Panda (Classic) GerTie the GTie

Vern

That's brilliant you have found a new way to keep rust off the circumference of a disc.

However, I would imagine it would impair the braking considerably (understatment) when the pads wear down and meet in the middle.

Dave

VmanC said:

Yep, the new/second hand digi box thing works a treat and we have sparks again.

I think I've found the cause of the braking issue!!!!





The discs had surface rust which doesn't help, but when I removed the pads The step in the friction pad is there because someone had fitted 227mm discs (standard Panda and probably lower end Y10's). Gertie should have 240mm, same as Panda Selecta's.

Will give a more comprehensive update soon, have half a dozen threads to bring up to date.

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Looks like an easy fix for the brakes then!

Chomping at the bit to get into her, especially as it might just stop me thinking about the 1242 conversion in one of the Panda's.

pandamaniac said:

Vern

That's brilliant you have found a new way to keep rust off the circumference of a disc.

However, I would imagine it would impair the braking considerably (understatment) when the pads wear down and meet in the middle.

Dave

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Looking in from the front of the caliper the pads still seemed new.

Vernon contacted me today, he was having trouble getting hold of a cambelt tensioner being a 1300 panda ones aren't any good.

I rang Walkers Fiat/Lancia specialists in North Yorkshire - they had one in stock!

Really worth ringing them for any hard to get bits for Fiat or Lancia, small motivated firm who also manufacture bits and pieces for the legendary Integrale!

They also managed to source a Y10 windscreen for me a while back and will post direct too.

panda panda said:

Walkers Fiat/Lancia specialists in North Yorkshire - they had one in stock!

Really worth ringing them for any hard to get bits for Fiat or Lancia, small motivated firm who also manufacture bits and pieces for the legendary Integrale!

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I've bought 3 pcs OE cluch set from them for £12 few years back.

panda panda said:

Vernon contacted me today, he was having trouble getting hold of a cambelt tensioner being a 1300 panda ones aren't any good.

I rang Walkers Fiat/Lancia specialists in North Yorkshire - they had one in stock!

Really worth ringing them for any hard to get bits for Fiat or Lancia, small motivated firm who also manufacture bits and pieces for the legendary Integrale!

They also managed to source a Y10 windscreen for me a while back and will post direct too.

Click to expand...

Well sadly Walkers didn't live up to their good reputation this time as when the tensioner arrived it was one for a FIRE engine

They did tell me, after coming up with the right part no., that it was no longer available. When it was available it was £200 inc. vat!!!

Anyway John's been on the case and has tracked one down which should be with me early next week. Just in case that one is wrong too John has asked me to post some pics of what we want just in case we need to ask for help....

While I'm here I'll bring this thread up to date.

As well as fitting the new discs and pads I changed the brake fluid. The pedal feels much firmer now so I'm expecting them to perform well, can't test them on the road until the new timing belt and tensioner is fitted though.

A while ago (months!) the new windscreen was fitted. One windscreen fitter I asked said I would have to get a new plastic trim surround too as this gets damaged upon removal, it's bonded in along with the glass. John was able to source a new one but instead of being one piece black it was black with a chrome infill. Not as the original but I was amazed anything was available so no complaints :worship:
With this trim in hand I felt there was nothing to lose in trying to remove the original carefully myself. It wasn't bonded in very well in most places so I was able to remove it intact, and in the interests of originality this is what was put back with the new windscreen.

Chrome and black windscreen trim anyone?

At around the same time we replaced the rusty omega axle with a new one...








The rust at the bottom of the drivers door has been repaired......







This does mean that the black stripe has been lost but I'm sure it can be re produced at some point as it's not a complicated pattern.

This brings us to the more recent work.

For the mot I needed to replace both track rod ends as they had split boots. As they are cheap to buy there is no point just fitting new rubber boots to them....



As you can see the front struts are green which points to them being the originals, but they don't appear worn so should pass ok.

One bottom ball joint was in good condition apart from a split boot, the other also had a split boot but was worn too so I renewed this and put a new boot on the other.....









The exhaust was quiet from inside the car but upon inspection had a couple of tiny holes. After checking the availability of new exhaust parts with a couple of places and coming up with zero I decided to weld repair what we had for now just to get Gertie through the mot, John is then free to fit new parts at a later date if he and Gertie bond.....






The timing belt and tensioner is being replaced as part of a full service, so engine oil and filter have been renewed as has the spark plugs. The air filter is a K&N type so just needed cleaning.

When I topped up the gearbox oil however I found that it all started coming back out of what looked like a perfectly good n/s driveshaft boot! Sounding familiar John/Freddy?
So glad it got checked this time!





The bonnet is currently away being resprayed and should be ready for collection any day now, so with it refitted along with the timing belt Gertie can go for mot-ing.

Urgent need to update this for as I write Gertie should be approaching Halifax with John at the helm.

Bonnet returned from the painters......



Really shows how Gertie could look if fully resprayed.

With the bonnet refitted and the cambelt sorted Gertie was ready for mot. I had fitted a temporary set of wheels......



This was because two of the original tyres would have failed.......







But before Gertie went for testing I was able to come up with two tyres of the correct size so these were fitted and Gertie was back on his original wheels.

The first attempt to get him to the mot station ended in failure when, five miles from the workshop, a rusted jubilee clip gave way and he lost all his coolant. Once fixed, giving me an opportunity to renew the antifreeze, Gertie made it to the mot garage and passed. That was the first 25 miles he'd travelled in about five years, a few of the warning lights were still on and some of the gauges looked to be inaccurate but from the way he drove I felt that all was well and that these items were crying wolf.
I was able to reduce the warning lights lit down to two, then yesterday after a 100+ mile drive, the last two reset themselves. Hooray!
The rad fan light did come on again afterwards on the trip home, and then went off again. Italian electrics at thier best

Yesterday Gertie got a quick polish up, dependent on how my bad back stood up, because John was collecting him today.......







Apart from the bonnet not too much time and expense was spent on the cosmetics as this would not help John decide if he wanted to keep Gertie or not, the pictures are quite kind but he is pretty presentable from a distance.

John picked Gertie up this afternoon and by now will have driven him twice as far as I have, which should be far enough to form a bond or not. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts John!

Bye bye Gertie!

Well we made it back to Halifax in one piece without any major mishaps

The electronic display seems to think there is a problem with the headlights and provided a nice dash board disco on the way home.

Don't forget this was the first time I've ever driven it - 200miles is quite a test drive!

It's always difficult to judge a vehicle on roads unfamiliar to yourself, but there is an instant recognition of the Panda DNA which gave me instant confidence in GerTie.

The ride is firmer but not harsh a lot less body roll and just feels solid. The height adjustable steering is very precise, though a little heavier than the Panda I caught myself thinking it could do to be power assisted though I swear the turning circle is smaller.

Now the real story here apart from the posh interior, central locking and electric windows is the engine. What a peach! Runs smooth and delivers power all the way up through the rev range then picks up for a final extra burst over 4,000 rpm - I've yet to test the limiter as I'm taking it easy to start with
The gear box is smooth and more closely gated than the panda and feels like new.
It pulls well in all gears, though I do think fifth could do to be a bit longer as it runs at 75mph at 4,000rpm.

Once the motorway miles were over I was able to compare it in the urban environment where it excelled itself, reminding me of the 100hp but with 76hp and a compliant not bone shaking ride. Quick off the lights, taking corners confidently and pulling well uphill to home I have to say I'm extremely pleased

Some things are worth waiting for!

Good to here possitive review from you John.

I'll keep am eye on doors decals for you bud.

panda panda said:

Well we made it back to Halifax in one piece without any major mishaps

The electronic display seems to think there is a problem with the headlights and provided a nice dash board disco on the way home.

Don't forget this was the first time I've ever driven it - 200miles is quite a test drive!

It's always difficult to judge a vehicle on roads unfamiliar to yourself, but there is an instant recognition of the Panda DNA which gave me instant confidence in GerTie.

The ride is firmer but not harsh a lot less body roll and just feels solid. The height adjustable steering is very precise, though a little heavier than the Panda I caught myself thinking it could do to be power assisted though I swear the turning circle is smaller.

Now the real story here apart from the posh interior, central locking and electric windows is the engine. What a peach! Runs smooth and delivers power all the way up through the rev range then picks up for a final extra burst over 4,000 rpm - I've yet to test the limiter as I'm taking it easy to start with
The gear box is smooth and more closely gated than the panda and feels like new.
It pulls well in all gears, though I do think fifth could do to be a bit longer as it runs at 75mph at 4,000rpm.

Once the motorway miles were over I was able to compare it in the urban environment where it excelled itself, reminding me of the 100hp but with 76hp and a compliant not bone shaking ride. Quick off the lights, taking corners confidently and pulling well uphill to home I have to say I'm extremely pleased

Some things are worth waiting for!

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Great to hear you made it back ok, and even enjoyed the experience!

I didn't want to be the one to break anything so gave myself a rev limit of 4500rpm but that was enough for me to feel the same way about the engine and gearbox. Now if you can only train those electrical gremlins to behave you'll have a very nice little car there.

VmanC said:

Great to hear you made it back ok, and even enjoyed the experience!

I didn't want to be the one to break anything so gave myself a rev limit of 4500rpm but that was enough for me to feel the same way about the engine and gearbox. Now if you can only train those electrical gremlins to behave you'll have a very nice little car there.

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Yes well still not over doing the rev's and speed!

She came over all Italian this morning when I got to work and wouldn't lock, luckily no one shares my passion for small red cars and was still there later.
I'll have a poke around the fuse box tomorrow but I doubt it will be anything easy or obvious.

I'm tempted to try the Uno rims on her to see what it does for grip - there's a corner down the hill which makes all my tyres squeal going round it - just very smooth tarmac!

Well GerTies been running very well only a few niggles to sort out and I'm becoming more confident in using the extra power on tap, motorway driving is so much better - until this happened on the M6 last night, luckily it was a wide and well lit section so I could pull off and put the spare on.


It's a 4x4 spare steelie but has an extra plate over the bolt holes to allow for the longer threads, but it's a flipping space saver :bang:

The jack is a conventional arrangement as there are no specific jacking points just the length of the sill under the drivers door.

The last 30 miles became bit of an economy run, then the sat nav died and I ended up going through Brighouse and Rastric to get home - no sign off the brass band though!


I still have a couple alloy wheel sets being refurbed but I think I want to put at least 14" rims on and I'm not sure of the sizes. I'll rubber up old alloys for now. Vernon suggested a different size on Facebook, Palio recommended Barium so I'll give my tyre guy a ring.

Anyway looking at home on the drive

Good to hear you got away relatively unscathed..

those tyres are 13 years old..!!

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

those tyres are 13 years old..!!

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beat me to it lol.... amazing how old some tyres are that are still in use when you start looking.

blu73 said:

beat me to it lol.... amazing how old some tyres are that are still in use when you start looking.

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there was a Scottish fella on here last year.. got a barn find Uno through an MOT on the original tyres..,
then one let go a short time after..,

7 years is normally regarded as "service life" for tyres..
but obviously service / storage conditions will have an effect

i tend to use 5 years as a rule myself but it does make a difference where they have been and how they are stored... I had some tyres on some wheels that were in a shed without windows and kept covered over. They were in tip top condition still after being in there for about 6 years and went back on a car. So if they aren't under load and not exposed to sunlight they seem to last very well. At the same time as that I had almost new tyres sat on a car i wasn't using for a year or two outside and they were all cracked and had to be thrown away when the car went back into service.

blu73 said:

I had almost new tyres sat on a car i wasn't using for a year or two outside and they were all cracked and had to be thrown away when the car went back into service.

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the Marea had a badly cracked tyre.. only 5 years old..,

Charlie

Good to hear you were able to pull up safely John.

The thing I take from this is that if a car has been stood up for a number of years on a set of tyres, don't trust them. Fortunately I had those couple of spares to replace the ones that could be seen to be perished, but this one looked ok and passed the mot! yet still it wasn't useable, not for more than 500 miles anyway.
The distance you travelled with it flat in order to pull over would have done alot of damage, but clearly it perished in the first place to go flat.

Good to see the wheel wasn't damaged. If you're not going to stay with this set I would ignore what I suggested on Facebook and just get a couple of cheapies in the same size for now.

If you do swap to 14" or 15" I'd go for 165-65's on the 14" and 165-50's on the 15". 175-50-15's may fit, if they do they would give you a better ride over the 165's and not look quite so much like a rubber band.

I look forward to seeing the end result.

tyres have a 3 or 4 digit code on them that tells you how old it is....

first number is the week of the year, will be 1-52. The second is the year.

So in this pic, this tyre was made 11th week of 2009


in the case of johns tyre that went it was the 46th week of 2002