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Panda (Classic) Chris's 1994 Panda Colour Resto Mod

Introduction

My Slammed Classic Panda

hey, im chris from south wales been lurking on here for a while but now seeing as ive started work on the Panda i though id let you in on it ,The cars a 1994 panda 1000 fire Colour , my grandad bought it from new (my nan chose the colour) , it spend most of its life in a garage although it spent a year in my brother ownership so theres the odd dent , but apart from that , rust is minimal and its got an immaculate interior.
my aim is to do a resto mod as the americans would say, restore the whole car , Standard interior,respray, cleaned bay, lowered suspension and nice,possibly widish wheels, possibility by widening the body,maybe
atm heres how it stood up untill last week , only real issues are that its been off the road for two years ,at the time the front caliper was sticking and the rear beam center bush was knocking its balls off. apart from that its a solid , unwelded , one owner car with 66k on the clock.
Great work!

I love a spot of painting, it's all about the little details and there's no point putting rusty bits back on!

exactly (y) you wont find any rust on this once im done!

Ask on here for the side repeaters as I just got rid off some and I'm sure someone will have them for you. Top points for your black headlight mod...you are the first to think of that.

ah cool ill put a wanted post out for a set, cheers its a pretty commonly done thing on vw's (which is where i started off) , should toughen the front end of the car up a bit .
 
managed to get the custom stainless fuel tank straps ,cut, bent and fitted properly , all with stainless bolts,spring washers and washers as they should be. this is only a trial fit so their not polished yet , or even clean tbh lol( i could possibly supply s/s bands (unbent) and bolts/washer etc , could even bend them and have them as a bolt on ready to use set) now i have my set made its a bit easier to make duplicates.if i get enough interest ill sort out a price delivered.

also fitted the exhaust mount i had painted , with of course , stainless bolts

also had the chance to trial fit the headlights



as always ,comments welcome!
 
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got a few little things done

got the fuel tank back out as i wanted to seal up the gaps between the corrugated floor and flat cross beams, also started bunging up the holes in the chassis with tigersealed grommets (all voids have a healthy dose of waxoyl)


also managed to drop off the exhaust manifold and cat off.


tommorows jobs are to drop some parts off to be sand blasted , get the sill welded now my sheet metal has finally arrived , may even try and drop the engine out but seeing as ive lent my hoist to a mate i may give it a miss for now .
 
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Hi Chris, Haven't seen this thread since you first posted, progress has been good. (y)
I can see the influence VW's have had on you....

wide wheels
lowered suspension
hidden wiring in engine bay
light mods etc.

All good stuff and will suit the Panda well. I'm with you on the stainless steel thing too. (y)

Looks like you've started out with a great basis, it's nice to get straight into the interesting stuff without having to spend weeks welding up a rotten shell first.

I'm keen to fit some wide wheels to a Panda then stretch the body over them too so will be very interested to see where you go with this mod.

When you say you want some clear side repeaters do you mean the front indicator lenses or the the actual side repeaters on the wing? It's just that if you want clear side repeaters for the wings there wasn't a 'clear' option from Fiat. I usually fit Rover 25/MGF clear repeaters instead of the Panda ones, with chrome bulbs, I think these would go well with your headlamp mods too.

I'm also keen to see your rose jointed trailing arms as this was also something I'd planned to try when time allows, clearly we like the same things ;).

Is the original engine going back in or do you have something meatier planned?
 
When you say you want some clear side repeaters do you mean the front indicator lenses or the the actual side repeaters on the wing? It's just that if you want clear side repeaters for the wings there wasn't a 'clear' option from Fiat. I usually fit Rover 25/MGF clear repeaters instead of the Panda ones, with chrome bulbs, I think these would go well with your headlamp mods too.

Looking at pics it looks like panda wing side repeaters are same as cinq ones, again i don't think fiat made clear ones but you can get them, and also the lenses on seicento's are interchangeable with cinq ones, just twist off and twist new one on. So Seicento clear ones are probably straight swap i should think and readily available. Sei ones are more rounded shape than the cylindrical ones found on a cinq and panda.

this is what a cinq fitting looks like
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amber-Sid...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35cfce035d

and this is a clear sei one, you can see the fitting is exactly the same, the lenses are thus easy swap.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/White-Sid...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35d1f9d2f6

Hope this helps. :)
 
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Hi Chris, Haven't seen this thread since you first posted, progress has been good. (y)
I can see the influence VW's have had on you....

wide wheels
lowered suspension
hidden wiring in engine bay
light mods etc.

All good stuff and will suit the Panda well. I'm with you on the stainless steel thing too. (y)

Looks like you've started out with a great basis, it's nice to get straight into the interesting stuff without having to spend weeks welding up a rotten shell first.

I'm keen to fit some wide wheels to a Panda then stretch the body over them too so will be very interested to see where you go with this mod.

When you say you want some clear side repeaters do you mean the front indicator lenses or the the actual side repeaters on the wing? It's just that if you want clear side repeaters for the wings there wasn't a 'clear' option from Fiat. I usually fit Rover 25/MGF clear repeaters instead of the Panda ones, with chrome bulbs, I think these would go well with your headlamp mods too.

I'm also keen to see your rose jointed trailing arms as this was also something I'd planned to try when time allows, clearly we like the same things ;).

Is the original engine going back in or do you have something meatier planned?

yeah i learnt on vw's , this was my old golf, managed to win 5 awards at various shows before i sold it,

ive been pretty lucky with rust , had to weld up some of the sill today but hopefully thatll be all the welding itll need.

im slowly getting to grips with how much space i have to play with in the arches , so i may look at fitting a set of 14" maybe 6 or 7 j at the rear with some stretch but the temptation to get a set of 8's and widen the whole thing is hard to resist but i can see it being hard work with widening bumpers to suit etc.

im after clear front side reapeaters , the small side repeaters are being welded up , thinking of fitting a smaller one on the side of the front bumper , sort of US style but ideally i dont want one at all, see what an mot tester thinks lol

trailing arms should be done in a week or two , just gotta get round to buying the tubing should work out a fraction of the cost of oem tie bars from italy

Looking at pics it looks like panda wing side repeaters are same as cinq ones, again i don't think fiat made clear ones but you can get them, and also the lenses on seicento's are interchangeable with cinq ones, just twist off and twist new one on. So Seicento clear ones are probably straight swap i should think and readily available. Sei ones are more rounded shape than the cylindrical ones found on a cinq and panda.

this is what a cinq fitting looks like
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amber-Sid...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35cfce035d

and this is a clear sei one, you can see the fitting is exactly the same, the lenses are thus easy swap.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/White-Sid...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35d1f9d2f6

Hope this helps. :)

they look like they would fit,ill be welding mine up tho, less is more!

well today i managed to weld up the only part of the sill with a hole, dropped off a few bits to the shot blasters and also got the rest of the heatshields off the car and got them cleaned up , even got one painted wit vht paint too


comments welcome!
 
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This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
yeah i learnt on vw's , this was my old golf, managed to win 5 awards at various shows before i sold it,

ive been pretty lucky with rust , had to weld up some of the sill today but hopefully thatll be all the welding itll need.

im slowly getting to grips with how much space i have to play with in the arches , so i may look at fitting a set of 14" maybe 6 or 7 j at the rear with some stretch but the temptation to get a set of 8's and widen the whole thing is hard to resist but i can see it being hard work with widening bumpers to suit etc.

im after clear front side reapeaters , the small side repeaters are being welded up , thinking of fitting a smaller one on the side of the front bumper , sort of US style but ideally i dont want one at all, see what an mot tester thinks lol

trailing arms should be done in a week or two , just gotta get round to buying the tubing should work out a fraction of the cost of oem tie bars from italy



they look like they would fit,ill be welding mine up tho, less is more!

well today i managed to weld up the only part of the sill with a hole, dropped off a few bits to the shot blasters and also got the rest of the heatshields off the car and got them cleaned up , even got one painted wit vht paint too


comments welcome!

Side repeaters are needed per section 1.4 of the mot manual, if the car was first used after 1/4/86. Side repeater can be part of the front one if it includes a wrap around lens though (y)
 
Well if the Panda turns out to be anything like your Golf I can't wait to see it! :cool:

Your really working hard at this, good on you! :)

Thanks for the comments , hopefully it should turn a few heads lol

Side repeaters are needed per section 1.4 of the mot manual, if the car was first used after 1/4/86. Side repeater can be part of the front one if it includes a wrap around lens though (y)

I was thinking this , as the front indicators are at the corners I wonder if they are considered wrap around :cool:

Bit more progress today
Managed to finally start putting thing back on for good! Head sheild,fuel tank and rear beam mount all fitted!


Also stripped the engine back a bit further ready for removal , only need to undo the driveshafts and it'll be out!


Also noticed this sitting by the bonnet latch , at the top on the radiator , seems like some sort or resistor but I have no idea , anyone know?


Comments welcome as always :slayer:
 
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:yeahthat:

But every time a purist looks under your bonnet they'll notice! No pressure :p

In the bin it goes! Haha! .

Got back from work today and couldn't resist getting my spanners out , gotta love these light evenings !

Now that the rears fully protected I've lowered onto blocks so I could get the front end in the air ready for engine removal ... Ahhh the excitement!!


Managed to remove the offside driveshaft + hub assembly , also managed to spread half the gearbox oil over the concrete :bang: managed to find an old coffee container to collect the other half lol



Comments welcome .
 
Everytime I read your next post I have a guilty feeling telling me to get on with mine!
I admire your rate of progress and thoroughness (is that a word?).
Great job sir!
 
Mmmm, gold blend. That rich aroma:yum:
..or did you mean the car? That's coming on well too.(y)

Can't beat a bit of golf blend :cool:

Everytime I read your next post I have a guilty feeling telling me to get on with mine!
I admire your rate of progress and thoroughness (is that a word?).
Great job sir!

Haha yeah hopefully I can keep this rate up otherwise it'll take me years to get everything I want done completed :slayer:
 
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