I concluded last issue’s report by saying that the Panda had failed its MoT on a poor handbrake and excessive travel at the brake pedal. To be honest, I had always felt that the pedal was a bit long, but I had not been able to adjust this out. Even the traditional Fiat way of adjusting up the rear brake drums (driving fast backwards and then hitting the brakes hard) failed to make much of a difference.
I had a new handbrake cable sitting on the shelf, and so adjusting up the handbrake travel to improve the braking effort was easy enough after I’d fitted this. The foot brake was to prove more of a problem, though. The wheels would lock up, but the pedal was very low, and I was not 100% convinced that it didn’t sink even lower if you sat there for a while with your foot pressed firmly down. Since there was no sign of any fluid leaks throughout the system
Simon Goldsworthy
Editor
Simon always has too many projects on the go, which
