A Different X1/9 Abarth Engine Swap

S

Stealthmagic27

Daily Driver
Hi All,
Been a long time lurker here and starting this as an introduction and build thread.

My name is Giovanni and am from Rhode Island, USA.👋 I recently purchased a 74' X from Matt @ Midwest and currently in the process of finding a shipping company to get her home. Super excited to get going on this project!

My plan is to take as much from a new gen 500 Abarth and transplant into the X. Interior including dash, seats, electronics etc., and of course the engine swap. My goal is to keep as much functionality from the 500 as possible. Will be working on a good mix of performance/drivability whilst keeping it as reliable as possible. Thanks everyone!


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Stealthmagic27 said:
Hi All,
Been a long time lurker here and starting this as an introduction and build thread.

My name is Giovanni and am from Rhode Island, USA.👋 I recently purchased a 74' X from Matt @ Midwest and currently in the process of finding a shipping company to get her home. Super excited to get going on this project!

My plan is to take as much from a new gen 500 Abarth and transplant into the X. Interior including dash, seats, electronics etc., and of course the engine swap. My goal is to keep as much functionality from the 500 as possible. Will be working on a good mix of performance/drivability whilst keeping it as reliable as possible. Thanks everyone!


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Welcome aboard and good luck with the project. I believe another member is presently doing a 500 Abrath engine swap. You'll want to check it out.

Fiat 500 Turbo engine swap

Hi all. Long time lurker finally decided to introduce myself and my projects. I’m probably posting in the wrong thread and so I apologize for that. Here we go
xwebforums.com

Looking forward to see what you do.
 
It is unlikely the seats will fit due to their size.

There are several documented Abarth swaps, TonyK’s being the leader on this with three cars, the last of the three nearing completion. A complex and difficult swap but it is doable. You would do well to carefully read through his two documented builds.

We look forward to seeing how you do yours. Welcome and congrats on your new purchase.
 
carl said:
If you were a TV show you would merely do a body swap, dropping your X body on the 500 chassis. Yes, I know they are both unibody but this never seems to stop the TV show guys.

Keep us posted on this project.
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A front wheel drive X with an engine sticking out of the frunk! :D All you would need is a big 'ol turbo stuck way up in the air with a huge exhaust pipe with a flapper valve. YeeHaa!
 
carl said:
If you were a TV show you would merely do a body swap, dropping your X body on the 500 chassis. Yes, I know they are both unibody but this never seems to stop the TV show guys.

Keep us posted on this project.
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Will for sure keep you guys posted!
KBabcock said:
Welcome aboard and good luck with the project. I believe another member is presently doing a 500 Abrath engine swap. You'll want to check it out.

Fiat 500 Turbo engine swap

Hi all. Long time lurker finally decided to introduce myself and my projects. I’m probably posting in the wrong thread and so I apologize for that. Here we go
xwebforums.com

Looking forward to see what you do.
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Thanks for the reply, I have been following that build!
kmead said:
It is unlikely the seats will fit due to their size.

There are several documented Abarth swaps, TonyK’s being the leader on this with three cars, the last of the three nearing completion. A complex and difficult swap but it is doable. You would do well to carefully read through his two documented builds.

We look forward to seeing how you do yours. Welcome and congrats on your new purchase.
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Thank you for the feedback! Tony's builds are of course the ones that inspired me! My approach will be similar but def alot of custom interior work. We will have to see with the seats once I find a good donor car!
 
Stealthmagic27 said:
Will for sure keep you guys posted!

Thanks for the reply, I have been following that build!

Thank you for the feedback! Tony's builds are of course the ones that inspired me! My approach will be similar but def alot of custom interior work. We will have to see with the seats once I find a good donor car!
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The seats in an Abarth or any 500 are much too tall in the base, one might be able to take them apart to reduce some of the height. An X needs a very low seat like the ones in a Miata or similar. Width is also an issue.

The jacking feature in the 500 seat is not at all needed in an X.
 
First pile unfortunately to be throw away...the frunk and trunk look to be sprayed in some crappy undercoat..
 

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Having painted and color changed a few X1/9s, I hope you go back to the original (I call it Bertone) green. It "fits" the car's body shape better than any other color. In my opinion.
If I ever complete my personal car, it's already that color.

Red, or any version of "resale red", I feel is a poor color choice for an X. That said I recently did a 1979 in the original red. In that car's case, it was a perfect choice with the other body modifications we did. And it's a color that was not very popular in the era, so it will stand out in a couple of weekends at Concourso Italiano.

I am also doing an early 124 Spider in (the previous owner's words) "Red, of course". In that case we are going back to the correct original red, not the "resale red" of the two previous paint jobs.

"All Italian cars should be red" is a statement I don't always agree with. But then again, it's your car. Pick the color that YOU want it to be!
 
Chris Obert said:
Having painted and color changed a few X1/9s, I hope you go back to the original (I call it Bertone) green. It "fits" the car's body shape better than any other color. In my opinion.
If I ever complete my personal car, it's already that color.

Red, or any version of "resale red", I feel is a poor color choice for an X. That said I recently did a 1979 in the original red. In that car's case, it was a perfect choice with the other body modifications we did. And it's a color that was not very popular in the era, so it will stand out in a couple of weekends at Concourso Italiano.

I am also doing an early 124 Spider in (the previous owner's words) "Red, of course". In that case we are going back to the correct original red, not the "resale red" of the two previous paint jobs.

"All Italian cars should be red" is a statement I don't always agree with. But then again, it's your car. Pick the color that YOU want it to be!
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Chris, totally agree with you on the color matching the shape, i think that is what was making the decision hard. I am not a huge fan of the green but like you said, the color is fitting for these. That being said, the body will be changed with dual round tail lights and widened fenders and a mild "shaved look." I will ultimately make a decision once the body work is done and I really stand back and analyze it lol
 
This would be a interesting swap. Seems like the perfect drivetrain, except for the very complex integrated electronics. I wonder if you can bring over all the systems intact to fool the systems to work in a different platform?
 
dherr said:
This would be a interesting swap. Seems like the perfect drivetrain, except for the very complex integrated electronics. I wonder if you can bring over all the systems intact to fool the systems to work in a different platform?
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Def not the easiest. Hardest things electronics wise looks like are going to be the power steering rack as it uses a servo which id like to keep if possible, abs, Evap and, the airbags obviously. Not going to be able to use all the airbags but id like to keep both the steering wheel and passenger side if possible. I forget if the seats have them or if they were in the pillars. Evap i may be able to code out of the ECU if it gives me issues. on my GTI I used a few 10watt resistors to trick the ecu.
 
Airbags in the seats and along the roof,they are really not in the a pillar, just the labels. Some cars will have part of the actuator in the pillar.

Knee bag also in that car.

Sensor placement will be interesting.

You won’t need power steering in an X.
 
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