Panda (Classic) My 4x4 - The Muddy Pics!

[Bartpanda]

Great job Andy! great effect with lifted panda, looks awesome. But I 've noticed something, Your felicia springs are few coils shorter than mine, and my friends ones. You said , that you have "middle " toughness springs, from estate, on both pictures bellow there are two types I dealed with, blue are toughest type{ 12,5mm wire} , black are softest one{10.6mm wire like in panda 4x4 but longer}red and rusty are panda 4x4s, blue are 11 coils springs, black are 12coils, yours are 10 coils?, What a mess I thought all have the same number of coils but different thickness of the wire... Anyway, great job and very usefull tutorial for others.
Oh, and one thing, the original aluminium flange in 4x4 box is often damaged not only by the greater travel of the drive-shaft, but also due to greater stress/pressure on the differential bearings. There is additional drive on the differential to transfer the power to the rear wheels, and additional forces are trying to rip the box apart, because the teeth on the additional drive, and main gear are helical type, and while transfering the momentum they are also pushing each other outside the gearbox, pushing hard at the main bearings, and this poor alu flange works also as a "base" support of the one of the main bearings. That is why cast iron one is much better, tougher/harder to break.

 

[nitro_warrior]

Relevant point of interest to the drive shaft flange chat. A while ago whilst looking for a rattle, I was running the engine with the car on axle stands, I noticed how much the drive shaft "wobbled" at extreme articulation. At first I thought it was bust so took a video of it. Does show the movement at these kind of angles, so you could expect damage if there was any interference.

 

[blu73]

Re: HOW TO: The Classic Panda 4x4 Suspension Lift

A beer after would have been nice, with each of us having an irate mrs after not finishing at lunch time we thought it best to just go home!!!

I know that feeling haha.

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

Bartpanda this is confusing me now, the springs were new and were bought off a part number which I got from my brother's work.The registration number was off a '96 skoda felicia which was at my mate's scrap yard - this was then cross referenced to get the part number to buy the new springs. The springs which I have for kolza are actually off a different skoda estate from the scrap yard which was a '98 model are exactly the same height and number of coils - yet the ones that you have shown in your pics are clearly different, strange!
nitro_warrior we also did the running of the car in gear on the ramps to check for catching, my long drive shaft does wobble very slightly but the short one runs true. I will defo keep an eye on them though now you have said :thumbup:

 

[4WDPandamonium]

They may well be E marked but the Mals apparently aren't.

They are probably fine anyway, but you just wonder why they aren't getting them approved (cost possibly for a limited market?).

Andy your lift kit looks brill, if you can overcome the issues you now have your on to a winner!


I have just had an email exchange with Greg Oliver at tyresdirect and asked about the Ziarelli's, he didn't tell me anything about the Ziarelli's however he did tell me when I said to him I'm not interested in the Mals because they are not E marked that they are now indeed E marked.....happy days!!

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

Andy your lift kit looks brill, if you can overcome the issues you now have your on to a winner!


I have just had an email exchange with Greg Oliver at tyresdirect and asked about the Ziarelli's, he didn't tell me anything about the Ziarelli's however he did tell me when I said to him I'm not interested in the Mals because they are not E marked that they are now indeed E marked.....happy days!!

Excellent that's good to know nice work. Are you getting some then Michael?

 

[4WDPandamonium]

They will be with me either tomorrow or Wednesday! I think im just going to put them on the rims on the car at the moment (might get them refurb whilst im at it) and wait to find some suitable steelies.

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

They will be with me either tomorrow or Wednesday! I think im just going to put them on the rims on the car at the moment (might get them refurb whilst im at it) and wait to find some suitable steelies.

Excellent!! Be sure to send pics

I have a load of standard Panda steels if you need a set just let me know, I can get steelies blasted and primered for a fiver each too

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

Well the handbrake mod has been successful - would love to show you the pics but I can't upload them off my phone for some reason (don't know if anyone else knows the trick of doing it?)
Basically cut the original cable mounts off the rear axel where the rear shocks bolt at the bottom, made two new stantions off the rear axel out of 40mm box section with the cable mounts welded on top. Then made an adaptor plate out of flat bar to mount between the end of the cable and the hook bits that go into the back of the drum - success!

The sump guard is not finished yet but I need to get a riggle on as it's Yorkshire off-road weekend next week! :thumbup:

Started the yearly undersealing last night aswell with a bit more tonight, gotta love that black stuff, I now have black arms and a black drive too :banghead:

 

[nitro_warrior]

You're going to have to elaborate on your hand brake mod! Is it to accommodate the lift or to make it a little more effective?

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

It's because the handbrake cables no longer reach at full articulation due to the lift. It would be so much easier to explain if I could get pictures up

The handbrake mechanism which goes between the cable and the drum are renowned for wearing due to the central pivot pin. This can be ground off and replaced with a spout bolt (the one with a flat domed head) or even a new large rivet which will stop the play between the two parts of the mechanism.

 

[4WDPandamonium]

What you doing with your sump guard?




Wheels went to get refurbed yesterday, should have the tyres on by Tuesday.

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

What you doing with your sump guard?




Wheels went to get refurbed yesterday, should have the tyres on by Tuesday.

Great news mate :thumbup:

I am having to chop a piece out of the sump guard as the drive shaft hits it at full articulation now I have lifted the suspension :banghead:

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

Finally getting some pictoral information uploaded now - here's the handbrake mod that I've done to get it working again after the suspension lift...

Chopped original cable mount off the top of the rear shocker mount on the rear axel and welded up...




With a second handbrake cable mount bracket (which I cut off buff's rear axel) a new stantion is made out of box section and welded onto the rear axel - taking care to align the cable correctly towards it's original mounting point...



After cooling, the cable is re-mounted into the new position - note how the cable passes over the original mount to keep the pull in a straight line when under tension...



And finally a very crude adaptor installed to lengthen the cable between the original mount and the rear drum elbow. Hurray I have a working handbrake again!






The sump guard mod.

Alot simpler, in order to prevent the long driveshaft catching on the edge of the sump guard at full articulation, a section has been cut out and re-routed to keep rigidity...



That's about it for now, MOT later this month so I'm looking forward to a few pages to read through

 

[centojosh]

I like the sump guard design very much! I might have to borrow that idea!
Excellent work on the handbrake to! There very underrated until you don't have one!!

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

I like the sump guard design very much! I might have to borrow that idea!
Excellent work on the handbrake to! There very underrated until you don't have one!!

Thanks josh - it does the job! Here's some more info on the design and making...

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/336674-4x4-sump-guard-design.html

 

[blu73]

And finally a very crude adaptor installed to lengthen the cable between the original mount and the rear drum elbow. Hurray I have a working handbrake again!

first thought when i looked at this was you could make that look very nice and tidy by using an anti-roll bar drop link - prob with some research you could just buy one that fits, but just get one a bit long and trim it down and weld back together

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

first thought when i looked at this was you could make that look very nice and tidy by using an anti-roll bar drop link - prob with some research you could just buy one that fits, but just get one a bit long and trim it down and weld back together

Good idea - I will look into that. We just bashed on with owt we could use to get it back together, but ideally it does need tidying up!

 

[scaj10]

What have you done about the brake flexi pipes being at full stretch?, personally I would buy a metre of stainless -3 brake pipe ad the unions required and make your own lengths as thy suit

 

[AndyPanda4x4]

What have you done about the brake flexi pipes being at full stretch?, personally I would buy a metre of stainless -3 brake pipe ad the unions required and make your own lengths as thy suit

Hello and welcome to the forum by the way

A new length of copper brake line has been put in an the fuel tank pipe mounting has been extended.