Panda (Classic) Mk1 4x4 Panda (Original)

Giacosa said:

What a superb adventure for Qing Qing. Bet your glad you cut cooling holes in that chckerplate now eh

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Si, did you suffer from over heating problems? When I was there with the micra it never had a had a prob. Mind you, I've had the raised rear bonnet mod the same as yours on the Toyota...that does create alot of heat..

i think many people forget that keeping an engine cool is more about letting the hot air out than it is letting fresh air in... Afterall more holes in front only really means that when moving forward the engine bay becomes a high pressure zone - which in turn means you don't get air flowing through it anymore than you would normally. Cheap trick i use in summer on my turbo sei is to just remove the rubber seal that runs between the bonnet and the bulkhead, make a huge difference.

But generally speaking rear facing louvres for example will reduce temps alot more than say a silly forward facing scooby bonnet vent

Si, wow wow wow! What an absolutely epic debriefing post - I have just spent my lunch break reading through

This looks like the trip of a lifetime! Well done for completing the mission aswell and not really many problems at all! Was the drive fairly fast-paced then or were you taking your time alot? Were there any epic crashes or breakdowns?

I would defo be up for this in the future

Awesome.............. My ghast is truly flabbered:worship:

purple haze said:

Simply superb....I seem to remember it was me who found this panda raid lot and you get to go before me....jealous??....you bet I am.

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And I am eternally indebted...:slayer:

Giacosa said:

What a superb adventure for Qing Qing. Bet your glad you cut cooling holes in that chckerplate now eh

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purple haze said:

Si, did you suffer from over heating problems? When I was there with the micra it never had a had a prob. Mind you, I've had the raised rear bonnet mod the same as yours on the Toyota...that does create alot of heat..

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It didn't get crazy hot but for safety was definitely worth keeping the temperature down. It was mainly the steep hills where we suffered and we found a really long one going through spain which even had warning signs saying beware car overheating! I think the holes in the front were important though. The lifted bonnet was just for safety as we thought we were going to be finding potentially 30°C in Morocco. It kept the engine just below normal or on the normal line pretty much all the time which was good

blu73 said:

i think many people forget that keeping an engine cool is more about letting the hot air out than it is letting fresh air in... Afterall more holes in front only really means that when moving forward the engine bay becomes a high pressure zone - which in turn means you don't get air flowing through it anymore than you would normally. Cheap trick i use in summer on my turbo sei is to just remove the rubber seal that runs between the bonnet and the bulkhead, make a huge difference.

But generally speaking rear facing louvres for example will reduce temps alot more than say a silly forward facing scooby bonnet vent

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yes, exactly! Same for my Marbella which kicks out tonnes of heat from its turbo. My Dads scirocco also has a scooby vent put on backwards to let heat out the engine bay

AndyPanda4x4 said:

Si, wow wow wow! What an absolutely epic debriefing post - I have just spent my lunch break reading through

This looks like the trip of a lifetime! Well done for completing the mission aswell and not really many problems at all! Was the drive fairly fast-paced then or were you taking your time alot? Were there any epic crashes or breakdowns?

I would defo be up for this in the future

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muchos gracias! I am also definitely keen to do this again. The Malatesta Track Tyres performed incredibly and took a hell of a lot of punishment. I recommend completely! Plus I've had about 3-4000+ miles out of a set of them! (because I am lazy and left them on in summer ).

We were one of the slowest cars there taking a bit more time over things (we had the longest ride home though as well ). A lot of people were out to do a more rally style pace and they were the teams that were repairing their cars every evening while we just blew out the air filter. There was one bad crash which killed a panda and nearly the occupants inside as well. That was on the beach on the final day as well and they had rolled the car (might have hit a hidden boulder or something) and landed hard on the roof. Fortunately they got away with it and only had a broken shoulder and arm. We drove passed them though and it was not a pretty sight. Honestly I saw the stretcher and the drivers leg covered in blood and was suspecting the worst. But they were OK in the end which is the important thing. Even joking about it in the moroccan hospital! There is a picture somewhere but not sure...

Sorry to make you all jealous but if I didn't post these up I would have exploded and taken out half of gloucestershire :devil:

There will hopefully be a load more pictures from my friends cameras tomorrow. Then I have to get on making the video ....

pandamonius_maximus said:

yes, exactly! Same for my Marbella which kicks out tonnes of heat from its turbo. My Dads scirocco also has a scooby vent put on backwards to let heat out the engine bay

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*runs off to read turbo marbella thread*

There is too many threads for me to read damn it!

Superb effort Si! :worship::worship::worship:

I think I'd have to find a different co-driver if I wanted to have a go at this one year though.

Are there a couple of pics that didn't come out, I can't see one of the roof box you mentioned?

VmanC said:

Superb effort Si! :worship::worship::worship:

I think I'd have to find a different co-driver if I wanted to have a go at this one year though.

Are there a couple of pics that didn't come out, I can't see one of the roof box you mentioned?

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Thanks man!

And Woops I must have missed the links for some at the end!

Yes the panda panda roof box:


And the reserved panda fuel pump...

We the people need video :yum:

Giacosa said:

We the people need video :yum:

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Haha, I am running a little late on this sorry. I have all the video I took but waiting to get the video my friend took before creating the compilation. If I have time this weekend I will put up a sneak peak though

Fear not, panda porno will be yours to enjoy :devil:

I'm curious how much the trip cost (ish). As in fuel, entry etc. Everything bar the work to the car prior to the event - or do you not dare add it up haha.

blu73 said:

I'm curious how much the trip cost (ish). As in fuel, entry etc. Everything bar the work to the car prior to the event - or do you not dare add it up haha.

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I decided before going I was not the least bit interested in the total cost haha!

It is not cheap though, I can safely say that!! But worth every penny

Well Qing Qing hasn't had much love since all her adventures this year (apart from a good clean!!). So I set about sorting out a few things. She was overheating so I checked the water level which was low...that seems to have sorted that out. Result!

However a new fault with the choke has developed (uncontrollable high revs and stalling under load when started up), which was the final straw for the auto choke I am afraid. So I ordered myself a conversion kit (feel like I am living in the 90's right now haha!) like this one.

It basically replaces the spring which moves the choke as it warms up with a spring connected to a choke cable. And what a transformation, runs so smooooth!

Anyway, here are some photos of the new parts fitted:

The new attachment to the side of the carb:


Bi-pass the hot water pipes:


And the really funny bit...

Fit choke where it is normally fitted on the 2wd (and later 4wd I know ) juuust above the mk1 4x4 engine speed adjuster....wish they hadn't labelled it up as a choke as now it looks like it has 2 chokes!! haha...


Anyway, I should have a nice reliable carb now both in winter and summer

Well thought I'd give her a check over for rust....

sort of knew about this:


And this:

But the job sort of escalated!...

I had noticed the jack was squishing a bit into the sill...


and the jacking bracket was tearing off...


but basically not sure how the car didn't fold in half as there was little metal beneath the jacking point! a little bit of weight on the bracket:


and a bit of jiggling later and it was off...


So...not going to get an MOT any time soon! At least I am not likely to be bored over the next few weeks or so!! :bang:

Ouch - that brings back memories....

We have faith in you Si! Will be right as rain in a week.

I have a few Mk1 sill offcuts you could pick up on Sat if useful.

I do like a bit of rust porn Not a huge biggie to fix though

How long since you looked under the car?!

panda panda said:

How long since you looked under the car?!

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Out of sight out of mind

blu73 said:

Out of sight out of mind

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I haven't looked under mine for a while, that coat of underseal last summer is giving me false confidence though.

I really do need to get him to that place in Donny for a proper underseal and cavity wax once he's back on the road again.

panda panda said:

I haven't looked under mine for a while, that coat of underseal last summer is giving me false confidence though.

I really do need to get him to that place in Donny for a proper underseal and cavity wax once he's back on the road again.

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I don't know what place that is John, but Freddy panda1408 comes highly recommended & isn't too far from you? He did a super job on the 36 year old underseal on my 127 (just seen it up on the mot ramp & Steve my mot guy was suitably impressed) - worth chatting as you get an on hand Panda expert prodding it too (and any mechanical bits can be sorted at the same time). Just a thought.