Tommy's A-series Misery - Pandamonium

[Tommyboy12]

On 18/06/2025 at 09:40, wesacosa said:

another thought on the Panda poor running, the brake line repair was right next to where the gammatronix ignition module was located, I wonder if one of the connectors was disturbed 

Started it up today to move it for work on the Reliant. Four cylinders straight off the bat. I took the cap off and cleaned up the contacts. Perhaps that helped.

This morning I worked on finishing up the Reliant for its road trip.

Tweaking the mixture and ignition timing until it ran just right. I also adjusted the tappets which I did before I fit the engine but they were a little bit too tight. There's something very satisfying about adjusting points, mixture screws and setting the idle so it purrs. I intend to do this on the Panda too but it's probably not going to be for a couple of weeks as I'm off to the US on Saturday for a week.

I also fixed* my RH rear indicator which wasn't working. My power probe suggested the positive cable was broken somewhere between the bulb holder and the indicator stalk as I got power at the stalk but not at the bulb holder. I couldn't find the source of the break. I definitely* didn't* just splice into the loom and run a wire from the stalk to the indicator at the back, cable tieing it to the loom running under the car. This method does mean my hazard lights won't work still but in fairness I don't plan to break down (famous last words).

 

[wesacosa]

ah good news. Hopefully the run and the cap clean have done the trick 

It will definitely need a little tweak on the timing and mixture as I set it all up to the book values but haven't done any fine tuning based on actually driving it on the road 

 

[Zelandeth]

I do love the old Pandas.  They're nothing exceptional on paper but are one of those cars which to me at least are just such *fun* to drive.  In my experience they're one of those cars which just gets cranky in a plethora of often strange ways if not used regularly, so hopefully just getting some miles on it and a good Italian Tuneup will help a lot.

[Tommyboy12]

I can't take credit for this but my girlfriend took the opportunity in the heat today to wash the seats for the brown Mini. Brown seats obviously. They don't look to bad but they smell and the water coming off them was nearly black.

They're going to need several more goings over before they're done but the colour and material is well preserved considering these seats will be 40 years old now.

Said disgusting water after the *second* scrub!

 

[Matty]

Bloody hell they've come up like new!!

[Tommyboy12]

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

[wesacosa]

37 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

brilliant news. glad to see it getting more miles in the last month than in the last 18. Glad its running well now too

Its had a rad, coolant flush and thermostat on it since I got it and always seemed to hold temperature well but yeah today is a good test for it. 

[sharley17194]

i often wonder what your work think 

On 30/06/2025 at 14:49, Tommyboy12 said:

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

 

[Tommyboy12]

First proper outing for the Reliant with it's new* engine today. I went to Kimbolton Fayre which a fairly local car show to me. Usually about 1,000 cars.

I went to the effort of giving it a wash and a wet vac to the interior. It smells so much better

Then drove the 30 mins or so to be on a stand with a club I help run.

I am getting down to the nitty gritty now. I'm thinking about dealing with the white paint that's been used in various places and machine polishing it off.

[Tommyboy12]

I'm calling the Reliant done!

The paint is actually shiny underneath!

Turns out the scratch underneath was just paint transfer so whoever painted it was being super lazy

Worst of the spray off

White paint off

Paint gone

Definitely done enough now. I need to move onto other things

[sharley17194]

On 16/07/2025 at 12:34, Tommyboy12 said:

I'm calling the Reliant done!

The paint is actually shiny underneath!

Turns out the scratch underneath was just paint transfer so whoever painted it was being super lazy

Worst of the spray off

White paint off

Paint gone

Definitely done enough now. I need to move onto other things

You are clearly bored…buy another car!