abarth stabler said:

Still busy with the panda, engine re-assembled but compression seems a bit low when turning over, cylinders seem fine so I'm not too sure what this could be? Not yet had it started either, been fiddling with the dizzy trying to get it to fire up but still no luck Been busy with the hammerite underneath and now it's looking good with a fresh coat of paint, just rebuilding the front brakes too but calipers seem to be stuck too, really want to get it done for the Yorkshire breakfast meet but it's not looking to good in its current state, somebody come help me lol

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Have you checked for spark? Can you see the fuel filter on your model? Is fuel getting through?

I know it's getting fuel as the carb stinks of it and so do the plugs, will check for spark when I get home tonight, don't really want to book it into a garage as they will probably charge me an arm and both my legs, battery hasn't got loads of life in it so maybe worth using a boost pack?

abarth stabler said:

I know it's getting fuel as the carb stinks of it and so do the plugs, will check for spark when I get home tonight, don't really want to book it into a garage as they will probably charge me an arm and both my legs, battery hasn't got loads of life in it so maybe worth using a boost pack?

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Checking for spark would be my first port of call, charging the battery first would be a good idea

decided it's probably time to make a start on the bodywork today, the door bottoms were brush painted with hammerite and it looked bloody awful, taking the effected areas back to bare metal for repairs, the door tops are really nasty at the moment. Cylinder head is having valves reground too as none of them are seated correctly. Just front brakes to do after engine is re assembled and it should be running right, fingers crossed

Haven't updated or got much work done for a while however I no longer have a daily car and my hours have been reduced at work so figured I might as well get my hands dirty. Today I have pained the original steel wheels black, stripped and rebuilt the caliper and replaced the wheel cylinder on the o/s of the vehicle. And the other side will follow tomorrow. I recently purchased a new carpet and attempted to fit it yesterday, only to find out it is the wrong size. Oh yeah I'm picking up a panda 4x4 in the next few days too, this will be my daily car.

finally got it home. Me and my dad are doing some welding tomorrow, interior to be cleaned up and full body respray in the same colour. As well as the 4x4 wheels in either silver or the sisley beige. More photos and updates tomorrow.

not had time to do any welding yet, this morning we focused on getting it running right. Cleaned out the carb and fuel filter adjusted the timing and sorted through what bits go where. It was dragging rusty water through the system so first job will be removal and clean up of the tank on Monday morning. More pictures to follow

let me point you to this i made a while back.. tells you all you need to know about the removal of a 4x4, marbella, and mk1 fuel tank.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-cla...stop-leaking-early-pandas-4x4s-marbellas.html


also.. i hope you dont find this in your tank..:

Yeah I read the guide the other day, it's a bit scabby on the outside, it's been sucking a bit of rusty water through the system as I found out this morning. How long does it take roughly to remove the tank?

Think I'm going to re paint the tank and give it a good flush. I think fitting 2 inline fuel filters should minimise the risk of the carb taking on any more water. Well that's the theory anyway...

abarth stabler said:

Yeah I read the guide the other day, it's a bit scabby on the outside, it's been sucking a bit of rusty water through the system as I found out this morning. How long does it take roughly to remove the tank?

Think I'm going to re paint the tank and give it a good flush. I think fitting 2 inline fuel filters should minimise the risk of the carb taking on any more water. Well that's the theory anyway...

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Speaking from experience roughly is the only way to get the thing off

Dragonmans guide is excellent but one thing to stress (which he does in his guide but I am reiterating) is that the bolts holding it on (1 at the back and 2 at the front) will most likely be very corroded and will easily shear (I ended up shearing all 3 even though they were doused in wd40 daily for a week if not longer) so good luck with that. Also when removing the breather hoses, if you need to separate them to pull through the chassis, immersing the joined part in boiling water will help immensely

In total it took my dad and I about an hour, but mine is very very corroded so hopefully yours shouldn't be as bad.

I have derusted the inside, wirebrushed the outside and painted with hammerite and mine looks great now good luck!

Thanks for the advice, it's solid with no visible leaks so it will be just a clean up and hammerite job,

I haven't drove the car very far yet, only about 30 metres but it's juddering badly, 4wd was disengaged and it was properly in gear. Has anybody else came across this before. If so any ideas what it could be? Knackered gearbox bearing or sticking clutch maybe?

abarth stabler said:

Thanks for the advice, it's solid with no visible leaks so it will be just a clean up and hammerite job,

I haven't drove the car very far yet, only about 30 metres but it's juddering badly, 4wd was disengaged and it was properly in gear. Has anybody else came across this before. If so any ideas what it could be? Knackered gearbox bearing or sticking clutch maybe?

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Hi there,

Yes I have had a similar thing before which I put down to the clutch. And the problem went away with a new clutch kit...however I needed to also replace the rear gearbox mount as this had been destroyed by the juddering.

The reason the clutch had failed was actually oil contamination from a failed gearbox input shaft seal. So if you're replacing the clutch kit, try to get hold of the gearbox oil seal as well to avoid it happening again in the future. I thought it was odd that the oil caused it to judder rather than just slip, but it was possibly because it had been left standing for a while and the oil had fully penetrated the clutch material.

Sorry it isn't a quick fix but clutch / gearbox mount is the most likely reason I think.

You could try fitting a new rear gearbox mount first but from memory that didn't fix it by itself. Unless anyone else has another idea?

Best of luck!
Si

Thanks for the advice, it was missing 3 bolts from the bell housing going into the block. Replaced these and it works fine today.

Been busy today, firstly used an industrial steam cleaner and power washed the entire car, engine bay and underside.

me and dad stripped the exterior of the car, welded the sill/jacking point on the drivers side. Removed bumpers and headlights and trim. And started stripping the interior for deep clean and any repairs etc.

Jobs to do tomorrow.
Remove interior and clean, weld the other side sill. Start stripping the paint and prepping. Also awaiting parts to be delivered such as rear shocks, dizzy cap, ht leads, new plugs and a new genuine fiat clutch kit. Here's some pics of today's progress

Pictures of how the red one is looking at the moment too, it's been treated to a nice coat of black underneath. I'm saving up for a new set of piston rings for it, fresh oil and sump gaskets for it and then the engine should be ready to go back together

abarth stabler said:

Thanks for the advice, it was missing 3 bolts from the bell housing going into the block

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well that'll do it!! haha, there are only 4 bolts aren't there? or is it 5?

Well glad it was easier than a clutch to sort out anyway.

Good luck with the rest of the work, sounds like you're going at it!

I think there was 5 19mm bolts all together, 1 of the 2 that was in it was dead slack too. Yeah we are going at it, hoping to have it painted and mot'd by the weekend as I have no car to get me to work.

Busy day again today. All the welding completed, one side of the car and the whole bonnet filled and primed.

More rubbing down and primer tomorrow as well as refurbishing wheels however that's very time consuming and not currently main priority.

Paint supplies arrive first thing in the morning so the car will be painted tomorrow.

I'm thinking about getting the wheels shot blasted and power coated in the next few days with any luck, I don't see the point in doing it in half measures whilst the car is already stripped

Exciting times , while I have been at work today my dad has painted the 4x4 for me. Can wait to go inspect tomorrow morning.

Struggling to get the cash together for getting my wheels blasted and powder coated silver. I got quoted £120 which sounds fairly reasonable but with Xmas and my mrs's birthday etc it may just be a temporary job for now.

abarth stabler said:

Struggling to get the cash together for getting my wheels blasted and powder coated silver. I got quoted £120 which sounds fairly reasonable but with Xmas and my mrs's birthday etc it may just be a temporary job for now.

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Wouldn't your mrs's like a nice set of powder coated panda wheels for her birthday :idea: Then you could buy her the centre caps for Christmas :devil: