hi there, to give a very brief idea, Seat were building a rebadged version of the mark 1 fiat panda which was introduced in 1980 as the Seat Panda. exact same car aside from badge for all intents and purposes
it would be difficult to say without inspecting and working on the specific car myself, and what you want from the car specifically, but in terms of a general answer about the machines themselves they are hardy wee beasts and i wouldnt see an issue with taking my car for example to Italy. though i would be taking lots of spares etc and forgetting about my crippling anxiety LOL
that was a wee minter that one Johnits not as big of an issue as it sounds to be fair. we had a really nice Marbella (i wish we never sold it) and from what i saw when i was rust proofing it a good 50% of parts match the mk1 panda (like suspension components and engine/gearbox). i'd say 30% match the mk2 panda and the rest i would say are "Seat Marbella" specific. like the inside trim, lights, bonnets and doors
parts are relatively easy to get hold of. pretty much all of the service items and most engine / gearbox parts for the Fiat Cinquecento with the 899cc engine will do for the marbella
we bought our one for scrap as a non runner, but with an alternator from off a fiat cinquecento SX is was running perfect within half an hour of it being at home!
really miss that car, 20k miles on the clock when we got it!
one thing i recommend is undersealing and cavity waxing! this will make the car last a long long long time!
ive heard bilt hamber make superior products though never tried themIn short, yes it's a Panda but in Seat disguised form, though it has been well explained by now by the others so I shan't carry on there
No rust is brilliant, you're right in saying they tend to suffer though. The sills tend to be the most welded-to area so keep these clean and you'll save yourself a lot of money. To prevent rust occurring, you can use cavity wax and a waxoyl/underseal. Cavity wax does what it says on the tin, used in cavities and box sections, up inside the sills through the drain holes at the bottom and same with the doors. Underseal is applied to the rest of the underneath of the car.
All sorts of makes are available for these, I started off by using Hammerite Waxoyl on my Panda but can safely say that Bilt Hamber makes much better products. It costs a little more but it is much more specialised by having separate consistencies for each task, and it is a trusted and reliable company as well!
My current method is the same as yours actually - inspect, wire brush/grind, wipe/clean and then kurust, I don't use hammerite aerosol but I use zinc primer first and then underseal/paint (or vice versa depending on area).ive heard bilt hamber make superior products though never tried them
my method is (depending on area, im pretty much talking about underside here)
inspect
wire brush/grind with flap disc
kurust
hammerite smooth aerosol
comma wax seal (box sections, cavitys etc)
hammerite underseal with waxoyl aerosol
i use aerosols nowadays because it is easier and quicker to apply, also the spray can reach where my ham fists and a brush cant haha. not as economical as the brush on stuff, but aforementioned positives make up for it
interested to hear bilt hamber method?
thanks man i get youMy current method is the same as yours actually - inspect, wire brush/grind, wipe/clean and then kurust, I don't use hammerite aerosol but I use zinc primer first and then underseal/paint (or vice versa depending on area).
Using Bilt Hamber, it is the same sort of thing but you will make a couple of substitutions of products within the method.
Instead of kurust, deox gel is used to get rid of every bit of rust so there is nothing left: http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/deox-gel
Instead of any odd zinc primer, electrox can be used I believe but I've never used it, says it is a zinc rich coating: http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/electrox
Dynax S-50 is used for the box sections: http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/dynax-s50
Dynax UB is an underbody wax: http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/dynax-ub
So you can still use things like Hammerite underseal and then Bilt Hamber underbody wax under that for example. There's all sorts of products you can use and you can make the method longer or shorter depending on how many layers/what layers you need and where the repair is being done.
To put it shortly, there's more than one way to skin the cat
