Horse Power, Track Shit, Torque, Cubic Inches, Liters, Run What Ya Brung, Auto or Cycle

#1,351
Modoc said:
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What I learned to drive on when I was about 8 years old. I sat on my dad’s lap and shifted the “3 on the tree” and steered his old Plymouth Belvedere (or maybe it was my grandmother’s Ford Falcon?), while he worked the pedals…and kept us on the road, LoL.

My weekend project:

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i-jJD8tCg-X4.jpg


…and just before it got loaded onto a truck this afternoon to be shipped out to Phoenix for a rebuild plus some other bits by Tier One transmission. Gonna drive out there in three weeks to pick it up, plus a stop at Full Race for a shit ton of motor goodies before heading home to rebuild the motor.

i-3cwCjWr-X4.jpg
 
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#1,352
91Eunozs said:
What I learned to drive on when I was about 8 years old. I sat on my dad’s lap and shifted the “3 on the tree” and steered his old Plymouth Belvedere (or maybe it was my grandmother’s Ford Falcon?), while he worked the pedals…and kept us on the road, LoL.

My weekend project:

i-Q3CZ8k2-X4.jpg


i-jJD8tCg-X4.jpg


…and just before it got loaded onto a truck this afternoon to be shipped out to Phoenix for a rebuild plus some other bits by Tier One transmission. Gonna drive out there in three weeks to pick it up, plus a stop at Full Race for a shit ton of motor goodies before heading home to rebuild the motor.

i-3cwCjWr-X4.jpg
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Those drawers on the right look naked compared to the others! You need us to send you some stickers?
 
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#1,360
Trophy Case said:
Yep, the VW disease is real. Well over 25k into this one over the years and probably couldn’t sell it for 12k. LOL
With the recent engine updates it should run low 14’s in the quarter…we shall see this spring. Not bad for a N/A street bug.
Engine goes in tomorrow!View attachment 8576873
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Details my man, we need them.
 
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#1,375
#1,376
I'm good on help if needed. Wiring is next before the engine/powertrain goes in. Then a new K member, subframe connectors, oil cooler, gears differential and axles, torque box reinforcements, rear upper control arms... it seems to never end.
 
#1,383
Not sure if this belongs in the horsepower thread or not, as it'll be lucky to break 70hp, but this is the latest poor investment. A running, driving, mid engined, Gandini designed, Lampredi powered Italian sports car for $850. Complete with all the rust you would imagine for a 70's Italian car.
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Lots of work ahead of me, but my middle son is in love and I kinda like saving sad cars, so here we are.
 
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#1,384
TonyTheTiger said:
Not sure if this belongs in the horsepower thread or not, as it'll be lucky to break 70hp, but this is the latest poor investment. A running, driving, mid engined, Gandini designed, Lampredi powered Italian sports car for $850. Complete with all the rust you would imagine for a 70's Italian car.View attachment 8642522Lots of work ahead of me, but my middle son is in love and I kinda like saving sad cars, so here we are.
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I had a couple, they are fun little cars
 
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#1,385
I'm picturing a bond-girl in the mid 70s with a scarf and big glasses, driving around a mountain side with some cheesy music on the radio, and then a blacked out car comes the other way and attempts to run her off the road, but alas she shoots the car with head-light mounted bazookas.

Please make that happen. Head-light bazookas. Bonus points for a scarf and glasses.
 
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#1,387
TonyTheTiger said:
Not sure if this belongs in the horsepower thread or not, as it'll be lucky to break 70hp, but this is the latest poor investment. A running, driving, mid engined, Gandini designed, Lampredi powered Italian sports car for $850. Complete with all the rust you would imagine for a 70's Italian car.View attachment 8642522Lots of work ahead of me, but my middle son is in love and I kinda like saving sad cars, so here we are.
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X1/9, correct?
 
#1,388
I finally got the motor into the Monte Carlo. I had to reshape the a/c air box to get it in which required several times test fitting the motor in. I really didn't want to delete the a/c so I am pretty happy that I got it to fit. It's tight on the brake booster too.
PXL_20250216_150432865.jpg


I got the accessories installed on the motor, the front end put back on and sorted through the electrical and plumbing stuff, driveshaft made and the transmission plumbing done.

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A few more hours of the little things and it'll be off to the exhaust shop for 3" pipe.
 
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#1,390
DarnYankeeUSMC said:
I finally got the motor into the Monte Carlo. I had to reshape the a/c air box to get it in which required several times test fitting the motor in. I really didn't want to delete the a/c so I am pretty happy that I got it to fit. It's tight on the brake booster too.
View attachment 8643211

I got the accessories installed on the motor, the front end put back on and sorted through the electrical and plumbing stuff, driveshaft made and the transmission plumbing done.

View attachment 8643212

View attachment 8643213

View attachment 8643214

A few more hours of the little things and it'll be off to the exhaust shop for 3" pipe.
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That Monte is looking great!! Is that a March pulley setup? I'm in the process of a complete new system and leaning towards CVT.....seems like a pretty good bang for the $$$
The 3" pipe is going to sound MEAN!!
 
#1,391
TonyTheTiger said:
Yup.
It's a 1974 which means it has some neat one year only features. It also means, unfortunately, it needs some one year only parts..
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The thing I remember about the X1/9 was that you had to pull the motor for some mundane task. Can’t recall, but think it was for something as easy as changing spark plugs or something like that. Do you plan to keep it mostly stock, or do a motor swap, change up the suspension and brakes, etc.?

Regardless, good luck with the build, and try (try) to have fun with it… The shared experiences are the only part that matters.
 
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#1,392
Ever wonder how you get the wheels off on things with real wire wheels

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Some cars have little "ears" you can hit with a brass hammer, with this type you have a big wrench. Ahh but you say you must carry that hammer as well, nope things like this exist.

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#1,395
91Eunozs said:
The thing I remember about the X1/9 was that you had to pull the motor for some mundane task. Can’t recall, but think it was for something as easy as changing spark plugs or something like that. Do you plan to keep it mostly stock, or do a motor swap, change up the suspension and brakes, etc.?

Regardless, good luck with the build, and try (try) to have fun with it… The shared experiences are the only part that matters.
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I've heard some generalized talk of engine out procedures but can't nail down what they are. One guy said timing belt, but I just did that in two hours easy peasy, so that ain't it. Everything else is pretty accessible.

Long term plans after fixing the rust are along the same lines as my 944. Make it look goodish from 20', model the exterior after a Euro model or whatever the cleanest, simplest version the car was, lose 15-20% of the weight while retaining a full interior, gain as much power as I can without opening up the bottom end (header/exhaust, Weber carb, spicy cam and a big valve ported head, aluminum flywheel) increase spring rates and shock valving about 30%, poly bushings everywhere, fine tune oversteer/understeer balance with sway bars, address brakes if necessary for fast road use, medium sticky tires on some lightweight wheels, then drive the hell out of it on empty WI backroads on weekend mornings.

And then sell it to my middle son at a huge discount, because he was the driving factor in purchasing it, he's my wrenching buddy, and he's my main passenger on those weekend morning twisty roads.

I've been involved in a lot of engine swaps, three of them on my personal vehicles, and generally despise them these days. If I liked the car enough to buy it I don't want to change it's character and a huge part of the character of weird old cars comes from the engine. I just want to see that character snort a little cocaine and get a bit crazy.
 
#1,396
fpgt72 said:
The transmission is a little......shall we say different

View attachment 8643770
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I love looking at GT6's but know very little about them. What is happening with that trans?
Edit: looking a little closer I guess it's pretty self explanatory what's happening here.
IIRC all my buddies 80's BMW's have a bit of a stand-off shifter linkage thing like that, but not quite as extreme.
 
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