Grumblespeed - Who said breeding Pandas was hard?

[Grumblespeed]

Other car movement yesterday, Grumbleweed out in daylight for the first time in a few years, looking pretty sorry for himself.

And ready to hit the road

And safely stashed away at the other end, lovely garage this time

Maybe he'll get some attention this time.

[wesacosa]

looks like a nice garage to be doing some work. 

[Grumblespeed]

16 hours ago, Grumblespeed said:

 At least @Ohdearmehas a spare hub to put a fresh bearing in off the car. 

To borrow a phrase... @Ohdearme🥴

Just clearing the garage, that got chucked back in yesterday when the guy came to uplift the Panda when I was just finishing up the Sei.

Sorry @Ohdearme

[Ohdearme]

22 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

To borrow a phrase... @Ohdearme🥴

Just clearing the garage, that got chucked back in yesterday when the guy came to uplift the Panda when I was just finishing up the Sei.

Sorry @Ohdearme

haha!

Don't worry - I toyed with playing around today but have only got as far as insuring it and shuffling cars on the drive.

 

[Grumblespeed]

Well, done a thing on a car so maybe I'll post for a change. Getting to car stuff weather time of year again.

As per usual the reason I've tackled a car job is not because I've been caught up with enthusiasm to fix any of the niggles on any of mine, it's because the wife's did a  FTP (well, only P on 3 cylinders with a dash full of errors anyway) The stupid C30 which kept breaking has now been replaced by a diesel V50 because she liked the last one so much - which keeps breaking. Having bought it in December it smashed a rear top mount on the way home, then went in for a timing belt and needed a new fuel pipe from tank to engine bay, and meanwhile has always had an odd miss under load. So Friday said miss developed into an "anti skid error" on the dash along with an "engine service" error and limp home mode. Hooked up the code reader and it was giving an error for the injector on cylinder 2. Symptoms all fitted so ordered it up and had a go today:

The offending vehicle pulled up under the garage door to get some shelter from the inevitable rain.

After much swearing and despairing finally managed to figure out a way to get something under the stupid injector and get a big bar on to get it out the head:

and excellent, new one was right and went back in without too much more hassle.

Code cancelled, run round the block and all seems to be running right and no sign of any leaks so time will tell whether it actually must go to a dealer for coding and calibration as per the dire warnings on the internet😠... or not, also as per the considered information on said internet. Gotta love google.

 

Meanwhile, Rover's due an MOT this month and still haven't done the CV boots yet, and the Newfangled Panda is starting to feel like the Clutch master cylinder is going to need doing soonish. Hope the better weather starts to get a hold soon.

Oh and the C30 the wife replaced with this V50 is still sitting on the drive as she declined the dealer's £500 trade in as it was "definitely worth more than that" as  it only needed a new front lower arm to stop it knocking and it would be a great little car. Front lower arm duly replaced it didn't cure the knocking and now it has a distinctly rumbly probably DMF on the way out noise to accompany the cacophony of road knocks, and an alternator that now sounds like someone has fitted an over ambitious supercharger. Definitely no reason or motivation to tackle any of those things so anyone need a broken C30 for considerably less that the £500 she turned down dammit! Will get round to putting it in the classifieds at some point before we scrap it but not overly hopeful.

[Grumblespeed]

Right grind at work at the minute so not achieving very much. MOT has snuck up on me though for the newfangled Panda so have been footering on.. Bit rowdy and wayward so I've put new shocks and top mounts on the front, plus drop links obviously because the only way to disconnect them to remove the shock is with a flippin angle grinder. Wire brushed and lanolinnned the back axle too as they are a regular fail point on these. Been gradually painting bits black as the lacquer fell off over the last little while too. Probably looks better from underneath than on top atm.

Test tomorrow, trying out a new tester too after moving last year so we'll see..

[Grumblespeed]

Oh yes, that was a pass btw. After an epic collection this morning for another raffle win I've found it a little friend😁

[Grumblespeed]

Decent days weather and a day off work today so tackled a couple of niggles on the new addition. Blue Panda has been behaving pretty well with a couple of longer runs last week too but the audio has been a bit naff, with both rear speakers farting away merrily and the fronts not sounding 100% either. Tackled the rears today:

.. yup, that's woofed it's best.

So some Vibes in in their place - had them sitting in a drawer for years and look very purposeful but every time I've fitted them to something they've been disappointing - seem to be very low sensitivity so take a lot of driving for little result, however crucially they don't buzz and rattle and are in the rear so not a problem.

The other thing that's been letting it down is the seats - actually way comfier than my other, newer but pov spec Panda but despite the efforts of @ruffgeezer's cheap labour they are still pretty grubby. Not the best time of year to tackle trying to clean them so thought I'd give these pukka Fiat Lineaccessori covers a shot that I've had lurking in a cupboard for many a year.

Before (passenger) and after (driver)

Pretty good match - which turned out to be a good job as when I got to the rear seat I discovered they were for a split fold model only which this one is not.🙁

All terribly useful obviously. Cam cover gasket is somewhere on the list too.

[ruffgeezer]

You'd be more than welcome to have a lend of the Bissel come the warmer weather, I'm sure those seats would come out better after another going over.  It's always the tricky balance of cleaning it a little and drying vs really clean and a soggy arse for the next two weeks.

[Grumblespeed]

Thanks - I do have a shampoo/vac I can tackle it with but as you say, a pain getting it properly dry this time of year so it'll do for the winter, and get a going over when the weather picks up.

[Grumblespeed]

Cam cover gasket has been weeping away quietly, fortunately I had a couple in stock so that's done today. Any job you can do entirely with a 10mm socket has got to be a winner!

[wesacosa]

4 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

Cam cover gasket has been weeping away quietly, fortunately I had a couple in stock so that's done today. Any job you can do entirely with a 10mm socket has got to be a winner!

any tips on getting them to seal. I've tried two different gaskets on mine with and without hylomar blue and none have sealed properly.. Redone today with gasket and RTV bead in desperation!

[Grumblespeed]

Weirdly, never really had a problem. I've always just fitted them dry. (not least because I couldn't find the tube of gasket I was sure I had today) See how it goes. TBH I'll be happy if it just leaks less than before😁

Tip though - don't over tighten the four bolts that hold it down. Just squeezes everything a bit out of shape.

[wesacosa]

33 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

Weirdly, never really had a problem. I've always just fitted them dry. (not least because I couldn't find the tube of gasket I was sure I had today) See how it goes. TBH I'll be happy if it just leaks less than before😁

Tip though - don't over tighten the four bolts that hold it down. Just squeezes everything a bit out of shape.

cheers yeah just nipped them up. fingers crossed it seals this time 

[Ian_Fearn]

@wesacosa regarding the cam cover….. yes! There is a process.

4x pea sized blobs of high quality RTV at each ‘corner’ where the gasket runs over the camshaft. You should not use RTV anywhere else. Only torque to spec (it’s really low).

I believe this is the official Fiat process for this.

There a lots of good RTV sealants around but Elring Dirko S is my go-to. Hylomar isn’t the right tool for this.

[wesacosa]

2 minutes ago, Ian_Fearn said:

@wesacosa regarding the cam cover….. yes! There is a process.

4x pea sized blobs of high quality RTV at each ‘corner’ where the gasket runs over the camshaft. You should not use RTV anywhere else. Only torque to spec (it’s really low).

I believe this is the official Fiat process for this.

There a lots of good RTV sealants around but Elring Dirko S is my go-to. Hylomar isn’t the right tool for this.

thanks. I did the 4 blobs but I also ran a thin bead around the rest of the gasket area too , if its not worked I'll fetch the scraper out and try this method. 

[Grumblespeed]

Wow, haven't updated anything for a while here. Red Panda was a first time pass on the MOT a couple of months ago so good news there. Blue Panda's been in today and it's a fail🙁 Bottom arm bushes which is fine, I had them swapped out in about an hour and a half for the pair sitting on the garage floor that I took off the red one. Unfortunately also emissions which I can't find any good reason for. Bums.

[Andyrew]

because I've only see it on a panda, the high miles panda I saved had an exhaust that looked in reasonable shape. My tester tried for ages to get it to pass which it finally did just, it was put down to a tired cat. 

However, shortly after the backbox broke away at a weld , when I remove the back box to replace it i found the top side of the rear pipe leading into the back box was all pin holed about 6 inches long. Didn't sound blowy, and the underside looked perfect so me and my tester never even though to check the top of the pipe.

New exhaust fitted and it's past 3 tests since no problems at all.

[Grumblespeed]

On 07/10/2025 at 22:17, Andyrew said:

because I've only see it on a panda, the high miles panda I saved had an exhaust that looked in reasonable shape. My tester tried for ages to get it to pass which it finally did just, it was put down to a tired cat. 

However, shortly after the backbox broke away at a weld , when I remove the back box to replace it i found the top side of the rear pipe leading into the back box was all pin holed about 6 inches long. Didn't sound blowy, and the underside looked perfect so me and my tester never even though to check the top of the pipe.

New exhaust fitted and it's past 3 tests since no problems at all.

Sorry, missed this while I was busy putting the daft thing in 4 times before it finally passed. I had already put new centre and rear exhaust sections on this year so pretty confident they weren't leaking. High CO reading second & 3rd time it went in so the guy at the garage reckoned inlet leak somewhere.... So obviously I loaded up the parts cannon and put a new (aftermarket) cat on, plus I swapped the gasket under the throttle body for good measure. Passed then finally.

So, father in law has decided he needed another set of rims for his Panda to put the winter tyres on and has purchased some Seicento sporting ones which he doesn't really like. This means I have now acquired the previous set of rims he bought with virtually new snow tyres on that he decided he didn't like. Gone on today and I quite like them on mine, plus amazingly the budget snow tyres are night and day quieter and grippier than the godawful but virtually new "Triangle" tyres that were on the car when I got it. Such a relief. Didn't manage to get a pic before it got dark though:

[Grumblespeed]

FIL dropping off wheels also meant I finally got a shot of the full red white & blue set of Pandas on one place.... Again, short on daylight unfortunately.

[Barry Cade]

59 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

FIL dropping off wheels also meant I finally got a shot of the full red white & blue set of Pandas on one place.... Again, short on daylight unfortunately.

Have they come to rob the Bank of England? Can't wait to see them getting chased over a weir by a Marina.

[wesacosa]

just seen your post about the speakers.  Have you done the fronts and if so did you use adapters or cut the old ones out of their mounting brackets and bodge the new ones in

[Grumblespeed]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

just seen your post about the speakers.  Have you done the fronts and if so did you use adapters or cut the old ones out of their mounting brackets and bodge the new ones in

Adapters, much simpler. Cheaper plastic ones in the blue car but used some MDF ones in the red one which do sound better if you can find them. A bit of extra rigidity in the mounting doesn't go amiss.

If you want to go really mad you can buy the proper tweeter mounts to go in next to the door handles and put components in. Have done that on the red one now and that sounds significantly better than having the tweeters firing at your ankles.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CXH3VTE?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_mob_b_fed_asin_title_0_0

 

[wesacosa]

4 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

Adapters, much simpler. Cheaper plastic ones in the blue car but used some MDF ones in the red one which do sound better if you can find them. A bit of extra rigidity in the mounting doesn't go amiss.

If you want to go really mad you can buy the proper tweeter mounts to go in next to the door handles and put components in. Have done that on the red one now and that sounds significantly better than having the tweeters firing at your ankles.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CXH3VTE?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_mob_b_fed_asin_title_0_0

 

Cheers. Do they not have tweeters in those bits near the door handle already? I assumed they did but maybe just on higher models?

 

[Grumblespeed]

Just now, wesacosa said:

Cheers. Do they not have tweeters in those bits near the door handle already? I assumed they did but maybe just on higher models?

 

Nope, only on top spec models. If you pop that "grill" off you'll find its a solid lump of plastic, doesn't even work if you do want to put tweeters behind, you have to buy ones like the link above.

[wesacosa]

1 minute ago, Grumblespeed said:

Nope, only on top spec models. If you pop that "grill" off you'll find its a solid lump of plastic, doesn't even work if you do want to put tweeters behind, you have to buy ones like the link above.

ah ok fair enough. To be honest I only really listen to podcasts so I'm hoping just the speaker upgrade will suffice but good to know 

[Grumblespeed]

Well, just bought an old underseat sub too just in case I feel overwhelmed with enthusiasm and get round to putting it in for the full Max Power effect.🤘

[wesacosa]

I went for the  cheapskate ecologically sound option of repurposing the old speakers 

 

[Grumblespeed]

Well, guess which one's got the snow tyres on...