Hi all,
It took me a while to get back to checking out all of the e-mail. But,
thanks for everyone's responses.
A quick update since I last e-mailed--I went ahead and bought the parts I
needed to pass the safety inspection from Motorhead since they're next door
to a friend's house. There's supposedly a British car shop a bit further
out from where I am (in case it's of any interest, I'm in Falls Church,
Va--a suburb of Washington, DC). Anyway, for any stuff that requires a shop
I'll take it to Motorhead I guess, or to that other place unless someone
knows of a great, well-priced shop in the DC area. However, I do most of my
own work on the car. In fact, I pretty much have to do my own work on the
Fiat since there's only one shop in the region that does X1/9 service, and
they're a bit overpriced.
However, a new problem has arisen: emission controls. As some may be
aware, Northern Virginia is a test market for what may become the new
nationwide emission regulations. As a result they are -extremely- stringent
(tougher than California, believe it or not). ALL cars back to 1968 require
an emissions test including a visual inspection and either a two-speed idle
test (at idle and 2500 RPM) or a highway test where the drivewheels are put
on a dynamometer which puts a load on the engine and allows the car to
effectively drive in place at 15MPH and 25MPH (the test speeds).
Fortunately, the Spit' is in the two-speed test category.
The problem may arise that the previous owner took out all of the emission
controls (including some of the genuinely beneficial ones like EVAP). The
good thing is that this was a leaded-fuel car that may get waived through.
On top of this, it wasn't required to have an emissions map posted on the
car for '76.
The point of all of this is that I may not be able to get the car legal.
If so I don't know what I'll do. The performance isn't good enough for
racing right now, and the cost of getting it legal may be extraordinarily
high. I guess I'll just have to see what happens.
Again, thanks everyone for their responses, they are greatly appreciated.
- Mike Hightower
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