You surprise me Jezza...

I'll keep an eye out, fleabay?

I just edited my previous post btw.

Yeah ebay, owners club, classifieds on here... People have these things stashed away... you might consider Alfa leather seats but then they wouldn't be original ?. Would prob need modified base plate or something. I know the Alfa 147/156 seats bolt into mk2 fiat puntos ?

You could always keep the originals on the loft...

Ebay 192110675110 ,
252724162859

Yep, I'd definitely keep the originals around but as this is a car I'll be using, I'd quite like a decent interior.

Id also need all the vinyl panels everywhere, which may be more of an issue.

Thanks for the advice Jeremy, I'll check it out

The 'wouldnt be original' comment was a bit of as joke i guess. It's good to be a custodian of these cars but likewise they need to be enjoyed and if that means modifying then so be it. My car has a few choice mods as you know.

Not sure I even know all of them Jeremy, engine swap and bumper mods if I'm correct?

At least two fiat Cinquecento parts fitted to good effect!

It's passed!

First drive today, well worth the wait! Utterly amazing :-D

It has its issues but it drives really well, twin carbs sound fantastic but there is a lot of mechanical noise getting into the cabin.

Time to run in that engine!

Well done! They are great cars

What kind of mechanical noise can you hear? I guess they are quite noisy. Did you have the roof off?

Just engine noise. Not exhaust or carbs, mainly belts I guess?

Roof on and off, it's not terrible, just noticeable

What are you used to driving?

And this is why I suspect it's normal, 1.2 ford Fiesta ?

Think more old lamborghini / Ferrari cabin noise ?

How's it going? Are you too busy enjoying your car now? ☺

The fiesta is not a bad handling car. Interested to hear how the x19 compares. After driving my X for a while I now find fwd traction horrendous!

Well first break down last night, fuel pump packed it in ? So that needs addressing...

Its still really good though, quite different to drive - actually find the Fiesta tricky now! Handling there is no comparison - RWD is a wonderful thing

Not the fuel pump! Vapour lock...

Would fitting a fuel return line help this? Thinking it would keep the fuel moving through the lines so it could then cool in the fuel tank?

Welcome to running an x1/9!

I think they all do it tbh. Most cars have lost the exhaust heat shield (rusted away... ) if you can find one off a tipo/tempra possibly punto sorting or cabrio 1.6? etc this would be worth fitting too.

Doesn't it have a return line? They did originally.

The injection engine iv got has electric fuel pump ribbing constantly using factory return line and a heat shield on the manifold and its never had a fuel heat soak problem.

I guess its due to the carbs storing the fuel In the float bowls getting nice and hot right above the exhaust.

You could also heat wrap the manifold?

Some owners fit electric fuel pumps.

Better off with a heat shield rather than wrap. Wrap should not be used on a cast manifold and can cause even a fabricated one trouble.

Not the exhaust causing the issue actually.

It was the fuel line rubbing against the expansion tank. As Im running twin 40s, they can't have a fuel return system. Already have the electric pump to feed the carbs so I've re-routued the fuel line and insulated it. Just need to see if it works now!

There is one on Ebay in USA, I guess it wouldn't be too difficult making one out of aluminium. Most modern cars have alloy heat shields over the manifolds.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-BERT...8fcf884&pid=100033&rk=2&rkt=8&sd=282312370519

This is US spec FI so it might be slightly different - but postage as always is prohibitive! maybe Trump will sort that out???

This Fiat Stilo one looks vaguely similar abd could probably be modified to fit? only a tenner?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Stil...370519?hash=item41bb20e957:g:eugAAOxyLN9Sjv8c

It shares the same engine block but has a 16V head and different manifold so it will need a lot of modification.

Other than emailing people breaking 1.6 Mk1 Puntos you will probably be best off making one. If the heat shield on my car was removed I'd make a copy or a wooden buck. I tell you that would probably be lucrative - the number of X1/9s with no heat shields out there!

From memory the X1/9 has a fan with thermostat to cool engine bay? Perhaps this not working.