What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

kmead said:
This could be a real boon, particularly the one that is adjusted at the rear of the alternator.
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I think I'll start a new thread about this under the workshop section. Mainly because I'd like to hear some input about the design and function of this concept. Something about it seems a bit off to me. I'll come back here with an "edit" to link that thread after I post it.


EDIT: Here is a link to the new thread about this:
https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/alternator-voltage-regulator-output-level.37154/
 
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Hm, need to find out how this forum works. I hope my reply will publish properly...
I know the feeling. Most every time I do something on my X1/9 I find quick and dirty repairs done by a previous owners. Even if I'm not a professional mechanic I do my best to repair things in a professional way.​
 
We are all with you Bjorn, the Previous Owner (PO) or sometimes worse yet the Past Mechanic (PM) is the bane of our existence with these cars.

Everything on the car is just enough different and a perceived lack of parts access that all kinds of kludges end up being done on them. Add to that people not taking the time to buy a cheap manual actually for the car and it gets interesting quickly.

I found it amusing that at MWB Jon Logan recently had a 124 Spider come in with a no start condition. The past repair history from a mechanic had been fuel pump replacement, air flow meter and computer. The car comes in with fuel at the injectors, spark and compression all at the correct times. Noid light shows the injectors are firing.

After futzing around he puts the car up on a lift and there it is, a carbureted cheapo fuel pump in place of the Bosch high pressure injection pump. Add to that a piss poor installation and you have a car bastardized by a know nothing mechanic who shouldn’t be fixing cars at all.

So yes, we are all chasing out the ghosts of the past owners, mechanics and bad reproduction parts.
 
dragonsgate said:
View attachment 22884 I have rebuilt a couple of these.
It is best to find some plastic of the same type. Newer ABS does not work as well.
It is best to make a pattern to keep with in the proper size but there is a little leeway for over size.
Build up the end with a wood burner making sure the plastic is completely bonded together.
You want it slightly larger that original so you have room for filing and shaping.
I then used some .010 brass shim stock to shape a cover around the plastic.
I had brass tubing on hand for the hole but you could roll a tube of the proper size with the shim stock.
Once you have the brass molded around the plastic float some solder around to hold the metal in place then file smooth.
You might need a small clamp of some kind to hold metal together where it overlaps while soldering.
The metal is so thin you do not need a big soldering gun to get the solder to flow.
The heat during the solder will help bond the metal to the plastic but be careful not to get it so hot it melts the plastic to the point of collapse.
I have used tin from paint thinner cans for projects but prefer brass for this type of project.
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I found an alternative way. "Drilled 2 1 mm holes on the lever and reinforced it with a steel thread. Then molded it up with glass fiber and finally grinded it to correct shape.
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Bjorn Nilson said:
Drilled 2 1 mm holes on the lever and reinforced it with a steel thread.
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I like that reinforcement concept. Typically repairs to old plastic parts do not go well, at least not for long. But this reinforcement should improve that considerably. ;) Please try to keep us updated how it turns out over time.
 
Put my X up on stands again. Need to locate a coolant leak. Also I have been having trouble with temperature creep. Particarly on highway high revs. Normally runs cooler than it should but when it goes over 190 it just keeps going up. I'm thinking bad thermostat. So changing that also. It's always a work in progress. Have 2,000 miles since engine rebuild.
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Bjorn Nilson said:
I found an alternative way. "Drilled 2 1 mm holes on the lever and reinforced it with a steel thread. Then molded it up with glass fiber and finally grinded it to correct shape.
View attachment 23233

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Just a note on this "What did you do to your X1/9 today" thread. I see a lot of interesting posts in this thread that I think would make excellent WF posts on their own where they can be added to the "Best Of Xweb" if desired. This thread is so long now that no one really reads anything but the more recent posts. My request is this: If you have a good idea, like Bjorn's reinforcement of the hvac controls, think about making a WF thread and then linking your accomplishment in this thread.

Bjorn, if you don't mind the extra effort, I think this idea is definitely a good WF topic that could then be tagged into the Best Of Xweb.
 
kmead said:
This could be a real boon, particularly the one that is adjusted at the rear of the alternator. Price is decent as well.
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IIRC Vick's used to sell an adjustable Voltage Regulator for the Bosch alts on later cars, but when I went to look for one a couple of months ago, it did not seem to be on their site anymore.
 
Popped the top, which is rare, on the X and took an evening drive through town and around the country side Saturday night.
Left out just at dusk and enjoyed most of it except the part where those blankety blank oncoming SUV headlight blinded me.
I don't do much night driving anymore but mentioned to my wife I have to do something for the next time we go out again after dark.
Years ago I had a 63 Renault Caravel that had a tinted plastic visor attached to the regular sun visor that would flip down and you could see through it.
I have thought about this in the past and have an idea of what I want.
I have some Lexan and need to get some spray tint.
I have a couple other home projects but am going to try to work this one in.
I will keep you posted and if it turns out looking halfway decent will post some pictures.
 
There was an old guy where I used to live who had one of these visors fitted, at night he used to drive with full beam headlights on all the time blinding everybody, I presume he needed full headlight beam because he couldn’t see properly at night with the visor in place!
 
in my younger day's I have 600 wats of lights under the bumper that I would turn on so I had enough light going forward that I could still see (I still had people that would not dim their lights)
 
In the 70's and 80's I ran a set of aircraft landing lights on my FJ40 Land Cruiser.
A couple hundred thousand candle power each.

California as in other states require that off road light be covered.
I never covered mine and the only time I ever had a CHP tell me to cover them was when I sitting on the side of the road with a blown engine.

One night I was heading west toward home on I-40 at the bewitching hour and got to chatting with a trucker on the CB.
The trucker asked me what my 20 was and I told him I was just starting to come down the grade before Ludlow.
He said he was just about to Ludlow and I said I could see the running lights of a lone 18 wheeler down there about a mile away so I will flash my lights and you tell me if you see me.
On that I hit the switch and those flame throwers came on.
There was a slight pause on the radio and then the trucker came on and said "son, you are going to get arrested".

On the X19 the head lights are so low to the ground that I have run with the high beams on and never got flashed by on coming cars.
Either everybody was tolerant putting up with the a hole and the high beams or the lights just didn't reach the level to be noticed by the bigger cars.
Another X19 might have noticed it though.

With the visor in the Caravel, all I had to do was slightly lift my head and look through it for oncoming cars then back down looking under for normal darkness.

I guess to compensate for the filtered visor on the X I will mount one of those LED light bars above the windshield.
 
On the subject of sun visors. I seem to have sensitive eyes and use the visors a lot, especially in the bright sunlight here. So I've given some thought to the ones on the X, which I find to be rather useless (although that is typical of convertibles). I've had a couple of cars in the past with really nice visors; they not only covered the entire top of the windshield (hate when there are large gaps that the sun still blinds through), were big enough to be able to drop down when the sun is low, could swing to the side window when the sun is to your side, and able to slide on the rod to allow side to side movement (especially helpful when pivoted to the side window). I'd like to install something like that on all of my cars - including the X. The actual visor portion pretty much needs to be custom shaped for each vehicle in order to fit correctly. But the mechanism that the visor mounts on (pivot and rod) could come from one of those other vehicles.
 
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