Introduction
Here is the latest addition:
Panda (Classic) SEAT Marbella (Mk1 Panda replica).
- Thread starter pandamonius_maximus
- Start date
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http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11252331.Entrants_sought_for_returning_historic_speed_trials/
***cough***
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11252331.Entrants_sought_for_returning_historic_speed_trials/
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Saw these and thought of the marbella
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Retro-6x1..._Car_Rims_ET&hash=item3ce35bc099#ht_215wt_820
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Retro-6x1..._Car_Rims_ET&hash=item3ce35bc099#ht_215wt_820
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OP
OP
Hmmm, they do look nice....
Sort of wish I had spotted this earlier haha bit tired to be making £210 decisions now haha...
Only money though I suppose :devil:
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OP
OP
OK sort of a rip the plaster off situation but weight reduction has begun!
Starting with the glass:
Glass + Rubbers weighs only 18kg so I think I'm unlikey to break any records here! Plastic is going to weight somewhere between 5 & 10 Kg I hope
FYI there are hinge slots behind those marbella rubbers if anyone wanted to upgrade to opening rear windows on theirs
...
Door feels nice and light with all the glass removed but I think there is more weight to come out of here.
In particularly in the crash bar inside. Anyone have a top tip for removing this crash safety re-inforcement bar without lunching the door skin!?...
Need to bite the bullet and remove front shocks for Leda to work on next. While that happens make a start on a glass fibre bonnet and cut out / fit the plastic windows.
Maybe remove some sound deadening from the floor as well....
Starting with the glass:
Glass + Rubbers weighs only 18kg so I think I'm unlikey to break any records here! Plastic is going to weight somewhere between 5 & 10 Kg I hope
FYI there are hinge slots behind those marbella rubbers if anyone wanted to upgrade to opening rear windows on theirs
...
Door feels nice and light with all the glass removed but I think there is more weight to come out of here.
In particularly in the crash bar inside. Anyone have a top tip for removing this crash safety re-inforcement bar without lunching the door skin!?...
Need to bite the bullet and remove front shocks for Leda to work on next. While that happens make a start on a glass fibre bonnet and cut out / fit the plastic windows.
Maybe remove some sound deadening from the floor as well....
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How much weight-saving did you make removing the letter M...?
OP
OP
How much weight-saving did you make removing the letter M...?
Haha, I'll never know. That was missing when I bought the car
The globbed on paint on the dodgy repair is probably heavier than the sticker was though
OK sort of a rip the plaster off situation but weight reduction has begun!
Starting with the glass:
Glass + Rubbers weighs only 18kg so I think I'm unlikey to break any records here! Plastic is going to weight somewhere between 5 & 10 Kg I hope
FYI there are hinge slots behind those marbella rubbers if anyone wanted to upgrade to opening rear windows on theirs
Door feels nice and light with all the glass removed but I think there is more weight to come out of here.
In particularly in the crash bar inside. Anyone have a top tip for removing this crash safety re-inforcement bar without lunching the door skin!?...
Need to bite the bullet and remove front shocks for Leda to work on next. While that happens make a start on a glass fibre bonnet and cut out / fit the plastic windows.
Maybe remove some sound deadening from the floor as well....
Door bar can be removed by drilling out the three spot welds at each end. Look very carefully at the end skins and you can see the tell tale marks. - They don't put up much of a fight either.
OP
OP
Cool thanks. I saw the spot weld marks on the latch side of the door but the other side couldn't see anything and assumed that it was only welded to the inner skin. But it does look a little like once you break one side free the other will snap easy enough anyway.
Anyway will give it a go at the weekend and remove even more weight :devil:
Keep y'all posted
Anyway will give it a go at the weekend and remove even more weight :devil:
Keep y'all posted
OP
OP
Well another productive weekend (and a bit of chilling out - quite hard / slow work in this muggy weather)...
Anyway I had a go at removing the crash bar inside the door.
Latch side came loose easily by drilling out the spot welds.
However the other end is held on much more securely (Andy not sure but maybe these early type doors are put together differently). This end is spot welded to an internal skin which you cannot see and also fixed into the seem of the door...
This side is slotted into the seem (the bit with the round hole in it carries on up into the seem). You can probably drill these bits out but then it still might not slide out that easy.
The main problem is the other side which is welded onto an inner skin...
I made a much bigger mess of this door as I was working out where it was all attached.
I think it is possible to drill all these welds out but until you rip it apart you don't know where the spot welds actually are.
So it was a case of cutting around it with a jig saw / angle grinder combo :devil:
Second attempt with this knowledge was much more refined but it's an out of site bit anyway so not too fussed on it looking a little rough round the edges...
This method has the advantage that the reinforcement bar actually just pulls straight out. But it does take a lot of cutting and grinding and got to be so careful not to cut the outer skin in the process
Et Voila:
All painted back up and looking much nicer...
I had to repair the drivers door as it had the classic start of door cancer around the bottom door hinge area. It was actually cracked almost all the way down! Very difficult to weld up (probably should have added a reinforcement patch in hindsight) and looks a little bird poopy but should hold for now.
And also cut out all the windows...
Should all be back together in no time. The doors have lost quite a lot of weight now (not living on the edge light but a definite improvement
Or could just leave the doors off... :devil:
I'm tallying up the weights and will post up when complete but I'm not expecting much. I have noticed with the doors removed the suspension is much stiffer. I guess having weight there makes quite a difference as it is quite far out from the car centre line (moments and all that)
Next bits and bobs, maybe fitting some film to the windows to help protect against scratches...
Touch of rust repair around the windows before they go back in (although I am talking tiny amounts of surface rust here). The window frames are incredible for a 24 year old car!
Oh also I've ordered supplies to make myself a fibreglass bonnet :slayer:
Anyway I had a go at removing the crash bar inside the door.
Latch side came loose easily by drilling out the spot welds.
However the other end is held on much more securely (Andy not sure but maybe these early type doors are put together differently). This end is spot welded to an internal skin which you cannot see and also fixed into the seem of the door...
This side is slotted into the seem (the bit with the round hole in it carries on up into the seem). You can probably drill these bits out but then it still might not slide out that easy.
The main problem is the other side which is welded onto an inner skin...
I made a much bigger mess of this door as I was working out where it was all attached.
I think it is possible to drill all these welds out but until you rip it apart you don't know where the spot welds actually are.
So it was a case of cutting around it with a jig saw / angle grinder combo :devil:
Second attempt with this knowledge was much more refined but it's an out of site bit anyway so not too fussed on it looking a little rough round the edges...
This method has the advantage that the reinforcement bar actually just pulls straight out. But it does take a lot of cutting and grinding and got to be so careful not to cut the outer skin in the process
Et Voila:
All painted back up and looking much nicer...
I had to repair the drivers door as it had the classic start of door cancer around the bottom door hinge area. It was actually cracked almost all the way down! Very difficult to weld up (probably should have added a reinforcement patch in hindsight) and looks a little bird poopy but should hold for now.
And also cut out all the windows...
Should all be back together in no time. The doors have lost quite a lot of weight now (not living on the edge light but a definite improvement
Or could just leave the doors off... :devil:
I'm tallying up the weights and will post up when complete but I'm not expecting much. I have noticed with the doors removed the suspension is much stiffer. I guess having weight there makes quite a difference as it is quite far out from the car centre line (moments and all that
)Next bits and bobs, maybe fitting some film to the windows to help protect against scratches...
Touch of rust repair around the windows before they go back in (although I am talking tiny amounts of surface rust here). The window frames are incredible for a 24 year old car!
Oh also I've ordered supplies to make myself a fibreglass bonnet :slayer:
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Great work mate. How much do the side impact beams weigh?
OP
OP
Well it isn't crazy weight savings and was a pain to measure as my scales don't seem to register anything under 5Kg!!...
Side impact beams I find to be about 1.4Kg (based on a before and after weight!)
Door started weighing 17.55Kg (3.5Kg was the glass) - now ~13Kg (1.5Kg polycarb glass). Saving 4.5Kg per door
Rear windows (tailgate and sides) were 9.3Kg - now 4.5Kg. Saving 4.8Kg.
So! Depressingly total weight saving so far 13Kg!! Will keep at it though, I'm not going to do anything that makes it less usable as a car but little bits here and there must eventually add up!
I hope...I'm enjoying the challenge anyway
That's half a bag of cement you've saved there weight-wise! Keep it up mate going great guns!
Oops, sorry Si for the misleading advice. - I had forgotten that the 'doors' I worked on had been cut in half already.
Great work though!
I'm enjoying the ride too.☺
Great work though!
I'm enjoying the ride too.☺
OP
OP
Finally got all the plastic windows in....looks pretty much the same as it did before...for now. Going to make up some protectors to put on the outside as I fear they will scratch quite easily while under a car cover.
OP
OP
haha, no problem at all. I was going to remove them one way or another anyway. 2.8Kg was less of a reward than I had hoped though haha!!
They welded the hinge side bit in so much better than the other side, you were bang on about that. 3 spot welds just drilled out in a minute or 2
Had a chance to investigate what happened on the morning of RetroRides yet Si?? I was so sad I didn't get to see it that day...
OP
OP
Well yes, was waiting to dig a bit deeper before posting up but it is looking most like the turbo has gone. Actually a relief as I thought it was cylinder head...but not saying I haven't been majorly unlucky and had 2 fails at once.
The turbo impeller shafts are pretty loose though and it moves enough to rub on the casing when you turn it by hand so explains the metalic noise I was hearing.
Anyone heard of the the turbo blades jamming against the turbo casing? I think this is what happened to cause my engine to cut out above certain revs...doesn't explain why the problem seemed to disappear when the AA guy arrived. Perhaps it only jams when it is red hot. or the blades are now worn enough from the play in the impeller shaft not to stick.
Anyway, looks to be that so should be a quick fix. The turbo was rebuilt by Turbo Technics I believe it was. Not done enough miles or even events to warrant such an early failure which is suspicious...wasn't happy when the turbo arrived with me and the bolts securing the inlet side to the outlet side were loose! I needed the turbo fitted for an event though so I tightened it and bit the bullet at the time...possibly the wrong thing to do as it has gone over the 12 months warranty now
There is a possibility of a loss of oil feed pressure I guess, but the turbo was filled with oil when I removed it (after standing for months) so seems unlikely. I will fit an oil pressure gauge to the turbo oil feed I think when I fit the replacement so I can be sure that this is ok. Then might give Turbo Technics a call to see if they can give me a partial refund...unlikely though! As this turbo is so old (and hard to get rebuilt now - according to turbo technics the parts were very hard to find)... I am also looking to find a more modern alternative to re-fit...and maybe an upgrade :devil:
Watch this space...but don't hold your breath haha...other pandas are poorly over here as well
yeah, dead turbo is annoying but really could have been much much worse i guess.
What turbo is on it? I seem to remember that it wasn't a stock Y10 one when i read the thread through originally.
What turbo is on it? I seem to remember that it wasn't a stock Y10 one when i read the thread through originally.
OP
OP
Hey man, sorry think I missed your question!...so super delayed reply...
The turbo that has failed I was told is standard (IHI RB5 series) but I think the original one it had on was possibly a hybrid. If all goes to plan it will be getting a hybrid turbo put back on for this years competitions :devil:
To follow...some good weather related progress while I wait to get my shiney new turbo back :slayer:...
you will have to let us know what events you are taking part in mate, want to see this beast!
