kmead
Old enough to know better
I’ll take the orangey red one.
What did you do to your X1/9 today ?
- Thread starter Eastep
- Start date
I changed the oil and filter on my 85X today.
I spent several days last week tracking down a decent oil leak on the K20. After a few wrong guesses I finally remembered I could figure it out easier if I cleaned all the oil gunk off the suspect area.
The leak was from the timing belt inspection cover. Pretty simple repair once you stop being stupid.
I spent several days last week tracking down a decent oil leak on the K20. After a few wrong guesses I finally remembered I could figure it out easier if I cleaned all the oil gunk off the suspect area.
The leak was from the timing belt inspection cover. Pretty simple repair once you stop being stupid.
fiatfactory
Steve Cecchele
Went to the dyno on Friday just gone... was a little bit circular unfortunately... but kinda confirmed what I was thinking after our dyno runs in December in that we have an ignition issue so the afr is inconsistent due to the cylinders sometimes not lighting off and dumping fuel into the exhaust giving a "false" rich afr.... after 6 hours and another dozen pulls, we found ourselves back at exactly the same settings! ... I wasn't doing the changes this time, it was the technician at the workshop, an old Yugoslavian guy called Peter who's well versed in weber... so it's still rich on tip in and the afr still does a dive into rich at just under 6500, and the AFR line isn't a nice flat(ish) line we were seeing back in 2018, it has crazy (and inconsistent between pulls) peaks thru the curve ... so that's now the same result on two (both quite hot) days on two different machines... so I'm 100% convinced the mixture isn't lighting off 100% of the time and then dumping into the exhaust ... which we see as the peaks in the afr (goes a bit lean when it is running well and firing on all four) and the big drop into low numbers at 6500 when the ignition is under the most load and giving up the ghost.
back in 2018 we had 34 chokes and had to drill jets to 145 to get a nice afr... back in December 2023 I fitted the 36 chokes and checked the drilled jets... they were more like 147 (the back of the 145 drill was a bit of a sloppy fit) so I carefully reamed them to 150... I was kind of expecting to need to go 155/160 to feed the fuel for the bigger venturis, but wasn't seeing a steady afr line and left it with the 150's and even tried to lean off the top end with different air correctors... On Friday Peter (the dyno tech) did more of less the same sequence... but this time we had a selection of new OE weber jets (140/145/150/155) we brought along with us ... first he went for 140 (spiked lean at about 4k - same as I saw in December) then 145's, then back to the 150's... not drilled this time... he even checked my drilling with a different set of jet gauges and found them to be spot on 1.50 - then several different combos of air correctors... and ended up at the same point... with the same plunge in AFR at just before 6500.
we did find it liked much more initial ignition advance though, I had it at 14 when we arrived and peter finished at 20... but on the Saturday I dialed that back to 16 and measured the curve and didn't like the total 40 plus degrees of advance at 5000 revs and dialed it back to a more conservative 36 degrees total... so my hunt for a suitable programme-able box is still on... as there is still a fair degree of spark scatter at high revs...
on the Saturday I even pulled apart another S135G distributor Mark had to confirm what mechanical advance plate it should have, which is 23 degrees of mechanical, so the distributor in the car seems like it's been modded to only give 20 ...(something I often do by shortening the slots) but which I didn't do in this case... but the previous mechanic who played with the car well over ten years ago must have done... I've never pulled the dizzy in the car apart.
more advance usually helps a rich mix light up and burn off, personally I like around 36/37 total with around 14 initial, as this seems to work best... and is safe.
in the end - on a 37 degree C afternoon - we ended up almost where we were 6 years ago... at 106 hp / 115 lb/ft (2018 was 109 / 120) ... I did a leakage test on the thursday and was at 14% leakage - a little more than I would like for a 25000km old motor (but it has run a far amount of it's life with open carbs - no filter) and a cranking compression test was very even on marks (cheap) gauge that I could feel the testers hose puffing up on each crank, so the motor is holding up well for a basic build with a standard ring pack and no fancy bore finish.
the car definitely feels faster to drive since the venturi and exhaust change ... even though the "numbers" say it has less... but I could only squirt it to about 6k in third on public streets...
I did some online research on the saturday and found that he's had the wrong coil on there since he fitted the ignition back in 2015 (I simply swapped over the distributor in 2018 when I dropped the new engine in) the crane system (which I think is basically the same as a pertronix) specifies a really low primary resistance of 0.42 ohms, but the coil fitted has 1.8 ohms... so marks on the hunt this week for the correct crane coil...maybe that's the smoking gun? a failing coil or ignition box?
so there's still more work to be done.
SteveC
back in 2018 we had 34 chokes and had to drill jets to 145 to get a nice afr... back in December 2023 I fitted the 36 chokes and checked the drilled jets... they were more like 147 (the back of the 145 drill was a bit of a sloppy fit) so I carefully reamed them to 150... I was kind of expecting to need to go 155/160 to feed the fuel for the bigger venturis, but wasn't seeing a steady afr line and left it with the 150's and even tried to lean off the top end with different air correctors... On Friday Peter (the dyno tech) did more of less the same sequence... but this time we had a selection of new OE weber jets (140/145/150/155) we brought along with us ... first he went for 140 (spiked lean at about 4k - same as I saw in December) then 145's, then back to the 150's... not drilled this time... he even checked my drilling with a different set of jet gauges and found them to be spot on 1.50 - then several different combos of air correctors... and ended up at the same point... with the same plunge in AFR at just before 6500.
we did find it liked much more initial ignition advance though, I had it at 14 when we arrived and peter finished at 20... but on the Saturday I dialed that back to 16 and measured the curve and didn't like the total 40 plus degrees of advance at 5000 revs and dialed it back to a more conservative 36 degrees total... so my hunt for a suitable programme-able box is still on... as there is still a fair degree of spark scatter at high revs...
on the Saturday I even pulled apart another S135G distributor Mark had to confirm what mechanical advance plate it should have, which is 23 degrees of mechanical, so the distributor in the car seems like it's been modded to only give 20 ...(something I often do by shortening the slots) but which I didn't do in this case... but the previous mechanic who played with the car well over ten years ago must have done... I've never pulled the dizzy in the car apart.
more advance usually helps a rich mix light up and burn off, personally I like around 36/37 total with around 14 initial, as this seems to work best... and is safe.
in the end - on a 37 degree C afternoon - we ended up almost where we were 6 years ago... at 106 hp / 115 lb/ft (2018 was 109 / 120) ... I did a leakage test on the thursday and was at 14% leakage - a little more than I would like for a 25000km old motor (but it has run a far amount of it's life with open carbs - no filter) and a cranking compression test was very even on marks (cheap) gauge that I could feel the testers hose puffing up on each crank, so the motor is holding up well for a basic build with a standard ring pack and no fancy bore finish.
the car definitely feels faster to drive since the venturi and exhaust change ... even though the "numbers" say it has less... but I could only squirt it to about 6k in third on public streets...
I did some online research on the saturday and found that he's had the wrong coil on there since he fitted the ignition back in 2015 (I simply swapped over the distributor in 2018 when I dropped the new engine in) the crane system (which I think is basically the same as a pertronix) specifies a really low primary resistance of 0.42 ohms, but the coil fitted has 1.8 ohms... so marks on the hunt this week for the correct crane coil...maybe that's the smoking gun? a failing coil or ignition box?
so there's still more work to be done.
SteveC
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KBabcock
True Classic
Very cool and the funny part, based on the video, is your car was probable the rarest car there. Go figure.
Tom Ginefra
True Classic
No Doubt! Certainly the oldest at 45 years, and (with it rumored to have only 7 Xs registered and on the road in New Jersey) probably the rarest, as well. I was pleased as punch that after just rolling up on these guys at their pre-event meet up, they thought enough of my X to ask me if I wanted to join their drive. Hate to admit it, but it was really cool to be cruising around with Lambos and Ferraris and the rest of the cars there. About 30 in all!
KBabcock
True Classic
I bet, that drive would have been ball! Glad you got to experience it.
I found a "Super Stable" setting in the video camera on my phone. (Galaxy A52) So to get the best video I bought a new windshield mount since my dash mount video attempts shook like crazy. Maybe because the dash is shaky?? I decided to test the new mount and stability setting since it is unseasonably warm today. Nothing too exciting, I trimmed down a 5 minute boring drive to this one road section. Too much traffic for a full blast, but I let the truck ahead of me get out there and then gave the 85X a rip.
Like I said, nothing too exciting, but the video is much more stable than previous attempts. I will try again on a sunny day which I hope improves the picture quality.
I decided to test the new mount and stability setting since it is unseasonably warm today. Nothing too exciting, I trimmed down a 5 minute boring drive to this one road section. Too much traffic for a full blast, but I let the truck ahead of me get out there and then gave the 85X a rip.Like I said, nothing too exciting, but the video is much more stable than previous attempts. I will try again on a sunny day which I hope improves the picture quality.
Tom Ginefra
True Classic
Car sounds awesome, Jim!I found a "Super Stable" setting in the video camera on my phone. (Galaxy A52) So to get the best video I bought a new windshield mount since my dash mount video attempts shook like crazy. Maybe because the dash is shaky??
Like I said, nothing too exciting, but the video is much more stable than previous attempts. I will try again on a sunny day which I hope improves the picture quality.
kmead
Old enough to know better
Bwaaaaaaaa BWAaaaaaaa BWAAaaaaa bu bu buI found a "Super Stable" setting in the video camera on my phone. (Galaxy A52) So to get the best video I bought a new windshield mount since my dash mount video attempts shook like crazy. Maybe because the dash is shaky??
Like I said, nothing too exciting, but the video is much more stable than previous attempts. I will try again on a sunny day which I hope improves the picture quality.
Love it.
SuperTopo
True Classic
JKIDD
Auto Addict
I thought it only did that in New England...We had almost 80° on Monday. I got to make similar noises with the Alfa spider (open Webers make a lovely noise)
This morning it was 9° (feels like -8°). But don't despair because it is going to be back up to near 70° on Saturday.
Gotta love Nebraska.
fiatfactory
Steve Cecchele
I was able to adjust the control stalk position to get the turn signals cancelling again!! Last fall I replaced the ignition switch on the 85X and afterwards the signals would no longer cancel on their own. I graduated from an old man with a hat, to an old man with a hat and his signal still on a mile after the turn.
I did some searching on Xweb and found a suggestion to check the positioning of the stalk control unit. After loosening the band clamp up quite a bit, I was able to nudge the whole unit maybe 1/8 or 14 inch closer to the steering wheel. Success! I am now back to being an old man with a hat.*
Backstory: Whenever I encountered a driver going too slow, or worse, driving too slow with a blinker on, I would always tell my wife: "I bet its an old man with a hat". With luck, someday we all become old. I am getting there.
I did some searching on Xweb and found a suggestion to check the positioning of the stalk control unit. After loosening the band clamp up quite a bit, I was able to nudge the whole unit maybe 1/8 or 14 inch closer to the steering wheel. Success! I am now back to being an old man with a hat.*
Backstory: Whenever I encountered a driver going too slow, or worse, driving too slow with a blinker on, I would always tell my wife: "I bet its an old man with a hat". With luck, someday we all become old. I am getting there.
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
Glad you brought this up, I don't recall ever reading how this could be adjusted and the effect on its function. Was there a particular thread with this info?I was able to adjust the control stalk position to get the turn signals cancelling again!! Last fall I replaced the ignition switch on the 85X and afterwards the signals would no longer cancel on their own. I graduated from an old man with a hat, to an old man with a hat and his signal still on a mile after the turn.
I did some searching on Xweb and found a suggestion to check the positioning of the stalk control unit. After loosening the band clamp up quite a bit, I was able to nudge the whole unit maybe 1/8 or 14 inch closer to the steering wheel. Success! I am now back to being an old man with a hat.*
Backstory: Whenever I encountered a driver going too slow, or worse, driving too slow with a blinker on, I would always tell my wife: "I bet its an old man with a hat". With luck, someday we all become old. I am getting there.
Great information to keep in mind when my current builds finally go back together. Of course that is assuming two things: that they ever get back together, and that I remember - you're not the only old man here.
I didn't bookmark the thread. No pictures or anything fancy, the thread just said to loosen the clamp and slide the stalk unit as closer to the steering wheel. It worked.Glad you brought this up, I don't recall ever reading how this could be adjusted and the effect on its function. Was there a particular thread with this info?
Great information to keep in mind when my current builds finally go back together. Of course that is assuming two things: that they ever get back together, and that I remember - you're not the only old man here.
Alain - The Red Scorpion
True Classic
Correction: The Honda sounds like the FiatSounds like a Honda.
Alain - The Red Scorpion
True Classic
No vibration, that's great. Let us know if the section cup holds for long. Thx.I found a "Super Stable" setting in the video camera on my phone. (Galaxy A52) So to get the best video I bought a new windshield mount since my dash mount video attempts shook like crazy. Maybe because the dash is shaky??
Like I said, nothing too exciting, but the video is much more stable than previous attempts. I will try again on a sunny day which I hope improves the picture quality.