What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

Drove to the bottle depot and repaired the engine lid



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Fits perfect!



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And I did some work to my engine lid. It had some pretty bad rust in two areas. I cut of the folded part you can see in the first pic with an angle grinder, brushed off all the rust that was hiding underneath and fill up with polyester puddy (aka bondo). Sand, prime, paint.



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Before.



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After

Oh, and I put on my new emblems I got from Henk. Aint cheap but cooooool:) ey?



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Yesterday through snow storms I picked up my son's new '74 X1/9 :headbang:

With exception of the fact that we had to push the car onto the car hauler because the clutch pedal just falls to the floor and stays there everything else went great. I took my time and did the 600km round trip. The X looks amazing from what I've been able to look over. No rust issues except the front trunk has no carpet or anything on the floor and there's a hole about three inches in diameter from rust so the best attack may be to just have a body shop cut out the floor and just weld in a new piece which is probably faster and cheaper then trying to repair it.

The two headlight pod covers are missing, the PO didn't even know there was supposed to be covers there. The wiring for all the covered over marker lights including the front signal lights is sitting disconnected so cutting out holes for the front signal lights and re-attaching them may be a good option rather then trying to source something aftermarket which holes would have to be drilled or cut out anyways. The car started right up with the choke and sounds really nice but when I reved it a little it sounded very loud so I pretty sure I'm gonna find a hole somewhere in the exhaust.


With the car the PO gave me a bunch of NOS Fiat parts:
-Master brake cylinder, Master clutch cylinder, Slave cylinder, Complete clutch assembly, and rubber brake hoses.

All parts are still in Fiat/Lancia packaging from Vic's.

Questions:

1) There's three reservoirs for clutch and brake fluid which my Haynes manual for earlier years also shows but doesn't specify which reservoir is which.
Two of the three are almost empty which coincides with my Haynes manual that anytime the level in the clutch reservoir goes below half full then air will enter the system and the clutch will need to be bled so should I purchase a power bleeder or install a speed bleeder screw (if it is the same as the brake caliper screws as I have a spare)
and try bleeding the clutch to re-gain pressure in the clutch pedal or should I replace the clutch slave cylinder since I have a new one and then bleed the clutch?

2) This '74 X has a kill switch :wacko: When the PO told me what it was I just assumed he was referring to an electric fuel pump switch as my '84 X has but it really is a kill switch. When I turned the key back to shut off the '74 X the engine was still running until I flicked this little black switch beside the emergence brake handle (PS) and the engine shut off just like a kill switch my dirt bike had when I was 12. Easy enough to get used to I guess as long as no harm is being done I suppose. I can post photos of the three reservoirs or the kill switch if more clarification is needed.

'PeteX1/9
 
I'll check my manual its the old Bruce's manual. I think its a little more descriptive then the Haynes. In the mean time, post some photos.
 
Orange X update with photos... The hole in the front trunk is actually only about 2 inches across. The kill switch looks like it belongs there and I think that the three reservoirs are Brake for the two paired reservoirs and Clutch for one that looks single.
I ran the X again and listened for the loudness coming from the exhaust and the only holes are in the exhaust metal shield which is rusting right off but the 4-1 exhaust looks perfect but there's NOOOOO! muffler AT ALL. Those OTT exhaust tips (2 functional and 2 are just sitting there for looks :wacko: are welded directly to the end of the 4-1 exhaust but that's okay as it does look cool to a teenager so that's all that matters.




Needed so far:

Front marker lights
Side view mirrors
Muffler
Large round Air filter needs replacing
Repair hole in front trunk

Considering the car hasn't even be taken off the trailer yet I don't think that list is too bad, Ha!

In all seriousness, I Love it and couldn't be happier so if Christmas would just hurry up so that I can give the car to Jr. and stop lying to him about it then we can move on and start working on it.:music:

'PeteX1/9





This is a picture of the "kill switch" which crazy enough looks factory
with the contoured plastic surrounding the e-brake and choke and kill switch assembly. Things that make you go hmmmmm.....



 
"Kill switch"

It probably interrupts the power to the coil terminal (15), or could easily also ground the (1) terminal, either would stall the engine. If it were me I'd want to know exactly what it does and decide if I want it there. It could be dangerous to accidentally switch it.
 
12-9-10

Today I fabricated a new ground strap from a length of battery cable and new copper lead end, and replaced the old tired ground strap that was running from the bell housing to the bulkhead. I also slightly relocated the strap, as you can see. Not alot of work or money for extra reliability is always a thumbs up in my book.

DSC02601.jpg



DSC02602.jpg
 
Looks good Mike,

The wire and terminals look great. I can't tell the wire length in the photo. If it's too short, the terminals will bend toward each other. You'll know that after a few quick starts, stops and hard turns. Otherwise good job! :clap:
 
Thanks Bob and coming from an electrical nut such as yourself makes me very proud indeed. I cut the length of cable 1/4-1/2 inch longer then the original then pealed 1/4 inch of the rubber coating off the end and filled the new copper lead end with little crumples of solder, then used a map torch to melt the solder and insert the new cable, using all new hardware to mount with. I also cleaned up the mounting surfaces a little for good connection. All in all maybe 10-12 minutes of work.
 
All good Mike... but...

Its still down there in the muck and mire and easily forgotten and neglected. Do yourself a favor and spend another 10 minutes fitting a second strap topside! You'll NOT regret it!
 
Got some wheels today

Picked up some "old school" Western Wheels from Craigslist. Dave was nice enough to ship them across the country for me. Today I painted them:


Wheels3.jpg


They bear a surprising resemblance to the wheels on my 1970 Ford pickup, currently under construction. I can only imagine how cool it will be to trailer the '79 Fiat behind the '70 pickup. Yep, I've got the pickup down to about as light as I can get it, too. :)

BoomPole2.jpg
 
Awesome truck project!

Uber cool old truck.
Matching wheels too.
Put a set on your trailer.
Paint truck/trailer to co-ordinate.
Pure class.

Similar wheel on my old IceBlueX:
(polished calipers always drew notice)
icebluewheel.jpg
 
I also re-arranged my garage...

I can't take any credit for the idea as I give full credit to "Mike3487" for sharing the idea on XWeb last week. After reading his thread I immediately went to the garage to measure and realized that it could be done with wheel dollies so I went out and bought a set.

The results are amazing as the cars won't be driven for the next four months but there's still plenty of room to work on them and they look great beside eachother.:music:

I had to bring Orange'74X inside off the trailer as a major snow storm is planned to hit us on Sunday and couldn't bear to see it get buried in snow.:sad:

I'm working on Jr's surprise reveal just the same.





'PeteX1/9
 
Got caught

Wife's X (1991 Ford Explorer :)) needed the radiator replaced & I had the new one. She said no, I could not put it in with my banged up finger.

Later, she came out to the garage & got upset when she found me under the Fiat hooking up the suspension. She said "What in the heck are you doing?!" I said "You wouldn't let me work on the radiator."

Been married 35 years and still can't figure her out. Does she think these things fix themselves?

Anyway, I did get the rear swing arm reconnected before I went in & watched TV.
 
sign of a true professional

The sign of a true professional is one who can still play injured! Just don't bring up your level of professionalism the next time she has a headache, but after 35 years of marrige, I'm sure you know this already. LOL
 
Got it up on my lift

It should be easier to work on..... I had to make ramps because the lift would not fit under the car. Then had to make supports for the frame to rest on. The top of the car is 68" off the ground.









Now got to get to work!!!:hammer:
 
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