Panda (Classic) Project Panda-looking Pandas.

Sorry the plastic trim on the second photo' made the car look like a 4x4 at a glance.

With no transfer boxes to worry about go for it.

One word of warning from my own experience. Bianca Sunroofs can peel off at 120mph. Luckily it makes your ears pop so you're not deafened by the wind noise. You need to either place a wind deflector in front of it or smooth the leading edge with duct-tape.

I'm looking for some roof bars (per the 2nd white Panda in the pics) for the project - does anyone have any kicking about, or any links to places selling them? Can't find anything on the 'bay but there's so much Panda stuff listed now, it's getting tricky to find classic Panda bits! I've also put a wanted request up, but more people are going to see this

Many thanks, Gavin.

Picked up the seats from the trimmers today.

Seats are from an Alfa 156 and as you can see from the previous pic. (post no.14) the drivers seat had an armrest. Well now it's been removed and a new side section sewn in......



Unfortunately the Panda isn't wide enough to accept the armrest so it had to go. Not all 156's have an armrest but these seats were in such good condition it was worth the extra work.

As with my blue clx the Panda back seat was re upholstered with the leather from the Alfa back seat........

A little update.

Starting to strip down to a rolling shell ready for any paint. Doors are off as they will be replaced with new. The main shell looks to be as rust and dent free as the mileage suggests, from above anyway, but the doors were typical Panda so Gavin is currently sourcing two new ones. The bonnet has a tiny dent so that will have to be fixed which means spraying it along with the doors but I'm hoping that the rest will be ok, blending the new paint with the old will be the deciding factor.

Carpet and rubber boot floor have also been removed in order to clear the way for mounting the seats. The carpet is grey and like new so will have to be re used. I would have liked a black carpet to better fit the project theme but it's so good replacing it would be an extravagance.

A few pics of the floor exposed...........









The interior is like working on a new car and is a real pleasure, can't say the rest of the car will be the same though.

There is a tiny rust mark next to the o/s/r wheel arch but it's not in the body, it's a stain from one of the many pop rivet nails Fiat had left under the carpet.

Elsewhere a new dash board is being sewn together using black material. The door cards will be covered in the same material if the trimmer leaves me with a big enough piece.

The engine bay is quite rusty in places but it's only surface and as it won't be essential for it to be a perfect match with the body paint I will tackle this myself when I do the engine swap.

Fabric spray paint/dye for the carpet??

purple haze said:

Fabric spray paint/dye for the carpet??

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Good suggestion Kev. Will keep that in reserve.

Vern, Kev has got plenty of Grecian 2000 left from where he tried to look young in the wedding photos.
It's a cheap alternative and if you don't like it you can wash it out........
Dave

I'm too grey for that Dave...

Got my fabric spray on eBay...lots of videos of the sprays on YouTube Vern..

purple haze said:

Ooo errrr...exciting stuff.

Click to expand...

purple haze said:

I'm too grey for that Dave...

Got my fabric spray on eBay...lots of videos of the sprays on YouTube Vern..

Click to expand...

Yes, I used some on the white 4x4 to freshen up the sound proofing panel on the bonnet. It seemed to go on unevenly but dried ok, how did you find it?

I used it on sound proofing and it was good other than the edges which has glue or hard stains on it. Clean fabric I think is fine. Dried as you said...at Matt finish. Test patch as usual I guess.

Tried that spray out on my roof lining, actually pretty impressed with the result (less so with the photo I'm afraid)

As well as a wing for Barbara's 4x4 a couple of parts turned up for this one too.........




What we have is a complete new door for the o/s and a new skin for the n/s. No complete new n/s doors left unfortunately.

How much was the O/S door?

panda1408 said:

How much was the O/S door?

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About £300. I have the invoice at the workshop so can tell you exactly tomorrow.

VmanC said:

About £300. I have the invoice at the workshop so can tell you exactly tomorrow.

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Ok Freddy, retail is £335.68 inc vat. I got a little discount so cost me £282 inc vat.

damn.. they really charge you. think i'll stick with those marbella doors.

VmanC said:

Ok Freddy, retail is £335.68 inc vat. I got a little discount so cost me £282 inc vat.

Click to expand...

After further negotiations I can get o/s doors for £240 inc. vat

If I buy at least 20.

Dashboard is done.......






Front roll is done in leather to match the seats, the upholsterer had some left.

Doors, bumpers and bonnet went off yesterday for painting/re-skinning etc.

I set too with a hot air gun and a finger nail to remove the side stripes . They must have been on there a long time as they'd left quite an impression on the paint, but they were easier than taking off old 4x4 stickers.

So now she looks like any other white Panda, for a while anyway ......

Quick update....

Doors, bonnet, and bumpers are back all black/white and shiney. will post some pics soon.

They won't be fitted yet as I have some work to do underneath first.