Panda_001a.jpg

Panda Our new Panda 100

Introduction

Howdy people, so a while back I was looking at getting a new(ish) Panda 4x4 / cross and ended up getting a Focus estate :rolleyes:
After viewing a car that Carpy63 had for sale and being picked up in his fantastic 100 I decided that at some stage I had to get me one of these little beasts.
So, here she is fresh off the transporter, our '07 100, she's got 69k on the clock, is is really nice nick, not had a really forensic look underneath but overall a nice clean car.
Current mods that have been performed are:

Induction kit
Stainless cat-back system that rattles, rubber mounts need replacing.
Pioneer android system.
Oodles of speakers with a sub that has replaced the glovebox that will have to go, luckily the seller kept the glovebox.

Jobs that need doing...

The driver's seat is a bit naff so I'm in the process of trying to source some Abarth seats.

Discs and pads need replacing, the seller had already bought them but not got round to it, one of the rear bearings is shot, again seller provided that.

The passenger side fog is rusty so that'll need replacing, I'm contemplating some fogs with halo DRLs, anyone done this, recommendations?

The plastic that surrounds the side of the rear seats is cracked, gonna have to see if I can source replacements for that...Would I need 100 specific plastics or would any Panda (with the right colour) surround plastics fit?

It got here about an hour ago and I've had a quick blast around the lanes and what a joyous thing it is :slayer:
I've just found our Panda was previously owned by paulbfd, goes back a while https://www.fiatforum.com/gallery/member.php?uid=9869
Most of the audio kit is still in place, the boot build has gone but the sub in the glovebox is still there, got a Pioneer head unit now, the alcantara is still in place and looks very nice too.
Looking at his profile Paul hasn't been around since last year, possibly over on the Facebook forums now.
 
Just seen the alert email after you tagged me!

I sold the car without any audio gear in as the stuff I had was mega expensive! The new owner had the gear you have installed at Skipton Car Radio. All the soundproofing I had installed - think it should all be in my gallery? Even the roof is done - tap it and you'll see what I mean!

The drivers seat gave way under my lard and not a clue how I managed to crack the rear seat plastics. Possibly done by someone else when we moved house.

The fog light was always one of those jobs I always meant to get round to but never did.

Keep an eye on the boot seal as that sometimes leaked.

I was overly meticulous with oil changes (circa every 3-4k) so you've no worries there.

It had a new radiator on 3 years ago so that should be good for a while yet.

Sadly no longer an Italian car owner. Wanted an Abarth 695 but ended up with a BMW!
 
Keep an eye on the boot seal as that sometimes leaked.

I checked out the gallery, very nice work, I was impressed to see the roof had been soundproofed.
Awesome, thanks for replying. Yes, when we attempted to change the rear wheel bearing last weekend the spare wheel well had turned into a paddling pool!
Nice to know she was looked after (y)

Oh, the alarm still works, we bought the car primarily for our daughter but once she tires of it I'm taking it over as a keeper. Anyways, our daughter hates the alarm, it makes me chuckle, nearly every morning she gets into the car and sets the alarm off. I say there isn't a problem, everytime I use it, not a issue. I think she's getting used to it though. It's fun watching the delivery people jump when they walk past it and it chirps :devil:
 
Last edited:
You can turn the proximity sensor off (IIRC you activate the alarm then press G5 twice then the boot button) but 3 times it alerted me to dodgy people coming down our drive in the middle of the night.

You can also adjust it's range - I've got set to max sensitivity before rain set if off!

edit - it wasn't me who fitted that awful exhaust!!
 
Last edited:
My order from AutoDoc has finally arrived from Germany, took a week and a bit to arrive from the order date but took a week to get packed :rolleyes:

What do you make of Autodoc? I used them once for some brake shoes for a Volvo as they were a really good price for a really good brand but when they arrived there was a note to say my preferred brand was out of stock so they'd "upgraded" my order to a different brand. The alternative was utter garbage so I sent it all back. About a month altogether to get my money back. Never again
 
What do you make of Autodoc? I used them once for some brake shoes for a Volvo as they were a really good price for a really good brand but when they arrived there was a note to say my preferred brand was out of stock so they'd "upgraded" my order to a different brand. The alternative was utter garbage so I sent it all back. About a month altogether to get my money back. Never again

Well, they're very slow to deliver but I'm reasonably impressed, they're a good price, shipping is expensive for single / cheap(ish) items though my order qualified for free shipping. I'm not sure would've gone with them otherwise.
What I like is they have loads of price options for each part, so if you want to be cheap you can. I'm pretty much a middle for diddle kind of guy, very rarely picking the most expensive option.

I ordered everything on Friday 16th, got an order confirmation almost instantly, then nothing till Friday 23rd when I got a packing confirmation, then an email on the 26th saying delivery was going to be on the 27th. It all came from Germany I think so 7 working days for delivery isn't too shabby, but when you've been spoilt with Amazon prime it seems an eternity!
All the parts I ordered I received as they should've been, no alterations.
 
I bought timing belt kits with water pump (Gates) for both my boy's Punto and our Panda from them. Very good prices and arrived pretty quick too. Never bought anything else from them though, no particular reason why not but I've usually been ordering something from Shop4parts so just got "stuff" from them. I find S4p very helpful and good quality "stuff" too so I'm tending to just stay with "the devil I know". They've never substituted anything.
 
After buying our Becky (2010 1.2 dynamic Eco) we quickly found we had a problem with water collecting in the spare wheel well. Perhaps reading what I found at the time and what I did might be useful? https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/461837-water-leaking-into-boot.html?461837=#post4352274
It hasn't leaked since and she lives out doors not undercover.

Cheers, a cracking thread that, looks like I'll be getting locked in the boot this weekend!

On a side note, a normal exhaust has just turned up. I'll put that on this weekend along with the wishbones. I'm still undecided over the stainless one, I'll probably get someone to make up a centre section and get that welded in and get the mounting arms sorted out.
 
Rear plastics around the seats are an absolute nightmare to source; both of mine were cracked when I bought it and so far I've only found one

There are apparently four different colour options but annoyingly they all have the same part number. If you do happen to find yourself some please keep me in mind as well! I'm not sure if the later Dynamic shares the same colour plastics, I really need to compare the wife's to mine but she's paranoid I'll steal the one I need

Abarth seats are a good mod, trouble is you'll want the steering wheel, handbrake cover and pedals too

Nice to hear its not just me with the rear seat plastics!

Could you share the part number and/or the name fiat usually calls this part? I struggle to describe ot without just saying plastic around the lower inside of rear door footwells...

Thanks
 
I finally got around to unpacking the little bag of bolts I got from the Fiat dealers to replace the shonky caliper carrier bolts on the back end of the Panda and find they've given me what look to be heavy duty number plate bolts!
There is no way on earth these are the bolts that hold the caliper carrier to the hub.

They came with no little bag or part number, just completely wrapped in masking tape, I've now got to call them and find out what they've done wrong! :rolleyes: I've also got to try and find the flipping invoice, I screwed it up and bunged it somewhere, at least the pinch bolts for the wishbones were correct.

IMG_20201111_080617.jpg

IMG_20201111_083222.jpg

IMG_20201111_080638.jpg
 
I've often been utterly amazed at the inability of "the laddy" in the stores to understand what part I'm asking for when all my mechanic friends, and often my amateur friends too, know exactly what it is I'm wanting.

The thing that gets me is I had looked on ePER and gave him the part number for the bolts, I've just found the invoice and they've supplied me with 735605774, I asked for 13835814, I could understand one or two digits being typoed but the whole string is incorrect. I've just called them and they're having server issues so they can't sort it out :bang:

The screws that have been supplied have come back after a search as being for a Fiorino to screw some panel into the dashboard. Number 10 in the following diagram. :rolleyes:

https://www.fiatdalys.lt/en/catalog/parts/705/2/0/3/3N/0/0/0/0/0/instrument-panel#735605774
 
The thing that gets me is I had looked on ePER and gave him the part number for the bolts, I've just found the invoice and they've supplied me with 735605774, I asked for 13835814, I could understand one or two digits being typoed but the whole string is incorrect. I've just called them and they're having server issues so they can't sort it out :bang:

The screws that have been supplied have come back after a search as being for a Fiorino to screw some panel into the dashboard. Number 10 in the following diagram. :rolleyes:

https://www.fiatdalys.lt/en/catalog/parts/705/2/0/3/3N/0/0/0/0/0/instrument-panel#735605774
Ha Ha Ha Ha! You just have to laugh or you'd cry wouldn't you? Of course when in doubt blame the computer! What did we all do for excuses before computers were invented?
 
** UPDATE **

They're going to order the new bolts in (I'm sceptical because the part number he's quoting is for (in my opinion) the bolts that hold the caliper into the carrier) and not charge me for them till I confirm they're the right one! All the other stuff I've ordered recently has had to be paid for over the phone before they'll even contemplate ordering it.
Fingers crossed they'll be the right ones, I'll find out Friday (probably).
 
Back
Top