What did you do to your X1/9 today ?
- Thread starter Eastep
- Start date
fiatfactory
Steve Cecchele
There are a few 128's hiding in Melbourne, one is a Greek guy (a Greek in Melbourne - what are the chances 
) called Taki who's a good customer with a very nice 128 coupe, and another Italian fellow (John - Giovanni - J man of melbourne) with a 4 door sedan that he's slowly been building up to quite a high standard.... he's been talking about flying me over to build / assemble his 1300 for him so I may take you up on the pizza and vino.
my old four door has been languishing in a shed for a few years waiting for me to get the time to do bodywork and paint it ... it's about 100hp at the wheels 1300.
SteveC
) called Taki who's a good customer with a very nice 128 coupe, and another Italian fellow (John - Giovanni - J man of melbourne) with a 4 door sedan that he's slowly been building up to quite a high standard.... he's been talking about flying me over to build / assemble his 1300 for him so I may take you up on the pizza and vino.my old four door has been languishing in a shed for a few years waiting for me to get the time to do bodywork and paint it ... it's about 100hp at the wheels 1300.
SteveC
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There are a few 128's hiding in Melbourne, one is a Greek guy (a Greek in Melbourne - what are the chances
my old four door has been languishing in a shed for a few years waiting for me to get the time to do bodywork and paint it ... it's about 100hp at the wheels 1300.
View attachment 67539
SteveC
autox19
True Classic
Got another day this season out in the x. Supposed to be low 70s. This morning was 47. Normally not an issue but I haven't gotten around to plumbing the heat as the x uses on/off for the coolant going to the heater core where the b16 uses bypass. I have the remote valve just haven't done anything with it. So not only was a "brisk" drive but the windshield was always fogging. But knowing I will get a beautiful non shivering drive home will be worth it. Oh and it's dark in the morning now so found one lights normal mode was dead and the other lights bright was dead so one light either way.
Odie
Odie
Stuartc
True Classic
Couldn’t put it off any longer, had to sort out the mess that’s called wiring behind the centre console for the switches.
Only 2 circuits this cull….
5m illumination circuit
2.5m associated ground circuit
7.5mm TOTAL😱
I was astonished! Clearly no bean counters at FIAT looking for savings anywhere.😳
New distribution block with 12 outlets utilising PCB and modern Delphi connectors homemade of course😁
New module services switch illumination, footwell courtesy and mood lights, door handle illumination.
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
Totally agree about the excessive waste of redundant wires. And it is that way throughout the harnesses for the whole car.
LouieP 711
New Member
Today I reglued the rubber trim on the sides of the top. Then I went out for probably the last warm weather ride for a while.
kmead
Old enough to know better
On a 1500 not necessarily. Mine finally failed after 30 plus years. No I am not proud…
It is an easy change and will ensure you aren’t left by the side of the road.
However if you have done head work (flycut the head to get rid of the decompression ring, larger valves, higher lift cam) or new higher compression pistons, you should use 60k and 60 months as a good guide.
dllubin
Don
60K seems like a bit much. If you have an non interference engine I suppose you could get by with it. I had a timing belt tensioner disintegrate with under 40K on it which is why I no longer have a 1300 in my car - a bunch of bent/broken valves, a trashed valve seat and a piston embossed with the end of a broken valve stem. So, I'd change the belt and tensioner at somewhere under 40K, especially if it is an interference engine. On my 1300, I changed the belt around 20K with a new tensioner every other belt change (40K). Since I had to change out the cam, carbs, and smog stuff every two years for CA emissions inspection, putting a new belt on that often was a non issue. I was coming up on 80K when the tensioner went.
kmead
Old enough to know better
I would say that belts are much better than they were when your car was young. However nothing like trashing an engine to give you religion
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
Although "modern" timing belts typically have a service life of well over 60K miles, I'm not completely convinced the ones we can buy for these engines are up to that level of quality or service life. We are seeing way too many inferior parts for old Fiats on the current market. Even the one's coming from known brand names, unfortunately that doesn't mean anything anymore either. Plus the "modern" ones on other vehicles are a completely different overall design so its a case of apples and oranges. Regardless of whether the engine is interference or not I think it would be wise to replace it at a shorter interval. However for many of us that might be a matter of time not mileage.
RoyS
True Classic
Started cutting bits out of my "too rusty to fix economically" '78 X. Most of the lower half is rust covered in 1/4"+ of bondo. The left front quarter panel was one of the few ok parts.
Last image is an item I'm looking forward to fitting on the '74...
If anybody needs a chunk of this before it gets hauled away let me know. '78 specific items removed will be posted in the FS&W section.
Roy
Last image is an item I'm looking forward to fitting on the '74...
If anybody needs a chunk of this before it gets hauled away let me know. '78 specific items removed will be posted in the FS&W section.
Roy
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fiatfactory
Steve Cecchele
If you have all 10 bolts out (looks like you have) and nothing else looks connected, then it's likely just stuck on the head locating dowels (both front corners) and you'll need to gently "tap" (use a block of wood against the head) upwards with a hammer and it should break free
SteveC
SteveC
tigeravg
True Classic
I know an undamaged "nose cone" is highly desirable. If you can carefully remove that, (all the way down to that little lower flange) you will likely make some member very happy. I know a member who looked for one for a year. Just say'n.
HI all worked on my air filter , previous owner had cut off nose ,did not like the idea of pulling hot air from top of engine , added one on ,made it a little bigger .
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dllubin
Don
Looks like you got rid of the restriction that the end of the stock snout. That probably had less cross sectional area than the carb. I replaced my snout with a 4" hose fitting and connected it to the driver side scoop with a hose. The 4" opening seemed to help but the hose and external air did not seem to make a difference. A friend of mine replaced the air cleaner lid with a pie pan whose diameter was the same as the filter element allowing air in all around the filter. That actually worked very well.