General Rescued Panda!

[Giacosa]

By heck you work fast! Congratulations on getting a colour, their instrument binacle and upholstery is very groovy.

Its good news that the rust around the vents is surface rust. I'd still take the screen out though to do it properly as you will just find it creeping out past the rubber again in a few months if corners are cut.

 

[pooroldcodger]

I might do that, or get the other stuff done first and then come back to the screen later.
I wanted to have a look at that today just to see how catastrophic or otherwise it is, so that I can plan what to do next.
What do you think about the from subframe rot?

 

[pooroldcodger]

Sorry, meant to type front subframe rot. My fingers won't do as they are told today!

 

[VmanC]

What do you think about the front subframe rot?

I've found this to be a relatively common rust spot too. It's nice and easy to repair though, cut out all the rust leaving a rectangular hole surrounded by good clean metal. You can then cut a rectangular repair piece from flat sheet steel to weld in place. Will you be doing your own welding?

 

[pooroldcodger]

I've found this to be a relatively common rust spot too. It's nice and easy to repair though, cut out all the rust leaving a rectangular hole surrounded by good clean metal. You can then cut a rectangular repair piece from flat sheet steel to weld in place. Will you be doing your own welding?

Unfortunately I don't have the kit and have never done it before. Also I don't have the experience of knowing how much needs to be cut out, and what would constitute a safe repair. I would love to have a go, but as safety is at risk here, I think I would be a bit ambitious to answer "yes" at this stage!

 

[panda1408]

That front suspension mount is an easy job as Vernon says, a common spot for them to go. Get yourself a good hobby mig welder and a load of scrap steel to practice on, it is very easy to get the hang of it.

www.mig-welding.co.uk is an excellent site to help you get started. It will cost a few hundred to get set up but you will easily spend that and alot more getting it done by someone else.

 

[homeward]

There are some good short courses on welding (MIG or TIG) -- often in the evenings -- at local colleges, too....

 

[pooroldcodger]

I will look at the tutorial. I must admit, when you have "elderly" cars, either by choice or by necessity, when you stand there at the MOT test centre, the word that strike dread in to me more than anything is "corrosion".
I will certainly look in to this. Thanks for all the encouragement. This is brilliant!

 

[pooroldcodger]

There are some good short courses on welding (MIG or TIG) -- often in the evenings -- at local colleges, too....

I remember a joke that my older brother used to tell years a go. It involved a woman, a man, and a welder's helmet.
The punchline was:
"I'm not a real welder tha' knows!
Maybe somebody will remember the rest of it!

 

[Antony]

Get yourself a good hobby mig welder and a load of scrap steel to practice on, it is very easy to get the hang of it.

Thats what I did several years ago now, once you get the hang of it its just a mater of keep practicing really

 

[Dragon Man]

i would of showed you some of the work i did on a 96 vauxhall corsa. i had to weld ALL the things. that was done with a MIG. car is still running around now.

my panda, Talon has seen quite a bit of welding. still its now strong, and soon to have an MOT. just waiting till tomorrow (Monday) for the garage to be open so i can get it booked in for its retest.

in terms of welding.. i find the nicest one using gas. very good for intricate projects and you can get some cracking finishes.

my next would be MIG for its simplicity. with it being "point and shoot" you cant really go wrong unless you have the amp, gas or wire feed set wrong.

then theres good old stick.. ahh i dont know why its on the bottom of my list cos i love it. stick welding to me is like the "brute force" option. whenever i have to weld big stuff (like my friends aerial mast) i used the stick welder. in some ways it can be more easy than the mig, but you have to manually feed the rod in as you weld.. it is an art.

i use to make log burners out of decommissioned gas bottles using all 3 welders. i mostly used stick as it is quite cheap for the sticks as thats the only part that gets used up. its a good pass time and the plus is that you can sell the burners for £70 each. i was making 3 a day at one point!

you never look at scrap metal the same way once you learn the art of welding.. heh

 

[panda panda]

I feel your pain codger.

My car under the carpet rubber is in a similar state along the seams, like this

Anyone want to use my car for welding practise?

 

[panda1408]

CLS you will probably get a few more years out of that if you clean it up and repaint it, what is it like on the outside in the wheel arch?

Whilst I work as a mechanic, I've never had any proper welding/fabricating training, I was shown the basics by my boss and then worked it out from there by myself using online guides and videos etc. That was 2 years ago and now I would like to say I can do good quality repairs that are far above MOT standard patching work, which is what you would get at most garages.

 

[pooroldcodger]

Inside the wheel arcg isn't bad at all. I cleaned all the crud out yesterday so that i can see what we are up against.
It's a shame that Fiat have used bicuit tin material I suppose, but it's all part of the charm!

 

[L7 KVV]

Inside the wheel arcg isn't bad at all. I cleaned all the crud out yesterday so that i can see what we are up against.
It's a shame that Fiat have used bicuit tin material I suppose, but it's all part of the charm!

If you do tackle welding it yourself be sure to not use to thick a steel. I used the scrap side panel from a mercedes sprinter, must have been twice the thickness of the panda. I burnt holes in it everywhere trying to weld those pieces

 

[panda panda]

CLS you will probably get a few more years out of that if you clean it up and repaint it, what is it like on the outside in the wheel arch?

Whilst I work as a mechanic, I've never had any proper welding/fabricating training, I was shown the basics by my boss and then worked it out from there by myself using online guides and videos etc. That was 2 years ago and now I would like to say I can do good quality repairs that are far above MOT standard patching work, which is what you would get at most garages.

I dare not look, full resto plans have been scuppered by expected funds not materializing
Instead of a panda restoration fund I have half a bungalow - know anyone who takes bricks for parts or services?

Sorry codger, will start a Fizzle thread very soon and stop high jacking yours

 

[pooroldcodger]

I dare not look, full resto plans have been scuppered by expected funds not materializing
Instead of a panda restoration fund I have half a bungalow - know anyone who takes bricks for parts or services?

Sorry codger, will start a Fizzle thread very soon and stop high jacking yours

No problem CLS. I don't mind sharing the noriety with Fizzle.
In fact I need to give mine a name. As it has "BLR" in the reg, then I am tempted by "Bella", but surely a Panda should be a boy?? It doesn't look like a girl!

 

[panda panda]

No problem CLS. I don't mind sharing the noriety with Fizzle.
In fact I need to give mine a name. As it has "BLR" in the reg, then I am tempted by "Bella", but surely a Panda should be a boy?? It doesn't look like a girl!

Thanks codge

Belvender is italian for beautiful! must be a thousand 500's called bella though

otherwise you could find someone with a username of 'BritishLeylandRocks' and sell them your plate!

I'm not sure what gender Fizzle is though

 

[Palio]

BLR - You could call him Blair. As in Blair the Panda Witch is a Project?

No? Oh ok I'm getting me coat......

 

[pooroldcodger]

BLR - You could call him Blair. As in Blair the Panda Witch is a Project?

No? Oh ok I'm getting me coat......

Ha ha!

I thought the Blair Witch project was a home movie with Cherie Blair in it.