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Panda (Classic) My Purple Panda Parade Progress log

Introduction

Well folks, after keeping it under my hat all week (to avoid any embarrassment if the ebay winner actually collected the car) I have bought the purple panda parade from another user on here, neeny. They had sold it on ebay, and to cut a long story short the winner of the auction didn't collect, so the transaction was cancelled, and I offered to buy it in his place (I had actually nearly bid on the car on the original run but I confused myself and thought it was LHD which wouldn't have been any good to me) So I made the trip to fife (and on the way crossed the forth road bridge and saw the forth rail bridge which is a bit of an ambition of mine) and collected it. It took some getting used to driving! My current daily is a Citroen C2 GT, and the two cars are very very different. I have prior experience driving Fiats, as my first 3 cars were a mix of mk1 and mk2a puntos, and the first car I ever drove was my dad's tipo.

Anyway I digress, I drove it home in blizzard conditions and am very impressed with it! The only thing is that it has sat for a while and the brakes are very spongy (not a criticism of the previous owners, they were extremely honest about the car and answered all my questions, they were very kind and nice people and I hope to see them again, perhaps at a show) The Mohair twin sunroofs were slightly damp on the inside (again, not a criticism, it has been extremely wet in Scotland recently, and there is only so much it can take) not leaking or anything, just slightly damp, so I aim to treat this with fabric water repellant. There are some decals and stickers on it which aren't to my personal tastes, so I will remove these, and keep the ones which are to my taste :) The rear sunroof needs a new strap, so I will need to source one of these, or get my fiance to make a new one if I can get a hold of some leather or rubber if I find they are unavailable :)

I am very pleased with my new purchase, and consider myself very lucky to have managed to get it, the buyer on ebay should be kicking himself! And also I am very lucky to have met such kind people as Janine and Stewart, and to have found a forum with such helpful people. Anyway folks lets get down to business...photos! I apologize for the poor quality of some of these photos, it was dark before I took some of these and it is very cold so my hand was shaking. Hopefully you join me on my journey folks :) The panda is currently in my garage being aired out in an attempt to part dry the sunroofs before I bust out the hairdryer tomorrow :)

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How odd...the Sisley had matching plastic padding and all the 4x4's were plain...:confused:

Think on my Sisley (original 500) was nasty hard board, or was that the other Sisley (2nd unlimited run).....

Might be a usual case of Fiat fitting what ever was on the side of the conveyor belt at the factory mind.
 
Yep my early Sisley and Oslo have plain ones, I also have a padded one from a Marbella.

The plain ones are very easy to make as has been suggested, in fact I will probably make a new one for Oslo as his is badly warped.
 
There's one other thing about the picture of Thing.
I didn't know he had a twin brother.

It is either that or onemanmade belongs to a different species to the rest of us to be able to be under the car and to take the photo at the same time.

Dave
 
There's one other thing about the picture of Thing.
I didn't know he had a twin brother.

It is either that or onemanmade belongs to a different species to the rest of us to be able to be under the car and to take the photo at the same time.

Dave

Ive got super long stretch armstrong arms.

Nah my dad was helping me out again :)
 
The Ku Rust stuff, I bought a tub this afternoon, cheaper and easier than an angle grider :eek:

I once derusted a Toyota celicas doors using sand/glasspaper by hand and primed and painted, very much the hard way and took ages, to think I could have done it in 15 minutes with kurust! felt like an utter mug once I found out!
 
I once derusted a Toyota celicas doors using sand/glasspaper by hand and primed and painted, very much the hard way and took ages, to think I could have done it in 15 minutes with kurust! felt like an utter mug once I found out!

And to top that off my father in law (who I did the part resto for) left it sitting in his drive for two years and it has started rusting in the same place again! Grr
 
Photos of the work I did
1-Put self tappers in the heater shroud to keep it from slipping down
2- Cable tied the drain hose because I broke it the other day while cleaning it out
3-Changed the coolant
Also included are the photos my uncle gary took the other day

In retrospect, I should have cleaned out the system, maybe done a flush of some kind, but this was the first time I've changed the coolant by myself, it is running colder now, the heater is blowing very warm and I reckon by the state of the stuff I dumped that I have done more good than harm. I may well drop it all again in a couple of months and flush the system entirely, but Its in a better position that it was beforehand so I am pleased :)

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When you do a flush take the expansion bottle off and clean it...then use dishwasher powder like I did..go for a run....dump it and reverse flush the system...(y)

I've heard of people doing that, I've heard only good results too so will be a shout! I will probably do that in the next couple of months, just seeing how it goes for just now though, seems to have worked well, temperature is cooler :) and combined with the rest of the servicing I have done PH the panda drives and sounds A LOT better, there is still a ticking noise there, but its not nearly as loud, and it is generally a lot smoother :) not that im suggesting that it was bad when I got him you understand, I seem to have made a fantastic purchase, and I am already saving a lot of money on running costs, everything, including parts and service items, is a lot cheaper and easier to track down than with my c2, and it is far nicer to work on too! Im very lucky :)
 
Ok, so I dug out the MOT test certificate from last year and there is good news and bad news.

Good- It has only done 2477 miles since its last mot, so in theory thats less road miles for things to go wrong.

Having checked out the advisories from last year I cant see 3/4 of these causing a problem this year.

Bad- Its due on the 3rd of may, as opposed to the 31st of may, which I had got into my head for some reason that it was, so thats only 1 payday away rather than two.

1/4 of the advisories may cause me a problem, and I might post a question asking for help with this.

LIST OF LAST YEAR'S ADVISORIES

001 Windscreen has damage to an area less than a 40mm circle outside zone 'A' [8.3.1d]

002 Stone chip on offside headlamp lens

003 Corrosion starting to affect boot floor at joints to inner wing

004 Both fuel tank security strap missing due to corrosion.

001- I haven't been able to find this damage, in all honesty, so I cant see it causing a problem, besides it is outside of zone 'A'

002- I haven't had a proper look for this, but it is not immediately noticeable, so if a stone chip was an advisory a year ago, theoretically it should be an advisory again, if at all.

003- I have looked at the boot floor myself and in all honesty it doesn't look that bad to me, I would say this advisory was a fair comment, but again it should just be an advisory again in theory.

004- This is the one which I think may come down to the tester's discretion. If both fuel tank straps were missing last year and it was an advisory, then in theory it should only be an advisory again, as its not as if the straps could get any worse-they aren't there at all!

I have been told of a fix for this using seat belt webbing, so I will be sending a pm to john dragon man :ROFLMAO: ;)

I am quietly confident about this MOT all in all, as in theory if it passed the MOT 2477 miles ago, and I have improved it already, then it should pass without any issue, but that being said I haven't been over the car with my "Mot tester" hat on, so I will do that tomorrow to see what I can find.
 
Some exciting news (well its exciting to me) I am going to reinstate the coach lines on PH the panda! I have found the 3mm (I need to measure my unfaded paint lines to confirm this is the correct size) white coach lines easily enough, but I am struggling to find the correct colour of blue. To be honest I may just use the slightly darker blue and hope it fades in the sun :ROFLMAO:

but I am excited about this!!! One more step along the road of restoring it to its complete former glory :)

And the MOT is booked in for 27/04/2013 at 9am sharp, wish me luck folks!
 
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