850 850 coupe joins our Pandas.

MFB = More FIAT for Barbara...? :devil:

PS: Sorry, that should read "Mo' FIAT fo' Barbara", of course...!

Looks so cool...

I think you've opened up a can of worms for me...I want one too now...been googling all evening ...maybe one like this:devil::

pandamonius_maximus said:

Looks so cool...

I think you've opened up a can of worms for me...I want one too now...been googling all evening ...maybe one like this:devil::

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Oooh, now if that had a twin air in the back....:yum: And it would still be an 850!

very nice, very rinky dinky, looks alfa'ish from the back!

What's the interior and dash like hint hint piccies please

Excellent little cars - have had a series 2 car and a series 3 car like Vern's.
Currently, the s3 remains in the garage in a million pieces waiting for me to find the time to continue with its restoration started some 20 years ago.
Mine has an original set of Cromodoras, webasto roof and a Radbourne 982 engine fitted from new - when last run this was not far short of sprint spec.
Good fun.

Few more pics, not the greatest but gives some idea of condition..........


















Haven't had any time to spend on this so far apart from fitting a new battery. I did push my luck and turned the ign. key. The engine turned over fine, the oil light went out, but there was no bursting in to life.

Actually driving it will have to wait a little longer.

Lovely car you have got your hands on there! I seem to have a chrome hub cap in my garage for one of these if you need one as a spare etc!

unoracer20 said:

Lovely car you have got your hands on there! I seem to have a chrome hub cap in my garage for one of these if you need one as a spare etc!

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Many thanks!

One of mine is slightly scratched so that would be great, could you PM me a price please?

I put my foot down and said NO! But unfortunately I agreed we could go to the auction just to look and it was so cute I couldn't resist! Is there a help group anywhere that I could join to help me resist this addiction! HELP!��

Panda Mo said:

Is there a help group anywhere that I could join to help me resist this addiction! HELP!

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If you find one, can you sign me up, please...?

It's not addiction that attracted me, seemed like a perfectly sensible purchase to me! Initial checks have only backed this up so far, although I still haven't heard it running yet.
After fitting the new battery and 11litres of fuel I gave it a try, engine turned over fine and the oil light went out but still no go. That was all I had time for that day.
I'd picked up a factory workshop manual on eBay and while flicking through it read that the choke was on the centre console. Not having found one on the dashboard I'd assumed it had an auto choke . So, next day I was keen to look. Sure enough just behind the handbrake there was a choke knob, strange I hadn't spotted it before. Anyway, choke out and turn key, still no go.

That's all the easy options tried so now any further checks will have to wait till after the NEC, I have three Pandas to prepare.

Ok, time to bring this thread up to date.

We went to a new years day classic car gathering in the New Forest at the beginning of 2013, it was a lovely day so we thought we'd go again this year and make it the first outing for the 850. This, of course, meant that not only would I have to get it running but also through an mot test.

First thing I found wrong was that there was no fuel supply. It took me about a week to obtain a new fuel pump via eBay. Once fitted she fired, but would not run. The original system used a ballasted coil which I didn't have much faith in so I bought a 12v sports coil, and for good measure a set of Magnecor plug leads.

With these items fitted it still would not run so I was suspecting more serious issues. Next thing was to check the compressions, and as I would be removing the spark plugs to do this I may as well fit new ones. The compressions were all 150psi, phew! even better than that, when I tried to start it afterwards, she fired up!

All the attempts to start it with a faulty fuel pump, by me and probably people before me, had fouled the plugs to the point where they would not recover. Sometimes it can be the simplest things. I'm not sorry I bought the coil and leads though as they will improve the performance and reliability of the ign. system for the future.

First drive was on the 20th December 2013 to the mot station. Before that I'd noticed that one of the outer sealed beam units had blown on dipped beam so I bought two new headlight units that took halogen bulbs. Much better lighting now!
I'd also bought a pair of stainless steel wiper blades as the ones fitted were modern black ones, they weren't worn, just didn't look right.

Anyway, she went straight through the mot so we were on the road. :slayer:

The New Years Day meet was a washout as it hammered down all day and blew a gale. We still went though but not many others did. Done a few miles in her now and she's running fine, hasn't missed a beat through all this wet weather. The engine, gearbox and running gear all perform as you'd expect of a 36,000 miler, no issues. No that's not right actually, I think the water pump bearings may be on the way out as there is a slight bearing noise audible on tickover. Also the heater doesn't work. Engine temp is always normal and stable so I suspect the heater tap under the dash is faulty. We can live with both issues for now as other things are taking priority.

I like to put my own stamp on my cars in some way and this one is no exception, but as it's such an original car I would like to keep any mods true to the age of the car. So far I've been able buy a set of five Cromodora CD11 magnesium wheels off of eBay. They do need refurbishing before they are fitted but I couldn't resist trying the best one of the set on the front.........







They are 5.5x13 so a little wider than the steels, which will allow me to fit slightly wider tyres. The steel wheels look good but I think I slightly prefer the look of the Cromodoras.

Since the last post Rosso, as he is now known, has been to a couple of shows.......



Brooklands Auto Italia was the first. Then last Sunday we attended two shows, well one show but two venues to be more accurate......



This was the morning venue in Petersfield. At about midday the cars convoyed over to Farham and set up in the main town car park for the afternoon.

While at Brooklands there were three other coupes, there were only three other Italian cars at the Petersfield/Farnham show, a Panda (which we took as well), a Lancia Aurelia, and a Lamborghini Miura .

The Miura was fresh from a five year restoration and was one of four used in the film 'The Italian Job', beautiful car :yum:.

Finally today I was able to fit the alloy wheels with a set of used Goodyear tyres. I'd bought them really cheap a while ago, they're all in good condition with plenty of tread (175/70/13's) . The wheels were pretty pitted and would have taken hours to bring back to as new so I decided to just improve them as best I could and give them a freshen up. They look very good from 20' away but on close inspection they are nicely patinated.



The one on the right is painted with filler/primer, the one on the left with the top coat of silver.



All four were then sprayed with clear lacquer, well five really as I also have a spare.



They fill the arches a little better than the steel wheels, plus the reduction in unsprung weight and the slightly wider track have given Rosso a more sporty feel.

This weekend we are entered in the London to Brighton classic car run (1-6-14) so I was keen to have the wheels fitted for this. Hopefully we can have a fun run without any breakdowns, I shall report back next week.

VmanC said:

This weekend we are entered in the London to Brighton classic car run (1-6-14) so I was keen to have the wheels fitted for this. Hopefully we can have a fun run without any breakdowns, I shall report back next week.

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Good luck...!

I love it, want another old Fiat

Thanks Guys.

Had to make a backplate/bracket for the rally plaque this evening, also had a check around and topped up all the fluids so now we're ready to go.

I used some alloy plate, cut it to shape, then attached it using the bolts that hold the no. plate brackets on......





The plaque itself is only made of plastic and I used double sided foam tape to hold it to the backplate. The four self tappers are mostly for show as the plaque has four fixing holes pre cut, but I wouldn't want to rely on them alone.

Had a very nice drive through the English countryside last Sunday, will almost certainly do the The London to Brighton classic car run 2015.

We started at Greenwich park, a lovely part of London with great views of the city. There must have been 300 cars in all, a mixture of classics, sports, and kit cars. Our start time was 10.32am, very civilised and allowing plenty of time for a bacon roll and a coffee. :yum:

We were given our route book 45mins before the start time, the organisers had produced a scenic route using tulip diagrams to help us navigate it. Barbara was not looking forward to navigating as she has no sense of direction, but it turned out that she was an expert at reading the diagrams, never put a foot wrong all day.

Rosso too, performed without fault, covering 240 miles for the whole day.

The first part of the route took about two hours and ended at Saint Hill Manor. As it turned out it's the HQ for Scientology in the UK, but besides that it had a very good cafe. :yum:

Then it was off to Brighton, about an hour and a half drive. Upon arrival on Madeira drive we were ushered to the finish line to be interviewed by the commentator then we could park up and go get our free icecream. :yum:

Enough of the talk, time for some pics. I've included the ones I took of the other cars as some of you may enjoy seeing them......

VmanC said:

Had a very nice drive through the English countryside last Sunday, will almost certainly do the The London to Brighton classic car run 2015.

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Some gorgeous cars, there...! Glad you had fun!

What a beautiful car! Makes me want to sell everything I own and buy one! What's next on the list for it?