Technical Just started and could do with some 4x4 help.

[Derek C]

So the Gazebo ended up in the hedge with significant limbs broken.
My clever water ballast containers fared even worse.







The Panda took a minor hit. Tough these classic Italians!






Pi**ed doesnt even come close to my current mood.

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

Looks fantastic Derek, great work!

You need to ensure that filler neck is pushed as far onto the tank inlet as possible. At present looking at the pictures I believe it needs to go alot further onto the tank inlet. This must be done to prevent damage from the tyre. This can be done by soaking the end of the filler pipe with insert in a bowl of boiling water to make the plastic and rubber more malleable, then quickly pushing it in place. It should cover the entire metal inlet and pretty much touch the body of the tank. Hope this helps.

 

[andyholli]

Pi**ed doesnt even come close to my current mood.

Beautifully high quality work that I know I'm not capable of - I doff my hat to you sir.

But..

It's a 4x4. And moderate cosmetic or mechanical damage comes with the exploring these cars are meant for. So maybe this incident smoothly paves the way from painstaking restoration, to active fun, avoiding fear or guilt en-route?

- Hoping to see you out enjoying, without fear, one of our green lane trips soon, and looking forward to admiring the car.

Just trying to put a positive spin on a dispiriting event beyond your control.

 

[Derek C]

It should cover the entire metal inlet and pretty much touch the body of the tank. Hope this helps.

Thanks Andy


Will give it a try. Its is pretty much hard up to the indie edge of the tank but we will see.

 

[Derek C]

Just trying to put a positive spin on a dispiriting event beyond your control.

Thank you!
Just wish I had listened to the weather report!


In truth I knew the paint would take a hit before I finished but I expected it to be at my hand.


Spare paint is ready so I hope my air-bush skills and dent puller can make the grade.:slayer:

 

[Derek C]

So back to the previous work and we are up to the end of August.
Popped the wheels on for a few images .

Then on to other stuff.
A shot for Andy to comment on?

Handbrake cable laid in well.

Clean up and the master cylinder and servo with a new site of custom hoses from furoreproducts.co.uk.

And a new site of tube work lifted from a Land Rover kit for £11!

Good friend Mel came round to assist with the brake lines. Used to work on Land Rovers which helps apparently.

Servo looked better? Even better when I put it the right way up!:devil:

New Pin

Right way up.:bang:

Rear tube-work done.

Hoses in.

I will not need a jack to work underneath this Panda!:slayer:

Few steampumk twists.

Painted and trimmed callipers done.

Exhaust and radiator now delivered.
More soon.

 

[Derek C]

Right up to date now. With the weather that took out the paintwork still ongoing retreated to the garage for some work on the propshaft.
New hex caps for the bearings.


Straps fabricated for the bearing supports.

Few bolts and all looking neat.

Few touch up brushes of paint and ready for refit.

Now a bit of an impulse buy I set about fitting the K&N filter for the Weber. Now its not a factory fit for this carb. Needs an extra hole.
Used some 5mm brass threaded bar for the support after removing the original bracket.

UK K&N Ref for the 32 model carb.

Drill extra 7mm hole for the correct location.

Couple of short bolts with lock nuts to cover the holes we wont use.

Bit of cutting back to look smarter but it all fits OK

Ready to fit. Probably going to need to go up a jet size and fit a foam surround for puddle hopping days.


More later.
Thanks for looking.

 

[Sjvarley]

Brilliant stuff D C. Concise. And detailed record. Great work would love to see this. Perfect panda. Ps. I am on the road with the Panda 4x4 GT 100







sorry for the thread hijack

 

[Derek C]

Steve you can hijack this thread anytime!
Two twins from different dads?
Neat :slayer:

 

[Sjvarley]

Cheers. Let’s have you sorting green lanes out around your way.

 

[Derek C]

So yet another apology for failure to progress.

Work is pretty manic and I guess its all linked that to leaving Europe thing.


I did also take busman’s holiday to Tuscany and photograph a few Panda 4x4s and other stuff.

Its now a year since I started stripping the Panda so I thoughts I’d better get some in.

Managed to get an exhaust off Eurocarparts for less than £60 and it came with this which was not needed as the twin downtube original has a domed section.

Went in OK but new hangers required.

Questionable but ‘rugged’ welding.

All looks a bit close to the rotating parts but I am still on the jacks.

Manifold had a clean up and coat of high temp paint. New gaskets fitted.

Same for the downtubes and bracket.


All looks a bit close

Especially the end section. Not too worried as I have plans for the tail pipe

Carb and stuff all fitted.

Started feeding the front loom through. Worst part will be connecting the wiring and I am just a little bit really colour blind!


Fuse box cleaned and buzzed out. All looks good.

Spaghetti Junction!

Picked up a loom for cable salvage lots of colours and protective tube stuff.
I plan to hide as much of the engine bay cable as possible for a clean bay look so will be extending lots and of course more lights to go on!.

Colour match spray job on the ‘environmental control’ box




Start the engine wiring next week and then pop some petrol in.


More soon.

 

[Dragon Man]

Fantastic work!

such a nice colour!

just keep spraying the air filter oil over the air filter.. make sure its filtering the air good. just a personal opinion but i am not a fan of "high flow" air filters. if you ever send oil off to be analysed, they can always tell you have one on due to dust and silica in the oil.
even fallout has the original paper filter still in it, even though i have that silly cone air filter on the end of the snorkel (which is more for preventing people posting crisp packets and other litter down the air intake...)

 

[Sjvarley]

I word. Quality.

 

[Derek C]

Well obviously been away far too long. Was working on the Panda up until Christmas then ran away to Oz for several weeks. Work took over and the weather didn't support any real progress plus some family stuff good and bad. Life is the thing that gets in the way of plans they say.

First the missing pics as the directory got screwed..


Went in OK but new hangers required.

Questionable but ‘rugged’ welding.

All looks a bit close to the rotating parts but I am still on the jacks.

Manifold had a clean up and coat of high temp paint. New gaskets fitted.

Same for the downtubes and bracket.


All looks a bit close

Especially the end section. Not too worried as I have plans for the tail pipe

Carb and stuff all fitted.


Fuse box cleaned and buzzed out. All looks good.


Colour match spray job on the ‘environmental control’ box



Right the updates will take some time but news flash My Monster Lives! well it runs anyway.

More coming.

 

[Derek C]

So the up-rated alternator took up a lot of space.

There are two screw terminals here and the old one had a tag terminal for the 'monitor line'
Thinking I might need to be able to convert back I added a female tag terminal to a screw terminal tag then started the wiring back in. Don't mind the temporary tape on the textile outer.

Dropped a breather on.

New vacuum actuator as the old one failed the suck test.

Tied up the final alternator and starter motor cables.

Then added the volts supply!

Quick set up to see if my hand built motor starts.

Breather from a pit bike added.

Tied all the loose wires.


Then add fuel.

Well sucked the fuel through but took about 20 turns to get the fuel in and carb full.

Then cough splutter and runs!
Short test run as no cooling but starts first pull repeatedly so very happy!
More later.:slayer:

 

[Derek C]

Getting It All Back Together

So some indoor time on the lights.

The rears were all in one piece but needed some love.





First strip them down and release 30 odd years of dust.
Thumb clips still in good order as are the seals.

Bulbs out. All corroded so bin ready.

Got a wire brush on the terminals.



Used the small rotary and a light metal polish to clean up the marks an scratches.

Got a shine on!

Finished with a coat of Trim Gel.

Looking almost new?



Mounted with new screws and a new bolt for the earth (more about earths later unfortunately).


Done that end.


Now the headlamps.
Few before pics.














Now a real secret...


Removed the bulbs and pop'd them in the dish washer on short cycle.
Quick lens polish with windscreen scratch remover and hey.








More to follow here as I plan a set of LED bulbs.


Interim front end pic.





Tried to dishwash the indicator lenses but the muck wasn't coming out of the crevices so it cotton bud time.






Dish washer trick worked on the washer bottle and side indicator lenses.





Shoved a slightly more impressive horn into the build.



Finally recovered the number plate lights.





More for the dishwasher?


More later

 

[Derek C]

Re: Getting It All Back Together

So the cooling system was next managed to remember where I kept these supports.





Did a clean up on the brackets.





New radiator ebay bargain. Old one still usable but tatty and in the spares stock.





New set of hoses to match.







Last moment remember to swap out the sensor.








Nicely placed and the new badges added.





Now the fan which needed some work.





Quick functional test and all within limits (it works).





Strip down time.








Loving these clean up wipes.





Quick paint and shine up.








Back in place with all new fixings





Fill and test run time.





Fan and temp gauge all worked and new thermostat did as required.


Timing set up. Slightly annoying to get the hose off image rather unstable? Yes I did remove and seal off the vacuum line. Anyone got a view. Vacuum advance on much more stable. Weirdness?





Quick torque up on the now warmed up head. Just a final check.






Tidy bay?





More soon of course.

 

[Derek C]

Re: Getting It All Back Together

Needing to make space in the garage and empty the spare rooms of parts decided to fit some of the larger parts back on the Panda.


The wheel arch inners had a good clean with 50% APC 50% hot water and a lot of tar remover.
Quick before and afters.

Cambelt cover needed a soak in tar remover.

Covers fitted loose as I have some cables to run in.


Anyone know if I should have a cover over the gearbox end similar to the cam belt one?

Also fitted a new bonnet pull cable. Had to get creative as the original was a sliding clamp and the Ricambio replacement was a bolt on end.

Bumpers had a 50/50 APC, tar remover and then a light sand on any dinks.


Before

After a coat of plastic primer and then afew coats of satin black.

I might have to go back and fill the number plate screw holes depending on the shape of the plates I may use.


Next the engine bay sound proofing. Thought about binning it as two tears but decided as I have lost all the proofing and insulation in the bay it was needed but wants a bit of improvement.
Good clean first.

Then went all Yank hot rod.:bang:

Interior update next time...

 

[Derek C]

Interior Stuff & Electrics

Making the most of some sun and free hours. Keep getting asked when it will be on the road. Truth is its a project and I am not working to any timetable now. Saying that all that we really need for the MoT is a seat and the belt.


So having removed all the insulation (soggy as some of it was) from under the bonnet and the interior I decided to add to the hood insulation with a layer of Dynamat. Shame to cover the paint up but given I plan to do a few miles across Europe it needs to be comfortable and not affect the sound system.


The black plastic had a layer of leather look vinyl to match the seats.















Then finished the head lining with the antique map material. I know is a bit marmite but it was in the plan.








Refitted the sunroof panel with some stainless screws as an alternative to a fabric strip cover.





Used the vinyl on the A pillar covers as well.





While the adhesive was drying and to avoid getting high on solvent gave the washer motors a clean and test.











Ready to fit (again).






Rewired the rear wiper motor and fed new washer fluid tube.











The new woman in my life did a reproduction of the padded panels with the map material.











Still have to put more wire and the seat belts in but happy so far.


Cleaned up the door handles and found the 'don't bloody loose this' parts.








Wipe motor cover had the vinyl treatment.












So next is the electrics and the larger parts going back in.


Thanks for looking in.

 

[Derek C]

Re: Interior Stuff & Electrics

The headlamps were always going to be a bit of an adventure.
Found the P45T adapter at Classiccarleds.co.uk and a set of CREE H4 6000K bulbs.
Also grabbed some LED number plate bulbs and side indicator LED's.
Looking at the loads for using LED's on the indicators front and rear but that's one for later as the relay may not play ball.
Generally having a mare with the electrics more about that later as well but things like this don't help.





Fits in using the current wiring. Wondering about water ingress into the small cooling fan? Have the standard rubber covers but may have to make a small extension.







Light up the scenery in daylight.





Work continues on the interior with the last of the Dynamat going down.





Put all the dash cables back in and all seemed to work but the right hand relay (rear fog) is not on any diagrams and was 'warm' with the ignition off.



These connectors looked good but all showed as 'weak' after lots of clearing up achieved everything working.



Then fitted the new steering wheel boss and wheel....

Horn worked on assembly but failed after all the fixings went in. Now no power on the horn, clock and of course read fog light. Agggggh:bang:




Seems I have lost all 'ignition off' volts. All fuses good so its going to be a multimeter on each and every cable time.



Good news is the carpet arrived!



Matching engine bars fitted.



Lets just say electrical diagnostic work is progressing :bang: