Starting with the X1/9...Back in 2005 I was looking for a project car, it had to be cheap to buy and run, fun to drive, good looking and easy to work on, so that with a little help I could do every work myself. I also wanted something extraordinary, and not just a pretty body on a "normal" chassis.
Well, not sure how the X1/9 came in, but after seeing and hearing one on the highway I was sure I needed one.
I met a great guy who had several, lots of spare parts and even more knowledge. He not only helped me with looking for a car to buy, but also taught me basic car mechanics.
Shortly after we located my car in the northern part of Germany. It wasn't in the greatest of shapes and stood in a damp garage for 4 years, but I got some extra parts with it and the engine had already had some work done to it and double Webers installed.
This is what it looked like when we picked it up (I sadly had a simple camera back then and pictures suck):
Here it is on the first day of work, ripping everything out...
It turned out it was a bit rusty in some areas but nothing really serious.
the over-the-top stainless stell quad exhausts I got with the car...
The engine was running, just the distributor stopped working after some time. The engine bay was a mess, though.
Besides that, the master brake and clutch cylinders were leaking, everything else was pretty much ok except for parts turned to red dust.
But luckily the X1/9 is built rather strong and the structural bits weren't affected much.
The biggest rust hole, end of the right hand sill:
The frontal quarter of the floorpan looked bad, but could be fixed easily:
The interior and the rusty floorpans:
Wet rockwool ate away parts of the rear boot:
Years ago the front was damaged and it wasn't fixed very good, the rust proofing was especially bad:
To be honest we hurried a bit with the repairs as Summer was coming...nothing to be proud of. But some welding later...
...we passed the examination and it was road legal again:
The lower part of the body was brown-metallic, never a fan of that, so I painted it matte-black. The rims were in need of new paint aswell, polishing was not an option, as they are magnesium, so I painted them black aswell.
After about 2 months the engine broke down, all the standing wasn’t too healthy we guessed, so I swapped in a regular one. I also changed the quad exhaust to a singular one.
Drove it all the way to Italy and back that summer without a problem.
Some weeks after that, a connector melted, so the electrics didn’t work. It was easy to fix, but the electrics remain the biggest weakness, worse than the rust!
Well, not sure how the X1/9 came in, but after seeing and hearing one on the highway I was sure I needed one.
I met a great guy who had several, lots of spare parts and even more knowledge. He not only helped me with looking for a car to buy, but also taught me basic car mechanics.
Shortly after we located my car in the northern part of Germany. It wasn't in the greatest of shapes and stood in a damp garage for 4 years, but I got some extra parts with it and the engine had already had some work done to it and double Webers installed.
This is what it looked like when we picked it up (I sadly had a simple camera back then and pictures suck):
Here it is on the first day of work, ripping everything out...
It turned out it was a bit rusty in some areas but nothing really serious.
the over-the-top stainless stell quad exhausts I got with the car...
The engine was running, just the distributor stopped working after some time. The engine bay was a mess, though.
Besides that, the master brake and clutch cylinders were leaking, everything else was pretty much ok except for parts turned to red dust.
But luckily the X1/9 is built rather strong and the structural bits weren't affected much.
The biggest rust hole, end of the right hand sill:
The frontal quarter of the floorpan looked bad, but could be fixed easily:
The interior and the rusty floorpans:
Wet rockwool ate away parts of the rear boot:
Years ago the front was damaged and it wasn't fixed very good, the rust proofing was especially bad:
To be honest we hurried a bit with the repairs as Summer was coming...nothing to be proud of. But some welding later...
...we passed the examination and it was road legal again:
The lower part of the body was brown-metallic, never a fan of that, so I painted it matte-black. The rims were in need of new paint aswell, polishing was not an option, as they are magnesium, so I painted them black aswell.
After about 2 months the engine broke down, all the standing wasn’t too healthy we guessed, so I swapped in a regular one. I also changed the quad exhaust to a singular one.
Drove it all the way to Italy and back that summer without a problem.
Some weeks after that, a connector melted, so the electrics didn’t work. It was easy to fix, but the electrics remain the biggest weakness, worse than the rust!