Panda (Classic) 1993 Fiat Panda Fizz "Pandino"

[blu73]

that fulvia is from near home I did get to see my other mate from down the lane fromthe kennels though, and he has many cool vehicles parked about his farm

 

[FDNY21]

that fulvia is from near home I did get to see my other mate from down the lane fromthe kennels though, and he has many cool vehicles parked about his farm

Oops, well at least you still got to see the cool cars at his farm then! That would be another plus of the trip!

 

[FDNY21]

Picture Spam and Grille Fix...
So today, grille was taken off. Had to drill out the front facing screws as they were well rounded off, and those poppers on the top are a right pain to take out but after using some wire cutters to grab one I managed to pull it off, other one came out easy by hand!

Once off, I manage to confirm what I had already suspected - the car has been bumped in the offside front at some point. You'll see in the picture that a piece of metal that should be straight was actually not quite so straight anymore...

After bending the metal back by hand, I tried to pull the mount for the grille back a bit but to no avail. As to not break it, I left it and decided the best option was for washers to be put on to keep the grille off a slight bit. Put it all back together with new front facing screws and a couple washers and all lines up better now! Won't think about the bump it had with a previous owner each time I look at it

Only thing I may do is replace those pesky poppers at some point for some sort of bolt with screw on washer. Something of the sort. We'll see what happens, but one thing for sure is that one of them is definitely a pain to get off

Pictures:
1) Italian flag with zip ties. Taken off immediately after because it looked a bit naff but thought I'd share...
2) Grille taken off.
3) Front impact, bent bar.
4) About 40 horsepower and 1 catpower.
5) Back together again!

 

[FDNY21]

Mk1 Grille Question
Continuing on from last post where I fixed the grille, this got me thinking about another grille. I always liked the Mk1 Panda, and while they're fairly hard to find, it could always be possible to put a Mk1 grille on a Mk2 Panda... someone over from Holland has done this with his white 2000 Fiat Panda Mk2. With some custom mounts and zip ties it was possible.

Now, this is my car and I do want to keep it fairly original, but what do you guys think? I attached another picture of an interesting looking colour scheme - could go for a red grille or go for a black one with red badge.

It would of course be done so I can switch between grilles when I want to, semi-quickly and easily. Just wondering if it's worth spending the money on a Mk1 grille and wondering if it would actually look that decent!

 

[FDNY21]

Fiat Forum stickers arrived, finally Made use of the first two on each rear quarter window, pictures attached! Happy with how they turned out!

Not sure where to put the one on the rear though. Thinking rear left perhaps, may wait till the Panda 4x4 sticker comes in from northernchap (big thanks for sending it!) and put that one on first, then the Fiat Forum one next to it

Also, was wondering about suspension. Did a bit of research and asked about in regards to Spax lowering springs and shock absorbers. Looks like prices for shocks has gone up a bit recently, but I talked to a guy who said he may be able to take measurements and produce some custom stuff. I'll make a new thread for that in the panda classic section, so watch out for that in a bit... in the meantime I left a pic of my lovely rusty suspension in the attachments too

 

[FDNY21]

See attached, Mr Distributorless ignition system with two ignition coils. Seems all well and good (apart from my cracked ht leads but I'll get around to that) but problem has now presented itself - rev counter from blu73 is made for a contact breaker distributor system, so it's not going to work with mine. A shame, and blu has been ever so helpful, but it's back to the drawing board...

I'd like a square rev counter to fit with my car. As long as it fits my ignition system and fits easily in the car, that's what matters! Blu sent this one which is nice but a bit pricey and comes with other gauges: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALFA-ROME...NT-CLUSTER-SPEEDO-GAUGES-VEGLIA-/262598293729

Anyone got other suggestions? Thanks all

kolza I know you have the Fiat 125p one, still can't find one of those but if I did, would it fit my system or is it for the old distributor system? Cheers!

 

[FDNY21]

So after a bit of thinking, there may be a way to make the rev counter work that I was originally going to buy off of Blu.

The counter is made to run on the single coil distributor system but I have the twin coil distributorless one. Which means instead of one coil dealing 4 sparks, it's two coils dealing 2 sparks each (but out two wires per, so wasted spark system). So if the sparks were added together using some sort of diode, it may be possible to make a proper reading on the gauge?

I'm not 100% sure on this and if it will work. But I'll be asking around to see if I can get it to. There's a picture attached of someone that did something slightly similar to this on a Golf to get the right reading, and there's somewhere else about it being used on an old Escort. Maybe I can get it to work on Pandino, too!

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HT leads now ordered. Only £8 for NGK 8192 set at the minute.

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Mk1 grille arrived, damaged in transit. Working it out with the seller. Hopefully it gets resolved, and then I can work on fixing the grille, then getting badge and paint to get it all done up properly!

 

[kolza]

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic-guides/139484-install-rev-counter.html

 

[kolza]

This is my favorite made by @jangcy

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/138825-tacho-rev-counter-gauge-problem.html


https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/178314-rev-counter.html

 

[blu73]

that is immense that is - good work jangcy, I love that!

 

[jangcy]

Thank you

 

[FDNY21]

Thanks for the info and links kolza and jangcy - at least I'll be able to use the rev counter from blu73 now!

Sounds like this info will help with the twin coil packs... should take pulses directly from the ECU:
1. Remove ECU wiring loom. (don't need to remove the ECU)
2. Have the signal wire for the tacho meter with a frayed end.
3. Feed this into the ECU where pin 23 is.
4. Whalst holding this wire in place, re-place the ECU wiring loom to the ECU.

Credit to Most Easterly Pandas for that one. Pin 23 is for the fuel pump/rev counter if fitted, so that should work!
Dragon Man was a good help too, sent him a message about it. Seems there's a couple ways it can be done.

Will be getting the counter from blu in a couple of weeks, will place it and do the wiring in my own time afterwards unless we have time to do that as well!

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On the topic of the mk1 grille, claim has been placed with the postal company who request the item is not repaired and packaging is kept. Hopefully this doesn't take too long... I've been looking forward to getting this project started as well

 

[FDNY21]

The very old ht leads are no longer on the car. Cat decided she wanted to help, as you can see in the attached pictures...

New NGK ht leads are on now. Checked spark plugs and they look like decent Bosch ones, likely replaced in the service the previous owner did so those are all good. You can see the new leads in the pictures below, the iPhone 5 flash doesn't do it justice but it's the best I could do without getting out the DSLR

Only casualty was one of the old ht leads, in fact the last one. Was much harder to pull off. Tried again and it came straight out. Great, so I thought! The wire had snapped and left the connector on the end of the spark plug. Another good tug, a pair of pliers and a bit of a laugh later, it was off and the new leads quickly went on.

Pandino started straight up, not sounding too much different... hopefully that means all 4 cylinders are firing then

Next up: grille, rust treating, paint touch ups

 

[FDNY21]

As promised, next up was the grille... Parcelforce decided to pay out a sweet nothing for damaging the mk1 grille, so I returned the grille back to normal shape myself. Placed the edges on the workbench, used a hammer to get the kinks out and placed it on the floor, pushed a little and we're golden.

Did a small clean and a bit of sanding on the primer paint already on there and then sprayed over the back in red. Tomorrow I'll get around to cleaning the front and spraying that! Now purchased a badge on eBay too, so that I can put that on the grille when it's finished... so yeah, looks like we're going red rather than black for now

Also applied the last Fiat Forum sticker to the back, and thanks to northernchap the Fiat Panda 4x4 Italia Club sticker! I think it looks great. Glad I decided to put them in these positions. Take a look at them in my attached pictures!

 

[FDNY21]

So today, I cleaned up the front of the grille and gave it a few coats of Halfords Fiat Racing Red, turned out not half bad Only problem is that I messed up one of the corners with some overspray, then made a crap attempt at fixing it... I ran out of paint so I'll have to fix that one some time but for now it'll do :slayer:

Removed the old grille fairly easily now I know the trick to it. Put it in a drawer till I decide what I'll do with it (going to keep it in case I want to switcheroo).

The new grille is now fitted with a couple of zipties. Bar painting that last little corner again, the only thing left to do is properly fit it and have a quick chat to insurance about it! Hopefully all goes well with that, and the badge for it should be in the post now

Tomorrow, I'll be seeing blu73 for a chat and that tacho... and potentially a switch of indicators lenses. But as he already knows, I'm a bit indecisive, so we'll have to see about that one

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

Looks great well done! Did you clear coat lacquer it as well?

 

[blu73]

yes indicator lenses and tacho are in my car ready fella.. Of course being a fiat it was way harder than you'd expect to get the lenses off lol.. stupid plastic headed screws - they were always gonna go brittle and become useless, fiat do like to test my patience sometimes.

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

In true Yorkshire style I must announce that a good quality 1 and a half inch 10 gram wood screw is an ideal replacement for said plastic - headed 25 year old fiat screw...

 

[blu73]

ah yes, i am sure it would, its pretty much all it is anyway just with a silly brittle plastic end lol.. I manged to get 2 out (one on each lens rather than both of one, obviously) with just a screwdriver. I heated a phillips screwdriver with my blowtorch a bit and pushed it into the head of the 3rd and stood there and waited for it to cool and the plastic reset, came straight out Tried same on the last and it just snapped a bit off, so ended up reheating screwdriver and pushing it in to melt the head and then just pulling lens off.
So all but one are reusable although i wouldn't use them lol

 

[kolza]

have a quick chat to insurance about it!

You must have hell of a lot of spare time mate.

Mk2 pre '93 grill in std black all the way, mk1 grill on mk2 have that odd angle - still looks smart. Clear indicators will make it look even better.
What next? 40mm drop and set of minilites?