About time I did a thread about my 1985 X1/9 VS. I have wanted one of these for at least 10 years. Was putting a lot of hours into my MK2 Punto so thought I may as well put the time into maintaining something a bit more fun. I got the car back in Nov 2013 with a fresh MOT. The car was described as an older restoration and looked great. It covered a 200+ journey, i picked the car up from near Oxford and drove it home. The car was everything i expected and more. My crazy plan was to use it as my daily driver. This is my first car with a Carb! The roof comes off most days its not raining and fits under the bonnet.
VS came with leather seats and steering wheel and this one originally had a rare body colour roof which the PO painted as he thought it was wrong...
Luminition ignition had been fitted and a manual choke, all else totally original. I wasn't too keen on the two tone paint, wheels or plastic bumpers but the 80's package really grew on me a lot! For at least 3 months the car was faultless other than a bad earth effecting the headlight lifter motors.
A wiper arm flew off (a plastic universal one inspecting the debris) whilst navigating a roundabout - one frequently has to slow down for other cars when in an X on a roundabout
, of course I am a very courteous driver.
I don't have a garage currently and believe if the car is used regularly then this isn't a big problem, its lasted this long. It's been waxoiled well and has a few blemishes, its not a show car but looks pretty smart. Eventually it became apparent that there was a leak in the car, after suspecting it would leak badly from day 1 I was pleasantly surprised. After driving for weeks sitting on a plastic bag to avoid wet pants and a bit of detective work sitting in the dark watching drips of water I found it was coming through the door card. The polythene liner had been removed when someone had previously attempted to repair the drivers door lock pawl. This was broken when i bought the car so i fixed it at the same time, the part is shared with the Ferrari 308 by the way
.
job done! no more wet bum!
The exhaust rusted out so i got hold of a used item and attempted to use HT paint to prolong its life, what a waste of time that was... The X1/9 has an amazing access hatch in the rear boot which means you can remove the drive shafts, exhaust, manifolds and alternator without even going under the car!!! It really is an amazing design. There is also an access hatch behind the drivers seat for the distributor.
I think that's the 3rd or 4th exhaust gasket i have fitted so far...
The next issue was the clutch slave, which allowed me to destroy the remains of 4th gear syncromesh
. Next time my clutch fails i will turn the car off, engage 2nd gear and restart to get off a roundabout!!! I'm learning SO much from this car!
After replacing the clutch slave i then drove the car a few thousand miles without 4th gear (its a 5 speed) Then the clutch started slipping so much it was no fun anymore and i set about finding a replacement box. The parts to repair the box would have been at least 200+ and recon box's are about 700 exchange so I was lucky to find a good second hand box on ebay for £150 - only it came bolted to a 1600 Fiat Tempra i.e. engine and had already been fitted to an X in the past!!! Pallet from Glasgow was cheaper than a new clutch (clutch kit £80) and yes it had a good clutch fitted and included the ecu and wiring loom + loads of other bits!
Obviously the mainstream approach is to fit an Uno turbo engine or Punto GT (harder) but I wanted to keep things simple... I've got two young kids... and not enough dough...
I carefully considered keeping the original engine fitted, even fitting the fuel injection to the 1500... only the car had developed a bit of a stink which I couldn't figure out. Tried adjusting the mixture, Colortune etc etc and it became quite an issue, causing headaches etc... not very nice at all! eventually it turned out the carb was loose!!!! and leaking air, totally wrecking the mixture, I think it must have been like this for a long time!
Pretty fed up with the carb I swapped the engine and gearbox for the Tempra. I hadn't found it very cheap on fuel so thought this would be a bonus. While the car was off the road I also started to de-bumper it, I didn't mind the original bumpers but wouldn't have forgiven myself if I didn't have a go! I am modifying the car so it can always be returned to original spec if required... There are not too many of these left on the road.
rear end debumper is straitforward and looks ok without the bumper. I have a 'square' plate to go on at some point. Note mini led motorcycle no plate light -no drilling here!
In the first few months of ownership a vw Lupo reversed into the car in a pub car park. The lady owned up and i even helped pop her bumper back out, i never noticed any damage to the X thanks to the original bumpers... ?
Engine out the bottom and lift car up to remove. Front end after bumper removal. Harder to sort out than the back. Original front side lights are very hard to get hold of and pricey. front spoiler / valance are available but £200+. This car looks so good with the wheels missing?
original engine to be stored for another time...
new Tempra/Tipo/Maria 1600 i.e. engine with Bosch Motronic Injection
1600 fitted after a full weekend. Engine bay painted quickly to preserve while engine was out. Note custom throttle cable bracket fitted to original rocker cover. Wiring requiring big tidy up, lengthening etc. Metal fuel filter now fitted. New HT leads, Even the fuel pump came with the engine!
The original air filter is too high to close the lid, so is a K&N from my legendary Cinquecento Sporting. So I found a Cinq 899 bob which fits ok and have used a remote pod filter which sounds great!
I have to admit the power of this engine is only 5hp more than the original and it feels pretty similar on the road. It does about 40mpg compared to about 25-30mpg which is great! It starts effortlessly, no more pumping the gas 4 times before starting.
I have replaced the horrible fiberglass insulation in the rear boot with dynamat stuff and removed the insulation on the rear engine bulkhead.
temporary land rover bump stops fitted as over riders on the bumper mounts.
I have some Revolution RFX 13's waiting till the fitted Michelin tyres wear out.
It WILL be lowered 30mm when the engine has been fully sorted. waiting for HT leads and it possibly needs a new coil.
Note cinq and punto side repeaters fitted to wire mesh... I'm working on the front valence - fitted tonight with some mesh for the front grille. To fit a 1300 front grill the 1500 brackets need to be cut off... Cant do that. I'm loving the 'Tron' wheels, i think they are the only wheels fitted to the X badged Cromodora and Bertone? IMO 80s is coming back in
I will probably fit fiberglass 1300 corner bumpers eventually.
Thats the brief story so far. More to come...
I still have to plug my Ipod in for the headlight motors to work... ? bad earth me thinks... I haven't sorted the anti clockwise rev counter with the ecu signal, can be done with diodes i think. Need to get oil pressure gauge working. The window is falling out too.
a lot more about the engine swap here: www.x1-9ownersclub.org.uk/forum/virtual-garage/29604-fiat-tempra-engine-swap/reply.html
VS came with leather seats and steering wheel and this one originally had a rare body colour roof which the PO painted as he thought it was wrong...
Luminition ignition had been fitted and a manual choke, all else totally original. I wasn't too keen on the two tone paint, wheels or plastic bumpers but the 80's package really grew on me a lot! For at least 3 months the car was faultless other than a bad earth effecting the headlight lifter motors.
A wiper arm flew off (a plastic universal one inspecting the debris) whilst navigating a roundabout - one frequently has to slow down for other cars when in an X on a roundabout
, of course I am a very courteous driver.I don't have a garage currently and believe if the car is used regularly then this isn't a big problem, its lasted this long. It's been waxoiled well and has a few blemishes, its not a show car but looks pretty smart. Eventually it became apparent that there was a leak in the car, after suspecting it would leak badly from day 1 I was pleasantly surprised. After driving for weeks sitting on a plastic bag to avoid wet pants and a bit of detective work sitting in the dark watching drips of water I found it was coming through the door card. The polythene liner had been removed when someone had previously attempted to repair the drivers door lock pawl. This was broken when i bought the car so i fixed it at the same time, the part is shared with the Ferrari 308 by the way
. job done! no more wet bum!
The exhaust rusted out so i got hold of a used item and attempted to use HT paint to prolong its life, what a waste of time that was... The X1/9 has an amazing access hatch in the rear boot which means you can remove the drive shafts, exhaust, manifolds and alternator without even going under the car!!! It really is an amazing design. There is also an access hatch behind the drivers seat for the distributor.
I think that's the 3rd or 4th exhaust gasket i have fitted so far...
The next issue was the clutch slave, which allowed me to destroy the remains of 4th gear syncromesh
. Next time my clutch fails i will turn the car off, engage 2nd gear and restart to get off a roundabout!!! I'm learning SO much from this car! After replacing the clutch slave i then drove the car a few thousand miles without 4th gear (its a 5 speed) Then the clutch started slipping so much it was no fun anymore and i set about finding a replacement box. The parts to repair the box would have been at least 200+ and recon box's are about 700 exchange so I was lucky to find a good second hand box on ebay for £150 - only it came bolted to a 1600 Fiat Tempra i.e. engine and had already been fitted to an X in the past!!! Pallet from Glasgow was cheaper than a new clutch (clutch kit £80) and yes it had a good clutch fitted and included the ecu and wiring loom + loads of other bits!
Obviously the mainstream approach is to fit an Uno turbo engine or Punto GT (harder) but I wanted to keep things simple... I've got two young kids... and not enough dough...
I carefully considered keeping the original engine fitted, even fitting the fuel injection to the 1500... only the car had developed a bit of a stink which I couldn't figure out. Tried adjusting the mixture, Colortune etc etc and it became quite an issue, causing headaches etc... not very nice at all! eventually it turned out the carb was loose!!!! and leaking air, totally wrecking the mixture, I think it must have been like this for a long time!
Pretty fed up with the carb I swapped the engine and gearbox for the Tempra. I hadn't found it very cheap on fuel so thought this would be a bonus. While the car was off the road I also started to de-bumper it, I didn't mind the original bumpers but wouldn't have forgiven myself if I didn't have a go! I am modifying the car so it can always be returned to original spec if required... There are not too many of these left on the road.
rear end debumper is straitforward and looks ok without the bumper. I have a 'square' plate to go on at some point. Note mini led motorcycle no plate light -no drilling here!
In the first few months of ownership a vw Lupo reversed into the car in a pub car park. The lady owned up and i even helped pop her bumper back out, i never noticed any damage to the X thanks to the original bumpers... ?
Engine out the bottom and lift car up to remove. Front end after bumper removal. Harder to sort out than the back. Original front side lights are very hard to get hold of and pricey. front spoiler / valance are available but £200+. This car looks so good with the wheels missing?
original engine to be stored for another time...
new Tempra/Tipo/Maria 1600 i.e. engine with Bosch Motronic Injection
1600 fitted after a full weekend. Engine bay painted quickly to preserve while engine was out. Note custom throttle cable bracket fitted to original rocker cover. Wiring requiring big tidy up, lengthening etc. Metal fuel filter now fitted. New HT leads, Even the fuel pump came with the engine!
The original air filter is too high to close the lid, so is a K&N from my legendary Cinquecento Sporting. So I found a Cinq 899 bob which fits ok and have used a remote pod filter which sounds great!
I have to admit the power of this engine is only 5hp more than the original and it feels pretty similar on the road. It does about 40mpg compared to about 25-30mpg which is great! It starts effortlessly, no more pumping the gas 4 times before starting.
I have replaced the horrible fiberglass insulation in the rear boot with dynamat stuff and removed the insulation on the rear engine bulkhead.
temporary land rover bump stops fitted as over riders on the bumper mounts.
I have some Revolution RFX 13's waiting till the fitted Michelin tyres wear out.
It WILL be lowered 30mm when the engine has been fully sorted. waiting for HT leads and it possibly needs a new coil.
Note cinq and punto side repeaters fitted to wire mesh... I'm working on the front valence - fitted tonight with some mesh for the front grille. To fit a 1300 front grill the 1500 brackets need to be cut off... Cant do that. I'm loving the 'Tron' wheels, i think they are the only wheels fitted to the X badged Cromodora and Bertone? IMO 80s is coming back in
I will probably fit fiberglass 1300 corner bumpers eventually.
Thats the brief story so far. More to come...
I still have to plug my Ipod in for the headlight motors to work... ?
bad earth me thinks... I haven't sorted the anti clockwise rev counter with the ecu signal, can be done with diodes i think. Need to get oil pressure gauge working. The window is falling out too. a lot more about the engine swap here: www.x1-9ownersclub.org.uk/forum/virtual-garage/29604-fiat-tempra-engine-swap/reply.html
