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Panda (Classic) Genaro the 1989 panda 4x4

Introduction

So after buying my panda as a non runner and on the way home the tow rope snapping , Genaro is now home!

With some new fuel and encouragement he is now running perfectly , getting up to temperature, the fan working, everything working as it should, even after not running for a year!

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Hasn't been serviced since 2007 ( besides the cambelt being done in 2013) so a service is the first thing to do,
Gears are a bit crunchy... But looking underneath where the passenger driveshaft joins the gear box , it's weeping a little bit.... So maybe the oil is a bit low in the gear box and needs topping up along with a new gasket.... The exact same thing happened with my punto ( with the same fire engine!)

Bit of sanding and white paint here and there and it'll be ready to go back on the road!

If anyone knows of anyone selling bull bars or the original roof bars ; get it contact because I really want some!
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Nice buy mate.

OE roof rack might take some time before someone will be selling one.
For now please consider Roof rails from Partworld as fitted to many 2wd and 4wd.

PS. before any off-road will take place - have a look on the fuel filler pipe - as does rims are 5.5j they will potentialy rub against filler pipe and believe me or not you don't want to look for replacement part.
 
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yes indeed it does seem a good panda, and running already! nice.

yes i agree a service is in order. make sure to use the correct oil spec for the engine, and also for the gearbox and i would also change the oil in the rear diff too.

as said.. some 4x4 parts can be hard to get hold of.
some bits do pop up on ebay italy every now and again though.

for bull bars, theres a few you could look up.. the ones from suzuki SJ's will fit a panda as will ones from off the small caddy vans. they may need a little welding though to get the to bolt to a panda.

4x4 roof racks are about impossible to get in good condition and any that do pop up sell for a lot, for what they are. my advice is, if you can weld, get some tubular steel and make some up. :D

gearbox side.. i would check the inner CV boots. if they look rough or the drive shaft oil seals have gone i would replace them.
you can get the complete kits from euro car parts. cv boot including oil seal and bearing!

panda gearboxes use the CV boots to hold in the gearbox oil. if one splits, you loose all the oil and well bad things can happen. best to change them..

one thing that can happen which it seems you dont have is electrical faults.
these are 9 times out of 10 to do with earthing problems. theres 4 earthing points around the car.

if you get any issues just let us know and we will point you in the right direction. :D
feel free to do a forum section search as pretty much everything has already been covered when fixing up these great little cars.


you're gonna have great fun in that little car on road, off road sun or snow :)
 
yes indeed it does seem a good panda, and running already! nice.

yes i agree a service is in order. make sure to use the correct oil spec for the engine, and also for the gearbox and i would also change the oil in the rear diff too.

as said.. some 4x4 parts can be hard to get hold of.
some bits do pop up on ebay italy every now and again though.

for bull bars, theres a few you could look up.. the ones from suzuki SJ's will fit a panda as will ones from off the small caddy vans. they may need a little welding though to get the to bolt to a panda.

4x4 roof racks are about impossible to get in good condition and any that do pop up sell for a lot, for what they are. my advice is, if you can weld, get some tubular steel and make some up. :D

gearbox side.. i would check the inner CV boots. if they look rough or the drive shaft oil seals have gone i would replace them.
you can get the complete kits from euro car parts. cv boot including oil seal and bearing!

panda gearboxes use the CV boots to hold in the gearbox oil. if one splits, you loose all the oil and well bad things can happen. best to change them..

one thing that can happen which it seems you dont have is electrical faults.
these are 9 times out of 10 to do with earthing problems. theres 4 earthing points around the car.

if you get any issues just let us know and we will point you in the right direction. :D
feel free to do a forum section search as pretty much everything has already been covered when fixing up these great little cars.


you're gonna have great fun in that little car on road, off road sun or snow :)

HA yeah thank you!
yeah ill start getting the bits and pieces for the service soon! and yeah the rear diff is also weeping a little too so ill need to sort that too


as for the roof bars, its tempting to go for some modern panda ones and do a little modifiying, and ill start looking for the bull bars!


As for electrical faults I was told the heater didn't work ( but that was I found that there was no coolant in it) and the guy I bought it off said theres something wrong with the sterio/ cigarette lighter wiring... meaning it shorts? .. I don't know I haven't got round to sorting that yet.




Jobs for this week: start some of the servicing stuff... maybe? and paint underneath ;)
 
completely stupid moment, according to the log book its the 999cc engine, where as I thought it was the 1242 engine, as its identical to the 1242 engines fiat put into the mk2a/b puntos... anyway to know for sure?


ok I think it is a 999cc engine , just by googeling, I never bothered checking anything when I bought it ;)
 
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completely stupid moment, according to the log book its the 999cc engine, where as I thought it was the 1242 engine, as its identical to the 1242 engines fiat put into the mk2a/b puntos... anyway to know for sure?


ok I think it is a 999cc engine , just by googeling, I never bothered checking anything when I bought it ;)


The FIRE engine came in various sizes. In the Punto mk2's it was 1242cc but in panda's it was 999cc and 1108cc in later models along with the Cinquecento and Seicento's and MK1 Punto's (and many more)
 
the stock 4x4 engine is a 999cc 50hp engine.

if you want you can fit any engine from the FIRE range. they will all bolt up to that 4x4 gearbox. its getting all the electrics and fuel delivery working good that is the fun part :D

i myself have a panda 4x4 with the punto 75 engine and from the small test driving i have done on it, i can tell you it is quite the improvement.

the engine number can be very hard to read, you may have to scrape the rust off to read it.

the coolant missing is a bit odd.. run some water through it and see if it holds it.

the radiators do get tired sadly and can start to leak. you can get them re-cored though as the 4x4 panda takes the same core as the 2x4 panda.

as the timing belt has been changed, you would think that the water pump was also changed. have a look and see if its more shiny than the rest of the block. when they get tired they have been known to leak around the shaft.

theres also the head gasket.. when they go they can take the coolant with them.

maybe it was drained however with the thought of storing the panda for a while.


the radio wiring is simple stuff. a yellow wire (sometimes with red stripe) is an illumination wire, the red with green dots on it is a constant live and the black is the negative.

cigarette sockets can dead short sometimes, but they can be picked up from anywhere. any panel mounted socket will fit the panda :D

if you are getting damp patches around the axles of the diff, it means the oil seals could be on the way out.. its not a huge job to changed them over. if its the ones in the hubs, you can get away without having to dismantle all of the breaks. just undo the 4 bolts that hold the wheel bearing in place and pull it off, directly under that will be the oil seal. pop it out and stick a new one in.


check this out for oil specs, seal sizes and other bits:
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic-faqs/

it seems im the only one here who posts panda faqs :p
 
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Well unless it's had an engine change it will be a 999cc carb'ed FIRE engine in a 1989 4x4.

Pretty easy to tell from a pic but even easier does it have fuel injection? The original engine doesn't. If you've got a carb, an old key with no electrics, no engine management gubbins or funny symbols on the dash, it's as intended. (y)
 
Thanks everyone !

I'm quite sure it's the 999cc engine, for some reason I thought it was the 1242cc no idea why!



the stock 4x4 engine is a 999cc 50hp engine.

if you want you can fit any engine from the FIRE range. they will all bolt up to that 4x4 gearbox. its getting all the electrics and fuel delivery working good that is the fun part :D

i myself have a panda 4x4 with the punto 75 engine and from the small test driving i have done on it, i can tell you it is quite the improvement.

the engine number can be very hard to read, you may have to scrape the rust off to read it.

the coolant missing is a bit odd.. run some water through it and see if it holds it.

the radiators do get tired sadly and can start to leak. you can get them re-cored though as the 4x4 panda takes the same core as the 2x4 panda.

as the timing belt has been changed, you would think that the water pump was also changed. have a look and see if its more shiny than the rest of the block. when they get tired they have been known to leak around the shaft.

theres also the head gasket.. when they go they can take the coolant with them.

maybe it was drained however with the thought of storing the panda for a while.


the radio wiring is simple stuff. a yellow wire (sometimes with red stripe) is an illumination wire, the red with green dots on it is a constant live and the black is the negative.

cigarette sockets can dead short sometimes, but they can be picked up from anywhere. any panel mounted socket will fit the panda :D

if you are getting damp patches around the axles of the diff, it means the oil seals could be on the way out.. its not a huge job to changed them over. if its the ones in the hubs, you can get away without having to dismantle all of the breaks. just undo the 4 bolts that hold the wheel bearing in place and pull it off, directly under that will be the oil seal. pop it out and stick a new one in.


check this out for oil specs, seal sizes and other bits:
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic-faqs/

it seems im the only one here who posts panda faqs :p


Why thank you for the faq!

All I know is it overheated in 2012 ... Because of the thermostat but the head didn't go... Before driving it around today I filled it with coolant ( up to just over minimum) and it held well at temperature , looking at it after 15/20 of driving it around the level had gone down by about 150/200ml , but I think that was as it was just circulating and "filling up" as there is no signs or engine problems and no white sludge or anything to indicate head gasket problems and no leaks from any of the pipes or radiator..... So I'm clueless...
I don't think there was any weeping from the water pump , but I didn't really look at that properly.. I'll fill it up properly again and run it again and see if the level changes

Fantastic, doesn't sound to difficult to do, I'll get onto that soonish I think too

The list is building ;)
 
im just thinking of jobs you can do now rather than drive it around for a while and have something go on you..

its a pain when that happens.

i'd also advise you check the brake lines.. just make sure theres no rusting. if there is and you think it will be fine, just paint it to stop it from rusting through.

of all parts of the car, the brakes are the most important... take it from someone who lost a close family member because of brake failure on a motorbike.

shame your not local. i would have been willing to have helped you out with some of the more annoying jobs.
 
Well hopefully it'll all be done for auto italia In May!

I'm sorry to hear that

Yes that is very true! As it stands the brakes are a bit naff, I will give it a proper check over and bleed the system hopefully at the week end now
Thanks
 
update:


Topped up coolant and had a little drive around and seems to be holding fine now!


All Paint to coat the underside has been ordered and everything needed for a full service has been ordered and a rocker cover gasket!


anyone know where would do my white colour , or could I just go out and buy a bog standard white aerosol?


also anyone know where I could get the rear diff seal from?
 
if you are after the diff cover gasket, i think parts world have them in stock? onemanmade should know.. he got one not long ago.

you can get the seals from any bearing suppliers. just quote them the seal sizes in the FAQs section and they will get you one sorted. :)

yellow pages will find a local bearing place.

you can also find them on ebay but they will be a bit more costly ;)


Edit:

if it is for the input shaft/pinion one of these will work:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o....Xoil+seal+36+56&_nkw=oil+seal+36+56&_sacat=0

you may have to stick it in the freezer before you try to get it in the diff though. it is just slightly too big but should not be that much of an issue.
i managed to get one to fit Fallout :)
 
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if you are after the diff cover gasket, i think parts world have them in stock? onemanmade should know.. he got one not long ago.

you can get the seals from any bearing suppliers. just quote them the seal sizes in the FAQs section and they will get you one sorted. :)

yellow pages will find a local bearing place.

you can also find them on ebay but they will be a bit more costly ;)


Edit:

if it is for the input shaft/pinion one of these will work:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o....Xoil+seal+36+56&_nkw=oil+seal+36+56&_sacat=0

you may have to stick it in the freezer before you try to get it in the diff though. it is just slightly too big but should not be that much of an issue.
i managed to get one to fit Fallout :)

Actually I only got the diff cover itself from partsworld, I used an instant gasket.

Top tip: scrape the mating surface very very clean so no residue of the old paper gasket remains. Then apply the instant gasket and torque up the cover, wait for 24hours before filling with oil.

I didn't follow my own advice now having to redo. Btw if anyone has one of the small diff cover bolts could they send me one ta haha :ROFLMAO:
 
This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Actually I only got the diff cover itself from partsworld, I used an instant gasket.

Top tip: scrape the mating surface very very clean so no residue of the old paper gasket remains. Then apply the instant gasket and torque up the cover, wait for 24hours before filling with oil.

I didn't follow my own advice now having to redo. Btw if anyone has one of the small diff cover bolts could they send me one ta haha :ROFLMAO:


Cheers for that , I've got some of that stuff , so that should be a straight forward one!

On another note people , I checked the paint code today and it's 220. With the paint , it seems if i rub the wait work with something like a sponge or a rag they become like a milky white .. Normal?
 
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