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Panda (Classic) Pandani - 1000CL restoration

Introduction

Right, I've decided to start a thread showing the restoration of Pandani; my 1990 1000CL which I bought in Shipley last August for £421 via eBay.

These are the photos from the original eBay advert.

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It came with an MOT and drives great but once I got it home and a detailed inspection was carried out it was evident that it may not get through the next MOT due to rot in the floor pan. I knew I was going to have to spend money on any Panda so I wasn't surprised by the work that is needed and pleased I got one at a good price that drives. :D I was happy to get a Panda after being Pandaless for nearly 20 years and was looking forward to the restoration ahead.

Coming over on Liverpool ferry
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Home at last and detailed inspection begins
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Before any work is started I then spent the following 4 months buying small pieces of trim and parts as well as obtaining quotes for a full exterior respray along with welding and patching. After spending a small fortune on eBay for parts and trim and thanks to Binhoker, not only for parts from his Panda 'Lipstick' but for directing me to a scrapyard near Ballycastle (probably the only one in NI that has a classic Panda), I've obtained almost everything I need to get started.

The project is intended to be a slow one for next year or two despite having almost all the stuff I need mainly due to other commitments etc. that I'm sure many of us will be too well familiar. Pandani's currently SORNed and hibernating in the garage after the welding and respray was completed a week before Christmas and I intend to have her on the road in the spring allbeit with plenty more work still needing done then.:)

I've obtained some good advice from others including people on Fiat Forum and it's well appreciated.
I used to live very close to the previous owner in Belper and would drive past it daily, he owned it the whole time I lived there. I considered buying it myself at one point. The previous owner also had an old Saab v4 as his daily driver.

My dad bought a 1 year old Renault 5 from GT Cars but I think it disappeared in the mid-late 90's.
 
It's good to hear that someone recognises the car.:D If anyone else or a previous owner recognises it I'd be keen to hear from them.

It's been well maintained by previous owners with a few additional items added that I've since removed, the tow hitch being one of them. I get the impression that the Belper owner used it as a work horse at some point in time, but a well maintained work horse; bit like my Punto I use for site visits in work.
 
Got some news for the seat covers
Posted some option on the panda parts request
Let me know
Thanks
 
Ask this seller for more reasonable shipping cost.
or as lukmek for help.


Fiat 5953450


http://www.ebay.it/itm/COPRICERCHIO...3248890?hash=item3a9bdff4fa:g:c1IAAOSwy4hUSm1~

Thanks kolza. I looked at your link and transferred the item number onto the UK eBay site and got a shock at the delivery cost.:eek: I know you suggested I contact the seller to see if he'll bring down cost of postage but he'd need to drop it dramatically from £34.17(n) and I can't see that happening. Looks like I'm going to have to torture lukmek again with another request.

http://http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/COPRICERCHIO-COPPA-RUOTA-FIAT-UNO-BASE-/251723248890?hash=item3a9bdff4fa%3Ag%3Ac1IAAOSwy4hUSm1%7E&_trkparms=pageci%253A958c4f06-e810-11e6-8d6f-74dbd1803021%257Cparentrq%253Af6f35ac01590a6064141276bffaccb99%257Ciid%253A1
 
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SEATS AND CARPET

Not much was getting done to Pandani for a while due to my being out of action for two months, but I did manage to fit my newly acquired and steam cleaned carpet which came up like new, but not before fitting new underfelt.

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I was unable to get the seats reupholstered in anything similar to what was original, but instead I stripped the two front ones down, repainted their frames and washed the seat covers twice in the washing machine. They came up very well although they're terribly faded and required some stitching. New custom made mats got from eBay thanks to FDNY21 and retro Grundig radio/cassette and four brand new speakers also fitted as none came when I bought the car.

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Seats a damn lot better than what they looked like before.

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BONNET INSULATION AND FIRE EXTINGUISHER

Managed to fit some sound insulation to the bonnet's underside.

Also fitted a 2KG powder extinguisher to the underside of the bulkhead/shelf below the passenger side dashboard (photo is upside down). The bracket had a clamp to hold the extinguisher in place but it wasn't suitable for hanging upside down in a horizontal position as it kept falling out. I modified it and used a keyring ring secured around the bracket's clamp/catch to hold it in place, a piece of small wire rope was attached to the ring and its other end also has a ring attached. Pulling the wire rope will release the bracket's clamp and so allow the extinguisher to easily be released in a hurry.

There's plenty of smaller trim items etc. yet to be done but the focus is now on getting the rear suspension and axle replaced to get it through MOT and driving for the Spring and Summer.
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MOT FAIL
Due to the small panic to now try and get Pandani road legal for the Summer and in particular for the Kilbroney car show in June I managed to get a last minute MOT appointment arranged and this was carried out two days ago on Friday.

Despite getting its first wash since its respray in November by my brother the night before (he's got some very good quality car care stuff), and thankfully having the ridiculously "adjusted" handbrake (not worth going into the detail here) corrected a few hours before the MOT, it failed.

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It didn't really surprise me to have failed as I knew it most likely would due to the corrosion of the top and bottom spring mounts on the chassis and rear axle; I'd obtained a new axle last year and have since been gathering springs and dampers etc. I wanted the MOT to identify other failures prior to me getting the car booked in for the axle change and it did; rear brake imbalance of 33% as shown below with the limit being 30%.

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However, looking at the previous MOT certificate which came with the car when I bought it in Shipley, it also shows a rear brake imbalance of 33% (top right of first image below) which showed up as a fail, yet a certificate (2nd image) was issued! How can this be the case? Am I missing something?:confused: Also, what could be causing this issue? The MOT inspector suggested it could be due to a lack of use but if it's rear brake or wheel cylinder wear/sticking maybe I should replace these too when doing the axle change?

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Apologies for upside down pictures but I couldn't rotate them.
 
For some time I've known that the passenger side front wheel nuts will get noticeably hotter than the driver's side after a long drive, even when very little braking is done the passenger side will also be warm when the other side is cool.

The brakes aren't binding, both front wheel hubs were replaced as too were both brake disks and sets of pads; the car drives straight and stops straight.

What possibly could be causing this issue? The only thing I noticed is that a newer section of brake pipe had been fitted to the passenger side circuit just before the caliper's flexible hose connection. Surely this newer section of pipe (about 500mm in length) wouldn't cause this issue?
 
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For some time I've known that the passenger side front wheel nuts will get noticeably hotter than the driver's side after a long drive, even when very little braking is done the passenger side will also be warm when the other side is cool.



The brakes aren't binding, both front wheel hubs were replaced as too were both brake disks and sets of pads; the car drives straight and stops straight.



What possibly could be causing this issue? The only thing I noticed is that a newer section of brake pipe had been fitted to the passenger side circuit just before the caliper's flexible hose connection. Surely this newer section of pipe (about 500mm in length) wouldn't cause this issue?


Your correct the new pipe won't have any effect , more Likely to be corrosion in the calliper which is causing friction( = heat. = evaporation of lubrication= wheel bearing problem later ) could just need copper grease to moving parts , could also be the cylinder locking in the case. This would require to be striped out honed then rebuilt. But try the stop down clean and rebuild first 1 hr
 
Your correct the new pipe won't have any effect , more Likely to be corrosion in the calliper which is causing friction( = heat. = evaporation of lubrication= wheel bearing problem later ) could just need copper grease to moving parts , could also be the cylinder locking in the case. This would require to be striped out honed then rebuilt. But try the stop down clean and rebuild first 1 hr
Cheers Sjvarley. It's been doing it since I got the car and I'd assumed that since I got new disks and pads that the problem would have gone and but it never did. When I'm getting the axle and rear brakes done, I'll be getting the passenger side caliper attended to.
 
Ok the new disc and pad has made the cylinder jam has been pushed back further into the calliper case
Remove piston clean
Hone out bore check for and rust on the cylinder rebuild
Or £70 for new calliper
You don't have to get a pair !
 
In regards to the rear wheel cylinders if you are removing the axle you really might as well.

Making use of your knowledge and experience here.:)
This evening I ordered a new pair of brake drums and a set of new brake shoes. Given that I've also got a new handbrake cable, new wheel cylinders on order and of course your donation of new cylinder mounting bolts is there anything else obvious that I should also order for the replacing within the rear brakes during the axle replacement? I'm hoping the existing drums' backplates will still be ok to reuse and I can't think of anything else.
 
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Making use of your knowledge and experience here.:)
This evening I ordered a new pair of brake drums and a set of new brake shoes. Given that I've also got a new handbrake cable, new wheel cylinders on order and of course your donation of new cylinder mounting bolts is there anything else obvious that I should also order for the replacing within the rear brakes during the axle replacement? I'm hoping the existing drums' backplates will still be ok to reuse and I can't think of anything else.
Nothing i can think of
 
'NEW' CARPET

Yesterday I collected the carpet I previously got from Binhoker about three months' ago after it was steam cleaned (3 times) to get out all the dirt and grease. Looks nearly new.:D
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Brilliant thread, got a few bits from it which will help me as I go forward already! Though got to ask, how did you steam clean it? Think I've got a wallpaper steamer thing somewhere, something like that do the job?
 
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