I've got one of my dream motors

[Taff]

time to get over myself and reach for the spanners on this one. The X came with a few niggles (all of which Fiat4alfa had made me totally aware of), one of which was the drivers side window wouldn't open. I didn't think twice about this, it's only a window mechanism, right?

 

Wrong. Previously I have had all manner of door cards off & seen all manner of window mechanisms. Worm drive, parallel bars, single arm on a cog,. Never seen one like this before.

 

It's a continuous cable, running around five pulleys with the glass clamped to it. Barking mad.

 

Google-fu tells you horror stories of birds nest of torn cable and seized pulleys and I wasn't looking forward to doing it. I spotted a used cable on ebay, and one cheeky bid later it was mine. So I striped off my existing broken unit and then I waited a week while I plucked up courage to have a crack at fitting the good one.

 

And it was a doddle. Every online article I found advises you to take the other door card off to study your working one so I did.

 

 

That's a first, undisturbed weather sheeting. Looks like I am the first one in here since it left Turin.

 

Here's the cable run

 

 

Yeah, all 5 pulleys are on the inside of the inner skin, so you can't actually see any of them

 

Apart from this one:-

 

 

But despite it being a howling mad design, fitted blind into a confined space, the job was a piece of piss. Bolted up the new mechanism, slowly unwound the cable as I laced it over each pulley in turn, then adjusted it on the fifth, moving pulley. With the cable nice and tight I smothered grease onto every pulley I could feel and plenty onto the cable itself, winding the mechanism itself back and fore to get plenty of lube into it.

 

Adjuting the window to get it level took two attempts but it wasn't to bad and that was it. I was so shocked at the ease of the task that I sodded off to Castle Combe for the afternoon to watch the racing.

[Fabergé Greggs]

That's pretty bonkers but good to see as I need to do the drivers side one on mine. It still works but it feels like it slips by 25 degrees or so with every rotation.

[Taff]

That's pretty bonkers but good to see as I need to do the drivers side one on mine. It still works but it feels like it slips by 25 degrees or so with every rotation.

 

it took about an hour mate, one online guide I found suggested winding the cable into the mechanism as much as possible before you start, fit the unit and then slowly unwind it as you loop over each pulley in turn.

 

http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/doorreg/window_regulator_bulletin_701_8.htm

 

Top tip, don't mix up your tube of grease with your tube of exhaust paste...

 

edit to add, I broke 9 trim clips over both door cards when I removed them, too. Cheap enough on the 'Bay, though

[Taff]

this car has a few quirks.

 

The main lighting switch is a rocker type on the dash, & has three positions.

1/ lights off

2/ pods up, side lights on

3/ pods up, dipped beam & side lights on.

The main/dip switching is controlled by a column stalk.

 

so far, so good.

 

So I have just nipped out to see what the dash lights were like. And they don't come on when you operate the external lights, they have a switch of their very own. Which is no-where near the main lighting switch, & which you can leave on as it is fed from the ignition live.

 

Of course they do, how very Italian.

 

 

Totally unrelated is the method of getting into the boot & engine bay. These are both operated by cable & lever, which are located in the passenger b pillar, and you need the passenger door open to operate them. Given it's age, the car doesn't have central locking, so if the engine is running and you need to get into the rear boot, you switch off, get out, walk round, open and pull the lever.

Now, in the event that the boot cable fails, there is an emergency cable pull located in the engine bay. There are horror stories online about these failing and owners having to drill holes in the bodywork to access the lock mechanism, so I checked mine and it works a treat.

I couldn't help but notice that there is no emergency engine bay release cable though. The assumption obviously being that the car will be supremely reliable and nothing to worry about in the event of the engine cover release cable snapping.

 

To be clear, these aren't grumbles, when I worked out the lights I was laughing that hard my neighbour came to see if I was ok.

 

Italians, got to love them

[Taff]

 

The next time (2013), it was rescued from that buyer who had used it as his daily but it had been in the wars with a post, a fence sprayer and decay. When I fetched it from Naaaarfolk, brake pedal was on the floor and it just about ran.

 

 

I made a start on this, it comes off with T-cut but leaves darker spots where the paint has faded around it

 

this is the top corner of the front boot

 

 

the paler bit on the right of this pic is one of the headlight pods and the nose cone, you can clearly see where the fence spray spots were

 

[brickwall]

I had the mounted police set. Very good quality iirc.

[PiperCub]

Nice, a mate had one many years ago with a 2 litre twin-cam Lancia lump in it. Nice idea, very fast but maintenance was a real bugger!

Can't remember the last X1/9 I saw in any state never mind this nice.

 

 

 

 

Flat4Alfa  -  It now lives with a '59 Fairlane - can that diversity be beaten?

 

Don't know but my hoard around 1999 was '73 Midget, '89 Lancia Integrale & '88 Metro 1.0 4-speed (£50's worth of joy) must be close.

[Taff]

The brakes are poor on the X and I had set Saturday aside to have a look at them. The hubcaps on this car have to be the cheapest ever, stamped aluminium with tabs to hols them in place. No wonder the went missing for a past time.

 

 

anyway, up she went

 

 

bonus crazy angle to get the whole car in. Not massive oil stain from the leaky MGF which usually lives there.

 

The front calipers are very recent and before I whiped them off, I checked the reservoir, finding this "seal"

 

 

first item onto the shopping list.

 

And that's where the pics ended, thank you iphone. The front calipers were fine, as were the pads, nothing wrong at the sharp end.

 

Different matter at the back. HBOL did it's usual trick with regard to getting the rear calipers off, with a throwaway line "disconnect the handbrake cables".

Now, that bit is obvious really and the actual system isn't too tricky in reality. But the adjustment is under a rubber bung under the floor and it's tight at best (half a turn with a ring spanner, and there is 2 inches of travel, enough to get me to invest in a ratchet spanner just for this one job).

 

Then getting the cables off the calipers was a chore. Not especially tricky, just stuck tight and I was (and remain) loathe to go lashing WD40 about near brakes. So eventually they came off to reveal rear pads that look like the originals and calipers that have seen better days.

 

So with my problem identified but beyond my ability to solve on the day, it was a case of put it all back together again (easy when you know how) and stick it back in the garage.

 

Now, new calipers are available but not cheap £130 a side, where as a rebuild lit is £15. I reckon that I can strip the old ones off, leave the soaking in diesel for a few days to free them up, clean and rebuild them with the rebuild kit. If that doesn't work, shell out for new calipers. Oh and rear pads and a reservoir seal, too.

 

 

[Fabergé Greggs]

If you do decide on new calipers, there's some off a 132 or something that help to rectify the heavy front bias that they have. 

[Taff]

If you do decide on new calipers, there's some off a 132 or something that help to rectify the heavy front bias that they have. 

 

that's worth knowing. The brakes have been poor on mine since it arrived. The plan is to overhaul the rears then bleed the whole system to see what the lie of the land is then.

[Fabergé Greggs]

The usual sketch is to get used to cleaning and greasing the sliders much more often than you'd think.. Or just give in and get an uno turbo set up- vented and with proper sliding pins. That's what I've got on mine.

[Taff]

which bit are you referring to as the "slider", mate?

[Fabergé Greggs]

Sorry, that was totally unclear! Those sliding wedges that hold the calipers in- it's widely considered that you need to clean and copper grease these regularly to keep the brakes working as they should. If yours haven't been done then give it a shot- you should notice the difference.

 

The rears often seize not helped because the bias is so frontward. And even a perfectly operating handbrake is pathetic on these!

[Fabergé Greggs]

These fellas: http://www.midwest-bayless.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=208227&c=193241&i=329406815

[Barry Cade]

The handbrake on an X, when working properly, and correctly adjusted is very very good. Usually the little rollers seize up and the cable doesn't move freely. Back the adjustment right off, wind the pistons in, fit the pads, press the brake pedal 20-30 times then adjust the cable to get about 7 clicks. If everything is in good working order it should lock out on the MOT rollers giving near 30%. 132 calipers are near impossible to find nowadays. Luckily they are identical to FSO ones Brake discs on an X1/9 front and rear are Mk1 Panda. Standard brakes, when working properly, are well up to a standard 1500's performance, they just need maintained.

[Fabergé Greggs]

That's something to aim for then!

 

My was subjected to an awful lot of hoonage on (private) road, track and hillclimb so when I found some Uno calipers I jumped on them and they resist fade better, though probably don't really affect outright power aside from needing less maintenance to keep them tip top. Also got braided hoses which does help the pedal feel a bit too. Horses for courses I guess..

 

Here I am with a slippy clutch at forrestburn.. Happy days!

 

[Bear]

This thread is making me very, very nostalgic for my first X1/9. If you get this one sorted and are still looking for a practical thing, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES* are you to suggest a Mercedes E320 CDI estate would be Just The Thing. Particularly not if I've done the subframe bushes, engine & gearbox mounts.

 

Seriously though, out of all the cars I've owned and all the extremes of power, Fiats as a breed tended to be the ones to get the big grin when driving (even Tipo 1.4 DGT and Tempra 1.8i.e.) and the X1/9 was the best of all. No conscious effort to drive it - speeds on twisty backroads difficult to match in bigger, more powerful, better tyred cars, brakes that whilst difficult in town/bad weather, were excellent for brake late, drop a cog or two, floor it, and one of the strongest (really) feeling open bodyshell cars I'd had. Yes, the trim fell off on cobbled streets (and by trim, I mean the main jet fell out of the carb once), but that was always forgotten on the open road. And you could get loads of stuff in the front compartment, I think it has more space than an MGF overall, definitely more than an MR2 or MX5.

 

Don't have any tips to offer, as I had two X1/9s - one 4 years old and perfect from a main dealer, and one lethal shed that I drove a total of 30 miles in, but I am Very Envious.

[Barry Cade]

Quite uninspired, Fiat stole the taillights of the Bitter SC!

LOL, X1/9 came out in 1972. It was actually Lotus who nicked the taillights for their Esprit.

[Taff]

That's something to aim for then!

 

My was subjected to an awful lot of hoonage on (private) road, track and hillclimb so when I found some Uno calipers I jumped on them and they resist fade better, though probably don't really affect outright power aside from needing less maintenance to keep them tip top. Also got braided hoses which does help the pedal feel a bit too. Horses for courses I guess..

 

Here I am with a slippy clutch at forrestburn.. Happy days!

 

http://youtu.be/1O2nex1eX5U

That clip is ace! Apart from the sound of the engine and that simple yet gorgeous steering wheel, my favourite bit is that fact you have a tax disc in it! "Hope I don't stack in, I need it to drive home"! Respect!!

 

In fact, it could only be improved if you had been playing opera at full blast while driving!

[Taff]

The handbrake on an X, when working properly, and correctly adjusted is very very good. Usually the little rollers seize up and the cable doesn't move freely. Back the adjustment right off, wind the pistons in, fit the pads, press the brake pedal 20-30 times then adjust the cable to get about 7 clicks. If everything is in good working order it should lock out on the MOT rollers giving near 30%.

I wish you wrote Haynes manuals, even I can follow that hand brake adjustment process you described.

 

Like I said, my plan is to strip and clean/rebuild the rear callers, fluid change, proper bleed, adjust the handbrake as per Mr Cade's method and hope or a vast improvement.

 

Given the overall condition of the car, I really don't want to start modifying it at all. I know it's in the spirit of the car to try to improve the performance but this one is such a good survivor, it doesn't feel right to alter it, if that makes sense.

 

And that's a first, coming from a hot rodder. Every car I have ever owned has been altered so far.

[Fabergé Greggs]

That clip is ace! Apart from the sound of the engine and that simple yet gorgeous steering wheel, my favourite bit is that fact you have a tax disc in it! "Hope I don't stack in, I need it to drive home"! Respect!!

 

In fact, it could only be improved if you had been playing opera at full blast while driving!

 

I also needed to drive my Dad home, drive to work in it the next day, go on holiday in it the next week etc.. Did 40,000 miles over 4 years as a daily and loved absolutely every moment. Only got taken off the road this winter when I got the BX whilst I save up some cash to have some bodywork repairs done on it. Once that's done the plan was to use it in the summer only, but any time I drive anything else I just wish I was in the X, so I may just have to press it back into all year daily duties. It's a tough dilemma as I'd love to keep it pristine but I just love using it so much.. 

 

I really, really, love it. 

[Taff]

Get under your skin, don't they?

[Barry Cade]

They take over your life....

 

 

This vid just sums them up for me.

 

 

Enjoy.

[Taff]

They take over your life....

 

 

This vid just sums them up for me.

 

 

Enjoy.

 

That is excellent

[flat4alfa]

Well I never drove it like that I can assure you   

 

The problem was I didn't drive it enough, hence why it's still on 59k !

 

The brakes are (were!) very good and sharp on that car five years back.  It did get new front calipers and master cylinder to get its ticket in 2013, but work stopped there.

 

However, these cars (much like the disc-all-round set up on my Lancia Betas) hate standing.  A few weeks is enough for the seize demon to get to work.  Of the very few articles on the X1/9 published by Practical Classics magazine over the years, one two-page colour article was solely dedicated to the releasing of the brakes due to standing!

 

I've just remembered the carb on that car has larger jets from standard so it ought to be going well once sorted.  

 

All the firing consumables: leads/plugs/condenser/points/cap were all new in 2013 too.  Did nowt else to it though: ran it about a bit  - but parked it a lot.

 

It might be worth joining the UK club forum if the Haynes manual of fibs isn't easy to follow.  Otherwise, search on the Googler for 'Icsunonove' and there should be articles to throw into Google Translate to increase the confusion show you steps to work through and diagrams in the mother tongue

 

 

I know I'm going to regret the selling of this car.

 

Roll-on Matra Murena with a sunroof !

[Taff]

cheers mate, I know it's as a result of priorities and in no way a criticism. It looks straight forward to put right, plus I found this page on overhauling the rear brakes

 

http://www.x19blog.com/?p=157

[flat4alfa]

I've still become a lazy sod though

[Barry Cade]

Have a browse through the net about the club before parting with any cash... I was a tech advisor for years.just shout if you need any help. Xweb is great for info if you need anything else.

[Taff]

the door cards are currently off while I sorted out the winder mechs and I wondered about cleaning them.

 

Any suggestions? I don't expect them to come up like the virgin area where the arm rest was, but getting the ingrained stuff out of the, er, grain would be nice.

 

 

[Barry Cade]

I had the same interior in mine. Tried everything. Was close to giving up, and had nothing to lose- tried cellulose thinners, and it made them like new.