...1600 mile trip to Napa Calif last week.
Culmination of decade long search.
Culmination of deal struck nearly a year ago.
Rather than make the trek for single purpose of retrieving the car,
I decided to wait until I was halfway there for a Medford race weekend.
Towed down, had a great race weekend,
left the racer in care of Andy Jossy,
deadheaded down to GrassValley Calif
for family gathering in Gold Rush country,
then trucked over to Napa, where my prize has been sitting for 3 years.
Complete with flood scuz, after it was unindated
in flood a few years ago up to just above hub height.
Engine/trans/brakes flushed and all works well.
1300/32 dmtr is surprisingly peppy.
Save for a slightly slow 2nd gear syncro.
Easy enough to work around for now.
At least 3rd gear shifts nicely!
MTL (aka tranny rebuild in a bottle) may clear it up.
If not...no biggie...came with spare tranny.
Plus "a few" spare trannies already reside at The Cosmic Garage.
Wheelbearings will bear watching, since they've been under water.
But no rumbles from those areas as of now.
Will admit to pondering transplanting the high compression/ported/dual weber/1500 90 HP motorfrom MSR 128.
We'll see...the 1300/32 dmtr seems to be fairly peppy at approx 60 hp.
Body has a bit of rust here and there,
but far less than other examples I've chased in the past.
Easy to rectify.
Came with Bosch ignition conversion,
MM single rail bumper conversion,
CD91s with NOS caps, X steering wheel, new exhaust,
and nice dash cap/carpet, since the dash was fried by Calif sun.
Showing 78K miles. Have yet to dig into extensive service records
to see if that's actual, or 178K.
First impression of petal/carpet wear,
and no-blowby motor is that it could be 78K.
Paint is restorable, but since this is a definite keeper,
it will get painted at some point.
Leaning towards Marinara Sauce Red, like the MSR 128 4dr.
Period color, with a distinct Euro flavor.
Perhaps with silver/gold sides and top to match my favorite wheel color.
And visually lower/lengthen the boxy body.
Interior side panels previously recovered in fabric,
but are severely toasted...opening the door to bit o' custom work there.
Leaning towards tan to lighten the interior like IceBlueX.
Tan/Ivory makes a big difference in lower interior temps during hot weather.
In short, I'm stoked to finally score the car
I've sought for so long...a '74 (no smog!) 128 Estate Wagon...
I'll need to work towards culling X1/9 fleet down to 3 or 4,
and plan to keep the Strada, the MSR 4dr, and the forlorn SL coupe/project.
Each unique in their own right, and each a kindred soul
to beloved X1/9.
After years of daily driving an X, I still love running topless...in topless weather.
With the top on, I'd just as soon have a tin top variant.
Culmination of decade long search.
Culmination of deal struck nearly a year ago.
Rather than make the trek for single purpose of retrieving the car,
I decided to wait until I was halfway there for a Medford race weekend.
Towed down, had a great race weekend,
left the racer in care of Andy Jossy,
deadheaded down to GrassValley Calif
for family gathering in Gold Rush country,
then trucked over to Napa, where my prize has been sitting for 3 years.
Complete with flood scuz, after it was unindated
in flood a few years ago up to just above hub height.
Engine/trans/brakes flushed and all works well.
1300/32 dmtr is surprisingly peppy.
Save for a slightly slow 2nd gear syncro.
Easy enough to work around for now.
At least 3rd gear shifts nicely!
MTL (aka tranny rebuild in a bottle) may clear it up.
If not...no biggie...came with spare tranny.
Plus "a few" spare trannies already reside at The Cosmic Garage.
Wheelbearings will bear watching, since they've been under water.
But no rumbles from those areas as of now.
Will admit to pondering transplanting the high compression/ported/dual weber/1500 90 HP motorfrom MSR 128.
We'll see...the 1300/32 dmtr seems to be fairly peppy at approx 60 hp.
Body has a bit of rust here and there,
but far less than other examples I've chased in the past.
Easy to rectify.
Came with Bosch ignition conversion,
MM single rail bumper conversion,
CD91s with NOS caps, X steering wheel, new exhaust,
and nice dash cap/carpet, since the dash was fried by Calif sun.
Showing 78K miles. Have yet to dig into extensive service records
to see if that's actual, or 178K.
First impression of petal/carpet wear,
and no-blowby motor is that it could be 78K.
Paint is restorable, but since this is a definite keeper,
it will get painted at some point.
Leaning towards Marinara Sauce Red, like the MSR 128 4dr.
Period color, with a distinct Euro flavor.
Perhaps with silver/gold sides and top to match my favorite wheel color.
And visually lower/lengthen the boxy body.
Interior side panels previously recovered in fabric,
but are severely toasted...opening the door to bit o' custom work there.
Leaning towards tan to lighten the interior like IceBlueX.
Tan/Ivory makes a big difference in lower interior temps during hot weather.
In short, I'm stoked to finally score the car
I've sought for so long...a '74 (no smog!) 128 Estate Wagon...
I'll need to work towards culling X1/9 fleet down to 3 or 4,
and plan to keep the Strada, the MSR 4dr, and the forlorn SL coupe/project.
Each unique in their own right, and each a kindred soul
to beloved X1/9.
After years of daily driving an X, I still love running topless...in topless weather.
With the top on, I'd just as soon have a tin top variant.
