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Panda (Classic) Charmanda(er) - mania continued......

Introduction

So having been amused at everyone guessing who have bought Char' I own up, t'was me :nerner:

Obviously having just picked up today I don't really have much to say, but I am a happy bunny. I have many plottings going on in my head as to what to do with it - you'll just have to wait and see what happens in the long term, in the short term gonna pretty much leave it and enjoy panda-life for a bit.

Anyway, everyone like pics over waffling... ;)

Got a lift from Simon in exchange for a full tank of fuel (should have half left still i think lol).
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Few hours and a pitstop to eat a Subway for brekkie and then.... A wild Charmander appeared :D
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Was not the best weather on the drive back but Char' ran faultlessly
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Stopped about halfway home for quick pitstop and to get a pic to share on facebook for all the people guessing what I had bought before it got too dark.
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And finally made it home - was mildly amusing getting out the panda to move my alfa forward a touch and practically stamping a hole through the floor cause its such a light pedal compared to the panda.... I hate to think what it would be like going from panda to suzuki as that is way way way lighter pedals than even the alfa.
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All 3 fit on the drive, albeit quite close together.. But the garage is empty and Char' will live in there when not being driven - just couldn't be bothered to move all the cars around after being in the car all day.

edit: Just for info in future, links to previous owners
last owner: Didge3 - thread
owner before last: VmanC - thread
Something gives me an inkling you want to fit a servo to the brakes... :eek:
When I first got her I decided I wanted somehow better brakes as I was terrified but I got used to them after a matter of days and now when I drive anything modern I always stomp the pedal accidentally :rolleyes:
 
it stops fine for how it goes atm, but maybe, just maybe its gonna end up a tad faster :shrug: But its clearly still to be badged up as a 750 ;)

Oh and I went for a spin yesterday and the battery was fine so i think when it went flat on you there must've been something left on maybe, left a little over a week and battery still span the engine really quickly... (y)
 
i have a pedal box and servo from a panda 4x4... if you want, they can be made available :) (sadly no callipers or other bits :( ) i dont see me ever needing them any time soon. (naturally i had plans to "make" a true home made buggy but i dont think it would ever happen >_< )

you know the "wheel" side of the brakes on your 750 are the same as all panda 2x4 and 4x4s ;) (except the panda selectas)
i keep complaining about how talons brakes are spongy, but i tell you.. i have 175/70/13 tyres on, and even when i am locked in 4x4 mode on a straight bit of road i can lock up all 4 wheels!
if the front lock up, the rear has no choice but to lock up too with them being directly connected by the 4x4 system ;)

i did have to test to see if it would.. :D


ok, the selecta has a larger disc and pad surface area, but i think just having the servo assist will make them 100 times better.

i cant speak for non servo pandas, but for me i feel the pandas weak spot with the brakes are the tyres!

i would -always- buy new when it comes to the master cylinder.

speaking from experience, if i was uprating the brakes on a panda. i would use all late Seat Marbella parts. the one we had..man.. it had brakes so sharp you was always locking up the wheels. even when we stuck Uniroyal rain expert 155's on it, it still locked those up! huge improvement from the death trap 135 god knows what brand tyres it had before.

i think its because the marbella does not have the annoying little valve that goes in line to the rear brakes.
also the marbella has 2 brake pipes going to the rear wheels (one for each wheel) where as the panda only has 1 brake pipe split in a T on the rear axle.

i am on the look out for marbella parts just so i can upgrade my brakes.. im not fussed about running an extra copper brake line under the car (i actually enjoy doing brake lines). all in the name of better brakes!
 
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I'll take whatever you have John.. Should be up north early in new year so maybe i can swing by and pick-up bits on the way up or on way back down south.. Not got exact dates yet but i'll drop you a pm or message on facebook or something when i know.

final setup wise, I will defo be buying a brand new master cylinder, they are cheap as chips anyway. Sounds like the marbella may have same setup as a cinq does, lines themselves clearly will be different but cinq has 4 lines directly from MC and then has bias valves and stuff - may look into using some cinq or marbella stuff, cinq stuff will be alot easier to get hold of. They have pretty much the same pedal setup too with the rod going acorss to the rear of the servo on the passenger side - if i can't find panda connecting rod parts i guess i will look into making cinq bits connect to panda pedal and servo instead..

This whole locking the wheels up thing, i must say just because the wheels will lock doesn't mean the brakes can't have more stopping power before the tyres lock, generally speaking with bigger pads and discs you can get more friction and thus stopping power before they lock up. I am going to attempt to fit punto GT3 calipers to Char, from my looking around they are not gonna bolt straight on but they are very good brakes, prob leave the rear as drums as they don't do much really in the grand schemes and its not going to be a track car at all. I might see if something like a punto has bigger cylinders and drums and will bolt on easily but not worrying about the rear for the time being. GT3 calipers does mean 14" wheels though so will have to change the wheels if i can get these to work. The upside is i know something this small and light with GT3 calipers on the front can out brakes most things and they don't fade easily as they are vented discs.
 
I have a brand new Panda 4x4 master cylinder in my shed somewhere along with a pair of GT calipers, discs, bearings and a modified MkII Punto handbrake cable required to clear the Omega arm. ;)

Someone said it couldn't be done...

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http://thumbsnap.com/tmRmQFqd

...so I did. ;)

I was planning to weld mounts to the spring center and mount the shocks inside the springs or use coilovers modified from a motorbike.

The front brake conversion was fairly straight forward as well.

I used an old hub carrier to make a template for mounting the calipers...

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...used it to mark...

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...and drill holes in the Panda caliper mounts...

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...with a pair of shorter bolts...

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...so the thread doesn't foul the discs...

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Punto GT brakes on a Panda. The only thing that'll stop you quicker is a tree.

On the topic of wheels. 14's are essential for clearing the front calipers. 13's can go on the rear but need spacers due to the extra offset.

http://thumbsnap.com/s/fbguMBht.jpg

I'm thinking Brembo's for my next project Panda. ;)

Unable to post images without adding them to the Forum gallery for some reason.
 
cheers fella, very handy pics (y) you wouldn't happen to have that template used to mark the caliper mount still would you ;)

I am well aware of the need for 14s from cinq/sei land - although it has been discovered that 13" revo's do fit over the PGT brakes - a discovery made by Rob aka The Black Box - and there is a chap called duncan with a silver 16v with said wheels over the GT brakes to prove it. Just gonna get a set of 14" steelies for the time being until the rest of the project is sorted. So the fact you can get some 13s to fit is kinda by the by, just for info ;)
 
cheers fella, very handy pics (y) you wouldn't happen to have that template used to mark the caliper mount still would you ;)

- If you scribe a straight line between the bearing mount hole and the original caliper mount hole, in each corner, that will give you one dimension - for the point on the lines to drill, measure centre to centre on the new caliper and Bob's your mother's brother..

.. If that makes sense?
 
Need to ask! Where did you get those beautiful looking Alloys? :D

sure Didge3 will correct me if I am wrong but i believe they are Fiat Palio 127 alloys

You are correct, they are off a Fiat 127 Palio, over 30 years old now (y)
I believe VmanC had them powder coated a few years before I bought Char'
 
Well as i was out there disconnecting the alfa from the battery charger i thought i would just stick it on Char' now as its a smart charger that maintains batteries as well as charges them...

And damn the bay on Char' is dirty - I mean I have never been one for pristine bays or anything but its just plain nasty in there.
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So one thing led to another and I spent several hours cleaning stuff up. Sadly no pics of the bay as it stands as I didn't finish - but the inner wing on drivers side is all shiny, the battery and around it is all clean. Then I took the airbox off and was greeted by the crustiest, oiliest carb ever - so cleaned that up and few bits around it. Went to start on the airbox and my cans of cleaner ran out so had to stop - will get some more ordered and post more pics when i have finished. In the meantime, look how nice the underside of the bonnet came up :D
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Well as i was out there disconnecting the alfa from the battery charger i thought i would just stick it on Char' now as its a smart charger that maintains batteries as well as charges them...

And damn the bay on Char' is dirty - I mean I have never been one for pristine bays or anything but its just plain nasty in there.

Wow, I did once clean the engine bay about 6months into ownership then at some point several years ago the cam cover gasket went and leaked oil intermittently for about a year and I'd just top the level up every so often. I replaced the gasket but never cleaned the engine bay since :eek:

Oh looking at that picture reminds me, the dip-dim resistor is unplugged for a reason, it blew up some time ago (literally it erupted smoke) so I left it in place because why not? But I wouldn't go plugging it back in (y)
 
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