Tommy's A-series Misery - New Car Alert!

[Tommyboy12]

Did a buy

[Weird Car]

43 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Did a buy

Genuinely the more I drove it the more its character came through and i began to like it, if it wasn't so horrific on fuel and the gearbox worked I'd have probably been more inclined to keep it 

[Tommyboy12]

28 minutes ago, Weird Car said:

Genuinely the more I drove it the more its character came through and i began to like it, if it wasn't so horrific on fuel and the gearbox worked I'd have probably been more inclined to keep it 

The gearbox will be the biggest gripe. Did you try motorcycle wet clutch oil in it?

[Weird Car]

3 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The gearbox will be the biggest gripe. Did you try motorcycle wet clutch oil in it?

Literally just changed the engine/gear oil twice and granted it got better each time 

[Tommyboy12]

As the Allegro needs a suspension pump I took the Panda to the last club meet of the year. Parked it next to some fine metal

[sharley17194]

Bet you regret parking forwards

On 01/10/2025 at 14:40, Tommyboy12 said:

Did a buy

 

[Tommyboy12]

Went on a small roadtrip this weekend just past to celebrate @sharley17194 birthday!

Storm Amy put up a bit of a fight but was a meet up at Krispy Kremes

Then on to pick up some Swedish metal for Simon's brother. A 2 litre turbo manual 940 estate. Very nice car. I've tried to buy it off him multiple times already 😅

Then onto our first stop in Heacham for the night. Simon booked the accommodation which was on an empty caravan park with no bed linen. Rocking about all night in the wind under no bed linen was not the best nights sleep 😅

Onto Hunstanton in the morning for brekky. Stopped at old Hunstanton first.

Then we made our way round to Lowestoft through lunch. The price of car parks there is insane. £7.20 minimum! Surely the seaside towns need footfall more than the council needs parking fees.

Then we made our way round to Ness point amidst the rain. What a lovely derelict and industrial spot complete with caravans!

At this point a few of us broke off for the hotel in Ipswich. However, Simon and I carried on round the coast roads stopping at Aldeburgh along the way.

We spotted this absolutely ancient and rusty crawler on the beach. It seemed to be at the end of its life but there was another slightly less rusty one that was still pulling boats out to sea.

The following day we made it back up towards Bressingham and rode some steam trains for a few hours!

After this we headed home. A nice little road trip round the east coast!

[High Jetter]

37 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

So

 

 

Someone's an optimist with that battery!

[Tommyboy12]

Had some time to tinker this weekend. It's been dry and I can ignore the cold starting to creep in.

First off the Panda. I've been meaning to change the other brake line for a while after I fitted a braided line to get it home on the passenger side.

Drivers side still sporting a (badly twisted) rubber hose. Coilovers? How fancy.

Now decked in a shiny braided line to match the passenger side. Unfortunately I snapped the bracket for the brake hose so cable ties will suffice for now. There are a pair of rear braided hoses in the car but I'm not planning to fit them at the moment as they fit somewhere in the middle of the car and I didn't fancy crawling round underneath today.

Next up some light painting. The door bottom is a bit crusty.

A wire brushing and some paint should keep it at bay for a winter or two.

Then I tackled a hole (or three) on the driver's sill.

I admittedly didn't bother recreating the seam but it's better than rust...

A lap down and a lick of paint

And back together! The MOT man will be none the wiser!

I did look over the rest of the car underneath and it's actually in fairly decent condition. Enough to not warrant any welding. However, if I get time before the MOT I have some underseal and a willingness to use it.

Then I set to my Aggro. The suspension arrived flat on the passenger side. I feared a burst pipe. However, when I plumbed in the suspension pump there was residual pressure of 50psi (meant to run somewhere around 350psi according the the Haynes manual). So I decided to top it off.

This is fine... 😅

I also topped off the driver's side as it was sitting a little low. Both sides now sit slightly below the quoted wheel to wing height on both sides. It should be 376mm. I stopped at 365mm as the gauge was reading off the end and I was a little uncomfortable pushing it beyond it's rated max.

I also did my most important fix of the day

[wesacosa]

great to see the Panda getting some love

If you're in the mood for rust proofing I'd recommend something on the passenger door too. That's pretty rust free which is a rarity so would be good to keep it that way.  I seem to think I might have tipped some light oil or something when I had the door card off to change the locks when I got the car but would be well worth doing again 

 

[Tommyboy12]

The Panda tinkering paid off with a pass on the test ramp

A couple of advisories on ball joints but they'll go until next year I suspect. The fueling was a little lean. I'm going to learn how to richen up a Webber

[Matty]

Great stuff Tom. Are you becoming a bit of a Panda fan then??

[wesacosa]

17 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The Panda tinkering paid off with a pass on the test ramp

A couple of advisories on ball joints but they'll go until next year I suspect. The fueling was a little lean. I'm going to learn how to richen up a Webber

great work, really pleased to hear it passed.  Top work 

[Tommyboy12]

20 hours ago, Matty said:

Great stuff Tom. Are you becoming a bit of a Panda fan then??

It's a very useable classic and easy to live with. I've not completely bonded with it but I've enjoyed using it. I like just getting in it and using it. I've commuted in it quite a bit. It gets a few waves and such on the commute which is nice.

I've got a bit of a queue of people who are interested in it though so it'll go at some point 😅

[sharley17194]

On 08/11/2025 at 14:38, Tommyboy12 said:

It's a very useable classic and easy to live with. I've not completely bonded with it but I've enjoyed using it. I like just getting in it and using it. I've commuted in it quite a bit. It gets a few waves and such on the commute which is nice.

I've got a bit of a queue of people who are interested in it though so it'll go at some point 😅

I'm not in this queue, #justsaying

[comfortablynumb]

28 minutes ago, sharley17194 said:

I'm not in this queue, #justsaying

Why? Too many wheels? 🤣

[sharley17194]

17 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

Why? Too many wheels? 🤣

i've just purchased something else and im supposed to be selling!

[Tommyboy12]

The Aggro did a 30 mile round trip to work today without incident. I even managed to find reverse gear for parking purposes!

I could do with fixing the blower motor as it got a bit steamy inside when stationary but cleared once air was passing through the warm heater matrix at speed.

The gearbox is rather insistent on being in 4th at 18mph. Made for some sluggish getaways. But I actually quite like the car! Watch me sell it in 2 months time... 😅

[Zelandeth]

Assuming it's the same AP box as on the previous version, the lockdown functionality is based on a linkage from the carb down to the box - there is an adjustment on this.

There's no vacuum modulator or anything here, it's all mechanical.

[Tommyboy12]

I'll take a look at the linkage at some point. I did see mention of it in the Haynes.

[Weird Car]

2 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The Aggro did a 30 mile round trip to work today without incident

Handled my 60 mile daily commute for a solid 2 weeks in a row! Couldn’t fault it’s reliability honestly 

[Tommyboy12]

Today I ticked a box that I've wanted to tick for a long time and is part of my next big adventure planned with @sharley17194

I am planning to bring this 1934 Austin 7 box saloon out of a 50 year hibernation and take it to LeMans next year

I was instantly besotted! I've wanted an Austin 7 for a very long time and this ticks a lot of boxes of getting something back on the road and doing something epic with it.

Apparently it's not been out the garage in a very long time but it rolled freely

And onto the trailer

It was a bit of a tight fit mind and the front track is even narrower

It pulled nicely back home behind a lovely XC70 Ocean Race

And slotted nicely into a temporary home while I do some rearranging

It needs some love but it's complete and the engine rotates. It even seems to have some brakes which tested during unloading. It probably a new windscreen. It's delaminated very badly. I love the period tax disc though.

The number plates are also amazing. They're cast not pressed steel. There is a stamp on the back with a brand but I can't make it out due to corrosion. I know we have a few numberplate specialists on here so maybe someone can shed some light on them?

I also really like the rad cap. It's been fitted with a soda Syphon top which serves no purpose but it's definitely staying.

I'm so happy with it! I know it was tough for the owner to let go as it's been a part of the family for 53 years. But I'm determined to get it back on the road and take it to LeMans with this!