The Rat's Nest - 81 X1/9 Build

[Clatter]

Yesterday was a big one...!
I'm kind of walking funny, moving slowly.
He doesn't feel it at all!

Started out in the morning with him wire-wheeling springs down.
Four different wire wheeling tools did a pretty good job of it.
Interesting that there was a thick black coat of some kind on the springs,
But it had largely failed.

Had some SEM Hot Rod black to use.
Drug out the gun and paint stuff and luckily the weather was playing ball.
He's getting better with the gun.

How crazy is it that a kid is 17 years old,
And he's never snapped a chalk line or used a table saw before?

Ripped up some MDF for the rear speakers.
Test-fit #1.

Got out the speakers and started getting holes cut.
Doing it twice because we're stacking two layers of 1/2" MDF to get the 1" thickness needed.

Not much room for those "big" speaker magnets to clear the fuel tank.
This last test-fit showed we'll just need a bit of notching, and the speakers will come home.

By then, it was dark and getting cold,
And we had a ton of stuff to put away.
Have to move like five big heavy things to get that table saw free from this junk collection i call a shop!
So jealous of all you guys who have a big workspace,
Where running the table saw just means reaching down and flipping the switch!

If i can get my arse in gear,
I'll try and get that rack back together before i forget how it goes,
And if i can't,
i won't.

 

[Clatter]

yeah, screw it and do what you want! back in the early 90's I did my first 1976 X1/9 with stock suspension but raked with smaller/lower profile tires in front and as wide as I could get in the rear (still 13" wheels). didn't change springs at all but corrected the rake. it was rad.

you can go really full stance boi mode and do something like what @Eastep did with his whip
https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/fitting-wide-aftermarket-wheels.32007/post-292160
https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/fitting-wide-aftermarket-wheels.32007/post-292613

Yeahman, thanks for the props.
I could stare at that car for hours.

We come from aircooled VW world.
Pretty sure it's law now that those cars must be slammed completely onto their nuts.
Have to angle in/out of the driveway to keep from scraping,
But my cars look like lifted 4x4s at events by comparison.

1/2 turn off of front coils only,
165/70 and 175/70 on stock wheels?
We're a long way from Hot Boi...

 

[SuperTopo]

Not much room for those "big" speaker magnets to clear the fuel tank.
This last test-fit showed we'll just need a bit of notching, and the speakers will come home.

Just do what some genius did on an '87 I parted out last century, they took a hammer to the gas tank to make room for the speaker magnet !

 

[johnph]

Yesterday was a big one...!
I'm kind of walking funny, moving slowly.
He doesn't feel it at all!

Started out in the morning with him wire-wheeling springs down.
Four different wire wheeling tools did a pretty good job of it.
Interesting that there was a thick black coat of some kind on the springs,
But it had largely failed.
View attachment 92041

Had some SEM Hot Rod black to use.
Drug out the gun and paint stuff and luckily the weather was playing ball.
He's getting better with the gun.
View attachment 92042
View attachment 92043

How crazy is it that a kid is 17 years old,
And he's never snapped a chalk line or used a table saw before?
View attachment 92045

Ripped up some MDF for the rear speakers.
Test-fit #1.
View attachment 92044

Got out the speakers and started getting holes cut.
Doing it twice because we're stacking two layers of 1/2" MDF to get the 1" thickness needed.
View attachment 92046
View attachment 92047
View attachment 92048

Not much room for those "big" speaker magnets to clear the fuel tank.
This last test-fit showed we'll just need a bit of notching, and the speakers will come home.
View attachment 92049

By then, it was dark and getting cold,
And we had a ton of stuff to put away.
Have to move like five big heavy things to get that table saw free from this junk collection i call a shop!
So jealous of all you guys who have a big workspace,
Where running the table saw just means reaching down and flipping the switch!

If i can get my arse in gear,
I'll try and get that rack back together before i forget how it goes,
And if i can't,
i won't.

Warning!! Illegal use of the Buick as a work table.

 

[SuperTopo]

Nothing inspires a 17 year old to work on a car more than installing a stereo! My kid moaned about helping pull a gearbox but I couldn't hold him back when it came to installing the stereo. I guess I was the same way at that age. Doesn't matter if the car doesn't run, so long as the stereo works...

 

[Clatter]

Warning!! Illegal use of the Buick as a work table.

It takes up a LOT of space vs. the Fiat!

Gotta earn its keep somehow…

 

[Sport]

The actual dimensions for the 'ideal' secondary length is in the older thread I referenced. But off the top of my head the data showed that it is rather long...more than a foot, I want to say closer to two feet or more (but I don't recall for sure). And that was a bit of a design issue because it can get a little difficult to get that much length into the car's configuration. Hence the reason for snaking both tubes through the opening in the rear bulkhead before they merge together. And that's why my first crude layout (as in the pics I posted earlier) had the merger after the last major (180 degree) bend. But once I mocked it up and got a good measurement I realized the secondaries didn't need to complete that final bend before merging. Therefore the revised design I illustrated in those pics, with the merger before the 180 bend. Actually, placing the merger there makes the secondaries slightly too short, but it needs some room to fit the merger piece and then make the 180 degree bend with the tertiary pipe. So a bit of a compromise - the initial design made them much too long, the revised design a tad too short but significantly closer to the ideal length.

Hi Jeff- Thanks for the pics and notes. Sounds great on paper, but is this possible for a smog legal car? The secondaries need to bolt to the cat first instead of going across the length of the muffler to be smog legal, so there is very little room available after the crossmember hole. This is further complicated by the muffler's tailpipe being in the same area. Seems to me that the secondaries length being shortened would not be optimal having to go to the cat first, and that the 2-1 collector would have to be placed before the crossmember hole possibly negating potential gains. One remedy that I could see around this would be to relocate the cat by shortening the cat to muffler pipe, therefore moving the cat closer to the driver's side. This would allow more room to increase the secondaries length and simplify the installation of the collector on the other side of the cat. The only downside to this would be having to fabricate a new exhaust support bracket from the transmission. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Clatter]

Just do what some genius did on an '87 I parted out last century, they took a hammer to the gas tank to make room for the speaker magnet !

When i was barely 16 and had the white car,
I’d managed to get so many speakers into it.
Four along the rear deck,
And a huge 6x9 hole cut in the center of the rear bulkhead between the spare and fuel tank areas…!
Had a failed experiment trying to bridge it.

Remember when everyone had a graphic equalizer?
Mine was a Bevada. Like 16 channels.
Hacked up the dealer-add-on steel radio box to get it to fit.
Put it under the unit, but it was so wide the edges stuck out!
Rattle-canned it black on the sides to help hide the hackery.

Ah,
To be 16 in 1984 again…
I’d do it just the same!

 

[Rupunzell]

.... Plenty of not often traveled narrow twisty back roads in the SC area...
possible fun ahead and the kinda roads the exxe was designed for.

Bernice

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Hi Jeff- Thanks for the pics and notes. Sounds great on paper, but is this possible for a smog legal car? The secondaries need to bolt to the cat first instead of going across the length of the muffler to be smog legal, so there is very little room available after the crossmember hole. This is further complicated by the muffler's tailpipe being in the same area. Seems to me that the secondaries length being shortened would not be optimal having to go to the cat first, and that the 2-1 collector would have to be placed before the crossmember hole possibly negating potential gains. One remedy that I could see around this would be to relocate the cat by shortening the cat to muffler pipe, therefore moving the cat closer to the driver's side. This would allow more room to increase the secondaries length and simplify the installation of the collector on the other side of the cat. The only downside to this would be having to fabricate a new exhaust support bracket from the transmission. Thoughts? Thanks.

Others have done it with a cat, but I don't need to run one so I don't have any details or pics to offer unfortunately. There's older threads discussing it though. But off the top of my head I believe they did not use the factory cat or muffler (not sure if that's what you are referring to). And personally I would not recommend using those factory components either. There are much better aftermarket designs out there. Also I believe they routed things from the single 180* bend (after the final merge) to the cat, then another 180* bend to the muffler. In other words, the cat and muffler are laying next to one another, not end to end (again, if that's what you were thinking).

 

[Clatter]

Others have done it with a cat, but I don't need to run one so I don't have any details or pics to offer unfortunately. There's older threads discussing it though. But off the top of my head I believe they did not use the factory cat or muffler (not sure if that's what you are referring to). And personally I would not recommend using those factory components either. There are much better aftermarket designs out there. Also I believe they routed things from the single 180* bend (after the final merge) to the cat, then another 180* bend to the muffler. In other words, the cat and muffler are laying next to one another, not end to end (again, if that's what you were thinking).

Been thinking/drinking and staring at stuff a bit.
Because the engine is on the small size,
Most aftermarket exhaust components are going to be for a bigger engine.
Finding mufflers, for example, in a small size can sometimes be a challenge.
Bet you most any aftermarket honeycomb cat would flow enough not to be a limitation/bottleneck.
The one on our car seems big. Hence, it hits the muffler.
When staying with a basically stock engine, you're unlikely to see much in the way of gains with other mufflers.
For sure you'll make a bunch more noise, and maybe gain a bit at high RPM,
But more total power under the curve? No so sure...
The stock muffler is of high quality, and pretty big for 1500ccs.
Plus, it's very quiet, which we like.
Fart-Can is to be avoided. No Hot Boi.

Because we have to stay with L-Jet and a stock or close-to-it cam,
I'm thinking rigging up a way to get a foot and half or so of dual downpipes,
And plumbing it into the stock muffler and cat.
Maybe it'll make a bit more power?
Unless we get the car to a dyno, we'll never know...

 

[fiatrn]

"Plus, it's very quiet, which we like."
I now think that quiet is my new loud.

Stealth.

 

[rx1900]

Bet you most any aftermarket honeycomb cat would flow enough not to be a limitation/bottleneck.
The one on our car seems big. Hence, it hits the muffler.

Not sure why your converter is hitting your muffler.......

Should be plenty of clearance between them...at least a fingers width or so......

But...judging from a pic you posted of your converter...it seems to be an aftermarket cat on your car. Perhaps it is too big ?? I can tell you that an original cat is about 3 1/2" thick. See pic below of the original cat from my '81....yeah one end is broken off mine...

If...your aftermarket cat is too thick...that could be your problem. but not sure what you could easily do about that......

 

[Sport]

Others have done it with a cat, but I don't need to run one so I don't have any details or pics to offer unfortunately. There's older threads discussing it though. But off the top of my head I believe they did not use the factory cat or muffler (not sure if that's what you are referring to). And personally I would not recommend using those factory components either. There are much better aftermarket designs out there. Also I believe they routed things from the single 180* bend (after the final merge) to the cat, then another 180* bend to the muffler. In other words, the cat and muffler are laying next to one another, not end to end (again, if that's what you were thinking).

Unfortunately California smog laws mandate the catalytic convertor. There also aren't too many choices available if you need the CARB (California Air Resources Board) certification number (D-Number) . California will not allow any aftermarket cat that is not CARB approved, so this severely limits available replacement choices. Currently I see only Magnaflow and Walker as available alternatives. I'm not sure if these flow better than OE? I do have personal experience with Porsches, as that is my profession and the approved aftermarket replacement cats are garbage as they don't have as much precious metals in them as the originals and don't last as long. The aftermarket cat companies have no problems charging $$$ for them though!
My intention was to keep the cat on the bottom and muffler on top, but to change the manifold and downpipe to fit, more or less like the original setup. The original setup has the cat offset towards the passenger's side though, limiting the available room for modifications. My thoughts were to shorten the muffler inlet pipe before the 180º bend and reposition the muffler inlet flange, therefore moving the cat closer towards the driver's side and giving more room for the twin pipe and collector on the passengers side (Cat inlet). I'm not opposed to changing the muffler as I'm sure you're right, there are much better designs out there. My only concern is that the muffler continues to act as a muffler and not like a fart can. Like Clatter said "Plus, it's very quiet, which we like.", and fiatrn "I now think that quiet is my new loud." My last attempt at an aftermarket muffler resulted in a horrible drone at cruising speeds. Thanks.

 

[Rupunzell]

Not a lot wrong with the oem stainless steel on the exxe as delivered, They are mostly quite, flow ok enough and the SST construction is due to the cat sitting near by. For a mostly stock exxe, it would be wise to keep the oem muffler for many reasons.

CA "CARB" approved converters are required to last a specific amount of miles or volume of exhaust. This is one of the reasons why CARB approved converters cost more.. OEM converters are required to last no less than 100,000 miles or the manufacture replaces the converter. This is why oem converters cost more, they have more platinum and desirable metals... and why cat thief became wide spread in many areas of CA.

The must have component in any exhaust system is degree of flex in the system. This could be the oem spherical joint with springs or a flexi tube/pipe or etc.. With out some flexi element in the exhaust, there will be cracks and more that eventually develop in the exhaust system due to the heat cycling, vibration and more..


Bernice

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I know there are other CARB approved cats available besides Magnaflow and Walker, as well as various options for sizes and shapes, because I've used them to replace worn out cats on other vehicles (when I still lived in CA). I do not know the brand names or specs but the prices were reasonable - significantly lower than the ones you noted. However I do not know how the quality/longevity compares....I tend to not keep any of my cars for very long. However it seems even a lower level cat would last a decent life on a hobby car that doesn't collect millions of miles a year like daily commuter cars in SoCal.

Likewise with mufflers, there are lots of quiet ones available that flow very well. Certainly better than the antiquated ones that came on the X. And in a large variety of sizes and shapes. Maybe go to a major muffler shop and ask questions, they will know what's available. But I also understand not wanting to change things from factory. Well, I don't understand it but I'll accept it.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

While looking for something else I found some of my notes on the "4:2:1" exhaust system design. The determined sizes for the various sections of the system will vary depending on specific engine specs and use criteria, so a range of sizes are shown. The final choices can make some difference in where the peak torque and peak HP end up on the curve. Naturally the actual calculations came to odd numbers so the closest sizes in readily available materials were chosen, which are in "inch" values. Here's that data:
Primary tubes: 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 diameter X 15 to 16 long.
Secondary tubes: 1 5/8 to 1 3/4 D X 18 to 20 L.
Tertiary tubes: 1 3/4" to 1 7/8 D X 37 to 38 L. This is from the 2:1 merger to the tailpipe tip (i.e. including the cat and muffler).

Also, after thinking more about the previous examples that managed to fit a cat into this general design, I believe one approach that utilized the stock cat and muffler achieved it by doing the following. After running the secondary tubes through the rear bulkhead and toward the drivers side (like in my previous pics), they merged to the tertiary tube, then a 180* bend back toward the passenger side. Then the cat and muffler were installed in the opposite direction from stock (i.e. cat inlet on the left/outlet on the right, 180 bend, muffler inlet on the right/outlet on the left). Therefore three layers with two folds...so to speak. The cat and muffler were rotated a little to allow room for the secondaries behind them. This also meant the tailpipe exited on the left (drivers side) rather than the right....like on X's in other parts of the world. So a little modification to the rear apron.

 

[Clatter]

 

[Clatter]

Not sure why your converter is hitting your muffler.......

Should be plenty of clearance between them...at least a fingers width or so......

But...judging from a pic you posted of your converter...it seems to be an aftermarket cat on your car. Perhaps it is too big ?? I can tell you that an original cat is about 3 1/2" thick. See pic below of the original cat from my '81....yeah one end is broken off mine...

View attachment 92073

If...your aftermarket cat is too thick...that could be your problem. but not sure what you could easily do about that......

Yes, our cat was installed by the local Fiat shop.
I found the receipt from years ago.
Fortunately, it doesn't have many miles on it.
Unfortunately,
It's too big and rattles against the muffler.

The noise it makes is absurd.
Crazy to think the PO drive it around like that!

I have a few different stainless bends and tubing in the attic.
Hopefully, the material is compatible with the 'u'-bend between muffler and cat,
And i can either get some stainless wire or have a friend weld in a section to space it over a bit.

 

[Clatter]

Little bits here and there over the last couple of days.

These look just like the GR-2s that came off the car.

This dumb adventure was kicked off because one of the strut tops was crooked in its hole.
These woulda worked fine.
Shoulda just left well enough alone!

'rx1900' Doug has been helping me get these things sussed. Big thanks.
One item i missed was flattening out the cut coil to sit better in the perch.

Don't have a real oxy torch (and it makes me sad every day) but i managed to help things somewhat with mapp gas.
Not ideal and like factory, but better than it was.
Good enough for this POS!

Got in there and cleaned out the crusty old grease i could reach,
Blew it out with carb cleaner and air,
Then wobble-worked as much fresh grease in as i could and capped it back off.

Ideally, I'd drill/tap the back of the thing and fit a zerk.
Soak it in gas for a couple days to soften and blow out the old grime thru the hole.
Zerk will push fresh grease past the ball.
Operative word ideally...
I just didn't feel like risking anything right now.
This car needs put back together before it stays apart eternally.

Steering rack went back together uneventfully.
It'll be sitting under the car for when Theo gets back from LA.

Here's hoping the weather cooperates for touching up springs,
Maybe assembling a strut or two?
Hope springs eternal...