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Panda (Classic) Pandani - 1000CL restoration

Introduction

Right, I've decided to start a thread showing the restoration of Pandani; my 1990 1000CL which I bought in Shipley last August for £421 via eBay.

These are the photos from the original eBay advert.

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It came with an MOT and drives great but once I got it home and a detailed inspection was carried out it was evident that it may not get through the next MOT due to rot in the floor pan. I knew I was going to have to spend money on any Panda so I wasn't surprised by the work that is needed and pleased I got one at a good price that drives. :D I was happy to get a Panda after being Pandaless for nearly 20 years and was looking forward to the restoration ahead.

Coming over on Liverpool ferry
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Home at last and detailed inspection begins
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Before any work is started I then spent the following 4 months buying small pieces of trim and parts as well as obtaining quotes for a full exterior respray along with welding and patching. After spending a small fortune on eBay for parts and trim and thanks to Binhoker, not only for parts from his Panda 'Lipstick' but for directing me to a scrapyard near Ballycastle (probably the only one in NI that has a classic Panda), I've obtained almost everything I need to get started.

The project is intended to be a slow one for next year or two despite having almost all the stuff I need mainly due to other commitments etc. that I'm sure many of us will be too well familiar. Pandani's currently SORNed and hibernating in the garage after the welding and respray was completed a week before Christmas and I intend to have her on the road in the spring allbeit with plenty more work still needing done then.:)

I've obtained some good advice from others including people on Fiat Forum and it's well appreciated.
Brilliant thread, got a few bits from it which will help me as I go forward already! Though got to ask, how did you steam clean it? Think I've got a wallpaper steamer thing somewhere, something like that do the job?
Thanks for your comment.:)
I didn't personally steam clean it, instead I got a local company that specializes in carpet and upholstery cleaning to do it and I didn't see the equipment he used. It cost £30 to get cleaned but well worth it as I was delighted with the result, especially given that it was so dirty and had oil and rust stains from being in a disused Panda for years if not a decade or two.:)
 
That sounds like a fair price. Might brush the dog hairs off mine and see what the carpet underneath looks like before deciding but may well make a few phone calls! Cheers(y)
 
REAR SUSPENSION AND BRAKES
Collected the car yesterday from the new mechanic I'd left it with last week, I have to say I'm really pleased with his work and the final result. All the work was done with no hassles unlike what I was experiencing with the previous guy. Below are all the parts I'd been gathering in recent weeks and some as far back as October and were delivered from UK mainland as well as Poland and Italy after buying on eBay and Partsworld.

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I had got two short pieces of 2mm thick angle iron cut and reinforced to replace the rotten steel pieces that were located at the top of the rear spring mounts; this was an MOT failure.

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I had decided to replace the rear brakes all together along with the suspension and axle as the car warrants it seeing as I'm not selling it, I also got the fuel tank straps replaced after reading a few threads on here about renewing them. I'd received advice from various forum members regarding the brakes and even on the welding of the top spring mounts and for this I'm very thankful, it's all turned out a great hassle free job. onemanmade even kindly sent me new securing bolts for the wheel cylinders as he'd advised they're known for stripping. Great job.(y)

So, out with the old...

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...and in with the new.

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As usual some of these are taken upside down; I never seem to get it right.:)

The mechanic that did the work even said I can call up to his place someday after the MOT to use his ramp in order to spray on some underseal over the primed areas, I was pleased with this offer and I'll certainly be taking him up on this. Now to get the MOT done and get the car on the road for next 6 months.
 
RADIATOR BADGE

A while ago I was looking for a new radiator badge but was unable to source one so decided I'd polish the existing.

Today I gave it a go using some stuff called Acryl that I got off Amazon and I thought the result was quite good after only three or four minutes' polishing.

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This is pretty well the same job I did on mine a couple of months back, good work. :) One thing to consider is if the axle is worth saving, I know at the moment they are still available at a very reasonable price but I fabriacted new spring cups, welded them up and repainted the original axle, I know Vernon has also done this a couple of times. Your old axle might be useful to someone, I know if I needed to do mine now it's on the road I'd rather fix up an axle off the car then swap than have the car on 2 wheels as long as I did for the repair!

Does now look very smart under there and the mechanics ramp will make life a whole heap easier when it comes to the underseal too.

I've got a mk1 grille I'll eventually fit so not even looked at the badge but it does look to have brightened up nicely. Does it have a clear plastic front on it, so effectively needed polishing like the plastic headlights sometimes need on some more modern cars? Just wondering as the badges on the back of mine are a bit faded, not sure if the stuff you got would fix that sort of thing?

Fingers crossed for the MOT, when is it going in?
 
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Yea!!!! Another Panda in Ni!!!

Seen your car yesterday, it looked amazing

Just wanted to say Hi as I couldn't find you at Kilbroney

Jim
Brilliant! You've got a photo of Pandani at Kilbroney. I took loads of photos but lost them all that night as my Samsung S6 decided to fry its motherboard and I lost them all; so annoyed as it was fantastic day.

Pandani gets out a lot at the moment and I'm currently using it for getting to the office which gets lots of stares on the Westlink. I love driving it and people in work just don't understand the appeal apart from a colleague who loves and has eleven Citroen 2 CVs. I always wanted another one and I'm not letting this one go, I get so much pleasure out of it.:)

Haven't been on here in a while and not much getting done to the Panda due to work commitments and health issues but still want to get dashboard wiring tidied up before autumn and that should be everything needed for her.

I need to get one new wheel trim as I lost one on the A1 on the way back from Kilbroney; only bought them new a few months ago! :mad:
 
I have a full set of those and they're brand new too but like the half sized ones that are on it at the minute. I'll have to contact lukmek again as he sourced the set for me.

Was at a petrol station in Bangor and to get this photo as the opportunity presented itself.
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They sure are rare alright. I've had a good lot of looks and people coming up and talking about it as well as people driving past and flashing lights and giving thumbs up in appreciation.

Do you know the person who owns the red LHD Panda? It was parked about 10 doors away from me one night but I've never seen it since.
 
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