New Project: 1980 X1/9

Joshua Field

Daily Driver
Just picked up this project today and can't wait to get to work on it. Almost no rust thanks to the dry Colorado climate and only 37k miles on the odo. The first thing I'll have to tackle is the fact that the engine lid and trunk release levers are gone and the cables are also nowhere to be found. Any ideas for how I can get the lid to release without the cable/lever assembly?

Thanks!

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Welcome to Xweb Joshua,

Pull the side vent behind the driver's door and see if you can spot the ends of the cables. If you can find them you can try pulling the cable with a vice grips. There are also emergency release cables for both the rear trunk and engine lid. Sometimes those have been pulled off over the years, but hopefully yours are there.

I think the emergency release cable for the rear trunk is under the coolant reservoir. It is a very thin cable with a pull ring on the end IIRC. You need to look up from under the car. The engine cover release is in the rear trunk, so you need to get that open first.

There are a couple more intrusive methods to open the covers, but we will wait on those till you try the intended methods. I will look for some pictures, or if you have the owners manual the info is in there.
 
Thanks! This will be my third X (first was an 82 back in the 80's, second was an 86 in the 90's)!

I did take the side vent off to see if I could spot cable ends when I was buying it but there aren't any that I could find. She's getting towed here tomorrow morning so I'll have a look underneath to see if I can find the emergency cable. I did read about the method of drilling a hole behind the plate but hoping to avoid that route.
 
Joshua,

I found my 1980 X's owner's manual. Here is the page on locating the emergency release cables. Good luck!

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Welcome Joshua! Looks like a great starting point, from 20ft. Love that color, too. My first X1/9 looked exactly like that. It's was also an '80. Good luck on those cables. They can be a real PITA. If you can't access them from the driver side air scoop; maybe it's possible to open them from underneath or if your car has the removable trunk panel.?? (I forget which years had them)
 
Nice find. You might be able to get the engine cover open by reaching up from under the car? If the removable panel between the engine compartment and rear trunk is in place about the only (don't want to drill a hole) option is the emergency pull as indicated above. The line looks like nylon, or some thick fishing line with a rubber grommet attached on the end. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome! I managed to get the engine cover open after trying a lot of different methods. Turns out if you lay under the car from the back and reach up, it is a pretty clear shot to the engine deck catch. I'll post a picture but I was able to loop a coat hanger into it and yank it open once I figure out where it was. Still haven't tried to get into the trunk but there is a fair chance of finding a pizza from 1986 from what I've seen so far.

Looks like someone was in there making a mess of things trying to sort the fuel system so it will be a bit of a project for sure. So far:
  • The fuel tank straps were off and it was hanging down
  • Fuel lines were disconnected
  • Air cleaner assembly is off and hoses detached
I ordered the K&N 56-9028 High Performance Custom Racing Assembly air cleaner which I think will bolt right up but not sure where those disconnected hoses will need to go. I'll post a picture of the engine bay after I clean it up a bit.

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The emergency rear trunk cable, as illustrated bu the manual pics posted by Jim is usually really well hidden. I think it took me more than 10 years before seeing the one on my car. It's just a metal cable with the end wrapped around a rubber plug. Removal of the prestone overflow tank may help locate it. There is a lot of chances it's still there. But it doesn't mean it will work...
 
Dug into cleaning things up and taking inventory this morning. This will be quite an adventure because my first two X's were FI and I've never had a carb'ed car before. Definitely a lot more hoses than the bosch FI system! At first glance, I've got six disconnected hoses right now - I think 1, 2, and 3 go with the fuel system and 4, 5, and 6 would somehow get linked to the air cleaner.

Any help from you carb gurus would be very welcome! Thanks!

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#1 looks like an aftermarket electric fuel pump coming off the top of the fuel sender unit. FI cars feed out the bottom of the tank, carb cars pull fuel up out of the tank thru a tube that is part of the sender unit. The return tube is also part of the unit. If you trace #1 a bit further left you will find the top of the sender with the two tubes sticking out as shown below in the picture of a carb fuel sender unit. The tube that terminates in a sock is the feed tube and the rubber hose is the fuel return.
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#2 and #3 may be the input and return line for the mechanical pump located on the back of the block, which may still be installed. This is a picture of the 1300 I took out of my carb'd 78, but the fuel pump location is the same for the 1980. See the domed device bolted just below and to the right of the distributor with the two hoses connected.

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You are probably correct about 4, 5 and 6. Most likely attach to the air cleaner.
 
Super helpful, thank you! I took out the aftermarket pump and it looks like maybe this would be the original configuration?
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Though, where they terminate looks a little different from the 1300 pic, so maybe a different mechanical pump? (BTW, does not look fun to get down there to swap it out which is maybe why the PO was trying to do an electric pump...)
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Thanks for the help!
 
Also, found this diagram but it is a little hard to make out. The place where they connect is in the same spot as that fuel pump but it doesn't seem to look like that pump. Maybe it was replaced with another model somewhere along the way...
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The pump in that diagram looks kinda like the domed one on my 1300. Fiat used many pumps with slightly different looks, which varied by manufacturer. For example, I have 3 old mechanical pumps for my 124 laying around. All 3 are made by a different company and they are all different in appearance.
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They are held on by nuts on 2 studs. It looks like you may want to tackle the job at the same time you change the oil. With the filter off access from below may be not too bad.

You can stick with an electric pump and remove the mechanical pump if you want. I did this with my 124. Get a block off plate to put over the opening in the block for the mechanical pump. You can see the plate I got from Vicks bolted to the block. It has "VAS" etched into it.
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I was thinking the same thing re: doing it while I'm doing an oil change. I've got oil and a filter ready to go but might just buy a mechanical pump before I do the change. Any advantage to the electric pump? I'm seeing a mechanical for $38 new which is less than half the cost of the electric...
 
With the electric pump you will need to wire is properly and include some level of safety in that wiring. An inertia switch at the minimum to cut the pump in case of an accident. There are quite a few threads on the options for wiring a pump. Perhaps whoever put the existing electric pump in did a good wiring job and you can reuse it.

The mechanical pump is what was stock for 1980, so that is a plus. Be sure to review the manual section for the mechanical pump R&R to see if there any measurements needed to get the pump arm set properly into the block. The pump arm rides a lobe on the crank shaft IIRC.

If you look back at my 3 pump picture, you can see the center has a shattered ear. There were cracks all through that pump when I removed it. This is because I just bolted it up to my 124 figuring that's all there was to it. Nope. I had the arm too far in and the poor little pump beat itself to death as the arm was driven too far in the up and down plane to the point it was hitting the pump case. The pump lasted about 2 weeks before I noticed gas pouring on the ground. Oops. Maybe you shouldn't be taking advice from me on this?? :eek::confused::p;):rolleyes:
 
Good advice! I'll do some solid research on mounting it before getting into the project. I did a little hunting and I think this is the model pump that is currently installed:
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