General 2010 Fiat Panda - Parts recommendation

[koalar]

If it was me I'd keep an eye out for a white pandas being broken, would save on painting

And put a cheeky offer of £30 for the bumper.

OEM are better quality and will not break in a minor bump

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I was looking around online for a replacement (I think the exact one you linked) as if it's that cheap, it's probably worth it. Plus, if I take the bumper off I can do the crash bar at the same time.

Thanks for the heads up on that one. I'll check coolant levels the next time I've got it running, and I'll keep an eye on those tyres. Suspension seems to be fine (according to the garage) but if there's a specific way I can check myself (outside of "that feels weird") then let me know.

You're based in Edinburgh too, any breakers or anything like that you frequent?

I'm going on a big journey on Friday. Trying to decide if I can try get the bumper off and bar replaced before then or if I should wait until I come back.

Yes I'm in Edinburgh, lived here for many years, Mrs is an Edinburgh girl although I grew up in the Borders. I suppose the two "Biggies" are SCB (Sports Car Breakers) https://www.scbvehicledismantlers.co.uk/ or S&I Thompson down in Gala https://sithomson.co.uk/ I find that if one doesn't have what I'm looking for then often the other does. There used to be lots of wee yards, like "Herbies" up the Wisp but a lot of them have been put out of operation by the environmental laws.

I'm in the north of the city, Leith/Trinity/Warriston is my general area, are you anywhere near?

 

[JoleePando]

Yes I'm in Edinburgh, lived here for many years, Mrs is an Edinburgh girl although I grew up in the Borders. I suppose the two "Biggies" are SCB (Sports Car Breakers) https://www.scbvehicledismantlers.co.uk/ or S&I Thompson down in Gala https://sithomson.co.uk/ I find that if one doesn't have what I'm looking for then often the other does. There used to be lots of wee yards, like "Herbies" up the Wisp but a lot of them have been put out of operation by the environmental laws.

I'm in the north of the city, Leith/Trinity/Warriston is my general area, are you anywhere near?

Leith for me, so nearby Thanks for the recommendations. I'll give them a visit/ring to see if they've anything I can get.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Leith for me, so nearby Thanks for the recommendations. I'll give them a visit/ring to see if they've anything I can get.

Good luck. I like Leith and do a lot of shopping there. I'm also friendly with some of the garages. There's a lot of independent wee garages around the foot of the walk and in the trading estate - Jane street and Gordon street. Kenny's garage - Harrison Motors (fiat specialist) - is on the trading estate at the end of Jane street, it's at the far end near the wee cafe, and I can strongly recommend them.

 

[JoleePando]

Good luck. I like Leith and do a lot of shopping there. I'm also friendly with some of the garages. There's a lot of independent wee garages around the foot of the walk and in the trading estate - Jane street and Gordon street. Kenny's garage - Harrison Motors (fiat specialist) - is on the trading estate at the end of Jane street, it's at the far end near the wee cafe, and I can strongly recommend them.

Gave them a call today to get some quotes. Still gonna cost a wee bit to get it all fixed if I provide the parts.

Out of curiosity, have you ever taken the crash bar or front bumper off yourself? It seems like (bar the clips) it would be an easy job, but struggling to find videos where people seem to be doing it.

 

[koalar]

Gave them a call today to get some quotes. Still gonna cost a wee bit to get it all fixed if I provide the parts.

Out of curiosity, have you ever taken the crash bar or front bumper off yourself? It seems like (bar the clips) it would be an easy job, but struggling to find videos where people seem to be doing it.

Home Page

aftersales.fiat.com

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Gave them a call today to get some quotes. Still gonna cost a wee bit to get it all fixed if I provide the parts.

Out of curiosity, have you ever taken the crash bar or front bumper off yourself? It seems like (bar the clips) it would be an easy job, but struggling to find videos where people seem to be doing it.

No I've never had to do that. So sorry can't be much help to you. Do you have a Haynes manual for the car? they are often quite good at describing how to do that sort of thing - I'll just nip through to my garage and take a wee look at my manual

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

No I've never had to do that. So sorry can't be much help to you. Do you have a Haynes manual for the car? they are often quite good at describing how to do that sort of thing - I'll just nip through to my garage and take a wee look at my manual

Yup. It gives quite a good guide with about 4 illustrations to help. The manual is Haynes publication no 5558 for Fiat 500 and Panda.

 

[portland_bill]

If asking breakers for a bumper, also ask for the reinforcement. They are easy to remove/refit, once the bumper is off. Bumper is also fairly easy. Screws along the bottom, inside the wheelarch, and across the top under the grille. Not heavy, but a bit wobbly, especially yours now.

Product not found

www.carpanels.com

 

[irc]

Worth checking the state of the front support panel - they are designed to "let go" at the top if hit hard enough.
They can be swapped without draining the coolant (and aircon if applicable) if needed.
Also check the 3 points where the headlight is bolted. They are also designed to break if hit hard enough. Replacement mounting lugs are available, or a secondhand replacement can be simpler (but check the connector type - yours should be purple, which is different to earlier ones)
Hopefully you won't need either.
Under-wing bolts are 8mm hex for the one nearest the wheel arch, and TORX T30 for the one near the headlight.
All of the others are also T30.

 

[JoleePando]

If asking breakers for a bumper, also ask for the reinforcement. They are easy to remove/refit, once the bumper is off. Bumper is also fairly easy. Screws along the bottom, inside the wheelarch, and across the top under the grille. Not heavy, but a bit wobbly, especially yours now.

Product not found

www.carpanels.com

Managed to find the reinforcement online (arriving in about an hour actually) from a place nearby. Not found a white OEM front bumper yet, but hopefully soon.

When speaking to a local garage, they mentioned something about the clutch when replacing the reinforcement, though from what I gather, that has nothing to do with removing the bumper and current reinforcement bar.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

When speaking to a local garage, they mentioned something about the clutch when replacing the reinforcement, though from what I gather, that has nothing to do with removing the bumper and current reinforcement bar.

Not sure what the mention of clutch is all about but, if that garage was Harrisons, they do know their FIATs so he was probably mentioning something to be aware of.

 

[JoleePando]

I'll go have a chat with them in person when I track down a bumper.

And here's the next thing of never ending issues. How bad are these wheels? I mentioned previously the rust is, well, extremely rusty as rust is. I'm thinking it's worth just getting new steelies and replacing them rather than trying to restore. In the meantime, is this a death trap or just old?

Rusty wheels - The last one especially is worrying to me.

 

[portland_bill]

I've no idea what the mention of clutch is all about either.
When I changed my front beam, it was just bumper off, then the six bolts holding the beam.

 

[portland_bill]

I'll go have a chat with them in person when I track down a bumper.

And here's the next thing of never ending issues. How bad are these wheels? I mentioned previously the rust is, well, extremely rusty as rust is. I'm thinking it's worth just getting new steelies and replacing them rather than trying to restore. In the meantime, is this a death trap or just old?

Rusty wheels

They look rather horrid, but the steel is thick.
There was an ad on here recently for some wheels and tyres. https://www.fiatforum.com/classifieds/continental-tyres-x-4-on-wheels.36775/
Otherwise, clean the wheels up and repaint them. Difficult to get into the tight areas, so a lot of work, unless you can shotblast them. Mark the tyres where the balance weights are, and replace them when the paint's dry.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Used to be a chap did shotblasting somewhere around Powderhall. Don't know if he's still there.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

This could be a possibility: http://www.hendersonsmetalcleaning.co.uk/index.php not too far to go from Leith. No idea what they might charge though.

 

[JoleePando]

They look rather horrid, but the steel is thick.
There was an ad on here recently for some wheels and tyres. https://www.fiatforum.com/classifieds/continental-tyres-x-4-on-wheels.36775/
Otherwise, clean the wheels up and repaint them. Difficult to get into the tight areas, so a lot of work, unless you can shotblast them. Mark the tyres where the balance weights are, and replace them when the paint's dry.

I've messaged that person to see if they've still got it. The tyres on my current wheels are essentially brand new, so it'd be nice if I could save them, but we'll see how it goes.

Hopefully the wheels I've got are good enough for now though, and just to check, unlikely a death trap? From what I can gather online, it seems to be okay as long as the rust doesn't get too deep (unsure what level I'm at here).

 

[DaveMcT]

Front bumper has two M6 bolts and flange nuts under front of front wing. The front one needs a long extension & ratchet. They both need a ratchet and are likely to be rusty. Front bottom edge has four or five large flange Torx head M6 bolts and clip nuts. Be 100% sure to clean the sockets and use the correct torx bit. The top edges are obvious.

Mine are replaced with stainless screws large(ish) washers and (mostly) new flange nuts. The middle top are narrow and hard to find. I use plenty of anti-seize to stave off electrolytic corrosion. So far, it's been OK on all my Pandas.

I would like to use Dzus fasteners but there's no way to be sure they'd fit so I've accepted the 10 minutes of twiddling under the wings (for now anyway).

Front crash beam has four big bolts to the crash/crush boxes and one smaller bolt each side that retains the radiator frame. Removing the crash beam lets you look for (and treat) corrosion inside the crush beams. It can creep down from the silly sand trap caused by the chassis engineer's non-thinking when they put the flange welds on the outside.

 

[JoleePando]

So first big trip recap in as few words possible - not great.

I was driving down to Lake District which seemed fine, the car was pulling back a bit though and had a distinct lack of power. At one point the light for Injection System Failure came on. It disappeared but of course the lack of power remained.

For those that are a dab hand, what should I be looking at to get it sorted?

edit: I’ve another trip on Wednesday so need the car for then. I’m going to get an OBD scanner via Prime today to check lights so if anyone can link what I need (plus cables or anything) that’d be amazing! Found a few places talking about what OBD scanner to get but I want to make sure it’s correct and gets here by tomorrow.