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Panda (Classic) Project Fallout

Introduction

let me introduce to you, the free panda 4x4 which was first spotted >>Here<<.
First off however, here is the plan:

i will (some how) make the panda look "Post Apocalyptic" yet keep it in a road legal state (so no spikes, sharp rusty edges sadly). We have all seen mad max right? all wanted to replicate a mad max style car?
well let me be the first to attempt this with a fiat panda 4x4.

if anyone here has seen the TV program "Defiance", you surely have seen the epic Doge Charger that looks post apocalyptic. i will be trying to aim for the same theme. with such things as an external roll cadge, external metal mesh / grills covering the windows, custom bull bar, reinforced rear bumper made from tubular metal, custom twin output exhaust, and many many more.

this project is going to be undertaken as cheaply as possible (excluding parts necessary for a safe road going vehicle). reusing as many things as i can find (in scrap yards, freebees), true to a real post apocalyptic constructed vehicle. i will also be taking the "rough is best look" (please note, i say Rough not Rat!) the panda its self of course will undergo all the rust prevention Talon went under when i got him.

anyway, i will leave you a few seconds to build up a mental picture of how a panda 4x4 could look in a post apocalyptic landscape while browsing some of these Pictures.......



ok.. that should do.

First off. i need to get the panda all well and good.
a few things are broken... the exhaust, the front suspension on the passenger side, both rear dampeners are rusted out, the doors are shot but i will try to fix them, the gear stick is really loose and all the roller bearings have dropped out, the wiring is a mess (mice attack!), there are no brakes.. and i mean no brakes, and lets not forget the underside rust.

so today i started by stripping out everything inside the car to get a good look at the floor pan and clean it all out (Dragon Man style!) i found the usual rust: the boot floor is a mess, but easy fixable, a seam has gone just behind the drivers seat anything forward of that seems to be OK, and the back of the sills are just gone so i will need to rebuild that.

the engine runs.. the vac advance line has split so its a bit rough on tickover but it seems good. the fuel tank seems good.. all the 4x4 stuff seems good.

i have go a few pictures took free by a professional photographer! (or should i say someone with an epic camera :p)

Here are a few picture, but please check out >This Album<















like i say, check out the photo album.


i will be keeping >Online video logs< of this, so keep a look out on Youtube too.
here are some videos, both are long but the second one is longer!

Project Fallout a panda 4x4 turned post apocalyiptic - YouTube

Project Fallout Panda 4x4 What to do Post Apocaliptic looking Panda! - YouTube


keep watching guys.. the jet wash will be coming out later today!



Edit:

This is how it looks now: :eek::eek::eek: :slayer::slayer::slayer:



the sad thing is, i cant find any bushes anywhere or can i find any BMW "smiley" headlamps. (as he failed the headlamps on not being able to make out a good beam pattern NOT caused by the bull bar - mot testers words..)

them tie rod bushes are a pain to find! ebay italy yeah but nothing in the UK.. and i need them now, not in a weeks time :(

looks like i wont be making the free re-test any time soon :(
 
heh clever guy, only lets you buy 2 at a time you have to pay for massive postage costs.

£1.79 for the bush but £3 each per bush postage??! how much do these things weigh??

for now i think ill go with the tiger seal option.. i just cant afford them at that price with me having to buy new lights on top of it all :(
even though 4 will cost £19
 
i have ordered some bushes from a seller on ebay, managed to find 4 for £15. sadly they wont arrive here for a while.

here is the Project Fallout Panda's first trip out on the road since 1997!





ok, it failed its first MOT but yeah.. its been a long time off the road.

fallout has had all of the fails fixed, and some advisories.

i did have some bushes spare, worn but not too bad. i encased them in tiger seal to "build" them back up and left them to dry. they ended up pretty solid so for now i have put them on the car. resulting in no movement. (both sides)

the sharp edge has been covered with the original 4x4 wheel arch trim... and some foam pipe lagging... because why not.

the "rust hole" in the front jacking point (behind the front wheel) as you know has 2 holes in it, a large one and a smaller one. the smaller one on the pass side was filled with underseal when i was covering up my bad welds rust proofing my amazing under body repair work. :rolleyes:
i told him that it has one on the other side, its just covered in underseal, he just told me to make sure the other side was visible for inspection on the retest.

and now onto the lights.. oh the lights. words can not describe how nice it will be to drive with such sharp lighting.

ive been after some of these for a while..


these are BMW E34 headlamps... Projector.. headlamps..

and with some show of force and "convincing", they now sit quite nicely in the Ford Capri mk3 headlight holders, and the results.. well...



meh.. right?

just look how sharp the beam pattern is..



no way can you tell me that they are blurry! Ok the alignment may be a little off, but given that everything else is ok, he told me that he would adjust them for me to meet regulations.

sadly the garage no longer lets you view the MOT due to health and safety reasons (i guess some one was an idiot and managed to make a clam for banging there head or something) so sadly i cant be near the car when i re-take it. (it was also a different MOT tester too)

so, lets see if it will pass next time. they have told me that they wont be able to get it in for re-test till next week sadly, but that just gives me more time to fix other things.

kinda hoping that the "steering rack play" was bought on by the bad bushes.. i do have a spare rack, but it has more miles on it.

maybe i can fix the exhaust leak.. would not mind fixing the oil leak too. i know the cam cover is leaking.. but i also suspect the cam shaft oil seal.
 
ahh well just to show you the advisories:



and just to show how bad the oil leak is, while the tester was checking off the bits on the old fail sheet, this happened... :devil:



i think this panda has some rebellious fire in it.. :slayer:
i'm going to have to keep it on a short leash. :D

today i was allowed to look and walk around and under the car. the reason for all the harshness last week was because the garage was expecting a drop in vosa check. thankfully they had it a few days after my car had failed so all pressure was taken off them and i was allowed to watch as the headlamps we adjusted and watch the drop of oil hit the testers clip bored hehe.

so cam shaft and cover oil seals to get i think. then i'll look into doing something with the exhaust leak.. steering rack play does not seem that bad. i do wonder if it was the bushes as the car does not roll much at all now.
i'll get a ball joint dust cover from somewhere and go though what wheel bearings i have to see if i can find some with no play.

it would be nice to have a car that looks like that.. with a "clean sheet" :devil::slayer:

what is on the horizon though, i have a lot of plans for this car.. pretty much all for looks and show... some electrical, but mainly just because i damn well can.

this is going to be one hell of a fun year of driving. wonder how many times i will be pulled over by the police :rolleyes: :D
 
just got it taxed for 12 months :D gave the cash to my granddad and using his card i managed to pay for it online :D:D

while i was looking at the V5C i found that the car's last keeper acquired the car in 06/2001 and came from Whixall, Whitchurch.
the car has had 3 previous keepers.

edit.. just looked on google earth historic, and can see it parked up on the over head view at the address around the back. :)
 
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