Panda (Classic) LVJ the scrap yard 4x4

[Dragon Man]

fiat panda's dont die, they just rust away.

i think you need a mig welder John. its really fun work. 0.6mm wire, some sand paper and an old washing machine cover (or any dead home appliance cover) and you will be well on your way to my level of welding. swap the current flow on the welder around and you can use gas-less wire!

 

[VmanC]

Glad it's not only me!! I still get the "what's that on the drive?!" from Mum when she spots another one - the answer is usually "it's a Panda!" which she knew of course.......

I'm staying out of this one.

 

[purple haze]

I was told that I could never have a motorbike by my parents...at the age of 15 I turned up with a 250 BSA I bought from my form teacher. That has set the tone for anything motor related ever since...I want, I get.

Good idea to get a 4x4 which is a little rough around the edges and not be worried when you get it bumped and covered in mud inside and out..

 

[panda panda]

fiat panda's dont die, they just rust away.

i think you need a mig welder John. its really fun work. 0.6mm wire, some sand paper and an old washing machine cover (or any dead home appliance cover) and you will be well on your way to my level of welding. swap the current flow on the welder around and you can use gas-less wire!

I will get a quote from the local garage for the welding, I just hope the underneath is ok once I get a chance at the weekend to have a good look in daylight.

I'll leave the sparkle stick work to the pros

 

[panda panda]

The head gasket needs doing, thought I may as well have a crack at it. Can anyone recommend a kit and head bolts too? to do the job, s'pose a full service and plugs, leads, coolant and engine flush will be needed/done at the same time. Anything I've missed?, don't say bloody cam belt, water pump as I don't have the brass for them too

 

[purple haze]

Your taking the head off, so the belt has to come off anyway.

 

[Dragon Man]

and the water pump would be a dream to change with the engine striped down like that... may as well do it.

 

[purple haze]

I've had nothing but bad experiences with engine flush and would never use it on a old engine ever again.

Had quiet engines turn very noisy when the muck removed has changed things inside. Each to their own though as I know some swear by it.

 

[Dragon Man]

the thing is though, are you 100% sure the head gasket has gone? i did think this with Talon, but it turned out to be a load of other "faults" working together to make it act just like a head gasket failure.

have you done a compression check?

i used engine flush on Talon, before the crud and crap under the rocker was incredible. after it was shiny and clean.. i plan to use it on the fallout panda.

 

[panda panda]

well there is oil all over the engine and the water res is empty, I'll put some water in and see what happens on saturday.

I have no idea about compression tests.

I don't want to spend a lot on parts on a potentially duff engine, as I've said before I'd like to fit a fuel injected engine at some point.

It's a pity the Y10 engine isn't a fire or I'd have that in it instead

I may just put it through an MOT on saturday to see what needs doing to get it onto the road again.

Main concern is how much welding it will need to pass.

I'm also worried that I couldn't engage the 4wd, the lever just pulls up and down without any resistance and the light on the dash stays unlit.

 

[kolza]

I'm also worried that I couldn't engage the 4wd, the lever just pulls up and down without any resistance and the light on the dash stays unlit.

I'm not the 4x4 expert yet, but the light indication might be electric problem - the actual 4x4 lever sensor switch, lack of any resistance potential slack at the lever system somewere under the floor.

 

[panda1408]

You might need to let the clutch up abit with the car in gear to get the 4WD to engage properly, or maybe the warning light doesn't work as you don't need much effort to pull the lever usually.

I'd have a good poke round underneath first before doing anything else, if its been on the road recently it can't be that bad, can it?

 

[dragonwagon]

Switches and the contacts in particular can corrode. Clean these up before looking for more technical, mechanical issues. 4WD engagement is a simple sliding collar affair which will stand a fair bit of abuse without breaking, if the car has been used off road regularly I'm pretty certain the system works, even if the switch does not.

 

[Dragon Man]

i would not worry too much about it john, on the fallout panda, the wires have snapped off away from the switch. this may have happened to yours...

check to see if the bulb has blown.. if you look where your coil is you will see another wire going down the fire wall, ducking behind the break pipes.. it will be a black wire with 2 wires inside. somewhere there will be a plug on it.. undo the plug and short the 2 pins out. if the light on the dash does not light up then the fault is with the bulb.. not the switch

 

[panda panda]

checked out all the stuff to buy, water pump, cam belt and full gasket set works out at £110 from euro car parts lot, that's not including oil, filters, head bolts (another £17).

This is starting to look like an expensive job!

 

[purple haze]

Is that including other sevice bits like diff oil, spark plugs, rotor arm, dizzy cap, HT leads, points, condenser and anti freeze??

How are the brakes and fluid??

Once all done think how much it could be worth...

 

[panda panda]

Is that including other sevice bits like diff oil, spark plugs, rotor arm, dizzy cap, HT leads, points, condenser and anti freeze??

How are the brakes and fluid??

Once all done think how much it could be worth...

...and how skint I'll be.

It's basically a shed on wheels, plan is to fix the engine, MOT and brush up on my offroading skillz :devil:

 

[Pandadee]

Thats what a was thinking with the selecta.......I'd paid £420 for a another shed on wheels but I'm happy I sorted it but at the sametime I started a new job working nights and the girlfriend had no car to use but the plus side the job is weekly paid so just got bits for it each week and 2 weeks after starting the job my alfa ran out of mot which I knew I need to give it some love but made more holes so need to spend a good week welding it

Keep smiling I think you've got a good 4x4 when sorted I would have had it if I had the money at the time.............christmas etc to pay for

 

[VmanC]

You need to thoroughly check the bodywork before you do anything or you could end up with a very expensive parts storage unit.

 

[panda panda]

You need to thoroughly check the bodywork before you do anything or you could end up with a very expensive parts storage unit.

In that case anyone want to buy a very reasonably priced parts storage unit?