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Panda (Classic) John Dragon Man's 4x4 Sisley

Introduction

Hello!

Well, I have been waiting a long time to do this!

Introducing (Drum roll please!).....

Edit: about half way through the time it took me to get the car on the road it found the name Talon. So everyone Meet:
Talon. My Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley:

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Great Looking car.. As i am sure you all agree!

It has its Good points:

No Horrid noises in any gear and the 4x4 system works and sounds brilliant! Its a Sisley! And it came with some nice extras such as the light grill covers.

and also nice low mileage.
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And it has its bad points... Lots of bad points:

Mid body rust, This is the worst on the drivers side (in the UK) front wing:
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The Doors are Rusty.. Ok, i did expect this as it seems to be a common thing on most Fiats over 10-15 years old:
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And the other Door, Not as bad.. I may be able to save this side!
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"Phantom Electronics" the electronics do what they want to do, when they want to do it. No Switches necessary!

Also the Fuse box now lives here :( That means that a flap has been cut in the pocket :(
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The Exhaust is very broken, in multiple parts. even the down pipe!
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Lastly and by far the worst, Under body rust. Now its not as bad as it could be. The rear sills on both sides have a small 1 - 2 inch hole in them. No biggy.
I have still yet to remove all the plastic wheel arch liners and have a proper look.
Here's a picture from the front drivers side wheel arch, its only a skin so a easy repair:
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A bit of work needs doing to the brakes, pads i think. The fluid needs changing and the drivers side front brake pipe is corroded so i will replace that.

Also the engine needs a good cleaning up, a full on service replacing the water pump, cam belt, tensioner pulley, distributor cap and rotor arm, filters, oil, radiator, coolant and starter motor.

I also need a few things like a locking filler cap, the little clips that hold the air box together, a new boot gas strut and a non damaged back bumper.

Its the car I have always wanted right from when I was a young lad. So you can imagine how I was when I won it on eBay for a grand total of £547. Getting it from Wales To my home town of Derby Cost me £135.

With some love, care and late nights I reckon I can turn it into a cracking motor!

Oh and stay tuned as I will be keeping a Video Log of what I will be doing to the car on Youtube!

This is the video i took just as the car transporter left from delivering it:




See the rest of the videos Here: Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley Restoration Video Logs

See my Youtube Channel >>>Here<<<

Also Click Here for more up to date pictures of this car!

I am so very proud to be the owner of a Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley!

:D:D:D


Edit: this is how Talon looks now:



:eek::cool::cool::cool::yum:

Since then Talon has gained more lights, and now has some blue rust free Seat Marbella doors. I had also converted him to Fuel injection, however the parts i used were old and worn so now it is back on Carburettor.

This thread has its ups and downs but through the years Talon and myself have pulled through.

When you are done reading this thread, be sure to check out the little red scrap yard rescued Seat Marbella thread and also Project Fallout!

Peace all and enjoy the thread, videos and pictures!
started work on the dredded rear wheel arch.. crikey its bad!

ill just keep working at it though.

found out that you can get access to the sills from inside the car just below the seat belt winders....
waxoyl... you know i'll be pumping that s*** in till it runs out the bottom, wait for it to dry.. then again and again and again.

Stop ALLLLLLLL the rust!

soon as i get this arch good it will take a absolute huge weight off me. its the one thing that i am most worried about making a mess of... more than the gearbox!

still would like to know if i could slip the two 5th gears out of another gearbox into this 4x4 box.. no one ever done it? or ever had a go at doing it?
would be a lot better for motorway driving..

also while i am at it, is there any way i could swap bits of the dona non 4x4 box, like make it dry shaft instead of wet shaft?
 
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Not sure if you ever stumbled across my thread on sill repairs and the rear arch in your travels? Anyway it's here and might be some help to you.
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/187295-rusty-rear-cross-member.html

The gearbox question is something I have pondered (but can't shed any light). I thought if I ever do an engine swap it would be nice to have some longer gears to make use of the increased power and torque for motorway driving. Clearly I would need to keep the 4x4 box to keep the 4wd but I hoped I could swap the 5th gear cluster. If you find the answer let us know!
 
thanks, sorry to say i didnt read it before i started welding :/ but i will still have a look :)

well..
10 and a half hours. this how long i have been working on the rear wheel arch. my hands are cut and i have mega sun burnt arms from welding but its done.

tomorrow i have a date with the new angle grinder. grind ALL the things back and make it all nice and smooth.
tbh i am not that fussed over how its going to look, as the plastic trim covers all of it hehe
at least i know its is really solid now.
one last plate to weld in on the rear sills. man am i glad the other side is no way near as bad!

hehe after the other side all i will have to do is weld the back exhaust bracket on and then i can pack the welder away for good!

Soon! :LOL:
 
hmm no, all panda 4x4's have 5 forward gears. 1 to 5.
however 1st is classed as a super bottom so effectively 2nd gear becomes your 1st gear for normal road use.

i guess in a way it is 4 speed. gear ratios are lower on 4x4's to handle "off road use"

hope this helps

Not sure I entirely agree with that, though I realise you got it from somewhere else rather than using the car (watching the thread with interest - keep up the good work (y) ).

1st is slightly shorter than say a 5 speed Panda 1000. This runs to 18mph in the 4x4 compared to 22mph in the 1000 (2nd gear runs to 34mph on the 4x4 compared to 43mph in the 1000, 3rd to 53mph compared to 65mph etc).

There is nothing in the handbook suggesting it's not a normal 1st gear. I've used mine for years and never start off in 2nd - not coz you can't, just that it's better using normally for a sensible get-away in town.

It's certainly true that the 4x4 will hold much higher gears - for example going through town at 20/25mph in 5th is fine (you can't do that in the 1000!), but you still need to change down if you need to accelerate quickly (all things being relative ;) ). 1st can be used down a steep icy/snowy hill as a sort of crawler gear - it doesn't mention it in the handbook and I wouldn't want to do it every day, but the 4x4 will inch itself down safely with the engine revving its head off.

Hope this helps,

Gavin. (y)

Edit: just looked in the mk1 4x4 handbook which says "car moving off may be made in second gear" & "the first gear should be used exclusively with engine cold, on steep slopes and/or when vehicle is fully laden". Of course this is a different engine, different gear ratios etc - so everyone is right depending on whether you're talking mk1 or mk2!! :D
 
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thanks for clearing that up guys.. i am only really going on what other people have told me... ive never had the chance to drive my panda on the road yet :(


just come in to have my dinner lol. grinding is fun!... and loud :/

Keep going John - you'll have her driving soon! Got more patience than I have anyway (y)
 
Well all ground down, inner wheel arch and leaf spring is undersealed (the bits i can get to without being under the car) gonna paint the rear diff and axel yellow.. thought about painting the springs yellow but meh they move and the paint will crack over time.

tomorrow.. well gonna have a few good days i think. my dad and brother are going out on the bike camping. That means i have the garage all to myself! and theres room now the big bike has been moved. and the 2 smaller bikes put in its place.........

that means its time to get in the freshly painted pit and get welding that exhaust bracket back on!

after i have done all that it will be a quick check over the passenger side rear wheel arch, cut out the bit of rust i know is there.. make a plate, weld it in, grind off the excess welds and underseal!

after that it will be use the pit to try to knock out the sump plug.. i may give it another few shots at welding a nut and bolt into the plug again then use a blow torch to heat the thing up and then try to knock it out. if it does not work ill get the drill on it and drill the bugger out stepping up bigger drill till i get near the threads then peel away whats left.
ill have to take a trip down to local scrappers to get a magnetic plug out of another gearbox.

when i have done that i think i will start taking the gear selectors all to bits to see if i can find my phantom 5th gear, but im not holding my breath.

hehe i like how in the haynes manual that they give you pictures of the gear box striped down..thats gonna come in handy lol.
makes me wonder if they knew it was troublesome so they covered it.... its the first haynes manual for a car i have had that covers the gearbox totally striped down.


roll on tomorrow! the rate i am going ill have this done in a few weeks!

Edit: Anybody help me out on this?:
https://www.fiatforum.com/leisure-lounge/212992-quick-question-thread-267.html?p=3027979
 
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pandamaniac. i am actually going to replace them, they have had the blistering paint in places and because i have the pipe and tool, and that they are easy to get to i am going to stick some nice copper ones on lol
firstcar-Y10 you see the pit first.. then my lovely rear axle and diff? :p my dad cleverly painted it with water based paint... well the pit fills with water over time... lol good times.... hahaha

need to fix the rear number plate lights.. on both the wires have totally rotted out and i am just left with the plastic outer insulator lol.

looking forward to stanford hall in a few days time :LOL:
 
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