What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

Dr.Jeff said:
That is a very tight space with the heater box deflector right there. I'm trying to remember how it was when I did mine. Is that a captured nut that is now spinning, or are there stripped threads?

One thing I did was replace the wire clamp with a different set-up. I made something like this (below) so the cable can go straight through (no bending the wire). Mine has a bolt on both ends; one attaches it to the locking mechanism (where the wire used to pass through), and the other secures the cable like a "set screw". Look at the cable clamp on the rear trunk lock to get an idea of how it works.


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The lock itself is held to the bracket (which is an independent part held in by two fasteners coming from the frunk side with adjustment) by one fastener using an internally threaded pressed in boss. Sadly the boss is spinning so the lock can’t be separated from the bracket. The wire is captured in an object like what you show but it is another captured element as part of the lock assembly. As the lock can’t be removed, access to the fastener which captures and locks the wire ends up underneath the steel of the body. I think I have a strategy for dealing with the problem which may involve coming up with a way to clamp the bracket to lock fastener (hopefully).

Just happy to hear how others have dealt with it and if I am the luck one who has a faulty lock body, meaning one with loose pressed in boss.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
That is a very tight space with the heater box deflector right there. I'm trying to remember how it was when I did mine. Is that a captured nut that is now spinning, or are there stripped threads?

One thing I did was replace the wire clamp with a different set-up. I made something like this (below) so the cable can go straight through (no bending the wire). Mine has a bolt on both ends; one attaches it to the locking mechanism (where the wire used to pass through), and the other secures the cable like a "set screw". Look at the cable clamp on the rear trunk lock to get an idea of how it works.


View attachment 63135
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When I was a kid I have 1 of those funny 3 wheeled off road trikes with the balloon tires on the back & a small tire in the front, powered by a horizontal Briggs engine. I believe it was called the Green Machine & sold at Montgomery Wards. The throttle cable lead at the twist grip broke off & I couldn't find a new cable long enough. A neighbor made something like this from the top of an old spark plug cap. He found a screw that threaded into it, drilled a hole, & filed the excess screw head to match the diameter of the spark plug cap. It fit perfect in the twist grip slot & it held up until I blew the motor a couple years later. Found a pic (not mine)!
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JKIDD said:
When I was a kid I have 1 of those funny 3 wheeled off road trikes with the balloon tires on the back & a small tire in the front, powered by a horizontal Briggs engine. I believe it was called the Green Machine & sold at Montgomery Wards. The throttle cable lead at the twist grip broke off & I couldn't find a new cable long enough. A neighbor made something like this from the top of an old spark plug cap. He found a screw that threaded into it, drilled a hole, & filed the excess screw head to match the diameter of the spark plug cap. It fit perfect in the twist grip slot & it held up until I blew the motor a couple years later. Found a pic (not mine)!
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Funny, that is exactly what my mini-bike throttle cable had....a spark plug nut with a screw. I guess that must have been a common thing back then. :)
 
Bryce-o-rama said:
CnC in Kansas City is pretty good, but every time I’ve been to one in STL there is so much exotica on display.
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I thought I snapped a full photo of the Daytona clone next to the Noble, but i guess not. The Daytona was powered by a 2017 crate Coyote engine. It even had AC. The owner had a Cobra replica the last few years, but moved up to a Daytona over the winter.

Most of the exotics in STL avoid the typical CnC. They organize their own events to keep the riff-raff out. :) There is a monthly CnC at the local Lambo/Astin/Rover dealer that brings them out though. Possibly for service. Ha!
 
JimD said:
I thought I snapped a full photo of the Daytona clone next to the Noble, but i guess not. The Daytona was powered by a 2017 crate Coyote engine. It even had AC. The owner had a Cobra replica the last few years, but moved up to a Daytona over the winter.

Most of the exotics in STL avoid the typical CnC. They organize their own events to keep the riff-raff out. :) There is a monthly CnC at the local Lambo/Astin/Rover dealer that brings them out though. Possibly for service. Ha!
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A Ferrari Daytona or a Shelby Daytona Coupe? I'm assuming a Shelby by the use of a Coyote engine.
 
JimD said:
I thought I snapped a full photo of the Daytona clone next to the Noble, but i guess not. The Daytona was powered by a 2017 crate Coyote engine. It even had AC. The owner had a Cobra replica the last few years, but moved up to a Daytona over the winter.

Most of the exotics in STL avoid the typical CnC. They organize their own events to keep the riff-raff out. :) There is a monthly CnC at the local Lambo/Astin/Rover dealer that brings them out though. Possibly for service. Ha!
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My in-laws live pretty close to that area, so I’ve gone to that CnC a couple times. I went to one in May at Fast Lane and got to see a very green Lamborghini.

We don’t have dealers for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, or Rolls Royce here in KC. Interestingly, I have seen so many McLarens here in town, many of them handling the daily commute.
 
Bryce-o-rama said:
My in-laws live pretty close to that area, so I’ve gone to that CnC a couple times. I went to one in May at Fast Lane and got to see a very green Lamborghini.

We don’t have dealers for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, or Rolls Royce here in KC. Interestingly, I have seen so many McLarens here in town, many of them handling the daily commute.
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My brother in law has a very green Lambo. I got a ride in it once! :)
20220625_181621b.jpg
 
Bryce-o-rama said:
We don’t have dealers for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, or Rolls Royce here in KC. Interestingly, I have seen so many McLarens here in town, many of them handling the daily commute.
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I have to admit I never realized it until I had to move away. But growing up in SoCal things like exotic cars are pretty much the norm. So they kind of get taken for granted. Same with great car shows in general. There were too many excellent choices every weekend throughout most of the year that I often ignored most of them due to silly reasons - like it was more than a 15 minute drive, or it started too early on a Sat morning. Sheesh I was so spoiled and didn't even know it. :oops:
 
I was visiting the Swedish Sport Car Meet in south of Sweden last Saturday. I drove to Knutstorp 250km from home. I started with a half tank of gas and after 60km I got the feeling that something was wrong as the tank was almost empty and I felt a big smell of gasoline. I stopped the car, lifted the hood and noticed that one of the injectors was leaking badly. Gasoline was pissing on the manifold and gas was boiling but luckily no fire. I quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher just in case. I did a Mac Gyver fix by moving a hose clamp from the low pressure return line and put it on the failing injector hose instead to give it extra support and I managed to stop the leak. I noticed that the rubber more or less had dissolved and the hose was soft like a sponge. Two years ago when I built the engine I replaced all fuel rail hoses so this was unexpected.
Today I replaced all rubber hoses (no name brand) on the fuel rail to hoses from GATES.
This is what the hose looked like:
IMG_20220704_133618.jpg
 
Bjorn Nilson said:
I was visiting the Swedish Sport Car Meet in south of Sweden last Saturday. I drove to Knutstorp 250km from home. I started with a half tank of gas and after 60km I got the feeling that something was wrong as the tank was almost empty and I felt a big smell of gasoline. I stopped the car, lifted the hood and noticed that one of the injectors was leaking badly. Gasoline was pissing on the manifold and gas was boiling but luckily no fire. I quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher just in case. I did a Mac Gyver fix by moving a hose clamp from the low pressure return line and put it on the failing injector hose instead to give it extra support and I managed to stop the leak. I noticed that the rubber more or less had dissolved and the hose was soft like a sponge. Two years ago when I built the engine I replaced all fuel rail hoses so this was unexpected.
Today I replaced all rubber hoses (no name brand) on the fuel rail to hoses from GATES.
This is what the hose looked like:
View attachment 63405
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Wow, after only two years! We've discussed fuel hose quality a few times in recent years. It certainly seems to have declined, even for a couple of the traditional top 'name brands'. And not just due to ethanol fuels; there's reports of similar failures with 'normal' gasoline. Apparently the globalization of product manufacturing has had a real negative effect on things.

Thankfully there was no fire!
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Wow, after only two years! We've discussed fuel hose quality a few times in recent years. It certainly seems to have declined, even for a couple of the traditional top 'name brands'. And not just due to ethanol fuels; there's reports of similar failures with 'normal' gasoline. Apparently the globalization of product manufacturing has had a real negative effect on things.

Thankfully there was no fire!
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In short Chinese made garbage. I'm not as good a diplomat as Jeff ;)
 
KBabcock said:
In short Chinese made garbage. I'm not as good a diplomat as Jeff ;)
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Actually most of the hoses from some name brands are not made in China. But in other odd places like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, and India. However I'm sure there is plenty coming from China as well.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Actually most of the hoses from some name brands are not made in China. But in other odd places like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, and India. However I'm sure there is plenty coming from China as well.
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I noticed that he GATES hose I bought is made in Turkey. As a Swedish citizen I currently consider that an odd place 😆.
BTW it was hard to find a quality hose with an ID of 7mm (0,36285714285" in your strange system 😉) and it is not approved for E85. High quality hoses with 6, 8, 10mm ID is easy to get.
 
Bjorn Nilson said:
I noticed that he GATES hose I bought is made in Turkey. As a Swedish citizen I currently consider that an odd place 😆.
BTW it was hard to find a quality hose with an ID of 7mm (0,36285714285" in your strange system 😉) and it is not approved for E85. High quality hoses with 6, 8, 10mm ID is easy to get.
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The nominal ID is 7.5 mm. I replaced my fuel hoses a year ago after one failed (Sytec branded, been in car since 2012). For replacement hose I used Cohline 2240-0600 which is rated for up to 100% Methanol, 100% Ethanol etc. The nominal ID for this hose is 7.3 mm, but it worked well with the barbs on the fuel rail and on the injectors. I found that pushing the hose on dry (both the Sytec hose at 7.5mm ID and the Cohline hose at 7.3 mm ID) is difficult, so I dampened the inside of the hose with a cotton swab dipped in gasoline before assembly.
 
ng_randolph said:
The nominal ID is 7.5 mm. I replaced my fuel hoses a year ago after one failed (Sytec branded, been in car since 2012). For replacement hose I used Cohline 2240-0600 which is rated for up to 100% Methanol, 100% Ethanol etc. The nominal ID for this hose is 7.3 mm, but it worked well with the barbs on the fuel rail and on the injectors. I found that pushing the hose on dry (both the Sytec hose at 7.5mm ID and the Cohline hose at 7.3 mm ID) is difficult, so I dampened the inside of the hose with a cotton swab dipped in gasoline before assembly.
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Bjorn, sadly Cohline is one of the manufacturers I referenced previously, that has moved most of their production to other parts of the world. There have been reports of their hoses failing very quickly. But that doesn't mean all of their products are that way. They still have the original factory plants that made some of the best hoses on the market. So it might be a case of roulette what you get. And that's the problem, you can't know what you are getting. The supply chain moves things all over the world to fill demands and it may be different every time. Even worse, the source that you buy from won't even know what they are getting. So price and supplier reputation don't mean a thing anymore. Very sad situation, Cohline was once considered the top brand. I suggest you keep an eye on those new hoses.



The example that @Bjorn Nilson gave is another.....
Bjorn Nilson said:
I noticed that he GATES hose I bought is made in Turkey.
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ng_randolph said:
The nominal ID is 7.5 mm. I replaced my fuel hoses a year ago after one failed (Sytec branded, been in car since 2012). For replacement hose I used Cohline 2240-0600 which is rated for up to 100% Methanol, 100% Ethanol etc. The nominal ID for this hose is 7.3 mm, but it worked well with the barbs on the fuel rail and on the injectors. I found that pushing the hose on dry (both the Sytec hose at 7.5mm ID and the Cohline hose at 7.3 mm ID) is difficult, so I dampened the inside of the hose with a cotton swab dipped in gasoline before assembly.
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Unfortunately, I only looked for hoses at the local automotive shops nearby. I found two high-quality(?) hoses; a Swedish made with ID 7,5mm and the GATES with ID 7mm. I did a trial fit with the 7,5mm but I found it too easy to push onto the barb and the OD was too big to perfectly fit the end cup. Therefore I used the 7mm hose that sits tighter and the end cup fits.
Today I was surfing for other products and noted there is a Cohline 2134 hose that takes E85 on a Swedish webshop. But the ID is 7,5mm. I've already put everything together so I keep my fingers crossed the GATES will work. At least it cannot be worse than the previous no-name hose.
 
Bjorn Nilson said:
Unfortunately, I only looked for hoses at the local automotive shops nearby. I found two high-quality(?) hoses; a Swedish made with ID 7,5mm and the GATES with ID 7mm. I did a trial fit with the 7,5mm but I found it too easy to push onto the barb and the OD was too big to perfectly fit the end cup. Therefore I used the 7mm hose that sits tighter and the end cup fits.
Today I was surfing for other products and noted there is a Cohline 2134 hose that takes E85 on a Swedish webshop. But the ID is 7,5mm. I've already put everything together so I keep my fingers crossed the GATES will work. At least it cannot be worse than the previous no-name hose.
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What's interesting about that Gates hose size (7mm) is it doesn't match any common US fuel hose sizes. Most of the traditional US manufacturers of hose (including Gates) make their products to meet US specs: 5/16", 3/8", 1/2", and 5/8". Then they often label it as both US and metric. For example 5/16" is approximately 8mm and usually labeled as "5/16 and 7.5mm". So it tends to be loose fitting on the Fiat's 7.5mm metric fittings. Although in recent years I've noticed it isn't quite as loose fitting as I recall in the past. I imagine they might have gone to a nominal ID size somewhere in between 5/16 and 7.5mm.

So it's quite possible this 7mm Gates hose was not made in any of the US manufacturing plants, but at one of their others worldwide. And therefore specified to meet metric standards. 7mm is more commonly used than 7.5mm.

One option I prefer to do is eliminate the stock "cup" style hose crimps on the fuel injector lines. I replace them with more modern "FI" style clamps. This eliminates the issue of the hose OD interfering with the cup diameters. And personally I believe they are more secure. I have read reports of those cups allowing leaks on other vehicles. To me they are a odd design that's outdated. I know Dan, Barry and others fully agree. :p:D
 
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