Panda (Classic) Pandamonium

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Panda (Classic) Pandamonium

£999 Challenger

The log book is for the aliens from the planet Scruton (Scrutineers). ;)

Not much of an update I'm afraid. Before rain stopped play I managed to get some Hammerite on the sills and trial fit the new grille.

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But the Punto GT brake conversion and bits will be on eBay to raise funds later. :)
 
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Fantasia

Hmmmmm, sticky brakes. They say a car reflects the personality of the owner. My Panda Fantasia doesn't like mornings, especially driving to work first thing in the morning. It's not sticking due to the hand brake but the first couple of times I brake the passenger side rear wheel stays stiff until I pump the brake a few times.

I guess it's either a stick slave cylinder, knackered return spring or just muck in there holding the shoes back.

I'll find that out after work tonight.
 
£999 Challenger

The sump arrived today. :)

As expected I've needed to modify the oil pick up pipe from the 1108cc head donor to fit...

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...and the sump is a perfect fit.

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Now I need a gasket and a dozen bolts.
 
I had to make a difficult decision today. The Panda will not make it to the PPC £999 Challenge on the 29th. There's too much work to do to the red car in the time I have and I can't risk destroying the Fantasia not only because the car is so rare but because I'd be carless if anything were to happen (considering I'm building the engine out of parts of six different engines I'm convinced it will either not work at all or explode).

So I need a new target. There are a couple of RWYB days at Santa Pod in September so the project continues.

Fitted the block and used a flat battery to test the starter motor...

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...I then test fitted the head, inlet manifold and spare carb' to see how much clearance there is from the top of the car to the base of the bonnet.

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Once the rest of the engine is fitted I can paint the inside of the car and get back to the rest of the bodywork.
 
Got the rest of the engine installed today. :)

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Does anyone else know what the holes in a Panda bumper are for?

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Yep fitting the manifold the the head with a couple of extensions.

I wired the engine up to and she wouldn't turn over. Followed the usual suspects and narrowed it down to a old engine earth and the I found in my shed was the perfect length to fit to the copper nut that holds the cam' belt tensioner in place.

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My guess was the copper nut would be the best contact point. As the engine doesn't have oil I only turned it over a few times and as soon as I fabricate either a manifold adapter for the Webber or manifold for the TDM carb's I see no reason why the car won't run. :)

The Cinquecento clutch means the pedal doesn't move as much. I was concerned for a few moments but realised this was because the difference in the length of the actual pedals and not an issue with the clutch itself.
 
The aftermath or the shortest "long term" hosepipe ban in Anglia Water's history I got to clean and polish the Fantasia properly today. :)

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I really must get the headlight changed and fit the new grille but I'm waiting until I get the new sills fitted so I can paint the whole car at once. She looks nice in the photo but up close you can see previous repairs and the replacement tailgate means the car's four different colours. Perfect. ;)

I'm sure the Panda 750 radiator would be fine for short usage on the track or strip but I need to be able to drive the car there and back as well so a little practicality is in order. I measured the recess between the front valance and fan. In theory I have 69cm wide, 30cm tall and up to 6cm deep to fill so I raided the shed and found the old Cinquecento radiator and expansion tank.

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Fits with room to spare and...

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...a couple of holes in the valance for to fit with the original brackets.

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I tried a few places for the expansion tank and decided it would be best on the passenger side inner wing near the strut top.

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Just need to make a couple of brackets up to mount it. :)

While I was in my shed I went through my collection of washer bottles and think this Triumph one mounted on the bulkhead above the steering rack will do nicely.

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I'm looking at Fiat radiators because it's the one I had in my shed and because the terminals for the temperature sender should be the same.
 
£999 Challenger 2013?

I was in town today dropping my photocopy of the inlet gasket off to Optima Stainless and Tesco have engine oil on special offer £10 for four liters. I'm cycling to work next week. ;)

If the weather plays ball I'll hopefully get the exhaust done today.
 
Re: £999 Challenger 2013?

I was in town today dropping my photocopy of the inlet gasket off to Optima Stainless and Tesco have engine oil on special offer £10 for four liters.

That their own brand mineral stuff? 10w40?

I brought a load a few years back when on offer at £3.99 for 4 litres :D
 
£999 Challenger 2013?

Such a simple job became a bit of an adventure. The Renault filter I bought last year for £6.00 was too wide to fit the Grande Punto block. One of those things I should have checked before. The 1368cc block is wider than the 1108cc and 1242cc blocks to accommodate the wider crank. So as well as the starter motor being a fiddle I had to get a bigger yet cheaper Grande Punto filter for £4.12. There wasn't enough room for my chain filter removal tool so I used a rubber hammer and jack handle to get the old one off and clamped a bit of old t'shirt around the new filter to tighten it up. I'm glad because the thought of putting a French part of my little Italian car was unfathomable. ;)
 
£999 Challenger 2013?

Kev' Van of Death said:
Are you feeling exhausted today?
me said:
****! Fancy a beer?

First off today I had a bit of a problem to solve...

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...the pipe from the water pump fouled the exhaust manifold. After a bit of fine tuning with a rubber hammer...

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...solved. So a bit of fabrication later and I have the pleasure to introduce you all to...

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...Frankenzorst! Punto 75 manifold and shortened down pipe with the "S" piece turned ninety degrees so it clears the bottom of gear linkage, a length of mild steel pipe I bought from work for £1, the centre cherry bomb from the Guff racer, modified rear pipe from the original Panda 750 box and finally the Stainless Steel Longlife back box from Guff I paid a fifer for last year. The pipe was six inches too short so I added the centre box to make up the length and give me an off cut of pipe to use later.

First trial fit...

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...clears the linkage nicely.

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Clears the selector box as well.

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Clears the Omega rear suspension and...

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...lines up with the centre mount perfectly.

A little low up front...

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...but looks pretty good from the back (if I do say so myself).

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At the lowest point I'll add an extra couple of exhaust clamps with titanium nuts to spark when it grounds out. If I go for fourteen inch wheels I can lower the car two inches, on 13's I can only drop the car 40mm at most.
 
There's a blue F reg' Fantasia in Hunstanton that belongs to a little old lady who can't drive any more. She's tried to sell the car a couple of times but for whatever reason (too cheap) she hasn't had any calls (apart from mine). One couple owned from new and serviced at home for all of it's 28,000 miles. £500! :eek:
 

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