General Panda 750 Progress

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General Panda 750 Progress

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Following on from another thread where I mentioned that my mechanic told me that my Panda should be scrapped and wasn't worth saving I went out and took some photos which demonstrate why he said this. :D

Firstly, the common Panda problem, rust at the bottom of the door. No problem. :p

Panda_Drivers_Door_Jan_06.JPG


Next, the front bumper. It just needs reattached, it's like this on both sides.

Panda_Bumper_Jan_06.JPG


Here we have the rear hatch which is dented and badly marked. You can just see the dent in this photo, no problem though as a replacement has been found courtesy of Jim. The metal is fatigued around the lock so a replacement is the easiest option.

Panda_Rear_Hatch_Jan_06.JPG


Here is, erm, was, the driver side rear seatbelt mount. Note the rot which seemed ok until I got poking it.

Panda_Seatbelt_Mount_DS_Jan_06.JPG


and from the outside, peek a boo...

Panda_Hole_Jan_06.JPG


The driver side boot floor seam from the outside.

Panda_Floor_Seam_Jan_06.JPG


and from the inside.

Panda_Boot_Seam_Jan_06.JPG


The rear passengers side isn't as bad but is doing it's best to keep up.

Panda_Seatbelt_Mount_PS_Jan_06.JPG


The drivers side rear wheel arch, the only rusty part of the exterior bodywork besides the doors.

Panda_Rear_Wheel_Arch_Jan_06.JPG


This is the best wheel on the whole car, the tyres are perished and scrap.

Panda_Wheel_Jan_06.JPG


Where the timing belt should be.

Panda_Timing_Belt_Break_Jan_06.JPG


Will it see the road again? Costs so far:

£50.00 purchase cost.
£00.47 fuel pipe
£14.50 brake discs
£08.23 brake pads
£04.04 oil filter
£02.62 fan belt
£10.16 set of number plates

£90.02 running total... I need my head looked at. :D

I'm going to detail costs and progress on this thread so you can all see how it's coming on. (y)
 
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The wheels wont be a problem will they as you have the seicento original wheels as a quick fix for now or do you plan to keep it original as possible??
 
Top idea Steve, it'll be great to follow the progress (y)

Had to laugh at the 'peek-a-boo' caption!!! :)
 
:eek: :eek: .................................. Ok what you need to do now is come and spend a day or erm week maybe with me and I'll teach you how to weld. "I hope I have enough welding wire".

:idea: We can practice on Jims car.

Seriously though, I'll do what I can to help.
 
This is like a soap! I do love the 'photo stories' that appear on the Classic Panda forum.

Seriously though Steve, good luck with this - I really admire your decision to keep it original, I have tried to do the same on mine where possible.
 
Jim, I'll ignore that, there is no way I'm scrapping this one! :cry:

Stuart, thankyou. Tell me what I need to get and I'll get it. Is it worse than you thought it was? It's worse than I thought it was... :(

Alan, YES PLEASE for the engine mounts, I bought a timing belt, £3.69! (y)

Everyone else, cheers, and donations are welcome! :D
 
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Eeh yes it's a lot worse than I thought. Wait until you see how much is left once the grinder has worked it's magic. At a guess I would say we're looking at bad metal for around 3 inches either side of the hole on the drivers side alone. The problem is that if you want it to look original you have to do some fettling to blend the new metal in. It could be a tank and rear suspension out job to start with.
If you can get a god door I would put that on to. There's quite a bit of rust in it, I was just checking the pics out again.

To be honest if your really serious about saving and keeping this one I would recomend strippng it to the bare shell now as I've done with the 127 and starting a ground up restoration. I'll know better when I see it though cause it's not a lost cause.
 
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