Sublime Pandamonium II
Discussion
QBee said:
No, it s my lack of knowledge. I am very impressed with the way you do all this. I have never owned a Panda, though my brother has a 2007 diesel one, and watching you battling your way through it all is fascinating. It tells me to get a proper man in if I need to do anything to the oily bits.
I am presently looking at getting more POWAAAAAAH out of my Chimaera. I have been offered a supercharger and intercooler for about what you would pay for an entire car, but as it will give me an extra 100+ bhp I suppose I will be effectively getting an extra car's worth!
I will bring it round when/if it's all done if you like. Make a change from spanner welding for an hour or so.
Provided you get the air to fuel ratio right. A supercharger and charge cooler will lean the engine off causing more problems. Make sure your engine is in tip top condition first because even the slightest issue will be exaggerated when you throw a stick at it. The best performance enhancement you can add to any car is the component sat behind the steering wheel. A driver with some decent track or even competition experience and lessons is easily worth a hundred bhp compared to street driver. I am presently looking at getting more POWAAAAAAH out of my Chimaera. I have been offered a supercharger and intercooler for about what you would pay for an entire car, but as it will give me an extra 100+ bhp I suppose I will be effectively getting an extra car's worth!
I will bring it round when/if it's all done if you like. Make a change from spanner welding for an hour or so.
Good advice. The kit comes with a new fuelling chip and we also have some software to help set it up. I have compression tested the car, which gave good even results around 150-160 psi, and I am going to arrange a leak down test and rolling road session with Pete Baldwin near Cambridge as soon as possible. If any of the results are not up to scratch I will cancel the project. The engine has done 73000 miles and is 13 years old, so it is fingers crossed time!
Take your point about the spanner behind the wheel! I have been taking advice and training on my driving, and have done what I can with the suspension set up. I am considering getting it set up purely for track, but that will make it less pleasant on our lovely fen roads. I have got a set of track tyres, and have some bigger cojones on order........
Last summer I got a pro test driver to drive the car at Marham. He pronounced it a nice drive, and by the end of the weekend I was matching his speed and times. Hence the work to make it go faster, turn better and grip better.
Thanks for your interest and advice. Good luck with Team Pandamonium. My advice to you? Get a better paid job or win the lottery!! It's a lack of loot that's holding you back, not a lack of effort or knowledge.
Take your point about the spanner behind the wheel! I have been taking advice and training on my driving, and have done what I can with the suspension set up. I am considering getting it set up purely for track, but that will make it less pleasant on our lovely fen roads. I have got a set of track tyres, and have some bigger cojones on order........
Last summer I got a pro test driver to drive the car at Marham. He pronounced it a nice drive, and by the end of the weekend I was matching his speed and times. Hence the work to make it go faster, turn better and grip better.
Thanks for your interest and advice. Good luck with Team Pandamonium. My advice to you? Get a better paid job or win the lottery!! It's a lack of loot that's holding you back, not a lack of effort or knowledge.
QBee said:
Thanks for your interest and advice. Good luck with Team Pandamonium. My advice to you? Get a better paid job or win the lottery!! It's a lack of loot that's holding you back, not a lack of effort or knowledge.
That's half the fun of it. I'd rather work something out than throw money at it. We can't all be corporate sponsored. 
QBee said:
Liquid Knight said:
.....We can't all be corporate sponsored.
I wish.....just finally come into a little money rather late in life, and am determined to enjoy it before it's too late
Glad you haven't bought a bike.
Day two and now the seal between the water pump and block has set I've tightened that, refitted the oil pump and cleaned the Tiger seal off the edges.
As for the sump...
...it's a mess and I'll probably look at re-welding the patch that looks like it was done while the sump was on the car.
Hmmmm, could the flash burning of the oil in the sump when it was welded caused a localised channel of smoke resulting in the head gasket failure?
Nah; it was probably just knackered.
So I'd like to start today by thanking someone who said this...
...would be impossible.
Punto GT rear brake on a Panda. There is a minor alteration required as the handbrake mechanism fouls the shock when the car is elevated.
There are two ways around this. Move the shock mounting point, possibly with a coilover set up to allow the standard handbrake location on the caliper or; make a new bracket for the caliper itself. With the cable mounting on the Omega arm this would be easier and I could even use the standard Panda cable to actuate the handbrake. Either method is relatively straight forward and both have advantages and disadvantages so it will probably come down to time and cost as usual.
So why am I pillocking about with the brakes today? Well there has been a lot of Panda activity lately with links to what the Japanese are up to and other modified Pandas taking the world stage. With the weather looking decidedly tropical I thought about paint, with paint I need to think about wheels, with wheels I need to think about brakes and all things being considered I need to see if I need to widen the arches.
That would be a no then.
There's even enough room inside the wheel arch without any spacers and standard Punto bolts.
Unlike the time I tried these wheels on my Fantasia it even clears the handbrake cable.
So good news then. Let's try the front.
Looking good so far...
...oh bum! Still not as much of a problem as it looks. All I need to do is make a pair of mounting plates for when I swap the bottom bearings over.
This bit...
...how hard could it be?
...would be impossible.
Punto GT rear brake on a Panda. There is a minor alteration required as the handbrake mechanism fouls the shock when the car is elevated.
There are two ways around this. Move the shock mounting point, possibly with a coilover set up to allow the standard handbrake location on the caliper or; make a new bracket for the caliper itself. With the cable mounting on the Omega arm this would be easier and I could even use the standard Panda cable to actuate the handbrake. Either method is relatively straight forward and both have advantages and disadvantages so it will probably come down to time and cost as usual.
So why am I pillocking about with the brakes today? Well there has been a lot of Panda activity lately with links to what the Japanese are up to and other modified Pandas taking the world stage. With the weather looking decidedly tropical I thought about paint, with paint I need to think about wheels, with wheels I need to think about brakes and all things being considered I need to see if I need to widen the arches.
That would be a no then.
There's even enough room inside the wheel arch without any spacers and standard Punto bolts.
Unlike the time I tried these wheels on my Fantasia it even clears the handbrake cable.
So good news then. Let's try the front.
Looking good so far...
...oh bum! Still not as much of a problem as it looks. All I need to do is make a pair of mounting plates for when I swap the bottom bearings over.
This bit...
...how hard could it be?
king hard.
Okay today I decided to see how difficult it would be to make a template for the front brake calipers mounts. Rather than play in the snow and disassemble a hub on the car itself (only to have to put it back together again) I decided to use one of the Fantasia bottom ball joint units instead.
See my shed full of crap I've kept does come in handy sometimes. Took my grinder to it...
...so I have a centre plate and an off cut to make lugs with.
Don't worry I'm going for a twin caliper set up I needed it to be on the same level so I can get tacking.
A bit of tidying up around the edges and it'll be ready to go to Optima so the actual plates can be made out of five or six millimeter plate.
See my shed full of crap I've kept does come in handy sometimes.
Took my grinder to it......so I have a centre plate and an off cut to make lugs with.
Don't worry I'm going for a twin caliper set up I needed it to be on the same level so I can get tacking.
A bit of tidying up around the edges and it'll be ready to go to Optima so the actual plates can be made out of five or six millimeter plate.
There we have it...
...the template is finished. Today I was going to look at the rear shock mounts and how much they'll need to be adjusted to fit around the hand brake cable but I would also have to adapt the exhaust as well so that will be two jobs I'll do at the same time so one can compliment the other. I have an idea how to do it but want to see if the template works before I send it off to have plates made.
I have to take one of the front hubs apart to get the plate, to do that I need to remove the drive shaft, to do that I may as well take the gearbox out. While the gearbox is out I'll see how much work will be involved fitting my spare Cinquecento five speed to the car.
...the template is finished. Today I was going to look at the rear shock mounts and how much they'll need to be adjusted to fit around the hand brake cable but I would also have to adapt the exhaust as well so that will be two jobs I'll do at the same time so one can compliment the other. I have an idea how to do it but want to see if the template works before I send it off to have plates made.
I have to take one of the front hubs apart to get the plate, to do that I need to remove the drive shaft, to do that I may as well take the gearbox out. While the gearbox is out I'll see how much work will be involved fitting my spare Cinquecento five speed to the car.
I didn't bother with the gearbox. I thought I'd freeze myself playing with the front brakes.
Stripped the front down...
...I tried the template against the original mount bracket and had an idea...
...marked and...
...drilled the holes.
If this works it will save me a lot of time and money so I tried the caliper.
Made sure there's enough room to get to the wheel bearing bolts.
No problems so far...
...crap. Just as well I kept hold of the original Panda caliper bolts.
Perfect. I'm starting to get confident now.
Oh.
That's what grinders are for.
The car needs new bottom bearings so when I get a pair I'll cut and channel them properly but for now I just wanted to see if...
...it fits.
The wheel didn't though...
...so 10mm spacers and long bolts to the rescue.
She'd sit a lot prettier if there was an engine in there.
Stripped the front down...
...I tried the template against the original mount bracket and had an idea...
...marked and...
...drilled the holes.
If this works it will save me a lot of time and money so I tried the caliper.
Made sure there's enough room to get to the wheel bearing bolts.
No problems so far...
...crap. Just as well I kept hold of the original Panda caliper bolts.
Perfect. I'm starting to get confident now.
Oh.
That's what grinders are for.
The car needs new bottom bearings so when I get a pair I'll cut and channel them properly but for now I just wanted to see if...
...it fits.
The wheel didn't though...
...so 10mm spacers and long bolts to the rescue.
She'd sit a lot prettier if there was an engine in there.
No Pandaing today but this could be Panda related. I've helped my brother convert an old Transit Luton into a storage facility...
...as I was the only one daft enough to get under the bloody thing to remove (by fair means or foul) the bolts holding the box in place I have been offered the chassis, cab and other bits.
If I can get it home, weld patches into the chassis rails where holes have been drilled after paint (why do Ford do that?), fix the brakes, replace the starter motor, windscreen and tidy up the cab a bit I could make myself a car transporter or two Panda transporter.
What do you guys think?
...as I was the only one daft enough to get under the bloody thing to remove (by fair means or foul) the bolts holding the box in place I have been offered the chassis, cab and other bits.
If I can get it home, weld patches into the chassis rails where holes have been drilled after paint (why do Ford do that?), fix the brakes, replace the starter motor, windscreen and tidy up the cab a bit I could make myself a car transporter or two Panda transporter.
What do you guys think?
Supercharger idea dumped.....can't be arsed with the problems.
Car in pieces in Downham Market.
Exhaust manifolds had to come off, seven bolts sheared or were sawn off.
Now considering my options - extract bolts and put heads back on, or upgrade? Will be working all night to pay for it, whatever the decision. Grrrr.
Would love to see the Panda. Takes me back to my Mini days. Engine hanging off the wooden garage lintel........flywheel refusing to budge.
Car in pieces in Downham Market.
Exhaust manifolds had to come off, seven bolts sheared or were sawn off.
Now considering my options - extract bolts and put heads back on, or upgrade? Will be working all night to pay for it, whatever the decision. Grrrr.
Would love to see the Panda. Takes me back to my Mini days. Engine hanging off the wooden garage lintel........flywheel refusing to budge.
The main reason I like Pandas is the lack of space under a Mini bonnet. I wanted something that handles as well as a Mini so I went for a Cinquecento but found the engine bay just as restrictive as the electronics. Pandas are pre-Cat and efi so easier (believe it or not) to live with and have a cult following. Unlike the Mini the prices haven;t skyrocketed yet but it's only a matter of time.
Bummer about the TVR. While you've got the heads off to extrapolate the sheered studs you could give the ports a good polish and weld a couple of turbo plates to the manifolds.
Bummer about the TVR. While you've got the heads off to extrapolate the sheered studs you could give the ports a good polish and weld a couple of turbo plates to the manifolds.
Liquid Knight said:
The main reason I like Pandas is the lack of space under a Mini bonnet. I wanted something that handles as well as a Mini so I went for a Cinquecento but found the engine bay just as restrictive as the electronics. Pandas are pre-Cat and efi so easier (believe it or not) to live with and have a cult following. Unlike the Mini the prices haven;t skyrocketed yet but it's only a matter of time.
Bummer about the TVR. While you've got the heads off to extrapolate the sheered studs you could give the ports a good polish and weld a couple of turbo plates to the manifolds.
All knight (see what i did there?) accounting session done, money earned to pay for a bit of it. Now just a case of deciding what to upgrade while it's in bits anyway.Bummer about the TVR. While you've got the heads off to extrapolate the sheered studs you could give the ports a good polish and weld a couple of turbo plates to the manifolds.
I loved my 850 cc 1967 Mini, but I agree it was a sod to work on. Fond memories of changing the clutch and gearbox on my girlfriend's car, a 998 cc 1968 model. And of breaking down outside Pisa on a Sunday in September 1974 - yes, we took the 850 cc Mini with the long gear lever all the way round Europe. Basically the crankshaft pulley had broken into two pieces, rivets all gone. I was handier with a spanner in those days, so having been towed to a garage at breakneck speed, I had to show the garage owner how to take the grille off, how to get the crank nut off (spanner on, wrap in a rag, start the engine!) and virtually did the whole job myself.
I wouldn't know where to start on the TVR - I leave under the bonnet to he who has a scooby what he is doing.
here's how it looked yesterday.....
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