I've got one of my dream motors

[Fabergé Greggs]

Those two red wires look additional- did you put them in? Could be extra headlight or wiper relays otherwise- both recommended.

[Taff]

sorry mate, you are right. Those two red wires are additional and feed a pair of relays on the LH inner wing, lighting and wiper mod.

 

What I meant to say was that I got distracted by the prescence of that brown wire in the picture, which looks standard (as it's part of the clamp, unlike the added red one you spotted). That brown wire pictured is standard, I think, and not the brown wire mod.

 

I'm even confusing myself now

[Fabergé Greggs]

Haha! I get you. Yeah, that brown wire is standard.

[Taff]

cheers, thought so, so it looks like i don't have the brown wire mod. Ok, that gives me something to do this weekend.

 

It's not running properly either, when it does start. Needs a bit of fiddling with mixture and idle, all advice from the X1/9 collective gratefully received

[Barry Cade]

.

 

It's not running properly either, when it does start. Needs a bit of fiddling with mixture and idle, all advice from the X1/9 collective gratefully received

Need moar info.

[Taff]

cheers, Sir, i'll fire it up tomorrow, refresh my memory & report back

[Taff]

Leaving aside the occasional starting fault (which is ignition-switch based), according to the HBOL, I am pretty certain that I have the Weber 34 DATR carb fitted. It has had a manual choke conversion, and F4A has mentioned it has had a small jet upgrade. Other than that, it's bog stock.

 

Couple of pics, in each case the screwdriver is pointing at an adjustment of some description.

 

This one is mounted on the original auto choke. Although the auto choke has been bypassed by the manual conversion, this screw can still influence on the idle. It's currently wound all the way out, as such it no longer comes into contact with the carb linkage and doesn't currently affect the idle

 

I think this one is the idle adjustment

 

I think this one (it's partially hidden within the ally casting) is the mixture. It is free, turns with a little resistance. That fluid in the picture is WD40

 

so, car starts from cold on full choke and idles at about 2500rpm. I leave it on the drive until the rpm starts to rise slightly (about 10 minutes), then I take it for a gentle drive up and down the road, about a mile round trip and ease the choke in when I get back. Revs sit at around 950rpm-ish (it's not the most detailed of tacho's). By this time the engine is up to working temp.

 

Now, if I set off and apply high revs, even with the clutch, in the engine bogs down, almost to the point of stalling. Same thing happens when I stand at the rear of the car and operate the throttle linkage by hand, snapping open the linkage causes the engine to bog or stall. If I feather the throttle pedal, it slowly picks up and will accelerate but it feels to be very down on power, strangled almost (odd choice of words, sorry, but that's how it feels - not much use to you, I know!). It will get up to 50mph and, when slowing for a junction, drops back down to it's idle and doesn't stall.

 

I appreciate that tuning a car by interweb is a long way for ideal, but I wondered if there were any suggestions from those who know far more than me about these. Also bear in mind I was a diesel fitter on tanks and heavy armour for too long, so the finer points of carburation are new to me. Thanks

[Barry Cade]

Sorry for the late reply, been in bed all day after an overnight tow to Beauly...including a blowout, a Peugeot and fog. 

 

Right.

 

Your pics are correct in relation to the idle, mixture and choke fast idle adjustments. Your carb sounds like it is adjusted nearly correctly, so forget about it for now. The auto chokes on these are really very good when set up properly and no real need for a manual choke conversion.... idle is happier at 1000-1100 rpm, depending on tach accuracy, they are not the most exact.Fast dle can be set using the screw in the 1st pic, set the choke full and screw it in until its about 1800 on full choke.

 

To me it sounds like ignition. Do you have points or an electronic conversion. If the points gap is too wide it can cause bogging off idle, if it's electronic, slacken the dizzy, and adjust it until the engine pinks on revving, then back it off slightly. Take it for a run and make sure it's not pinking on a wide throttle in a high gear. If you run Vpower you can usually get another 5-7 degrees of advance which adds power. Then drop the idle back down as it will probably be too high at this point. X1/9's tend to run best at about 2.5-3 % CO.

 

These is all my own findings over many x1/9's and driving them for thousands of miles. Never had or needed an manual choke conversion.They should sit at 100 mph comfortably,show 120 on the speedo, idle happily in heavy traffic and return about 35 MPG.

[Taff]

Sorry for the late reply, been in bed all day after an overnight tow to Beauly...including a blowout, a Peugeot and fog. 

 

Right.

 

Your pics are correct in relation to the idle, mixture and choke fast idle adjustments. Your carb sounds like it is adjusted nearly correctly, so forget about it for now. The auto chokes on these are really very good when set up properly and no real need for a manual choke conversion.... idle is happier at 1000-1100 rpm, depending on tach accuracy, they are not the most exact.Fast dle can be set using the screw in the 1st pic, set the choke full and screw it in until its about 1800 on full choke.

 

To me it sounds like ignition. Do you have points or an electronic conversion. If the points gap is too wide it can cause bogging off idle, if it's electronic, slacken the dizzy, and adjust it until the engine pinks on revving, then back it off slightly. Take it for a run and make sure it's not pinking on a wide throttle in a high gear. If you run Vpower you can usually get another 5-7 degrees of advance which adds power. Then drop the idle back down as it will probably be too high at this point. X1/9's tend to run best at about 2.5-3 % CO.

 

These is all my own findings over many x1/9's and driving them for thousands of miles. Never had or needed an manual choke conversion.They should sit at 100 mph comfortably,show 120 on the speedo, idle happily in heavy traffic and return about 35 MPG.

 

Grazie, Don Cade, thank you for the steer. Ignition is a weak point with me, spent far too long working on CI tank motors...

 

I had a look at the points and they are pitted, so I have ordered a new set. Once they arrive, I'll offer them up, along with cleaning checking the plugs (They look fairly new but I suspect they will be suffering due to too many cold starts and not enough actual driving), and I will then report back.

 

I'm such a tart, the thought that I have a car that requires a certain type of petrol to release it's full potential is great news and rest assured that the entire pub will also know that by closing time

[flat4alfa]

All the firing consumables: leads/plugs/condenser/points/cap were all new in 2013 too.

 

I don't think I got much more than 500 miles out that lot

[Taff]

I don't think I got much more than 500 miles out that lot

It all looks brand spankers mate, with the exception of the points, which are clean overall yet have pitted quite badly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Barry Cade]

Keep your eyes peeled for an Uno 70 SX or Tipo 1600 in the scrappers. These have electronic dizzys and are a straightforward swap.. I always stuck with points as I could sort them at the side of the road if need be.

[Taff]

I finally got my arse in gear and did some more on the X. It needed a tyre, and my local part-worn place had this gem for a mere £10 fitted. Steady, Tiger

 

 

Next on the list was plugs and point, fairly easy to get at the plugs, taken from above

 

 

 

Bit grubby, so I cleaned & gapped them

 

 

Points next, in we go, they are located behind a panel which is part of the bulkhead behind the drivers seat

 

 

There it is

 

 

Now, getting the points sets needs them open or on the heel, right, so you can either turn the crank using a 38mm spanner, using the crank nut

 

 

But I couldn't find my 38mm spanner, so I just flicked it over on the starter until they were open. Fitted the new points and gapped them (no pics, soz) and then a test drive.

 

Fucking YOWZER! By God does it fly! Huge thanks to Mr Cade for his advice, I was all for fannying about with the carb but he stepped in from 473 miles away* and put me right.

 

I did fiddle a little with the carb, purely to bring the idle down slightly as per an earlier post, and it runs beautifully now.

 

As ever with my motors, there is a downside. One of the little jobs I did was to replace the crankcase breather pipe. This is a rubber hose, running from the block to the air filter housing. Since I have changed this, the car has started to pop it's dipstick out of it's tube after a minutes running, resulting in oil everywhere!. Guess I have messed that up somehow, still, most of the oil got left on Tesco's forecourt when I nipped out for petrol earlier

 

By fuck is it fun to drive, though!!

[Barry Cade]

The housing which is bolted into the block, the oil seperator which is at the bottom end of the rubber hose, may be choked up. Tak it oot and clean it with petrol. May cure your crank pressure issue.

 

Ignition first,then carb fiddling with Fiat!

[Taff]

/\ he's good at this stuff, old Kowalski Cade. Large-ish puddle of oil under the car this morning, but mostly due to the oil getting sprayed everywhere out of the dipstick tube. Compare this pic to the one above, oil everywhere

 

 

 

I located the breather unit next to the fuel pump and removed it

 

 

minging

 

 

 

the unit itseld wasn't too bunged up but the hose between it and the air filter had got kinked, too long I think. I trimmed it down, cleaned out the breather unit anyway while it was off, along with the flame trap that goes inside the hose (not pictured, sorry)

 

refitted it and it appears to be fine. Test drive later.

 

I also got the X1/9 badge off to clean the creosote off it, look at the paint fade!

 

 

[Barry Cade]

Yup, spent a large part of my life tinkering and fettling them, used them as daily drivers for about 10 years, summer and winter...

 

This happened to one once.

 

 

so I put this together out of some of my spares.

 

 

 

That car went all the way to Croatia!

 

 

[Taff]

that's pretty, part of me wants to pull out the engine just so I can clean it properly in there.

 

I'll restrain myself. Bit of sill welding and she is ready for an MoT. Then a shakedown year or so to enjoy it before I do anything silly like pulling the motor out just for the hell of it.

[purplebargeken]

Very nice work mate.

 

Sage advice indeed. Top result!

[Taff]

I didn't mention it in the guilty pleasures thread for fear of looking like a pervert but I do have a thing for clear fuel lines

 

 

btw, that gasket top left, on the bulkhead? £70. Hopefully Santa will bring me one

[Barry Cade]

Hmmm. Unsure.

 

In my experience, they go yellow and brittle very quickly. Much better than perished original ones though!

[Taff]

Hmmm. Unsure.

 

In my experience, they go yellow and brittle very quickly. Much better than perished original ones though!

 

they do yellow, so like the pervert I am, they get changed when the filter gets changed.

 

I know, I know...

[Barry Cade]

Whatever floats yer boat!

[Taff]

I've been working away at one of the rust scabs on the X in anticipation of its MoT next week. Some gentle prodding of the biggest rust bubble eventually left me with this hole

 

 

 

Which currently looks like this

 

 

And which reminded me how much I dislike block sanding.

 

After that pic, I sprayed the repair is black primer and left it t that . No apologies for the primered repair, the car is going to need a pair of sills and a door skin at least, along with a full respray, so primer patches are acceptable

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Taff]

A few little things getting slowly sorted out, the courtesy light wasn't working. A new bulb got the light itself working but it wouldn't light up off either door switch. New switch's and grommets were only a tenner a set, you get two of these

 

 

passenger door was easy enough, new switch fitted

 

 

let there be light

 

 

I expected the drivers side to put up a fight, as it was a lot rustier than the pass side

 

 

but it came out easy enough. New switch fitted is a mirror image of the pass side, hence no pic

 

I also fitted a stereo, but need a radio ariel adaptor for it

[Taff]

If you've ever wondered what an X1/9 with 12 months mot looks like...

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[flat4alfa]

[Taff]

me and my big mouth. Just taken it out to collect Taff Jr. It cut out twice, the drivers side rear caliper was binding to the point of a glowing disc and I have lost a hubcap!

 

The disc was properly orange, I suspect that whole wheel station is probably borked now. Oh well.

[Barry Cade]

Keep going with it- X1/9's don't like sitting around. The more you use them, the better they get. They are worth it.

[Taff]

I will, mate. I've "glowed" discs before, my lad asked why I didn't try cooling it with water or something. Let it cool naturally, I bet I've got away with just a set of pads and a calliper seal...

 

Bear in mind it had a back brake stuck on, it still went like shit through a goose and sounded awesome!! What a car!

 

Annoyed about that hubcap, mind...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Barry Cade]

Hub caps are hens teeth. was it aluminium or plastic? ALWAYS wrap a couple of times with masking tape , best check the other 3. I'll keep my eyes peeled for one for ya. The hupcaps make more than the wheels on Ebay.