Panda (Classic) John Dragon Man's 4x4 Sisley

you don't have to mate, thanks for the help though. i have used some small copper pipe and some "Evo-Stick Super Fix" which is like a 2 part putty. can be used under water and will stop a leak.. load bearing and survive high temperatures. can also be used on exhausts.

we will see if it works. sadly 2 part epoxy only goes up to about 70'C so that kinda failed :/

i have also repaired my old heater matrix valve in hope i can use the awesome 4x4 variable trap door style valve over the "on or off" style the black 2wd valve has

i guess we will find out if it works.

i keep forgetting to take pictures or do a video.. will get one up.

Dragon Man said:

i have also repaired my old heater matrix valve in hope i can use the awesome 4x4 variable trap door style valve over the "on or off" style the black 2wd valve has

i guess we will find out if it works.

i keep forgetting to take pictures or do a video.. will get one up.

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Eh? Whats this, the 4wd get something other than that :tosser: of a water valve. Learn something new everyday

ahh yeah i forgot to give an update on this..

well i got a new rad for Talon.. well i was bought one by my mum as a birthday gift D)
so the cooling issue has been fixed for a few days now.

on the 25th i went up to the local scrap yard to get my newly acquired Wella 8 spoke rims booted with some new balanced rubber. being a lover of the matcho 4x4 look, i stuck with the 175/70R13 tyre size they had on originally. managed to find a pair of part worn tyres (still with the little mold bits on them), had them fitted to my rims and balanced for £33!
I am also happy to say that the inside of the rims are spotless. no rust in them what so ever.

on the 26th i went out and got some metal for a little bull bar repair/modding.. as of now the bull bar has been a little played with and also has lost all of its original plastic coating.
Sadly i do not think i will have it ready for the Stanford hall event as the waiting time to get the thing powder coated takes forever here in Derby. I am, however. Still unsure as to what "painting" method i should take with the bull bar. Please see This Poll Here.

Anyway. that aside.. on the 27th for the first time Talon had a bit of a.. how should we call it.. hiccup? yeah that will do.
Talon would not tick over at all. revved up fine, drove fine, pulled fine, but would not tick over. instantly i suspected the well known troll we call the ignition module (the electronic "Point-less" ignition system has). so i swapped over the complete ignition system only to find the fault still in existence.
it turned out to be the other well known troll we call the fuel cut off solenoid. as i was at the side of the road doing all of this (yes i do carry a complete ignition system around with me..) i had no file or cutting tool to cut the valve down.
i did happen to have with me a rather large battery, some thick steel tube and some jump leads. so i get to work all evil mad scientist like, connecting solenoids to jump leads and earthing metal tubes to the car battery..
anyway about 950 cold cranking amps soon made the end of the solenoid valve disappear with a large flash and a crack.. (or should it be clack?) re-fitted the previously glowing (cooled down via puddle - it was raining at the time) fuel cut off solenoid and..
yeah there we go i have tick over once more! so i was off home to do some more bull bar restoration.

one more thing i must add to my list of things i need to get from the scrap yard, next time a carbbed fire engine'd car is in. fuel cut off solenoid.

its funny you know, Talon seems to be a lot more happy now that fuel solenoid has been bypassed. from cold the difference is quite something. it must have only just been opening a little bit. i did test it when i took it out (before it saw the better part of twelve kilowatts:slayer::devil and though it was free and easy to push the pin/plunger in, the electromagnetic coil must have burned out inside it as when power was supplied it never drew any current.

Will get pictures and/or a video up of the bull bars progress.

Dragon Man said:

(yes i do carry a complete ignition system around with me..)

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But no spare fuel system. Amateur:devil:
Glad you got it running again though. Always deeply satisfying although I far preferred my last breakdown in GW. Starter solenoid, Nothing better in life than having a dead car, hitting it with a hammer and hey presto it works again

I have some spare fuel pipe. ^

and Today, what have i done?

Well pictures speak a thousand words, but before i show you some pictures of the bull bars.. first of all, lets have a look at how Talon looks as of this evening:









nice wheels eh?

now for them bull bars:















this is going to be a aerial mount.




Going to take it to the powder coaters tomorrow.. and hope they can get it done by the 7th... maybe if i stick a donation in they may be able to do it quicker.
Lets hope so..

Looking good John

Did you repair the top or create that bit? You can guess it looks ok if you made that bit, as I can't tell if it's the original welded back on!

i created the top bit. i actually did have the plan to do it before i saw the one on yours.

this is how it looked when i got it:
https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/299063-john-dragon-mans-4x4-sisley-39.html?p=3263209

Dragon Man said:

i created the top bit. i actually did have the plan to do it before i saw the one on yours.

this is how it looked when i got it:
https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/299063-john-dragon-mans-4x4-sisley-39.html?p=3263209

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Yes I looked back a couple of pages as I thought it didn't have one. Wasn't sure if it had been broken & refixed, but thought you'd probably made it. Good job - must be as I had to ask to be sure

Talon looks like a tough boy with that wheels. BTW this wheels are known in Poland{ they have stamped Smith'sUK 5x13?} because they were a factory option for fso polonez here{ also for lada 1500 and lada niva 4x4 with 5x1... bolt pattern}

Your method of dealing with broken solenoid valve on the road earned you five stars Sir ,and a title of "experienced as typical polish mechanic"

Bartpanda said:

Talon looks like a tough boy with that wheels. BTW this wheels are known in Poland{ they have stamped Smith'sUK 5x13?} because they were a factory option for fso polonez here{ also for lada 1500 and lada niva 4x4 with 5x1... bolt pattern}

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I think theyr'e called Wellers. They were uber popular in the 80s on kit cars like jago jeeps.

You are right! smith UK are similar, but some details are different. Maby these wellers were also offered as an option for FSO, because I have seen them few times here.

Smith 5x13 on allegro:


http://allegro.pl/kola-smith-uk-fso-125p-polonez-5x13-4x98-i3339810593.html

You can still buy them new...

bull bars are in the powder coaters.. £50 to do the light covers and the bull bars!

happy days!

hope thay are done before stanford!

Dragon Man said:

bull bars are in the powder coaters.. £50 to do the light covers and the bull bars!

happy days!

hope thay are done before stanford!

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That's cheap, someone paid £90 just to have roof rails done (iirc)

What colour?

black.. more of a matte than a gloss. i looked at some work that had both types of paint on it, for bull bars the matte effect looked the best. the gloss was extremely shiny.

oh no!! look under my car and find a wet patch.

now remember when i said about the front strut weeping?

well. its gone. no dampening from the strut just bounce :/
and i dont have any money to buy a replacementAhhhh
spent it all on the bull bar painting.

well if i am replacing it, i am going to do both sides.. and may take the opportunity to fit some skoda felicia springs.

going by the fact that fitting lowering springs knacker up shock/dampeners faster.. fitting more taller springs would do the opposite and not put as much stress on them. thats the idea anyway.
meh i will still keep the original springs anyway.

wonder where i can find a cheap set of struts for the 4x4 :/

i always thought cars break when you came into money to take it all away from you..

Dragon Man said:

oh no!! look under my car and find a wet patch.

now remember when i said about the front strut weeping?

well. its gone. no dampening from the strut just bounce :/
and i dont have any money to buy a replacementAhhhh
spent it all on the bull bar painting.

well if i am replacing it, i am going to do both sides.. and may take the opportunity to fit some skoda felicia springs.

going by the fact that fitting lowering springs knacker up shock/dampeners faster.. fitting more taller springs would do the opposite and not put as much stress on them. thats the idea anyway.
meh i will still keep the original springs anyway.

wonder where i can find a cheap set of struts for the 4x4 :/

i always thought cars break when you came into money to take it all away from you..

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These are not as cheap as chips but a very good price and decent quality: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110870-St...912941809?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item19d2ed2ef1

Any chance you could take a pic of the dampers, im going to bilstein the bravo, worth a try i'd only bin them and they've only done 30k :shrug:

GrandeGuy said:

Any chance you could take a pic of the dampers, im going to bilstein the bravo, worth a try i'd only bin them and they've only done 30k :shrug:

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If no good for John let me know please

Most Easterly Pandas said:

If no good for John let me know please

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Will do,
165t dampers