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Panda (Classic) Mk1 4x4 Panda (Original)

Introduction

Here is Qing Qing, a rescued panda that came close to death
I completed the majority in less than a year and here she is now:

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Before she was a bit worse!

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Hard luck there Si - before you take it all in bits again just make sure all of your flags are tight ;)

Are the mk2 props the same as a mk1? If so I have a front section that you are welcome to.

The other quite scary option is (and I don't know if it would cause the issues in the same way) but could you have possibly bent the floor pan when you bellied on that last stage in Italy?
 
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at 30+mph there is a terrible vibration
was it also present before changing central prop shaft bearings? Did you mark every part of the prop before dismantling? maby you just put all together not in the way it was ballanced in the factory? Check also the both front CV joints, if one is cracked inside it will also cause the wobble
 
Thanks for your replies all. Some interesting points.

The flags Andy, they are the balancing weights right? I think they're still all on as can't see signs of a removed one (i.e. sheared spot welds, witness marks etc).
Thanks for the offer of the spare; I do have one but if it turns out to be a dud then will give you a shout! :slayer:

Bart, actually there's a good chance it is not installed the same as factory as I assumed components would be balanced individually rather than as a system... But now you mention it I did notice a slight wobble after servicing the CV before going to Italy but it wasn't as bad as it is now though.

But unfortunately I removed it again without marking it's orientation before I posted up on here, so...:doh:

Anyway, I will check the CV's first, and also see if there are any markings on the front shaft to indicate orientation...then if they all seem ok I will put on the spare I have and see if it is still there.

Thanks again!
 
i need to build up a little jig.. a flat bit of sturdy metal the centre prop bolts to and have one end of the prop fixed to a balanced swivel plate (or some other way i can hold the end yet make it still spin free) and the other end connected to a power drill.
then just keep trying different things until it stops jumping all over the place when i spin it up.

on talon when i got near 40 it was like having the worlds biggest sub in the car doing some low frequency bass tests.
 
I must say I have done this myself, maybe even a couple of times, and the car would go to at least 50mph before any kind of vibrating happened - even then it was only just noticeable. I've had it before where the prop suddenly bashes the bottom of the car as well, when driving down the road normally for no apparent reason. I put this down to the unbalanced prop but has anyone else experienced this?
 
I have made the same mistake :) or even worse, because I knew the shaft is ballanced as a whole 3-piece element,have marked the propshaft position ....on the CV's:p, not on the shaft itself:D:D, changed the CV's, had a stupid gaze on my face when realized the markings are gone<lol>:bang::bang::bang:. There was a huge vibration ofcourse, so instead of trying to find te correct position of the front element for the rest of the week I have drilled out the weights from the front piece of the shaft. It is better to have it unbalanced than balanced in the wrong way IMHO .If it does not help, you can always weld them back . In my case it helped a lot. It behaved like before swapping the CV's, a small vibration at higher speeds, but I had both main supports/bearings damaged, so can not say where was the source of this small vibration. It was acceptable, so I didn't get the whole setup ballanced.Though it may not make any difference on your car, or even make things worse, different car, different propshaft etc...
 
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hmm the only place i have local to me told me that they would "inspect the whole prop shaft and replace worn parts before balancing"
to which i told them that the prop shaft bearing supports were fully made out of tiger seal, and i know that the CV's were slightly worn but still had loads of life left in them..
they told me that they would replace everything in that case.. and then said that "the price would be well over £100".. to which i just said .. yeah, i dont think ill do it then.. and they then told me how it would never pass an MOT...

funny how Talon passed with that prop shaft on for 2 years in a row. in fact the MOT guy thought it was a fantastic fix.. saying it looked stronger than the original (non broken central prop mount)
 
Well looks like I'm going to have to get the prop shafts re-balanced as I'm not too happy leaving this on:
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So fitted the spare one I had. But vibration occurs at 20+ mph rather than 40+mph now. So lets get this out the way then.... yes I made it worse! :eek:

Anyway, I might tap the balancing weights off the shaft tomorrow and see what happens then move some jubilee clips round (as has already been mentioned :D)

But if this fails will be taking it to a balancing place...time is running out! Looking dangerously like I'll be running in 2wd mode for the off road weekend :(

This is the nearest balancing place I can find if anyone can advise or recommend another one:

http://www.prop-shaft.com/#

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Si
 
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No harm in trying that, but I'm surprised this is proving so difficult. With your engineering knous and talent, why is solving it going in the wrong direction..?
Dismantled and rebuilt my prop before Italy, didn't remember to mark anything and it was fine. - I'm not that lucky.
Are we missing something?
 
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No harm in trying that, but I'm surprised this is proving so difficult. With your engineering knous and talent, why is solving it going in the wrong direction..?
Dismantled and rebuilt my prop before Italy, didn't remember to mark anything and it was fine. - I'm not that lucky.
Are we missing something?

I might try rotating the prop orientation by 180° before tapping the weight off...maybe by chance I am that unlucky haha! If it makes little difference maybe I look somewhere else for an issue...

The prop shaft came off this beauty...I am sure it is fine...1 careful lady owner, 1000 miles on the clock...seemed a shame to scrap it at the time...
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