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Panda (Classic) Charmania

Introduction

Just finished a little project in time for Brooklands, so some of you may have seen it there. Bought just before Christmas coz my Daughter needed to upgrade from a pushbike back into a car, and I wanted to get some ideas out of my head and into the metal ;).

I did lend her one of my Pandas while she waited for this one, so please don't think I made her cycle through the winter just coz Daddy wants to play :p.

Some pictures of the finished item.........











She's a Fiat Panda 750 Mania (Daughters name is Charmain, hence the threads title) Bought from Ebay for £103.
No tax or mot, poor performance, and no exhaust silencer, but bags of potential :). This was her the first day on my drive....





First part of the plan was to get her road legal, briefly, this involved

£80 of welding to inner sills.
Replace o/s/f wheel bearing.
New tailpipe.
Re-set cam timing.
Full service and clean up.

After this little lot the total cost was about £250 and this is how she now looked............



Now for the fun stuff :D.

Again, briefly, this is a list of work carried out to bring her from the above picture to finished.

Go faster stripe made from cutting up a couple of viper stripe kits and making my own design.
Wheels and tyres from a 127 sport, refurbed by myself and fitted with 10mm spacers on the rear.
New standard shocks with new Spax coil springs lowering car by about 40mm.
Replace side repeaters with Rover items fitted with chrome bulbs.
Replace orange front indicators with clear ones, also with chrome bulbs.
Clean and paint suspension and brake parts as I go.
Remove gearbox, free off and lubricate clutch mechanism and gearchange linkage.
Strip interior, refit using light grey trim from another of my Pandas.
Fit Seicento Sei front seats.
Fit sportier pedals, gearknob, steering wheel, and chequered trim to door handles and horn button, plus red/grey overmats.
Make custom roof lining to tie in with chequers theme.
Fit radio/cd player & six speakers (2 x dash, 2 x rear side panels, 2 x rear parcel shelf ).

I think that's everything. If anyone would like to know more,full build details can be seen in these two threads which have been running since before day of purchase..

https://www.fiatforum.com/auction-watch/215832-another-red-mania-birmingham.html

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/219521-charmania-chapter-two.html
I love your Panda's! Each one i've seen on here seems to have it's own personality :cool:

I'd love this car :D Hope your daughter appreciates it!

Thanks for your comments Nathan (y). I have a few project themes in my head, so yes, each time I get a Panda another theme gets an airing.

Charmain does appreciate it, although she'd rather have my blue CLX I think, or better still the BMW 328 touring, but that needs a bit of work before she gets it.

Shall I ask her if she wants to do a swap? ;)
 
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Good work Vern...a true inspiration......Its all got me thinking about a Alitalia rally rep Panda...Hmmmm just got to find the time and find a white Panda...:idea:

Cheers Kev, loving your idea, but you're not making it easy, white ones are really hard to find :p.

WOW I never noticed the Headlining Vernon! :eek: :cool:

Oh dear Jon, and you were stood right next to it at Brooklands!

Haven't you seen this thread? https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/235379-headlining-revamp.html.

The headlining has had more positive comments than the rest of the car put together, perhaps I should just concentrate on them!
 
Awsome job mate, I've gotta come clean, old pandas are a dirty, guilty pleasure of mine, There awsome:eek:

have you shown the last owner what she looks like now? theres nothing better than knowing your old cars being looked after. I'm dreading the day my sei has to go:cry:
 
Good work Vern...a true inspiration......Its all got me thinking about a Alitalia rally rep Panda...Hmmmm just got to find the time and find a white Panda...:idea:
white Panda eh, now where on earth would you find...hang on! haven't you already got 2?
charmania's looking fantastic Vern. If only I could get organised to get Scruffbag up to the standard of your 'before' pics I reckon I'll be doing well.
 
Awsome job mate, I've gotta come clean, old pandas are a dirty, guilty pleasure of mine, There awsome:eek:

have you shown the last owner what she looks like now? theres nothing better than knowing your old cars being looked after. I'm dreading the day my sei has to go:cry:

Hi Benjammo,

When I bought it I did tell the owner roughly what my plans were, so he did give me his email address to forward pictures of the final outcome. I'm looking forward to reading his response :).

charmania's looking fantastic Vern. If only I could get organised to get Scruffbag up to the standard of your 'before' pics I reckon I'll be doing well.

:D, Scruffbag's great! in his own scruffy way ;).
 
Charmain came back to Nam for the day yesterday to attend a friends wedding so I grabbed Charmania back to do some little jobs I hadn't had time to do do before.

So, bled the brakes and adjusted the clutch, I think the master cyl. could do with an ovehaul though as holding pressure on the brake pedal eventually gives you that sinking feeling. I'd always suspected this so have another ready to fit, hopefully before Stamford Hall.

Also renewed the front wiper blade, and swapped the sun visors for the ones in my Seat Terra as they are grey and will suit the interior better.

Then it was time for a wash and take some pics, as I hadn't had an opportunity to do this properly since finishing her. Even now, the ones I've got are not ideal, it was evening and the shadows were long, plus my prefered venue (Castle Coombe racing circuit) was closed.

Here they are anyway............
















Now as you can see, she does have a towbar :p. Now there's not alot you can tow with a Panda, but I reckon a nice little 70's speed boat would look very :cool: sat behind her, just like the one in my lockup in fact ;).

It needs an engine, but once thats sorted I plan to paint it in a matching colour scheme and have some fun :D
 
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Looks stunning(y) How do you get the bumpers so black:worship:

Well it helps if they're pretty good to start with, but I use 'Black in a Flash' by Turtle wax. It can be applied and wiped off straight away to give a matt finish, on tyres for example, or buffed off after a couple of minutes to give a shine.

For the towing it sounds like you need a 4x4, although saying that all 2WD Pandas are rated to tow 800kg when the trailer has brakes:eek:

Boat and trailer at the moment can be pushed around very easily by hand, so even when fitted with the engine I'd be surprised if it makes more than 400kg, fingers crossed.

I use 'Black in a Flash' by Turtle wax. If you apply it and wipe it off immediately it leaves a matt finish, for tyres for example, but if you leave it on a couple of minutes then buff it off you get a bit of a shine. It also helps if the trim is pretty good to start with ;).
 
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