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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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Perfect....I'm really pleased you are getting rid of that black grille..(y)

Well not quite rid... It is going to be on my garage wall once I build my new garage to bring a bit of character to the wall :) I have a feeling the purple one will look much much better (black grille was never my choice, as you probably know I tend to go more towards the standard look,), but I will have to see it on to decide properly :) I have been thinking for ages of respraying the black grille, but the time and the fact that I am pants at spraypainting made me think of getting one from a panda that was breaking, and it just so happens that purple ronnie is breaking! I wonder how his doors are... :idea:

I am pleased how I am coming along with PTP, and I can hardly wait to take him out of the garage, might have to make it earlier than I had thought, missing him terribly, the brava doesnt have nearly the same character
 
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Today I sorted the bracket on the parcel shelf, put a new battery in, cleaned the inside, removed the bonnet air intake, and fitted the new grille. I am extremely pleased with how it looks, to me it looks like a really dramatic change, but perhaps others might not notice that much of a difference. I'm really excited about it though! If everything goes to plan this year I should hopefully show PTP at a couple of shows this year locally. I would love to join the fiat forum members at Eglinton this year if they are doing it again?

I feel stronger than ever about this car, its like nothing else on the roads.

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But what grade of engine oil should you buy? and what about the gearbox!! :devil: :cry:

Oh god not the dreaded gearbox oil discussion! :ROFLMAO:

At the last service I did I used 15w 40 engine oil, I'm almost certain that's what the Haynes manual recommends, although I will of course double check before purchasing :)
 
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@Purple haze you may be interested in this (or already know more than I do which is more likely)

I emailed Avis car hire company in Jersey (where my car was imported from) to see if they had any information about its tenure as a hire car there. This was the reply:

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Hi Cameron,[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Unfortunately our fleet records do not go that far back. As I remember there were a large number of Fiats used as hire cars in the early 90’s and we did all the negotiations with Fiat in Turin directly.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]I would suggest you contact the main dealer which at that time was Bel Royal Motors who are still in business now, however, they do not still have the Fiat dealership. It would be useful if you could find out what the Jersey registration number was because it has obviously been re registered in the UK, and having a registration date might help them identify it easier.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Hopefully you will get some luck with them and if not your only chance would be to write to our local DVS department who, for a fee, may be able to tell you who owned it whilst on Jersey.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Best of luck.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Peter Deffains.[/FONT][/FONT]
 
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Just received the following message from bel royale motors:

Dear Sir, thank you for your email.

We stopped representing Fiat sales in 1991. The next representatives were a company called Falles, they still exist, look them up on the web and give them a try.

Good luck

Simon Mills



General Manager

Telephone 01534 722556
 
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