K Swap X1/9 Questions

N

Nilnoc208

Low Mileage
Couple questions on this one.
1) What spring rates are people running the front and rear on their swapped X1/9? I’ll be street driving, autocrossing, and road rallying/some gravel with this car, I have a set of koni double adjustable coilovers on the car.

2) what have people done as far as exhaust for the car? I was thinking at least on resonator and one muffler with 2.5” exhaust piping.

3) if anyone has done this on later year x1/9s, were you able to keep your window switches in the stock location? The FAQ sheet says they have to be removed for the shifter to fit

4) does anyone have pictures of where they cut and if they would cut differently now that they have done it. I am about to start that phase and would love to avoid cutting too much or having to raise and lower the engine a bunch of times.

I know these are all different topics but if anyone has answers that would be greatly appreciated.
 
Nilnoc208 said:
Couple questions on this one.
1) What spring rates are people running the front and rear on their swapped X1/9? I’ll be street driving, autocrossing, and road rallying/some gravel with this car, I have a set of koni double adjustable coilovers on the car.

2) what have people done as far as exhaust for the car? I was thinking at least on resonator and one muffler with 2.5” exhaust piping.

3) if anyone has done this on later year x1/9s, were you able to keep your window switches in the stock location? The FAQ sheet says they have to be removed for the shifter to fit

4) does anyone have pictures of where they cut and if they would cut differently now that they have done it. I am about to start that phase and would love to avoid cutting too much or having to raise and lower the engine a bunch of times.

I know these are all different topics but if anyone has answers that would be greatly appreciated.
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There are two very complete threads which cover two owners building their K cars from start to finish.

If you look in the BOX thread in the Work Shop forum, there is an engine swap section which has the links to Lookforjoe’s work and Rodger’s work. Both are superlative examples and done in quite different ways.
 
I had MWB handle the swap for my 85X. They definitely move the PW switches, so it must be important or they wouldn't take the time.
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This is the exhaust set up they installed. Brayden told me this was the "quiet" option. :)
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My spring rates as recommended by Matt are 300# all around, with a front sway bar. The ride is not nearly as harsh as 300# sounds. Handling is very neutral with a small tendency towards understeer when pushed very hard in a long sweeping corner.
 
This photo build has some very good shots of the standard chassis modifications. The cuts I made for my '74 project are virtually identical. This build keeps the plenum cut and access cover in the same dimensions as supplied in the MWB kit. I did mine the same way, but others have enlarged the opening for better engine bay serviceability. I didn't feel the need to enlarge it, but it's easy to do if you find it beneficial. As far as dropping the engine in and out, rest assured it will need to be done more than a few times to get it all dialed in correctly. Since the MWB cutting instructions are less than detailed, look at as many photos as possible and pick up cutting location clues from firewall spot welds and bracket locations. There really is very little room for error on the firewall cut, so I suggest cutting an accurate cardboard template for that one. For the exhaust I wasn't concerned with keeping the runk, and I didn't want to cram 5 lbs. of junk in a 2 lb. bag. I used a converter and muffler, but no resonator. I haven't run it yet so who knows what sound level/drone it might have?

photos.google.com

Building the Fionda (Honda K20-swapped Fiat X1/9)

203 new items added to shared album
photos.google.com photos.google.com

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Nilnoc208 said:
1) What spring rates are people running the front and rear on their swapped X1/9? I’ll be street driving, autocrossing, and road rallying/some gravel with this car, I have a set of koni double adjustable coilovers on the car.
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Forgot to answer this: 280 lb. front / 400 b. rear K-Sports. Only have the link for Germany, but ordering in the US is through K-Sport USA in Arizona. They are always running 15-20% off sales so the avg. price shipped is usually around $1,300.

www.k-tec-germany.com

K-Sport Fiat Bertone X1/9 (128 AS) Coilover Street - K-tec Germany

The FIAT Bertone X1/9 128 AS coilover kit for street and motorsport: adjustable pillowball top mounts, damping adjustment, length adjustable struts & damper
www.k-tec-germany.com www.k-tec-germany.com
 
Thanks for all the help so far. All the forum links have been super helpful. I’m going to be patching the cut sections soon and want to know what type and gauge of steel you guys used? I’m assuming thicker stuff on the frame rails to reinforce them
 
Nilnoc208 said:
.Thanks for all the help so far. All the forum links have been super helpful. I’m going to be patching the cut sections soon and want to know what type and gauge of steel you guys used? I’m assuming thicker stuff on the frame rails to reinforce them
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Use the same gauge as original . a mix of 16, 18 & 20ga.
 
lookforjoe said:
This is why the switches have to be moved
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Figured that out. You didn’t happen to make any templates of how you modified the transmission side shift cable bracket did you? Also how did you modify your throttle pedal, did you cut and reweld it lower or just bend it and drill new holes?
 
On mine the pedal had to be cut and re-welded. The shift cable bracket is easy to fabricate by cutting one side off of square steel tube. I'm not sure a template would be helpful as the end length of the supplied cables seem to vary over time. My extensions are longer than some I've seen. Once your cable ends are secured to the selector, it's easy to see how long each extension needs to be.

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jimmyx said:
On mine the pedal had to be cut and re-welded. The shift cable bracket is easy to fabricate by cutting one side off of square steel tube. I'm not sure a template would be helpful as the end length of the supplied cables seem to vary over time. My extensions are longer than some I've seen. Once your cable ends are secured to the selector, it's easy to see how long each extension needs to be.

View attachment 89191View attachment 89192
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Good to know on the bracket side. On the throttle side of you have a link for that quick connect? I tried googling it and couldn’t find anything
 
Nilnoc208 said:
Figured that out. You didn’t happen to make any templates of how you modified the transmission side shift cable bracket did you? Also how did you modify your throttle pedal, did you cut and reweld it lower or just bend it and drill new holes?
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As per JimmyX. My pedal is on this page. Note that if you are using a larger than stock TB (I did), cutting the pedal to reduce throw may not be needed - I could have left it stock with the 70mm TB I ended up with.

My transaxle was from a later TSX, different mounts & shifter setup than the '02 RSX. My setup is here

I indexed the first post of my threads, so you can scan the content of each page, I tired to give an overview of what was going on in each page.

Preparing

Installing
 
So I was test fitting the belts and pulleys. It would appear that my belt is far too long or I’m missing a pulley. I’m not running AC(for now) so I’m not sure if that’s what the issue is here. Almost ready to put motor in and start the car. Coming down to the wire so I appreciate any help on this one
 

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I think the right side (in your pic) goes around the 2nd pully down & the left is a straight shot crank to cam.
 

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That makes more sense, I’ll try that
JKIDD said:
I think the right side (in your pic) goes around the 2nd pully down & the left is a straight shot crank to cam.
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wish the guide that came with the mwb kit showed this stuff. It took me way too long to figure out where that pulley went 😂
 
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