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Panda (Classic) Project Panda-looking Pandas.

Introduction

Ok Gavin here we go ;).

With Gavins (Palio) consent this thread will chart the progress of a little project I'm carrying out for him. It's basically two matching Pandas made to look like Panda bears. These will then be used as company cars by Gavin and his business partner to also promote their new business venture.

Now Gavin is well aware that this could easily turn into being two tacky cartoon style wouldn't be seen dead in cars, so my initial brief stated that my design had to be tasteful and suggest Panda rather than be in your face. Also, there were to be certain engine and interior upgrades to make them more pleasant to live with on a regular basis.

Well I have submitted and had approved a design so it's now full steam ahead with the first car. The basis for this is the white clx I recently picked up from David (Fiat Nutter)............



Second car may be this one that I already had..............



But may not.
Well I've now done 200 miles in Panto. This may not sound a lot but I'm not doing many miles these days as I'm home based - 200 miles in a week is at least enough to get a feel for things to feed them back to Vernon.

You've probably gathered the engine is (y) Aside from some rogue warning lights every so often on startup (they go away if you turn off and start again - what's the orange one that looks like a 4wd diagram? :confused: ), there seem to be no engine issues during the actual driving.

Today's fault is with the wheels. I'm having trouble with the white wheels turning black - well the front ones at least - must stop braking..... ;)


I had the same problem with the front wheels turning black easily, regular cleaning is the answer. (y)
Swapping the colours over would also do the trick and would be very easy for me, I'd simply ask you to take it to someone else. :p.

Re the warning lights.......
The red injector light should come on with the ign then go out after a few seconds once the fuel pump is primed.
The orange 4x4 light is deliberate. We used the warning lights from a 4x4 as Alan thought it would be a good idea to have a light to tell you if there was a problem with the immobiliser. It should come on with the ign then go out when the immobiliser kicks in (2 seconds), it's then ok to start the engine. In practice it seems to come on with the ign every other go even though the engine will always start, so I'm thinking its probably an unnecessary complication.
 
I had the same problem with the front wheels turning black easily, regular cleaning is the answer. (y)
Swapping the colours over would also do the trick and would be very easy for me, I'd simply ask you to take it to someone else. :p.

Re the warning lights.......
The red injector light should come on with the ign then go out after a few seconds once the fuel pump is primed.
The orange 4x4 light is deliberate. We used the warning lights from a 4x4 as Alan thought it would be a good idea to have a light to tell you if there was a problem with the immobiliser. It should come on with the ign then go out when the immobiliser kicks in (2 seconds), it's then ok to start the engine. In practice it seems to come on with the ign every other go even though the engine will always start, so I'm thinking its probably an unnecessary complication.

Both usually go out, but a couple of times either or both stayed on once the engine started. Turning off and back on sorted them though. I did once have a horrible noise when I turned the key (like the starter hadn't engaged or something odd), but it then started ok 2nd time & it's never done it again. They don't bother me if turning off cures them, as long as it's not something sinister needs checking (I've assumed it's not sinister).

P.S. I won't have been giving it chance to go out (if it's 2 secs) as I'm starting it straight away - key in, turn engine on & drive straight off.
 
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Both usually go out, but a couple of times either or both stayed on once the engine started. Turning off and back on sorted them though. I did once have a horrible noise when I turned the key (like the starter hadn't engaged or something odd), but it then started ok 2nd time & it's never done it again. They don't bother me if turning off cures them, as long as it's not something sinister needs checking (I've assumed it's not sinister).

P.S. I won't have been giving it chance to go out (if it's 2 secs) as I'm starting it straight away - key in, turn engine on & drive straight off. At great speed

I think you forgot that last bit.
 
Both usually go out, but a couple of times either or both stayed on once the engine started. Turning off and back on sorted them though. I did once have a horrible noise when I turned the key (like the starter hadn't engaged or something odd), but it then started ok 2nd time & it's never done it again. They don't bother me if turning off cures them, as long as it's not something sinister needs checking (I've assumed it's not sinister).

P.S. I won't have been giving it chance to go out (if it's 2 secs) as I'm starting it straight away - key in, turn engine on & drive straight off.

No nothing sinister, it's just the ecu elves doing what they should but in their own sweet way. :)
 
Exactly, the only difference between fitting a 16v to Panto and a 4x4 is that you wouldn't be starting with a Panda that has an ecu/inj. etc (not counting an import).
You'd be going through the gears very quickly in a 16v 4x4 to a top speed that would be little more than standard, the rev limit of a 16v engine may allow about 95 mph but you wouldn't want to stay there long.

Sounds like it would be quite civilised compared to what I'm used to ;) If I could get my hands on a not too rusty 4x4 for playing then I think I'd be tempted to do a conversion, someone needs to try it:D
 
Sounds like it would be quite civilised compared to what I'm used to ;) If I could get my hands on a not too rusty 4x4 for playing then I think I'd be tempted to do a conversion, someone needs to try it:D

Panto can be very civilised (y)

When you don't want to be civilised though, he's happy to strap a pair of horns and a pointy tail on :devil:
 
Well VmanC is taking Panto back again today - he has a completely full tank so that I could work out the mpg - please don't use it all Vernon!! :nono:

Since I filled up in HW coming back from Brooklands I had done just over 200 miles - fairly mixed driving including traffic jams & plenty of testing the performance - not really an economy run then!!

And the answer is brim to brim:

45.62 mpg :worship:

This does suggest real world will be high 40's or even low 50's to the gallon. Now the environmentalists can really be told where to go! (y)

If you look at the fuelly stuff below, this means that Panto will be the most economical car I've got! :ROFLMAO:
 
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Two days late but finally Panto is back with me. After a very enjoyable drive back from Princes Risible I find myself wishing that Palio lived farther away :D.

I didn't drive all the way back trying to embarrass BMW's and Mini coopers, honest, most of the time I was testing out Panto's ability to flow nicely with the traffic. The flexibility of that engine is brilliant, you can get into fifth at 30mph and then just treat it like an automatic if you want to. Or you can show young upstarts in Citroen DS4's who's boss at the lights when they repeatedly try to out drag you, should the situation ever arise :eek:

The gearbox behaved very well for the most part Gavin, a little more testing and I think I may be able to work out what is needed. ;)
 
Two days late but finally Panto is back with me. After a very enjoyable drive back from Princes Risible I find myself wishing that Palio lived farther away :D.

I didn't drive all the way back trying to embarrass BMW's and Mini coopers, honest, most of the time I was testing out Panto's ability to flow nicely with the traffic. The flexibility of that engine is brilliant, you can get into fifth at 30mph and then just treat it like an automatic if you want to. Or you can show young upstarts in Citroen DS4's who's boss at the lights when they repeatedly try to out drag you, should the situation ever arise :eek:

The gearbox behaved very well for the most part Gavin, a little more testing and I think I may be able to work out what is needed. ;)

Nice isn't it! 30 in 5th seems fine.

You really shouldn't race stuff though :nono:

Of course if you leave it in 5th it won't baulk!! It's when going up the box I get rubberyness sometimes. I guess the clutch doesn't need adjusting does it? It seems to happen quite a bit if you accelerate up through the gears quickly - it's the only mechanical problem I've found at the moment though (y)

Don't forget to top up the oil. I think I used some in testing..... :eek:
 
Here are a few follow on pics..........



The finished door card. Mostly black vinyl but with an insert around the window winder to match the dash material, and a white vinyl detail.




The new front speakers are 10cm, 160w. the grilles are a little too 'Starwars' for my liking so I've made some spacers and fitted them from inside the pod with the speaker mounted behind, this allows the original grille to be used without fouling the tweeter.







Originality was lost pretty much from day one so no harm done by covering the pods in leatherette.


Here is a pic with and a pic without the no. plate surround. very little difference but I think I prefer it without. Gavin!



 
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Here are a few follow on pics..........



The finished door card. Mostly black vinyl but with an insert around the window winder to match the dash material, and a white vinyl detail.




The new front speakers are 10cm, 160w. the grilles are a little too 'Starwars' for my liking so I've made some spacers and fitted them from inside the pod with the speaker mounted behind, this allows the original grille to be used without fouling the tweeter.







Originality was lost pretty much from day one so no harm done by covering the pods in leatherette.


Here is a pic with and a pic without the no. plate surround. very little difference but I think I prefer it without. Gavin!




Definitely without (y)

The plates I will eventually get made up will probably have a small black border as the GB badge will also be black. It will therefore end up black & white again, but I think not as obvious as the surround........ :confused:

By the way the carbon raised plates are called the "rolls royce" of plates. I suppose that is meant to justify the price. :eek: If you want your website on them rather than mine, I'm ok with that, if you want to fund them as a bit of advertising. Either way is fine, but let me know before I order them - I'm waiting for the engine change to go through first, which could take forever with the DVLA even if there's no problem with the "evidence" I supplied. :rolleyes:
 
Definitely without (y)

The plates I will eventually get made up will probably have a small black border as the GB badge will also be black. It will therefore end up black & white again, but I think not as obvious as the surround........ :confused:

By the way the carbon raised plates are called the "rolls royce" of plates. I suppose that is meant to justify the price. :eek: If you want your website on them rather than mine, I'm ok with that, if you want to fund them as a bit of advertising. Either way is fine, but let me know before I order them - I'm waiting for the engine change to go through first, which could take forever with the DVLA even if there's no problem with the "evidence" I supplied. :rolleyes:

Without it is! Anyone want to buy a nice, nearly new, black rubber bumper surround? ;)

Thanks for the offer Gavin but I think I'll just settle for my window stickers. (y)
 
VmanC I was just messing about with the DVLA reg site (as you do late on a Friday) & happened to put Panto's number in (well why not?!) - he's showing as 1242cc :cool: so I guess the "evidence" I supplied was satisfactory? Not had anything back yet, but :)

Did you take him to a show at the weekend, and if so where are the pics? :nono:

I hope things are going well with the snagging list (war & peace), and all those little (big) finishing touches? :slayer:
 
VmanC I was just messing about with the DVLA reg site (as you do late on a Friday) & happened to put Panto's number in (well why not?!) - he's showing as 1242cc :cool: so I guess the "evidence" I supplied was satisfactory? Not had anything back yet, but :)

Did you take him to a show at the weekend, and if so where are the pics? :nono:

I hope things are going well with the snagging list (war & peace), and all those little (big) finishing touches? :slayer:

Good news about the DVLA (y).

I do have an update but it will have to wait till the morning I'm afraid. :sleep:
 
Been gradually working through the jobs still to do as well as the snag list. Door panels are now finished, rattly seat fixed, front speakers fitted etc etc.



One of the bigger jobs was the exhaust hitting the axle issue. I took it back to the garage that built it and to their credit they spent a further three hours making adjustments until it was right. Silchester garage, I recommend you. (y) I'd fixed the rattly passenger seat too so the drive home was much more refined. :)

Partsworld uk have some handbrake grips in stock at the moment so I have bought one for Panto, it's only a small thing but makes quite a difference when pulling up the lever.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new...Car+Make:Fiat|Model:Panda&hash=item5663a69ea0




Last Sunday we took Panto and the 850 coupe to a local car show. In the morning we were in Petersfield, then at 12.30pm the whole show moved in convoy to Farnham for the afternoon. Panto was very well received at both places with many complimentary remarks.

Here's a few pics and a video, I know you like them ;)........











 
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Looking good - don't break the fixed seat & the handbrake grip when you put the carpet in! ;)
VmanC is that grip the same as a mk1? I had to take Jasper's off as it kept sliding up & preventing the end button from being depressed - usually at traffic lights - panic panic, can't release the handbrake!!! :rolleyes: I couldn't see why it randomly slipped, but a new one I guess would cure the problem. (y)
 
Looking good - don't break the fixed seat & the handbrake grip when you put the carpet in! ;)

VmanC is that grip the same as a mk1? I had to take Jasper's off as it kept sliding up & preventing the end button from being depressed - usually at traffic lights - panic panic, can't release the handbrake!!! :rolleyes: I couldn't see why it randomly slipped, but a new one I guess would cure the problem. (y)

Yes I would have thought the grip would fit the Mk1 too. It was a tight fit on Panto's lever, can't imagine it would slip easily so should solve your problem.
 
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