General 2010 Fiat Panda - Parts recommendation

[JoleePando]

I see the spring kit recommended by Dave is a "Big Red" product: https://www.biggred.co.uk/ That's a company well worth saving for future reference.

Do let us know when you've got her completed won't you, a picture would be nice?

Will do!

Bumper is smashed at the moment, so it's getting a ghetto budget cable tie fix for now, eventually getting a bumper to replace it.

 

[koalar]

Trolly jack nice to have

But axle stands are a must have if you plan to work under the car safely

I don't have any recommendations

But I have several sets of axle stands and I don't like any of them

Too big. You have to jack the car really high

The V shape is very sharp which makes packing with wood difficult if you want to place it under the flat lifting pad


chain and pin to set the height is a faf to set especially when reaching under the car


knowing what I do now I'd buy a small ratcheting type with a small flat section in the V

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Will do!

Bumper is smashed at the moment, so it's getting a ghetto budget cable tie fix for now, eventually getting a bumper to replace it.

I was just checking back to your very first post where you say, although you've owned much "better" cars, you're actually quite excited about the Panda. I know exactly what you mean. We've always had a relatively "good" family car for going longer journeys but also a Panda - is it five we've now owned?

We "discovered" Pandas almost by mistake when my kids were growing up and starting to drive. They were the cheapest to insure that we could find at that time. My oldest boy actually learned on an Allegro (I worked in Leyland dealership at the time) but by the time my daughter's turn came we bought our first Panda. A white 750 with points and a carb! and that was us hooked on Pandas, we've had one in the family ever since. The one in my avatar picture was the one my youngest boy learned on (we had that one for over 20 years!). Here's a picture of our Becky:

She's the apple of my eye and gets much more attention than our "good" car - the red Ibiza behind her.

 

[koalar]

Isn't the parts list is getting long?

You need to look what's needed first, these cars are cheap to run if you change the needed parts.

I have had two cars one at over 200K the other not far off

One definitely on original drums as I had every receipt. They were still fine. As certain as I can be they will not be needed. Of cause there will alway be an exception were it cracked, gouged by a spring falling off but they are very rare

The kit suggested above does not include the adjuster, which does regularly fail, the adjusters are expensive by themselves, it would be wasteful not to find a kit that included the adjuster.

 

[JoleePando]

We "discovered" Pandas almost by mistake when my kids were growing up and starting to drive. They were the cheapest to insure that we could find at that time. My oldest boy actually learned on an Allegro (I worked in Leyland dealership at the time) but by the time my daughter's turn came we bought our first Panda. A white 750 with points and a carb! and that was us hooked on Pandas, we've had one in the family ever since. The one in my avatar picture was the one my youngest boy learned on (we had that one for over 20 years!).

It's odd, isn't it. I feel it happens with a lot of things. I've got a mini-computer in my pocket at all times that can run incredible programs and games. When I travel, I've got a modded Game Boy Advance to play on the go. Something about it is just lovely.

My first experience with the Panda was a great one.

I travelled to Italy with a car rental document in my hand, all ready to pick up a Fiat 500 to boost around Rome, head to Montse Cassino, then travel down the Amalfi Coast. What the rental company tried to give me was an Opel (Vauxhall) Astra estate, which was as long as a van. Some back and forth with the car rental place, mostly me being annoyed about having to drive a bus on tight roads, and they managed to pull a Panda from thin air.

What started as a dumb little car, ended up becoming a trusty sidekick. It was amazing zooming around the mountains of Italy, and ever since then I vowed I'd pick one up.

It's not the fastest ride, or the smoothest, and definitely not the coolest. But my god does it exude charm.

 

[JoleePando]

Isn't the parts list is getting long?

You need to look what's needed first, these cars are cheap to run if you change the needed parts.

I have had two cars one at over 200K the other not far off

One definitely on original drums as I had every receipt. They were still fine. As certain as I can be they will not be needed. Of cause there will alway be an exception were it cracked, gouged by a spring falling off but they are very rare

The kit suggested above does not include the adjuster, which does regularly fail, the adjusters are expensive by themselves, it would be wasteful not to find a kit that included the adjuster.

The parts list is what a mechanic friend suggested. I've bought it incredibly cheap, so spending a few hundred to fix it up will be absolutely worth it.

Concerning that kit, I never noticed it didn't have the adjuster, so perhaps that's something extra I'll need.

 

[koalar]

The parts list is what a mechanic friend suggested. I've bought it incredibly cheap, so spending a few hundred to fix it up will be absolutely worth it.

Concerning that kit, I never noticed it didn't have the adjuster, so perhaps that's something extra I'll need.

Cheaper to just buy the correct kit in the first place

With wheel cylinder
Without wheel cylinders

as needed

Here's one that includes the adjuster and wheel cylinders

They come pre assembles

If you take the hub off (need to buy another socket) you just attach the handbrake cable and drop the whole lot on. The bottom spring is quite strong but will leaver on with a large screwdriver

Wheel cylinders can be easy or a pain depending on condition

Last ones I fitted (without wheel cylinders) were less than £50 by using one of those 50% end of month offers that crop up

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The parts list is what a mechanic friend suggested. I've bought it incredibly cheap, so spending a few hundred to fix it up will be absolutely worth it.

Concerning that kit, I never noticed it didn't have the adjuster, so perhaps that's something extra I'll need.

I'm with Koalar on this. Like him I'd only buy the parts needed. As he says, the adjusters are known to fail but then again I've never needed one. Springs are quite easy to asses but double check the little hold down springs, that's the ones that hold the shoes against the backplate, are strong enough to properly hold the shoes back against the backplate. If they are weak it allows the shoes to pull slightly away from the backplates which can end up with the shoes rubbing on the drum when driving.

If I'm doing a service I can predict I'm going to need oil and an oil filter, Air filter maybe, cabin filter maybe, spark plugs maybe, etc. I don't know 'till I've stripped it down whether I'll need pads, shoes, fitting kit, maybe even a caliper or wheel cylinders. In other words I like to asses what I've got before ordering parts and then order only what's needed. This works well for me as I've got SRS within a 10 minute drive, or even, if necessary, I can walk it in a half hour max.

Thinking about comments earlier in the thread where koalar was talking about axle stands and trolley jacks. One of the first things I ever bought was a pair of ramps. Back in the '60's these worked well on my Anglia, Minis and Cortina but I soon discovered that they are all very well if you're doing something like an oil change but useless if you need to take a wheel off to look at the brakes. Then more modern front wheel drive vehicles became the norm and front overhang increased considerably. Look at how much there is on my neighbour's Polo:



Most ramps won't start to lift the car before the front grounds on the ramp. This was what I found with mine so I cut the weld on the end and extended using some angle iron. Here is one against the front of the Ibiza. The bit of wood shows what it was like before extending:



Unlike koalar, I like working with my axle stands:

The ones nearest the camera are the ones I bought back in the late 60's when I was in college. The only problem they gave me was that, on hot London summer days, with the weight of the car on them, they would sink into the tarmac! As bought they didn't have those flat pads on the bottom of the legs. I took them into the college and the instructor made a wee project out of them for me getting me to make the pads, cut the ends of the legs so they were perfectly parallel to the ground and then weld them on. He even listed it on my worksheets and marked me on the project! As you can see they are perfectly formed and beautifully welded! I also like this pair because they have a nice flat saddle which supports a wooden block nicely. The next pair along I bought some time later so i could get the whole car up off the ground and you'll notice the foot pads are not so exactingly made! The yellow pair were given to me by a light commercial vehicle mechanic friend who was retiring and vowed he'd never touch a vehicle again! with a slabbed driveway run off, I don't really have to worry about soft tarmac these days.

If you are going to do any more than the occasional fiddle about with cars then a trolley jack is a great asset to have. Doesn't need to be a "professional" grade bit of kit but I'd advise against something aimed at the "DIYer" You can buy a very cheap one for maybe around £25 - they appear from time to time in some of the discount supermarkets. They do actually work too, how they make them for that price I don't know. The problem I have with them though is that they don't actually have much range of lift. If they have a nice low saddle height (and some cars are pretty low to the road now a days for aerodynamic reasons) then they don't have the lift to get the car up on stands. Others get decent lift by having a high resting saddle height which makes them impossible to get under lower cars.

I bought this one - Branded Hilka - about 40 years ago I think, a long time ago anyway:

I notice Halfords were selling it - painted yellow and black - up until a year or so ago, branded Halfords of course. It has a max saddle height of 415mm (approx 16.25 inches in "real money") and a resting saddle height of 120mm (4.5 inches) It's paired well with my favourite axle stands which are 400mm on their second hole. - as you can see here.

The jack is, unsurprisingly, made in the far east and I've not seen this actual model currently on sale anywhere. However the Sealey 1153CX is a dead ringer for it:







The saddle is slightly smaller in diameter and the wheels just a little bigger. I turned this one up on Gumtree with an address just up the road from me. The Hilka was leaking slightly with a badly worn pumping element. The price was right so I bought it - I was surprised to find it had hardly been used but the chap told me it was just too much of a nightmare now his street had been yellow lined. After a wee while I realized the pumping body was the exact same as that in the Hilka so I just swapped it into the Hilka chassis as I liked my old "friend" better.

Nowadays small good quality jacks like these are almost as expensive as a more professional jobbie so I think I'd just buy a larger one and be done with it.

Pardon our interruption...

www.ebay.co.uk

Or maybe:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-ctj2000lpb-2-tonne-low-profile-trolley-/ but it doesn't have quitethe height of lift.

As against something like this offer:

3 Ton Heavy Duty Trolley Jack with 465mm Lifting Height

Designed for serious car enthusiasts and hobbyists, this is a 3 ton heavy duty trolley jack perfect for home garages and workshops. The TJ3X will lift a larger vehicle, such as a fully loaded van or 4x4 with a gross vehicle capacity of 3.5 tonne.

www.sgs-engineering.com

Hopefully I don't need to repeat the age old advice to never, never ever, get under, or even put a pinky finger under, a vehicle supported only on a jack - any sort of jack.

 

[DaveMcT]

I have four heavy duty ratchet type axle stands from Halfords. They are not too tall or silly money and I wanted something properly solid. My jack is a small trolley jack that oost about £35 at our local cheap stuff DIY place. Its predecessor was bigger but the seals had failed so it wouldn't pump any more.

I'll post a picture of my sill bead protectors.

 

[JoleePando]

Hey guys, little update from the car.

Turns out the handbrake and brake shoes didn't even need done! On a second inspection, it's no wonder the handbrake wasn't working, the garage that had done the MOT hadn't connected the thing, and the brake shoes were also fine after that was sorted.

Now onto the wheels (which are very rusty) and the most important part - Installing a new CD player!

Now, I did get the CD player, but there's a lot of rattle when driving. I tried to remove it today but now the cage is all bent. Should I buy another cage to mount the CD player, or can the current janky one just be bent back into shape? It's quite misshapen at the moment and I can't even get the CD player to sit flush again right now.

 

[koalar]

Now, I did get the CD player, but there's a lot of rattle when driving. I tried to remove it today but now the cage is all bent. Should I buy another cage to mount the CD player, or can the current janky one just be bent back into shape? It's quite misshapen at the moment and I can't even get the CD player to sit flush again right now.

Cant really assess the situation without a few photos

 

[DaveMcT]

Get yourself some wider wheels. Steels, the same spec as the OEM 14 inch x 175 alloys will improve ride and handling over the 13 inch 155 usually fitted.

 

[koalar]

Get yourself some wider wheels. Steels, the same spec as the OEM 14 inch x 175 alloys will improve ride and handling over the 13 inch 155 usually fitted.

Best ride is on 155/80R13 in my opinion

 

[JoleePando]

Cant really assess the situation without a few photos

Well, before I'd read this message, I managed to get the cage out, absolutely ruining it in the process, and scratching the standard 2 DIN grey module in the Panda. Good job by me - haha!

Buying a new cage, and hopefully I'll be able to figure out where the rattle is coming from this time.

 

[DaveMcT]

Best ride is on 155/80R13 in my opinion

I used to agree with you and the 195-50-15 side walls of 97mm vs 124mm on the 155-80-13 would back that up. However, I have just put my steels with 195-50-15 tyres the on the diesel. The ride is hugely better than the 100HP. The car has new diesel spec suspension so it's not softy sprung.

My brother (who has a 1.2 with standard 13" wheels) asked what I have done to the suspension to make it ride so well. The only difference is the larger tyres. The rear bump stops are hard as nails but there's no noticeable thump over bumps.

 

[koalar]

the on the diesel. The ride is hugely better than the 100HP. The car has new diesel spec suspension so it's not softy sprung.

My brother (who has a 1.2 with standard 13" wheels)

Your comparing cars of different weights on different suspension,, and probably some suspension is new vs old and probably on different tyre pressures

For example the diesel carries an extra 150 pounds between the front wheels

Didn't you move from 45 profile to 50 on the 100hp to improve the ride

I have had the 1.2 both on 13 wheels and 14 wheels and the 13 ride better is better in my opinion

To prove the point you would have to fit the same make and model tyres as his original but in a lower profile. But you could just try your 195-50-15 tyres on your brothers car. But seeing as it should now be on stiffer sidewalls I am not sure how it could have a positive effect on ride

I suspect if their ride is bad on 80 profile tyres something is wrong / worn out in the suspension or the tyres are over inflated

 

[JoleePando]

13s have felt good to me on the short journey I've taken them. Of course, I did have a nice smooth Audi as a loan from someone previously, so yes, the Panda isn't as good as that. But, as a runaround, the Panda seems like it'll be perfect.

I do have one issue, and I wonder if anyone can way in. Drivers side front wheel, one of the bolts won't torque up. It's tight but if you try to torque it more it just ends up spinning like the thread isn't catching.

I'm going to get a new bolt to see if that solves it, but if not, is there a way someone could rethread the hole?

 

[DaveMcT]

The cars are not (that) different and all have springs to suit. 100HP has short hard springs same wire as 1.2 but cut down they are hard.
Diesel has springs of a slightly thicker wire diameter that acount for the heavier weight. Ride same height as 1.2. Rear springs are identical to 1.2.
I expected the diesel on 100HP spec wheels to ride somewhere between 100HP and the 1.2. But it actually rides better than both. Even the kids commented. The hard springs on 100HP make the most difference in ride quality.

Given the choice, I would have the 14 x 175 as used on Pandas with alloy wheels. I think they are best compromise between grip, tyre wear, tyre cost and clearance. Get a set of steels to that spec and paint to suit the car colour.

 

[DaveMcT]

I do have one issue, and I wonder if anyone can way in. Drivers side front wheel, one of the bolts won't torque up. It's tight but if you try to torque it more it just ends up spinning like the thread isn't catching.

I'm going to get a new bolt to see if that solves it, but if not, is there a way someone could rethread the hole?

Dont waste your time with the bolt. The threads in the hub flange have been stripped. It's likely the others can't be trusted. You need a new hub flange. If you dont have bearing press tools, you'll need to get a professional on the case.

Front Hub Flange 7608131

www.shop4parts.co.uk

 

[JoleePando]

Dont waste your time with the bolt. The threads in the hub flange have been stripped. It's likely the others can't be trusted. You need a new hub flange. If you dont have bearing press tools, you'll need to get a professional on the case.

Front Hub Flange 7608131

www.shop4parts.co.uk

Damn, another thing to add to the list - haha! Cheers for that though, I knew this'd be the place for it.

Will this mean taking the tyres off which I just had put on?