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Panda (Classic) 1988 Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley "Four by Fork"

Introduction

Hello everyone, as some of you saw, I am now the proud owner of a Panda 4x4, as previously discussed in this thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/448853-sisley-ebay.html

Rough around the edges, rusty around various edges as well, but ready to go. Ticketed till next year and just been insured and taxed in my name so I'll be on the road in it by tomorrow!

When I entered the Panda scene, the 4x4 Sisley soon became a dream for me, little did I know this one would present itself so soon and so nearby. Once it had come up, I had to go see it. After a very thorough look around and a little bit of haggling, the seller took an offer for the car and we drove away that night. Here's a picture of the Fizz and Sisley sitting pretty on the seller's farm :)
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The Sisley surprised me at how different it was to my 93 Fizz at first. The gearbox and stick has a different feel, and the manual choke/carb/distributor is all something new compared to the auto choke, SPI, distributorless 93 engine! I'm definitely excited to get acquainted to the Sisley though, and I am also looking forward to making the most of the 4x4 system off road at some point. Pictures will be coming soon off road of course, when I get it there, but first a picture of the car sitting with Pandino and Chaz at home :cool:
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All in all a bit of works needs to be done but this is definitely a great start for me in the 4x4 scene. I hope to meet some other 4x4 owners off road once I've learned some skills as well, so more on this lovely little Sisley to come, stay tuned! :D
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Oh, and the nickname, "Four by Fork". Reason being, as soon as I saw the car advertised, I noticed it looked like the number plate said Fork. I dabbled with the idea of "The Forking Panda" and "Forkie", but once I thought of "Four by Fork", I knew that had to be the one... though I suppose I can still call it Fork for short, and if it ever decides to conk out on me then it'll turn into Forking Panda really quickly! (y)

I'll be posting more updates here soon but if anyone has any interests or questions then let me know. What I've done so far is fit a parcel shelf and started to clean the interior, as well as refit the bonnet vent as it wasn't on properly before!
Look forward to seeing your progress on this one and what does/does not need doing. Would be great to know a good 4x4 can still be had without parting with silly money:). Does look fairly tidy from up above.

When I saw the number plate my first thought was 'the little forker' but yeah a few on that theme!
 
Look forward to seeing your progress on this one and what does/does not need doing. Would be great to know a good 4x4 can still be had without parting with silly money:). Does look fairly tidy from up above.

When I saw the number plate my first thought was 'the little forker' but yeah a few on that theme!
I'd like to tidy up some of the rust, most of it is only in small amounts so should clean up nicely and will benefit nicely from some zinc primer and then paint will last. Overall the condition of the paint isn't great anyway, lots of dents and scratches in the bodywork, but that's fine for what I'll be using the car for, definitely glad I bought this as a starting point as opposed to an expensive one as I want to try out the 4x4 system without the scares! One interesting thing about Forkie is that he has not two, not three, but two and a half mudflaps - two on the rear and only half of the one on the front offside! :p And another one, the rear windows are held together by each other. One of the handles is broken so without tying the windows together, the offside window just dangles out into the oncoming traffic. I have spare handles though so I'll probably fix that one...

The little forker is another one, I'm sure there will be plenty of variations on it ;)

One other thing I should do is get some new outer CV gaiters, will have to pay a trip to a local parts place to see if they do them :)
 
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I'd like to tidy up some of the rust, most of it is only in small amounts so should clean up nicely and will benefit nicely from some zinc primer and then paint will last. Overall the condition of the paint isn't great anyway, lots of dents and scratches in the bodywork, but that's fine for what I'll be using the car for, definitely glad I bought this as a starting point as opposed to an expensive one as I want to try out the 4x4 system without the scares! One interesting thing about Forkie is that he has not two, not three, but two and a half mudflaps - two on the rear and only half of the one on the front offside! :p And another one, the rear windows are held together by each other. One of the handles is broken so without tying the windows together, the offside window just dangles out into the oncoming traffic. I have spare handles though so I'll probably fix that one...

The little forker is another one, I'm sure there will be plenty of variations on it ;)

One other thing I should do is get some new outer CV gaiters, will have to pay a trip to a local parts place to see if they do them :)


Owen , get the correct ones with bearing For the inner ,

Do not get the split type these will fail

Do both it won't take much longer £ 20 inner £9 outer Gear oil £20
Oil will white or creamy if water has been getting through a poor gaiter
 
Looking great man! Good name too :)

P.s i would love a mk1 grille how did you come across it? Also think a sisley would look great with mk1 grille
Thank you mate, haha glad you like the name!

I came across the mk1 grille on eBay, Phiz got his on eBay as well, they are rare but keep an eye out as they will come up from time to time. I will be keeping the grille on the red one for now :) I think we both got ours for about £30 so when they do come up they're not usually too badly priced!
Owen , get the correct ones with bearing For the inner ,

Do not get the split type these will fail

Do both it won't take much longer £ 20 inner £9 outer Gear oil £20
Oil will white or creamy if water has been getting through a poor gaiter
I couldn't see any original parts to use for the gaiters, so I think that I'll have to get universal ones, it's just the gaiters that need doing on the outer as an MOT advisory, so you'd say do the inner gaiter as well? I take it I'll still have to get a universale one for that? Cheers
 
Thank you mate, haha glad you like the name!



I came across the mk1 grille on eBay, Phiz got his on eBay as well, they are rare but keep an eye out as they will come up from time to time. I will be keeping the grille on the red one for now :) I think we both got ours for about £30 so when they do come up they're not usually too badly priced!



I couldn't see any original parts to use for the gaiters, so I think that I'll have to get universal ones, it's just the gaiters that need doing on the outer as an MOT advisory, so you'd say do the inner gaiter as well? I take it I'll still have to get a universale one for that? Cheers


Ok the inner gaiter have a low friction bearing with them this can become stiff then twist the gaiter tearing it. A O E M part should be used if replacing as a cheaper part may fail and drop the gear box oil. Beware that the inner bearings are wet full of oil not grease packing

Check u tube I know it's on there.
 
Two and a half mudflaps eh, does that mean you'll end up with one and a half arches of mud when you're green laneing? Re the rear windows I had a similar arrangement on the rear sliding doors on a Peugeot Expert van, key difference being that was a hateful POS and definitely the worst car I've ever owned, didn't want to buy it but needed a van that size and transit connects were still too new and shiny to be in budget! Still can't beat a piece of string across a car to show a bit of urban engineering, though in my case it was a rachet strap as it also acted as better security than the locks from the factory!


I'd like to tidy up some of the rust, most of it is only in small amounts so should clean up nicely and will benefit nicely from some zinc primer and then paint will last. Overall the condition of the paint isn't great anyway, lots of dents and scratches in the bodywork, but that's fine for what I'll be using the car for, definitely glad I bought this as a starting point as opposed to an expensive one as I want to try out the 4x4 system without the scares! One interesting thing about Forkie is that he has not two, not three, but two and a half mudflaps - two on the rear and only half of the one on the front offside! :p And another one, the rear windows are held together by each other. One of the handles is broken so without tying the windows together, the offside window just dangles out into the oncoming traffic. I have spare handles though so I'll probably fix that one...

The little forker is another one, I'm sure there will be plenty of variations on it ;)

One other thing I should do is get some new outer CV gaiters, will have to pay a trip to a local parts place to see if they do them :)
 
As per FDNY21 I got lucky with a mk1 grille I may one day get round to fitting (was daydreaming about cosmetics when a big rusty hole was staring me in the face), I found it on an Irish website, made an offer and the guy accepted straight away, factory fresh never fitted! From the forum since then I think Liquidnight has one he was listing on Ebay a week or so back, not sure if it sold but would be worth asking, think he got 2, fitted one and is selling the other?

Looking great man! Good name too :)

P.s i would love a mk1 grille how did you come across it? Also think a sisley would look great with mk1 grille
 
As per FDNY21 I got lucky with a mk1 grille I may one day get round to fitting (was daydreaming about cosmetics when a big rusty hole was staring me in the face), I found it on an Irish website, made an offer and the guy accepted straight away, factory fresh never fitted! From the forum since then I think Liquidnight has one he was listing on Ebay a week or so back, not sure if it sold but would be worth asking, think he got 2, fitted one and is selling the other?
Oh cool cheers
 
As per FDNY21 I got lucky with a mk1 grille I may one day get round to fitting (was daydreaming about cosmetics when a big rusty hole was staring me in the face), I found it on an Irish website, made an offer and the guy accepted straight away, factory fresh never fitted! From the forum since then I think Liquidnight has one he was listing on Ebay a week or so back, not sure if it sold but would be worth asking, think he got 2, fitted one and is selling the other?
In all fairness im only really focusing on MOT stuff (and preserving) at the moment so not in a rush for front grille :) thanks tho :)
 
Ok the inner gaiter have a low friction bearing with them this can become stiff then twist the gaiter tearing it. A O E M part should be used if replacing as a cheaper part may fail and drop the gear box oil. Beware that the inner bearings are wet full of oil not grease packing
Thanks for the info, I have a couple of links here, would you be able to tell me if they are fine for the 1988 Sisley? Everything on there seems to point to me that it's correct (the outer ones are universals but do say they fit the Panda), the inners look like they have the extra bearing you speak of?

Inner: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...hash=item21015cd9fa:m:m2ze9rkV4jiS-VgrRswD4zw

Outer: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...hash=item1e6d5e5cac:m:msDJQi7x1KJDM_I_gaSB7wA

The inner comes with a pack of grease though, I'll need to get gearbox oil instead I take it? Seems strange that the inner is specified to the Panda but still comes with the grease as opposed to oil? :p
Two and a half mudflaps eh, does that mean you'll end up with one and a half arches of mud when you're green laneing? Re the rear windows I had a similar arrangement on the rear sliding doors on a Peugeot Expert van, key difference being that was a hateful POS and definitely the worst car I've ever owned, didn't want to buy it but needed a van that size and transit connects were still too new and shiny to be in budget! Still can't beat a piece of string across a car to show a bit of urban engineering, though in my case it was a rachet strap as it also acted as better security than the locks from the factory!
All of the arches are full of mud at the minute anyway! Likely hasn't been cleaned in a very long time... I'd like to clean it completely and do some light rust repair on the bodywork, though first I need to get some paint as well. I think the bootlid says that the green used is called "Verde Tropico" :cool:

Sounds like you're well upgraded now with the CLX as opposed to an old Peugeot :D This Sisley definitely has its quirks but things like the windows I'd like to fix, the handles from the CLX I have should do nicely!

After driving the car yesterday, I also found that the fuel gauge goes ballistic at random intervals. Usually when steering or when putting the throttle to full, the fuel gauge suddenly slaps from left to right, and then calms down again after the car has stopped turning/accelerating. Luckily it calms down to what's actually in the tank so that I can still know if it's empty or not :rolleyes:

Quite a lot of people look at the Panda 4x4 down the street, possibly because of a very loud noise that may be to do with the propshaft or the exhaust (not sure what yet), or more likely because it is awesome of course :yum: Some customers from my workplace saw my car and we got into a chat about it, they loved it!

Stopped off for a quick picture while test driving yesterday...
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I had no problems with the gearbox at all actually, but I did have a couple of times where I couldn't start the engine. First time was when I walked out the house to test drive it, turned the key to turn engine on, and nothing happened. Ignition had gone on so it wasn't the battery, but I tried a couple more times and nothing happened. I opened the bonnet, had a look underneath and thought to myself... "who am I kidding, I've got no idea what's wrong", so got back in the car and then it started on the dime first time :rolleyes:

After I got back home and turned the car off, I went inside to grab something to eat. When I had finished, I came back out to go to work, and then it took me a couple of minutes to get the car started. I used a variation of choke in/out, it was still quite warm from the test drive, the starter was going but the engine wasn't starting, I tried pumping the pedal at random intervals as well. Just as I was thinking I'd have to give up and roll the car out the way to drive red Pandino to work, the car started, and got to work just fine. When I drove out for lunch, and drove home, both times the car started as normal on the button. Even started fine after I got some fuel so no idea why it had one issue earlier in the day! The perks of the old 4x4 everyone ;)
 
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Just a quick consideration as well, as you may see from the picture in the post above, there is no rear washer for the window and on the left there is no side repeater. Wouldn't these be potential MOT failures, or at least the indicator would be? I have a spare indicator so was hoping to replace, not sure easy the washer is to do but I can salvage the washer from the CLX as well (hoping it's not too hard to fit :p)!
 
Thanks for the info, I have a couple of links here, would you be able to tell me if they are fine for the 1988 Sisley? Everything on there seems to point to me that it's correct (the outer ones are universals but do say they fit the Panda), the inners look like they have the extra bearing you speak of?



Inner: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...hash=item21015cd9fa:m:m2ze9rkV4jiS-VgrRswD4zw



Outer: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...hash=item1e6d5e5cac:m:msDJQi7x1KJDM_I_gaSB7wA



The inner comes with a pack of grease though, I'll need to get gearbox oil instead I take it? Seems strange that the inner is specified to the Panda but still comes with the grease as opposed to oil? :p


So, parts numbers for the gearbox gaitor a you require are...

LH gearbox gaitor- 7625541
RH gearbox gaitor- 7621245

My advice is eBay search for the parts number and buy old new official fiat stock. Will last longer than any aftermarket stuff.

You most likely wont need to replace the bearings as they aren't load bearing so should last forever.

The grease is for the CV joint gaitors not the gearbox gaitors.

Unfortunately I'm not sure of the CV gaitor part numbers but here is a close up picture for comparison

Image1491656351.083038.jpg
Image1491656403.199079.jpgImage1491656432.645324.jpgImage1491656453.105702.jpg
 
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1988 Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley "Four by Fork"

Both LH and RH CV gaitors look the same to me

Here is what the bearing looks like with the gearbox gaitor torn off

Image1491656665.440941.jpg

And the gaitor attached

Image1491656699.506051.jpg
Image1491656713.790229.jpg

No excuses to get it wrong now [emoji12]
 
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1988 Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley "Four by Fork"

Thanks for the info, I have a couple of links here, would you be able to tell me if they are fine for the 1988 Sisley? Everything on there seems to point to me that it's correct (the outer ones are universals but do say they fit the Panda), the inners look like they have the extra bearing you speak of?



Inner: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...hash=item21015cd9fa:m:m2ze9rkV4jiS-VgrRswD4zw



Outer: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...hash=item1e6d5e5cac:m:msDJQi7x1KJDM_I_gaSB7wA



The inner comes with a pack of grease though, I'll need to get gearbox oil instead I take it? Seems strange that the inner is specified to the Panda but still comes with the grease as opposed to oil? :p



All of the arches are full of mud at the minute anyway! Likely hasn't been cleaned in a very long time... I'd like to clean it completely and do some light rust repair on the bodywork, though first I need to get some paint as well. I think the bootlid says that the green used is called "Verde Tropico" :cool:



Sounds like you're well upgraded now with the CLX as opposed to an old Peugeot :D This Sisley definitely has its quirks but things like the windows I'd like to fix, the handles from the CLX I have should do nicely!



After driving the car yesterday, I also found that the fuel gauge goes ballistic at random intervals. Usually when steering or when putting the throttle to full, the fuel gauge suddenly slaps from left to right, and then calms down again after the car has stopped turning/accelerating. Luckily it calms down to what's actually in the tank so that I can still know if it's empty or not :rolleyes:



Quite a lot of people look at the Panda 4x4 down the street, possibly because of a very loud noise that may be to do with the propshaft or the exhaust (not sure what yet), or more likely because it is awesome of course :yum: Some customers from my workplace saw my car and we got into a chat about it, they loved it!



Stopped off for a quick picture while test driving yesterday...

View attachment 179319



I had no problems with the gearbox at all actually, but I did have a couple of times where I couldn't start the engine. First time was when I walked out the house to test drive it, turned the key to turn engine on, and nothing happened. Ignition had gone on so it wasn't the battery, but I tried a couple more times and nothing happened. I opened the bonnet, had a look underneath and thought to myself... "who am I kidding, I've got no idea what's wrong", so got back in the car and then it started on the dime first time :rolleyes:



After I got back home and turned the car off, I went inside to grab something to eat. When I had finished, I came back out to go to work, and then it took me a couple of minutes to get the car started. I used a variation of choke in/out, it was still quite warm from the test drive, the starter was going but the engine wasn't starting, I tried pumping the pedal at random intervals as well. Just as I was thinking I'd have to give up and roll the car out the way to drive red Pandino to work, the car started, and got to work just fine. When I drove out for lunch, and drove home, both times the car started as normal on the button. Even started fine after I got some fuel so no idea why it had one issue earlier in the day! The perks of the old 4x4 everyone ;)


Flooded with fuel
choke is for cold start

Stop trying to start leave 5 mins no choke then crank
That should do it if not a little coke when starts kill
Choke
Have patients is an old person
 
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