Sublime Pandamonium II
Discussion
Had a "Panda" moment today. On the way home I noticed the driver side headlight was dimmer than the passenger side. Now because my car is an early 1988 model (registered February 26th 1988 so could well be a 1987 model that was in stock) it still has the Lucas LLB012 H4 headlight bulbs. 1988 was the transition year for the headlights being upgraded to the three pin and spring type so a later one could have the bulbs upgraded a lot easier. So thinking the bulb was on it's way out and not having a spare I reluctantly had a look. Both bulbs were like new. Hmmmm, cleaned the terminals and it made no difference either. There was an old connector block on the harness so the headlights would flash when the alarm was set off. This was on main beam so it couldn't be that. Cleaned the inside of the lens and reflector, again no difference. So I followed the harness to the body earth on the passenger side, sprayed it with WD40 and wobbled the connectors about until both lights were bright again. 
Ordered a pair of bulbs as a back up and dug my driving lamps out of my shed.
Ordered a pair of bulbs as a back up and dug my driving lamps out of my shed.
Anyone else want to have some fun?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fiat-panda-1000-CLX-1995...
The interior's even better than mine.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fiat-panda-1000-CLX-1995...
The interior's even better than mine.
So the plan for the weekend...
Saturday
Take the bumpers off
Straighten out the bumper brackets
Replace the road runner horn with a Fiat Coupe one
Fit the driving lights from my Cinquecento
Weld a patch near the rear valance I spotted the other day
Sunday
Have a look at the brakes to see if the Punto GT ones will be a straight swap or if I'll need to swap hubs or fabricate brackets. I'm looking a floor mounted pedal box so I can have two master cylinders moving the extra fluid required.
Saturday
Take the bumpers off
Straighten out the bumper brackets
Replace the road runner horn with a Fiat Coupe one
Fit the driving lights from my Cinquecento
Weld a patch near the rear valance I spotted the other day
Sunday
Have a look at the brakes to see if the Punto GT ones will be a straight swap or if I'll need to swap hubs or fabricate brackets. I'm looking a floor mounted pedal box so I can have two master cylinders moving the extra fluid required.
Well I've ticked off most of the list for today...
Gone from "beep-beep"...
...to "hoot-hoot".
While I had the bumper off I drilled a couple of holes and fitted the driving lights...
...should help the car be less invisible.
At work yesterday I raided the Stainless Steel skip and bought four ninety degree bends for £1.00...
...that's the raw material for the exhaust manifold sorted then.
Gone from "beep-beep"...
...to "hoot-hoot".
While I had the bumper off I drilled a couple of holes and fitted the driving lights...
...should help the car be less invisible.
At work yesterday I raided the Stainless Steel skip and bought four ninety degree bends for £1.00...
...that's the raw material for the exhaust manifold sorted then.
Got my list a bit muddled up but it's all done now. Yesterdays visit to the scrap heap didn't bare any friut. In fact there were only three Fiats in the yard, a Mk II Punto with the head missing, a Punto diesel (bleaugh!) and a Mk I Punto 55 with a blown head gasket. Speaking of blown head gaskets there's a broom yellow Punto Sporting for sale up the road in Boston for £300. I could polish the ports while I had the head off and sell most of the parts I don't use. Still only a 1.2 16V and I know it's well proven conversion and good for 14 second quarters but I need something a little more competitive.
So today. With the aid of WD40 and a rubber hammer I got the back bumper off. After a bit of poking about that little patch that needed welding turned out to be a little over a Foot long.
The usual drill; cut as much rust out as possible...
...clean as much paint and underseal out of the way as possible...
...weld a base plate along the boot floor and outer lip of the chassis rail...
...weld an "L" section (left over from the Rover sill) outside...
...finally tidy the edges with a grinder and dab some hammerite over the top.
While the paint was drying I set about cleaning the threads of the bumper bolts with a socket and monkey wrench, straightened out the bent bracket, gave the threads a coat of motorcycle chain lube (couldn't find my copper slip or grease anywhere) and retrofitted the now straight bumper...
...not a bad weekend at all.
So today. With the aid of WD40 and a rubber hammer I got the back bumper off. After a bit of poking about that little patch that needed welding turned out to be a little over a Foot long.
The usual drill; cut as much rust out as possible...
...clean as much paint and underseal out of the way as possible...
...weld a base plate along the boot floor and outer lip of the chassis rail...
...weld an "L" section (left over from the Rover sill) outside...
...finally tidy the edges with a grinder and dab some hammerite over the top.
While the paint was drying I set about cleaning the threads of the bumper bolts with a socket and monkey wrench, straightened out the bent bracket, gave the threads a coat of motorcycle chain lube (couldn't find my copper slip or grease anywhere) and retrofitted the now straight bumper...
...not a bad weekend at all.
I'm being a bit sensible today and have negotiated the sale of a Fiat Seicento with a snapped cam' belt. The 1108cc block, five speed box, brakes and wheels from that will go on the Panda as a kind of stage 1 set up and the Seicento will donate it's shell to Guff Racing.
I'll have my old purple and yellow racing colours back as well.
I'll have my old purple and yellow racing colours back as well.
Got some new shoes...
url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/wOlkz797[/url]
...50mm clear of the arches and plenty of room for the 10mm spacers. I do need the longer Sporting bolts to fit the wheels but just tried them on to see if they fit today.
A bit close to the handbrake cable though.
Hmmmm, spacer it out or fit the bigger brakes? Decisions eh?
On the tuning front, the chap who I bought the wheels from has a complete 16V Punto Sporting that's okay apart from the head gasket. I'm thinking the 1242cc block with an 1108cc 8V head will have low enough compression to run a turbo. Can I get the block for less than it would cost to either buy or make a decompression plate?
Two head gaskets and longer stretch bolts £50-£60
3mm-6mm Aluminium plate. £20-£35
A day with a pillar drill, jigsaw and frapwheel - free. [
url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/wOlkz797[/url]...50mm clear of the arches and plenty of room for the 10mm spacers. I do need the longer Sporting bolts to fit the wheels but just tried them on to see if they fit today.
A bit close to the handbrake cable though.
Hmmmm, spacer it out or fit the bigger brakes? Decisions eh?
On the tuning front, the chap who I bought the wheels from has a complete 16V Punto Sporting that's okay apart from the head gasket. I'm thinking the 1242cc block with an 1108cc 8V head will have low enough compression to run a turbo. Can I get the block for less than it would cost to either buy or make a decompression plate?
Two head gaskets and longer stretch bolts £50-£60
3mm-6mm Aluminium plate. £20-£35
A day with a pillar drill, jigsaw and frapwheel - free. [
Edited by Liquid Knight on Sunday 9th December 15:33
Mr2Mike said:
Liquid Knight said:
That's the beauty of the Fire engine. The 8V head is old school timing light tuning.
Timing light doesn't help with the valve timing though New Grille
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140708091226?ssPageName=...
I'm after a Metro or 5 GtT carb' next.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140708091226?ssPageName=...
I'm after a Metro or 5 GtT carb' next.
362miles / £45 (of petrol) x £6.36 (£/Gallon £1.40 x 4.54L) = 54.82mpg
At mostly 50+mph with an engine and gearbox in the back for the return journey. Also the clutch didn't slip at all and even though I used the crawler lanes the little Panda pulled like a train. Barely flinching 5mph up the hills of the A605. What a great little car.
At mostly 50+mph with an engine and gearbox in the back for the return journey. Also the clutch didn't slip at all and even though I used the crawler lanes the little Panda pulled like a train. Barely flinching 5mph up the hills of the A605. What a great little car.
Edited by Liquid Knight on Thursday 15th March 00:07
So yesterday morning I repaired the Seicento engine...
You guys know the drill but for those who may not here's what happened.
First off you need to get the jacked up, take the driver side front wheel off and remove all the plastic trim so you can get to the crank pulley. Lock the alternator drive/crank sensor wheel with a small spanner or screw driver and remove the sensor wheel with the three outer 13mm bolts.
As you can see there are ball bearings under the crank wheel. Remove the belt and in this case what's left of the adjuster.
To this day I have never known a belt failure on an eight valve Fiat Fire engine.
Line the engine up to TDC (50/50 chance you won't get the timing a hundred and eighty degrees out)...
...fit the new belts, test the engine (if it starts carry on if not line up TDC again, take the belt off and turn the cam' pulley a hundred and eighty degrees and try again), put the other bits back on and drive away.
So while I had the tailgate open on the Seicento I had a look at the usual Polska Fiat rust spots and found...
...holes.
So that's the plan today. Also when I took the car for a run around the block the rear brakes were next to useless and the front wasn't much better. I have a spare set of shoes, drums and linkages from the Guff racer and pads are an extra tenner. New oil and filters then the car's ready for M.O.T next month.
This afternoon I'll be collecting the Supercharger and the bidding ends on a couple of carb's later so hopefully I'll have decided between blowing through a Metro or Renault 5 Turbo carb' or drawing through a Webber or pair of bike carb's by then.
First off I have to get the Cinquecento engine and gearbox out of the Panda.
You guys know the drill but for those who may not here's what happened.
First off you need to get the jacked up, take the driver side front wheel off and remove all the plastic trim so you can get to the crank pulley. Lock the alternator drive/crank sensor wheel with a small spanner or screw driver and remove the sensor wheel with the three outer 13mm bolts.
As you can see there are ball bearings under the crank wheel. Remove the belt and in this case what's left of the adjuster.
To this day I have never known a belt failure on an eight valve Fiat Fire engine.
Line the engine up to TDC (50/50 chance you won't get the timing a hundred and eighty degrees out)...
...fit the new belts, test the engine (if it starts carry on if not line up TDC again, take the belt off and turn the cam' pulley a hundred and eighty degrees and try again), put the other bits back on and drive away.
So while I had the tailgate open on the Seicento I had a look at the usual Polska Fiat rust spots and found...
...holes.
So that's the plan today. Also when I took the car for a run around the block the rear brakes were next to useless and the front wasn't much better. I have a spare set of shoes, drums and linkages from the Guff racer and pads are an extra tenner. New oil and filters then the car's ready for M.O.T next month.
This afternoon I'll be collecting the Supercharger and the bidding ends on a couple of carb's later so hopefully I'll have decided between blowing through a Metro or Renault 5 Turbo carb' or drawing through a Webber or pair of bike carb's by then.
First off I have to get the Cinquecento engine and gearbox out of the Panda.
How to get an engine out of the back of a Panda...
I got the Seicento on ramps, took the bumper and lights off, had a tap around with a small hammer and found those holes are a lot worse than I first thought.
Fix or break for spares?
I'll take the grinder to it and see how much car is left after I find clean enough metal to weld before I decide.
I got the Seicento on ramps, took the bumper and lights off, had a tap around with a small hammer and found those holes are a lot worse than I first thought.
Fix or break for spares?
I'll take the grinder to it and see how much car is left after I find clean enough metal to weld before I decide.
Liquid Knight said:
I have never known a belt failure on an eight valve Fiat Fire engine.
Until today. 
I somehow knew that was going to bite my arse as soon as I said it.
So another day another belt change. Unlike the Seicento and Cinquecento the Panda was designed by a person and not a computer. The Seicento took about an hour and a half and you'll be lucky to do the belt on a Cinquecento in under an hour. The Panda however went from broken down and bonnet up to back to perfect in twenty three minutes.
Here's why...
...there's enough room for a person (rather than a midget oompalumpa crossbreed) to get not only their hands but tools to the job as well. That's another thing I love about the Panda, designed by people for people, not designed by a computer for some committee in Brussels to give marks out of ten.
Oh dear. Just when you thought three projects were enough...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220973515057?ssPageName=...
...whoops.
I have to admit following the road trip this week I was thinking about what I had planned for the car and felt a bit awkward (sounds familiar doesn't it?). There are hardly any Panda Fantasia models left and modifying this one remembering how the Bianca sun roofs peel off at speed the cheaper 750 (769cc) doesn't have any holes in the top so I could use this one instead.
I only bid on the car to make sure it didn't go for scrap.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220973515057?ssPageName=...
...whoops.
I have to admit following the road trip this week I was thinking about what I had planned for the car and felt a bit awkward (sounds familiar doesn't it?). There are hardly any Panda Fantasia models left and modifying this one remembering how the Bianca sun roofs peel off at speed the cheaper 750 (769cc) doesn't have any holes in the top so I could use this one instead.
I only bid on the car to make sure it didn't go for scrap.
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