View attachment 6892 Hi everyone, As I have mentioned before, I am making replacements for hard to find or improvements over original parts for X1/9. First is Early style front grill/valance assembly. Carbon fiber. Fit is perfect, no visible hardware, 1 minute installation. All correct curves to match lower front fenders, unlike some other fiberglass replicas, where valance's 45 degree surface is flat. Grill is the closest possible pattern match for the era and car's front end design. Note the curved bottom of the grill and lower wider open area - that's because I tilted my radiator backwards for much better airflow capturing and ducting through the radiator, also air exit is guided smoothly down and out "sliding" on 45 degree "back duct" versus the original parachute-like high drag area behind the radiator. Added are 2 quiet high efficiency sleek fans, one operated by the original temp sensor, the other manually by an original looking switch on the dash. If anyone is interested in grill-valance part as direct replacement on all models, let me know. I can also make the lowest 2 inches of the valance out of rubber blended upwards into carbon grill frame. Now I make improved Euro bumper design, will be made out of carbon or rubber.
That grill looks good, must be a lot of work in it.
Dan, that's an interesting magazine article I haven't seen before, is there any more to it or that the full article?
Not only for the sake of cost, but the front lower spoiler lip is easily damaged when parking, etc., so replacement would be likely. Perhaps the rubber version would be more practical but frankly I'm not clear on your description of it. Again, pictures will help.Can it be done in fiberglass to save money?
Yes, it took some effort to sculpt the valance/grill combo, as well as the bumpers, mostly because I don't have the original ones and I made everything from scratch. I will soon make carbon replacement fenders and doors.That grill looks good, must be a lot of work in it.
Dan, that's an interesting magazine article I haven't seen before, is there any more to it or that the full article?
I can make these. Send me original ones, even broken, also I can make the entire wing.Please make the rear spoiler wing tips. These seem to be easy to break and impossible to find.
Sorry if my description is not clear. One of the ideas was to make one piece valance/grill part, but the lowest section of it, the lip, about 2 inches (the forward protruding and easily damaged lip) , to be rubber, which is not detachable from the whole grill "frame",Not only for the sake of cost, but the front lower spoiler lip is easily damaged when parking, etc., so replacement would be likely. Perhaps the rubber version would be more practical but frankly I'm not clear on your description of it. Again, pictures will help.
However where real carbon fiber would be a definite advantage is for a replacement top. A light weight CF panel would be very functional. Consider this as a future product.
Fiberglass will not be cheaper. First, I hate to work with it. Second, it's much much easier to work with carbon. The price difference in material cost is about $80 in favor to fiberglass, but work effort, quality, finish and look equals the price in my case. Also, I use epoxy resin, not cheap polyester like all others, polyester does not wet (thus not bond) to CF. Like water and oil, mix them as much as you like, they stay stay separate. And yes, I can make carbon Euro bumpers as skin only as you suggest, but mounting will be your challenge. My front bumper Euro version has options, !. One piece across the width of the car, similar to the famous Niki Lauda X1/9. 2. Bumper blocks for it, my pick. 3. Just two corners, like the early stock front bumper. 4. Corners with blocks. 5. Full length with or without blocks, but made out of three separate sections, i.e. you can choose to install or not the center section. All this can be made out of CF as hollow skin; light flexible foam filled skins (for light impact absorption); or made out of rubber. Also, to complete the front bumper set, I offer brand new pair of turn signals (see previous photos) with special carbon one inch "spacers" for better visibility of the turn signals, as they are underneath the bumper. Pictures will be posted soon.I like the grill/valance and am very curious regarding price. Can it be done in fiberglass to save money? X1/9ers tend to be a thrifty lot. Also very interested in the Euro bumpers and wonder what pricing might be there as well, along with the same question regarding whether they can be done in fiberglass, and I would be interested in a nicely done set of carbon or glass Euro bumpers without the reinforcements, as I would like a set that looks fairly stock Euro but as light as possible. I also think the combination grill/valance idea might work very well in the rear, as well, replacing the rear valance and heat vent 'grill' with one lightweight unit. It is always great to see someone innovating and making new parts for these cars!
I could not have saved time of redesigning my radiator mounting, because the result of the 1973 study is either not put in practice, badly studied, not the best option or at least not available. Fact is the production X1/9 has a high drag and high turbulence parachute section behind the radiator. My design took 2 days from idea to finished product and I am done with overheating problems, noisy fan and no option for additional cooling without second fan. In addition, I designed my cooling duct in a way that if I sell the car and someone insists on originality, it can be put back as stock reusing all parts and no traces of the conversion will be left.You could have saved a lot of time by skipping the redesign of how the radiator is mounted, FIAT engineers already did all of that work in wind tunnel testing in Stuttgart while the X1/9 was being developed. See halfway down the second column of the attached pic of an article from Motor magazine, Dec 1973.
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That grill looks good, must be a lot of work in it.
Dan, that's an interesting magazine article I haven't seen before, is there any more to it or that the full article?
Really spectacular work in the pics!
What I am most interested in however, are details / pics of your revised radiator mounting / shrouding