What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

[kmead]

Dr.Jeff you are exactly right, I worked on Fiats for 27 years, I have a 79 X1/9 and I tried everything I could think of to get the electrical gauge to read properly, I ran a ground wire directly to the gauge, I wired a positive directly to the gauge but it still behaves the same, at this point I say, don't worry about it, check your charge rate at the battery and if it's good carry on !

The issue I have noted is the meter is showing the voltage in the switched wiring loom off the ignition switch as opposed to the voltage at the battery. This is evidenced by the changes you will often see when you: use the turn signal (the gauge will go up and down in time to the flashes), turn on the HVAC fan, press the brake pedal, the wipers and a few other actions.

Ultimately to get a good indication on the gauge, a dedicated wire should run from the positive of the battery to the gauge (this would likely need to be on a relay controlled by the ignition switch to not run the battery down).

This is one of the reasons I am changing most of the loads to large relays to switch the ‘switched’ circuits and off load some of the other loads to relays for the wipers, headlights, starter and a few others. I am hoping removing load from the ignition switched part of the loom will offer enough power to have the gauge indicate more correctly. I did say ‘more’

 

[Dr.Jeff]

edit: actually looking at your picture again, and reading that it's a 79 model, will mean that stock it used a 28/30DHTA carb - which is about the most crap carb the X19 or sohc engine in general was ever fitted with... the three adjustment screws shown above will still be the same, but lots of other detail parts will be significantly different. If it gives you any grief the best thing to do is bin the DHTA and fit a DATR/DATRA, number one improvement for a 79 X19.

Exactly.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

Cars and Coffee today. A lot of nice vehicles. Two with Martini livery.

 

[tigeravg]

Finished the rear bumper build.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Finished the rear bumper build.
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Sweet! Much better than the factory ones in my opinion!

 

[tvmaster]

Paint is still a little wet, but I think it's turned out pretty nice. View attachment 64917View attachment 64918

I'm amazed it hasn't opened new cracks. Mine must have had all the moisture sucked from it over the years of arrid, dry desert life.

 

[Torgo]

I'm amazed it hasn't opened new cracks. Mine must have had all the moisture sucked from it over the years of arrid, dry desert life.

Still looks good. The more I think about it, I kind of want to go back and actually try to sand all the weird undulations. Maybe when I finish the million other things I'm working on. New transmission gaskets and cv replacement kit comes today.

 

[NEG]

Checked fluid levels and topped up the gearbox ahead of the UK owners club national meet at the Silverstone race circuit on Friday, Sat and Sunday….looking forward to it!

 

[NEG]

Great day out at Silverstone, we had 15 cars today and there will be more over the weekend. We got to drive the circuit ahead of the Ferrari owners club! No doubt to slow them down! Will post a video at some point but some pics for for now. Also huge thanks to the UK owners club and the committee for organising it all!

 

[tvmaster]

It's not what I did TO the X19, it's more what I did FOR the X19....

Added another old clunker to the stable - a birthday present for the wife, who's VERY happy.
But, it creates a problem - you can't open the door of the TT and get out of the car. It was no problem getting out of the 500 Abarth.
So, a solution was needed.
Took out the tools, and turned the garage cupboards into the X19 cubby hole. lol.
Of course there were challenges - a very tight target to hit in reverse, and in a dark corner of the garage. And then there was the ANSA exhaust pipes and their lower profile. The pictures should tell the story.
Reinforced the countertop span with two 2x4's so it wouldn't sag over time.
Adding motion controlled lighting brought it all together - as I back in, the motion sensor lights up the cupboard, and the left/right targets in the rear-view mirrors are very easy to shoot for.

 

[jimmyx]

It's not what I did TO the X19, it's more what I did FOR the X19....

You know when the X bug has bitten hard when you start modifying the house to make it fit, lol!

 

[tvmaster]

You know when the X bug has bitten hard when you start modifying the house to make it fit, lol!

LOL, right? So much for her "I'll drive it more..." comment. It didn't have enough power for her, hence the MK1. I was actually going to do it all along, but with the 500, you could squeeze in and out of the car, so I put it off.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

It's not what I did TO the X19, it's more what I did FOR the X19....

Added another old clunker to the stable - a birthday present for the wife, who's VERY happy.
But, it creates a problem - you can't open the door of the TT and get out of the car. It was no problem getting out of the 500 Abarth.
So, a solution was needed.
Took out the tools, and turned the garage cupboards into the X19 cubby hole. lol.
Of course there were challenges - a very tight target to hit in reverse, and in a dark corner of the garage. And then there was the ANSA exhaust pipes and their lower profile. The pictures should tell the story.
Reinforced the countertop span with two 2x4's so it wouldn't sag over time.
Adding motion controlled lighting brought it all together - as I back in, the motion sensor lights up the cupboard, and the left/right targets in the rear-view mirrors are very easy to shoot for.

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I find a simple solution to backing in without going too far (and hitting something) is a old tennis ball on a string. Hung from the ceiling at the correct location, you drive just until the ball touches the back window.

It might be the perspective of the pic, but your exhaust seems to be riding way too low. It looks like it is almost on the ground, and the rear rocker panel should not need to be pushed back to clear it. Repairing this would alleviate the need to notch the floor of that cabinet.

 

[tvmaster]

I find a simple solution to backing in without going too far (and hitting something) is a old tennis ball on a string. Hung from the ceiling at the correct location, you drive just until the ball touches the back window.

It might be the perspective of the pic, but your exhaust seems to be riding way too low. It looks like it is almost on the ground, and the rear rocker panel should not need to be pushed back to clear it. Repairing this would alleviate the need to notch the floor of that cabinet.

Too far isn't the problem, left/right was. And yes, there are tennis balls out of the shot for other navigation purposes in the garage.
If you have a picture of what your talking about, aka a proper install, that would be cool the pipes bottom out about 7" above ground

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Too far isn't the problem, left/right was.

Got it, I misunderstood.

the pipes bottom out about 7" above ground

After looking at the pic again I see what happened. At first I thought the surface (blue arrow, pic below) was the floor, but now I see it is the modified cabinet. So it's not as low as it seemed.
However the rear valance is out of place (red arrow), which appears to be due to the exhaust not fitting correctly? The valance should be able to fit in proper place and clear the exhaust.
From memory I think this system typically rides higher relative to the body (black lines), and further under the valance (red arrow). But I don't have any reference images to offer.
I can't tell for sure from one pic, therefore I'm just offering something to check into so it doesn't get snagged on a driveway or such.

 

[tvmaster]

Got it, I misunderstood.



After looking at the pic again I see what happened. At first I thought the surface (blue arrow, pic below) was the floor, but now I see it is the modified cabinet. So it's not as low as it seemed.
However the rear valance is out of place (red arrow), which appears to be due to the exhaust not fitting correctly? The valance should be able to fit in proper place and clear the exhaust.
From memory I think this system typically rides higher relative to the body (black lines), and further under the valance (red arrow). But I don't have any reference images to offer.
I can't tell for sure from one pic, therefore I'm just offering something to check into so it doesn't get snagged on a driveway or such.
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I'll take a closer look at the valance. Does seem odd. But they hang pretty low regardless...

 

[Bryce-o-rama]

Great day out at Silverstone, we had 15 cars today and there will be more over the weekend. We got to drive the circuit ahead of the Ferrari owners club! No doubt to slow them down! Will post a video at some point but some pics for for now. Also huge thanks to the UK owners club and the committee for organising it all!View attachment 65309

Can you tell me anything about the 5 lug wheels on the blue X?

 

[tigeravg]

Took her to her first show. Not finished (bumpers) but acceptable. It was all cool when a '65 Sport fury parked next to me...The X looked pretty slick. Then....a freak'n spaceship landed to my immediate left. Suddenly, I was brought back to Fiat reality.

 

[tvmaster]

Great day out at Silverstone, we had 15 cars today and there will be more over the weekend. We got to drive the circuit ahead of the Ferrari owners club! No doubt to slow them down! Will post a video at some point but some pics for for now. Also huge thanks to the UK owners club and the committee for organising it all!View attachment 65309

I think the WD team were there, poking around….

 

[NEG]

Can you tell me anything about the 5 lug wheels on the blue X?

Good spot, I’ll have to find out, I hadn’t noticed them!