Made some time to make the radiator feel at home in the X:
View attachment 72101
I also lengthened the fan controller wires as they now have to travel from the engine bay all the way to the radiator bay. I found some free pins in an existing engine bay connector, and kept the original two wire waterproof connector that now connects in the cowl area.

Power for the fan now comes straight from the X's batterie (through the 50A fuse) There was a free slot in the big four-way connector on the bulkhead inside the cabin, as if it was planned that way.
Is there a relay associated with the power wire?
 
Is there a relay associated with the power wire?
According to the engine cooling wire diagram the fan control unit (M150) get's its power directly from the engine bay fuse box through a 50 A fuse.
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There is no relay in the diagram for the 1.8 16v engine (there are mini relays on the fuse box though, and the wiring for other engines does include a relay in the cooling wire diagram).

Given the amount of cooling ribs on the radiator facing side of the sturdy aluminum housing of the control unit (that is specific to the 1.8 16v) and the two control wires, I assumed the switching is done electronically. But I'll double check with the multi-meter if the feed on the fusebox is indeed directly from the fuse, just in case...

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According to the engine cooling wire diagram the fan control unit (M150) get's its power directly from the engine bay fuse box through a 50 A fuse.
View attachment 72129
There is no relay in the diagram for the 1.8 16v engine (there are mini relays on the fuse box though, and the wiring for other engines does include a relay in the cooling wire diagram).

Given the amount of cooling ribs on the radiator facing side of the sturdy aluminum housing of the control unit (that is specific to the 1.8 16v) and the two control wires, I assumed the switching is done electronically. But I'll double check with the multi-meter if the feed on the fusebox is indeed directly from the fuse, just in case...

View attachment 72131
Sorry I didn’t see the controller alongside the fan for what it was. That unit likely is a “relay” with the two control wires, red and green, coming from the ECU. My apologies.

Pretty remarkable amperage for a modern fan.

Thanks
 
I gave the engine a clean:
IMG_20230427_153813.jpg


In preparation of replacing the leaking valve cover seal and fitting the X's engine temperature sensor to the thermostat housing (to get the coolant temp on the X's instrument panel).

And finally it was warm long enough to paint the engine bay (from left to right after rust treatment, primer, and Peugeot EKG rouge écarlate):
IMG_20230502_203438.jpg
The finishing coat will be a satin 2K clearcoat.

When that is fully cured and the heat shield is glued to the firewall, the engine is going in for road testing (!)
 
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And another one, after the clearcoat, because it's satisfying to finally have a engine bay that matches the car:
View attachment 73087
Looks great!

Interesting how your modifications look so much like what is needed for a K swap but in this case for different reasons, the exhaust down pipes/catalysts etc.

Looking forward to seeing an on the road video.
 
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Applied heatshielding to the firewall plus the now flat inspection trap and re-taped the original rear loom plus the remaining Stilo loom from the body computer in the spare wheel well to the engine fuse box (not fitted yet, but it 'll clip in the black bracket on top of the fuel tank).

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The cables pass quite close to the exhaust/pre-catalysts, so I passed them through (black) glassfibre heatshield, made from same material as header wrap, but a hollow tube.

Bonus was that I could re-use the X's original feed-through, which makes it look OE.
 

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Refitted the engine after new valve cover seals and the mandatory wrinkle paint (of course). It starts to look a bit like an Abarth tribute:
IMG_20230521_155353.jpg

Next will be fitting the fuel tank. The newly made (whitish) tank cover will get some black paint after the minimum required opening is made to pass the fuel line, the fuel pump and sender wires.
 
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But before that the front-end was made slightly more straight (the previous owner had some damage to the left front corner that was not properly repaired 35 or so years ago) and the radiator fitted:
IMG_20230526_160312.jpg
 
Besides the endless hours spent sanding (the front end is nightmare with all the 3D curvatures),
IMG_20230629_192025.jpg

I also fitted and connected the fuel tank. Fitting was a bit of a gamble because I had to move the firewall a bit to the left to clear the engine head, but it fits without issues
 
And the final result, straigthened and debumpered (before/after)
IMG_20230706_203739.jpg

I'm not disappointed for a first body modification plus finish, also rather surprised the color still matched. The headlights were painted at the end of the 1980's, the rest last weekend using spray cans of the same color code.
 
And the final result, straigthened and debumpered (before/after)
View attachment 75058
I'm not disappointed for a first body modification plus finish, also rather surprised the color still matched. The headlights were painted at the end of the 1980's, the rest last weekend using spray cans of the same color code.
Well done!

I expect I need to gain some of your same skills in my near future.
 
IMG_20230710_150453.jpg

Made it this far out of the garage, on the engine. My son helped me refit the doors. They are not the lightest. New clutch, gas pedal, transmission all work fine (at least 1st and reverse), but besides the head lights and reverse light nothing else of the X's original system works at the moment (must be missing main power somewhere).
So alas no road testing yet, need to get at least the brake lights and turn indicators to work before I hit the road...
The wheels are the 16x7 Stilo wheels on 195/40R16 tires with 25 mm spacers, so the offset is 41-25 = 16 mm.
 
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And it's on the road!
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It's loud, quick, stiff (suspension) and smooth (shifting), Gear ratio feels very short (can drive away smoothly in 3rd).

Still many details to sort, priority is now the speedometer and adjusting the front toe-in (feels it has toe out now), but utterly satisfied so far!
 
View attachment 75215
Made it this far out of the garage, on the engine. My son helped me refit the doors. They are not the lightest. New clutch, gas pedal, transmission all work fine (at least 1st and reverse), but besides the head lights and reverse light nothing else of the X's original system works at the moment (must be missing main power somewhere).
So alas no road testing yet, need to get at least the brake lights and turn indicators to work before I hit the road...
The wheels are the 16x7 Stilo wheels on 195/40R16 tires with 25 mm spacers, so the offset is 41-25 = 16 mm.
I like the wheels, they give the car a grown up HotWheels vibe.
 
Just a nice picture from this weekend (before refitting the engine hood):
IMG_20230715_094029.jpg

My wife also did some testing:
IMG_20230717_095228.jpg

There are no highways nearby, so we need to stay under 80 km/h, speeds that are reached awfully quick. The (Stilo's) gear ratios are close to the X's 5 speed's (this was originally a 4 speed), with the 1st a bit shorter (15.13 vs 14.61 overall) and the 5th a bit longer (3.47 vs 3.54), needless to say that the 162Nm 1.8 16v has absolutely no problem to push the car in any of the gears.
 
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Testing is coming along just fine. Yesterday I borrowed the wife's electronic cooking thermometer to measure the under hood temperatures. As after fitting the hood I felt it was getting a bit warm, but the hottest it got was 97°C. That was after an idle and longish reverse (150-200m or so) and the temperature started to drop the moment the engine was shut-off.

During driving temperatures were matching the coolant's temperatures on the dash, so no worries.

A major practical improvement over the stock 1300, is that this engine always starts at a turn of the key, even when hot. My 1300 suffered quite a bit from vapour-lock, due to the deterioration of the carburator's heat shield between the in- and outlet manifold. But that's now a thing of the past.
 
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Finished the rear.
IMG_20230803_135331.jpg
I cut the original rubber bumper-stops flat and made shorter brackets to have them sit flush, and cover the original bumper bracket holes.

The right side has a connection for a tow eye.
IMG_20230803_140809.jpg


Also, the rev counter now works. I think my transmission is definitely on the short side, or very track oriented. Fifth is 2800 rpms at 80 km/h, which means 7000 rpms would be 200 km/h (supposed to be the rev limiter) and 4200 rpms at 120 km/h cruising speed.

I might go up in rear tire size, was thinking 195/45R16 or 205/45R16 (that's 582 mm or 591 mm, +3,5% / +5% compared to the current 562 mm). But I'll wait until after the real shake-down at the track-day that I've planned the 16th of September. Also a safer place to set the brake balance properly.
 
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