Picking up new '74 X1/9 in MD this weekend...

[BrettM]

I plan to drive the car home some 450 or so miles (about 8 hours) and hope that all is well with the car. This is exciting for me as I have only seen about three photos of the car and hope the reality is as good as the description has been. I have no reason to think the car will not make the trip but it is an old FIAT so who knows.

I plan to travel some back roads to keep things interesting and will be heading south from the DC area on Saturday afternoon and Sunday on into Knoxville. I figure if I can get at least 200 miles from home, the AAA Platinum will do the rest.

So, what tools to pack in an emergency kit for a '74 X1/9? The timing belt and other service is current and shouldn't be a problem but the car does have points and this did leave me stranded once so an electronic dizzy and ECU will be in my box 'o spares.

Wish me luck.

 

[2re]

Hi Brett.

Congratulations on your new X.
I did the same thing last week, went and picked up an X far away from home
My trip home in the car was ca 16 hours, 90% on higeway.

In retrospect.
My X had good tires with deep groves and looked perfectly OK.
But they where far from OK becuase the rubber was 12 years old.
They where usless in the rain, I mean dangerously usless.

My wheels where also a bit unbalanced.
Its was perfectly fine up to 120khm but over that and its started to vibrate and shake, not to bad but enough to make the trip more tiresome than.

Also. make sure the window wipers are working before you take of.
Spray on some WD40 or something and let them run without touching the glass.

Oh and you should probably check how the temp is holding up before you leave town.

Hope everything works good and that you'll have nice trip home.

 

[Kevin B (Asheville NC)]

You guys make fetching my last two x's seem like a commute.

4 hours each way, one driven home, the other towed (due to non running status)

 

[BrettM]

Good points...

The tires are newish but I am not sure about the balance, will need to check that one. The wipers are slow but work. Plan to pack some rainX anyway. I drove all of the way to FFO last year in the downpour without wipers, not fun. The radiator is fairly new as well so I am hopeful. I am sure that the 4 speed box will keep things lively at highway speeds.

 

[Kevin B (Asheville NC)]

ear plugs..., bring ear plugs.

 

[BrettM]

Yes...

Great idea Kevin.

 

[jjay911]

Make sure your paid up on your tow service and after you pick up the car and pay for it ask the guy a very important question that I always ask after I buy a car....." now that I own it whats wrong with it?":drink:

 

[2re]

Make sure your paid up on your tow service and after you pick up the car and pay for it ask the guy a very important question that I always ask after I buy a car....." now that I own it whats wrong with it?":drink:

Thanks for the advice JJ

 

[jjay911]

Thanks for the advice JJ

You crack me up...:tomato:

 

[tim5055]

Brett,

Saturday or Sunday?

Driving in or flying?

Where in MD is the car?

 

[kmead]

Congrats on the new acquisition. Nice looking car.

Going that distance I would also be concerned about the tires. When I drove my 850 from Vermont to Michigan I replaced the tires before the 820 mile trip. (which reminds me I need to get new ones again despite low miles on the tires). Blown tires are not fun, especially finding small tires now of days.

Grab a slave and clutch master cylinder, or at least a seal kit. When we drove all my cars from Pasadena, California to Barre, Vermont, the only failure I had on the three Fiats was the slave cylinder on the newest Fiat on the trip, the X1/9. Not a happy thing to find first thing in the morning while trying to marshal a box truck, three Fiats and a VW for that day's travel.

Grab an alternator/waterpump belt. Possibly an alternator or dredge up a bearing for one (one of the other parts of an X that has left me stranded).

Should be a fun adventure!

 

[BrettM]

Travel plans...

We will be leaving Knoxville Friday at 5pm and taking to following route to Annapolis MD.

After we pick the car up, we will start heading home along a more scenic route.

If anyone along the way wants to meet up for a quick visit, let me know. My number is 8656043271 and I'd be happy to say hi. Also, if anyone is familiar with these parts and want to offer suggestions for a route home, I am open. We will be driving Saturday and Sunday with our goal to be home Sunday night.

Good news is that the car has had recent service on all major parts and has new tires. Everything I would normally be worried about has been done already so I am hoping for the best. If that fails, we will get a tow dolly from U-haul and go that route. We are driving a Jeep to pick up the car so we have a fail-safe. I also have AAA platinum which offers 200 mile tows.

 

[Black-Tooth]

My congrats also, Brett...

and I'm a firm believer in Murphy's Law.

So do pack an alternator (and proper tools) as suggested and you should not need it.

The only other thing might be to post your route here and visit with others along the way... or at least have a point of refuge. I too have a PLATINUM or PREMIUM AAA card... always good as a last resort!

 

[Kevin B (Asheville NC)]

Brett:

Be aware that that route along the NC / VA border (cannot remember the route #, but maybe 52 or 58) used to be riddled with speed traps.

Enjoy

 

[CALMOTION]

speedtrap

Speedtrap.org has some nice listing..

 

[tim5055]

Brett:

Be aware that that route along the NC / VA border (cannot remember the route #, but maybe 52 or 58) used to be riddled with speed traps.

Enjoy

Speed Trap is such a harsh term. It's really an alternative governmental funding mechanism.

 

[socalx19]

Awesome Brett! We are birds of a feather - I love these fly-n-drives of the unknown kind. 2 for 3 so far

Hope all goes well!

 

[BrettM]

Yes indeed Rudy...

I will be going back up to NJ area within a month or so to do another road trip. I will be picking up a Renault Clio V6 to bring home to TN.
Brett

 

[BrettM]

Trip and car report

Well, we are home now after a three day road trip adventure. We arrived in Annapolis, MD and immediately knew the car was everything the seller had said it was and more. This is a one owner well preserved car and it shows.

The seller was very nice and a little sad to see the car go. Before we left, he offered to take us out in the boat to see the Baltimore Bay area. We were happy to do this even though we knew it would put us behind schedule.

After we returned, it was time to hit the road. Over 13 hours ahead of us (so we thought) and we were ready to roll.
We went through lots of this...

Things went well at first then we hit some insane traffic at the bay bridge. We finally made it into VA and started south. The car ran great with only a few hard starting issues from the heat.

Since we had gotten a late start, we had to camp near Cape Charles.

It was good and we picked up a hitchhiker while we were there.

Blake loved to drive and we enjoyed the trip.

THe car was a joy to drive and the 1300cc engine was smooth and powerful (for a 1300). Everything was like it should be.

Of course any vintage car road trip story is not complete without a breakdown. We had one and after many attempts to get the spark back to the plugs, we decided to call in the back up. Turns out, there must be a short somewhere in the ignition system, the car lost power and missed to the point we had to pull over. We got a tow to a friend's house in Kingsport and I plan to go and fix the problem so we can continue this journey home under it's own power. Stay tuned.

The fluids are not fron our X, it is mechanically sound. The electrical is a but suspect though.

 

[Greg (in Conn)]

Your son is blessed to have such a cool Dad!

Congrats to you both on a great score & adventure :thumbsup: