Finally Drove the B16 X!

autox19

autox19

True Classic
Finally drove the X to work!! yay!!! still have a few issues. a wire that went to the radio, that is no longer there, shorted out and smoked up the interior. Damn that creates alot of smoke!!! shifter knob broke off. not a shock as I really didnt weld it up well. so not the shifter is about 4 inches tall. after it broke I am having issues finding 1st and 2nd. I will probably have to reconfigure how the cable to rod adaption works. Still gets air in the cooling system from somewhere. really leaning towards the expansion tank sloshing. I stopped after abuot 4 miles and bled it. Near the engine, not the radiator. then did it again when I was at work. so for the drive back, I will be praying I time lights out well.

32673436_10155503507357113_6074756822399451136_o.jpg
 
Gun Metal. vicks 15x8. still working on the "function" part of it. the "form" will come later. side markers fixed, tow bar hookups removed, etc... But I did have the biggest Grin on my face! Now plotting the return drive home to avoid as many stop lights until I can figure out the air in the cooling system issue.

Odie
 
Drove awesome. I was worried as we built a crossmember to hold the rear suspension from scratch as the old one was pretty much gone. Drove straight. with the 225's in front I thought it might be heavy. nope. and that is with the stock suspension. Power wise I didnt really "get on it" didnt even hit vtec. I did want to make sure I made it to work ;) even outside of vtec it pulls well. Very happy with the results. I think most people on the forum like to fiddle with stuff and I think that is where I am at with the cooling issues.

Odie
 
Really love the look of that car. Hopefully you get the cooling situated without too much of a hassle.
 
Brayden_connolly said:
Cant wait to see it at the open house next month! ;)
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I will be there 99%. but might not have the X there. I have a 124 spider now that I am going to be buying parts for! Also still having issues with cooling. how do you guys do it with the K swap? how do you plumb the expansion tank? I have one group saying purge it with the heater circuit to the top of the X expansion tank, and bottom goes to return, and another group saying TEE off the Return from the radiator or TEE off from the heater line only to the bottom and cap off the top inlet for the expansion tank

Odie
 
autox19 said:
I will be there 99%. but might not have the X there. I have a 124 spider now that I am going to be buying parts for! Also still having issues with cooling. how do you guys do it with the K swap? how do you plumb the expansion tank? I have one group saying purge it with the heater circuit to the top of the X expansion tank, and bottom goes to return, and another group saying TEE off the Return from the radiator or TEE off from the heater line only to the bottom and cap off the top inlet for the expansion tank

Odie
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Ive been using the throttle body heater circuit as the to the tank and return is on the plate we make for the thermostat.
 
The way I did it on the B18c was to put a 'T' fitting in the line going to the interior heater coil near the cylinder head. The 'T' fitting then runs directly upwards to an expansion tank mounted on the firewall above. When bleeding, make sure you have the heater on so water circulates through this circuit. If you have air trapped, remember it will most likely be at the high points of the circuit which means in the top part of the radiator or in the top part of the coolant hoses that go to the cylinder head. When I refill my car with coolant I like to disconnect one of the large hoses going to the cylinder head and using a spout, pour anti-freeze directly into the hose until its near the top of the hose, then I quickly plug it back in to the head to avoid spilling more than I have to. Once things are properly bled, I've never had any issues with my car overheating, even when stuck in traffic.
 
so what I guess I will try next. is Tee off the heater circuit. I currently dont have the heater core hooked up in the mix. (I need a new one) so Tee to the bottom of the expansion and plug the top inlet. I bought the Ktuned filler neck to help with the filling.

Odie
 
I've found that 99% of the time I do the coolant bleed procedure, air likes to get trapped in the large radiator hose that connects to the thermostat. That's the hose I pull off and pour coolant in to. Good luck and enjoy your 'new' ride!
 
X1/9Cruiser said:
I've found that 99% of the time I do the coolant bleed procedure, air likes to get trapped in the large radiator hose that connects to the thermostat. That's the hose I pull off and pour coolant in to. Good luck and enjoy your 'new' ride!
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cool part about that. I put in a inline bleeder in that exact spot!! bought a inline temp sender and put in a bleeder instead of a sender
inline1.JPG


Odie
 
Well didn't make it home. Shut it off at 235 and going to tow it back. Shift linkage nut came off (will cotterpin stop it next time) digital dash isn't getting any readings from ECU. Hoping it came unplugged.

Odie
 
X1/9Cruiser said:
The way I did it on the B18c was to put a 'T' fitting in the line going to the interior heater coil near the cylinder head. The 'T' fitting then runs directly upwards to an expansion tank mounted on the firewall above. When bleeding, make sure you have the heater on so water circulates through this circuit. If you have air trapped, remember it will most likely be at the high points of the circuit which means in the top part of the radiator or in the top part of the coolant hoses that go to the cylinder head. When I refill my car with coolant I like to disconnect one of the large hoses going to the cylinder head and using a spout, pour anti-freeze directly into the hose until its near the top of the hose, then I quickly plug it back in to the head to avoid spilling more than I have to. Once things are properly bled, I've never had any issues with my car overheating, even when stuck in traffic.
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What reservoir/expansion tank did you use?

Odie
 
autox19 said:
Finally drove the X to work!! yay!!! still have a few issues. a wire that went to the radio, that is no longer there, shorted out and smoked up the interior. Damn that creates alot of smoke!!! shifter knob broke off. not a shock as I really didnt weld it up well. so not the shifter is about 4 inches tall. after it broke I am having issues finding 1st and 2nd. I will probably have to reconfigure how the cable to rod adaption works. Still gets air in the cooling system from somewhere. really leaning towards the expansion tank sloshing. I stopped after abuot 4 miles and bled it. Near the engine, not the radiator. then did it again when I was at work. so for the drive back, I will be praying I time lights out well.

View attachment 11250
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Ain't these cars fun?!
Know what you mean about smoke.
Back in 70 I had a 56 Chevy pickup I was working on.
My bro in law and I had to make a trip from Cali to Mo. and decided the truck was the best piece of junk we had that would most likely make the trip there and back.
I decided we would need some music so hastily shoved a mutzy 4 track in the glove box and ran power under the floor mat to the 4 track.
We got to Barstow late that night and picked up a hitchhiker.
With three guys in the cab there was a lot of foot shuffling and the hot wire under the floor mat shorted out and filled the cab with smoke.
Not knowing right away what was causing the smoke I immediately started slowing down.
The hiker who was riding shot gun opened the door and bailed out at about 20 mph.
We got stopped and after checked the guy over found him no worse for the ware.
My brother in law and I climbed back in the truck and the hiker said be would go on with us but he would rather ride in the back.
Best of luck with the rest of your work and double check those connections from now on.
 
autox19 said:
What reservoir/expansion tank did you use?

Odie
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I used one similar to this and got a fitting for the bottom that worked with the diameter of my heater hose. Next time you bleed, after running the car up to temp, feel the supply and return lines from the radiator at the front of the car. Both of them should be hot. When I have an air pocket, only the supply side is hot, and the return side will be cold. Assuming that I've already bled the radiator, that's when I crack the hose at the thermostat to let the air out (being careful not to scald myself of course). That fitting you installed should do an even better job. I use an aftermarket VW radiator btw with a bleed valve at the top where the old Fiat bleed valve was so I can bleed the radiator the same way I did when the original radiator was in the car.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...429957?hash=item3d61c6e5c5:g:bO4AAOSwdjha39LE
 
Pics of the engine/bay would be nice :)

Where is your expansion tank now? Is it (the overflow/vent) set higher than the cylinder head ? It does need to be for any engine.
 
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