What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

Passed MOT today with no remarks. -What a relief. The MOT engineer was so big that he couldn't get into the driver seat so he had to ask a (much smaller) colleague to test drive the car 😆.
To pass tests I replaced the waste gate actuator with another one, soft as a rubber band, and managed to reduce the boost to 0,25 bar. The car transformed from tiger to kitten so no complaints about the UT engine. I also temporarily removed the open crank case ventilation to pass environmental test.
Now back at home to turn everything back for full performance and mounting the road illegal race harness.
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The MOT engineer was so big that he couldn't get into the driver seat
If by "big" you mean obese, then it sounds like he was an American. :p

Glad it passed! .25 bar is less than 4 psi; considering normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is almost 15 psi, that is almost no boost really.
 
Tackled the passenger door yesterday, looks like it’s original and has the OEM weather sheet still attached.



Somebody had attempted to spray some sort of wax in but it wasn’t effective.



So another 1/2 pint of diluted wax went in! This door has drain holes so no drilling required :D
 
Getting the window winders off is right #%&*# job, found a handy tip on-line about using a cloth and working it around until it catches on the spring clip ends popping it off. Takes a few attempts but it works!



 
Getting the window winders off is right #%&*# job, found a handy tip on-line about using a cloth and working it around until it catches on the spring clip ends popping it off. Takes a few attempts but it works!


Yes, I briefly pulled on mine and thought that this wasn’t going to be easy, and that for sure something was going to break. I’ll try this.
 
Getting the window winders off is right #%&*# job, found a handy tip on-line about using a cloth and working it around until it catches on the spring clip ends popping it off. Takes a few attempts but it works!


There is a simple tool that makes this easy. Various styles of the tool depending upon the particular application:
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How it works:
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You could easily make one to fit the X's dimensions.
 
Getting the window winders off is right #%&*# job, found a handy tip on-line about using a cloth and working it around until it catches on the spring clip ends popping it off. Takes a few attempts but it works!


I use a crochet needle to pull out the spring clip; makes the task quick and easy.
 
Thanks, great suggestions unfortunately there’s no way a crochet hook would fit / slide into the gap on my winders, it was hard enough sliding in the bit of cotton sheet I ended up using.
 
Put temporary starter motor from Punto, that sound is funny, funny till flywheel’s teeth are intact.

 
Removed the driver's seat in preparation for replacing the pedal box (including new brake and clutch master cylinders). The brake cylinder is of unknown age, but is at least 25+ years old. It is leaking after my recent adventures with trying to bleed the brakes. The clutch cylinder was rebuilt ~20 years ago, but it's looking pretty crusty as well.

I tried to hit everything that looks like it would need to move with PBlaster. Hoping this goes relatively smoothly!

Here's the clutch cylinder (that's just Blaster, not fluid):

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Brake cylinder, with a mix of Blaster and brake fluid. The stuff toward the front is brake fluid: 😬

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I had some early success tonight. After swinging the steering column to one side, I was able to crack loose four of the tube nuts. These included:
  • The two 10mm ones for the hard lines coming down out of the brake master cylinder (pictured above),
  • The single 10mm one for the hard line coming down out of the clutch master (also pictured), and
  • The big 13mm one for the hard line going into the "front" of the clutch master (the rusty one at the very top of the first photo above).
I *think* that's all of the tube nuts I'll need to loosen, since I already have a fully assembled pedal box ready to install. Those Irwin vice-grip-style clamps designed for these nuts are really something else.

Tomorrow I'll go about actually taking the tube nuts off and draining the fluid. Then it looks like all I'll need to do to remove the assembly is loosen the two nuts holding the box assembly to the front cabin wall, then the soft lines into the cylinders.

As I was staring at the new pedal box this morning, I was vaguely wondering: why is there a hard line that seems to connect the clutch and brake masters? It's the one that goes over the "top" of the box, if that makes sense.

At any rate, I'll take all the luck I can get! 😬
 
As I was staring at the new pedal box this morning, I was vaguely wondering: why is there a hard line that seems to connect the clutch and brake masters? It's the one that goes over the "top" of the box, if that makes sense.

At any rate, I'll take all the luck I can get! 😬
Short answer: There isn't. I assume you have the late model setup. On the right hand side of the pedal box there is a brass colored duplex junction block with outlets for the right front brake caliper and for both rear brakes. On the left side of the pedal box there is an aluminum colored junction block for the left front brake caliper. On top of the pedal box there is a hard line that goes from the brake master to the left junction block; this hard line crosses over the clutch master, but does not connect to it.
 
Short answer: There isn't.
Oooh, yes. That makes sense. The one on the car is definitely the late-model version (1981). The replacement from MWB does look a bit different, in that it has steel colored junction blocks. But yeah, got it, that makes sense--the clutch doesn't go to a junction block at all. It just has the single hard line coming out the front that presumably curls around to the engine bay and the soft line to the slave cylinder. Thanks!
 
Make sure you dress the flexible hoses correctly...this is for a left hand drive car but I think it’s the same for right hand drive as well, just check.

 
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