of E, unused on panda rims and local to @Floatylight who kindly arranged getting  them from the seller and dropped them down my way when he was visiting the area on monday. The tyres are dated 2019 but appear unused at 39.50 the pair i was happy. But the rims are very rough so i may swap them onto my rims. 

Im alot happier now to have recent rubber and matching across an axle. 

I had half hour or so before a friend was bringing down a pug partner for lashings of underbody wax.

 With the panda still on the lift i whipped the front wheels off but while they were out the way i done a first pass of cleaning out the wheel wells. Both were mucky but also oily from the blown out shocks spraying oil everywhere! 

thats alot better!

 

[Andyrew]

A brief update. Some odds and sods have happend. Mostly. Moving heavy awkward stuff.

A second flypress and table came and went. Saved from the skip and now with a friend in godstone.  Weighed in at about 500kg with the table!

Moved in the fabulously shabby "tizzy" . Now out of ticket and on the chopping block from the company that it belongs too. Im second on the list for it. 

The Allegro has been out a few times after the panda exhaust snapped. It is however leaking alot of oil. 

This is 24hrs worth! 

Underside looking very very oily