Thinking about buying an X

J

Jym Jhana

Daily Driver
Hey All,

New to the forum. I owned an X 1/9 a couple of decades ago-loved it...also owned a Fiat Abarth 1000 OTR before that. Now, I found an X 1/9 sitting in a field. I am thinking about buying it ($175) but I am on the fence. The guy claims it started about 2 years ago but the tranny had given him problems a few years before that and so it has been sitting for a long time. He told me that he was going to sell it for scrap but if I want it I can pay him what he thinks it is worth as scrap metal.

So....what would I be getting myself into? I haven't seen the car yet so what should I look for? The guy says its green and a Bertone but my research says that isn't possible (unless it was re-painted)

I really want an X again. I just don't know if I have the time/energy to put into it. I just hate to see another good car go to the junk yard.

Thanks
 
A few thousand dollars will buy you....

A few thousand dollars will buy you a cosmetically challenged but solid and maintainable driver. Buy one to drive and enjoy while you work on it, and buy the 175.00 crusher-bait for parts.
 
Don't have a few thousand right now

Just bought a 2010 WRX a couple of months ago-no way the wife would be OK with spending a few grand on 'another toy'

So how had is it to find a complete running engine/tranny? I've heard that the Uno package will drop in. Can you get one of those in the US?
 
Hello,

Welcome to the X family..

It depends on the condition of this X, what your goals are for this car and a host of other things...

If this is a 5 speed X, the problems in the transmission (transaxle) is likely to be 3rd gear syncro or reverse gear. Both are quite fixable.

Yes, one can install a Turbo Uno engine into the X, there are a few members here who have done this.. Cost and finding a Turbo Uno engine/transaxle will be the challenge. Beyond the Uno Turbo, there are a number of other options. All depends on what your goals for the X are.

Images of this X would help up figure out more about this particular X..

Regardless, if another X does come into your life in the near future, we will be here for you with help and advise.

Also, search the archives.. there is an awful lot of info about the X there.



Bernice

Jym Jhana said:
Hey All,

New to the forum. I owned an X 1/9 a couple of decades ago-loved it...also owned a Fiat Abarth 1000 OTR before that. Now, I found an X 1/9 sitting in a field. I am thinking about buying it ($175) but I am on the fence. The guy claims it started about 2 years ago but the tranny had given him problems a few years before that and so it has been sitting for a long time. He told me that he was going to sell it for scrap but if I want it I can pay him what he thinks it is worth as scrap metal.

So....what would I be getting myself into? I haven't seen the car yet so what should I look for? The guy says its green and a Bertone but my research says that isn't possible (unless it was re-painted)

I really want an X again. I just don't know if I have the time/energy to put into it. I just hate to see another good car go to the junk yard.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Welcome Jym... South East - WHERE?

Would that be Florida or Vietnam?

As for Scrap... going rate is a penny a pound for steel... so that would mean the car is worth about 25 bucks if you include a few bucks for the aluminum components.

That's probably all its worth too. What you PAY for the STORY behind the car is up to you... but I would pass if I were YOU.

Not only on this car... but on ANYTHING until you have a reasonable disposable income that you can FREELY spend on your hobby. As for BANG for the BUCK... you really can't do better than an X1/9 though!

Get your personally life in order (and the support of your wife) and then go for it. If you are set on this car... do take some fotos and post them here... you'll get some GOOD advice and also lots of ??? OPINIONS as well.

Good luck with your decision...
 
It's not hard to find a rebuildable engine and tranny

but if the $175 is a fair price - that is, the owner isn't giving away a car that's in much better shape than the description, and especially the "sat in a field for two years" red flag suggests - then by the time you've bought one and done the other stuff that a $175.00 crusher-bait car needs, you'll have sunk way more dollars into it than you'd spend starting with a $1000 runner.

Of course I haven't seen the car, so have no way of knowing how good or bad a starting point it is. I'm just assuming the worst based on the price and the backstory. So post some pictures here and you'll get a more informed answer.

You might want to watch e-bay and craigslist listings go by for a while, get a feel for the state of the X market these days. There are amazing bargains out there for people who can do their own work.
 
Rule of thumb is it is far far cheaper to buy a "done" car than to make one.
I think this applies at any level.
a $175 clunker +$800 in bits + a ton of your labor = a $500 runner
a $500 runner +$800 in bits + a ton of your labor = a $750 driver
a $750 driver + $800 in bits + a ton of your labor = a $1,000 half way nice driver
and so on.....
Your much better off buying a $2,000 presentable daily driver because you'll spend a lot more to get a worse off car up to that point, unless you're after a project and like the process.
I bought an $800 car, not running and driving but in fairly decent shape. I did alright as I had it going down the road for about $30, but it needed tires and struts and tons and tons of finicky little TLC. I have probably $1,500 into it and it's probably worth about that.
Love the car though, worth it to me. I'm quite pleased so far.
 
Labor of Love

Ah, come on! You're gonna save a piece of automotive history! Don't worry about what it might cost, and how much time you'll spend on the project. If I start adding up how much I've spent restoring my '74 (or even worse, if my wife adds it all up), I'd be locked up in an insane asylum. I am now convinced that the most expensive item to restore on any car is the body work-if it has rust, buy it for parts only. I'm with Tony, scrap metal is less than the asking price of the car, unless the sheet metal is perfect! Everything else is replaceable (at a price!) Be a MAN! DO IT!
 
Florida

and I am not sure I want to restore it to original. If I were to do this I am not going to be interested in 'factory color' for the year but at the same time, I would probably not deviate to much from the original as I think it was a nice car to start with.

Anyway, I am shocked to hear that one can be picked up so cheap. When I first moved to Atlanta several years ago I ran into someone who was in a Fiat club. I talked about how I really loved the X 1/9 and he told me someone in his club had one 'at a great price'. I was excited and gave him my contact info, I get an email about an $8000 car.

Now 8 grand isn't a huge amount of money but put in terms of fun track cars it is about 2 Miatas and those have a better rep for cost of up keep. I was floored by the asking price and have never looked at the car again until I heard about this one.

So it sounds like 8k might have been an exception?
 
Yep... I'll sell you mine for $7995.00!

HA!

Now go look them up on Ebay and see for yourself.

BUT... if you are only looking at PRICE and would even consider a Miata, then you probably don't have enough PASSION to own an X1/9.

Before you decide though... drive a GOOD example of each, then decide.

There is a reason WHY we are so impassioned about our underpowered and inexpensive little cars... and like the Harley folks say, "If I haveta explain it, you wouldn't understand".

Do keep in touch...
 
I hear you

Don't need to drive a good example of a Miata-I had a D-Spec racer and it was nice but all the while I kept talking about wanting to auto-x an X 1/9. My buddy thinks I am crazy.

Maybe I am. Maybe it is because when I was old enough to buy my first car I couldn't afford an X 1/9, maybe it is because when I finally got my hands on one it handled like nothing I had ever driven before or after (it wasn't 100% stock)

Of course, I do admit to being something of a practical person and having an upper limit to what I am willing to pay for anything. If I had nothing but money, I probably still wouldn't go past 6k for a fully restored street model.

I'll take every ones advice. I'll do some ebay searches, do some reading around here about what can be done and take some pictures of the one I am looking at. There is wisdom in numbers.

One more 'horse before the cart' question; Alfas use to come with some 5 spoke wheels-much like one of the icons at the top of these pages, do those fit easily on an X1/9? I always thought those would be the perfect wheels for that car.

Thanks
 
Yes indeed

Jym Jhana said:
One more 'horse before the cart' question; Alfas use to come with some 5 spoke wheels-much like one of the icons at the top of these pages, do those fit easily on an X1/9? I always thought those would be the perfect wheels for that car.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have proof:
pic28.jpg


There was even a set of these exact Cromodora CD-31 Daytonas on Ebay last night. Not sure if the auction has ended yet or not, but I must say I was tempted. :devil:
 
Perfect

100% perfect...You are making it hard for me not to buy in. I bet my wife wouldn't even notice another car for at least a month.
I just made your car my desktop :)
Thanks
 
The more ya write... the more I see...

... that you do indeed UNDERSTAND!

HA!

One note of caution though with the Alfa stuff my good friend Jiminy forgot to mention... MOST Alfas run a 4 x 108mm bolt pattern, and the X runs a 4 x 98mm...

(Note the rest of the WORLD generally runs 4 x 100mm and 4 x 110mm...)

But there were some that were interchangeable at 4 x 98mm... even some 14 inchers off of Maserati's!

There is re-drilling and adapters also... but that's a whole 'nuther discussion.

Do keep in touch and let us know what ya find... Also, how 'bout some fotos of the junker in the field if and when ya get a chance...
 
Will do

I'll try and get some photo's this week...if not it'll be a couple of weeks as I am heading out of town this weekend for some work in DC.
 
I'd check the bottom of the car first thing...

if it has been sitting in a field for that long. tires flat and car touching ground? Or tires not flat and sunk into where the bottom touches, that sort of thing. Check under there for rust, have him pull it out of the field...
 
When you get to see it Jym....

Have the owner put either one of the front wheels on a raised kerb or brick. Now open both doors. Now close them. If they won't close cleanly and without a heavy slam then the section linking the seat back bulkhead to the floor pan is rust compromised and will cost a fortune to fix.
In that case my advice would be to look around at other projects.

Good luck.
 
Welcome Jym

Its nice to have another Florida person here as well as another "Jim", more or less :)

What part of Florida are you in? I'm just north of Tampa, and Paul Silva is about 30 min south and east.

Hope you get one!
 
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