First day of service!

Drove the '79 all day... to the shop and for all of my errands. 85.4 miles on the trip meter. Not even so much as a hiccup! Runs out great and drives very smooth. All the time and attention to the suspension and the brake system paid off! The things I am going to change are the exhaust. Currently running a stock unit from the header... I just hung it on there for road tests and did not even put a flange gasket on...have a complete system ready to assemble and hang, maybe next week. All the new piping bits and a Borla muffler... might go to the poster of "I want your mistake exhaust" we shall see. I have not had an exhaust project go bad but there is always a first! Going to change the jetting as I swapped the ones in the carb (32 DMTRA) for the ones in the old carb... smaller but just a bit. Someone flipped the originals as the bigger jet was in the hole that the primary draws from... or perhaps that is right and I swapped them incorrectly. The other thing is timing, new/old carb does not have vacuum port for timing and I decided to advance timing to run without vacuum... yikes! The other part of this equation is my mechanical advance... I transplanted the distributor from my 86 FI, which if my research is correct, has an advance of 15 degrees. So I am timing for a total 36 degrees BTDC. I am a bit shy of that right now. The engine pulls very strong from 2000 to say 5000 and almost nothing beyond that. So my main things are the VW exhaust sound which is probably the missing flange gasket, jets, and correct timing.
It was amazing to watch people as they walked by... I was across the street at dinner and people would stop, point and even take pictures... It is a bit of a rat right now but the mechanicals are very sound and it is a nice ride. Will address the body over this winter perhaps.
All in all very successful first real outing!
Regards

That is cool!

Good to hear another X is on the road. Post some pics.

Another good driving day!

Day two still kicking! I did swap the jets out but had to go back with the primary... could not get the car to idle with the larger primary jet. The emulsion tube on the smaller jet looked very different that may have played a role as well. Either way good day on the road temp got just a bit over 190 but fan did not kick on yet. As I always tell people " I will see numerous Lamborghinis, Ferraris all over the place before I would see another X1/9..." so I saw an orange Murciélago driving around as I was heading home.
Regards

Hey Rocco...

Coupla things...

I installed a 32 DM-whatever with a mechanical secondary and it was OK. What made it GREAT was swapping in the D-whatever 28-30 tubes and correctors. Ran perfect except that it was NECESSARY to modify the vacuum placement for the dizzy so it was on the HIGH side the primary butterfly.

Doing this allowed the vacuum to the dizzy to be off at idle and increased the drive-ability 100-fold. No stutter or coughs just smooth acceleration at any rpm. You will love the difference.

Secondly... more dizzy stuff... Just about all years except the '79 were a 10 degree advance at idle and with the centrifugal and vacuum working a total of about 30 degrees can be achieved.

I found on my '79 running cool at 185, 7 degrees static and 91 octane on 100 degree days that all is well. Any more and the strangest engine noise I have ever heard from an engine could be heard... and it was a 1500cc PING!

Congrats so far... and keep us posted.

Arrrggghh! I will take your advice, thank you

OK Tony,
Which blank did you drill for the vacuum port? There appears to be a few options. I think there are three tiny holes right around where the primary comes to rest when closed. When I put the 32 into service I swapped the jets out from the 28/30 just because. I just called the whole thing a "jet" but in fact I swapped the emulsion tubes and air correctors along with so it really was quite nice from the start.
Trip meter is reading just over 330 miles and still rolling! Survived the weekend in the hands of my 23 year old son! He is my automotive beta tester! And my 21 year old daughter... she is much easier on the cars she drives but it is nice that she can adapt to the needs of the little classic X1/9. Still can't get over how smooth the car rides... hard to believe considering the age and size of the car.
Will probably deal with the vacuum port soon... I am sure it is one of those projects that seems harder than it really is.
Will keep posted,
Rocco