Replacement Steering Wheel, Shifter

A

austinx19bill

Daily Driver
Hi all, I have an '81 X1/9 with about 95K miles -- good solid runner, a but rough, will get restored someday.

In the meantime, I was thinking of removing the original steering wheel and shifter (you know the one, not sure I can describe it here without getting kicked off the forum) and storing them (Texas sun is really tough on European plastics and rubbers).

Any suggestions on a steering wheel and shifter to replace the originals with?
 
I use a Mr. Gasket chrome ball shifter, about $18 at Jegs; my '86 came to me with a Momo steering wheel (with adapter).
 
austinx19bill said:
Hi all, I have an '81 X1/9 with about 95K miles -- good solid runner, a but rough, will get restored someday.

In the meantime, I was thinking of removing the original steering wheel and shifter (you know the one, not sure I can describe it here without getting kicked off the forum) and storing them (Texas sun is really tough on European plastics and rubbers).

Any suggestions on a steering wheel and shifter to replace the originals with?
Click to expand...
I replaced my shifter knob with a custom billard ball from a guy on etsy or ebay. Great size in your hand and gets a lot of laughs. My steeing wheel needed to be redone, and for what its worth, I ended up taking advice from someone on another forum and wrapping it in tennis raquet grip wrap. It looks ok but it feels like heaven.
 
I made my own shift knob for the X because I like heavy golfball shifters from the VW. But on other vehicles I have bought from this company. Single mom that does great work with lots of options but also classic balls. Great company.

Hot Rod Shift knobs
 
I use the shift ball that came on 1300 Xs, just a black plastic ball with the shift pattern on it. I have a Grant steering wheel mounted to a 124 spider hub. I had to redrill the holes in the hub as Grant wheels are five bolt and Fiat hubs are six bolt....not hard to do.
 
As Carl said, the early 125 steering wheels have a removable hub that is a direct fit on the X. You can use the 124 wheel that it came with, or it has a common six bolt pattern that a lot of aftermarket wheels fit. Or there are some aftermarket adaptors (hubs) available that will do the same, but they can get a bit costly. I believe the LADA hub is also compatible and I saw some really affordable adaptor hubs for them online.

Replacement shifter knobs can be difficult to find in the correct thread size, but you can adapt just about any knob.
 
Does the knob just screw off counterclockwise (right hand thread)?

again, I have the uniquely Italian shifter that look not a little like a particular anatomical part.

Texas sun is brutal, trying to save it from disintegrating by throwing it in a box in some conditioned space in the house.
 
Just depends on your goal. If it is only to save your original, then you could buy some other x19 stock ones for cheap if they aren't in pristine condition. Otherwise, you may shop for a Momo combo. They were really popular for Fiat products. Then you will have to choose between wood and leather, stock steering size or smaller, etc.
 
Sounds like the "beer tap" style shift knob:
CAR_SHOOTERS_FIAT-X1-9-STORIA_48-360x240.jpg
 
pic Doc Jeff sent is the shifter handle that came with the car -- except, I wouldn't call it a beer tap (first time I ever heard that polite description for it). Everyone who sees it immediately has a different interpretation.
 
carl said:
Does a Miata shift ball have the same thread as the Fiat?
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Doubtful.... Fiat is one of the few manufacturers that uses mostly fine thread metric.... Fiat is 10mm x 1.25, Datsun/Nissan used 8mm x1.25.. Our BMW is 10mm x 1.5. I think you'll find a majority of shifters will be one of the latter two...😢 Doesn't mean you can't use them, just means there's a little work involved to make it happen..😁
 
A shift know discussion on MIra at the same time as this and someone posted the threads are the same. I no longer have a Miata so can't test the thesis.
 
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