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Monthly Archives: April 2007

Village Coffee Roasters

Posted on April 30, 2007 by rmmj
No comments

It was Sunday 4am and I could not barely catch a minute of sleep all night. I think I had too much espresso the night before. But I had planned on meeting up with Alex Kovatch out on the test track at El Toro to see and experience the latest edition of his X1/9, however I decided that I would instead trek up to Calabasas early then head home from there.

Here’s some pics from the latest and greatest “Super Car Sunday”.

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17 Photos

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17 Photos

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17 Photos

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31 Photos

Categories: Fiat

Trip Report: Las Vegas to Orange County to Las Vegas

Posted on April 29, 2007 by rmmj
1 comment

April 15, 2007: The trip was fairly uneventful and going smooth as usual. I had stopped in Barstow to fill up with gas and pick up some lunch then continued on my way. About 10 miles south of Barstow, I experienced a slight hesitation where the motor suddenly start to cut out and then kick back in. It happened so fast and things returned to normal that I suspected it may have just been a clogged fuel filter since I had just filled up from a nearly empty tank.

April 27, 2007: After leaving the car at the airport parking for a week while I literally flew off to work, I returned and started to exit the parking lot when it acted up again. This time it happened several times but again returned to normal. I began suspecting my ignition was the culprit as suggested by Gregory Smith on XWEB and went to a nearby Radio Shack to pick up some electrical pieces in the event I needed to do some type of roadside modification to the system (more on that later).

April 28, 2007: Drove all over Orange County and out to Little Saigon for dinner with no problems. The temps were cool outside so it was perfect for top-off driving. Again, no problems.

April 29, 2007: Took off for Calabasas to attend Village Coffee Roasters. The 45 minute drive from OC went flawless. I departed Southern California for Las Vegas near mid-day and that’s when my problems began. Slightly after noon in Barstow, the motor started cutting out again this time for an extended period of time in which once it came back on full-throttle but the next time, the motor died. I watched the tachometer as it slowly went down to zero as the car shut off. Afterwards, it would start right up again, but then cut out shortly after. I was able to make it to a safe location off of the freeway exit both times it shut off and I knew that the next exit in Barstow had a service station so I decided that I could try to make it another mile to get there and luckily I was able to. On the prior stops, I contacted Doug Lindeman to seek out advice on what to check. We went through the following:

Pulled off the air filter and with the ignition switch in the on position with the car off, pushed in the flap on the air flow meter to test that the fuel pump came on. Result: OK

Checked the wiring connection from the coil to the distributor. Result: OK

Checked the wiring connections on the distributor. Result: OK

In the back of my mind all day Friday and Saturday was Gregory’s post about ignition. I decided that it was time to do the infamous Brown Wire Mod as I was determined to make it back to Vegas IN MY FIAT. So, looking in my toolkit, which I had just decided would be a good idea to start carrying, I got out a few tools and the wiring things I bought from Radio Shack the day before. I was still short some items, but the service station with a 24-hour on-duty mechanic was more than happy to supply me with these bits free of charge. I just simply followed the BWM as posted in XWEB. I did not have time nor the patience in the 100 degree heat to do anything fancy, so I just tore off the covers and ran the wire from the battery and in through the drivers-side window. I cut about a half-inch off of the existing brown (+) wire on the ignition switch and tied the new wire from the battery onto it. I remember reading that this should be fused so I stuck an in-line fuse I had lying around in the glove box and that completed the circuit.

 

 

This seemed to work. The idea was to provide additional load capacity to the ignition circuit which would help it from cutting out. I think heat was a huge factor, in addition to all of the accessories I have added over the last few months – all of which run off of this one switch. As an added precaution, I turned off all the accessories inside the car: amp, stereo, door chime, interior lighting, etc… I had no further issues, even as ambient temps went as high as 108 degrees in the Mojave. Of course, after I completed the modification, I loaded up on ice and water!

Now, I thought I had faced the worst in solving this issue but then another issue presented itself: cooling. It became increasingly difficult to maintain cool temperatures throughout the remainder of the drive and suddenly I completely forgot about the electrical issue and overheating became my primary focus. Interstate 15 has many stretches of long climbs where vehicles travel slowly and I was frequently caught behind slow people and that contributed to the increasing temps. Even with 2 cooling fans and the heat ON, I still reached red. I had to pull over several times to cool down, which took about 15 minutes each time, and temps returned to the 190 range. During one of the stops, I took the time to rerun the new wire from the BWM through the firewall behind the instrument panel and under the dash.

I finally made it home 6 hours later…hot and sweaty…wound up, but not wounded and now I have a few small projects to complete…

Special thanks to Gregory Smith and Doug Lindeman! …….and of course The Brown Wire Mod!

Categories: Fiat, Trip Report, X1/9

Michelle Castillo Photo Shoot

Posted on April 15, 2007 by rmmj
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Michelle Castillo lives in Orange County, CA. She’s agreed to do photo shoots and other car media projects with my Bertone and with the other car clubs. Look for more of her in upcoming videos, photographic materials and blog entries. I’m doing all of the shooting myself so look (and hope) for me to do a better job on that too!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Fiat, Photography, X1/9

Marie Claire Photo Shoot

Posted on April 14, 2007 by rmmj
No comments

Today’s gathering with the Las Vegas Italian Auto Club took place begining with the usual meeting at Bootlegger Restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. After we assembled and had a few drinks, we all drove to the A&W Restaurant in Boulder City where we met with a photojournalist from the Italian Press who took professional pictures of our cars. Also, A&W has a long tradition of hosting car events and they participated with taking pictures as well.

After the photo shoot, the club went out to Scott’s beautiful home which is situated atop a secluded piece of property with an unobstructed view of Lake Mead. We were treated to an open bar, rare and exclusive artwork throughout the home, and an incredible view of the lake. Thank you Scott for hosting us!

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Categories: Car Shows, Fiat, X1/9

Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop

Posted on April 8, 2007 by rmmj
1 comment

It was a late Sunday afternoon and Greg Silver and I decided to take a quick drive through Red Rock Canyon. We also shot some video which needs to be edited….I’ll post those up later…Red Rock Canyon is located about 20 miles north of Summerlin off the 215 Freeway at Charleston. There is an entrance fee of $5 and the park is open until 8pm…..pics…

http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/

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Categories: Fiat, Gatherings, X1/9
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