(G) Panda based kit car pics a little later than promised...

Hey Panda fans. Following up on my newbie post, here are the pictures of my Panda based kit car, the Road Rat.

Just click the link; I've created a quick web page which is much easier to link to than post a load of image urls.

http://www.area99.co.uk/Road_Rat

Feel free to discuss and ask questions. In the meantime, I have a couple of questions of my own:

As you can see in a couple of the pics I have a set of Cinq Sporting wheels for it. I've fitted them using the Panda wheel studs but I'm wondering if there are proper alloy wheel studs I should be using?

Also, as you can see in the pics, the Cinq wheels are still shod with Cinq standard size tyres. What size tyres do I need to fit to them to maintain the Panda wheel rolling diameter?

Cheers in advance for looking and hopefully answering my questions.

That panda 4x4 looks in good condition, what was wrong with it?

Well it looks to me like you've destroyed a functional and serviceable Panda 4X4 to build a silly little kit car... Well done.

Morality aside, the project does look to be coming on nicely and I'm quite interested to see the final product.

With regards to the wheels, I'm pretty sure you'll be wanting 155/65/13 tyres on them, although 165s aren't a problem. I've got 165's on my Panda steelies, and the 65 profile seems to be the most commonly used here.

If you just want cheap tyres, go for 155/70R13 tyres (i paid £56 for 4 fully fitted).

Thanks for the comments guys. To take the points raised so far in order:

1. christopher watson
Apart from the huge hole in the body under the windscreen, the extensive underside welding repairs and the rotten drivers side door, nothing. Mechanically it was excellent and therefore a good choice to rebuild my kit with since the body is surplus to requirements.

2. Steve
For a man with over 10,000 posts to your name I'd have thought forum etiquette would be second nature. A simple and polite question like Mr. Watson's would have elicited a simple and polite response. Before accusing people of anything you should at least have some basis for your accusations. Is it kit cars in general you disdain, or just this one?

3. FuzzyPanda
Thank you for the information. I haven't measured the Cinq wheels and thought they were 14".

4. christopher watson again
I don't mind if the tyres cost a bit. I'm going for a rugged look with the finished kit and will be putting chunky treaded tyres on at the end of the rebuild. Currently I have 8 wheels with good tyres on so won't be needing to buy any standard ones for some time!

it's not quite the styling that they had in mind when designing it... and to tell you the truth it's a little like lookingat a panding without the exterior panels... not the prettiest of models.

but I am quite interested to see the finished item... and I don't mind the occasional rusting panda being used to a better end than spare parts...

If the under carraige is anything to go by then it's going to bemint when it's back in one piece.

Tony M
Agreed. It's not a pretty car by any means but it has a certain charm. It's a pity I didn't take a proper 'before' photo as the lack of bonnet, entire front end and bumpers leaves little to help the imagination visualise the finished product. However, it's driving the thing for the sheer fun of it that I'm working towards. It will look good when finished but it won't be a Panda purists' concourse dream.

Not aimed at you Tony, but there will inevitably be people who knock this kind of project and I'm not seeking to please these people. I expect there will be a strong divide between the sticklers for originality and those with a less restricted outlook. I am enjoying restoring this vehicle and do so for my own ends. I make no apologies for spending my time and money in the way I want to.

Anyway, this is the kind of stuff that makes for interesting and lively debate! It would be a boring forum indeed where everybody had the same views and opinions.

Forum etiquette isn't my strong point, a quick browse through some of my 10,000 posts will confirm that if you're in doubt. Anyway, seeing as we got off on the wrong foot we may as well continue that way...

Yes, I despise kitcars. I hold them up there with equally stupid ways to waste what is a perfectly good, appreciating classic in, as you say, mechanically excellent order. Those equally stupid ways include banger racing, etc. Don't worry though, I reserve my most rampant fury for the idiots that insist on taking Panda 4X4's on mindless "charity" runs, usually to Africa, which have about as much to do with charity as your kitcar does to good taste.

I'm not that interested in the end product to be honest, but I'm sure some of the others will be, so in the spirit of Panda brotherhood, good luck with it.

On the plus side, this may very well inspire an interesting debate.

Well I don't like kit cars generally either, but I don't think anyone should be stopped from tinkering around with one car to turn it into another if they choose.

The "charity" runs I'm more likely to be vitriolic about. A friend of mine, well ex friend, took his mini on a charity run on one of those Italian Job treks. He raised .... 49 pounds ... in sponsorship and spent four hundred pounds on fuel, cheap accomodation, beer and got a speeding fine.

If it was cheaper to have cars resprayed, I reckon the current batch of cars would be made to last a lot longer too. The Panda always did have rotting footwell problems, too many owners too lazy to pull up the carpet and underlay and dry it out - oh and check on the heater.

Barchetta 595, that was a kit car that turned an ugly car ( 126 ) into a 500 based roadster. Yum. Plus, the tuning kit gave it a top speed of 85.

I dont mind kitcars (i want to make a sierra based caterham replica). Its the idiots who drive cars like pandas to places like Mongolia that i hate

In reply to your post Steve, I don't see that continuing on the wrong foot will serve any useful purpose, unless you like arguing (I'm too lazy to read your previous posts in other threads so I haven't checked if that's the case). I don't want to have an argument with you anyway. I respect peoples rights to their opinions, even when they don't align with my own. I personally like the idea of kit cars, but that doesn't mean I like every model ever produced. That's something we can all say about mainstream production cars too. I dare say that there are even people out there who don't like Pandas! I think the kit car debate is best started in another thread as I intended this thread to give interested parties some info on my particular car.

As for taking your car to foreign climes for a 'charity' drive, I'm not bothered. If I want to go to the trouble of driving my car across some bog or desert I'll do it for the fun and experience. Charity would have nothing to do with it and I wouldn't use it as an excuse to fund what is in effect an 'alternative' holiday.

Back to the 'Rat: If you think it's tasteless now wait until you see the rear spoiler, underside lighting and phat stereo I'm going to fit

Seriously, at least wait until it's finished before dismissing it out of hand.
[Could be a long wait though and something tells me your patience will only stretch as far as you could throw your Panda ]

My comment about continuing on the wrong foot was firmly tongue in cheek. I didn't welcome you to the forum either, so welcome. I can see that you are going to fit in here, anyone with the balls to drive a home made car called the rat will be able to give even Pandafan and his dog car a run for his money.

Don't want to dwell too much on the subject of my testicles but let's just say it's fortunate that the cab of the 'Rat is somewhat wider than the standard Panda....

Dog car??

Yup, dog car and freak. His rampant Pandas with more DIY jobs than you can shake a stick at.

http://www.fiatforum.com/members/pandafan