l0JKkl5.jpg

Panda (Classic) My Purple Panda Parade Progress log

Introduction

Well folks, after keeping it under my hat all week (to avoid any embarrassment if the ebay winner actually collected the car) I have bought the purple panda parade from another user on here, neeny. They had sold it on ebay, and to cut a long story short the winner of the auction didn't collect, so the transaction was cancelled, and I offered to buy it in his place (I had actually nearly bid on the car on the original run but I confused myself and thought it was LHD which wouldn't have been any good to me) So I made the trip to fife (and on the way crossed the forth road bridge and saw the forth rail bridge which is a bit of an ambition of mine) and collected it. It took some getting used to driving! My current daily is a Citroen C2 GT, and the two cars are very very different. I have prior experience driving Fiats, as my first 3 cars were a mix of mk1 and mk2a puntos, and the first car I ever drove was my dad's tipo.

Anyway I digress, I drove it home in blizzard conditions and am very impressed with it! The only thing is that it has sat for a while and the brakes are very spongy (not a criticism of the previous owners, they were extremely honest about the car and answered all my questions, they were very kind and nice people and I hope to see them again, perhaps at a show) The Mohair twin sunroofs were slightly damp on the inside (again, not a criticism, it has been extremely wet in Scotland recently, and there is only so much it can take) not leaking or anything, just slightly damp, so I aim to treat this with fabric water repellant. There are some decals and stickers on it which aren't to my personal tastes, so I will remove these, and keep the ones which are to my taste :) The rear sunroof needs a new strap, so I will need to source one of these, or get my fiance to make a new one if I can get a hold of some leather or rubber if I find they are unavailable :)

I am very pleased with my new purchase, and consider myself very lucky to have managed to get it, the buyer on ebay should be kicking himself! And also I am very lucky to have met such kind people as Janine and Stewart, and to have found a forum with such helpful people. Anyway folks lets get down to business...photos! I apologize for the poor quality of some of these photos, it was dark before I took some of these and it is very cold so my hand was shaking. Hopefully you join me on my journey folks :) The panda is currently in my garage being aired out in an attempt to part dry the sunroofs before I bust out the hairdryer tomorrow :)

l0JKkl5.jpg

3KiHpZb.jpg

WqiyhT4.jpg

fdY9WY3.jpg

gWfTjNp.jpg

370g2E7.jpg

Z96yNOn.jpg
Did you notice the 4x4 cam when you were in there? :D

The rear cylinders were done just before the master cylinder was done. So maybe less than a year old. Will be interesting to hear how that seems once you have had a closer inspection. I didn't do them myself, a garage did. So if they haven't actually been done or have just been fitted badly and are leaking as a result would be good to know.
 
Now I know I'm not a mechanic, but that looks more than a missing cambelt cover & manifold hose! :p

Seriously if that's all you could find - a service basically, plus a couple of bits - then it's as good as we predicted (y) Good buy :)

Thanks :) it does seem great :) just need a few wee things and a service basically, and then obviously personalising it to my own taste :)
 
Did you notice the 4x4 cam when you were in there? :D

The rear cylinders were done just before the master cylinder was done. So maybe less than a year old. Will be interesting to hear how that seems once you have had a closer inspection. I didn't do them myself, a garage did. So if they haven't actually been done or have just been fitted badly and are leaking as a result would be good to know.

Yeah lol :) Im curious about why that was fitted?

I only checked the drivers side rear cylinder and it was definately leaking on both ends, closer to the driver more so, don't get me wrong, not really badly or anything, just I would rather change the drivers and passengers side just to be on the safe side, they are only 5 quid each on ebay :) I LOVE how cheap the parts (Ive had to order so far) for this car are! I don't know exactly why they are leaking as such, but better to be safe than sorry :) Thanks again Stewart :)
 
I did the first of my jobs today, put a new bulb in the rear passenger indicator. It was really easy, just undo two screws, unclip the power connectors, unclip the bulb holders, remove and replace the bulb and reassemble. very very easy :) it was just a small job but it felt good to do it, so the clicking to warn of the blown bulb has stopped (which i think is a great idea, I wonder why modern cars don't do it??) and I got my haynes manual off ebay, only £2.76! :)

lkVrbM8.jpg

xfOhGUa.jpg
 
ALL cars have some sort of bulb failure warning for the indicators. Have for decades, normally flash at double speed.

I'm trying to think what it is in my C2, I really cant think of what it is, I know the later c2s have a warning on the dash, but not on the early c2s.

But I digress, it really doesn't matter about what warning a c2 has clack :)
 
I have got lots of goodies on order! I cant wait to see them all arrive through the post :)

New sunroof strap
Manifold to airbox hose
Spark plugs
Oil filter
rear wiper
front brake pads
front brake pads fitting kit (shims and clips)
2 rear wheel cylinders
air filter

there will no doubt be more, and aquamarine is checking a cambelt cover for me :) cant wait to get a real start on getting my list of jobs done, I was hoping to take my time with it and really enjoy the process and learn more, but unfortunetly my fiances daihatsu cuore has sprung a MAJOR oil leak, and she is driving my other car just now, so I may have to speed things up a little :(

Although on the plus side the cuore is going into the garage this weekend, so hopefully it will be fixed by next week and I can take my time with the panda. The reason I want to take my time is because Ive never had the luxury of having two cars whereby I can run one car to work etc and take my time learning more about cars and how they work, and fettling with the panda generally. When I got my c2 it was in far worse condition and basically I had to work on it, while running it too, it would be nice not to have to do that :)
 
Last edited:
Ah ok, thought you'd stumbled on a dealer/shop selling them.

No Im afraid not :/ tried ricambio but they haven't got back to me, fiat told me that they don't make them anymore, and there aren't any on ebay. I heard you can get them on italian ebay, but I had trouble finding a correct translation of "sunroof strap" and it just so happened I was asking aquamarine about other parts and it turned out he had one to sell :) Maybe message him and see if he has any more if you are needing one?
 
Back
Top