Project Fiat Panda 1.4 100HP
PART TWO: Our 2008 Panda 100HP is due an MOT test. In preparation, we go through the mechanicals and replace a few bits to make sure it’s fighting fit. Andrew Everett gets his hands dirty for once!
With the worsening economic situation and the decrease in new car sales for various reasons, more and more folk are hanging onto their existing cars and spending out on repairs and maintenance. This means that garages are as busy as never before with booking times running into weeks: it was for this reason that I had to crack on with Fiat repairs myself, only getting my preferred local garage (Parkside Autos in Worksop) to find a half-day slot to replace the timing belt that you can read all about next month.
As it arrived, the Panda had various issues. Worst was the appalling noise of a dying wheel bearing – and in second place a bad vibration from the frontend that simple wheel balancing didn’t cure. In the end, a buckled wheel was discovered and moved to the back for a temporary fix. The steering felt a bit stiff and the handling slightly odd, and a previous MOT advisory for ‘misting’ of the offside front shock absorber meant that it was indeed knackered.
Editor Knowles thought the brakes were a bit ‘wooden’, and upon inspection, we found that the driver’s side (offside) rear wheel bearing was absolutely goosed. So, a long list of bits was given to series sponsors GSF – discs and pads all-round, front struts, top mounts, rear dampers and the usual filters, plugs and so on.
Strut one's stuff
However, the front struts proved elusive, and it seems that 100HP ones are Fiatonly and in the region of £400 a pair. Stuff that. Undoubtedly stiffer than a regular Panda, there had to be a way around this. I looked through various damper manufacturer catalogues, crossreferenced and found that both Monroe and GSF list the 1.3 Multijet diesel struts as the same part number. So, my local GSF in Sheffield had a pair of their Amtex equivalents in stock and on a ‘suck it and see’ basis. And yes, they are spot on. GSF part numbers AEX473319 and AEX473320 are the ones we used – and at 50 quid a side, are cheap enough. We fitted new top mounts as well – part number DTSBSH0463C.
The rest of the jobs were easy enough given the age of the car and inevitable rusty bolts – but compared to the previous Merc SLK project, it was a walk in the park. More car design like this please.
FRONT DISCS & PADS
