General X in NZ

[jimbro1000]

Toyota didn't - they copied the Pontiac Fiero, even down to the point of copying the firebird badge on the bonnet...

The fiero, now that *was* a copy of the X1/9

 

[ladaspeed]

that looks similar to our previous x1/9....

Well I have the original papers here;

Gary - Waihi @200mls
Paul - Frankton @3550mls
Sentry security - Parnell @8937mls (Fringe benefit tax anyone?)
Karen + James - Queenstown @15311mls
Stuart - Queenstown @21550mls
Kerry - Christchurch @45313mls
John - Christchurch @51947mls
Me! - Christchurch @115344mls (John got a good lot of use out of it....)



Any that are you?

 

[ladaspeed]

Finally got onto one of the bigger jobs left to do on the beastie.... rear suspension joints.

The WOF/MOT man had pointed out that they were very nearly shagged, and gently suggested that I should do something about it before the next warrant ;

Wheels off (see my nicely grooved discs );

Off comes the driveshaft and out comes the axle;

And I am left with this - not too bad a job, thought I might have to take off the exhaust but managed to lever it out of the way to get access to the LH inner bolt;

While under the car I also tried to fit a new gearshift lollipop, but that was pretty obviously not a goer as the bit was way too long to fit. I guess this has the earlier solid(ish) mounted arrangement, so I made some minor modifications to the existing setup to remove a bit more slack and put it all back together - feels nice and tight now. I also discovered why I had lost 5th gear on the last drive - the nylock that I had used to provide a wee bit of slack on the mounting nut had worked itself loose and there was so much slack that the gearshift was simply not able to rotate the gearbox shaft enough to engage it...

I will drop the arms into a place called HBI engineering here in Christchurch who will reseat the balls - they have apparently done quite a few X's in the past. Not cheap though, I think he quoted me NZ$180 a side....

Still, I reckon it will be worth the effort.

 

[alexGS]

Sorry I missed your earlier update! Good work on the ignition... wonder why that wasn't done ages ago seeing the mileage on the car.

Your X1/9 had me originally confused as I couldn't decide at first whether it was a series-1 or a series-2 (1500). I decided it was a 1500 because of the outline of the dashboard. I think those wheels were used on both series of X1/9s and your bumpers have definitely confused the issue!

Grooved discs... ummm... did you cut those?

I had an X1/9 that had one of its rear balljoints replaced by a 'remanufactured' unit from Christchurch. It didn't last long - a year and a half later, it was stuffed. I think all they do is to add some plastic resin to the existing joint. I would be straight up with asking them how long they expect it to last.

However... in your position I would definitely get them to do it... two reasons:
- I presume you don't have to remove the balljoint from the arm, and can take them the whole arm instead. Those rivets are much harder to get out than they look!
- You really don't have many other options. The best is to make some other balljoint fit. Looking at your skills on the dizzy access plate (wasn't a mallet enough? ) I would say you'd be capable of substituting some other balljoint.

So basically, the rear balljoint options are a little akin to the hip replacement operation that my grandmother in England has just undergone today You know that the replacement won't last as long as the original, but it's better than doing nothing.

-Alex

 

[ladaspeed]

Grooved discs... ummm... did you cut those?

The previous owner did them - I even have a few spares....

I had an X1/9 that had one of its rear balljoints replaced by a 'remanufactured' unit from Christchurch. It didn't last long - a year and a half later, it was stuffed. I think all they do is to add some plastic resin to the existing joint. I would be straight up with asking them how long they expect it to last.

I had a good long chat with the boys, they dismantle the joint and completely reseat it - this is from their website;

http://www.hbiengineering.com/workshop2.html

- I presume you don't have to remove the balljoint from the arm, and can take them the whole arm instead. Those rivets are much harder to get out than they look!
- You really don't have many other options. The best is to make some other balljoint fit. Looking at your skills on the dizzy access plate (wasn't a mallet enough? ) I would say you'd be capable of substituting some other balljoint.

I was not going to remove the rivets, they look like way too much of a mission - I was thinking of replacing the rivetted bit with a plate machined to suit a bolt on balljoint, but that would probably end up more expensive, and potentially leave you with altered geometry, and I don't know enough about suspension geometry to be messing things up... it is tail happy enough in my opinion

 

[jimbro1000]

The discs look like Tarox items - they used to do a few different options with 6 groove, 6 groove+crossdrilling, 30 groove, etc.

 

[ladaspeed]

The discs were machined by the guy I bought the car off - he is an aircraft engineer and was able to 'borrow' the use of the kit to do it...

 

[alexGS]

I had a good long chat with the boys, they dismantle the joint and completely reseat it - this is from their website;

http://www.hbiengineering.com/workshop2.html

I was very impressed - until I got to the bit about 'Molydiom Disolphide' or something - it should of course be 'molybdenum disulphide-impregnated nylon'. But seriously, I wonder if they are a different crowd to the ones I was thinking of - the ones the previous owner of my (second) X1/9 used definitely did not take the joint apart.

I was not going to remove the rivets, they look like way too much of a mission - I was thinking of replacing the rivetted bit with a plate machined to suit a bolt on balljoint, but that would probably end up more expensive, and potentially leave you with altered geometry, and I don't know enough about suspension geometry to be messing things up... it is tail happy enough in my opinion

Good call
Having the rear balljoints fixed will make a wonderful difference to the stability and poise of the X1/9. They really are a smooth little machine to drive when everything (including the critical toe setting front AND rear) is absolutely right - with perfectly-weighted steering and demure handling. I do miss mine but wish there could have been a 'modernised' version with a bit less of the rugged 70's feel to the controls (except the steering of course) and a bit better made in terms of fit, finish, soundproofing, rustproofing, plastics, etc.

So keep us posted - I'll try to remember to check this part of the forum

-Alex

 

[dave]

any one in this thread called shane?

 

[ladaspeed]

I was very impressed - until I got to the bit about 'Molydiom Disolphide' or something - it should of course be 'molybdenum disulphide-impregnated nylon'.
-Alex

It is simply a matter of the zen level of personal development you are at - you are obviously at the highly developed third stage where you can both say it and spell it, HBI are at the second stage where they can simply say the word correctly but have no hope of being able to spell it - and I am simply beginning my journey, as I can neither say it or spell it......

 

[ladaspeed]

any one in this thread called shane?

not me....

 

[alexGS]

LOL ladaspeed - you're too kind

dave are you STILL looking for the Kiwi named Shane, I thought you'd already done that to death in the other threads...

There used to be a Shane Richardson, president of the FIAT Club in Auckland that amalgamated with our FIAT Club Waikato (for some reason, our club was a lot bigger despite the Auckland area being ten times the size population-wise). But I don't think that Shane is on this forum. I've never seen anyone here named Shane.

-Alex

 

[dave]

the Shane i am looking for has a surname beginning with H

 

[ladaspeed]

Well these arrived today, the first sample castings for my 40DCNF manifolds, one set will be machined to suit an X1/9, the other to suit a 128.

Will get them machined up next week.

Anyone in NZ interested in checking the 128 version on an engine for me....?

 

[alexGS]

Nice! How many of these manifolds are you going to make? Had you thought of contacting www.fiatparts.co.nz (Mal Simmonds) by way of finding an outlet for them?

I don't have a 128 engine to try them with. I assume you're talking about the inclination angle? I think an Uno (1116cc/1301cc/1372cc) has the same engine inclination as the 128 (and the same engine of course).

Thanks,
-Alex

 

[ladaspeed]

Well I have had a pattern made, so I can make thousands if needed, although the demand probably isn't quite that high - will probably get them made in batches of 5 sets or so and sell as required....

Yes, I want a 128 engine so I can check the inclination is correct and the carbs will be sitting horizontal.

The first set of X1/9 manifolds will be going on my car.... :slayer:

 

[ladaspeed]

Put the newly balljointed suspension arms in today, no real trouble with that.

HBI (who redid the balls) removed the rivets etc to take off the balljoints, but they were a bit careless with the angle grinder and the top and bottom of the arms are marked - if I had known they were going to do that I would have done it myself and probably been a bit more careful. They did repaint the arm, though again a slightly average job. All of that is cosmetic though, the balls themselves look mint. They remade the balls and reseated the socket, so that should be good for many years to come....

There was a Fiat Lancia show day in town today which I was reminded about at 4.15pm, it finished up at 4.30

Car wasn't quite back together at that point so would have been a bit pointless turning up in the Hilux for that

Shame I missed it, I should probably pay a bit more attention.

 

[ladaspeed]

Quick update, I have sorted the rear balljoints etc, and also redone the front shocks to have gas inserts. Took the tops off some 128 struts to get the thread and nut bits, and welded those onto the X1/9 struts - which I discovered were pretty much shagged when I got them out.

Wasn't too much trouble in the end as the previous owner had already sourced and modified some suitable shocks and sold them to me for a very reasonable price - I did have to mod them a wee bit more to ensure the springs were fully captive, but an easy modification in the end.

I am starting to think that selling me the bits I need as I discover a requirement for them was all part of his game plan to extract more money - however I cannot fault the after sales service.....

The car is so much quieter and feels completely planted now - which I thought it did before, but the mods have made such a difference.

Sorry no photos - I completely forgot to take any while I was at the fronts....

 

[ladaspeed]

Well these wee boys finally arrived

Set up on a random 1300 head that I had lying around;

So my wee man who does the machining made some (easily rectifiable in the future) mistakes;

Extra random cut on the 128 version

Blew the vacuum hole right through instead of making it blind and drilling a couple of wee holes through to the port on the 128;

Personally I think this makes this set scrap, as this would do bad things for the flow - what do you think?
This set is going very cheap....

I designed the raw casting so that there was plenty of meat for machining the X1/9 and 128 versions, and I set up the angle on the bottom of the two flanges to split the difference - this is so it doesn't look too out of place on either, however he has machined the head side flange parallel, leaving a fairly thick and angled flange on the top;

There are a couple of other minor issues, but not too bad for a first cut....will probably get them done in LH/RH pairs and save the four extra mounting holes, plus maybe do a version that lets you use the standard exhaust manifold, the flange bolting point is thicker on the inner holes I think.

I have also been thinking about how to set up the airbox etc - my current favourite is to have a big metal box bolted onto the carbs, a K/N type filter where the carb blower currently is, and a big pipe between the two......?

 

[ladaspeed]

Have been caning the poor wee thing on a regular basis now and it has been almost bulletproof - but the winning streak has been broken today

I thought I was going to have to call in my favour from mad Nick (he of the 124 croma turbo and quad cam 850 - he completely destroyed my letterbox the other day

and probably owes me in a very minor way - but any port in a storm I say)....

I took my lovely wife out for lunch, and when we got back to the car there was no clutch

A very minor amount of investigation showed that the slave cylinder had lost one of it's mounting bolts and had scissored upwards when I hit the pedal.... fortunately there was a hardware store right across the road, I bought a 75c bolt and borrowed a spanner and managed to get the bolt most of the way in - enough to get us home anyway.......

I love it when you can bodge a broken Fiat at the side of the road and still get home

The other annoyance I have at the mo is what seems to be the rear hubs squeaking a bit at low speed - any ideas? I don't really want it to be the bearings....

It is not the brakes as it still happens with the handbrake lightly applied.