New X1/9 owner

Mrfurzzy

Daily Driver
Hello! My name is Paul, and am am very excited to have found this forum. I just purchased a new to me X1/9 this weekend sight unseen. I still have not seen it in person but I was able to have a friend go check it out and make the payment for me. I will be picking it up next week Saturday and am excitedly counting down the days.

Here are a few pictures that I have of the car. I will get more posted once I have it in my possession.
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From what I've learned about the car so far, it's a1982 5-speed, 2 owner car that was last purchased in 1987 with 45,000 miles on it by a collector. They did some maintenance to it and drove it a little bit, but it's only had another ~4,000 miles put on it since 1987. I plan on going over everything before even attempting to start the car. My friend did say that all the rubber parts looked to be in good condition so hopefully the collector did maintenance to it even while it was just sitting. I don't have any pictures on my phone of the interior or engine bay but they look to be in excellent condition. My friend said that the underside of the car had little to no rust and the shock towers are completely rust free. I'm sure I'll find some rust hidden around the car but hopefully it will be minor since the car was stored inside for most of its life.
I am so excited to get this car! I currently have an AW11 MR2 and this will make a good addition to the family. I find it hard to believe that I was able to pick up this car for only $2200! The guy had a long list of people offering even above asking price but I had managed to be first in line and he was the type of seller to honor the first come first served type of deal.
I've already spent hours reading up on the wiki and the forum here. This is one of the best forums I've ever experienced for my cars. I'm so happy that it's still in use and not all gone over to Facebook like many other groups.
 
Seems like a nice car and a steal for the money you paid. Be very suspect of all rubber components especially any fuel lines. I would plan on changing the cam belt soon unless you have paperwork to show it was done in the not to distant past. The 1500 motor is a non-interference one but who needs the hassle of a tow truck ride home when it breaks. Also, find out how old the gas is as modern gas tends to absorb moisture and the layer of gas next to your gas tank pickup may actually be water.
 
Seems like a nice car and a steal for the money you paid. Be very suspect of all rubber components especially any fuel lines. I would plan on changing the cam belt soon unless you have paperwork to show it was done in the not to distant past. The 1500 motor is a non-interference one but who needs the hassle of a tow truck ride home when it breaks. Also, find out how old the gas is as modern gas tends to absorb moisture and the layer of gas next to your gas tank pickup may actually be water.
Yep, those are all things on the list to go over. My first plan is to drain the fuel tank completely. Any idea on how difficult it is to replace the fuel lines? I may just replace them right away as a safety precaution
 
Does it really have different wheels on PS and DS sides? Maybe they are just old pictures? Anywho... congrats on your new X and "Welcome to Xweb!"

Good luck on your pick up trip and we will be waiting for more pictures. :)
 
Does it really have different wheels on PS and DS sides? Maybe they are just old pictures? Anywho... congrats on your new X and "Welcome to Xweb!"

Good luck on your pick up trip and we will be waiting for more pictures. :)
Good catch! It does actually have 2 different pairs of wheels. I was told that the seller has another full set that matches the PS wheels for sale for $400. I'm debating picking them up. This was a completely unexpected purchase though and an extra $400 may not be doable right now if I want to keep the budget happy
 
It does actually have 2 different pairs of wheels. I was told that the seller has another full set that matches the PS wheels for sale for $400.
Fiat wheels are "hub centric" which means the center hole is bored to match a lip that sticks out on the stock fiat hub. This is an old picture taken during a brake job, you can see the lip sticking out. There is a stock 5mm spacer behind most stock wheels. The 2 "pins" you see are alignment aids for stock wheels and they also thread into the hub to secure the rotor and spacer.
new_rotorb.JPG

The PS side wheels are "stock" Cromodora CD-91s. The DS look to be aftermarket Ansen or Spectre wheels, they get called different names. The CD-91s are hub-centric and made to fit the Fiat hub. The DS side wheels typically have a larger center bore and are not hub centric. They take a little attention to get them on properly. No big deal as long as you take your time.

IM001737b.JPGcd_91.JPG

If this is your first Fiat, you will notice that the stock wheels are held on with coned lug bolts, the Ansen/Spectre wheels will most likely use studs, washers and shouldered lug nuts. If you look closely at the pictures above you can kinda see that the Ansens have a straight thru hole for the stud and the CD-91 hole is tapered for the coned bolt.

Stud, washer and shouldered nut left, Fiat style coned lug bolt on right.

IMG_2143.JPG

Obviously, you will know more when you get the car in your hands. Make sure to check that all 4 wheels are properly mounted before you take a drive. Crazier things than mis-matched wheel bolts have been found upon purchasing an unknown X.

Well, that was more than I started out to say. Hopefully it's useful. :)
 
Welcome to the forum and congrats on your purchase. The car appears to be in good condition. Very fair price from what I can see of it. ;)

However since it has been sitting there is another area that will likely require attention (in addition to the fuel system and timing belt). That's the hydraulics; brake and clutch master cylinders, brake calipers, clutch slave cylinder, rubber hoses at the calipers and feed hoses from the reservoirs to the masters. All of that tends to rot very quickly on these cars, particularly when they sit. And it is a big job so that's something else you can be reading about while waiting to get the car. :)

Speaking of the fuel lines, on the fuel injected X1/9s the fuel runs at a higher pressure. That makes leaks more prone. It seems fuel hoses in recent times are not particularly long lived. Possibly something to do with the fuels we have. So they are worth replacing as Carl said. Most of them are not difficult to get to. However there are four short ones on the injectors that tend to be neglected, and they live over the hot exhaust system, so it is worth the effort to replace them as well.

Yet another area to look out for is the entire cooling system.

Somewhere there is a write up on things a new owner should know and look for (I think from Matt?). That is a good read.

Undoubtedly there will be many questions once you get your hands on the car. They are a bit different form "normal" cars. :p Feel free to post any that come up.
 
Welcome to the forum and congrats on your purchase. The car appears to be in good condition. Very fair price from what I can see of it. ;)

However since it has been sitting there is another area that will likely require attention (in addition to the fuel system and timing belt). That's the hydraulics; brake and clutch master cylinders, brake calipers, clutch slave cylinder, rubber hoses at the calipers and feed hoses from the reservoirs to the masters. All of that tends to rot very quickly on these cars, particularly when they sit. And it is a big job so that's something else you can be reading about while waiting to get the car. :)

Speaking of the fuel lines, on the fuel injected X1/9s the fuel runs at a higher pressure. That makes leaks more prone. It seems fuel hoses in recent times are not particularly long lived. Possibly something to do with the fuels we have. So they are worth replacing as Carl said. Most of them are not difficult to get to. However there are four short ones on the injectors that tend to be neglected, and they live over the hot exhaust system, so it is worth the effort to replace them as well.

Yet another area to look out for is the entire cooling system.

Somewhere there is a write up on things a new owner should know and look for (I think from Matt?). That is a good read.

Undoubtedly there will be many questions once you get your hands on the car. They are a bit different form "normal" cars. :p Feel free to post any that come up.
I just found that thread on the BOX sticky. Plenty of things to look over. I've never worked on a fiat but I have plenty of experience working on older cars. Also not my first mid engine car so I'm used to working in tight areas. I'm glad I found this forum because there seems like no end to the useful information
 
Fiat wheels are "hub centric" which means the center hole is bored to match a lip that sticks out on the stock fiat hub. This is an old picture taken during a brake job, you can see the lip sticking out. There is a stock 5mm spacer behind most stock wheels. The 2 "pins" you see are alignment aids for stock wheels and they also thread into the hub to secure the rotor and spacer.
View attachment 53437

The PS side wheels are "stock" Cromodora CD-91s. The DS look to be aftermarket Ansen or Spectre wheels, they get called different names. The CD-91s are hub-centric and made to fit the Fiat hub. The DS side wheels typically have a larger center bore and are not hub centric. They take a little attention to get them on properly. No big deal as long as you take your time.

View attachment 53434View attachment 53435

If this is your first Fiat, you will notice that the stock wheels are held on with coned lug bolts, the Ansen/Spectre wheels will most likely use studs, washers and shouldered lug nuts. If you look closely at the pictures above you can kinda see that the Ansens have a straight thru hole for the stud and the CD-91 hole is tapered for the coned bolt.

Stud, washer and shouldered nut left, Fiat style coned lug bolt on right.

View attachment 53436

Obviously, you will know more when you get the car in your hands. Make sure to check that all 4 wheels are properly mounted before you take a drive. Crazier things than mis-matched wheel bolts have been found upon purchasing an unknown X.

Well, that was more than I started out to say. Hopefully it's useful. :)
Thanks for the advice! I would have had no idea to look at the lug nuts. I'm trailering the car home and will definitely give everything a good look over before even attempting to start it
 
Welcome aboard, great to have a new member in the area and car looks great. You'll need to dig into to confirm everything is up to snuff but the people here have been great to help with that. What part of Wisconsin are you in?
 
Welcome aboard, great to have a new member in the area and car looks great. You'll need to dig into to confirm everything is up to snuff but the people here have been great to help with that. What part of Wisconsin are you in?
South east Wisconsin. Are there any fiat groups in Wisconsin I should know about?
 
There is a FIAT group in Chicago but I have not heard much from them, mostly people on this board. There is a guy cross the lake in Michigan but have not heard from any one in Chicago. I'm just North of Chicago myself and picked up my car earlier this year, still working on it. FI are next on the list to get it running. There are some meets so once it is running expect to meet other with Xs.
 
I'll have to keep an eye out for meets going on. I know one other person close to me that has/had a few x1/9s. I'm not sure if he has one currently though
 
I have a Wisconsin X. I bought it in fall 2020 and hope to have it running this winter.

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Hello! My name is Paul, and am am very excited to have found this forum. I just purchased a new to me X1/9 this weekend sight unseen. I still have not seen it in person but I was able to have a friend go check it out and make the payment for me. I will be picking it up next week Saturday and am excitedly counting down the days.

Here are a few pictures that I have of the car. I will get more posted once I have it in my possession.
View attachment 53424View attachment 53425View attachment 53426

From what I've learned about the car so far, it's a1982 5-speed, 2 owner car that was last purchased in 1987 with 45,000 miles on it by a collector. They did some maintenance to it and drove it a little bit, but it's only had another ~4,000 miles put on it since 1987. I plan on going over everything before even attempting to start the car. My friend did say that all the rubber parts looked to be in good condition so hopefully the collector did maintenance to it even while it was just sitting. I don't have any pictures on my phone of the interior or engine bay but they look to be in excellent condition. My friend said that the underside of the car had little to no rust and the shock towers are completely rust free. I'm sure I'll find some rust hidden around the car but hopefully it will be minor since the car was stored inside for most of its life.
I am so excited to get this car! I currently have an AW11 MR2 and this will make a good addition to the family. I find it hard to believe that I was able to pick up this car for only $2200! The guy had a long list of people offering even above asking price but I had managed to be first in line and he was the type of seller to honor the first come first served type of deal.
I've already spent hours reading up on the wiki and the forum here. This is one of the best forums I've ever experienced for my cars. I'm so happy that it's still in use and not all gone over to Facebook like many other groups.
Looks like a great car for the money. I bought my first x1/9 last November(1982 2 owner 150,000miles). I paid just a couple hundred more but I’m envious of how nice yours looks. I went through and did most of the major refresh stuff (timing belt, brakes, coolant hoses and fuel system). These cars are super simple and easy to work on and I’ve found the majority of parts are quite inexpensive. Have fun and welcome to the forum.
 
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