Cooling System Overhaul - Fiat x1/9 [Ep 8] 

It gives me great satisfaction upgrading components on this car to a more modern setup for reliability, while keeping the car looking mostly period correct! I have more changes in mind for better cooling capacity, stay tuned ;)

Good job mate looks bloody good I used to have one of these cars you’re not the only one going through all this drama….. When I did my radiator I was advised to keep it because it was 100% copper and apparently that’s a rare thing and a good thing for cooling so they just rodded it out….. One thing that you could do is take the engine cover off and underneath there’s a rain tray you can drill out the rivets and remove the rain tray so that from the top those slots are completely open……. If it’s a Sunday driver and you never drive in the wet I would do that and get a hold of a second one as a spare so that if it is wet you can just bolt that on the night before…… it’s four nuts it’s nothing

The thermostatic switches fail more on 124s and other fiats due to the absence of a relay to handle the current of the fan...im glad yours had a relay. Also the same goes for the headlights no sure on the x but many fiats the lights current passes thru the switch gear and even the ignition switch ...installing relays so the switches an the ignistion switch is turning on relays will make her much more reliable...the ignition switches burned out alot especially with higer output bulbs . Plus the lights will burn brighter with a properly installed fused relay circuit. They even sell high amp relays 100 200 amp capacity that you can have the complete output of the igniton switch solely controling the relay. If you open the ignition switch you will see the contacts are very small in comparison to the liad it carries causing high resistance. As always use fuses proper gague wire neatness and always gromets when passing wires through bulk heads and fire walls ...most fires are not started by gas its the electrical system 95 percent of the time

Forgot to mention : There´s an upgrade thermostatic switch that kicks in 5°C earlier, helps as well.

Awesome video! Thank you!

Nice work, keep going ;-)

Dude this gives me so much inspiration to rebuild the one my aunt has!! Any tips before I dive in?

I was always intrigued as to why the radiator had studs for 2 fans but the car only had one. I acquired a 2nd fan from a scrap car and fitted it to the other position, wiring it to a manual switch in one of the spare switch points in the dash - probably in a not too dissimilar circuit to yours. This was before I had much understanding about current (or anything, really) and whilst it really did seem to help when stuck in summer traffic hell, I suspect the root cause problem was more likely a gunked up cooling system and sticky thermostat. It is likely that I blew a few fuses by asking too much of the (appallingly awful) original wiring loom. If someone gave me one today (Lido please), I think the 1st thing I'd do is completely re-wire the whole car using connectors that actually work and cables that conduct more that just water. That and a glass panel sunroof for the few occasions that it was raining too hard to drive with the roof off. Oh, and strip the whole thing back to "metal" (or at least the 50:50 steel:iron oxide mix that they were made from) and galvanise the whole thing. And fit an Ansa exhaust because it's rude not to.

Did it work? We had a gorgeous silver X19 with leather seats and it continually overheated.

Great video! You should do one on the brakes

Great vid please post an update on the 037

I'd like to install bypass switch like yours for when my car gets a little too hot for my liking. Can you link to the splitter you used to come off the relay? I can't picture any setup that would give you the connection spade and allow the relay to properly sit in its holder. Thanks for another great video.

Where did you source the radiator. I've fitted a new core in mine at a cost of $805au. The other car needs a new rad too.

Hello again my friend. Sorry but, I must say turning the fan upside down does not change the main direction of the air flow. It "scoops" the same way, only the fin´s airfoil is opposite. OR did you have the fan turning in the opposite direction as well ?? (forgive me if I am "teaching" you, it just struck me right away) Great job you´re doing btw :)