1987 Bertone X1/9 FS in Austin TX

I was thinking of giving this fellow a call for a look see. Given this car's current state of health I think his price is a wee optimistic. Lets hope he's a flexin' Texan.
 
It was hit in the front and fixed using another X for parts which he offers in the sale. So make sure you get the whole story and pics about this accident
 
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Your looking for a nice car, this looks real good. Maybe you should jump on this one. And I see your from earth so your pretty close.:)

I like the style of the earlier X 1/9s. Just more my style...but this one sure is pretty!
 
I met the current owner Jack today and went for a ride in his car. He's a total gearhead like myself and we spent almost as much time talking about our other projects as we did about the '87. He's really into small flying boats right now.

The 10 year old repaint presents well including the left front corner that was impacted by a lady in a jeep while parked. It sounded like the jeep drove over the top of the car! The body shop that did the work replaced the fender, nose, hood and left headlight, then resprayed the entire car including door jambs. It matches well with the original paint in the engine compartment. I inspected inside the left headlight compartment and saw only some slight panel marks where the inner fender was straightened at the front. If I hadn't been looking for it I'd never have known. I inspected the usual areas looking for rust and only found one tiny area at the bottom of the driver door that looked like it might be starting to bubble and there is a spot of surface rust on the rear grille visible in the photos. Body panel gaps all look good. The top looks like the seals and drip edges need replacement. Other weather stripping looked good. The velour on the seats will need to be replaced but the original seat covers are still intact under the slip covers. The dash is cracked in 3 or 4 places. All the gauges look good and function normally. The glove box hinge is broken as usual. Black carpet looks surprisingly good. I think floor mats have always been installed.

Mechanically, the engine was struggling to hold a smooth idle. I personally think it's a vacuum leak allowing in unmetered air but didn't have a chance to spray it. There was a makeshift silicone repair done to the auxiliary air circuit that looked suspect. Jack, the owner thinks it may be that or stale gas. I'd bet the ribbed inlet hose is cracked somewhere too. I really don't think it's because of the lightened flywheel. We got the car out on the feeder road and ran it up to about 6000 rpm. The engine sounded good in the upper range so I don't think it's cat restricted. No overheating was observed and the car warmed up at the same rate as mine. I was able to determine the car does have the thermostat installed. Brakes and clutch appeared to work well though I didn't drive it myself. The car's hoses are hard and some are starting to crack. It will need new hoses all around. I didn't get a chance to assess the steering and suspension properly but felt and heard nothing extraordinary in the drive. Jack replaced the steering rack in the past because of a failed bushing.

The a/c condenser is off the car but included in the sale along with many other parts, repair manuals, and Bosch Injection books. There are also major service records for the Vic's engine work and body repairs and several other things I took pictures of. Bottom line, I think with a bit of mechanical and interior work this would make a nice attractive driver in short order. I asked about the price. Jack said he is willing to flex some. I took some pictures of the car and records. PM me if you'd like to see them. Lets help this nice survivor find a caring home!
 
The guy in selling the X in Austin, Texas is actually a ..
Oh, wait, that's me.

And, the ad is correct, and the idea that I might be flexible is also true. I broke down and dug into it today.
Yes, there's silicon on the intake hose, actually, shoe goo (as per..). And, the old has been cleaned off and re-applied.
That helped a bit, but not enough, so I pulled the auxiliary air valve, cleaned that, and re-adjusted it to close all
the way. While all of that was apart, I'd dug into an extra air metering box, and adjusted it for a lighter spring, more fuel/air, which I'd been meaning to do for.. Idles now, at around 1400, might get better with a bit more
driving and tinkering, but with the lightened flywheel, I wouldn't expect much better. Found slack in the accelerator linkage, got rid of that, readjusted everything, and it's ready to drive (to someone else's) home. Pulls much better, and the random miss/stumble while running at low speed seems to be gone. Much nicer. But, still too many projects.
(you tube "granger lake splashin" - that one is too slow, so I'm building a faster one. Takes a lot of bandwidth, and it's not the only iron in the fire.)

So, here's the deal. Deer Season starts on the 2nd in Texas, so I'll be out of pocket starting on the 1st, thru maybe the 7th. I have an 87 X that's been getting rat-chewed, which was the donor for this X, and before that, my previous driver. Some parts have been pulled, but the transmission, (some crunch) and engine are still there, glass is ok, etc. I have some pictures of it somewhere, but I'll take a few more while I'm out hunting- it's in Comanche county, Texas, near Rising Star.
I'll sell the running X (in Austin) for $5500, and if you pick up the other X within a month (flatbed/hauler required) I'll rebate $500..

Any interest?

Jack
Austin, TX
 
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