What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

At the risk of taking this further off topic on the German vs Italian thing. I've never had a stack of receipts for any of the countless German cars I've owned that was even half the size of ones for any of the many Italian cars I've owned. But that's not to say one is better than the other, they are just different. I love both for different reasons. I'm only saying I've found (in my personal experiences) that Italian vehicles tend to require much more work to keep going than German ones. And I am Italian so if there was to be any bias it would be in favor of Italian cars. But it's like comparing apples and oranges as the saying goes, so not really relevant.
 
My X1/9 bills total over twice what I paid for the car brand new. That does not include gasoline or insurance. As far as maintenance time and money goes, it reminds me more of a boat I used to own than any car I have had. My daily driver has over 100K on it and aside from oil and filter changes, it has required 2 sets of tires and a set of rear brake pads.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
I've never had a stack of receipts for any of the countless German cars I've owned that was even half the size of ones for any of the many Italian cars I've owned.
Click to expand...
But what were the $ totals of each? DId the Fiat exceed the 'german" cars in that arena? And are we talking VW, BMW, Porsche or Mercedes?
 
Jefco said:
But what were the $ totals of each? DId the Fiat exceed the 'german" cars in that arena? And are we talking VW, BMW, Porsche or Mercedes?
Click to expand...
We're talking pretty much every German car maker, and pretty much every Italian car maker. Therefore your argument works in both directions; comparing Fiat prices to Ferrari prices is the same as VW prices with Mercedes prices. So if we compare Fiat part prices to VW part prices they are very close, and Ferrari prices to Mercedes prices are also close. However because I buy my parts from wholesalers in Europe the prices for most items is close to the same regardless of what vehicle it goes on. So the $ totals are very similar for all of them, when covering similar repairs/services. But I acknowledge that would not be the same for other buyers, especially if you buy your parts from dealerships or popular specialty vendors. Another factor to consider is the availability and selection of parts; German parts tend to be much more available with a much wider array of choices. The overall point is in my experience old Italian cars usually end up costing more than old German cars when all aspects are accounted for.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
At the risk of taking this further off topic
Click to expand...

At the risk of jolting this thread back to "what did you do today", today I replaced the fuel tank. Conceptually pretty easy, execution was honestly kind of a pain in the ass! Biggest headaches: (1) I sheared one of the bolts holding the straps and had to weld on a nut to get it out. (2) getting the neck on the tank to line up with the fuel filler neck. I ended up taking the neck out, then installing the tank, then *trying* to put the neck back on, then taking the filler neck out of the plastic cover that fills the gap around the gas cap and installing it, then realizing it would be pretty tricky to get that rubber ring seated back onto the plastic cover with it installed, taking it back out and seating the ring on the bench, then *trying* to install the whole thing again, only to realize that that makes it seemingly impossible to get the metal bracket that mounts to the engine bay wall to line up, then just kind of jamming everything together and calling it a day. (3) the fuel gauge isn't reading any level now. Hoping that just sorts itself out after a week or so of driving.

On the upside, my suspicion that the old tank was completely rusted inside proved to be 100% correct. If these cars have sat for a long period of time, at least in my experience replacing the fuel tank is imperative. The sending unit was pretty rusted/oxidized as well; I'm pretty tempted to replace that as well and see if it cures the nascent lack-of-fuel-gauge problem. These cars are a delight; aren't they? :D
 
JNewm said:
At the risk of jolting this thread back to "what did you do today", today I replaced the fuel tank. Conceptually pretty easy, execution was honestly kind of a pain in the ass! Biggest headaches: (1) I sheared one of the bolts holding the straps and had to weld on a nut to get it out. (2) getting the neck on the tank to line up with the fuel filler neck. I ended up taking the neck out, then installing the tank, then *trying* to put the neck back on, then taking the filler neck out of the plastic cover that fills the gap around the gas cap and installing it, then realizing it would be pretty tricky to get that rubber ring seated back onto the plastic cover with it installed, taking it back out and seating the ring on the bench, then *trying* to install the whole thing again, only to realize that that makes it seemingly impossible to get the metal bracket that mounts to the engine bay wall to line up, then just kind of jamming everything together and calling it a day. (3) the fuel gauge isn't reading any level now. Hoping that just sorts itself out after a week or so of driving.

On the upside, my suspicion that the old tank was completely rusted inside proved to be 100% correct. If these cars have sat for a long period of time, at least in my experience replacing the fuel tank is imperative. The sending unit was pretty rusted/oxidized as well; I'm pretty tempted to replace that as well and see if it cures the nascent lack-of-fuel-gauge problem. These cars are a delight; aren't they? :D
Click to expand...
Just did my tank! Found the same pain points including busting one bolt. I drilled mine out and chased the thread.
The master cylinders are still the worst job. But i agree with you and would say the fuel tank is the most decieving.

Odie
 
Ever have one of the WTF moments with your X? Like trying to replace the right front blinker bulb on an 86 with only 37,000 miles only to find that the screws holding the lenses are not budging and eventually stripped out. Then the one of the nuts that holds the housing to the bumper is also frozen. ARGHHHH! What a pain. I took a multi tool to the 86 housing to see what I could save. Basically just the wiring harness.

Fortunately, I had a housing from a 77X parts car and 2 NOS lenses I got in the parts stash that came with my 85X. After destroying the unit off the 86, I was able to easily dissemble the unit off the 77. I mean the lens screws backed out like they were installed yesterday. That 77 was found in a field in Colby, KS and was so rusted we parted it out on the spot. Good thing my buddy cut off the blinker units I guess.

This was the 77's good side.
jamie_77.JPG

Anyway, I used the housing, reflector and even the 40 year old bulb from the 77, then harvested the wiring harness from the destroyed 86X unit. Combined all the parts and reinstalled with anti seize on everything, it blinks. Good times. :rolleyes:

It is actually pretty cool that you can re-purpose parts from cars that were built almost 10 years apart. 👍
 
Oh, I feel your pain Jim. My low mile '86 has stuck fasteners all over it. When I went to replace the headlights the bezel fasteners were seized up. I was able to snap them off without stripping the philips slots. But each headlight bucket had to be removed, the screw remnants drilled out, machined inserts installed and tapped, new stainless steel fasteners procured. Basically, a whole week with the car apart. All to do a job that should have taken 15 minutes on a bad day with an extra two trips to the toolbox!

I think driving in rain allows water to wick in behind the screw if the back is open. Then 34 years later the steel is corroded permanently into the soft aluminum. The tiny fasteners just strip or snap in two when you try to back them out. Not surprisingly, the upper fastener in each bezel came right out like it was installed the day before because they weren't tapped all the way through.
 
Cratecruncher said:
Oh, I feel your pain Jim. My low mile '86 has stuck fasteners all over it. When I went to replace the headlights the bezel fasteners were seized up. I was able to snap them off without stripping the philips slots. But each headlight bucket had to be removed, the screw remnants drilled out, machined inserts installed and tapped, new stainless steel fasteners procured. Basically, a whole week with the car apart. All to do a job that should have taken 15 minutes on a bad day with an extra two trips to the toolbox!
Click to expand...

Yep, most of the screws for the black headlight trim pieces on the 85X stripped or broke when I was taking the car apart for paint. I just left the pieces off. I was too pissed off at the time to work on the broken fasteners while it was all apart. That would have been smart. :)
 
JimD said:
Ever have one of the WTF moments with your X? Like trying to replace the right front blinker bulb on an 86 with only 37,000 miles only to find that the screws holding the lenses are not budging and eventually stripped out. Then the one of the nuts that holds the housing to the bumper is also frozen. ARGHHHH! What a pain.
Click to expand...
Isn't that always like that when working on a x19? In my case, I usually have to do things twice. But ONLY on x19s. All my other cars are fine. I had a hell of time trying to remove a broken bolt in the control arm of my Yaris, ans even my best friends (who is a mechanics for more than 50 years) had to tell me it was the most complicated job he had to work on for all it's life. But when it was done, it ran fine.

I just spend 3 hours putting back the handbrake cable on the rear caliper arm. Just before that, Idid spend 2 hours putting back the rubber thingy in the same spot. I did read all the posts about the subject on the forum. And I followed all the tips. They did help. That was today. I may start the other side tonight. Or maybe tomorrow... I don't expect to b e able to post in the "What did you do to your x19 today" for at least a few days. I prefer to switch jobs, so I'm not frustrating on some problems, but instead take the time to find new ways.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top