I can pop in sometime but i think you moved..
General SEAT Terra van
- Thread starter Alixcompo
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General SEAT Terra van
We are moving back on the 5th jan...
It's amazing how fast you can travel the world these days
It's amazing how fast you can travel the world these days
It's amazing how long you can put up with a boss who is a fruit loop... 3 months.
My wife's put up with a fruit loop for the last 25 years, but I'm not going to remind her anytime soon.
In my own inimitable way of making simple jobs incredibly complicated, as I may have mentioned before, I intend to give the van a suspension lift.
While most sane people like low slung vehicles with fat wheels I prefer higher vehicles with skinny tall wheels.
When I put the 14" Punto wheels on I was pleased with how they filled the wheelarch nicely but they do make the van look lowered. 'Slammed' apparently the youngsters call it.
So all I had to do was to collect some rear leaf springs and a pair of front struts kindly donated by a 4x4.
Parts aquired it could surely only take minutes for the transition. Ah... Well..
The main difference on the rear springs is that 4x2 Pandas have the axle on top of the spring and (as well as the 4x4 springs having extra leafs) 4x4's sit under. Thus it raises the back end by the thickness of the rear axle tube.
I reckoned that if I just fitted the new rear springs then I could refit the original axle...... But the I'd have to have it upside down so that it fitted to the 'other' side of the springs.and then the wheel cylinders and handbrake would be at the bottom not the top of the brakeplate and not be so efficient.
"Of course" Why didn't I think of it sooner. Just swop the brakeplate from one side to the other and all is restored to normal.. Ha...!
"Oh hang on" then the handbrake cable retainer would be on the wrong side. "Hmm"
"I'll cut then off and re weld them" Simples.. Well no actually...
If I had just mounted the retainer exactly opposite the original the parking brake cable wanted to pass through the leaf spring.
"Why not just do what Fiat did on the 4x4 axle"?
Because of this; the damper mount is quite different and too complex for me to be arsed to make in a hurry.
So a little experimental alignment was called for
Fortunately I had a spare 4x2 axle tube to play with.
What I thought would take a day, including the weather and other distractions, has been about two weeks.
This is where we are now..
I'm still short of one front 4x4 spring if anyone has such an item in the way....
Oh yeah; did I mention that the front struts fit differently on the van compared to a car.?More fun to come then :bang:
(Sorry I seem to have put a pic on twice. It's been a long day)
While most sane people like low slung vehicles with fat wheels I prefer higher vehicles with skinny tall wheels.
When I put the 14" Punto wheels on I was pleased with how they filled the wheelarch nicely but they do make the van look lowered. 'Slammed' apparently the youngsters call it.
So all I had to do was to collect some rear leaf springs and a pair of front struts kindly donated by a 4x4.
Parts aquired it could surely only take minutes for the transition. Ah... Well..
The main difference on the rear springs is that 4x2 Pandas have the axle on top of the spring and (as well as the 4x4 springs having extra leafs) 4x4's sit under. Thus it raises the back end by the thickness of the rear axle tube.
I reckoned that if I just fitted the new rear springs then I could refit the original axle...... But the I'd have to have it upside down so that it fitted to the 'other' side of the springs.and then the wheel cylinders and handbrake would be at the bottom not the top of the brakeplate and not be so efficient.
"Of course" Why didn't I think of it sooner. Just swop the brakeplate from one side to the other and all is restored to normal.. Ha...!
"Oh hang on" then the handbrake cable retainer would be on the wrong side. "Hmm"
"I'll cut then off and re weld them" Simples.. Well no actually...
If I had just mounted the retainer exactly opposite the original the parking brake cable wanted to pass through the leaf spring.
"Why not just do what Fiat did on the 4x4 axle"?
Because of this; the damper mount is quite different and too complex for me to be arsed to make in a hurry.
So a little experimental alignment was called for
Fortunately I had a spare 4x2 axle tube to play with.
What I thought would take a day, including the weather and other distractions, has been about two weeks.
This is where we are now..
I'm still short of one front 4x4 spring if anyone has such an item in the way....
Oh yeah; did I mention that the front struts fit differently on the van compared to a car.?More fun to come then :bang:
(Sorry I seem to have put a pic on twice. It's been a long day)
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Thats an area of outstanding natural beauty right there. I love properly painted and assembled suspension bits. What are these strut mounting problems of which you speak
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What are these strut mounting problems of which you speak
I will take some pics tomorrow and all will be revealed
I will take some pics tomorrow and all will be revealed
ahh yes, you have marbella strut tops.. i am not sure but i think you can swap the springs around still.. i would be tempted to grab a pair of skoda felicia 1.3 rear springs.. as they fit the struts on our little pride and joy's. they just make the panda sit higher.. would of thought with them being a bit tougher spring that it would make the dampeners last longer too.
well its doing the opposite of using lowering springs and they kill stock dampeners!
lifting springs must help save them...??
well its doing the opposite of using lowering springs and they kill stock dampeners!
lifting springs must help save them...??
Bartpanda
Established member
stock marbella with felicia/favorit springs. 7 !! cm higher than original. The owner claims, he tested the car in light offroad and all is ok, no probs with driveshaft or driveshaft flange, the car is going to be 4x4 swapped some day.
edit: I forgot to mention that this marbella has also positive camber corrected to almost neutral by making 4mm beans we know where
4 or 5mm Must be done with that kind of spring.
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wheres the flat bed van alix !?.... youve done a nice job and i like the green paint on the terra but then green is my fav color for pandas .. all you people with garages dont know what fun you are missing ..panda repairs in the rain ...its all the rage!
What are these strut mounting problems of which you speak
Ok;this is a pic of a std panda front suspension top mount.
And this is a SEAT Terra diesel turret.
Spot the difference..?
I have 3 options. When I find out how the SEAT legs come off.
1: I may be able to bastardise the front legs, (using SEAT top bearings) to make them fit
2: I may be able to drill two holes for the Fiat tops. The wider section which would take this option is much lower than Panda turrets; so I would either get massive lift using 4x4 legs or normal lift by fitting standard Panda legs.
3: Purple Ronnie donated these:-
they come off easy.. hex key in the centre and undo the nut.
as i said in my previous post a page back, they are the same as marbella struts. check the last few posts a page back.. bartpanda has a very nice picture
out of all your suggestions.. hmm i guess 3 would be the more easy to mod. should not be to hard to cut the old tops out and weld the new ones in.. and your welding is quite neat. shame about the paint though :/
as i said in my previous post a page back, they are the same as marbella struts. check the last few posts a page back.. bartpanda has a very nice picture
out of all your suggestions.. hmm i guess 3 would be the more easy to mod. should not be to hard to cut the old tops out and weld the new ones in.. and your welding is quite neat. shame about the paint though :/
Well this is another 5 minute job that has taken about a fortnight.
If you've noticed on my other Terra thread I've made up a few pairs of front tie rod to body mounts with the 4x4 sump plate and Roo bar mountings.
I got a chance last night while it was still daylight and dry to fit the mounts. That was about 5 O'clock.
I knew there must be some reason that I got the Bullbar so cheap.
By 9 O'clock I had cut shut and rewelded the bar so that it not only bolted on but didn't touch the bodywork.
It came from a car that had been hit quite hard in one front corner. Very strong those Bullbars. You can't just bend them straight as I had foolishly assumed.
I had also managed to made both 'tie rod mounts' right handed, so there will follow a "How to get out of jail free" to sort that out.
Ah, fun fun fun
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that looks good... yep those bars take some bending. when i made the top bit for mine i had to heat it up to cherry red to bend it.
Several things have been going on but this one makes me laugh the most.
It may not be obvious until I mention my lurverly door handles. Yep another pair off Italian Ebay bought and delivered for the princely sum of 23 Euros which to you and me is 19 quid in real money. Thank heaven for Google translate and honest Ebayers. Oh yep and our chum Aquamarine for finding me a brand new pair of front door locks.#
Which I imediately took apart and lost the (vital) pin into 10 years of crap on my shed floor. Yes I did try a magnet but as my favorite tools are grinders, the floor is an inch deep in filings. So I had to sacrifice another (ex-decent) lock for it's pin.
You can see where it fits here in the slot
And you knock/push it out through the little hole opposite
Sometimes the pin comes out a lot easier than you might expect.!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would seem that the later the model then the bigger the hole to punch the pin out. For early ones you have to use a small drill bit.
If (as in this case) you want to fit these handle to a MK1 or a SEAT the you will need Fiat MK2 locks cos they are different.
Yes this is my kitchen worktop
Because the handle mounts a little further out than originally there are these plastic extention bits which clip onto the actuating pin.
Of course you can only fit these extensions after the handles are fitted to the door and you naturally drop them (Turning a five minute job into a 30 minute one)and then have to take the door off and shake them out, cut your hand, bleed all over the door, chip the paint and misalign the door on remounting. (You get the picture)
On the side of the box that the handles arrive in, there is a perforated pop out section which becomes a template to drill the 8mm hole which the front of the handle bolts through. Job done.
It may not be obvious until I mention my lurverly door handles. Yep another pair off Italian Ebay bought and delivered for the princely sum of 23 Euros which to you and me is 19 quid in real money. Thank heaven for Google translate and honest Ebayers. Oh yep and our chum Aquamarine for finding me a brand new pair of front door locks.#
Which I imediately took apart and lost the (vital) pin into 10 years of crap on my shed floor. Yes I did try a magnet but as my favorite tools are grinders, the floor is an inch deep in filings. So I had to sacrifice another (ex-decent) lock for it's pin.
You can see where it fits here in the slot
And you knock/push it out through the little hole opposite
Sometimes the pin comes out a lot easier than you might expect.!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would seem that the later the model then the bigger the hole to punch the pin out. For early ones you have to use a small drill bit.
If (as in this case) you want to fit these handle to a MK1 or a SEAT the you will need Fiat MK2 locks cos they are different.
Yes this is my kitchen worktop
Because the handle mounts a little further out than originally there are these plastic extention bits which clip onto the actuating pin.
Of course you can only fit these extensions after the handles are fitted to the door and you naturally drop them (Turning a five minute job into a 30 minute one)and then have to take the door off and shake them out, cut your hand, bleed all over the door, chip the paint and misalign the door on remounting. (You get the picture)
On the side of the box that the handles arrive in, there is a perforated pop out section which becomes a template to drill the 8mm hole which the front of the handle bolts through. Job done.
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nice work.. hmm does look good but it is kinda a shame you have to drill yet more holes in those lovely rust free doors.
i still have laughs with mine. folk dont know how to open the door.. they look for a handle and have the "what is this sorcery" combined with a "wtf??" look on there face.
i then tell them to push the button and pull the door so they push the button.. then pull the door so it gets stuck on the safety latch (not closed properly latch) and they often pull the door from the top too. you think the cut out would kinda hint where you pull the door.
then they proceed to tell me that the door is broken! gahh.:bang:
anybody else seem to get that.. or is it that the few friends i have are not too bright?
i still have laughs with mine. folk dont know how to open the door.. they look for a handle and have the "what is this sorcery" combined with a "wtf??" look on there face.
i then tell them to push the button and pull the door so they push the button.. then pull the door so it gets stuck on the safety latch (not closed properly latch) and they often pull the door from the top too. you think the cut out would kinda hint where you pull the door.
then they proceed to tell me that the door is broken! gahh.:bang:
anybody else seem to get that.. or is it that the few friends i have are not too bright?
The door trouble usually on exit, trying to find the handle on the arm "rest" or is that "arm" rest or just "arm rest"?
nice work.. hmm does look good but it is kinda a shame you have to drill yet more holes in those lovely rust free doors.
i still have laughs with mine. folk dont know how to open the door.. they look for a handle and have the "what is this sorcery" combined with a "wtf??" look on there face.
i then tell them to push the button and pull the door so they push the button.. then pull the door so it gets stuck on the safety latch (not closed properly latch) and they often pull the door from the top too. you think the cut out would kinda hint where you pull the door.
then they proceed to tell me that the door is broken! gahh.:bang:
anybody else seem to get that.. or is it that the few friends i have are not too bright?
I get that all the time, I always look at the passenger coming in to see if they get it, they never do
Flushed with the success of the door handles I thought it was about time to turn attention to the suspension upgrade/improvement.
OK so the 'WAS' the plan. 4x4 rear springs; rear axle turned upside down and fitted under the spring rather than over it.
As you may recall this did involve changing the position of the handbrake anchor points but hey; how hard can that be.
To save time I had a MK1 axle knocking about from the 'Neglected Green One' so I converted that. Makes sense Huh.? (wrong wrong wrong)
All bolted together and took the plunge and bought brand new Skoda Felicia springs for the front struts (£60 delivered) and endured the heartstopping event of fitting them. I can't explain why changing coil springs always scares me but winding springs down by five or six inches is a great way of creating a weapon of mass destruction if anything slips.
These bug*ers were so long that I actually used two sets of compressors to keep everything straight and vertical. (Long springs have a habit of bulging and trying to slip their restraint.) But they went on OK.
This is a Skoda spring next to a std 2wd pPanda item
And this is the same, wound up to fit, next to a standard 2wd one.
Notice I put the strut in a bench vice....... The theory is that if anything goes wrong then it will just take out the shed roof and miss me.
Scared...? Not me mister..... Eek pass the cheese.....
OK so the 'WAS' the plan. 4x4 rear springs; rear axle turned upside down and fitted under the spring rather than over it.
As you may recall this did involve changing the position of the handbrake anchor points but hey; how hard can that be.
To save time I had a MK1 axle knocking about from the 'Neglected Green One' so I converted that. Makes sense Huh.? (wrong wrong wrong)
All bolted together and took the plunge and bought brand new Skoda Felicia springs for the front struts (£60 delivered) and endured the heartstopping event of fitting them. I can't explain why changing coil springs always scares me but winding springs down by five or six inches is a great way of creating a weapon of mass destruction if anything slips.
These bug*ers were so long that I actually used two sets of compressors to keep everything straight and vertical. (Long springs have a habit of bulging and trying to slip their restraint.) But they went on OK.
This is a Skoda spring next to a std 2wd pPanda item
And this is the same, wound up to fit, next to a standard 2wd one.
Notice I put the strut in a bench vice....... The theory is that if anything goes wrong then it will just take out the shed roof and miss me.
Scared...? Not me mister..... Eek pass the cheese.....
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