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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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That would have been the mrs....you can send it back..no rush.:D

Aw, I was entertaining the notion that 20 years ago, giseppe or Antonio had finished his work that day and just tucked his Allen key under the seat for safekeeping till the next day then forgot where he had put it.

But then I remembered it used to have red seatbelts so the notion was quickly cast aside :ROFLMAO: :)
I will swap you for a rear boot trim panel...;) joking :)
 
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Another job I put off doing because I thought that it couldn't be as simple as I had thought clack :ROFLMAO:

I love the simplicity of the panda, its just the ultimate car, it impresses me more every day :)



Rear side windows are even simpler than you think too, no need to undo the screws in the hinges as they pull out from their slots in the 'B' post.
 
Painted the tin I want to use for my emergency box for taking with me in the car. It includes things like spanners,bulbs, fuses, sealant, grease, jubilee clips, that kind of thing. Also a first aid kit too.

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It is sprayed with grey primer (I was going to go over it with arctic silver, but I like the way it looks, I also reused the abarth emblem which came with my car, my plan is too attach it using cords or straps under the spare wheel.
 
Ok after seeing a photo of how mk1 seats work and that you can make it into a double bed I now want the following pandas:

1-Mk1 any colour any engine, though preferably beige interior
2-MK2 Sisley any colour
3-750 Fire any colour

As well as my parade :)

Damn the panda madness has truely taken hold!! I only intended to have 1!
 
Painted the tin I want to use for my emergency box for taking with me in the car. It includes things like spanners,bulbs, fuses, sealant, grease, jubilee clips, that kind of thing. Also a first aid kit too.

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It is sprayed with grey primer (I was going to go over it with arctic silver, but I like the way it looks, I also reused the abarth emblem which came with my car, my plan is too attach it using cords or straps under the spare wheel.

Looks very nice (y) It looked like a big tin until you mentioned it was going inside the spare wheel. You might want some foam or something to stop it rattling about like a pig.. On second thoughts you might want to keep it IN the car so you can use the tools to get the bonnet open if you brake down :D
 
Looks very nice (y) It looked like a big tin until you mentioned it was going inside the spare wheel. You might want some foam or something to stop it rattling about like a pig.. On second thoughts you might want to keep it IN the car so you can use the tools to get the bonnet open if you brake down :D

I never considered that, thanks! Wouldnt be handy having repair stuff if the bonnet release cable snapped! Clackety clack :)
 
Ok after seeing a photo of how mk1 seats work and that you can make it into a double bed...

My 750L does this, as well... -- yet I still have to master the art of Pandagami.... :eek:

Damn the panda madness has truely taken hold!! I only intended to have 1!

Likewise; and not until next year.... :nutter:
 
Washed PH yesterday, thought I would post photos :) I've been doing a lot of work to my house recently and have been using PH to take mass amounts of stuff to the dump, he has held up incredibly, folding the seats down creates so much space! I didn't take any photos of that though. Just wanted to say how capable and versatile a car it is! I gave two workmates a lift home the other day, and at a section of the road there was a burning smell coming from a field but they were convinced it was PH, I tried to explain that it wasn't but they didn't listen, I don't get the panda hate, but I kind of enjoy it because they always are surprised when I say it passed its mot last month with no advisories :)

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I gave two workmates a lift home the other day, and at a section of the road there was a burning smell coming from a field but they were convinced it was PH, I tried to explain that it wasn't but they didn't listen, I don't get the panda hate

Don't worry I get this too :rolleyes:
Its sort of annoying there was a funny smell that came through the heater and a friend in the car immediately jumped to the fact that the engine was overheating despite my pointing out that the temperate gauge only showed 85.
People also seem to comb over the car like no other spotting tiny defects (which usually just turn out to be specks of dirt) but they don't like it when I do the same to their cars pointing out flakey paintwork and worn interiors. :(

But they'll just never understand why we love these cars so much (y)
 
Hmm, shabby. I can see how you didn't want to go to the show today:p
Would actually have been the tidiest Panda there.:cool:... Next year?

The photos don't show the bits I am unhappy with, but yes I will be there next year :) my drivers door has lots of scratches, and rusty bottoms on the inside of both. bits where the decals that were on have left fade marks, I need to change my timing belt and fit my cambelt cover to be ultra sure. Fife is a long way away after all! :) hope it was a good show Buddy :)
 
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Hi folks, I realised I haven't updated this thread in a while, just wanted to let everyone know I am still here!

Progress wise there hasnt been a lot with PH the Panda, Just general tidying up and keeping clean really :) I have some foam for under the bonnet (goes above the spare wheel) to apply, so will be doing that soon.

He is running like an absolute dream and seems to get smoother every time I drive him, unfortunetly the drivers door barrel pin seems to have come off and so the barrel can be pulled out, I will be rectifying this soon too, and the sunroofs have seen a lot of action with the good weather recently! :)

I will be uploading pics later from my home computer :)
 
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The problem the car developed on thursday (Throttle pedal bracket has snapped) was a little more problematical to fix than we thought. Welding it would be dangerous due to the carpets about inside the car, and we couldnt see the bolts for the pedal arrangement to remove it entirely, and I wasnt happy with the idea of using an epoxy or strong glue to hold it on as the bracket only pivots on the left hand side of the pedal. Behind the pedal there are two screw holes (not sure what they are/were for) but my dad is fabricating a new pivot holder for the pedal so that this will theoretically never happen again :)
 
My dad came round today and fitted the new bracket :) The first two photos are before it was trimmed to the right shape and size, the third photo should show this, so the pedal now sits in the correct position, and assuming its strong enough this will be permanant :) If it isn't strong enough we will make another bracket using this one as a template, but use stronger metal :) Also instead of the conventional pivot the centre is now a bolt arrangement. I like this kind of repair, I feel like its in keeping with the spirit of the panda :)

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