What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

DanielForest said:
Why the steering wheel on the left? Because it was easier to mount the brake/master cylinder in the battery box?
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No, it involves re shaping the entire box, the only point that is the same is the rear inside corner that I used as my datum, every other face is replaced, the battery box material is far too thin / weak to support the loads from a pedal box.

I've used stainless steel plate, as it has more tensile strength (and will look really pretty when polished up) as part of the front edge is unsupported (the whole pedal box / cylinders slides in like a cartridge)

I did it like this simply so I could use the original battery cover to cover / seal the whole assembly.....

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:rolleyes:

SteveC
 
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New firewall for the lemons racer, it hinges /drops down and on the inside will be all the electrics / relays / fuse box etc, it gets clamped down onto a rubber seal with over centre latches...

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SteveC
 
MikeHynes said:
I am eager to see how the new firewall is going to work with your rollcage!
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easy, it fits well behind it... sort of where the shiny metal is where the blue arrow is pointing...
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4 point cage with a diagonal brace across the backstays and a drivers door intrusion bar, minimum requirements... the hoop is behind the targa bar... one of the potential drivers is a 6'4" gorilla (long body, long arms short legs)and his head with a helmet on it is already 75mm / 3 inches above the top edge of the targa bar, there is no way a cage can be fitted inside the cabin to accomodate that, so I'm buildng the car to fit 9 out of 10 guys,hence the driver sideways shift, the adjustable steering column etc etc.
 
I continued the disassembly for restoration. Picked up the car about a month ago and it was a disaster. Appears that the last time it was registered was 1987. Some time likely back then someone started taking it apart in order to restore and and had left everything in the interior. Spent last week or so patching holes in cabin floor, painting interior parts, and today began disconnecting the motor so as to drop it.
 
lemons rule 3.F.5 Fix Sharp Edges: Sharp edges in any location, but especially in and around the cockpit, must be rolled, removed, or securely covered

all the edges on the front of the targa bar I considered an issue, so I removed them... I'm going to repurpose the roof as the engine cover.

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NEG said:
That’s different!

can you make up the loss of body stiffness....
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race car ... roll cage ... I'm replacing the targa hoop with a roll over bar hoop and cross bracing and door intrusion bars etc etc... so easily, and to be 100% honest I dont think the targa hoop alone makes up a lot of torsional stiffness of the chassis.

The member that runs left / right just below the rear window is only a 3 sided channel, I've boxed in the fourth side which increases the torsional stiffness of that member / section by a factor of about 3

Plus I get to diagonally brace the door openings and across the cabin, it will be easily have more torsional ridgidity than standard.

I shortened the roof up and ths is where it will sit as the engine cover.

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SteveC
 
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NEG said:
Took out the instrument cluster to day, 40 years of dust and grime build up to clean off, also the bulbs where so dull I could hardly see the gauges, the difference was quite noticeable!
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Wow, that’s superb. What year is this - similar process on my ‘74, as my acrylic is super-foggy and the lights are also very dim. Essentially, it’s nearly impossible to see gauges in the light of day.
 
@tvmaster 1978, the problem you may find is the acrylic is rivet’d to the surround at the 5 mounting holes so can’t be separated...mine was clear just a bit of surface grime on the inside which I removed the best I could using some ladies round cotton makeup pads...

I replaced the bulbs and cleaned all the contacts with some very fine Emery paper and electrical contact cleaner...
 
NEG said:
@tvmaster 1978, the problem you may find is the acrylic is rivet’d to the surround at the 5 mounting holes so can’t be separated...mine was clear just a bit of surface grime on the inside which I removed the best I could using some ladies round cotton makeup pads...

I replaced the bulbs and cleaned all the contacts with some very fine Emery paper and electrical contact cleaner...
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That would suck if the rivets indeed prevent separation. I guess then the only solution is to replace the entire cluster, which would throw off genuine mileage numbers. I suppose you could cut it off with a dremel...
 
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NEG said:
mine was clear just a bit of surface grime on the inside which I removed the best I could using some ladies round cotton makeup pads.
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I admit I also thought you removed the clear screen. In this picture it is so clean you cannot tell it is there:
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Those makeup pads did a great job. Apparently they are also used for some fine detailing work, but I'm too lazy to do detailing so haven't really tried them. Thankfully you did not describe using another type of lady's round cotton pad, that would have been awkward. 😯

I had a fairly rare headlight on a vintage motorcycle that was a sealed unit (glass lens on the cone reflector). Water had stained the inside of the glass and the only access was the small hole where a halogen bulb fits on the rear side. I tried to clean the inside with various liquids - swishing it around then rinsing. But nothing worked. I imagine it might have been possible to attach those small round pads onto a stick and reach in there to clean the inside of the glass better.

If I remember correctly other people did remove the clear screen on the X by drilling out those 'rivets', then melting them back together after the repairs were finished.
 
tvmaster said:
That would suck if the rivets indeed prevent separation. I guess then the only solution is to replace the entire cluster, which would throw off genuine mileage numbers. I suppose you could cut it off with a dremel...
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Nope. If you use a Dremel, you most likely will create a mess of molten plastic. I would use manual tools only for this.
 
Did a classic "ten-footer" rust-repair job on the back quarter panels. I did a slightly better job of this once upon a time, but that was 20 years ago. The metal on the back right is just absolute Swiss cheese at this point. I used fiberglass body filler as a "base coat" this time, over some steel mesh--hopefully it'll be strong enough to stay relatively straight. Eventually, over the next 30 years or so, I will have replaced all of the rusted-out sheet metal with fiberglass body filler... Rust-proof and lightweight!

The paint is just rattle-can ("Colonial Red", I believe). It's obviously not a perfect match, but once the bumper is back on you won't notice much.
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