Chris Obert
autocrosser, X driver
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I thought I would share a real nice car that I am just finishing up with you. It's one of those cars that is kinda a beast, but once you have driven it you wonder:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If Fiat had done a production car like this, what would the world think about an X1/9 today?
I have been servicing this 1975 X1/9 for the last few years after it's owner found me. He purchased it brand new here in Northern California, and has driven it on & off since. His current goal is a performance street legal race car that can be driven to the track or autocross event, run to the best of his skills, and driven home. He also wants to be able to use it on club tours & events, and be able to keep up with the pack if his driving skills allow it. Go to the grocery store or run errands? Years ago that was expected, but now he also owns a modern 4WD Toyota appliance and a work van. He could have probably spent less on it's recent incarnation and bought a new Elise that could have done this out of the box, but he really loves this Fiat.
The paint is the new Volkswagen Beatle green. Is was originally the Bertone bright green, but the owner felt it was time for something not quite so loud. It was painted before I met it.
It still has the original ladder bumpers, but he dreams of someday going with the European 1300 style.
He has Sunbeam Tiger back up lamps mounted in the front bumper as secondary driving lights. High output halogen bulbs are fitted as they originally were only 5 watt.
The wheels are the real Abarth CD30s.
The brakes are stock except for the Vicks "metal" flexible brake hoses and PBR semi metallic brake pads.
The suspension isn't stock.
Up front it has an Addco front bar mounted with the Plaia mounting kit.
The car has Big Foot strut doublers, Plaia pivots, and our new strut top mounts.
Koni struts are fitted all around, and the rears have just been rebuilt replacing the plastic internal valving that fails with new design metal valve. The fronts with 8,000 miles on them have not failed, yet.
The springs are coil overs, the spring rates are calculated by Mark Plaia, and the suspension geometry is set up to Steve Hoelscher specifications. The camber is set with those adjustable angle bolts I supply.
The car has been fully set up on corner scales, and it now has a 50% cross weight with driver & passenger, and tools & equipment, on board. In other words, in touring trim.
The interior was just redone to a 5 speed dash & center consol. All of the conversion parts have been purchased from various ebay suppliers, and none of them color matched, so we did that before installation.
The instruments are all electronic, including the speedometer.
It has two glove boxes.
The seats are from a Lotus Elise. They have adjustable inflatable back bolsters.
The carpeting is aftermarket, and we still need to do something about it being too short for the 1500 shift consol.
For touring, a CB radio mounts between the seat backs, but there is talk of mounting it in the center consol ashtray area as his CB is very small..
And we are doing something different with the 4 point belts because they will ride up. New 5 point belts for the right seat & 6 point for the left seat have been purchased, but only one mounting kit arrived and the 6 points he got from an ebay supplier seem to be missing a critical part. I have fabricated a square steel upper harness mounting bar that fits between the back of the seat tops & the rear window.
And in case you want music other than the little singer behind you, it's got a very good stereo.
While all of the above may seem impressive, it's the engine that makes this car a blast.
It is a 1500 built originally by a race prep shop that does not participate on this forum, as far as I know. The pistons are high compression forged Venolia. The head is big valved, but uses stock diameter ports. The camshaft is a Delta. Originally the valve train was of the race shops own lightweight design, but we had so much problems with improper heat treatment that for the last 8,000 miles it has reliably used the heavier stock Fiat buckets, adjustment shims, keepers, & valves. An aluminum flywheel came with the engine performance package.
There is a Vicks baffle in the oil pan for those long right hand sweepers.
The drivetrain lower crossmember quickly became twisted by the performance of the 1500 motor, so it's been straightened & reinforced.
The motor was just rebuilt because the oil & filter was changed, but the old oil filter's rubber seal was mistakenly left on (not by me!), and the the car was driven until the ring blew out, the oil light came on, and then gingerly driven home with no oil pressure. That basically toasted the crank & rods, along with most every part that relies upon lubrication to function.
The motor had only about 12,000 miles on it, but always smoked some. We discovered 0.012" of piston to wall clearance, so now it has larger pistons, new bores, hand fitted rings...
It now also sports some lightened timing gears, and even though we are still in beginning break in the power this engine is trying to produce is amazing... And it was before, but this is better.
The engine breaths thru dual DCNFs on a Sprint Filter intake manifold, and uses a nice aftermarket header (looks like an old PBS unit), and now it has a free flow muffler specified by Mark Plaia, all tied together by something I made up.
The original '"performance" clutch specified by the engine builder ended up to be a stock 1500, which was unable to handle this motor once I got it running right before, and was easy to smoke. It now has one of Robin's performance clutches.
Per the owner's request, the previously rebuilt 4 speed transaxle has now been replaced with a rebuilt 5 speed unit, along with all of the required changes from starter & ring gear, to 5 speed axles & uprights with new wheel bearings.
Having fully adjustable suspension made dealing with the ride height & weight change of this conversion easy.
The engine uses a Plex ignition system. It has had it's share of failures from burned thru rotors to an intermittent pick up failure causing a stumble & miss only on hard left turns on the first 10 seconds of the autocross course. Yes, that was a joy to troubleshoot.
And you will also see a nice vapor catch tank to make the track day inspectors happy. Next to a fabricated stainless coolant tank that the owner picked up on ebay, but seems to leak from the welded seams. Now it has been replaced by the old stainless tank, polished.
Obviously the owner has been gathering "all the right stuff" for a long time for this car. And by my fine tuning we have weeded out the stuff that really IS right from the claimed right stuff that really wasn't. In other words, he spent a lot on stuff that was not as represented before he met me. It was a tough lesson for him to learn, and the quality of the stuff ebay sellers have sent him continues to be the biggest failure issue of this car (see seat belts that are missing the mounting kit and parts discussed above!).
Once the new motor is again broken in, we should see improved performance from before.
Locally we have a freeway entrance with a very short ramp that dumps most cars into 65 MPH traffic at about 30. This car could do that entrance & be well above the traffic speed without much thought before. Before acceleration was limited by tire grip & clutch slip, I suspect it will soon be limited only by the tires and by the driver's desire.
As with most Xs, you find yourself not needing to slow down for a curve in a mountain road, and with this suspension set up most corners require almost no thought. To find it's limits requires you to take it off the public roadway to a track.
As much power as you could want on a street car easily on tap with your right foot, even if going up a hill. A 5 speed transmission to make those long straights not quite so long, with cornering ability limited only by driver skills... I suspect soon I will hear a request to put in Matt's Strada final drive gearset as this engine has the guts to use that gear set.
Makes me want to get back onto my own ultimate street X project.
Enjoy the pictures. And as before, if you have any questions I know you will ask.
Chris Obert
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here is the big valve head with stock ports
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
This build of the engine with new high compression pistons
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Front
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Rear
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
drivetrain installed
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Want to go for a spin?
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If Fiat had done a production car like this, what would the world think about an X1/9 today?
I have been servicing this 1975 X1/9 for the last few years after it's owner found me. He purchased it brand new here in Northern California, and has driven it on & off since. His current goal is a performance street legal race car that can be driven to the track or autocross event, run to the best of his skills, and driven home. He also wants to be able to use it on club tours & events, and be able to keep up with the pack if his driving skills allow it. Go to the grocery store or run errands? Years ago that was expected, but now he also owns a modern 4WD Toyota appliance and a work van. He could have probably spent less on it's recent incarnation and bought a new Elise that could have done this out of the box, but he really loves this Fiat.
The paint is the new Volkswagen Beatle green. Is was originally the Bertone bright green, but the owner felt it was time for something not quite so loud. It was painted before I met it.
It still has the original ladder bumpers, but he dreams of someday going with the European 1300 style.
He has Sunbeam Tiger back up lamps mounted in the front bumper as secondary driving lights. High output halogen bulbs are fitted as they originally were only 5 watt.
The wheels are the real Abarth CD30s.
The brakes are stock except for the Vicks "metal" flexible brake hoses and PBR semi metallic brake pads.
The suspension isn't stock.
Up front it has an Addco front bar mounted with the Plaia mounting kit.
The car has Big Foot strut doublers, Plaia pivots, and our new strut top mounts.
Koni struts are fitted all around, and the rears have just been rebuilt replacing the plastic internal valving that fails with new design metal valve. The fronts with 8,000 miles on them have not failed, yet.
The springs are coil overs, the spring rates are calculated by Mark Plaia, and the suspension geometry is set up to Steve Hoelscher specifications. The camber is set with those adjustable angle bolts I supply.
The car has been fully set up on corner scales, and it now has a 50% cross weight with driver & passenger, and tools & equipment, on board. In other words, in touring trim.
The interior was just redone to a 5 speed dash & center consol. All of the conversion parts have been purchased from various ebay suppliers, and none of them color matched, so we did that before installation.
The instruments are all electronic, including the speedometer.
It has two glove boxes.
The seats are from a Lotus Elise. They have adjustable inflatable back bolsters.
The carpeting is aftermarket, and we still need to do something about it being too short for the 1500 shift consol.
For touring, a CB radio mounts between the seat backs, but there is talk of mounting it in the center consol ashtray area as his CB is very small..
And we are doing something different with the 4 point belts because they will ride up. New 5 point belts for the right seat & 6 point for the left seat have been purchased, but only one mounting kit arrived and the 6 points he got from an ebay supplier seem to be missing a critical part. I have fabricated a square steel upper harness mounting bar that fits between the back of the seat tops & the rear window.
And in case you want music other than the little singer behind you, it's got a very good stereo.
While all of the above may seem impressive, it's the engine that makes this car a blast.
It is a 1500 built originally by a race prep shop that does not participate on this forum, as far as I know. The pistons are high compression forged Venolia. The head is big valved, but uses stock diameter ports. The camshaft is a Delta. Originally the valve train was of the race shops own lightweight design, but we had so much problems with improper heat treatment that for the last 8,000 miles it has reliably used the heavier stock Fiat buckets, adjustment shims, keepers, & valves. An aluminum flywheel came with the engine performance package.
There is a Vicks baffle in the oil pan for those long right hand sweepers.
The drivetrain lower crossmember quickly became twisted by the performance of the 1500 motor, so it's been straightened & reinforced.
The motor was just rebuilt because the oil & filter was changed, but the old oil filter's rubber seal was mistakenly left on (not by me!), and the the car was driven until the ring blew out, the oil light came on, and then gingerly driven home with no oil pressure. That basically toasted the crank & rods, along with most every part that relies upon lubrication to function.
The motor had only about 12,000 miles on it, but always smoked some. We discovered 0.012" of piston to wall clearance, so now it has larger pistons, new bores, hand fitted rings...
It now also sports some lightened timing gears, and even though we are still in beginning break in the power this engine is trying to produce is amazing... And it was before, but this is better.
The engine breaths thru dual DCNFs on a Sprint Filter intake manifold, and uses a nice aftermarket header (looks like an old PBS unit), and now it has a free flow muffler specified by Mark Plaia, all tied together by something I made up.
The original '"performance" clutch specified by the engine builder ended up to be a stock 1500, which was unable to handle this motor once I got it running right before, and was easy to smoke. It now has one of Robin's performance clutches.
Per the owner's request, the previously rebuilt 4 speed transaxle has now been replaced with a rebuilt 5 speed unit, along with all of the required changes from starter & ring gear, to 5 speed axles & uprights with new wheel bearings.
Having fully adjustable suspension made dealing with the ride height & weight change of this conversion easy.
The engine uses a Plex ignition system. It has had it's share of failures from burned thru rotors to an intermittent pick up failure causing a stumble & miss only on hard left turns on the first 10 seconds of the autocross course. Yes, that was a joy to troubleshoot.
And you will also see a nice vapor catch tank to make the track day inspectors happy. Next to a fabricated stainless coolant tank that the owner picked up on ebay, but seems to leak from the welded seams. Now it has been replaced by the old stainless tank, polished.
Obviously the owner has been gathering "all the right stuff" for a long time for this car. And by my fine tuning we have weeded out the stuff that really IS right from the claimed right stuff that really wasn't. In other words, he spent a lot on stuff that was not as represented before he met me. It was a tough lesson for him to learn, and the quality of the stuff ebay sellers have sent him continues to be the biggest failure issue of this car (see seat belts that are missing the mounting kit and parts discussed above!).
Once the new motor is again broken in, we should see improved performance from before.
Locally we have a freeway entrance with a very short ramp that dumps most cars into 65 MPH traffic at about 30. This car could do that entrance & be well above the traffic speed without much thought before. Before acceleration was limited by tire grip & clutch slip, I suspect it will soon be limited only by the tires and by the driver's desire.
As with most Xs, you find yourself not needing to slow down for a curve in a mountain road, and with this suspension set up most corners require almost no thought. To find it's limits requires you to take it off the public roadway to a track.
As much power as you could want on a street car easily on tap with your right foot, even if going up a hill. A 5 speed transmission to make those long straights not quite so long, with cornering ability limited only by driver skills... I suspect soon I will hear a request to put in Matt's Strada final drive gearset as this engine has the guts to use that gear set.
Makes me want to get back onto my own ultimate street X project.
Enjoy the pictures. And as before, if you have any questions I know you will ask.
Chris Obert
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here is the big valve head with stock ports
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
This build of the engine with new high compression pistons
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Front
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Rear
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
drivetrain installed
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Want to go for a spin?
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