Styling Customizing Panda 2011 1.2 Petrol

[Keepthe12alive]

Hello friends!

Reaching out as I’d love to customize my Panda over time — I love this wee car and really want to hold onto it forever!

I’d love to customize the seats, potentially paint the interior trims, get rims (if there’s a marketplace deal lol), customize the gear knob if possible (I don’t think Fiat made it conducive to that however), and the stereo (when money is too tight lol).

Of course my priority it to make it as sturdy and MOT-proof as possible, and I’m planning for that currently.

I’d love to know if people have experience customizing their pandas, and I’ve really loved and benefited from being in this community.

I’d also love this to be a journal of sorts for this wee car as I hope to keep make a lot of memories with it!

 

[Keepthe12alive]

The first thing on my mind is the chance to replace the driver seat. I slide around a bit on roundabouts, even at 15-20mph, and I love the idea of tweaking this little care with fantastic little mods here and there —

Recently found £5 racing seat someone is trying to get rid of, and I’d love to install it and see it up. (Pictures attached including one of my car!)

Anyone have experience with changing the seats?

 

[rmjbn1]

Great to see your Panda getting the love it deserves!

In terms of future-proofing I would definitely focus on rust-treating the rear axle, rear sills (access through bung in rear wheel arch), engine oil sump pan, coolant return pipe in front of engine, and mud trap behind front springs.

All other parts are cheap and fairly easy to replace when needed.

Swapping for other Panda-based cars' seats is well documented on here. 500 / Abarth 595 / later Ford Ka seats fit with some minor modification.

You'd need dimensions of that seat you're looking at to know if it will physically fit, and be prepared to get creative to bolt it to the existing mounting holes on the body.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Hello friends!

Reaching out as I’d love to customize my Panda over time — I love this wee car and really want to hold onto it forever!

I’d love to customize the seats, potentially paint the interior trims, get rims (if there’s a marketplace deal lol), customize the gear knob if possible (I don’t think Fiat made it conducive to that however), and the stereo (when money is too tight lol).

Of course my priority it to make it as sturdy and MOT-proof as possible, and I’m planning for that currently.

I’d love to know if people have experience customizing their pandas, and I’ve really loved and benefited from being in this community.

I’d also love this to be a journal of sorts for this wee car as I hope to keep make a lot of memories with it!

I bought a set of Panda 100 look-a-like wheels from eBay Italy that looked great. You ned to create an eBay.It account and set a different password and you can use Google translate. There are occasionally some good things that appear. If you can get hold of a genuine Panda 100 rear spoiler from a breaker they are great looking additins too. I did a guide on here to fitting front Fog lights which imporves the face, and they are really useful too.

 

[Keepthe12alive]

Great to see your Panda getting the love it deserves!

In terms of future-proofing I would definitely focus on rust-treating the rear axle, rear sills (access through bung in rear wheel arch), engine oil sump pan, coolant return pipe in front of engine, and mud trap behind front springs.

All other parts are cheap and fairly easy to replace when needed.

Swapping for other Panda-based cars' seats is well documented on here. 500 / Abarth 595 / later Ford Ka seats fit with some minor modification.

You'd need dimensions of that seat you're looking at to know if it will physically fit, and be prepared to get creative to bolt it to the existing mounting holes on the body.

This is fantastic and thank you so much!!

 

[Keepthe12alive]

Great to see your Panda getting the love it deserves!

In terms of future-proofing I would definitely focus on rust-treating the rear axle, rear sills (access through bung in rear wheel arch), engine oil sump pan, coolant return pipe in front of engine, and mud trap behind front springs.

All other parts are cheap and fairly easy to replace when needed.

Swapping for other Panda-based cars' seats is well documented on here. 500 / Abarth 595 / later Ford Ka seats fit with some minor modification.

You'd need dimensions of that seat you're looking at to know if it will physically fit, and be prepared to get creative to bolt it to the existing mounting holes on the body.

I am actually about to put it through a pre-mot to see what needs attention, and I am gearing up to treat the rust on the axels and suspension and replace what I have to.

On that note, I’m trying to replace the lowering springs if I can, but I’m wondering if I can get different springs than the OEM ones (stronger ones, of course)

Do you know how I could go about that?

 

[Keepthe12alive]

I bought a set of Panda 100 look-a-like wheels from eBay Italy that looked great. You ned to create an eBay.It account and set a different password and you can use Google translate. There are occasionally some good things that appear. If you can get hold of a genuine Panda 100 rear spoiler from a breaker they are great looking additins too. I did a guide on here to fitting front Fog lights which imporves the face, and they are really useful too.

This is so helpful for the future!! I would love to change out wheels!!

 

[Keepthe12alive]

Also, would you mind sharing some seat swap links if no bother? I’m still learning to navigate the site effectively for those threads

 

[rmjbn1]

I’m trying to replace the lowering springs if I can, but I’m wondering if I can get different springs than the OEM ones (stronger ones, of course)

Do you know how I could go about that?

I'd probably use Shop4Parts for new springs, they have a 10% discount code for donated forum members.

There's a great guide to dropping the rear axle to remove springs and treat rust. Here's the GUIDES section:

FIAT Cars

www.fiatforum.com

Also, would you mind sharing some seat swap links if no bother? I’m still learning to navigate the site effectively for those threads

The search function works really well I think, in the Panda Mk3 section, search 'seat swap' should show you a selection including this recent thread:

Panda seat swap question | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

I’ve seen several threads about fitting 500 seats into a Panda (with a bit of fettling on one mount?) My Panda seats are a bit knackered, so I’m thinking of doing the swap. However, from what I can see, there was a change to the 500 mounts at some point, so I’m worried that some 500 seats may...

www.fiatforum.com

Personally I wouldn't want to modify too many seat mounting points - you'll be relying on them in the event of an accident.

But Abarth seats are tempting, mine are looking fairly tatty now.

 

[DaveMcT]

Non standard wheels will affect your insurance. My wider steels added £50 premium but one company bumped it up 10x

 

[Keepthe12alive]

New car mats!

For a Ford Ka, but brand new for £5 on Marketplace!

 

[Keepthe12alive]

Reaching out as I’m still not sure how to tell which parts can be swapped over from different second gen pandas —

Is there a general way to know?

Ex. Someone is selling rear suspension parts from a 2010 1.1 liter, and I want to be sure it fits my 2011 1.2 liter

What questions should I ask, or is there a general way to know which models share which parts?

Every kindness and many thanks again to this community

 

[rmjbn1]

I would use ePER to cross reference part numbers, for example this page links to the rear suspension for 1.1 8V (M1) and 1.2 8V (M5):

REAR SUSPENSION - FIAT NUOVA PANDA (2003-2009) | FIAT ePER - Online spare parts catalogue

eper.fiatforum.com

Which shows that rear suspension parts are the same between 1.1 & 1.2. Springs and dampers have the same part numbers.

1.3 diesel, 1.4 100HP and 4x4 models tend to have different parts.

 

[Keepthe12alive]

I would use ePER to cross reference part numbers, for example this page links to the rear suspension for 1.1 8V (M1) and 1.2 8V (M5):

REAR SUSPENSION - FIAT NUOVA PANDA (2003-2009) | FIAT ePER - Online spare parts catalogue

eper.fiatforum.com

Which shows that rear suspension parts are the same between 1.1 & 1.2. Springs and dampers have the same part numbers.

1.3 diesel, 1.4 100HP and 4x4 models tend to have different parts.

Oh my gosh thank youuuuuu

I’m still learning how to use ePER and what the names of things mean

This is really helpful

 

[koalar]

I have fitted Punto grande starter motor and ignition switch into a 2006 1.1 panda

I have fitted a post 2012 gear selector cable, it's not straightforward, you need to swap the gearstick and bracket on the gearbox

1.2/500 clutch slave cylinder has a different parts number, but has been fitted and works, but use at your own risk

Suspension 500 to panda look the same but are in fact totally different, including the rear axle

Latter post 2012 panda and 500 seats are different but can be made to work

Wheels and tyres, there's some leeway, but stick close to OEM offset for tyre width, if you want the EPS and stability control to work properly

Active dash can be swapped to dynamic dash with trip computer with some caveats

OEM Aircon can not be retro fitted to a 1.1 active without a donar car;and they are extremely rare or none existent

Locking fuel cap is a straight swap, but will have the wrong key, and is a waste of time in my opinion, it my be possible to swap the barrel out of the passenger airbag to use the same key (likely) but I have never tried

Longitudinal and transverse roof bars are a straightforward upgrade

The radio is a standard size, but is controlled on/off by cabus, with the correct adapter it's plug and play, otherwise you need to splice into the wiring harness for a switched control

500 sun visor fit but are smaller

If you have an active, it unlikely to have the wiring for the cigarette lighter present at the fuse box

LED exterior lights are illegal, but brighter reversing lights have successfully been fitted, they need to be canbus compliant

There's nothing to be gained power wise (1.1/1.2) in a remap, air filter, decat, exhaust, until some head work has been done first, look at my old posts on 130 and 160 bhp 1.2 engines but they will not be nice to drive day to day


Any upgrades have to be declared to your insurance company

 

[rmjbn1]

I’m still learning how to use ePER and what the names of things mean

Yeah, it's great. I learned it from koalar
Another great reference I have bookmarked (thanks koalar!) :

PROCEDURES - Fiat - PANDA - eLearn - 4CarData

 

[DaveMcT]

Brand new pattern rear axles are so low cost it’s hardly worth using 2nd hand.

Excluding 100HP and 4x4, the main suspension differences are at the front springs. Measure your struts from tube top to bracket bottom. Then compare with what you are buying.

 

[rmjbn1]

customize the gear knob if possible (I don’t think Fiat made it conducive to that however)

The Panda gear knob pulls off, it's not threaded and there aren't many aftermarket ones like this.

I've seen some that were just epoxyed in place, then you need to allow for the lift up reverse collar.

I've thought about getting a second hand standard one and having it retrimmed in alcantara or leather (or doing a terrible job myself - I'm good at that kind of thing).

But then koalar's comment reminded me that cooperman recently put a six speed lever and cables from a 500 in their 100HP:

Panda - Panda 100HP project (cooperman style!)

I needed to make the pandavan a little more practical for summer holidays with the kids! Hopefully this should give us enough extra room! Also got the box in carbon affect 💙😂☺️

www.fiatforum.com

Which made me think, presumably a 5 speed 500 lever with cables would work on our standard Pandas?

 

[DaveMcT]

Pulling off a standard Panda gear knob often damages it internally so it now pulls off too easily. It's actually not solid plastic.

This is nice but won't match the Panda reverse gear slider.

Gear knob LEVER BLACK / CHROME 5 + R for FIAT GRANDE PUNTO 05- / LINE 07- ââI0U5 | eBay

Fiat Grande Punto. Fiat Linea. Installation, Anschluss an falsche Netzspannung, normalen VerschleiÃ, Nichtbeachten der Gebrauchsanweisung, chemische oder elektrochemische Einwirkung und höhere Gewalt entstehen.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Dan at Adrian Flux]

Hi.
If you have any issues with insurance at all for any modifications then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.