The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I takes pics of every Panda I can.... I suppose they will all now be in a protective police compound. Somewhere around 3000 pics so far. SAD.
General What did you do with your Panda today?
- Thread starter aussiepanda
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General What did you do with your Panda today?
Well, I'd have never thought of that. What a very sad reflection on modern life that this thought should occur to you.The Police possibly told him to park it elsewhere, because someone was photographing it...
Sadly it's possibly a very accurate reflection of what many parts of the UK are now like.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Parked him in the rain while I put new discs and pads on Daffo my daughters 169 Panda Mylife. Backing plate shims parted company from pads again. Blueprint.com parts highly recommended. Top quality, perfect fir and reasonable prices. .
Gave it a damm good clean as I have been doing loads of overtime for weeks & the Panda wasn't getting the love & attention it deserves. Washed, clay barred, polished & waxed and now looking back to its best, no pics unfortunately. Had a quick look underneath & The Bilt Hamber Dynax is still holding up extremely well on the underside over a year on with no signs of peeling anywhere 
I had a bit of free time this evening so decided to do the interior as it was quite dusty & the red on the seats was looking a tad faded, so out came the tin of Vanish along with Autoglym Interior Shampoo which I find is the best thing on the Panda's cloth seats if they need a deeper clean. It didn't stop there as I ended up scrubing the seats, carpets, mats including boot mat & even gave the head lining a quick clean, 2 hours later it was looking good again
Brilliant job! Personally I like the look of the red against the charcoal upholstery. Our Becky has colour highlights but unfortunately it's a really insipid washed out yellow. We put black seat covers on her within the first week of ownership!
Washed both my Panda & dad's Punto this afternoon when I got in from work, both now sparkly & clean although the Punto could do with a polish & wax at some point soon
Also put the latest purchase on the Panda's bootlid, I saw it & thought it would suit the car
Also put the latest purchase on the Panda's bootlid, I saw it & thought it would suit the car
I quite like the red against the charcoal as well, i think the worst combo i've ever seen was when I was about 6 my mum had a brown Volvo 340 with tan cloth interior, what a disgusting combination, still makes me cringe to this day. Although my dads's mate had a black Alfa 166 with cream interior which was also a bit much but nowhere near as evil as that Volvo
Decided to redo the rustproofing on the floor as I wasn't happy with the coverage, instead of using the aerosol product that I used before which made a right mess & went everywhere I used the brush on version of the same product, now much better than it was. Still going off as it takes 24 hrs to cure
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Hope you did inside the wheel arches and inside the doors ( mines just starting to show signs of going in these areas)
Opened the windows about 6 inches all round first thing this morning to let the heat out and I'm just going to go out and close them again. Car hasn't turned a wheel!
Motorcyclist Colin
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Hi FiatMatt
What was the product you used? Obviously you are happy with it and how long is effective between applications.
What was the product you used? Obviously you are happy with it and how long is effective between applications.
Motorcyclist Colin
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Hi Again Matt
I looked back a bit further and found it was Bilt Hamber. Same stuff I use anyway
Cheers
I looked back a bit further and found it was Bilt Hamber. Same stuff I use anyway
Cheers
I did inside the arches & box sections of the floor last year with Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 which supposedly lasts 3-4 years & is still looking good with no signs of peeling off even with regular cleaning. The only part that is starting to look a bit iffy is the rear beam even though it's been kept clean from new, I'll keep on top of it with vactan until it needs replacing, their cheap enough to buy when the time comes so not really worth messing around with, also my sump could do with another clean up at some point.
Got some pics after fully detailing the Panda yesterday, was a bit nervous about using a cutting compound as the only time I have ever used it was on my dads mates 131 last year which I posted on the forum, but it did need it as it had lots of minor clear coat scratches along with a few swirls up close from the last 4 years & was starting to look noticeable even when the sun wasn't out, the worst areas being the roof, bonnet & the front bumper. I spent from 7.30am to about 5pm on it but the results are worth the time & hard work, there is still the odd imperfection here & there but it is a daily driven car so will never be perfect & it also adds to the character of the car
A black car really does look so nice when polished up like this. Looks great and well worth all your effort.
Serviced Becky (our 1.2 dynamic eco Panda) today. For me there's no such thing as a "small service" - by which I mean a change of oil and filter with a quick glance round everything else. Started 09.00 hrs and just out the shower now at 16.30 and I've forgotten to do the pollen filter! - I like to do pollen filters every year regardless of manufacturer's recommendation (usually every 2nd year) because I like to feel that there is a good supply of air flowing over the heater motor resistor pack.
Front brakes were fine. Nothing seized or worn out so it was just a matter of cleaning everything, sanding some rust on the carriers, applying a little anti-seize and building everything back up again. The brake pedal has been getting a little longer in the reach over some weeks now which improves back to a good pedal if the handbrake is applied, typical of seized or partly seized self adjusters. I wasn't disappointed, it was the N/S one but the O/S looked dry and "crusty" too. So it was off with the rear hubs and shoes stripped down so I could "fiddle" with the self adjusters. I was lucky, there wasn't any damage to them and the ratchet teeth were still good. A wee spray of plus gas and some gentle "persuasion" soon had them loosened up again. Then it was time to do battle with the hand brake cable - anyone got an easy way of holding the spring on the cable in compression while the end of the cable is hooked back up to the shoe lever? I do it using a blunt pair of side cutters and a normal pair of pliers. I slide the, blunt, cutting edges of the side cutters between the end of the spring and the big nipple on the end of the cable. Then I use the pliers to pull on the nipple while restraining the spring with the side cutters. When a goodly gap has been created between the end of the spring and the nipple I grip the cable with the side cutters, which restrains the spring while I let go with the pliers and manoeuver the nipple back into the end of the lever then release the cutters so the spring reseats against the lever. It's fiddly and not very good for the cable - although the blunt jaws don't seem to cause any damage - but surely there's an easier way? Because I'd been messing about with the adjusters they were now well and truly out of adjustment so now I had to mess about manually taking up the slack and while I was doing this I noticed that the leading edge of the leading shoe on each side is de-laminating slightly. (the bond is breaking down between the metal shoe and lining material - Pity because there's plenty of material still - and I think they may be the original shoes still, only 12 years old! but this means new shoes required sooner rather than later. On the other hand I'm glad I found them now before the cold weather sets in and before a shoe comes loose possibly locking up a wheel!
While we're on the subject of these self adjusters - you know the type, they have a threaded spindle with a ratchet nut and two spring steel "blades" one of which engages the ratchet teeth. I was lucky in that they didn't take much to free the thread and I then gave them a light spray of thin spray grease, taking care to only get the grease on the threads and not the ratchet in case it made it skip teeth. What do you all do? I know some advise not to lubricate self adjusters but I think that's more applicable to the type where there are two splined radiused "wheels" rather than our threaded type.
I've been running the Fiats on Fuchs Titan GT1 5W-40 with great success - they seem to like it anyway? and I ordered some more as the Punto needs it's service too. It would seem that Fuchs have had a reorganize and upgrade of their product lines so what arrived was Fuchs Titan GT1 FLEX 3 5w-40. On average this seems to be advertised at about £4 to £5 more for 5 litres but they supplied it at the price I'd been quoted for the older spec oil (£28 approx from Independent Car Components) which I thought was very good of them. In fact there was just enough of the "old" 5w-40 to do Becky so the Punto will be the first to get the new "FLEX 5w-40" Doubt if we'll notice any difference though.
All the running gear looked good with no play in ball joints or bushings and levels, which I check weekly anyway, were all good. Brake fluid checked out fine with my boil point tester, but I expected that as it was all renewed when her rear cylinders were done by Kenny's "merry men" back in the spring.
I've been anxious about the rear axle for some time so I got under with a hammer and old blunt chisel and chipped away at the crusty rust on the spring pans - cross beam and arms back to the hubs look pretty good still - I was able to chip away a rather alarming amount of crusty rust flakes and the metal is definitely thinner than it was. However there's no sign of any cracks or the pans bending out of shape so I'm just going to keep a watching brief on them and when they look too frightening I'll just buy a pattern replacement axle complete - I'm minded to buy from IM AXLES as they advertise their spring pans are made from thicker metal but I notice my local factor can now supply. I haven't asked prices or manufacturer yet. I may give them a lick of Waxoyl when I'm doing the rear brakes.
So all in all it's been a good day. The old girl seems in fine fettle generally and I can stop worrying about the rear axle - for a wee while anyway? Found the rear brake shoe problem before it became a PROBLEM and that shouldn't be too expensive to sort out with a set of new shoes, might even stretch to a couple of drums as the existing ones, whilst fine on the inside, are disgustingly crusty on the outside!
Front brakes were fine. Nothing seized or worn out so it was just a matter of cleaning everything, sanding some rust on the carriers, applying a little anti-seize and building everything back up again. The brake pedal has been getting a little longer in the reach over some weeks now which improves back to a good pedal if the handbrake is applied, typical of seized or partly seized self adjusters. I wasn't disappointed, it was the N/S one but the O/S looked dry and "crusty" too. So it was off with the rear hubs and shoes stripped down so I could "fiddle" with the self adjusters. I was lucky, there wasn't any damage to them and the ratchet teeth were still good. A wee spray of plus gas and some gentle "persuasion" soon had them loosened up again. Then it was time to do battle with the hand brake cable - anyone got an easy way of holding the spring on the cable in compression while the end of the cable is hooked back up to the shoe lever? I do it using a blunt pair of side cutters and a normal pair of pliers. I slide the, blunt, cutting edges of the side cutters between the end of the spring and the big nipple on the end of the cable. Then I use the pliers to pull on the nipple while restraining the spring with the side cutters. When a goodly gap has been created between the end of the spring and the nipple I grip the cable with the side cutters, which restrains the spring while I let go with the pliers and manoeuver the nipple back into the end of the lever then release the cutters so the spring reseats against the lever. It's fiddly and not very good for the cable - although the blunt jaws don't seem to cause any damage - but surely there's an easier way? Because I'd been messing about with the adjusters they were now well and truly out of adjustment so now I had to mess about manually taking up the slack and while I was doing this I noticed that the leading edge of the leading shoe on each side is de-laminating slightly. (the bond is breaking down between the metal shoe and lining material - Pity because there's plenty of material still - and I think they may be the original shoes still, only 12 years old! but this means new shoes required sooner rather than later. On the other hand I'm glad I found them now before the cold weather sets in and before a shoe comes loose possibly locking up a wheel!
While we're on the subject of these self adjusters - you know the type, they have a threaded spindle with a ratchet nut and two spring steel "blades" one of which engages the ratchet teeth. I was lucky in that they didn't take much to free the thread and I then gave them a light spray of thin spray grease, taking care to only get the grease on the threads and not the ratchet in case it made it skip teeth. What do you all do? I know some advise not to lubricate self adjusters but I think that's more applicable to the type where there are two splined radiused "wheels" rather than our threaded type.
I've been running the Fiats on Fuchs Titan GT1 5W-40 with great success - they seem to like it anyway? and I ordered some more as the Punto needs it's service too. It would seem that Fuchs have had a reorganize and upgrade of their product lines so what arrived was Fuchs Titan GT1 FLEX 3 5w-40. On average this seems to be advertised at about £4 to £5 more for 5 litres but they supplied it at the price I'd been quoted for the older spec oil (£28 approx from Independent Car Components) which I thought was very good of them. In fact there was just enough of the "old" 5w-40 to do Becky so the Punto will be the first to get the new "FLEX 5w-40" Doubt if we'll notice any difference though.
All the running gear looked good with no play in ball joints or bushings and levels, which I check weekly anyway, were all good. Brake fluid checked out fine with my boil point tester, but I expected that as it was all renewed when her rear cylinders were done by Kenny's "merry men" back in the spring.
I've been anxious about the rear axle for some time so I got under with a hammer and old blunt chisel and chipped away at the crusty rust on the spring pans - cross beam and arms back to the hubs look pretty good still - I was able to chip away a rather alarming amount of crusty rust flakes and the metal is definitely thinner than it was. However there's no sign of any cracks or the pans bending out of shape so I'm just going to keep a watching brief on them and when they look too frightening I'll just buy a pattern replacement axle complete - I'm minded to buy from IM AXLES as they advertise their spring pans are made from thicker metal but I notice my local factor can now supply. I haven't asked prices or manufacturer yet. I may give them a lick of Waxoyl when I'm doing the rear brakes.
So all in all it's been a good day. The old girl seems in fine fettle generally and I can stop worrying about the rear axle - for a wee while anyway? Found the rear brake shoe problem before it became a PROBLEM and that shouldn't be too expensive to sort out with a set of new shoes, might even stretch to a couple of drums as the existing ones, whilst fine on the inside, are disgustingly crusty on the outside!
After helping my dad in the garden as he has decided rather than buying a new shed he is making his own out of the all the wood we have in the garden which is going to plan so far, anyhow afterwards I decided to give the Panda a nice soapy bath as it was quite filthy from going to & from work recently as I been at a different store. Afterwards I went to tesco's to get a few bits & the Panda wanted to pose for a few selfies
Also bought a couple of items for it recently, a new boot handle strap which feels much better quality than the original & a genuine Fiat cargo restraining net from a Fiat dealer on ebay for £20 with free delivery
Also bought a couple of items for it recently, a new boot handle strap which feels much better quality than the original & a genuine Fiat cargo restraining net from a Fiat dealer on ebay for £20 with free delivery
