'80 EFI X 1/9...how long until this engine goes *pop*??? Everyone commenting is GOLD!!!

WantAnX1/9

Stuck in gear, leaking fluids, fire in progress...
Hello all. Life gets in the way, and stopped me from finding my X 1/9 when I was last here two years ago. Now I think I am in the right place in my career, and there is a kind local gent who has an '80 X 1/9 with 99,xxx miles that I'm going to look at tomorrow.

The car smokes on startup, and the valves tick...a lot.

Also, syncro on 3rd gear is gone.

The car has been repainted, and there is a little rust peaking out from the bottom of the doors, windshield frame...but the shock towers, trunk corners, sills, bulkhead/firewall all appear to be solid.

The interior is all there, and in remarkable shape, given her age.

So...I'm guessing engine and gearbox both need a total teardown and rebuild? I have no idea what to budget for this.

If I keep the car away from rain, fog, mist, water in general, how much can I slow the march of rust before I can take her down to the bare shell and make things right before a proper respray?

Totally excited to road test the car tomorrow. Finally going to drive an X 1/9!

Any advice or thoughts from the resident X 1/9 Yodas is greatly appreciated! I still have a LOT to learn!
 
What color is the smoke? White, blue or black?

Ticking likely means a valve adjustment which you will do for the perished valve seals anyway.

It would be worth doing a compression test dry and then wet (squirt oil in the cylinders) to see if the smoking is from the valve seals or the piston rings. It will also give you some sense of the overall health of the engine and to a limited degree the starter.

The engine could be as simple as a rebuilt head so 600 bucks or a whole bunch more depending on how bad it is.

Yes a tranaxle rebuild is in the offing. @2000 bucks shipped to your door (shipping both ways to Steve Hoelscher)

If you can keep the car basically dry when stored and dry it out after being in the rain when driving the tin worm can be held at bay for a long time. The windshield area would be the big concern. Going in and fixing that regardless of the rest of the car would be important.

If I were you I would try for the least rusty car possible. Doors and other things that are bolted to the body can be found, the rest of the body you want to be the best it can be.
 
Thank you, Karl! Don't know the color of the smoke...will look at the car tomorrow and report back.
 
1980, carb or FI? Just curious.

I will agree with Karl, find the best body you can as a starting point. Of course, it sounds like you are getting a smoking deal. (couldn't resist that one) 😈 ;) :D :cool: :)

Seriously, if you like the car and think it is a good deal, buy it. Anything can be fixed with effort, time and money.
 
1980, carb or FI? Just curious.

I will agree with Karl, find the best body you can as a starting point. Of course, it sounds like you are getting a smoking deal. (couldn't resist that one) 😈 ;) :D :cool: :)

Seriously, if you like the car and think it is a good deal, buy it. Anything can be fixed with effort, time and money.
Thank you, Jim!

I don't know, if it needs a gearbox rebuild, minimum, and bodywork...a rebuilt head...starting to get a bit spendy.

It will largely depend on what he wants to sell it for. In New England, these cars do NOT come up for sale often, and are almost always a rotbox of rust and neglect. This example looks to be well cared for, but I'm worried about playing hot potato/musical chairs with some seriously expensive gremlins who all need to be addressed at once before I can even start enjoying the car. I'm not Jay Leno, but I'm not destitute, either.

FYI, my max budget is $10k, but for that price, I expect a solid, no excuses "driver" that just needs a couple things as they pop up. If he says $4k-$6k, I'll probably go for it, even with the concerns listed. Just a LOT of mechanical chickens seem to be coming home to roost all at once. A bit daunting, if I'm honest.

It really goes against me that these cars weren't common even when new. Getting more rare by the day.

Damn you, Ghandini, for making such a sexy sports car!

I might not get to sleep tonight. I've not so much as gotten a chance to sit in an X 1/9...let alone drive one! I've wanted one for over 20 years. I'm nervous and excited simultaneously.

If the numbers don't make sense, he will just have to sell it to someone braver or even more foolish than I. We'll see tomorrow...I'm getting an X 1/9, but it has to be the right one.
 
f he says $4k-$6k, I'll probably go for it, even with the concerns listed. Just a LOT of mechanical chickens seem to be coming home to roost all at once. A bit daunting, if I'm honest.
Umm, maybe $4K tops. Don't get overwhelmed by the nostalgia, be patient and practical. Post pictures and further info here before you take the leap.

BTW - I just noticed it says 80 EFI right in the thread title. DOH! :)
 
If the transmission is only have a bad 3rd syncro, I would say keep it that way and learn to shift smoothly. This is a commun problem on x19s, and usually, once fix, they don't last long.

Also, the rust around the windhshield is the other part that bug me. If it is just a bubble, maybe take a chance, but if there is a lot of bubbles or rust visible, take into account it could be much worst under the windhield. The price will be a bit part of the equation of "what you should accept", but if the windshield is ready to drop into the car, any price is too high. And, yes, a falling widshield is the extreme but I had an x19 that did it...
 
Consider the possibility of looking farther afield.

Flying in to drive home a car scoped out by another member is not an impossibility.

There have been some pretty decent cars in the midwest over the last few years.

Owning two I have stopped really keeping an eye out but there have been a few in my general vicinity. The yellow 75 that was near here was quite nice. I don’t know if the GR Auto Gallery still has one or not. (Nope)
 
There was an X for sale in Bethel CT a couple of weeks ago, it looked decent in pics.
 
Consider the possibility of looking farther afield.

Flying in to drive home a car scoped out by another member is not an impossibility.

There have been some pretty decent cars in the midwest over the last few years.

Owning two I have stopped really keeping an eye out but there have been a few in my general vicinity. The yellow 75 that was near here was quite nice. I don’t know if the GR Auto Gallery still has one or not. (Nope)

I think you are right, Kmead.

I might just have to get a Cali, Nevada, or Arizona car. Nearly all the cars I see here in New England are just hulks of iron oxide and bondo. A nice fellow in Australia posts on YouTube about "The Green Machine" (think it is a '74-'75 X, and he's pulling up carpets, rewiring the whole car...and the shell looks almost new in all the normal rust areas. Hot and dry is looking to be my only viable option unless I can find a unicorn locally!
 
Mine had 125,000 when I bought it. It needed new valve seal to stop the smoke. The valves and guides were good and just needed some lappping to make everything right. All the engine seals were rock hard and needed to be replaced. The rings were worn past service limits and also needed to be replaced, but the pistons were good. The crank and rod bearings were still good as well, but I replaced the rod bearings while I had it apart. The transmission was a problem. Lots of parts needed to be replaced. All of the synchros were bad, but the input shaft was okay. I replaced most of the gears and sliders along with all the bearings.
 
WARNING: Image heavy!

Seller let me know it will rain tomorrow, so he will reschedule our meeting and my looking over of the car.

Here are several photos he has provided. The interior is a 9/10. Just need to recover the seats...the windshield frame, doors, sills...um...Let me know what you all think. The rust holes in the doors, around the base of the windshield frame, is this car worth it? Salvageable?

I trust the judgement of you all. I just want the best X 1/9 I can find...that isn't $29k and located in Canada. lol

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WARNING: Image heavy!

Seller let me know it will rain tomorrow, so he will reschedule our meeting and my looking over of the car.

Here are several photos he has provided. The interior is a 9/10. Just need to recover the seats...the windshield frame, doors, sills...um...Let me know what you all think. The rust holes in the doors, around the base of the windshield frame, is this car worth it? Salvageable?

I trust the judgement of you all. I just want the best X 1/9 I can find...that isn't $29k and located in Canada. lol

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I wouldn’t discount that car.

I would look very carefully at the rest of the car. You might want to pick up a paint thickness gauge. Bring a strong flashlight, if possible drive the front up on ramps so you can get under the car to look more carefully (yeah I am that guy).

The windshield rust look minor but the repaint could be hiding previous repairs. It looks like they didn’t remove the windshield and its glued on trim to paint the car.

The doors will need repair obviously, hard to say why the rust is that way. Look carefully along the bottom of the door when it is open. The rear valance is repair/replacable, not a big deal. The good thing is the rockers don’t look like they have been massaged/repaired as they still hav the seam line and doesn’t look effed with. Look down into the pocket where the gas fill sits above, the same with the one on the passenger side of the engine compartment, these are real rust areas due to the drain getting clogged.

Dash cracks are what I would expect most of these cars have. Both of mine are that way, a Cali car and a midwest car. Seats are likely just toast but the covers available from Vicks will fix that and in this case will look right.

Look carefully under the car for any terminal rust on brackets or open seams. On some cars an idiot will have closed up the footwell drain and the car will rust the out that area from the interior side (my midwest car suffers this problem grr).

When I look at a car I am looking for metal that is bent which shouldn’t be from accident repair (look at pics of the front and rear trunks to know what they should look like), rust and then mechanical. I always prefer to fix mechanical things, I hate fixing body work or chasing rust.

The car should start easily, accelerate as you would expect 75 rompin stompin horses to do, shift into and stay in each gear under load and stop properly with little drama (expect front locking but it should stop in a straight line) and the ride should be quiet and controlled without banging etc. Listen for bearing noise (though the updated ones from 79 on last a long time, like life of the car long time generally).

So I would look at that car carefully and not write it off. Particularly if you can get it at a reasonable price due to the obvious issues. Be honest with your concerns and why. Let the owner know what your intentions are, as a caretaker I will sell to someone for less who will love the car and care for it and not turn it into a ‘race’ car as in destroy it.

When you drive it don’t be an ass but do run it up to 6k and a bit in the first couple of gears when warm. Bring it down to a stop from 60 plus to zero pretty hard and then accelerate to 60 and do it again (This has bothered some people so I tell them I am doing it before I do it). This gives you an idea of the general health of the car mechanically and what you have ahead of you. When shifting, clutch in fully, pull back (push forward) somewhat slowly to the next gear and then smoothly on the clutch as you bring the revs up. These cars are not for drag racing and no part of the car appreciates a fast, hard shift, it will just damage things and you still won’t get there any faster…

Take lots of pics, note stuff down. It is easy to forget something about the car afterwords due to how much you are taking in.

Keep in mind the car market is not what it was a year or two ago but at the same time these are cars only certain people fit in, only certain people would entertain owning one and only certain people would take such a car on as a personal project. The price will likely be higher than it was last year.

Is this the car from the Keene area between Keene and Peterborough? The owner used to frequent this forum but I have not seen him here in years.

Anyway, I would consider owning that car given what I see.
 
What was the price again? There’s a really nice, blue ‘74 which keeps getting posted, taken down and reposted again in this area (Socal). He bought it for $6500, did some minor updates, then tried to flip it for $14.5!
No takers. Then reposted for $12.5, then either sold or taken down again. I’m waiting for it to appear at $10.5 next.
Be patient, we’ve seen quite a few come and go since we got ours last November. But when you find the right one, you’ll be very happy - they’re a blast.
 
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Karl has mapped out a game plan to follow very well. It all depends on your expectations and your skill set. Yes, rust issues can be addressed assuming your enjoy spending hours with an angle grinder and a welder. Unless you can paint, plan on that, along with the purchase price of the car consuming your initial budget before you get to the mechanical needs the car is already known to have. There is no harm taking a look at this one, but don't be in a rush to buy the first one that comes along. I recently sold a 50,000 mile, zero rust example that needed absolutely nothing for just under your budget (including shipping from CA to the East coast), so nice cars can still be found. You'll probably have to kiss a few frogs before the prince shows up though. One rule of classic car ownership that generally ends poorly is purchasing a "tweener". A clean rust free shell for little money, or a car with little to no needs is usually a safer bet than the "in between" cars that look nicer than the shell but in the end needed everything done anyway. You have a reasonable budget to work with, so the decision you need to make is if you want something to drive and enjoy with some tinkering now and then, or jump into a protracted restoration that will likely sideline your driving plans to some future date. Best of luck in your search whichever path you decide to take!
 
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