Panda (Classic) Mk1 4x4 Panda (Original)

you have done a good job

it is a shame this is not for sale i would pay good money for this car or 1 simlor

Hi there,

Thanks for the compliment, its not perfect but the car has had a new lease of life and I feel good that it didn't die in 2008. I think most would have grabbed it for parts based on the condition I got it in.

There is a possibility I would sell but not yet as she is my daily driver and I am using it as a template when I get round to putting my other one back together!
No idea what she is worth really, but perhaps PM me what you think its worth and I can consider it in the future. I do need to relieve the pressure a bit, its become a bit of a panda sanctuary over here!

Cheers,
Si

Qing Qing has been treated to a service and while I was at it a shiny new exhaust backbox. Purring lovely after a bit of a tweak on the distributor points too.



Big thank you to Vin for the donated back box too (a while back now). It was getting a little loud on the road (on top of the hum from the tyres and the general "pandary" engine noises! ).

Will get a full valet if the weather is good this weekend.

Si

Well MOT is coming up this week, and last year it was mentioned that the shocks were misting so bought a nice new set of Monroe shocks

Nice and shiney, almost seems a shame to use them....but alas that is their purpose:


Now this might be of interest to you panda owners; I took the strut apart (the drivers side one which has the plastic shim for the spring) and the condition of it was very bad! I don't know if anyone has had one push through before (and this had been on there for 26 years now) but this is what I found:



Wafer thin metal remaining

Anyway, I was quite pleased; the new shocks and outer driveshaft boots were fitted in 1 day leaving today to re-adjust the tracking and give the old girl a traditional Autumn clean Even gave the engine bay a bit of a clean as well and adjusted the air-box to "winter" setting...






Shiney new shock making the rest look shabby ...


She's surviving well, and I've bought it a nice warm winter jacket (aka car cover) so the car will be kept nice and dry. I bought one for the marbella as it was in pieces for the work that's going on that at the moment and it it worked so well I bought a second one. It is completely rain proof and keeps frost / condensation off the car as well. The halfords one I had did not do as well as this. The make is "Carpoint" if anyone is looking for one.

I did have to clean the connections for the tail light bulbs though, fixed reverse light bulb and screwed back on only to find the main tail light was out now! All fun anyway, all appears to be working ok for now but a quick check before the big day will be a good idea I think

Next step MOT anyway so wish her good luck / "Brake" (excuse the pun) a leg.

Si

looking good mate do you just have this one and the marbella now or do you still have the green one that you where in at stanford hall a few years back?

urchin said:

looking good mate do you just have this one and the marbella now or do you still have the green one that you where in at stanford hall a few years back?

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Not sold a car yet (I just seem to collect)...

ChiChi just needs so much work it's taking a long time to get back on the road. And the engine build has ground to a halt now that I've been pouring man hours into getting the Marbella ready for hillclimbs. Plan is to get back onto ChiChi this winter now that the garage is a bit better at stopping water from getting inside and has been nicely draft proofed so I have a hope of keeping it warm!

Who needs a social life anyway

Si

Looking nice.

Nice one Si! Good luck with the mot.

pandamonius_maximus said:

Not sold a car yet (I just seem to collect)...

ChiChi just needs so much work it's taking a long time to get back on the road. And the engine build has ground to a halt now that I've been pouring man hours into getting the Marbella ready for hillclimbs. Plan is to get back onto ChiChi this winter now that the garage is a bit better at stopping water from getting inside and has been nicely draft proofed so I have a hope of keeping it warm!

Who needs a social life anyway

Si

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me too! why sell them you only regret it later thats why I have 8 cars and no money. my father in law came round the other day and spotted the new red 4x4 parked on the yard next to my silver 4x4, when he asked if I was selling the silver one now my missis started laughing in a sarcastic way

urchin said:

me too! why sell them you only regret it later thats why I have 8 cars and no money. my father in law came round the other day and spotted the new red 4x4 parked on the yard next to my silver 4x4, when he asked if I was selling the silver one now my missis started laughing in a sarcastic way

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Exactly, a Panda is not just for Christmas

Just tell your father in law they're a mating pair to avoid them going extinct! But watch out; they'll only want to do it for a week each year (that's if they remember how) and the rest of the time they'll try to beat each other up over a patch of Bamboo... and the last thing you want are dents in the bodywork; they are a pain to get out!

Anyway, Panda is at the vets for it's check-up. Will have the test results tomorrow hopefully!

Huzzah! She has a clean bill of health from the vets; didn't go straight through the MOT first time unfortunately due to a dodgy tail light bulb fitting though. I had cleaned the contacts twice and tightened up the pins and all was working the night before and the day I dropped her off but somehow the bulb worked loose. An easy fix at least, and now I can relax for another year :slayer:

Si

thats good news Si give you plenty of time to work on the other one

Well over the weekend I finally got round to adding back the 4x4 stickers on the rear quarters after they were lost from the restoration ~5years ago. Still need to re-fit the plastic side trim bits and pieces and probably need to start re-restoring some bits and pieces now .

so here she is now after a bit of a wash and polish:





I did fit them a little further forward than I should have but too late to change now and it's not a million miles off anyway. About time it was showing off it's 4x4 status anyway :slayer:

Ready for another euro trip I think...

Si

Oh and thanks Michael (4WDPandamonium) for getting replicas made up.

If anyone else is looking for them they are advertised here if you haven't noticed already ....

https://www.fiatforum.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=29238

Looking good Si.

I didn't realise these stickers were used on the Mk1?

VmanC said:

Looking good Si.

I didn't realise these stickers were used on the Mk1?

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Yes they were - have a look at the brochure in post 7 of the literature sticky if you want to see one

And also a photo of what she used to look like:


Admittedly they are not exactly the same being all in black but as close as I am likely to get and they go with the black bumpers I think as well.

So is it impossible to reproduce the black and red stickers now?

you can make any sticker you like in whatever colour really if you don't mind them not being original....