LH2.2 Tuning For Non-Volvo Installation

[oldschoolvolvo]

impressive work as usual.

[lookforjoe]

Originally Posted by oldschoolvolvo

impressive work as usual.

Thank you - I'm happy with it overall.

Finally found a place that will cut the lettering in 3M vinyl, vs. printing, which is what all the local shops want to do, with no consideration for color matching.

In the mean time, I ordered a pair of another vinyl sticker that will go along the duct stripes like this:

[lookforjoe]

3M vinyl lettering finally came in, and it was a sunny warm day (for a change), so I got the lettering installed.

Went easier than I was expecting - has a nice firm transfer sheet that keeps the lettering positioned







3M 'Dark Red' scotchcal film. Matches the Volvo red reasonably well









I'm happy :D

[lookforjoe]

Won't be bringing the X1/9 to Carlisle :(

Had a little off-road excursion a week ago - right after finally resolving the part throttle/tip in jerky drivability issues

[Harlard]

Well ****. Hopefully there is no meat bag or oiling-related engine damage

[VB242]

That sucks, I ripped the same corner off the front of my 780 a couple weeks ago but that was just backing up from an off road parking spot. I'm sure you'll have it sorted out quickly.

[lookforjoe]

Thanks, guys. I'm reasonably confident the motor is fine, I'll know once the oil pan is swapped.

Started on the nose. Chopped off a couple inches to get beyond the worst cracks



Took an S40 rear bumper cover



chopped off the top



sectioned the cover, and angled it to match nose, about 12º



Cut the grille surround off what was left of the fiberglass spoiler.



All that will be bonded together & merged into the fenders. Along with fibreglass panels around the headlamps back into the fenders







The underside will have some reinforcement, just to keep the contour from dropping

[lookforjoe]

Plugging away at the nose repair. Got the sheet metal HL cover panels welded & filled. Worked on the nose / fender / grille transitins to get it all to flow nicely with the chopped version. S40 bumper section is going to work just fine for the spoiler.



























The spoiler/grille surround will be removable, so I need to figure out the mounting for the inner verticals, and make separate headlamp framing that is attached to the frame instead of to the grille surround as it was previously.









Subframe section has been completed & shipped out yesterday, so I can get on to the motor work soon

[lookforjoe]

More back & forth (add material/remove material) on the nose & headlamp 'bucket' areas. Ideally, the surrounds should look similar to this:





The difficulty is in getting the interpretation of the inner vertical 'scallop' - my center panel is not the same as the original - I don't have the setback & taper that matches - mine is vertical drop, then chamfer - so my version is to be an interpretation of the original.

I adjusted my headlamp housing support system



to offset the entire assembly about an inch rearward, so that it will sit with a slight recess at the outer lower corner, the shallowest point.



There will be filler panels on all four sides to create the 'bucket'

Lower ones have been added here, along with tie plates to merge the fender skirt wrap below the marker lamp aperture in the the vertical grille surround.





I also need to reshape the headlamp cover areas, hence the additional bondo on top



Overall, I think the simplified form will look good.



Original modified fibreglass panel work back in 2016. Plan is eliminating all those hard corners around the headlamps & markers



Working on getting that inner radius - hopefully without cutting further inboard - that will make attaching the (removable) spoiler & grille surround more difficult. I think I will be able to create enough of a visual taper & contour to the 'bucket' with some addtional fibreglass & bondo work. Just time consuming getting L & R evenly shaped, since this is all eyeballed. I did make small contour guide plates to test general conformity, but it still comes down to does it look 'right'.

[lookforjoe]

Wrapped up the nose for right now - and moved on to the mechanical work needed to get it running. Dropped the subframe, swapped the oil pan, tack welded the replacemnt subframe section & took the car out for a drive for the first time in 3 monnths!





replacement, and new brake line I had to fabricate to replace the one crushed









Also painted/dyed the canvas targa panel





Looks really good from this angle :D

[Broke4speed]

This is simply OUTSTANDING! I mean, I consider myself pretty good at the mech/electrical part of building a car...but the artistry and craftsmanship around custom bodywork is something I'll never figure out. This makes me look twice at any X1/9 for sale .

[lookforjoe]

Originally Posted by Broke4speed

This is simply OUTSTANDING! I mean, I consider myself pretty good at the mech/electrical part of building a car...but the artistry and craftsmanship around custom bodywork is something I'll never figure out. This makes me look twice at any X1/9 for sale .

Many thanks! It's been quite an experience, for sure. Bodywork is definitely not my thing.

Been working on my house, so not much done on the X1/9. Today I made time to start on the 72mm TB revision. Using the 80mm TB, I've had a tip-in drivability issues that came back again.

Chopped the flange off an Accord intake for the TB side, another flange off an RSX intake for the intake side. I don't want to weld the extension to the plenum, as it may interfere with the plenum removal .



flanges welded after I determined the correct orientation to ensure bobbin & TPS clearance





MAP will go on the adaptor - have to weld a bung



Hopefully finish this tomorrow

[lookforjoe]

Got the MAP bung figured out. Drilled & tapped the flange to use for the hold-down





Revised the supplied bracket so that it fits the reverse orientation I need



Used the 80mm setup to check offset



Everything looks pretty good





Have to figure out an alternative air filter hose

[lookforjoe]

Got everything sorted out in terms of fitment, however the TPS won't zero

TB adaptor finished.



even with TPS pushed to end of range, I still have 30% in software





I did have the TPS + - (pins 1 & 3) reversed, which set a CEL



so I reversed them



If I move the TPS out of the mount window, then I can get to zero



What I found is that the TPS I bought, is NOT intended for the RSX Type S, & judging from online pics, the inner "wheel" is set at a different offset, so that would explain why I can't get it to the proper base idle position.

[DET17]

So you went smaller on the TB? I'm not clear after reading.... just a few sips of java so far today.

If YES, that matches what I've read about the large TBs working great at WOT conditions, but terribly off idle and stop & go driving. Sorry about the body work.... I used to do it decades ago. No more.

[lookforjoe]

Originally Posted by DET17

So you went smaller on the TB? I'm not clear after reading.... just a few sips of java so far today.

If YES, that matches what I've read about the large TBs working great at WOT conditions, but terribly off idle and stop & go driving. Sorry about the body work.... I used to do it decades ago. No more.

Yes, I dropped from the 80mm to 72mm to resolve the elevated idle, tip-in & part throttle issues that I just could not adjust out. Made it very unpleasant in-town driving. My wife doesn't want to get in the car until it's fixed, and I have to agree. Driving aggressively, it was fine - but one cannot do that all the time, especially since I like to travel with my wife :D

Yeah, the bodywork. I need to finish the nose. It's just way to f'ing hot out to even think about that. I'll have to wait until Sept/Oct to wrap that up, hopefully.

[DET17]

Originally Posted by lookforjoe

Yes, I dropped from the 80mm to 72mm to resolve the elevated idle, tip-in & part throttle issues that I just could not adjust out. Made it very unpleasant in-town driving. My wife doesn't want to get in the car until it's fixed, and I have to agree.

I don't know how many time I've seen this conundrum on the 4 bangers. Supposedly it is not such an issue to put a large TB on a V8, but the 4 holes don't seem to tolerate too large of a TB without serious off idle issues. I was planning to run the large 960/850 NA TB on my DD, until I found out the 2.5" stock size would support 300+ HP. Boost can find a way.... enough potential difference. From what I vaguely recall about compressible flow, there is a choke point. I doubt most street driven 4 holes ever reach that limit.

[lookforjoe]

While I'm waiting on the new TPS, I spent a fair number of hours over the last two days working on the nose again.

Finally figured out a method I'm happy with for reducing the headlamp surround, and a support panel for the spoiler urights.

test fit here prior to bonding




bonded yesterday, today I added some fibre-reinforced bondo in the larger void





couple layers of regular bondo/sand later





little primer on it to check flow into center & top. Gonna need much clean up & detail later





Feeling OK about the way it's coming along.



Spoiler & uprights will go in like this. Have to add some sort of attachment method for the uprights under the fixed sections.

[lookforjoe]

I got the K-Tuned TPS installed yesterday, sets properly to 0º throttle angle at rest stop without any issues. I had to remove the TPS connector from the harness, and repin for the RSX type S switch - and dropped the blue connector down into the bay... took me 20min to find it, had to jack the car up in the rear & hunt for it. Finally found it wedged into the balljoint/control arm. Hopefully that is the end of the drivability issues.



I fabricated filler sections to streamline the nose/spoiler connection. The details around the spoiler/vertical overlap had to change. Cut back the existing panel to provide about an inch overlap for bonding the new piece flush with existing.





difficult to tuck the spoiler into place as is - the inner corners interfere with pivoting the uprights under whilst overlapping the outer ridges



sections bonded so I can move on to filler work tomorrow, hopefully have enough time to unify the sections & have a reasonably finished look. Detail filler & spot putty work will come later



spoiler uprights cut down to 2" to get it to tuck under. Still may need to angle the inner corners uphill to ease the fitment.

[lookforjoe]

Got a good amount of work done on the front today. Fill, sand, repeat multiple times

U-Pol gold for the skim coats - much finer than 3M Bondo



Also checking the marker/directional apertures. They needed several add/substract stages to get a better outline





then after that, some U-Pol inside the headlamp opening surfaces





then some filler primer to check overall lay of the land



found I needed to build up the left tuck under the marker - it sat back too far



Spoiler overlap - I need to build up the seams on the body side of the outlying junctions - I have to even out the gap along the rivet area

[lookforjoe]

Worked on wrapping up the main nose work & the spoiler connection. Also used a chopped up Volvo spalsh pan to make an air guide



adding bondo to build up the spoiler to align with the fixed vertical



several layers later



aluminum track to make the grille attachment





several layers of putty, sand, putty & prime later





Looks pretty good overall



have to address the rivet attachment to the fender skirts, and that's the worst of it done

[Toybox]

Originally Posted by lookforjoe

[...] resolve the elevated idle, tip-in & part throttle issues that I just could not adjust out. Made it very unpleasant in-town driving. My wife doesn't want to get in the car until it's fixed, and I have to agree. Driving aggressively, it was fine - but one cannot do that all the time, especially since I like to travel with my wife :D

Isn't it amazing how different it feels, driver vs. passenger? Faced with the same exact shenanigans, one person says "exhilarating" while the other frantically grabs any Oh Sh!t bar within reach.

Having just found and read most of this thread, I'm impressed. But I admit my confusion -- there was no conjunction between "I'm dedicated to making the LH Volvo stuff work at any cost" and "I've found a completely different direction to take this project." Why the transition? I'm guessing the Honda motor fell into your lap and you couldn't resist? That little Fiat motor (and control thereof) was starting to look pretty darn good. Made me wonder about doing a similar thing to my own non-Volvo.

I also couldn't quite figure out from the pictures what you did with those frame sections in the middle. Lengthen the wheelbase?

Overall, it looks like you've created a very impressive little Hot Wheels toy. How much actual "Fiat" is left in that thing, anyway?

[lookforjoe]

Originally Posted by Toybox

Isn't it amazing how different it feels, driver vs. passenger? Faced with the same exact shenanigans, one person says "exhilarating" while the other frantically grabs any Oh Sh!t bar within reach.

Having just found and read most of this thread, I'm impressed. But I admit my confusion -- there was no conjunction between "I'm dedicated to making the LH Volvo stuff work at any cost" and "I've found a completely different direction to take this project." Why the transition? I'm guessing the Honda motor fell into your lap and you couldn't resist? That little Fiat motor (and control thereof) was starting to look pretty darn good. Made me wonder about doing a similar thing to my own non-Volvo.

I also couldn't quite figure out from the pictures what you did with those frame sections in the middle. Lengthen the wheelbase?

Overall, it looks like you've created a very impressive little Hot Wheels toy. How much actual "Fiat" is left in that thing, anyway?

I did take the LH 2.4 conversion as far as I could - it ran very well indeed. Just not enough HP to squeeze out of a 1600 that would be commensurate with the revised body work :D

I didn't alter the footprint of the X1/9 in terms of chassis, suspension & steering specification. Not sure what you mean by the frame sections, exactly. I had to section elements for Honda drivetrain clearance .... I bought the drivetrain (JDM), hard to find a US car that would have had only 60K on it, and the JDM K24 has better spec than the US version.

So, it's still Fiat, just improved upon.

Got it off the jack stands yesterday, gave it a quick wash - it looks pretty good overall. I want to drive it for a couple weeks before I pull the drivetrain & finish the undercarriage repairs.

[lookforjoe]

installed new control arms and caster rod poly bushes -



Made mount plates that sit inside the frame rail so I could re-install the 960 sway bar - was thinking of the plates used for the 240 balljoints...





Still have to replace the center tunnel & water pipes also



'00 V70 AWD rear sway bar end links





Started cutting off the tunnel cover - to see how bad the pipes were damaged

[lookforjoe]

Back & forth with the sway bar. Turns out, the 960 bar I got from CA must be off one of the later cars with the revised suspension, the offset of the end links is not the same.

Also, the Volvo online catalog listing for the sway bar bushings is wrong - they list the 1273615 for 22,23mm bars and 1273184 for 21mm bars. The old paper catalog lists them in reverse. I ordered 1273615, on the (incorrect) assumption that the online catalog would supersede the old paper versions in terms of any errors. No way is that correct for the 23mm bar, so I'll have to get 1273184's.









I switched out the bars, and the pivot angle is much better, but still not happy with the layout



So, I'm making brackets that will allow me to use the high-misalignment end links used on the back of P1 Volvos & various Mazda & Ford applications.







I'll make a spacer Sleeve that centers the stud in the bar, where the bushing used to locate. The integrated washer locates nicely in the outer recess.