new '82 X owner (after 30 years without) general questions

I only had one experience with Cox .o49. Dad bought 7 year old me a PT-19 and it lasted half a revolution before going splat. Years later in college I heard some rc planes and went to check them out. I've been into it off and on ever since. In the '90s everyone got into gasoline powered giant scale. After watching how sluggish they flew I decided .40 to .60 ci was big enough to see but light enough to be fun. Sort of like comparing an X1/9 to a 3600 lb GT car.
 
whoa you've got plenty to do in retirement :)
Neat stuff right there. I only did a couple stick builds. Electric foamies are just so easy to build, mod, fly and fix I got hooked on them about 14 years ago and took a break soon after my son was born 8 years ago. Have a bunch of videos flying the P-38, ME262, PBY, SR71, custom twin mustang and X-wing, etc in Milwaukee and Houston on my youtube channel linked below.

Had planned on giving my dad Ralph a ride today but he prudently decided to not attempt getting in and out of the looooow X with his 84 year old frame.
Did give my son his first manual-transmission shift, which he repeated a bunch of times on a longer drive on some decently twisty roads we found near our house. Need to get a new suction cup mount for the EVO 360/3D camera...
Shift at ~1:45

Dad inspecting the machinery:
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kmead said:
There is an error on the Superbrights guide, they show a dual filament bulb in the rear which should be a single filament bulb. Parking should be an 1156 not an 1157.
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hm pulled off the lens tonight and my old tailight bulb had 67/97 printed on it...

Just ordered off Amazon (tried to find around 1000lumens or ~double incandesent, but that's probably meaningless).
Brake: red 1156/1703 (same size, slightly different rating for incandescent) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07937XDXQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3B95GPSECAW75&psc=1

Taillight: red 67/96 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BHMYDYRT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3IRWXE7MBLWWJ&th=1
Reverse: white 1156/1073 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RPF5TLZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1JK7AB9T536OJ&th=1
Rear Blinker: 1156/1073 same, but amber
total $56 for all LED rear lights.

Also 4000k warm white 194 bulbs for gauges https://tinyurl.com/44zc79ph

Unpleasant surprise tonight after remove 2 wrong-sized screws from the driver's side brake/tailight lens.
Cracked housing with most of the chromed finish missing. Passenger side will be fine after cleaning. Checking around now for replacement housing and correct screws.
Wouldn't be surprised if the screws and cracks were the paint shop's handywork. Judging by the sloppy tape job they paid minimum wage for the grunt work...
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Have you seen member Budzinsk's listing? he seems to have several.

Fiat X1/9 Parts - Updated Pricing

Hi Everyone. I updated my parts page and reduced most parts by at least 30%. Take a look and let me know if there is anything you need. Thanks: https://sites.google.com/view/budzinsk-fiat-parts/home Rob
xwebforums.com
 
Jefco said:
Have you seen member Budzinsk's listing? he seems to have several.

Fiat X1/9 Parts - Updated Pricing

Hi Everyone. I updated my parts page and reduced most parts by at least 30%. Take a look and let me know if there is anything you need. Thanks: https://sites.google.com/view/budzinsk-fiat-parts/home Rob
xwebforums.com
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yes thanks! Rob is checking his stock for a better one this AM. cheers - Kurt
 
Nurburgringer said:
hm pulled off the lens tonight and my old tailight bulb had 67/97 printed on it...

Just ordered off Amazon (tried to find around 1000lumens or ~double incandesent, but that's probably meaningless).
Brake: red 1156/1703 (same size, slightly different rating for incandescent) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07937XDXQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3B95GPSECAW75&psc=1

Taillight: red 67/96 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BHMYDYRT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3IRWXE7MBLWWJ&th=1
Reverse: white 1156/1073 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RPF5TLZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1JK7AB9T536OJ&th=1
Rear Blinker: 1156/1073 same, but amber
total $56 for all LED rear lights.

Also 4000k warm white 194 bulbs for gauges https://tinyurl.com/44zc79ph

Unpleasant surprise tonight after remove 2 wrong-sized screws from the driver's side brake/tailight lens.
Cracked housing with most of the chromed finish missing. Passenger side will be fine after cleaning. Checking around now for replacement housing and correct screws.
Wouldn't be surprised if the screws and cracks were the paint shop's handywork. Judging by the sloppy tape job they paid minimum wage for the grunt work...
View attachment 69653
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Please post how the gauge lights work. These are the only ones I haven't converted yet. Not sure if the 4000k will be too bright. I've read too bright & they can reflect off the windshield at night. They have a lower option as well. I see they also have colors. Has anyone converted to a colored bulb?
 
JKIDD said:
Please post how the gauge lights work. These are the only ones I haven't converted yet. Not sure if the 4000k will be too bright. I've read too bright & they can reflect off the windshield at night. They have a lower option as well. I see they also have colors. Has anyone converted to a colored bulb?
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If the bulb has a lens over it, one needs to choose an LED of the same color.
 
Yesterday I dropped the wheels at blasters and seats&visors at upholsters.
This morning came back from local car's and coffee motivated so pulled the air filter (damn old) and housing, cleaned up oil pan and trans, discovered leaking clutch slave cylinder (anyone have a US source? MWB is OOS, only found one on Ebay Italy for $75 shipped which isn't too bad I guess), pulled fuel filter and decided to remove crumbled rubber standoffs from it and fuel pump... and see the braided fuel line from tank to pump get dark... and then drip drip drip... and then WHOA time to get a bucket! Must be original hose.
Broke clean off with a gentle wiggle of the pump. Good thing I have new lines on order from MWB.
Image3652581602953422126.jpgImage4725672423742724997.jpgImage2434186546668894404.jpgImage2277402734138423754.jpgImage4520758303030722267.jpgImage5574577164377771079.jpgImage7864583759540177385.jpgImage3764697983021337222.jpg
 
Nurburgringer said:
pulled fuel filter and decided to remove crumbled rubber standoffs from it and fuel pump... and see the braided fuel line from tank to pump get dark... and then drip drip drip... and then WHOA time to get a bucket! Must be original hose.
Broke clean off with a gentle wiggle of the pump. Good thing I have new lines on order from MWB.
View attachment 69693
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At this point you should consider adding a pre-filter before your fuel pump when you put it all back together. There should be plenty of posts here with specific recommendations for a suitable filter.
 
Nurburgringer said:
This morning came back from local car's and coffee motivated so pulled the air filter (damn old) and housing, cleaned up oil pan and trans, discovered leaking clutch slave cylinder (anyone have a US source? MWB is OOS, only found one on Ebay Italy for $75 shipped which isn't too bad I guess),
Click to expand...

This is one of the few X1/9 parts that you can find at a local parts store. O'Reilly shows it at $46.99.
 
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Thanks Mike - added a pre-filter to MWB shopping cart.

Bjorn - cool, ordered!!!
I'm imagining dudes in O-Reily's stock tracking: "Mike Smith is the WINNER of the pool... Jan 14th 2023 is the date we finally sold the last X1/9 clutch slave cylinder!" :D
 
JKIDD said:
Agreed, but I wondered if we could change/enhance the gauge backlight color.
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Once certainly can. One would need to get rid of the colored caps

I like VWs lighting schema from their early 2000 cars. Blue for information (gauges), red for action (switches).
 
ng_randolph said:
This is one of the few X1/9 parts that you can find at a local parts store. O'Reilly shows it at $46.99.
Click to expand...
thanks again - arrived today, looks like a perfect match. Even made in Italy!
Still blows my mind O'Reilly had at least one of these on a shelf in Springfield MO...
 

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Today was like Christmas for the X. Big MWB order arrived, and picked up re-covered seats, sun visors, and blasted wheels.
Super happy with how they turned out. Gonzales Auto Upholstery came through, reproducing all the panels and stitching of stock seats like I wanted.
Got extra pieces of cloth and vinyl in case they're ever need to repair rips.
Unfortunatley the weather doesn't look warm enough to paint the wheels anytime soon. Houston had high 70s this week but highs of 50s/low 60s for the next week. Will just work on fuel and vaccuum lines, clutch slave and bleeding fluids.
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Nurburgringer said:
hm pulled off the lens tonight and my old tailight bulb had 67/97 printed on it...

Just ordered off Amazon (tried to find around 1000lumens or ~double incandesent, but that's probably meaningless).
Brake: red 1156/1703 (same size, slightly different rating for incandescent) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07937XDXQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3B95GPSECAW75&psc=1

Taillight: red 67/96 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BHMYDYRT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3IRWXE7MBLWWJ&th=1
Reverse: white 1156/1073 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RPF5TLZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1JK7AB9T536OJ&th=1
Rear Blinker: 1156/1073 same, but amber
total $56 for all LED rear lights.

Also 4000k warm white 194 bulbs for gauges https://tinyurl.com/44zc79ph

Unpleasant surprise tonight after remove 2 wrong-sized screws from the driver's side brake/tailight lens.
Cracked housing with most of the chromed finish missing. Passenger side will be fine after cleaning. Checking around now for replacement housing and correct screws.
Wouldn't be surprised if the screws and cracks were the paint shop's handywork. Judging by the sloppy tape job they paid minimum wage for the grunt work...
View attachment 69653
Click to expand...
Thanks, I missed this post.
 
Replacing the shifter bolt/bushing/wavy washer was more than a PITA than I expected. All parts from MWB: new rubber bellow, new lollipop (which required a bit of a tweak to lay flat against the trans input attachment) and bolt kit. The bolt bushing wouldn't go into the lollipop hole without a tiny bit of work with a rat-tail file, and the wavy washer wouldnt go around the bushing without some persuation with a a vice, socket and hammer. Old one was free to move on the bushing so seems the wavy MWB washer is just a hair undersized, or the bushing a hair over.
Finally, after about a dozen times up and down off the creeper (jealous, again, of you bastards with lifts!) got it on and snugged up. Will be a couple weeks until wheels are done and she's down on the ground, then I can see how well aligned everything is. But straight away the feel of the shift action is MUCH improved. Not quite a well oiled bolt action rifle but almost none of the rubbery, vague feeling like before.

Also got the new lower fuel lines on and cleaned up fuel pump back in, with new rubber isolators and rubber clamp liner on the mount.
Next up: new brake hoses and fluid flush/bleed, and reverse-bleed through the clutch slave. Expecting a moderate mess and hoping fror a firm pedal..

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