Project Fiat Panda 1.4 100HP
PART SIX: Our Panda 100HP project comes to an end with seat repairs, an engine service and replacing the rear exhaust box. Andrew Everett sums up.
So, we are at the end of our 2008 Fiat Panda 100HP project and it’s a car that’s left me with mostly positive feelings. The main one being how simple it is to work on. Compare this to the Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 that came before – a much more expensive car new but one with corrosion dramas involving wing repairs and a new rear subframe fitted. We’ve heard of Mercs with subframe issues that are only just turned 10-years-old.
Our Fiat isn’t rusty though. Also, the nightmare of the Merc front damper and spring replacement – special tools that only just managed to get the spring back on and not before one nearly knocked me out. The Fiat is so much easier that you don’t even need spring compressors. This is what cars should be about and how they should be designed – effective as a car, yet able to be repaired with simple hand tools.
Our Fiat had clearly led a hard life before we acquired it. This final episode is about rebuilding the worn driver’s seat and correcting a few years of mechanical neglect. Incidentally, we haven't shown here the engine oil/filter change as that task was completed by the Editor about 3000 miles ago).
The Panda doesn’t really provide my kind of motoring, but I certainly have a lot of respect for it. It’s getting towards straightforward unpretentious car design at its best.
Our thanks this month are due to our sponsors GSF Car Parts – as well as Bielawski’s Sheffield Trimmers – our ‘go to’ car trimmer of choice.
REBUILDING A FRONT SEAT
