Dance with Life

This is a view that I have been taking in over the last few days. Looks a bit dreary, but allow me to say, just how beautiful it indeed is. It is as if there are a thousand different shades of grey, if only you take the time to pay attention and take it in. Peace and quiet. A cold version of serenity, but tranquil all the same.




Sometimes the oddest things happen that create moments. Not the surreal type, but of the ordinary. If you keep waiting for the big Ahh-Ha! moment, I think you'll find that you miss out on the little ones. A smile came out on my face when I saw this, and indeed it made me think of how life is beautiful. I know there is a whole culture of car artists out there, some that I am amused by, and others that I shake my head in disbelief. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and to me this was a nice surprise.



I need not say much about this vehicle. If you please, take a good look at what the driver wanted you to know.

Happy Holidays.

219 mph - The Ferrari response

Well, I was right, it seems there are more videos of yaboos going after the 219mph record. Here is a Ferrari response.



Too funny!

219 MPH - Ultimate Ownage

There has been an extraordinary amount of buzz about the Lamborghini video that shows multiple high speed runs in excess of 200 miles per hour.



If for some reason the links don't work, just search YouTube for 219 mph.

I saw the video on perhaps its second night of release. I was amazed at the stupidity of the event, and the brazen act of posting this video. I posted a comment about how reckless the video was and surprisingly, I got a rash of insults back from what I assume were automotive enthusiasts who are misguided. Perhaps the same group of people who enthusiastically embraced The Fast and the Furious? The 2001 movie about an undercover cop who infiltrates an underworld subculture of Los Angeles street racers.

In my original comment, I mentioned that law enforcement would be quick to follow up on this. Oddly, some thought that the Arizona Police would be too busy to go after a "speeder". I got this comment from the following YouTube user:

DRATMMM
And I'm sure law enforcement will be very gracious for your vigilance as they chuckle at you behind your back.

Well DRATMMM. It appears I was right. I certainly had nothing to do with reporting this to law enforcement, but others were outraged enough that they did it themselves.

If the driver was looking for notoriety, he certainly got it. If the driver wanted to remain infamous and keep his identity a secret he was foiled. Clear identification of the car's license plate was shown in the video.


This screen capture was posted by Kevins89notch5.0 of www.mustangworld.com

So now that anonymity went out the window, it was found that the Lamborghini is owned by FRV Inc., in Las Vegas. As reported by Channel 5 KTAR, FRV Inc. is a company owned by a former Phoenix dentist. It is suspected that the driver/owner runs an Internet porn site, on which some of the models pose on the same car featured in the video. (Originally, I put the site address up. But I refuse to send click traffic to a porn site.)

Rather than endlessly write about the facts of the case, I'll let the journalists do the job for me. This is currently the best summation video that is out there.

http://www.azfamily.com/video/localnews-index.html?nvid=196721

As the internet world consumes and debates the events of these testosterone charged fools, we are seeing more evidence of recklessness using what is perhaps the only gold 2008 Lamborghini in the United States.

The website of channel 10 FOX Phoenix uncovered a video showing the same Lambo illegally using the Bondurant race facility in Arizona and a number of different clips of the driver endangering the public. At one point the video shows a potential head on collision on public streets.

Video from channel 10 Fox

Print article at http://news.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=658773

It is unclear if the owner of the car was in fact the driver. But my mind begs the question who is the filmer? The person filming the high speed runs is thought to be a college student in Arizona. The filmer goes by Phenix on the Mustangworld.com website. Initially, Phenix posted a teaser of the 219 mph run on Mustangworld.com. After law enforcement got involved, Phenix took down, or requested that the teaser post be taken down. Thanks to the wonderful cache at Google, his original post can still be seen at:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:4Z1CB1BlYmoJ:www.mustangworld.com/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D514031+219mph+site:mustangworld.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

This post identifies the driver as Rob. Thus the link to the possible owner of the car mentioned by the AZfamily website. Ironically, the video was shot in HD. I have no doubt that the law enforcement authorities will be using available technologies to find out who the driver is.

Possibly this is a huge publicity stunt for nothing more than a porn website. I have a hard time believing that someone who is smart enough to earn the material wealth required to buy a Lamborghini was so short sighted to not envision this falling back on him. Classic Ownage? What I worry about is that the driver in the video has challenged the public to beat the 219 mph speed. While the driver may be able to stave off jail and get a slap on the wrist, I wonder if the misguided testosterone fueled automotive enthusiast will actually try to beat the 219 mph challenge. Stay tuned.

Progress

Here is where I'm at. So many changes. Some good, some seemingly in reverse, but Little by Little....

I had a good time creating this slide show. Great walking down memory lane. To appreciate it, put the music in first. The Song is Little by Little from Robert Plant. The album is called Shaken and Stirred. Fitting that the car is an 85 Bertone, and the song was released in 85. I also wanted dancers in the video; that was a hard find. So, get the music playing, then watch the show. You may have to click the view slide show button.

Race tires

It's been kind of hard to blog. Crazy stuff going on in my life. The car now sits on a set of Yokohama Advan race tires. When I went to get them mounted, it was more for the pick me up, than getting to run corners a bit harder.

Relearning to drive on those little beasties has been tough. Brake points and steering input is weird when 99.99 percent of my driving has been done on road tires. There is so much grip I have a tendency to lock them up. Not fun when you are looking at flat spots. So, instead of braking late, I find myself slowing for entry and exiting faster. Totally different than how I drive my street car.

My daily driver is a Mercedes C230 Coupe with an AMG brake package from the C32. The binders are RS-4 brake pads from Porterfield. A bit expensive ($200 plus for front pads!), but so worth every penny. The AMG/Porterfield package has excellent feedback, and pedal modulation is instinctive. Of course that car runs on a Toyo T1R tire which is a durable performance tire and therefore different than a DOT approved race tire that I have on the X now.

Literally I feel like I'm relearning things. I have yet to have the X loosen or slip front or rear in a turn. There is your 50/50 balance baby! Mostly, I have yet to push the envelope of my turn in and lateral grip. Its the damn brake zones that are giving me such grief. Ever seen a race tires brake skid? In front of a Fedex drop off, not so cool.

Stay out of the ice plants kids.

Watch this

I was forwarded this You Tube video, and thought it would make an excellent addition to the blog.



Things in my life changed dramatically last nite. Long story, but suffice to say, I'm handling it, like a Fiat handles a curve.

"Where is the Fiat?"

Of course I have been away! Given my past history of updating this thing, you are lucky I'm on this tonight. So it is a Friday night. My little Pitter sleeps soundly, and Spiagga (now Jumbalaya's official name) sits on the boulevard. I have been putting some miles on the car, but not without some technical difficulty.

Early October, I went out to meet a buddy for a Tri Tip Steak and Rib dinner. Proudly, I washed the car quickly, and headed East into Orange County for a romp. The radio played, my mind was at ease, and the drive was another in a growing stack of memorable Fiat experiences.



My buddy Stephen, who leads a charmed life, had arrived earlier than me and came over to greet me. A few throttle blips of 1.5L nirvana and I shut off the car. Prior to eating, we decided to visit a Best Buy to review some radio and speaker options for Spiagga. Upon restarting the car, I noticed a small amount of metallic clang. The kind that is so slight it appears that you didn't hear it at all, but ends of being the velvet sledge hammer. The sound certainly wasn't there when I pulled in. Because it was so slight, I thought to move the car over to a place where I could put the car under a parking lot light, and get a better view.

In pulling out the car, the sound got worse, and ohh, there was a wonderful pile of parts sitting in the parking spot I had resided in. Stephen was polite when he covered his mouth to hide his smirk and laughter. I pulled up my sleeve and buried my hand into the hot rear engine compartment. I immediately noticed that the belts were off, and ohh, there is a crank pulley that is now loose and therefore, I was missing my main crank nut. Great! Just Great! Those little Italian bits don't just grow on trees. I swear I heard Steve Machette's English voice say, "Boys, we don't have another one of those lying around." Retracing the path I took to move the car, I did find the thrown belt, and best of all the missing main crank nut.

I went ahead and ate. BBQ is my love, but it is just not the same when you have a dead car in the parking lot. I did my best to convince Stephen to drive 80 odd miles out of his way to take my ass home. He did get a free meal out of it, but I know he would have done it anyway. We limped the car to a nearby hotel parking lot so that it wouldn't get towed, and I hoped into Stephens car feeling like a pimple on prom night. You are an excellent friend Stephen. MBDC all the way. (Mercedes Benz Drinkers Club)

The next day, a fantastic, and good friend, who shall remain nameless, was kind enough to assist with coordinating a tow from Triple AAA. She arrived in a sexy short pink skirt and a smile. It felt odd to be the dam idiot in distress getting rescued by the galiant turquoise BMW she drives. You know I'm getting to like her 330XI more and more. In fact just the other day I found that tuned 335 BMWs are running Mid 12s on the 1/4 mile. OMFG!





The shots speak for themselves.

To add to the embarrassment, I had the car towed to my warehouse, and it was on display for everyone in our business center to gawk at. There is a bus restoration company in my complex that does interior work. They have what seems like an endless stream of labor, and our parking lot is a mix of bravado and pecking order. As a tenant and business owner, I quickly surpassed some of the old guard employees who resent that I enforce my three spots allotted to me. I may be paranoid, but I think I saw them point and smile. I put the car in the warehouse and wanted no more drama for the day. I had my little Pitter that day, and I didn't want to lose the day by working on the car. I did get some grief from my Pitter when she endlessly asked, "Wheres the Fiat?"

So, current events, yes the car is running, and yes, I had some additional work done. I now have a lightened and balanced flywheel and clutch assembly. The car pulls cleanly, and has increased low end torque. The tranny is the 79 5 speed out of Zanardi my original X. That tranny has a slightly different gearing that gets me off the line quicker, and it had a very expensive rebuild on the syncros done about 10 years ago. Imagine that, getting to enjoy the work you paid for 10 years ago! I have a set of scrubbed Yokohama Advan A059 DOT race tires in a pile awaiting installation. They have a generous amount of marbles and clag on them, so I guess they shouldn't be balanced.

I am having a header and custom exhaust fabricated. I'm hoping to get some 5-7 extra horse out of that, and an improved sound. I'm into the car for what seems like an unreasonable amount of money.

Well, off to sleep, my daughter gets up early, and is bound to ask, "Where is the Fiat."

So now that I have been driving around in a X1/9 for a little over a week, I thought I would share some pics, and let them speak for themselves. Recall that the drives that are occuring have had a 10 year history of near misses and complete BS. I have a major engineering shop that owes me huge for shody work (if you want it done right, go to John Edwards at Costa Mesa R&D - check out the video of pistons that will run to 12k RPM!)




I also owe a huge thanks to benefactor Fiat Charlie! I should send a truckload of Omaha steaks your way my friend. So, I guess it is a wash. I reap, and forgive. If you haven't read the blog it won't make much sense, but to this day, as the red X, Zanardi is being stripped, I'm still finding work that I was billed for, but never done. Doesn't matter. The X is all heart.



This is the business end of the drivers view. I'm still running at 210+, but I have a manual fan switch, so I can get around traffic/idle temps.



The interior is still preserved, but my back hurts after 30 minutes in the car, whereas I can drive for 4+ hours in cars with seat adjustments. I am constantly stretching and pinching in this car, but who cares.









I am slowly bringing the paint color back with 3M rubbing compound and lots of wax on and off. Thank you Daniel-son.

As I type at 1:30 in the morning on a Sunday night, I wonder what my neighbors would think of a 7,500 RPM launch? Who cares? The car feels great!

Bella Machina

Here is some music to go with the read:



Registered and legal. I think that perhaps every member of my family has driven a car in some state of illegality. Be it missing registration, insurance, we take the cake. So, today was a suprise when I registered and made legal my little X. I drove it to the Compton DMV. Whoa, scary place. There was quite a line, but I had made an online appointement. I was easily seen and serviced in 20 minutes. The line didn't really move from when I arrived and left. Do they not have internet access? Instead of the large bling earings the inner city fellas wear, perhaps they would do well to get a computer? Is that inane?




In any case, the plan today was to put some highway and stop and go traffic miles on my little X. The rear engine layout of the X is a challenging environment for proper eninge cooling. I have done quite a bit to bleed the air out of the cooling lines, but still feel uncomfortable with the 215+ coolant temperatures.

First thing I did upon my babies first arrival at casa de piscando was to give her a decent detailing. I washed off accumulated dust, droppings and the oh so familiar grease stains familiar to a Fiat. I spent some time doing the interior and before the sunset, I snapped some pics of her C level clean.





I quickly got out to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and followed the sunset north throught the overpriced homes that are so coveted. The only car I took note of was the Smart cars parked two to one driverway on Highland. http://www.smartusa.com/

My car has a old Sony tape radio and some small little speakers on the rear shelf. A poor comparison to the multi channel amplified system I have in my Mercedes.

In a good convertible, you won't notice. But tonights drive was epic. The music played, but I couldn't care less what was playing. I tiptoed through the surf traffic from the last rideable waves and found myself at one of the few open stretches of the PCH South of Los Angeles airport. The sun was at the last 3-5 minutes of light and the glow from the Pacific Ocean was stellar. The car, the moment and my thoughts reminded me of being 23 again and behind the wheel of my origional X, Zanardi. The byline of this blog is Divorce and Resotration from the perspective of a car guy. This was in fact Restoration. I can't recall the last time a car gave me this same feeling of peace. The Sun, the water, the car and I were at one. Instantly, I became aware of the radio, "City of Blinding Lights" was playing by U2. It has been some time since I have had a car moment. This one can't be written about, but know that I will keep it special. It is easy to have romance as a young man, harder still as a middle aged man. Business, Bills, and Blondes....need I say more? Right now, the Mercedes will sit in the warehouse unless I'm picking up Pitter, my daughter. I hope my future will be about 1.5 liters of pure italiano. Bella Machina my friends.

Of course it is a Fiat

This afternoon, my young protege Chase came by my warehouse. I was more than happy to show him the X1/9. The car delighted me while we took corners around the early evening comuter traffic that is uniquely South Los Angeles. Prior to leaving, we took off the Targa top and enjoyed the open air driving aided by the power windows at full down. We only took the car a couple of miles, and that was a wise choice. However, being in the company of a friend, I did let the motor grunt a bit by drawing revs up to 7,500 RPM. Oh what a symphony!

After Chase left, I distinctly smelled a strong odor of gas. Looking under the car, I was rewarded with a nice puddle of accumulating fluid. Having been into the bowels of a Fiat time and again, I thought, "ohh how cute, something to fix..." Famous last words.

The braided fuel hose from the tank to the fuel pump was leaking at the upright fuel pump connection. I have experience changing fuel filters, and hoses, so I was not too worried about the work. In fact, some caution and preparation would have served me well. I pulled the car into the warehouse a bit, and left the engine compartment in the alley to keep the dripping gas out in the alley way to dry. After jacking up the car, and putting it on jack stands I got under the car with an assortment of tools I thought I would need. Of course I had a flat head screw driver, a drop light, and a 1/4 ratchet and set of sockets. What I didn't bring was common sense! After visualy seeing the leak, I decided in some state of stupidity that I would squeeze the hose.......

The hose instantly debrised into dropping rubber bits within a stream of gas coming from the tank. I'm a shade tree mechanic, and have some fine wins to my belt. An assisted rebuild on a 350 Chevy (thanks dad), a built Honda Integra, 50k self maintained miles on a Mercedes, but nothing will drop your confidence like a stream of gas. I quickly did a mental check of potential fire sources, and gave some thought of how to plug the stream.

I secured some spare bolts lying around a new clamp and a razor blade. The last thing I grabbed was a spark plug that had been changed from the new head job. Little did I know that my last thought was the best. I tried inserting a number of like sized objects to the degraded hose but found myself short on size. Like sticking your finger in a dam. Finally the spark plug made a good fix to slow the stream to a drip. In no time, I found that my arms itched, and worse, my right eye was stinging from the coating of petrol on my eyelid. I washed up cursing myself for not foreseeing this, and made a quick post on Xweb to know what I was looking for.



I decided that I wanted this done tonight and wasted time going to a Autozone and a closed Kragen to buy the correct hose. No such luck the correct 12mm size hose was not stocked. At this time, the car sits in the warehouse, with a clamp on the spark plugged fuel hose, and the writer itching at chemically burned skin. Of course it is a Fiat.

A running Fiat!

So, I wanted to show pictures of the new Bi-Xenon lighting on my Mercedes, nope have not done that. I wanted to talk about the paint truck that had an accident that happened in front of me on the freeway in July, nope...But, I can tell you this.

I have a running Fiat! An 85 Berton x1/9. This was the car that was given to me by Fiat Charlie. Right now I'm into in for about $600 in labor assistance, and another $600 in parts. It is a combination of 1300 cc Big Valve Head, stock FI block, balanced and rebuilt injectors to create a smooth spinning engine that revs easily to 6500 rpm. I'm not going to put pictures up until I get a chance to spend some time detailing her, but ohh is she soo gorgeous!

Headlights

Okay, Okay, yes I know. I deliberately try to provide some updates and just don't get it done.

Here is the next car project.

My C230 Coupe is looking faded and tired. Mostly this is because the stock 02 headlights have gotten a yellow, weathered look to them. But shortly, I'll be the proud father of a pair of much heralded and getting uber rare Bi-xenon headlights.

Pics and details to follow.

Hit and Run

Well, here is a video summarizing the Ownage from the Calgary Hit and Run




What a tool.

E

OWNAGE threads

I'm going to admit something, I love OWNAGE threads. Ownage, otherwise known as PWNAGE happens when someone is caught in the act. As in caught in a lie, caught in fraud, stealing, etc.

Since I love this so much, I thought I would start posting the ones I come across.

This one occured when a kid in an RSX thought he was invincible. This accident is recent, and the outcome yet to be determined.

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=282f4107a1d82ad741d91d027d53e6a5&threadid=168264&perpage=40&highlight=&pagenumber=1

It all happens quite quick, so no worries, you won't be reading long before you experience, the OWNAGE!

And just in case, you are in the mood for another, this is one of my all time favorite ownages. Takes a little reading, but ohh so choice.

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106382



You have to remember, the world is a small place.

E

An act of generosity

Sorry for the long delay between posts. It took something massive to get me back to blogging about my Fiat, and even more specific an act of generosity that I am literally floored when I think about it.

Earlier this year, I went to a SCCA autocross with my buddy Alex. I was lucky enough to be his Tire Warmer. While at the event I meet the Nationally famous, "Fiat Charlie."


Charlie and Alex ribbing each other about who is faster

Charlie has a collection of Fiats that are in various states of build. From his Testaronne Bertone that he uses to autocross in SCCA Solo events, an 850 hard top that is due for restoration, and one of the most exciting X1/9 that I have seen, a turbo 2000 DOHC car. I'd like to do a full write up on the 2000CC Turbo, but that car is a story into itself, so, I hope this pic of the engine bay suffices.


This is the Turbo 2000 CC X1/9 engine bay

The first time I meet Charlie, I had finished my first of three runs in Alex's Solo prepared X1/9. Alex's X runs in the unlimited class, and is a suspension marvel. Four corner coil overs with a 1500 motor running FI. The car is taught, and feels like a missile when you steering through the course. There is so much grip in the car, that when you drive, you literally feel like you are going to be pulled out of the five point harness. That feeling of being pulled came when I had only litely opened the car up on the course. At the end of my first run, I was shaking so badly from excitement and nerves that when I got my time slip, I couldn't reengage the $10,000 Alquati transmission. Charlie chuckled and kindly told me, "The clutch is on the left."

After that day, I got a call from Alex, who told me about a X1/9 that was available. Seems Charlie wanted to downsize a bit, and had a X available. There was no catch, there was only a huge generosity. The car was free. However, the car did have a story.

Seems the X belonged to a couple that shared a love of cars. The X was originally driven by the wife to and from work. While an X1/9 may not be the car you think of when you consider a AARP carrying wife, it was her connection to her husband in a mechanical way.

One night upon waking to the sounds of auto repair, the wife came to the garage to find that her husband was taking apart the Fiat unnecessarily. That early morning intervention marked the sign of aging, and unfortunately it only got worse. Her ownership of the car ended when she found him sanding away at invisible rust. Seems the brain can change, you can't take the car crazy away. Sadly, shortly after this late night sanding session, her husband went to live out the rest of his years in a more secure environment.

Charlie got the car, and knowing the risk of rust, painted the car with Spray Can Yellow. This kept the rust away, but left the car looking the part of the typical Fiat, as opposed to the well maintained X that the car really was.

When Alex and I first saw the car, It had sat for some time. Charlie had a number of car projects and home improvement projects going on, and luckily for me, the little Fiat needed a new home.


Side view


Front view


Rear view

I actually am proceeding with work on the car. I am installing my Big Valve Head from Zanardi on the car, and rebuilding the top end of the engine. The injectors have already been cleaned and balanced by RC Engineering, and I need to find a exhaust manifold as the original is cracked.

I'll get going on this blog again, and I hope you'll come along for the ride. Charlie, I owe you big my friend.

Color of Money and Oil

I suppose that it's time to get you caught up with the car as opposed to my social life.

Its not good news. About the middle of September, I did put on the head for the Fourth time. I went through all of the manual steps, and used the advice of those who have done it before me. I got the car filled with oil, cooling fluids, etc. Took a bit of manipulation with regard to the distributor's static timing, but I got it to fire. During the idle period, I wanted to get excited, I wanted to hop around and feel proud of myself. But having been at this point before, I just decided to keep a level head and carefully evaluate the exhaust and monitor the oil.

In about 30 seconds I started to get wispy exhaust. The kind of exhaust that happens when there is excess moisture in the combustion chamber. Not good. So with heavy hands, I checked the oil via the dipstick. Sure enough I recognized the oil combining with water. Being that I don't regularly swear, I find it offensive, I'll type with some colorful characters. My words went something like this:

"F*k me to Tears!"

Got that one from dad years ago. I digress. I shut her down, closed the garage door and wanted nothing more to do with her that day.

About a week later, I started the disassebly, AGAIN! Gee, I think I hear the echo of my young daughter telling me, "Dada, again..."


The color of money and oil

That is what it looked like when I took the cam box off the head. Without question you can see the green antifreeze mixing with the oil. Recall that the car had only idled for about a minute. It is weird that I got this amount of antifreeze in. I know that at this point your mind is whirling about the cause.

So to review, here is what was done in preparation for a successful rebuild.

Head was planed flat, and a valve job was completed.
Block surface was thoroughly cleaned and checked for flat.
A new FelPro Racing Gasket was used. (the gasket is the right one)
The torque process was followed to the letter.
Torque was stopped at 70 Ft/lbs.
The thermo housing opening was checked to insure that the EGR port was covered.
The head's manifold ports were checked to insure they were closed.


Correctly designed FelPro


Now, here are my potential problems
The block was found to be .006 out of true between cylinders 2 and 3.
The head bolts could be generating a false torque.
I could have faulty Hex head plugs in the head.
The locating dowels could be too big.


Hex head plugs could be an issue

Current status
The head was reinstalled with out the washers, I absolutely have outruled the head bolts creating a problem. The head is going to be pressure tested to insure that it is free of micro fissures or other unforeseen issues.

So, that is all the time I have for today. As I was telling the guys on XANA, thanks for not giving up on me.

Best,

E

Community - and oh yeah, VEGAS Baby!

Well, there is big news on the x1/9 front, but I'm not going to touch it. Hurts too much just to think abou it.

So this past week, I went to an industry trade show in Las Vegas. While in Vegas, I took the opportunity to meet a fellow X head who lives in the area.

Greg is someone that I only knew from the internet. I meet him and many other amazing X heads on the XANA website. Here we provide information on how to keep the X's on the road, and generally keep the culture alive. In true Fiat fashion, the day we were supposed to meet, Greg was having some electrical issues. Yes, at this time you are rolling your eyes and saying the age old, "Fix it again tomorrow" quip that became synonymous with Fiat's presence in North America during the 7o's and 80s. However, it being a Fiat, it was easy to fix, and Greg meet me at the Wynn hotel.


One of Vegas's newest and luxurious hotels

When Greg drove up, I meet him at the front valet area. I watched as gorgeous cars pulled up and left their impressions with the attendant gallery. Without fan fare, valets quickly would take the luxury and sports cars alike and reconcile them to the blackness of the underground garage. I recall seeing a SL500 Mercedes with a woman wearing more diamonds than the mines in S. Africa. Yawn. Valets took the keys, and drove them away. When Greg pulled up with his 78 X1/9, literally, the activity of people coming and going stopped in an instant. Truly, it felt like a scene from Magnolia, where Tom Cruise meets his appointed life guide and the world stops in silence while a time out is taken. The unique sound of Greg's 1300 cc engine was likely something that none of the frozen participants had ever heard. Suddenly the gallery of the entrance came back to life and the valets quickly buzzed over the Golden X1/9 that Greg calls, "Solo X."

I was a bit nervous because in saying my hellos to Greg I didn't know if the valets would quickly rush us to park or pull out. No worries, I barely got the handshake out of the way when the valet bees started firing questions at Greg. "What kind of car is this?" Where is it from?" And the obvious, "How much is it worth?"


At the valet roundel

Greg's car commanded this attention. His own efforts have pulled together a car that not only represents that best of Fiat's design choices in the X, but the overcoming of their mechanical shortcomings. We had all the time in the world to answer the questions, and I in doing so, I could feel the stares of other drivers impatiently expecting the valet's performance to be returned.

I hoped in the car, and Greg pulled out to Las Vegas Blvd, for a quick run. The smell of the car's Italian interior was pleasingly overwhelming. Mixing in, was the smell of the upgraded Weber carburetor that Greg uses in conjunction with a European model 1300 cc head. While our initial drive was short, I was long in the smile and glees I could feel from being in a Fiat again.

During a lunch we talked about his car, and the XANA forum. What I most remember is just how much of a genuine guy Greg is. While being complimentary to the other forum members he downplayed his own unique contributions to the X1/9 community. Ending the lunch brought us to the Ferrari dealership that is located inside of the Wynn hotel. My previous stay at the Wynn provided me with a close up view of the dealership, but at this time I'm discouraged to report that viewing the cars requires a $10 fee. It is not the $10 that bothers me, but the lack of regard that this gesture shows to the automotive public as a whole. In true fashion, attending the Gift shop required only that you have a strong heart to stand up to the price tags on common items that now wear the Ferrari logo.

I was actually surprised that the facility was making no use of the latest information on 7 time world champion Micheal Schumacher's retirement from Formula 1 racing. While the announcement was recently made at the Monza race near the heart of Ferrari country, it was a complete surprise to the Tifosi fans who buy the trinkets, and drapings that bear the Prancing Horse logo. With the impact of Micheal's legacy in the Formula 1 community, you would think that a farewell tour would be the way to treat the fans to one last chance to observe the current master of Ferrari's racing success.

While I admired the 2001 formula 1 spec engine that is available for a paltry $650,000 USD, I couldn't help but feel that money, does not always buy class. I truly think that the legions of Scuderia Ferrari deserve more than a $10 entrance fee, and worse, the departure of the man that has brought them their current glory.

Since Greg and I passed on the dealership viewing, it was back to the Solo X for a Q&A, and drool session.


Yes, I'm really drooling

Shortly after that shot, Greg tossed me the keys and said the most beautiful words that one man can say to another, "You want to drive?" More drool ensued.

I took it easy on Solo X. I'm sure Greg would have liked a little bit of action in the drive. After all, an artists likes when the work is admired. But Greg's car has actually been driven by the X communities very own Steve Hoelscher. Steve is one of the most successful SCCA autocrossers in the nation. But more importantly, to us regulars of XANA, Steve is a guy who goes way out of his way to insure that the breed lives on. Figuring that Steve had given Greg the ride of a lifetime, I chose to just admire the sights and sounds of the car. For all I know, I could have been driving on the moon, I don't remember what I saw, only what I touched, heard, and smelled. If you haven't driven a Fiat, "Yeah, its like that."

While my time with Greg was short, our new friendship is long on mutual respect and community. When I got on the 15 South to come back home to Los Angeles, I was touched by my time in Solo X. I just wish that my Mercedes had been an X. Shortly after arriving back in town, I got word from Greg that he and another X head, Tony, had some ideas about how to get my own car back on the road. Community, I hope reading that word tells you what its like to be a fellow X head.

Stay out of the Ice Plants.

A Car guy's week.

Again, the pressures of time, work, and leading the car lifestyle.

Yes, I have made progress on the car. Small wonder I have not broken anything on myself or the car just yet. Rather than talk about the car, I thought I would talk about Car culture. This is something that I'm rather passionate about. What you couldn't tell by now?

Recently, I attended the Brabus-CEC rollout party on August 24th. This was held at the Brabus USA headquarters in Newport Beach. I understand that the function was to celebrate a new partnership between Brabus and the Claus Ettenberger Corporation. While I was not "officially" on the guest list, I did manage to get two networking invites. The first came via a request on the www.mbklasse.com board. A member who had an invite and was not going to be attending forwarded me the invite. have to say, Huge thank you to the board member who forwarded me that. I wasn't sure just how strict the admission was going to be so I made a back up plan. I had just recently meet with a marketing agency known as the ID Agency in Manhattan Beach. (www.theidagency.com) They provide promotions and marketing support to companies like Brembo, CEC, and other aftermarket auto companies. I got in touch with them and asked about getting on the guest list through their affiliation. So, now I had two invites.

Brabus is a well known company to German car enthusiasts. Generally their work centers around aftermarket upgrades to Mercedes vehicles. Be it engine performance, interior work, or suspension, their facility can provide a range of upgrade options for Mercedes vehicles. While I have not had any work done via Brabus, I am a fan of their body kits, and engine tuning. Personally, my daily driver, a Mercedes C230 Coupe uses the benefits of a Kleeman kit.


Sea Coupe

Sorry Brabus. In any case, I didn't want to go alone, so who better to invite than a BMW guy? So, in comes my friend Chase who is an owner of a 2006 BMW 525. Yes, Chase, you are an old man driving a four door. Needless to say the valet took his Bimmer and parked it around back with the lesser vehicles. Ha-Ha! Lest I digress....


An Evening with the Michelin Man

The party had a great setup. Guests were able to tour the Brabus facility, and see their display vehicles.


In German Brabus means "Black and Fast"

Most of the attendees had unique vehicles in there own right. Some of which were parked onsite for an impromptu viewing. This was actually quite an interesting way of getting acquainted with some models I was not familiar with. I saw my first Noble, a unique rear engine sports car, and Mercedes SMART car venture. Of course there were plenty of Ferrari and Mercedes to go around. Best part was the Red Bull hospitality center. Now, why was I drinking wine when I could have had Red Bull and Vodka?

I am proud to say that while admiring the food setup I met a new member of European Car magazine (http://www.europeancarweb.com/). Now, if only I could recall her name. I actually found it fascinating that her project car is a Datsun. It is the late 70's hatchback model with the rear valence. Anybody know the model of this vehicle? I can visually see it, but can't quite name it. Might have had something to do with the Red Bulls, certainly not vodka related.

So, next up on the car agenda now that I'm living sans a wife, was a Mercedes Meet on August 26th at Huntington Beach. I meet up with a group of guys from a forum board and we made our way out to Huntington Beach from Carson without any tickets at all. Attending was an SLR, and a complete host of other Mercedes AMG monsters, and us other little folks. Rather than post endless pictures I'm linking to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzuowrv96Nc

So, I truly commit that I'm Car Crazy. Yes, Barry Meguir is somewhat of a hero to me. In fact I actually met him coming off a flight, and I'm proud to say I use his products.

Till next time, stay out of the ice plants

Valve Assembly Part I

So, its been a bit of time since I have released any updates. Its actually quite a bit harder to work on the car when I have to take off gloves to handle a camera. Kinda slows things down. But I guess it is not so bad as I get a chance to swig on something cool (See the background of one of the pics).

So here is the head all planed and ready for installation.


Need a tissue?

The head was planned to get rid of a not greater than .006" warpage across cylinders 2-3. While apart, I also had a valve stem/seal job done with new seals and settings. While I did have the valve area cleaned inside to remove excess carbon, I didn't spend the money to have the valves opened up anymore. The valves are already bigger than stock, and I do have a budget. I did get the valves seated to the head, so it should provide an excellent seal, and some improvement in compression


Seated Valves

I don't particularly care to bend over. Yes, getting older sucks, and waking up with a sore back is not fun. So, I'm choosing to do a bench valve job. Its a little harder in terms of redundant assembly, but much easier than bending over a car that is so low to the ground. In assembling engine components that have been cleaned dry, you need lots of lubricant to prevent friction, and scoring of sensitive components. You can see my makeshift squirt bottle with Synthetic lubricant, and a tube of Engine Assembly Lube. Use these LIBERALLY!


This is what the tissue was for. What were you thinking?

In dry assembling the cam box to the head, you have to torque everything down equally. See the cam is going to be applying areas of lift as the duration is exposing itself to the tappets and ultimately the valves. Be sure to do this work on a surface that has your head up off of the bench or you risk bending a valve. Both time consuming and expensive. Especially with these big hard to find valves. You may not be able to see it in the picture, but there are blocks underneath the head.


Applying even hand torque

What is done next is the measurement of the shims seated in the tappets. This is a time consuming process made far more difficult by silly American standard measurements as opposed to the metric system.


Shim measurement tool

Unfortunately I need to sign off tonight. I have been doing this work at my warehouse in Gardena/Compton, and late at night it gets, well interesting. So I promise more updates to come. Right now I am concurrently assembling the cleaned and detailed A/C, alternator, water pump, and mounting hardware. It hasn't come without excitement I'll say.

Stay cool, and keep the tissues near.

The end and the beginning

So, time to let you know what happened to Zanardi. in the late 90s I was a go getter. Corporate America make room because here I come. One day while driving to a meeting during the summer, I noticed that my coolant temp was getting a bit high. I was only 5 miles from my meeting location, so I thought, no biggie. No more than a mile later, the temperature pegged out, and I had steam rising from the front of the car.

Silly me, I was worried about missing my meeting. I got a tow and yes I made the meeting. But something in me was different. I couldn't help but think of my little friend. Generally I'm excellent at having the ability to focus on the subject at hand. I vowed to put the time in to fix her, and I actually did put forth the effort. I enlisted the help of a famous Fiat racing and repair facility for help. While their reputation was stellar, my experience was less than. They did do a competent job on the rebuild of my transmission, but frustration grew very high for me. I would have them check the head with the standard tests, but I kept getting water in the oil. The gunk on the top right is what I pulled off the oil pump intake.



This is the car with emulsified oil. Wonderful huh?

Yes, a condition like this can be catastrophic. I knew I was having difficulties with something so I never did drive Zanardi like this. Over those 6 years the car was down, I randomly tried different things, but my heart wasn't in it. There were 2 previous attempts to fix the car. Going all the way down to removing the head. At great risk of life and limb, believe me, I towed the car from here to there and back again. But, I never did let the car go. Mostly Zanardi was stored in my garage, and promised that I would get the car the attention it needed. I just knew that at some point, the time would be right to get reaquanted with my old friend.

So, fast forward to today. Its been approximately 6 years since the car has been on the roads, and I'm consulting with the best of the best. There is an excellent support group called XANA at

http://www.network54.com/Forum/12159/

At XANA I have gotten the support that I need including motivation, comraderie and meeting other X heads like me.

In choosing to rebuild the car, I knew I just didn't want to put it on the road, I wanted to get the car looking better than when I first owned it. As I have once again disassembled the engine, I found a crack in the block that somehow went unnoticed. I began working with a new machine shop called R&D in Costa Mesa CA. John of R&D found that my head was more than .006 inches out of true. Remember, every time I had the head off I had it checked for true. So, the failed attempts to put Zanardi on the road came down to some of my negligence, and the negligence of the previous Fiat facility.

Its easy to get a head rebuilt and trued. Not so much to fix a crack in the block. First order of business was the get the head off. A new friend from XANA, Alex came down, and we first did compression tests, and a leak down test. The evidence was clear that there were problems. Of course I already knew this. One of the problems was that my head had frozen to the block. Something about Aluminum, water and metal causing a bond. Brett of Port Hueneme, a fellow XANA member and awesome Fiat guy heard that I was having issues with the stuck head. He was nice enough to get in touch with me and loan me a special head removal tool that got that B*tch off.

(Brett has an excellent '74 X1/9 that is for sale)

His Ad is at:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/112729/thread/1154050541/last-1154058081/FOR+SALE+1974++X1-9++$3000

Pictures are at:
http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h103/brette10/

Next up was to find the crack.


Viola


In finding the crack, I felt like I was on the right road to understanding what the problem was.
Next up was removing the head studs. Of course the studs were frozen in the block. I highly recommend PB Blaster for anyone that needs to unstick/unfreeze stubborn bolts, studs, etc.


Quick Commercial from our Sponsor

I did manage to get the studs out after a week of perpetual soaking of the stud threads with PB. I also used some Gin & Tonic, and I learned a few new swear words. Onward and upward.

In mid July, the head was sent out for rebuilding to R&D Performance for rebuilding. As highly touted as the other Fiat shop is, after two failed diagnosis, I won't be getting assistance from them again. The head was easily given a valve job, and the valves cleaned and seated.


The Before Picture

This past weekend, my friend, Alex, was generous enough to come tow the car down to the same R&D machine shop so I could have my block repaired.


Is the trailer worth more than the car?

The ride to the shop was of great interest. See, Alex's tow vehicle is a newer model Escalade. With 345 odd horse, it gets around. More interesting and of life peril is the fact that Alex has an X that is his Race Car. So needless to say people moved around him. Or should I say he moves them. I think I heard him say, "Well if I hit someone its with your car not mine." Yeah, fun drive. Seeing that Alex is a great resource, I can't really complain.


I'm quite sure he is thinking of how to antagonize people on XANA

Once R&D and I chose the best route, John went about drilling out the hole and retapping the threads.


John working


John tapping the threads

I'm known to be rather frugal. So, while at John's shop I managed to borrow his tap and compressed air to clean out the threads of the other block mounts. This will allow a proper seat of the studs and correct torque. Since the head has been planned, torque is going to be critical.

So, currently I'm finishing up cleaning some parts. I have the piston tops cleaned, and the accessories almost finished for installation. I do need to source an 84 millimeter stud with a 12 by 1.25 pitch. Anyone, anyone? Bueller, Bueller? This was because we drilled out the cracked portion of the stud area to thread the stud in deeper.

The engine has gone from this


Before

To this

B Level cleaning


Next on the list is to get back my intake manifold. Yes there is a story. I'm still on the fence post about getting the header Jet-Hot coated. I will be painting the accessory mounts for things like A/C and the Alternator Bracket. Sometime about 10 August, I will start bolting parts on.

Stay out of the Ice Plant medians kids.