Technical Over-wintering pampered pandas thread

[onemanmade]

So after some discussion on another thread, it turns out there are quite a few people who have pampered pandas that will be in storage till spring! PTP being one of them

I thought a thread with tips and a list of pampered pandas might be fun!

1-Onemanmade - Purple Haze The Panda
2- Homeward - Betty
3- Panda1408 - Mk1 and Sisley
4-Purple Haze - Apple
5- Most Easterly Pandas - Mint Selecta


Ok, so my tips are, put a damp trap in the car so as to soak up any moisture which might find its way into your car during the winter months, start the car once a week and run for a few minutes to make sure the battery doesnt run flat and deteriorate, if you can, try and move it a little back and forth in the garage or if possible the driveway so as to prevent brakes getting bound on, try and keep the car clean and dry with a cover.

All other tips obviously welcome, Im sure there is other things you can do to make your car survive better in storage, and to make the transition from storage to road quicker and easier

 

[Palio]

Ha! Why do they need pampering?

You're missing out on Winter fun, and they are perfect for hacking around in any bad weather!

I understand why Apple is pampered (and possibly a mk1), but the others should be used. A Sisley not playing in the snow??!!!

Just have fun, wash it sometimes, and get VmanC to weld it up every 10 years :idea:

I try not to use the newest car in the bad weather (180bhp through the front wheels, with a lunatic turbo & very low profile tyres is no fun in the snow, believe me! ). That's why I need my Sisley back.

I do have cars Sorned over winter just because they aren't used. Jasper & the Super sat all last winter with batteries disconnected and fired up fine. Not convinced regular starting is good, as you can't get everything up to working temp unless you go for a drive IMHO.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Forgot to add me to the list.

The Mint Selecta is in a dehumidified garage with windows left open, and the outside Panda's are washed and Waxed before sitting for the winter. No cover as can damage paint, I do open the windows on a dry sunny winters day when at home pottering about to allow circulation of air

 

[onemanmade]

Ha! Why do they need pampering?

You're missing out on Winter fun, and they are perfect for hacking around in any bad weather!

I understand why Apple is pampered (and possibly a mk1), but the others should be used. A Sisley not playing in the snow??!!!

Just have fun, wash it sometimes, and get @VmanC to weld it up every 10 years :idea:

I try not to use the newest car in the bad weather (180bhp through the front wheels, with a lunatic turbo & very low profile tyres is no fun in the snow, believe me! ). That's why I need my Sisley back.

I do have cars Sorned over winter just because they aren't used. Jasper & the Super sat all last winter with batteries disconnected and fired up fine. Not convinced regular starting is good, as you can't get everything up to working temp unless you go for a drive IMHO.

I drove it in the snow when I bought it to get it home, and while it was very capable, and certainly fun, I don't think that just because it isn't a mk1 it shouldnt be taken care of. It might not be special in terms of value or rarity, but it is very special to me. The rest of the year I use it as I would any car, I do not go particularly easy on it! But thats because I know that as a daily the rest of the year it is more than capable of doing anything I require it to do, but I refuse to subject it to the horrible liquid corrosion that the scottish government pepper our roads with every year. Why waste something even if it can be repaired? It has been taken care of for 21 years and I think its condition underneath is testament to this

I have the luxury of driving another (newer) car for the winter, and you are right, it is nowhere near as fun as the panda, (its a brava) but the fun I have with the twin sunnies in summer is more than worth it

Not getting at you palio, but I wanted you to know why I (and others)made this decision

 

[onemanmade]

Forgot to add me to the list.

The Mint Selecta is in a dehumidified garage with windows left open, and the outside Panda's are washed and Waxed before sitting for the winter. No cover as can damage paint, I do open the windows on a dry sunny winters day when at home pottering about to allow circulation of air

Woops sorry you are added now! Sounds like you take good care of all your pandas, inside or out

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Sounds like you take good care of all your pandas, inside or out

I try my best, but fear I'm not upto VmanC or Palio standards

Need more garages

 

[onemanmade]

I try my best, but fear I'm not upto @VmanC or @Palio standards

Need more garages

All you can do is your best and what you think is right

 

[Palio]

I drove it in the snow when I bought it to get it home, and while it was very capable, and certainly fun, I don't think that just because it isn't a mk1 it shouldnt be taken care of. It might not be special in terms of value or rarity, but it is very special to me.

Not getting at you palio, but I wanted you to know why I (and others)made this decision

I do realise that (and understand) - it was semi tongue in cheek, designed to get people thinking & possibly debating it!

Only semi though because I do firmly believe that if you want a piece of art you stick it on the wall, cars should be driven (hard if they are Italian).

I also believe that a few precautions such as waxoyling are as much as a Panda needs. People seem to think they will dissolve if they see salt (should that be sea salt? ).

There is actually a big difference between looking after a car and mollycoddling it - maybe that comes with experience, or maybe I'm just wrong - either way, my Panda's will enjoy frolicking in the snow every year.

 

[onemanmade]

I do realise that (and understand) - it was semi tongue in cheek, designed to get people thinking & possibly debating it!

Only semi though because I do firmly believe that if you want a piece of art you stick it on the wall, cars should be driven (hard if they are Italian).

I also believe that a few precautions such as waxoyling are as much as a Panda needs. People seem to think they will dissolve if they see salt (should that be sea salt? ).

There is actually a big difference between looking after a car and mollycoddling it - maybe that comes with experience, or maybe I'm just wrong - either way, my Panda's will enjoy frolicking in the snow every year.

I get that

If it was just snow I had to contend with the waxoyling would be more than enough, but the salt/grit gets mixed in with the snow it becomes a liquid that corrodes cars like nothing you have ever seen.

I have no scientific evidence to back any of this up, but whatever the scottish governments are using (or perhaps its the sheer volume of what they are using) is unlike anything that I have experienced when driving in the winter in England, perhaps that is because the snowfall is not so severe in England, or perhaps the English government has better quality salt. But when I travel to England there are far more retro and classic cars on the road, even in Whitby! And I attribute this almost completely to the grit (as it is known in Scotland) that the Scottish roads have in winter.

That and a lot of people mock you in Scotland for driving an older car, so people are less likely to have them. There is a culture in Scotland that unless you are paying it up with car finance at £8000 more than it is worth over the term of the loan then it isn't any good. Thats one of a few things I admire about England, there doesn't seem to be shame to driving an older car.

All of this is just my opinion of course, and you can take it with a pinch of salt (no pun intended )

 

[Aston Martin]

Wimps.

 

[Liquid Knight]

My Fantasia is SORN and I have the 4x4 for Winter use but to be fair I tend to cycle mostly as no matter what the weather I can get to work within a seven minute window. 36-43 minutes.

The Fantasia restoration is on hold while the filler block 4x4 is being repaired. :roll:

 

[panda1408]

Las thing I am going to do is cover mine in salt with the amount of work I have put into them. I have spent many hours getting rid of rust so I don't want to give it any chances to return!

As for storing cars, starting them up every week for a few minutes will do more harm than good. All I do is disconnect the battery as the clock will run it flat, a damp trap is a good idea and it is good to leave a window open slightly if the garage is a bit damp, also as MEP says getting the car out on a nice day and letting air circulate is a good thing. I am lucky enough to have my Mk1 in a nice dry industrial unit, I have no doubts it will start no problem in the spring and I will be able to tax it and use it without doing much at all, apart from checking the levels and tyre pressures etc.

 

[homeward]

Anyone recommend a nice, small-but-effective damp trap?

I intend to disconnect the battery on Betty (even though Pippin starts up easily -- even after a couple of months...); but have noticed that, even with the front air-vents left open, Pandas do seem to steam up more easily than other cars.... Luckily, the barn where she'll be stored has a nice circulation of air (but is well protected from the elements.)

 

[Plug]

Classic Pandas are brilliant in the snow, even 2WD ones. I live down south, where we don't see too much of the white stuff, but when we had a big dump 2/3 years back the old Panda came into its own. Light, skinny tyres, front wheel drive and not much power - perfect. At the time I was also running a Subaru Impreza, which had 4WD on its side - that was actually rubbish in the snow. No power under 3000 RPM then all 4 wheels spin at once. Panda all the way - I remember being glared at by the driver of an Audi A6 quattro estate who'd got stuck, as I slithered past..

The 4WD Pandas must be awesome - no wonder they always used to be the weapon of choice in Alpine villages, back in the day when I used to go skiing every winter :slayer:

When we had the snow earlier this year, the 100HP was also crap - them low profile tyres might look good, but they've no grip at all when it snows!

Cheers,

Plug

 

[Giacosa]

That and a lot of people mock you in Scotland for driving an older car, so people are less likely to have them. There is a culture in Scotland that unless you are paying it up with car finance at £8000 more than it is worth over the term of the loan then it isn't any good. Thats one of a few things I admire about England, there doesn't seem to be shame to driving an older car.

All of this is just my opinion of course, and you can take it with a pinch of salt (no pun intended )

I'm glad i'm not alone with that, most of the people i knw friends included don't like the Y19

 

[homeward]

Classic Pandas are brilliant in the snow, even 2WD ones.

That's one of the principal reasons I intend to put winter (or S&M...!) tyres on Pippin... -- or Hal, if he's actually in driveable condition (and yes, I know he's an automatic... -- but the Punto was stunning in the snow, last year, even with supposedly useless tyres...).

 

[onemanmade]

As for storing cars, starting them up every week for a few minutes will do more harm than good.

In what way?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

In what way?

Doesn't properly heat through, can cause build up of fluid in the exhaust, acidic, causing it to rot away etc. Not turning off on a piping hot engine can cause damp to form in cylinders etc etc.

Some of my Panda's sit for a year or two at a time. Never start them unless I need to.

 

[Didge3]

Some of my Panda's sit for a year or two at a time. Never start them unless I need to.

Char' sat for 5 weeks with the battery connected and started straight up. I imagine with the battery disconnected they start straight up after longer too.
Panda engines are quite nice

 

[panda1408]

Doesn't properly heat through, can cause build up of fluid in the exhaust, acidic, causing it to rot away etc. Not turning off on a piping hot engine can cause damp to form in cylinders etc etc.

Some of my Panda's sit for a year or two at a time. Never start them unless I need to.

:yeahthat: Also the battery will go flat alot quicker, as it will be starting the engine and then not being properly charged up again.