Suspension strut HD top mounts and reinforcements

Dr.Jeff

Dr.Jeff

True Classic
I think recently someone was looking for the heavy duty strut top mounts - A.K.A. Plaia design - with no luck. I thought Chris had a trailer load of them, but apparently he has sold out? And no one else seems to be offering any? Somehow that doesn't sound right. Anyway....

Today I stumbled on a German parts site and they list what appears to be those HD mounts:

improved strut mount X1/9 / A112 / Montecarlo

improved strut mount X1/9 / A112 / Montecarlo: strut mount front / rear / left / right, location: upper for the following vehicles: Fiat X1/9 Lancia ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

Never heard of the site and not 100% sure what mounts these are. The price is about $30 each (without VAT) plus shipping from Germany.

They also list the reinforcement "doubler" (A.K.A. BigFoot) plates:

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager X1/9

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager X1/9: Verstärkungsplatte für Federbeindom X1/9 Diese Platte wurde aus 304 Edelstahl (X5Cr-Ni18-10) gefertigt und dient zur ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

Including a modified and thicker version to better fit the late 1500 models:

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager 1300/1500 hinten, 4mm, V2A

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager 1300/1500 hinten, 4mm, V2A: Verstärkungsplatte für Federbeindom X1/9 Diese Platte wurde aus V2A gefertigt und dient zur ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

I did not know that last item even existed. So are these the products the Mark and Chris created?
 
Dr.Jeff said:
I think recently someone was looking for the heavy duty strut top mounts - A.K.A. Plaia design - with no luck. I thought Chris had a trailer load of them, but apparently he has sold out? And no one else seems to be offering any? Somehow that doesn't sound right. Anyway....

Today I stumbled on a German parts site and they list what appears to be those HD mounts:

improved strut mount X1/9 / A112 / Montecarlo

improved strut mount X1/9 / A112 / Montecarlo: strut mount front / rear / left / right, location: upper for the following vehicles: Fiat X1/9 Lancia ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

Never heard of the site and not 100% sure what mounts these are. The price is about $30 each (without VAT) plus shipping from Germany.

They also list the reinforcement "doubler" (A.K.A. BigFoot) plates:

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager X1/9

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager X1/9: Verstärkungsplatte für Federbeindom X1/9 Diese Platte wurde aus 304 Edelstahl (X5Cr-Ni18-10) gefertigt und dient zur ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

Including a modified and thicker version to better fit the late 1500 models:

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager 1300/1500 hinten, 4mm, V2A

Verstärkungsplatte Domlager 1300/1500 hinten, 4mm, V2A: Verstärkungsplatte für Federbeindom X1/9 Diese Platte wurde aus V2A gefertigt und dient zur ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

I did not know that last item even existed. So are these the products the Mark and Chris created?
Click to expand...
I thought the Plaia design was the flat roller bearings to replace the fiber bearing.
 
He worked with a couple people to design a few items. For the suspension they came up with the doubler reinforcement plates, the HD top mounts, and the steering bearings. There might have been others like sway bars, etc, I don't remember everything.
 
Mounting kit for the front swaybar to the trunk floor instead of to the suspension links.

The strut mounts were organized by a german vendor who made an exclusive deal with FiatPlus to sell them in the US, IIRC.
 
Ulix said:
Mounting kit for the front swaybar to the trunk floor instead of to the suspension links.

The strut mounts were organized by a german vendor who made an exclusive deal with FiatPlus to sell them in the US, IIRC.
Click to expand...
@Ulix , do you know of anyone who has looked into this box they sell?

X-LightBox X1/9 1500

X-LightBox X1/9 1500: X-LightBox X1/9 1500 Mit dieser Box schützen Sie die mittlerweile nicht mehr zu beschaffenden Schiebeschalter der späten 1500er ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de

This looks interesting, particularly if it can be used with the OE late sliding switch to save it. Parking lights only would be nice as well.
 
Last edited:
It is the german vendor listed above who initiated the production of the HD mounts in Italy.
I put him in touch with Chris Obert at the time. So the ones on that page are the same ones Chris used to sell.

The X-Lightbox has been around for a long time. I know the developer personally, he has a small elctronics firm.
Lots of german Xs have the lightbox.
I think the product is mainly a plug-and-play solution for customers who don't work on cars themselves.
Installing a set of relays for low and high beams protects much more than only that switch. So if you like to tinker with wires, you could do all of this yourself.
 
Ulix said:
The strut mounts were organized by a german vendor who made an exclusive deal with FiatPlus to sell them in the US, IIRC.
Click to expand...
Ulix said:
It is the german vendor listed above who initiated the production of the HD mounts in Italy.
I put him in touch with Chris Obert at the time. So the ones on that page are the same ones Chris used to sell.
Click to expand...
This is interesting. I recall discussions on the forum years ago saying Mark P and Chris O developed these HD top mounts themselves. About having a Chinese manufacturer make prototypes that they tested, rejecting several versions before finally getting what they wanted. Then having to buy container loads of them in order to get the preferred price. And since Mark's passing part of the sales proceeds have been going to his surviving family. All of that sounds different from the German/Italian source. The thing is I've seen heavy duty top mounts listed from other sellers than Chris. And I thought he had an exclusive on the ones I'm referring to here. So possibly there is more than one version of HD top mounts out there? Although the last I heard Chris still had most of a container full of them, yet now I'm hearing he is out of them(?)...did he sell off his supply to another seller?

To be clear I'm not questioning anyone's intel, I really do not know the fully history, and I very well might be remembering things wrong. Like I said it's quite possible there is more than one version of them. That was the point of my original post in this thread when I saw some offered by a German seller.
 
I tried to purchase a set of Bigfoot strut reinforcements from Chris in January. He sold every set he had made, saying he thought that his initial batch would be a lifetime supply. He was contemplating ordering another batch, but given the cost of production and the amount of units he would need to make to keep cost down it may not make financial sense to keep making them, but that he may do another run if there is enough interest.

I talked with him about the HD strut top mounts as well since I last purchased a set in 2018 from him for my 1975 X1/9 and wanted another set for my '73. He sold his remaining stock to someone (I can't recall who bought it out). He said his manufacturer isn't answering phone or emails, and may be a dead contact at this point.

I hope someone starts making these again, the quality was great and with the way I like to drive my X1/9 the current set won't last more than a few years.
 
JTBernhardt said:
I tried to purchase a set of Bigfoot strut reinforcements from Chris in January. He sold every set he had made, saying he thought that his initial batch would be a lifetime supply. He was contemplating ordering another batch, but given the cost of production and the amount of units he would need to make to keep cost down it may not make financial sense to keep making them, but that he may do another run if there is enough interest.

I talked with him about the HD strut top mounts as well since I last purchased a set in 2018 from him for my 1975 X1/9 and wanted another set for my '73. He sold his remaining stock to someone (I can't recall who bought it out). He said his manufacturer isn't answering phone or emails, and may be a dead contact at this point.

I hope someone starts making these again, the quality was great and with the way I like to drive my X1/9 the current set won't last more than a few years.
Click to expand...
Thanks JT, that explains my understanding of him having a bunch of mounts at one point but none later. So possibly some of the mounts offered by other sellers are Chris' prior supply. But it also sounds like there are some offered that came from another source/manufacturer. It would be interesting to have a comparison of the various "HD" mounts available.
 
kmead said:

X-LightBox X1/9 1500

X-LightBox X1/9 1500: X-LightBox X1/9 1500 Mit dieser Box schützen Sie die mittlerweile nicht mehr zu beschaffenden Schiebeschalter der späten 1500er ...
ing-hoba.de ing-hoba.de
This looks interesting, particularly if it can be used with the OE late sliding switch to save it. Parking lights only would be nice as well.
Click to expand...
Ulix said:
The X-Lightbox has been around for a long time. I know the developer personally, he has a small elctronics firm.
Lots of german Xs have the lightbox.
I think the product is mainly a plug-and-play solution for customers who don't work on cars themselves.
Installing a set of relays for low and high beams protects much more than only that switch. So if you like to tinker with wires, you could do all of this yourself.
Click to expand...
I hadn't heard of this before. So is it basically the relay mod? I guess it also has the wiring conversion for the Panda's switch with more connections? Nice idea. How come we do get stuff like this here?


Completely off topic. Not relating to this box in any way and absolutely nothing implied about it. In the past I have seen other "black box" products offered for other cars that were merely empty boxes with the needed connectors to adapt something on the outside. Or some had a .05 cent resistor or such inside and sold for $150. The "better" ones added a red LED to make it look more significant. Again, nothing to do with the "X-Lightbox", just remembering stuff from the past with clever marketing.
 
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