Panda (Classic) Grey Sisley Panda, one of first 500?

[matthewedwards]

So after a year and a half of inactivity my Sisley Panda is now going to get some attention. Bought unseen off Ebay as a none runner more by accident than anything cus I've always wanted one to add to my collection of 4x4s with Steyr Puch running gear. Yes I know that's sad!
The Panda was stuck in gear and with no keys and pretty rusty. On the bright side the only way is up! If it is saveable with my (Very) limited welding skills it will be restored on a tight budget to working condition and used for fun and the odd green lane trip as I live near the Peak District.
When I got it home I removed the ignition barrel and steering lock and wedged the clutch pedal down with a piece of wood so I could steer it into the last free slot on my drive. Here it sat for 18 months quietly rusting...

A couple of weekends back I finally had some free time for the Panda. I decided a quick win was needed to get me in a more positive frame of mind for the task ahead so thought I'd try to get it started. I checked the oil level and removed the coil feed to stop it firing. 20 minutes faffing around with a battery pack and the dismantled ignition switch resulted in it turning over and got the oil flowing. Coil feed back on and it started! Engine sounds sweet although the back box is rotten so a bit of a throaty exhaust note. It made me far happier than it should to hear it, my neighbours probably weren't as pleased

Initial quick look over suggests a new one of everything is needed

Most obvious things so far are:

Rear passenger arch (Rusty)
Windscreen (Cracked - MOT failure)
Rear silencer (Rotten)
Lock set and ignition barrel assembly
Both doors repairing or replaced (Bad rust in usual places at bottom)
Bonnet repairing or replacing (Dented)
Rear passenger window catch (Boken)
Tailgate repairing or replacing (Dented and rotten along bottom edge)
Sills - rotten
Interior - sh*te - front seats will need replacing or re-covering, rest might clean up
Spare wheel - missing

No doubt more horrors await once trim is removed, next job is to free up some garage space, get it on skates and wheel it in for the winter. Then I'm going to try and get it out of gear, it is resisting all attempts to do so by using the gear stick which is a mixture of interesting, puzzling and worrying. Mainly worrying.

Bought a new welding apron and a load of new discs for my grinder in preperation. I'll add some pictures if I can work out how to, I'm a bit of a div when it comes to computers.

Matt

 

[northernchap]

Good stuff, and welcome!

I just replaced a rotten back box on mine, got it from Click Car Parts on eBay and the brand was Klarius. Seems a decent quality part and they did check my reg to make sure it was the correct one. Hope this helps!

http://r.ebay.com/mVaNpb

NB - this is the one I got, think yours would be different as earlier model.

 

[andyholli]

.. it is resisting all attempts to do so by using the gear stick which is a mixture of interesting, puzzling and worrying. Mainly worrying.

I bought mine unseen off eBay for £500 so your story so far rings a bell. If it comes to it and the box needs opening up then I can help you so don't worry too much about that. Everything is fixable or replaceable.

And once it's done, I'd be interested in a back to back with your G-Wagen.- To quote Autocar's test of an AMG G63 Edition 463 today "There's a good deal of dive as you get on the brakes, loads of body roll in corners.." Which reminded me of some of the characteristics I love in the Panda..

 

[matthewedwards]

Thanks for the info northernchap, will check it out.
Andy, I am on holiday for a week but will hopefully get the panda in to the garage when I get back and have a look at the gear problem. Shouldn't be much of a job to take the gear box off if it comes to it. Not had much of a look yet so it might not be that drastic hopefully.
I do love my G Wagen, it's old, rusty, slow and very thirsty but good fun and awesome off road. Had some good times up in the Peak District in it, especially in the snow. The body rolls around on the soft springs quite a lot, pretty scary when I first got it and was used to the stiff leaf springs of the Suzuki but a lot more comfortable.

 

[northernchap]

I do love my G Wagen, it's old, rusty, slow and very thirsty but good fun and awesome off road.

Apart from the highlighted, you've pretty much described the Panda world so you'll fit right in!

 

[matthewedwards]

I'm guessing the panda will be faster than the G Wagen and do more than 12mpg so win win!

 

[kolza]

No choice other then name your panda the " P Wagen "...

 

[matthewedwards]

Ha ha - I like it! Just got back from a week in Portugal and my hire car was a new Fiat Panda - good little car. Cost £35 to fill the tank up and that's all it cost for a week's driving round. Well impressed!
Going to try and get the Sisley into the garage this weekend if there is enough space on the street to shift everything off my drive.