General Hello - New Panda Owner

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General Hello - New Panda Owner

stephen01

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I'm a new Panda owner, the car I've purchased is shall we say erm? a bad un. I've not touched it since collecting it a couple of weeks ago, after a 570 mile round trip for a car that's probably good for the scrap yard.


have a pic - below I think?

Parts needed are : Not a complete list!


doors x 2
wings - maybe-
bumpers
full interior inc carpets and dash speedo
ignition you start it with a 'blob' of metal!
the sills are a little push your finger through- can you get replacements?
and a big garage to keep it in?
 

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first off, damn pandas look good in black.

right.. i'd start with the most important job first. that is shell rust.. the sills and anywhere else it may be bad.

the wheel arches.. hmm yeah try to get them fixed, however if you just want the thing MOTed you "can" stick tape over them, so long as they are not rough as you brush past them. i do advise that you get any rust sorted as soon as you can though. the doors are an exception though..

you would not believe how bad a door can be before it fails an MOT.. quite literally, just stick tape over it and it will sail through. the doors are non structural on a panda and will only fail due to "sharp edges" or if it really is hanging off.

the bumpers look pretty good? they are not hanging off and look like they would come up well with some bumper/trim restorer.

my guess is the sunroof leaks like colander under water, you can fix this easy by unscrewing the bracket from the glass (the bit you move to open it) so its loose but not off all the way, slide it as far forwards as you can then screw it back up tight again. you will find that it will be really hard to pull down.. if its too hard undo it a bit and slide it back a tiny bit till you can pull the sun roof down to the closed position.. the harder it is to pull down.. the better the seal it makes ;) also, make sure that the seal is clean and free from any grit and muck. for what it takes i recommend taking the whole glass out and giving the seal a good cleaning.
my car Talon has the same sun roof and yep it leaked really bad when i first got it (someone had actually had a go at silicone sealing it at some point!). 3 years later though and the only drips i get from it now is condensation if we have a full car and its raining outside :D

whats the story with the dash, seats and carpets? if they are dirty it is pretty impressive how well a panda can be cleaned. take everything out, clean the seats with carpet shampoo a brush and a vax, the carpet can be cleaned with a jetwash (really! it comes up like new!) i guess if you wanted you could even jetwash the seats but i would be super cautious. (not that i have not done it to everything in my project fallout, a farm car used for moving sheep around.. was very messy!)

the ignition sounds.. interesting.. got any pictures of how bad it is? try and get it with the lock barrel and switch in it.

if you can weld/know a cheep welder.. person, and the rust is just not that bad you have no floor left, then you should be good :D
 
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I would say you got clean example there mate!

Base on MOT history check 10 of last 11 tests were clear PASS with minor advisories! Structural rust not mentioned at all.

Give it a quick wash, check for the bulbs, horn, tyres, rubber boots, basic service etc. and get it tested.
As it is carbed one - no need to worry about the emisions.

Regards the bumpers -as John said you should be able to square them up and clean up, the side bolts can be swapped for hex socket round head bolts in black so they will look much better then tha square bolts.

Seat covers - you can take them off the seat frame in 20 minutes and leave in soapy water for 24h, brush/wash after and they will be clean as new, same apples to dash roll ( you have to take the steering column shroud anyway so you will be half way there)


Sunroof looks like it was already sealed up with nasty bathroom silicone, closer photos would help.

Try to refurb parts rather than get new ones, pandas were designed for that and you will save cash for some welding if it is necessary.
 
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Hello & welcome

You've already done the most important thing, save a Panda and the second most important, join the forum.

Post your questions here and you'll be surprised how quickly someone has already come across and has a fix. (y)
 
With a couple of days off over Christmas, and husbandlyduties 95% done I’ll hopefully have a couple of hours to clean this littlebeauty weather depending!

The one sill will need patching, hopefully just a patch as I’mno welder! And the doors are going to get cleaned back and made pretty.

The interior is 100% past it, the seats are ripped, and thecarpet is cut up, like I say it’s not pretty..
 
I would say you got clean example there mate!

Base on MOT history check 10 of last 11 tests were clear PASS with minor advisories! Structural rust not mentioned at all.
.

I can confirm that the mot tester must have been a 'mate' as its ****ed, it's by far the worst car that has ever passed through my hands, my 55 year old herald has less rot! oh well out with the welder, not that I know how to weld, how hard can it be? ha we'll see!

not the best pics but was off a phone in pitch black.
 

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