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

[Nurburgringer]

My 2 cents - I reckon no graphics are needed ever . The basic lines are best left alone. Yours will look pretty darn good in simple red with those very nicely done wheels.

yeah that inset portion along the side is a really sweet detail. Maybe with a duller color/finish some kind of contrasting accent would work better but with shiny paint like mine it stands out just about right as is.

 

[Steve Thomas]

it stands out just about right as is

maybe Gandini knew what he was doing

 

[Nurburgringer]

He sure did. But he also apparently approved of contrasting beltline on Runabout.
I painted my first X1/9 opposite: white beltline, red everywhere else.

 

[Steve Thomas]

approved

So, cutting your screen off?

 

[Steve Thomas]

Runabout.

Actually, I reckon the scheme on the Runabout would work on an X. That is silver/red/white as I see it

 

[Nurburgringer]

Plan was new rubber hoses and a flush/bleed, but mission creep.
New rotors, pads, bleeders, hose clips, blast and por-15 brackets, re-tap a few buggered wheel pin threads (M8x1.25), cleaned up and greased sliders, lubed handbrake linkage.
Caliper seals looked good and brakes felt fine before so left rebuilding them for future Kurt.

 

[Nurburgringer]

Sure feels good to have her back on her tires and out on the road again, after ~7 weeks on jackstands.
Re-doing the wheels took a long time due to cold weather preventing painting, and a lot of other jobs took 2 or 3 times longer than expected (like going through 3 V belts until I got the right size, or taking out instrument cluster ~5 times to tweak the new speedo and tach needle orientation), and as usually happens, mission creep on several systems.
Really happy how she looks with the new seat covers, refinished rims and sans vinyl graphics, and REALLY happy with how she drives with the new, skinnier tires, tightened up shift linkage, no clicking speedo, smooth new brakes, new filters and fresh oil.
Forza Fiat!

 

[kmead]

Sure feels good to have her back on her tires and out on the road again, after ~7 weeks on jackstands.
Re-doing the wheels took a long time due to cold weather preventing painting, and a lot of other jobs took 2 or 3 times longer than expected (like going through 3 V belts until I got the right size, or taking out instrument cluster ~5 times to tweak the new speedo and tach needle orientation).
Really happy how she looks with the new seat covers and sans vinyl graphics, and REALLY happy with how she drives with the new, skinnier tires, tightened up shift linkage, no clicking speedo, smooth new brakes, new filters and fresh oil.
Forza Fiat!
View attachment 71508

View attachment 71507View attachment 71510View attachment 71511View attachment 71506

Looks excellent. One can see the fine work where you have touched it.

So much better without the vinyl on the sides.

It looks really good. Nearly showroom new Congrats!

 

[Nurburgringer]

very nice of you to say, Karl, thank you.

Have to give a shout out to Tire&Wheel connection here in Houston. They removed the old tires for $40 before I got them sandblasted, then after refinishing put the new tires on.
I tipped the guys $5 each and when I asked the owner how much I owed him he said no charge, just bring the car by for them to check it out.
None were familiar with the X1/9; they're used to dealing with 22" rims and such and got a real kick out the the 13" Cromodoras

 

[tvmaster]

Lots of fiddly taping to get the black accents. Next week clear coat then finally tires mounted and back on the car.

View attachment 70536View attachment 70535View attachment 70537

Who’s doing the clear coat, you, or someone else?

 

[Nurburgringer]

Who’s doing the clear coat, you, or someone else?

I used Dupli-Color rattle cans for prime, color and clear coats.
Went a little heavy on the clear so it took ~2 weeks drying inside with ceiling fan going to fully cure.
The wheels didn't have a perfect surface finish (I didn't do any filling or sanding) but overall very happy with results.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B6AF2G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[alskin]

What tires and rims I have on my 82 X that Matt from MWB recommend are yokohama s-drive 185 55R14 tires on panasport rims. Perfect size To me. 15 inch looks too big on the car. I purchase them from MWB. Good luck on your X!

 

[Chris-St Louis]

A note about speedometer cables

The normal speedometer cable housing is usually just plastic.

Best practice is to have one made to order with a Rubber Covered steel housing. FAR more durable and resistant to kinking while installing. https://speedometercablesusa.com/cables_and_housing_assembly.html

And, for the love of God, remove the inner cable before installing the housing. Reinstall after running the cable through a hand full of grease.

 

[Nurburgringer]

What tires and rims I have on my 82 X that Matt from MWB recommend are yokohama s-drive 185 55R14 tires on panasport rims. Perfect size To me. 15 inch looks too big on the car. I purchase them from MWB. Good luck on your X!

Panasports are so classic. Great looking X!

A note about speedometer cables

The normal speedometer cable housing is usually just plastic.

Best practice is to have one made to order with a Rubber Covered steel housing. FAR more durable and resistant to kinking while installing. https://speedometercablesusa.com/cables_and_housing_assembly.html

And, for the love of God, remove the inner cable before installing the housing. Reinstall after running the cable through a hand full of grease.

Never thought of getting speedo cable custom made - the long and short ones I got from MWB don't need to last forever, just 10-15 years until I'll likely be too old to climb in and out of the X

Hadn't thought about installing the inner cable after installation. I was careful not to overly, too-tightly bend cable and seemed to work ok since now the speedo needle has no bounce or clicking noise like before. Did "slather" the inner cable with red grease, as advised by MWB Matt.
cheers

 

[Chris-St Louis]

Well done. Usually the crazy bents these cables go through put a kink in the inner cable that causes bounce.

 

[tvmaster]

I use DOT4 Valvoline Syntec synthetic brake fluid on all my cars now. So far so good. Always used to use Castrol LM, the Valvoline seems to stay clear longer in similar conditions.

If you’re topping up, and don’t know what the current brake fluid is, is mixing problematic?

 

[kmead]

If you’re topping up, and don’t know what the current brake fluid is, is mixing problematic?

All mineral based brake fluids are compatible with each other. DOT3 and 4 as well as 5.1. I don’t suggest using 5.1 given it absorbs water more easily (Which drives shorter change intervals).

 

[tvmaster]

All mineral based brake fluids are compatible with each other. DOT3 and 4 as well as 5.1. I don’t suggest using 5.1 given it absorbs water more easily (Which drives shorter change intervals).

Mineral based…does that include synthetic?

 

[Nurburgringer]

Brother took the wheel this morning, came away impressed with the car's condition and how it drives.
Had been similar ~30 yrs since he's been in an X1/9, and quite a different experience from his C8 Vette!

 

[kmead]

Mineral based…does that include synthetic?

Well here is to some new egg on my face. Going off to do a little learning is apparently a good thing…if embarrassing.

There are really three types of brake fluid generally used. Glycol based, silicone based and mineral oil based.

I have always heard and used the term mineral based for the DOT fluids which is apparently not at all mineral based. DOT fluids are glycol based and is hydroscopic which means it will absorb water and degrade the fluid’s boiling point. However the water is bound so it is less likely to damage the system components (at least as long as it is replaced in a reasonable time period, which by manufacturers recommendation is two years though I am sure many of us fail miserably on this). Both silicone based and mineral oil based fluids do not absorb water however any water in the system will tend to pool in the low areas of the system and cause rust or other corrosion to the system.

In all of these cases the entrained water will degrade braking performance due to the relatively lower boiling point of the water creating compressible steam so even with the hydrophilic fluids one does need to change them. The good thing about the silicone or mineral based fluids you can reuse the liquids one the water has been separated out.

The DOT glycol based fluids have to be discarded as the fluid has been chemically degraded.

Anyway, ‘standard’ or ’synthetic’ DOT glycol based fluids can be mixed. Just not with the other two types of fluid.

Whew…

I know you are asking yourself what uses mineral based oil brake fluid. Mountain bikes, some motorcycles and some old Rolls Royce/Bentleys and unsurprisingly, Citroen (and Maserati for a while when they were part of the Citroen sphere).