Sublime Pandamonium II
Discussion
Git!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Bravo-155-HGT-/1209...
Anyone want to buy a Panda Fantasia for £800?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Bravo-155-HGT-/1209...
Anyone want to buy a Panda Fantasia for £800?
If you recall as while ago I replaced the rear brake cylinders on my Fantasia as one of them was seized and would periodically slow the car down. Once replaced the brakes never felt right. I put this down to how old the fluid looked and set about getting a bleed kit and flushing the system out.
This went well yesterday.
As well as giving me a craving for Guinness the old fluid looked more like I'd done an oil change. Anyway due to the car not having a current M.O.T I used a private farm track to test the brakes and...
...they were the same as before if not worse.
The pedal would feel firm and the brakes start to bind then the pressure would drop the pedal would travel to the floor before any pressure built up again. If I pump the brake the rear wheels would lock up first and the car would pitch in the direction of whatever rear wheel decided to lock. There is no air is the system as far as I can tell so I pop the bonnet to find brake fluid was leaking out of the master cylinder cap. Could the loss of pressure be due to the cap not being sealed? No, but I changed it for the 750 anyway as it was cleaner and there have been no more leaks from there.
With the rear locking first my next guess was the compensator valve located under the spare wheel. I undid the bolt removed the rubber cover to find the grease had solidified and the piston was locked in place. I cleaned it with some WD40 and a toothbrush and pumped the brake again to see if it would free up but it was solid. Could the compensator valve being stuck be caused by or a contributor to the slave cylinder failing? Again no, it's probably just due to the age of the components. Anyway nowhere local sells them unless I wanted to adapt one from another vehicle to make it fit. As far as I'm aware Cinquecento and Seicento ones are different as well so I had to order one from here...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAKE-VALVE-PRV-Pressure...
...fit it when it arrives, bleed the rear brakes again and hope for the best.
Pretty stupid bit of design if you ask me (not that anyone had or tends to) I would have put a bleed nipple on the compensator valve as well as I'm sure air could be trapped in there.
This went well yesterday.
As well as giving me a craving for Guinness the old fluid looked more like I'd done an oil change. Anyway due to the car not having a current M.O.T I used a private farm track to test the brakes and...
...they were the same as before if not worse.
The pedal would feel firm and the brakes start to bind then the pressure would drop the pedal would travel to the floor before any pressure built up again. If I pump the brake the rear wheels would lock up first and the car would pitch in the direction of whatever rear wheel decided to lock. There is no air is the system as far as I can tell so I pop the bonnet to find brake fluid was leaking out of the master cylinder cap. Could the loss of pressure be due to the cap not being sealed? No, but I changed it for the 750 anyway as it was cleaner and there have been no more leaks from there.
With the rear locking first my next guess was the compensator valve located under the spare wheel. I undid the bolt removed the rubber cover to find the grease had solidified and the piston was locked in place. I cleaned it with some WD40 and a toothbrush and pumped the brake again to see if it would free up but it was solid. Could the compensator valve being stuck be caused by or a contributor to the slave cylinder failing? Again no, it's probably just due to the age of the components. Anyway nowhere local sells them unless I wanted to adapt one from another vehicle to make it fit. As far as I'm aware Cinquecento and Seicento ones are different as well so I had to order one from here...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAKE-VALVE-PRV-Pressure...
...fit it when it arrives, bleed the rear brakes again and hope for the best.
Pretty stupid bit of design if you ask me (not that anyone had or tends to) I would have put a bleed nipple on the compensator valve as well as I'm sure air could be trapped in there.
As I couldn't get the brakes done today I thought I'd have a look at tidying the front suspension. Sadly I noticed a few things while I was under the car.
The passenger side sill has gone in two places...
...near the front where the floor meets the bulkhead...
...and directly under the "B" pillar.
Also both bottom ball joints have perished.
Hmmmm! Bum, poo; butt! (my nephews have been following this thread)
I don't have the £100 for a new sill...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260937383465?ssPageName=...
...at the moment so it'll have to be patched for now.
Another £50 for the bottom ball joints...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300629646849?ssPageName=...
...and I'm definitely cycling to work for another month.
In the mean time. Today's effort was worth getting wet for.
The passenger side sill has gone in two places...
...near the front where the floor meets the bulkhead...
...and directly under the "B" pillar.
Also both bottom ball joints have perished.
Hmmmm! Bum, poo; butt! (my nephews have been following this thread)
I don't have the £100 for a new sill...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260937383465?ssPageName=...
...at the moment so it'll have to be patched for now.
Another £50 for the bottom ball joints...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300629646849?ssPageName=...
...and I'm definitely cycling to work for another month.
In the mean time. Today's effort was worth getting wet for.
Edited by Liquid Knight on Wednesday 26th September 20:18
Panic over I've found a pair of cheap hubs.
In the mean time what do you think of this?
1.9 N/A Diesel, the Meerkats want £200 to insure it and the DVLA want about the same to rent the log book for a year. It's a former "Dub Scene" chariot with lowered suspension and vandalism dents down the drivers side. Solid roof rack, good loading capacity (for Panda parts), and a tow bar (for taking the 750 to the track).
In the mean time what do you think of this?
1.9 N/A Diesel, the Meerkats want £200 to insure it and the DVLA want about the same to rent the log book for a year. It's a former "Dub Scene" chariot with lowered suspension and vandalism dents down the drivers side. Solid roof rack, good loading capacity (for Panda parts), and a tow bar (for taking the 750 to the track).
It's a "shed de luxe"' complete with high roof so that you don't bang your head! Looks excellent. Good choice.
Will I see you at any track days soon? There's a cheap charity airfield one in Norfolk in the Spring - they do two a year and the photo of the Fiat Supershed 400 was taken there this August. Speed is irrelevant, it's all about having fun in the corners in your own car, and blagging rides in other peoples' faster stuff.
I missed out on a ride in a 185mph M5 V10 this time round........will be blagging one next time if I can. I did get rides in an MR2 Turbo, a 924, a Holden V8 and a Vauxhall Nova.........the latter had 63bhp, never broke 90 mph, yet it was still doing 90 into the corners. The driver was a pro, skilful, and completely bonkers. He simply threw it at the corners and sorted out the problems as they happened. It was actually the scariest of the four rides.
Will I see you at any track days soon? There's a cheap charity airfield one in Norfolk in the Spring - they do two a year and the photo of the Fiat Supershed 400 was taken there this August. Speed is irrelevant, it's all about having fun in the corners in your own car, and blagging rides in other peoples' faster stuff.
I missed out on a ride in a 185mph M5 V10 this time round........will be blagging one next time if I can. I did get rides in an MR2 Turbo, a 924, a Holden V8 and a Vauxhall Nova.........the latter had 63bhp, never broke 90 mph, yet it was still doing 90 into the corners. The driver was a pro, skilful, and completely bonkers. He simply threw it at the corners and sorted out the problems as they happened. It was actually the scariest of the four rides.
Updates will be a little scarce for the next couple of weeks. I've just started a twelve day three night shift pattern. It's dark when I leave and when I get home so apart from letting you know when the bits arrive there won't be anything to report anyway.
Ideal bit of overtime as my insurance is due next month and I could pay in one go for the fist time in five years.
Ideal bit of overtime as my insurance is due next month and I could pay in one go for the fist time in five years.
Got some work done on the car today and injured myself trying something else.
The old brake compensator valve took about two minutes...
...to replace...
...and once the rear brakes were bled again I adjusted the hand brake...
...and the brakes are now ready for M.O.T.
I thought I'd have a go at the better of the two CV's today as well. I plan to take the whole hub assembly apart, do the CV boot and change the lower ball joints at the same time. This as far as I got the new boot on the cone fitter before I dislocated my thumb and sprained my wrist.
I thought warming the rubber up under a hot tap would help make it more malleable but my thumb clicked out again and I used words that would be inappropriate to repeat on a family friendly forum.
I'm working the next three nights so I'll start the bodywork on my next day off. If I get into it I'll loose track of time and be late for my shift.
The old brake compensator valve took about two minutes...
...to replace...
...and once the rear brakes were bled again I adjusted the hand brake...
...and the brakes are now ready for M.O.T.
I thought I'd have a go at the better of the two CV's today as well. I plan to take the whole hub assembly apart, do the CV boot and change the lower ball joints at the same time. This as far as I got the new boot on the cone fitter before I dislocated my thumb and sprained my wrist.
I thought warming the rubber up under a hot tap would help make it more malleable but my thumb clicked out again and I used words that would be inappropriate to repeat on a family friendly forum.
I'm working the next three nights so I'll start the bodywork on my next day off. If I get into it I'll loose track of time and be late for my shift.
So I had today all planned. Passenger side in the morning, drivers side in the afternoon and welding tomorrow/Monday.
Yep in the last two weeks someone had very kindly put my ball joints somewhere "safe" and forgotten where. After a few hours looking (I kid you not) there was a knock at the door and a friend of mine needed some welding done on his van and was happy to pay £30 for me to do it.
Got some welding practice in before I tackle the Panda sills, got beer and pizza and the parts turned up as soon as it was too dark to start working on the car.
So that's tomorrow sorted then.
Yep in the last two weeks someone had very kindly put my ball joints somewhere "safe" and forgotten where. After a few hours looking (I kid you not) there was a knock at the door and a friend of mine needed some welding done on his van and was happy to pay £30 for me to do it.
Got some welding practice in before I tackle the Panda sills, got beer and pizza and the parts turned up as soon as it was too dark to start working on the car.
So that's tomorrow sorted then.
So I had today all planned...
With the car up on ramps take the gearbox sump plug out and drain the oil.
From the state of it I think it's fair to say it's the first time the oil has been changed.
Remove the three wheel bolts securing the wheel trim.
Remove the drive shaft retaining nut.
Place the jack in a safe location under the lower wishbone mount.
Elevate the car high enough to remove the wheel and ramp.
Remove the 17mm bolts holding the brake caliper on and tie the caliper to the inner wing so the brake line doesn't get stretched or broken.
Now that's safely out of the way undo the 12mm bolt and take the disc off.
Next remove the 17mm nut from the bottom ball joint.
The two 13mm nuts and bolts from the track control bracket from the upright.
The 17mm bolts from the upright.
The 13mm nuts from the strut top and...
...the upright completely.
With a ball joint splitter remove the bottom ball joint from the wishbone and...
...slide the hub off the driveshaft.
Now the hub assembly is off remove the 17mm bolts from the back and disassemble it.
Reassembly and refitting is just as easy.
While I had the hub assembly off I changed the CV boots as well.
The drivers side was shot and I discovered the reason why the passenger side was leaking.
The pillock who had fitted it trimmed the outer edge to fit it and then used two cable ties to hold it in place.
I use a bicycle tyre lever myself.
Anyway I got the car back together...
...for the weather to turn to crap.
So that's tyres, wheel cylinders, compensator valve, track rod ends, bottom ball joints, gearbox oil, brake fluid and brake discs. Just a day of welding and new front pads for the Panda to be ready for M.O.T. This is probably the most I've done with a car without a fail sheet as a guide.
Why brake pads? Well whoever bodged the CV boot also replaced the brake pads on the drivers side but not the passenger side.
Also I'd like some red or green stuff ones to go with the groovy discs.
...and it all went according to plan.
With the car up on ramps take the gearbox sump plug out and drain the oil.
From the state of it I think it's fair to say it's the first time the oil has been changed.
Remove the three wheel bolts securing the wheel trim.
Remove the drive shaft retaining nut.
Place the jack in a safe location under the lower wishbone mount.
Elevate the car high enough to remove the wheel and ramp.
Remove the 17mm bolts holding the brake caliper on and tie the caliper to the inner wing so the brake line doesn't get stretched or broken.
Now that's safely out of the way undo the 12mm bolt and take the disc off.
Next remove the 17mm nut from the bottom ball joint.
The two 13mm nuts and bolts from the track control bracket from the upright.
The 17mm bolts from the upright.
The 13mm nuts from the strut top and...
...the upright completely.
With a ball joint splitter remove the bottom ball joint from the wishbone and...
...slide the hub off the driveshaft.
Now the hub assembly is off remove the 17mm bolts from the back and disassemble it.
Reassembly and refitting is just as easy.
While I had the hub assembly off I changed the CV boots as well.
The drivers side was shot and I discovered the reason why the passenger side was leaking.
The pillock who had fitted it trimmed the outer edge to fit it and then used two cable ties to hold it in place.
I use a bicycle tyre lever myself.
Anyway I got the car back together...
...for the weather to turn to crap.
So that's tyres, wheel cylinders, compensator valve, track rod ends, bottom ball joints, gearbox oil, brake fluid and brake discs. Just a day of welding and new front pads for the Panda to be ready for M.O.T. This is probably the most I've done with a car without a fail sheet as a guide.
Why brake pads? Well whoever bodged the CV boot also replaced the brake pads on the drivers side but not the passenger side.
Also I'd like some red or green stuff ones to go with the groovy discs.
...and it all went according to plan.
After getting two days work done yesterday and a favorable forecast I was looking forward to getting the sill welded up this morning, painted this afternoon and pre-flight checks ready to book the car in for M.O.T when the Payday Fairies visit.
BBC Weather strikes again.
This evening's rain is here now and much as I enjoy using power tools in wet conditions I have to be fit for work tomorrow and can't risk it.
BBC Weather strikes again.
This evening's rain is here now and much as I enjoy using power tools in wet conditions I have to be fit for work tomorrow and can't risk it.
I got the front half of the sill and floor patched up. No photo's to say I'm not happy with the finish would be the understatement of the decade. I'm considering forgetting about the M.O.T and waiting until I can afford the new sills from Italy.
Something I was chuffed with was the fact the car started first turn of the key despite the stereo being on for two days.
The Petrol smells a bit off (it is six weeks old) so I'll have to give the old girl a run to the M.O.T to burn the crap out.
Something I was chuffed with was the fact the car started first turn of the key despite the stereo being on for two days.
The Petrol smells a bit off (it is six weeks old) so I'll have to give the old girl a run to the M.O.T to burn the crap out.
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