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Panda (Classic) My Purple Panda Parade Progress log

Introduction

Well folks, after keeping it under my hat all week (to avoid any embarrassment if the ebay winner actually collected the car) I have bought the purple panda parade from another user on here, neeny. They had sold it on ebay, and to cut a long story short the winner of the auction didn't collect, so the transaction was cancelled, and I offered to buy it in his place (I had actually nearly bid on the car on the original run but I confused myself and thought it was LHD which wouldn't have been any good to me) So I made the trip to fife (and on the way crossed the forth road bridge and saw the forth rail bridge which is a bit of an ambition of mine) and collected it. It took some getting used to driving! My current daily is a Citroen C2 GT, and the two cars are very very different. I have prior experience driving Fiats, as my first 3 cars were a mix of mk1 and mk2a puntos, and the first car I ever drove was my dad's tipo.

Anyway I digress, I drove it home in blizzard conditions and am very impressed with it! The only thing is that it has sat for a while and the brakes are very spongy (not a criticism of the previous owners, they were extremely honest about the car and answered all my questions, they were very kind and nice people and I hope to see them again, perhaps at a show) The Mohair twin sunroofs were slightly damp on the inside (again, not a criticism, it has been extremely wet in Scotland recently, and there is only so much it can take) not leaking or anything, just slightly damp, so I aim to treat this with fabric water repellant. There are some decals and stickers on it which aren't to my personal tastes, so I will remove these, and keep the ones which are to my taste :) The rear sunroof needs a new strap, so I will need to source one of these, or get my fiance to make a new one if I can get a hold of some leather or rubber if I find they are unavailable :)

I am very pleased with my new purchase, and consider myself very lucky to have managed to get it, the buyer on ebay should be kicking himself! And also I am very lucky to have met such kind people as Janine and Stewart, and to have found a forum with such helpful people. Anyway folks lets get down to business...photos! I apologize for the poor quality of some of these photos, it was dark before I took some of these and it is very cold so my hand was shaking. Hopefully you join me on my journey folks :) The panda is currently in my garage being aired out in an attempt to part dry the sunroofs before I bust out the hairdryer tomorrow :)

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Ok so I just got my car back from the garage.

And it passed with NO ADVISORIES!! :) Absolutely cracking :) All 3 mechanics stopped what they were doing and said and I quote:

"Thats ****ing minted underneath son, ****ing minted"

He also said that there was a TINY bit of lift on a balljoint, but he said "its a 20 year old car" so he didnt even put it as an advisory.

Im absolutely chuffed, it seems he has made some allowances as it is a 20 year old car, and I am very very pleased, the mechanic is uploading photos of it on facebook tonight :)

Nice one Cameron (y)

Great to hear of another garage that has respect for the Panda :slayer:.
 
No doubt about a pass.....underneath was always good, I used to jet wash all the salt and dirt off..:D

Thanks for making me a minor celebrity among the community of New Cumnock then, they are putting photos on facebook of a rust free underside of a panda :) (y)

Also got the coachlines on, all apart from the squiggly line under the passenger side parade logo, I will tackle that tomorrow :) Excuse the photo of the drivers door as it looks squint because the door is slightly ajar :) my uncle helped me with it so it looks pretty good :)

Also there is a stone chip in my window I picked up today, thankfully after the MOT so I will have to sort that out (n) but other than that a great wee day!

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Nice job (y), but how are you going to do the squiggly bit, it looks like the width changes along its length?

It does, I have 3 methods to try (so far unless anyone else can suggest any ideas)

1- I have 3mm ocean blue stripes as well as 6, so I could try using these for the thinner bits and hoping they are not too not noticeable when joined

2-Use a hairdryer to try and shrink or expand the 6mm stripe as needed

3-Getting my mate (who is a graphic designer, to make a decal the same shape to fit, though this is impractical as he currently lives in england, and it would be very difficult to give him an exact measurement of the decal needed as it is thinner and thicker along it.
 
Congratulations on the mot! It's a nice feeling having that piece of paper firmly in your hand for another year (y) even if the new mot is just a scrappy printout (n)

As for the parade graphics I'd try tracing it on a square piece of tracing paper. Then it could be scanned and get it sent off to your pal in London. I can't see any other way of getting it right otherwise
 
Congratulations on the mot! It's a nice feeling having that piece of paper firmly in your hand for another year (y) even if the new mot is just a scrappy printout (n)

As for the parade graphics I'd try tracing it on a square piece of tracing paper. Then it could be scanned and get it sent off to your pal in London. I can't see any other way of getting it right otherwise

That is a CRACKING idea!! Thanks!
 
You really need to go to a proper car graphics place. After several false starts I found a good one. Whereas others were talking about tracing them etc & clearly didn't really know what they were doing, this place took photos worked their magic on their computerised systems & produced perfect (and I mean perfect) logos and stripes for my Palio. I don't say perfect often but these were colour/style/size as the originals - not massively expensive either.

 
You really need to go to a proper car graphics place. After several false starts I found a good one. Whereas others were talking about tracing them etc & clearly didn't really know what they were doing, this place took photos worked their magic on their computerised systems & produced perfect (and I mean perfect) logos and stripes for my Palio. I don't say perfect often but these were colour/style/size as the originals - not massively expensive either.


Its amazing what a good place can do :) my friend is a graphic designer, and his father in law runs a signmaking business, pretty useful! If I cant do it myself with the coachlines then my friend will be able to make one up for me :)

Only problem is he lives in exeter now, but tracing it, and photos and samples of the colour should work :) Im just off the phone with him :)
 
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