Abarth Swap making some parts.

I'm impressed Tony, a question on your radius tool, is it a fixed tool that you set to where you need to trim then run it in with the cross slide or a combination of cross slide and compound slide. And just nibble away the high spots to match your CAD template? CAD = Cardboard Aided Design....

Even with a radius turning jig it would be hard to get the center section, the other side would be in the way for part of it. This is what I did to cut a radius it replaces the compound slide. It would work for most of the male die except the very center and if you move the tool holder to the left it will do concave cuts but I think there would be to much interference to work on your die. I really have a desire to try this, but with the price of already made ones in the states I doubt I will, and I have way to many projects anyway.
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Yes, as stated above, I did not build a radius tool, but if I did the problem with interference would be an issue. The custom made tools and nibbling was the method, but it takes a long time by this method of marking high spots and working the two slides to keep the chatter to a minimum.

What I have welded up will work very nicely and currently in Canada parcel mail is not moving because of a labour dispute between Canada Post and it's Union. Currently there are 400 shipping containers of parcels stalled in the system with no idea when this will be resolved. Canada Post has been telling international postal services to hold parcels coming to Canada. With the Christmas mail rush coming the problem will only get worst each day.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada
 
Continuing on...

The turbo charger of the Abarth engine is on the fire wall side of the X1/9 and the spare tire area needs to be used. The K20 swap uses the same area, but installs a section or tube of square dimensions with a flat bolt on cover. It is simple and appears to work well for the swap. The Abarth 1.4 engine has a lot going on, on the fire wall side of the engine and reaching through a tube in my mind seemed to be a bit prohibitive. So a cover made from hammered sheet metal sections was made from cast hammer forms to produce the sections of sheet metal to make the cover in the spare tire well. With a full removable cover more access to the oil filter, oil cooler, turbo charger and oil and cooling lines for the turbo charger was established. That being said a seemly better idea turned into a lot of work and on the second attempt may in my mind be flawed. The time to produce the cover is, well a lot. Possibly a removable cover made from flat sections welded together would have been the faster method of producing this cover rather than making it from hammered sections of sheet metal welded together. None the less I have completed the cover. The cut outs in the test body, shown over sized, will be adjusted on the road car and be of the correct size of the cover rather than what was done on the test body as pictured.

Follow some pictures of the process, there is a lot of time invested in a part like this. On the plus side of it, I do like the appearance and how it functions.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
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That's really impressive. Not missing this detail - ".... made from cast hammer forms"

You're nuts. In a very, very good way. :D
 
Still making parts.

In the next few pictures I will show the layout of the wheel sensors on the X 1/9 that are used in the Fiat 500 Abarth platform. By using the not driven wheels the engine output is not limited when a wheel slips. The reluctor is used for the Marshall Speedometer with a magnetic pickup. Follow the pictures.

Looking at posts of the K20 I was surprised to see that the wiring diagram was only on 1 sheet, the Abarth is a more complicated platform and spreads over 15 sheets.

Also a couple of shots of Bob's engine are also posted.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

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It has been about a month since I posted on this build so I will continue on with some more pictures and a bit of description of what is being built.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.



Engine is now prepped for installation.

Shifter Cable couplings made.

Fuel pump prepped.

Module box made and sand blasted.

X1/9 entity engine temperature sender adapter.

Clutch line adapter.

Key Fob Antenna holder.

Pedal Box switch brackets.

Aux. relay interface to start and run engine.

New gauges installed in spare cluster.

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The to do list is getting shorter.

Almost there for April 12th start.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

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That is a lot of things accomplished Tony. Is the goal having this X at FFO this summer?
 
That is a lot of things accomplished Tony. Is the goal having this X at FFO this summer?

Amazing work and an incredible job of parsing out a very complex set of problems.

Another excellent reason to attend beyond it being Denise’s event.
 
That is a lot of things accomplished Tony. Is the goal having this X at FFO this summer?

Jim in a perfect world that would be great, but I am unsure of what progress will be made in the 10 days. Adding to the use of my time, my son will be building a house and I am slated to do a lot of work on that project as well. So here is the plan. Bob arrives on the 12th after I get home from work and we get the car body into my shop. Next day we start cutting, fitting and welding the engine bay to fit the new engine. The engine bay will then be sand blasted and painted and we will begin installing A/C and the wiring and also possibly the Abarth front brakes. At the end of 10 days if not done, Bob will leave the car here and I will work on it when I get a chance after work and weekends. When my son get's his building permit, my focus will now go to that and Bob will pick up the car hopefully in a state that only requires minor work and the installation of the interior that he had stripped out in Kentucky before coming here. So if all of that comes together, possibly he will have the car at FFO, but he is planning that the car will not be ready and bring his blue 87 instead.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
Thanks for the details Tony. I hope you guys make good progress on the car in your 10 day window. I will watch for an update.
 
Still making parts.

First up gas pedal for the Abarth.

Then on to tube sleeves for the left engine mount, I used these on my car, but may use the Stock mount harvested from the Abarth engine bay. Old head bolts are used for this application.

Next making AC condenser fitting to use the Abarth Condenser on the X1/9 AC system. I have never had any luck with this aluminum solder and revert back to TIG welding.

Exhaust system hangers. Made from 14 Gauge Stainless steel that I cut out with my plasma cutter. Cost of material for both $8USD from Metal Super Market.

Will continue in the next post.

TonyK.
Grimsby Ontario Canada.
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Exhaust hangers, since the Abarth does not use a muffler I made two right side brackets and just reversed them.

Bob has a dual exhaust outlet on his car and he wanted to retain this. Turbo exhaust is hot and pipe is made from Stainless Steel. What is required is a custom Y fitting 2". So I took one of my donuts that I made and cut it to make a Y fitting. The welding again was with TIG and on the thinner sections at 20 amps DC with a .040" tungsten. With the work this delicate the tungsten must always have a point on it and I use filler metal to start the weld and then fuse the joint. Because the weld has time to cool in the argon blanket it stays bright and scale does not form on the weld. A good fit is required to do this kind of welding. The gap in the Y fitting is left to the end when more metal is jointed around it to soak up the heat and prevent burn through.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

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No date in mind. Possibly when I retire I will make a kit or two. For now I want to complete this one for Bob Martin and then need to work on my son's house that he is building.

Completed the Y pipe after work tonight.

Just about there for the 12th, but I keep finding little things that I should do now and not wait till later.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

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One of Bob's request was that he wanted the Abarth engine to enter sport mode every time the engine is started. Sport Mode requires pushing the sport button the dash after the engine starts. To accomplish this I used 2 electronic timers, although I ordered one from China that was suppose to do what I wanted but the Chinese to English translation, well was not within my comprehension, that module can be seen just above the carpet where the 2 modules I am using instead to accomplish the task of auto enabling the sport mode on this engine. So simply stated when the engine is started timer #1 counts for 11 seconds, then closes a relay that triggers timer #2 to close a set of contacts for 2 seconds. Both timers are adjustable and both have written memory so that they do not have to be reprogramed when the battery is disconnected from the car. I should also add that I put a small toggle switch to disable the Sport Mode auto engage if the day is raining and wheel slip is a problem.

See pictures.

TonyK

From Hilton Head South Carolina.
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