Isotope9
Daily Driver
I've been chasing a lack of top end performance on my de-smogged '79 and it looks like the timing is off by a tooth.
Some background...my father restored the car and engine was rebuilt by a local Fiat "expert" with "big valve heads" from somewhere in California and possibly a different cam. I don't know any particulars or either the size of the valves or the cam (if it was indeed installed) as I can't find any receipts/records etc and my father passed a few years ago. The car starts, idles and runs fine, except at the top end of the rev range, 5K and up, where is seems to fall flat on it's face. Carb was new at time of engine rebuild.I pulled the carb jets and cleaned them, cleaned the carb and with no improvement, changed fuel filter etc.
In searching the forum, most threads referencing poor performance indicate to check the timing, so I did and it looks like the timing is off by a tooth. When the mark on the cam is aligned with the arrow, the flywheel mark is just entering the window, at the 10deg mark (pics 1 & 3).
Pic #2 is when I align the flywheel at 0deg. Also my dist. cap seems to be at an odd angle from other x1/9s I've seen. I'm guessing that the engine builder had to compensate for the timing being off? I have not checked the timing with a timing light.
What is the procedure to fix the timing? I'm hoping it's as simple as removing the timing belt and aligning the cam pulley correctly...but I know that it's never that simple!
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Rob.
Some background...my father restored the car and engine was rebuilt by a local Fiat "expert" with "big valve heads" from somewhere in California and possibly a different cam. I don't know any particulars or either the size of the valves or the cam (if it was indeed installed) as I can't find any receipts/records etc and my father passed a few years ago. The car starts, idles and runs fine, except at the top end of the rev range, 5K and up, where is seems to fall flat on it's face. Carb was new at time of engine rebuild.I pulled the carb jets and cleaned them, cleaned the carb and with no improvement, changed fuel filter etc.
In searching the forum, most threads referencing poor performance indicate to check the timing, so I did and it looks like the timing is off by a tooth. When the mark on the cam is aligned with the arrow, the flywheel mark is just entering the window, at the 10deg mark (pics 1 & 3).
Pic #2 is when I align the flywheel at 0deg. Also my dist. cap seems to be at an odd angle from other x1/9s I've seen. I'm guessing that the engine builder had to compensate for the timing being off? I have not checked the timing with a timing light.
What is the procedure to fix the timing? I'm hoping it's as simple as removing the timing belt and aligning the cam pulley correctly...but I know that it's never that simple!
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Rob.