General Rustoration

[Johnbee]

The last couple of months have flown by with one thing and another, though I do now have a nice 12 month MOT on Manda
Managed to get new set of Ferodo rear brake shoes to solve the rear brake imbalance and with some re wiring, and new headlamp bulbs all lights are good too.

Advisory for minor oil leak and small leak on rear box. Picking her up shortly and weather permitting removing almost 2 years of dirt and dust over the weekend.

 

[Johnbee]

Decent weather today down on the South Coast and a bit of spare time, so managed to get out and give Manda a good run following almost 2 years rustoration. She still needs a proper clean and wax but I have almost got all the rust dust out of her.
Just realised I didn’t put the new number plate screws on, with the coloured covers ! Tomorrows job

 

[Yolanda]

Well done, she's a beauty.

 

[Johnbee]

Manda has been doing what she does best the last few weeks. Miles .
The exhaust had a slight blow which increased under acceleration. After investigation, this was down to a failed exhaust manifold gasket and a sheared bolt.

Replaced the gasket today and a new M8 manifold stud. Amazingly the other two nuts came off without the bolts shearing.

All is quiet once again.

 

[Johnbee]

I’ve already posted in the ‘what’s made me smile’ section, but I thought I’d update Manda’s rustoration thread too.
Manda passed her MOT today with no advisories. Ready for another 12 months of Panda’ing.

Had to have a small bit of welding as the rear bumper brackets had detached from car, which is why the bumper was loose and a new dust cover on suspension component ball joint. The garage appreciated her new stainless steel exhaust too

 

[ItsTooBright]

Just read through the thread, nice job saving her from the scrapyard in the sky!

New exhaust looks awesome!

 

[Johnbee]

Just read through the thread, nice job saving her from the scrapyard in the sky!

New exhaust looks awesome!

Thank you. There are a couple of cosmetic jobs to do at some point (paint on lower body and front seats to retrim/replace) but mechanically and structurally she is sound, which is the main thing. The panda fund needs topping up first though

I love the exhaust, has a nice note and the exhaust doesn’t hang down ridiculously low now.

She even made an appearance in Practical Classics magazine last year and I was able to get an agreed value on my insurance this year, which covers the cost of buying her back and all the costs re work done to date in the event of an accident/write off. Previously she was only insured for £600!

I use her daily and she’s jump started quite a few of my neighbours newer cars this winter too. People do stop and admire her and often take pictures. Because I’ve had Panda’s for so long, I forget to appreciate how rare she is, especially as she is an automatic.

Once she gets to 40 years old she will qualify for road tax and MOT exemption, unless our government changes the rules