Panda (Classic) 1993 Fiat Panda Fizz "Pandino"

[FDNY21]

Attached picture of how it looks this morning. Splodges are no longer an issue... But I do have a little bit of dust caught under my last lacquer coat. Any way of getting it off? Tried getting some out and got some but not all is coming out... Seems like every little thing that can go wrong will go wrong with this grille! Please help

 

[kolza]

Have you cleaned the nozzle after last use? Looks like it is spitting a bit, to low ambient temp will decrease the pressure as well.

 

[FDNY21]

Have you cleaned the nozzle after last use? Looks like it is spitting a bit, to low ambient temp will decrease the pressure as well.

I clear nozzle after every use, yes.

Coat 5 cleared most the spots, my problem is little bits of dust from the protector sheet under coat 5 now, what should I do to get it out? It isn't too bad but would be nice to get it off! Image earlier didn't work on my mobile, trying again to attach in this post...

 

[FDNY21]

Used diluted thinners and wet and dry paper to get out the dust under coat 5, no other way of doing it really. Got quite a bit off, not 100% perfect but good enough I think! Going to check on it tomorrow morning. If all is well, I will clean again before going for one last lacquer coat. If things are looking bad, I may go for a racing red coat again before another lacquer or 2. But hopefully it's fine and I can just stick some lacquer (1 or 2 coats) over what I've got! Will hang up and spray slowly, but as clean as can be this time

Pandino met the dual carriageway for the first time in my ownership today, went well I think! My test is fast approaching, going for that pass hopefully

 

[FDNY21]

Pandino went to Sainsbury's again...


Father put the l plate on the wrong way and I drove it home like this without checking it


On a good note with the grille now, the front is done! Coats 6 and 7 went on (though previous ones were wet and dried to rid of the dust) and all is looking pretty good. All that is left to do is clean up the back, give it one or two coats of lacquer for a bit of protection, then get the badge on and sort out mounting it to the car! Big thanks to all of you for the advice and AndyPanda4x4 for the help!

 

[FDNY21]

The rear of the grille now has two coats of lacquer on. All done! Waiting for it to dry. Over this weekend, badge and mounting will hopefully be sorted, and then the project will be complete!

Test fitted a clear indicator lens from Blu, but turns out I have the white bulbs, so may need to get some orange ones at some point...

 

[FDNY21]

After some careful measuring, the badge is now on. The two holes that were in the grille proved more of a problem than initially expected, as when I tried to put the badge over it, the badge only just covered each side. A bit of red tape on the back did the trick, and the badge was placed on top. Looks like I lined it up fairly well, take a look!


Next up is fitting You'll get some nice pictures of the Panda once the grille is on

 

[lukmek]

Love that badge.. Where did you find it?

 

[FDNY21]

Love that badge.. Where did you find it?

Cheers, Luca!

I got it from the yourbadges website here: http://www.yourbadges.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=39&products_id=88

You can find it on eBay here if you want though: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Enamel-Ch...481d36d&pid=100011&rk=1&rkt=5&sd=122140303324

 

[lukmek]

Cheers, Luca!



I got it from the yourbadges website here: http://www.yourbadges.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=39&products_id=88



You can find it on eBay here if you want though: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Enamel-Ch...481d36d&pid=100011&rk=1&rkt=5&sd=122140303324

Cheers!
Will have a look on eBay
I also like the all red fiat badge

 

[FDNY21]

Cheers!
Will have a look on eBay
I also like the all red fiat badge

No worries! I was going to get the all red Fiat badge if I were to paint my grille black, but I decided to go red with the rest of the car, so I went for the black Fiat badge with little Abarth hint on there

Will try and get it fitted soon. Pictures of course will be in order when it's on

 

[FDNY21]

After a couple of temporary fittings, and several tries at a permanent fitting later, the mk1 grille is now part of the car. I forgot to take a picture of the actual fitments, but here's a description of the final fitting:

• Original screws holding custom metal plates onto left and right side at the top
• Nuts and bolts holding the grille to the custom metal mounts at the top left and right
• Screws (with some giant washers!) holding centre two holes at the top
• Custom bent metal plates screwed between the grille and forward facing mounts on the left and right

And here she is. It works!
View attachment DSC_0004.JPG

Also attached pictures from earlier today. In one of them, you can see the grille in its temporary fitment form (i.e. zip tied with a popper (popper fell out too, hate those things) and the grille on one side was out too far, but that's fixed now with the hopefully permanent fitting). I hope you like the pictures!

 

[lukmek]

Look great! Love the badge.. Still you should consider the Lester fog grille in the future

 

[FDNY21]

Look great! Love the badge.. Still you should consider the Lester fog grille in the future

Perhaps... I am happy with the grille as is for now, we will see what happens

Today, when my father drove my car to my workplace for me to drive home, I saw what looked to be a dent on the driver's door. I had a look at it and turns out it has got a couple of little dents, didn't notice them before, or not that I remember anyway!

I thought it may had happened recently, but couldn't think of anything that would have caused it, so I looked through photos to see if it was there on older ones... turned out it was there since I first saw the car. Sort of surprised I never saw it, but at the same time, in certain lighting and at most angles (looking downwards onto car instead of upwards from the ground) you can't really see it.

I attached a couple of pictures I took of the dent. Not sure if it's possible to sort out a dent like that, but maybe I should get it looked at at some point. No worries though, seeing as how I didn't notice it until now...

 

[lukmek]

Don't look that bad.. Just make sure the paint is intact..

 

[FDNY21]

Don't look that bad.. Just make sure the paint is intact..

It isn't that bad, but it's big enough that I should had noticed a while ago. I can't believe I haven't seen it before, especially with the amount of time I look at the Panda and take pictures of it!

All paint is perfectly intact. None is missing, scraped or even cracked. Just a dent and nothing else, so no worries there

 

[FDNY21]

Been starting to look at light grilles, bonnet vents (4x4/Sisley), and mudflaps for the car. If my driving test goes well then maybe it is time to treat myself, and Pandino!

Been getting in lots of practice as the test comes up soon. Wish me luck, I've just got to be condfident

Speaking of treating Pandino, however, a new Bosch front wiper has just gone on. Now I actually have functional wipers that don't just smear!

 

[kolza]

my driving test goes well then maybe it is time to treat myself, and Pandino! !

Just out of curiosity, are you taking the test in a panda or in the dirving instructor car?

 

[FDNY21]

Just out of curiosity, are you taking the test in a panda or in the dirving instructor car?

Driving instructor's car, VW Up - a bit different to drive from the Panda But I know the differences so I find practicing in either car helpful. If things don't go well in the test, I suppose I could think about using my car. But I am planning that it won't have to come to having to do another test!

 

[lukmek]

Driving instructor's car, VW Up - a bit different to drive from the Panda But I know the differences so I find practicing in either car helpful. If things don't go well in the test, I suppose I could think about using my car. But I am planning that it won't have to come to having to do another test!

be positive! you CAN do it:slayer: