Wheel hammered back into shape now. Going to get my tracking and the wheel balanced tomorrow at a garage. Had to replace one of my lights today too, it was a right pain, the bulb smashed and was hard to get out, it was hard to get the new bulb in and I had to file down the surround for the correct bulb to actually fit, then I had to remove it and it was very tough to so that I could get the pins on the back to press down far enough. Managed it eventually, and lights are all working now, which is what matters!
The new-ish tyre is moved to my spare wheel now, and it's been balanced and everything, so now I'm all good for driving around again! Unfortunately the dented steel won't hold air and still has a slow leak after attempted repair so I've arranged with a Panda restorer to grab a steel wheel off him for a reasonable price, so I'll replace the old wheel with that one as my spare!
Dealt with the rust underneath using a drill with a rotating disc of metal wires, the metal to metal means the rust came off quite nicely! I think I've inhaled a lot of 23 year old metal/rust today Gave it a good brush of kurust, as seen in the picture. I'll paint over this in black tomorrow/the next day and then I need to spray some stone chip over that paint. After that, I can get around to doing the waxoyl Busy busy! New indicator lenses are now on. I bought some blue bulbs which flash amber from a local shop, because my previous bulbs were white flashing through the orange lens! Here it is I think it looks better now
^^^Sounds like the bearings, easy fix if you can get the bearings. About 80 quid for a replacement alt.^^^
Does indeed sound like bearings, replacement alt would be 100 if I wanted it tomorrow and fitted it on Saturday ready for the car meet on Sunday... sucks that it costs that much, was hoping it would be less I think some other alternators fit my car but as for buying a new one and having it 65 amp, it's going to be 70-90 quid no matter what... and 100 if I want it tomorrow!
Alternator ordered for today. I'll fit it tomorrow, and get to Haynes for Sunday. Out most the day tomorrow though so it's going to be a race against the clock!
Interesting car fact - on UK roundabouts, there's an easy way to get round traffic at dual carriageway roundabouts. If the queue is in the left lane for the left turning, and the right lane is clear, just use the right lane - go all the way around the roundabout and then turn left at the left turning. Perfectly easy and legal, can't believe I didn't know about it until I saw someone do it in a video! --- Old and new alternator... Fitting the alternator! At Haynes with the Pandas, Pandino and Casper!
All further pictures of Pandino and Casper will be posted on Fendy Photography in due course This weekend, I need to get to waxoyling Pandino! Need to keep that rust at bay! I need to do the number plates I have for him too, though I may be waiting till Christmas
There are all sorts of laws regarding the plates. The front has to be white background and rear has to be yellow. All the letters have to be a specific size, and the material has to be reflective. All standard plates are plastic but you can get metal and gel ones that reflect. If you get a metal one, then you need a BSAU (legality) mark and the post code of the manufacturer on the plate like my metal ones do. You have to make sure your plates are readable and clean, otherwise you can get pulled over for not having a readable plate. You must put your number plates on the original fittings that the car has, not in the windscreen or anything like that. What do you mean by mess with them? I hear that in some states in the States you don't even have to have a front number plate!
Here in Alabama we don't have front plates just rear. When you register your car here, they hand you a plate. Used to be stamped now is screen printed. You can personalize it, for a fee it takes about a month to receive by mail. DMV changes the look every 4 years. If for some reason you wear it out, or rub the print off you have to pay for another. I was wondering what you were going to do with your plate, when you said," I need to do the number plates " I like Pandino better than Casper myself. I think its the plastic on Casper throwing me off. Anyways keep at her! looking good
How about putting a personal text at the bottom of the plate? Would that be okay? I remember we had John 14:6 on one of our number plates.
When I said do the plates, I just meant change my knackered plastic ones to metal ones I have now Still haven't got around to it, more pressing matters right now! The difference between Pandino and Casper is that my red one is a mk2 and my mate's Panda is a mk1 - so his is the original. The original ones all had that plastic stuff on the side like that. Some of the mk2s had a thin line of plastic across the side on higher spec models but the Fizz Ltd Edition that I have didn't come with them Cheers, Lucky! My uncle has done that with his, it says his surname on it, and my cousin has "True Gent" underneath on his. Legally speaking, that place is meant to be reserved for the postcode or for the dealer name (when you buy a car from a dealer, it will say the dealer name on the plate), but some people modify it. I'm not sure if you're allowed to change it here, but I can't say I've heard anyone have problems with it anyway
Story incoming later on, but let's just say that I visited a Panda 4x4 Sisley that someone was going to scrap so I bought my fair share of parts off the car... Can't wait to put this to good use!
Here comes the story I'll be putting some of the parts on my car, you can of course be sure to get updated with that when I get around to it So, here it is. I saw this advertised on eBay and I asked the guy about some parts. He had them, so we made the hour and a half journey, and I was greeted with this... The bloke who owns it buys old cars and keeps some, sells some and scraps some. This one was going for scrap, so he was offering parts at discount prices to whoever wanted any! This particular model is the 4x4 Sisley, a very sought after and rare model. I am sad that it was going for scrap, but I wanted to make good use of the parts on it... We got straight to work on taking bits off. The car hasn't had an MOT in 9 years and has been stuck in a farmer's barn after being used and abused on a farm. The boot wouldn't open so we had to open it with a crowbar. It was very rusty! After almost two hours of work, this is the collection I grabbed. I got it at a really good price! If you have any questions about the bits then feel free to ask One of my favourite pieces is this neat little metal instruction manual that was riveted into the carpet! More on this story later on!
The rest of the story from the scrappie! Before we left, the owner had one last thing (or two) to show me. He took my father and I to another locked yard next to the one we had just been in. Upon entry, there were lots of cars, most of them looked in good nick and definitely not scrap. We walked through the rows of cars towards the back, and there it was, the surprise... Firstly, there was this really nice condition red Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley. I have to say, I'm quite jealous of this one! I don't reckon the bloke drives it, probably sitting on it to wait for prices to go up even higher to flip for a profit in a while. There's a nice BMW on the right next to it as well, but the other thing I was quite interested in was sitting next to it! You'll never guess what... another 4x4 Sisley This one was a parts car for the red one though (parts not available to anyone else, he keeps it for the red car), it had a lot of rust and it had been converted to a pickup which is something that I know my dad's friend did to one years back before he scrapped his as well! So... I want a 4x4 Sisley now. A blue one would be nice, but they're quite expensive, and I already have Pandino! Who can have too many Pandas? Apart from the fact I can't afford another one. Yet
My new red plugs for the door arrived... So now I finally have a passenger pocket as well as a driver's one! The blue Sisley that got scrapped is where the pocket itself came from
