Progess on the 77X

I think the X1/9 looks odd as a convertible-there were pics around of a conversion- when I get to it I’ll chop the sails off my parts car & take a pic


carl said:
Ever notice how the doc and K are not as helpful on this forum as they used to be?
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:D
 
lookforjoe said:
I think the X1/9 looks odd as a convertible
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I agree. I've seen pics of the convertible X you refer to and it does look odd. The "roadster" concept isn't necessarily a convertible in the sense of having nothing above the basic body. I see it more as having a customized targa bar of some sort (not eliminating it) and a reduced windshield to match. Perhaps think of a "chop top" lowered roofline? Or race car inspired minimalistic approach? I can't find my file with the images I've been collecting (hope I didn't lose it), but there were some great pics that would illustrate the concept well if I do locate it.
 
Well, back on focus, I have tags and started driving the car in the neighborhood. Engine would really stagger when the secondary was opened. Went up about four jet sizes In the secondary and now it pulls nice although transition from primary to secondary staggered for a second. I compared jetting with the rat X which has the same carb and found the primary was jetted way too lean to. It was time to drag out the relevant tool so I hooked up the air/fuel meter to really dial things in.

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The car is still in sea trial development mode so not having that speaker panel in made it easy to attach a bracket to one of the dash mounting bolts. Fuel gauge was not working even though I dumped four gallons into the tank. Looked at the wiring diagram and did not realize the X takes a ground wire to the sending unit (spiders do not, the tank is solidly bolted to the trunk floor and I guess that provides enough grounding). So now the sending unit work although the gauge barely moves. I grounded the low fuel light sending wire and didn't realize the X has a huge menacing low fuel light...too bad Fiat doesn't do the same thing for the low oil light.
Rain should pass through tonight and tomorrow I can start venturing out...even without the speedo cable hooked up yet....I'll just use the speedo ap on my phone.

As to the styling discussion, I feel the targa bar is an important part of the X styling and removing it makes the car look awkward.
 
The ground wire for the fuel level and low fuel light is a wire lug that connects to the left most sender mounting bolt:

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And reduce weight. I also like the 'clean' look of shaving off handles, holes, body lines, fixtures, etc..
 
Been driving it more and fixing odds and ends. My double USB charger in place of the cig lighter works (after I reversed the wires in the back). Hooked up the speedo cable and the speedo worked even though it was 10 mph off across the board so out came the instrument panel yet again and I pulled the speedo needle off the pin and relocated it lower the equivalent of 10mph and it works good enough. Took it out for about 40 minutes at 60-70 mph and found some wheel shake which is odd since these same wheel and tires on the rat X ran dead smooth. Steering seemed a little hair trigger and I'm guessing the toe adjustment is out. Also the engine temp gauge barely got off the peg so this tells me two things, one the thermostat is stuck open (I was not getting the typical Fiat heater blast furnace effect either) and the radiator will handle continuous highway speeds. Ordered a new thermostat and gaskets form MWB and when that shows up I'll dump the pure water and install a proper antifreeze mix. I always start a Fiat project with just water to deal easier with any leaks and having to dismantle parts of the cooling system. Got the carb jetting just about right, the primary main jet is a tad too rich according to the air/fuel gauge.
Finally could not stand the four wheel drive high rider look with the new KYB/sport springs I got and just for grins put the old struts with stock springs back on and got the car down about 1/2" which doesn't sound like much but makes it look much better. Maybe those sport springs were rally sport! I have several sets of springs and will see what I ultimately will put on the KYBs.

When I pulled the wheels off to change out he struts I found the wheel nuts were not very tight, maybe that caused the shaking, will check again tomorrow.
Very weird to drive an X with turn signals, heater controls, headlights. Motor pulls very strong, I'll have to compare with Ed's or Todd's injected Xs one of these days.

Back to work.
 
Here we are at about the end of the restoration road. A new thermostat cured the too cold situation and now the temp needle goes up to the center line and stays there. The after market steering wheel had no working horn button so after gathering the parts I needed I installed the stock steering wheel and got a satisfying...clicking relay when I hit the button...hey, wait that's not the horn. Turns out both stock horns were no longer functioning so removed them and installed a pair of Pep Boys finest Fiamm replicas and while there removed the tin relay and installed a modern plastic relay and now I get a satisfying "hey I'm a small car and you are running me off the road" beep. This was a fun project, you guys ever removed and installed stock horns? Rather like wrestling with a live hornets nest and your first impression is they must have built the car around the horns. I did the passenger side first and that was bad enough but working around the thousand wires in the driver side was just pure agony. Painted the floor with bedliner and then installed a serviceable Bertone carpet. From this I learned that the seat belt mounting holes on an X and a Bertone are about five inches off from each other. Rear trunk and engine cover latches were operated by a really busted up latch on the door jamb so just got done installing a replacement latch with MWB replacement cable inners. I hooked up the windshield washer bag and low....the washer worked! As you can see in the pictures below I installed the bag in the front trunk, not in the headlight well. I also shoved a Bertone carpet in the front trunk, not sure what a 77 X had up there.
I'm getting some barely used Federals from a buddy and these will make me feel better than the 10 year old but perfect looking tires on the car. I put a level on the bottom sill pinch weld and the car has a small front upward bias, I may cut a coil off the front springs to improve the stance. The 1500 HC motor pulls like a train and I'm very happy with what ever is in that motor....34 DATR, headers and electronic ignition doesn't hurt.

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Interesting seats. Are they actual X1/9 seats? I don't recall any with those horizontal bands about shoulder height. Maybe they are just custom upholstery?
 
Nicely done Carl, all the hard work has come to pay off. Looks great. Although I'm with you, a little lower will help.
Agree, doing anything in the headlight wells is a royal pain. My AC car also has one hose traveling through the passenger side, making it as cramped as the driver's.
I guess the horns are to alert all street light poles that the car is coming their way? :D Or maybe you need to install a horn on your daughter, to know when she is coming?
 
Jim, they are X seats but I don't know if they were redone. If they were it was an excellent job.
Jeff, the light pole horns would have to be self activated as the car (the red rat X, not this X) took off on it's own. Since the 77 is actually a nice car, I don't plan on letting her drive it! I will be building a 75 spider in 2019 which she is more used to (and has the same poorly effective emergency brakes as an X).

In the spring I'm going to have to sell one of my Xs and I'm having a terrible time deciding which one. The 77 is so nice, being complete but the rat X is more fun to do stuff with since I don't care what it's resale value is and it has more of a silly attitude.
 
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