Panda (Classic) Chris's 1994 Panda Colour Resto Mod

Leroy it is then...don't worry, I have never named a car until I owned a panda.

well once again i've been busy (making most of my time off)

first thing was to combat the wheather! gazebo time!


then got stuck in attacking any rust with a wire wheel , then lightly sanded everything, giving me the perfect prep for the underseal.


coverage is pretty good as im brushing it on but becasue im fussy and dont like the look of the brush strokes in then going over it all with a sponge and dabbing it so i get a uniform finish ,ill probably put another layer on while everythings out.

Nice progress mate, what method have you used to split the headlamp??..

Brilliant work, It will be underseal time for Fizzle again soon - touch up before the MOT and the works after

Hi Chris, I've a question I've been wanting to ask another Panda Colour owner. On my set of keys for my colour, I've got one black key and one blue key. I've always wondered why the blue one, as all my other pandas have just black keys? It wasn't until I was talking to another forum member about it and they suggested it might be because it is a Colour edition? Sort of makes sense as they have the coloured switches and gauges etc. basically what I'm asking in a long winded way are what colour are the keys for your, err Colour??

Cheers, I just used a heat gun , warmed it up evenly for about 15 minutes then slowly prised it apart, surprisingly easy , I've tried the oven method before but it didn't turn out too well haha

I hope to never have to do this again lol, my hips are still bruised from laying on my side all day! Haha


My keys are blue too , although I've just had to buy new locks, so they'll now be black but I'm guessing the blue one was the main and the black was possibly there as the spare/ second? .


Thanks for the comments guys!

I have a colour and a black and a blue key, but it is only because the black key is for a more recently fitted door lock. The blue key fits everything else.

Right!not done loads lately as i had to go on holiday, needs must .

got a few things done today tho

first thing was finishing off the headlights
as you can see ive already split them so next thing was to mask them off and gave them a rub down with a scotch pad to give me a good key

then 3 coats of high temperature paint

then i stripped the old sealant off, ran a bead of tiger seal around the housing and job done.

this is roughly what theyll look like on the car , although im currently after a set of clear side repeaters.


then i got busy painting the centre rear beam mount

brake backing plates

and heat sheild and exhaust mounts



also seeing as the rear beam mounts are a state as you can see above ,
ive decided to make my own using rose joints ,
as soon as my tubing turns up i can get welding and ill let you know how i get on.

comments welcome

Great work!

I love a spot of painting, it's all about the little details and there's no point putting rusty bits back on!

Ask on here for the side repeaters as I just got rid off some and I'm sure someone will have them for you. Top points for your black headlight mod...you are the first to think of that.

exactly you wont find any rust on this once im done!

ah cool ill put a wanted post out for a set, cheers its a pretty commonly done thing on vw's (which is where i started off) , should toughen the front end of the car up a bit .

managed to get the custom stainless fuel tank straps ,cut, bent and fitted properly , all with stainless bolts,spring washers and washers as they should be. this is only a trial fit so their not polished yet , or even clean tbh lol( i could possibly supply s/s bands (unbent) and bolts/washer etc , could even bend them and have them as a bolt on ready to use set) now i have my set made its a bit easier to make duplicates.if i get enough interest ill sort out a price delivered.

also fitted the exhaust mount i had painted , with of course , stainless bolts

also had the chance to trial fit the headlights



as always ,comments welcome!

Looks fantastic

got a few little things done

got the fuel tank back out as i wanted to seal up the gaps between the corrugated floor and flat cross beams, also started bunging up the holes in the chassis with tigersealed grommets (all voids have a healthy dose of waxoyl)


also managed to drop off the exhaust manifold and cat off.


tommorows jobs are to drop some parts off to be sand blasted , get the sill welded now my sheet metal has finally arrived , may even try and drop the engine out but seeing as ive lent my hoist to a mate i may give it a miss for now .

well this is gonna be a little corker when done this one look forward to watching this one progress.