CAR SOS Fiat X1/9 - The truth about the poor workmanship
Discussion
As an avid fan of CAR SOS I was excited to purchase one of the cars that was restored on the program, in October 2023. I bought the fiat X1/9 (season 9 episode 3) from the Bibby family. I learnt that the car had only covered around a hundred miles since the rebuild back in 2021 as the family did not use it (personal reasons). There were a few teething and running problems in the 2k miles I covered in three months which I could never get to the bottom off until two months ago on the way to a classic car show it suffered a catastrophic breakdown!
The car was recovered and sent to a Fiat / Lancia specialist Frank Rizzuti (Avanti Motorsport) who had helped on the program before (Fiat uno turbo feature)
Upon stripping the engine it was found that the head gasket failed between cylinder two and three as it was fitted with a non-genuine inferior gasket 1.2mm instead of the 1.5mm genuine one (see pictures for comparison) and the alloy “fire rings” were a lot smaller. (pictures enclosed) It was also discovered that the wrong carburettor had been fitted (choke size too small, made for 1300cc not 1500cc) Please note this was not the original carburettor they serviced on the show and i have no idea why they binned that for a new manual choke one On top of that the cam timing was also out on the “piper cam” The combination of all these resulted in lean fueling and blown gasket. Also when taken apart it was discovered that the thrust bearing was drilled and screwed instead of pins and the clutch was a "non branded one" The drive shaft bolts were hand tight only and because the cam timing was out it caused all the valves to be bent when the engine let go and pieces of the alloy “fire ring” on the head gasket ended up in the cylinders and scoring the bores (pictures enclosed) It was also evident that the original engine was not “honed” given its 122k miles, which surprised Frank and me, considering the excellent work on the bodywork which I can not fault by the way.
I am now left with a rather large bill for a complete engine rebuild which I am having done as I still intend to use this car for charity runs in memory of Steve Bibby as I promised to his wife Collette.
I can’t help thinking all of this would have been a huge blow and disappointment for the Bibby family had they gone on and used the car, especially after 2k miles.
I’ve always admired the amount of work that goes in to these builds and the extensive attention to detail but I can’t help but wonder why there were so many unnecessary mechanical mistakes made on this car.
Its currently having a 1550cc engine, big valve flowed head and twin weber downdrafts fitted, I have also fitted period abarth cromodora wheels. It will be the car it should have been. As I said, the body work is amazing i can't fault that but mechanically it was a disaster waiting to happen
The car was recovered and sent to a Fiat / Lancia specialist Frank Rizzuti (Avanti Motorsport) who had helped on the program before (Fiat uno turbo feature)
Upon stripping the engine it was found that the head gasket failed between cylinder two and three as it was fitted with a non-genuine inferior gasket 1.2mm instead of the 1.5mm genuine one (see pictures for comparison) and the alloy “fire rings” were a lot smaller. (pictures enclosed) It was also discovered that the wrong carburettor had been fitted (choke size too small, made for 1300cc not 1500cc) Please note this was not the original carburettor they serviced on the show and i have no idea why they binned that for a new manual choke one On top of that the cam timing was also out on the “piper cam” The combination of all these resulted in lean fueling and blown gasket. Also when taken apart it was discovered that the thrust bearing was drilled and screwed instead of pins and the clutch was a "non branded one" The drive shaft bolts were hand tight only and because the cam timing was out it caused all the valves to be bent when the engine let go and pieces of the alloy “fire ring” on the head gasket ended up in the cylinders and scoring the bores (pictures enclosed) It was also evident that the original engine was not “honed” given its 122k miles, which surprised Frank and me, considering the excellent work on the bodywork which I can not fault by the way.
I am now left with a rather large bill for a complete engine rebuild which I am having done as I still intend to use this car for charity runs in memory of Steve Bibby as I promised to his wife Collette.
I can’t help thinking all of this would have been a huge blow and disappointment for the Bibby family had they gone on and used the car, especially after 2k miles.
I’ve always admired the amount of work that goes in to these builds and the extensive attention to detail but I can’t help but wonder why there were so many unnecessary mechanical mistakes made on this car.
Its currently having a 1550cc engine, big valve flowed head and twin weber downdrafts fitted, I have also fitted period abarth cromodora wheels. It will be the car it should have been. As I said, the body work is amazing i can't fault that but mechanically it was a disaster waiting to happen
Edited by Lance1965 on Saturday 25th May 10:47
Edited by Lance1965 on Saturday 25th May 10:54
Edited by Lance1965 on Saturday 25th May 10:56
The HG has failed due to the lean condition. Whether genuine or not I dint think there's sufficient cause to say that being a pattern part is an issue here.
A blown HG does not normally result in bent valves. I'm struggling to see how that would happen.
If there were teething and running issues over 2k miles then wouldn't the very first check involve mixture, carb, ignition, and cam timing?
I don't really agree with the post but hope the new engine works out for you.
A blown HG does not normally result in bent valves. I'm struggling to see how that would happen.
If there were teething and running issues over 2k miles then wouldn't the very first check involve mixture, carb, ignition, and cam timing?
I don't really agree with the post but hope the new engine works out for you.
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