FREE fiat x1/9 carcass with title - Detriot

In reply to Indy-Guy :

I look forward to meeting you on the field of battle:

By The Way, I was stoked to see the manual going in the TR. Party On.

I've been chipping away everything that doesn't look like a challenge car drivetrain.

Today's goal: the windshield.

Success! Sort of.

The goal was to get the windshield out whole. I went so far as to drive the 30 mile round trip to Harbor Freight to pick up a windshield removal kit. After snapping the garrote twice, I cracked the windshield. berkeley it, Sawzall. 

I have been going slow, learning, marking, and trying to not loose the plot. This is the most difficult vehicle I've ever stripped. Newest, too, and I suspect that has something to do with it, but it is largely like a ship in a bottle. I can't even see a lot of the fasteners I'm trying to remove. It is simply not intuitive. So much for the miniature crush I was forming on GT Cruisers. I do still appreciate Neons and SRT-4s

I watched a windshield guy one day. He had a blade like this. Was able to get it out quick and in one piece.

In reply to Stampie :

Well heck. I've got one of those. Oh well. I seriously doubt too many folks are on the hunt for a PT Cruiser windshield anyway.

Dodge of rhe era did.some wierd E36 M3 with assembly on all their cars. Dakota, neon, all of them. I know there had to be engineering and assembly line reasons, but I'll be dammed if I can figure it out 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Yeah, we're talking weird sized bolts, lots of glue, allen screws, torx, torx and more torx. I feel bad for anyone who had to do a heater core in one of these. Due to that stylized hood, which, honestly, I always liked, access is beyond poor. everything is on a bracket, attached to a bracket holding two things. Halleluja sawzall. I mean, I'm cutting car away, and still can't get to stuff. 

I may be the only person in history to improve access by swapping an engine into a tiny mid engined Italian car.

First coffee, then back into the fray.

Dohc neon is easier and quicker to pull the drivetrain and do the timing belt than do it in car....

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

No doubt true for anything on this thing, too. Like air filter, or oil changes. 

I kid.

Here's a weird thing. Almost all electrical connections have an additional safety.

That red bit is it, right there. To disconnect, you first have to slide it, THEN you can depress the little clip like every electrical connection I've seen since the 80's. Did Chysler have problems with electrical connections flying apart?

Gripe the second. I was trying to pull the booster, MC, Clutch MC, and the ABS box. After pulling the pedal box, only the MC would come out. The ABS bracket was blocking the booster, was blocking the clutch master. I sawzalled this much out of the firewall out:

Still no love. I finally snipped the lines to the ABS box, and got it free, which allowed me to remove its bracket, and everything finally came out. Keep in mind, I've already cut half the forward "frame horns" off. Also, plastic clutch master and line. Lame-O.

Of course you know, this means war.

Anybody see where I'm going with this?

Here's another hint. I got my 4X4 "sled" out from under it, put it on jackstands, and built a small table.

Some genius brought this thing in before realizing it had 3/4 of a tank.

I got this far, and decided to stop and think a bit. Glad I did. 

The original plan was to get the car high enough that I could cut the floor just in front of the tank, and wrangle the rear clip off, leaving the fuel tank connected. After a think, and a test jiggle, the new plan is to unhook the tank, slide it out on the table, and lower the rear back down, making a much safer situation for hacking it further.

Off topic, does anyone happen to know what these three vacuum do-dads are for?

They used to share a bracket with the cruise control diaphragm on top of the passenger's front strut tower.

I cut this part down. Saved the good quarter, though I strongly suspect it will go to scrap eventually. I also saved this bit of floor - being one of the flatter pieces of metal, it may have a use on the X yet. Also, I threw the bad quarter on the ever growing scrap heap.

So, all this amounts to me building a really big run stand with serrated edges. 

Next, I'll hook everything back up, confirm grounds, and start paring down the harness. I'd really like to get rid of the check engine light at this stage, too, but that likely requires getting a new cat and downstream O2 sensor. Someone pilfered them somewhere along the way.

Is that PT from Detroit?  I can't believe how little rust there is.  Would you be willing to cut out some of that clean metal on the passenger rear quarter above the wheel well?  Please let me know if so, and I get give you a better idea of what I'd be looking for.  

Also, those are solenoids for throttle inlet pressure, surge valve (BOV), and wastegate control.  You'll want to keep them if you are running factory pcm.

In reply to linkinparker445 :

Hey, Thanks for the info!

I think this thing was an Ohio vehicle, but not sure. A little crusty by my privileged Southern standards.

Sure, I'd be willing to cut up this quarter if you need patch panels. Anything else you want/need?

In reply to wheelsmithy :

I'm a bit of a PT Cruiser aficionado, and I think that looks pretty clean for an Ohio cruiser (I'm in Cleveland).  I've got two: my good one and my beater, but the good one is the one that needs the patch panel actually.  I've got lots of extra bits if you wind up needing something too, but I can't think of anything else I need from yours at the moment.  Thanks, I'll send you a PM!

edit: I just realized there is more to Ohio than salty northeast Ohio; I always forget that

That's a lot going on, along with the house upgrade work. Props!!!

In reply to 03Panther :

Props appreciated! 

To linkinparker445:

How's this look?

I assume if I leave about 1" of the fenderwell inside the lip, that will be good. Let me know what you think.

In other news, I got stuff hooked back up on my "run stand", and now, the engine fires up for a few seconds and dies. I suspect some kind of anti theft stuff that didn't like being unhooked then hooked back up.

I tossed and turned all last night, coming up with neurotic plans to get it running again. I have started neither research, nor diagnosis. Could be a ground I missed. Or having the ABS stuff off, or the airbag stuff, or.., or..

Cheers!

If the red dot is visible on the cluster while cranking it's skim issues. 

Per professor brap

To clear the skim issues. Unhook both terimnals and touch them together for 30sec. 

Professor_Brap said:

To clear the skim issues. Unhook both terimnals and touch them together for 30sec. 

Battery terminals?

Thanks!

For those, like me who didn't know, Sentry Key Immobilizer Module=S.K.I.M.

wheelsmithy said:

Professor_Brap said:

To clear the skim issues. Unhook both terimnals and touch them together for 30sec. 

Battery terminals?

Thanks!

For those, like me who didn't know, Sentry Key Immobilizer Module=S.K.I.M.

Thanks for decoding that.

It's like the LS swap guys talking about disabling the VATS in the computer.  It took me a LONG time to figure out that translates to "Vehicle Anti- Theft System"

In reply to wheelsmithy :

Yes sir. If you key it on, and let it set for a sec the red dot on cluster should go out. If it does check cam and crank signal. 

So, here's the potentially very bad truth.

After the cut, I never had gauge lights.

I did as suggested, touching pos and negative battery terminals together for 30 seconds, then hooked the battery up and nothing. The fuel pump would prime, but not even a click from the starter (the start relays do click, however). So I start poking around, and find a single wire to the ECU that had been severed. After soldering it back together, still nothing. I'm walking away for a spell.

Anyone know if the chip is in the key or the fob?

In reply to wheelsmithy :

Chip is in the key. 

Gotta be a ground issue. Gotta be.

Positive vibes greatly appreciated, fellas. I was sweating bullets on this one, and was so upset with myself, I had to walk away before I could approach it with any logic whatsoever.

What happened was this- On the stock PT, the gauge cluster screws into a shallow plastic box, which holds the two electric connections. As such, Chrysler figured 1. No clips necessary 2. There is no way you can get those connectors upside down.

I had them plugged in upside down. All is as well as before. NOW I can start paring down the harness. Guess the X has to have PT gauges, as the ECU needs them to run. Much relief.

In other news, I sold my first part. linkinparker graciously purchased a patch panel. 

The scrap heap embiggens.

For E36 M3s and giggles, unplug the cluster for me and see if it starts. I'm pretty sure with it unplugged it should start.