What did you do to your X1/9 today ?

Sadly I think the Minimus 7s are too big for this application.

I have three sets of them around the house, two of the black and one of the wood type I recently acquired so I don’t know what they sound like. One of my son’s blew out one of my metal ones so I need to do a repair on that one. Of course they are 40 or so years old... They outlived the company that produced them by a wide margin.
 
So much better than the ‘turbo’ on these cars. Nice choice.
Thanks. The car came with the turbo’s. Mike Brewer and I were having a good laugh at how completely useless they were. It was actually in our favour when negotiating the price...
 
Sadly I think the Minimus 7s are too big for this application.

I have three sets of them around the house, two of the black and one of the wood type I recently acquired so I don’t know what they sound like. One of my son’s blew out one of my metal ones so I need to do a repair on that one. Of course they are 40 or so years old... They outlived the company that produced them by a wide margin.
They’re amazing. And, are widely available on eBay, cheaply. Most people don’t know how good they are besides the ones who own them, which keeps prices down. The Japanese versions are preferred. I have a small pair of Energy surrounds which were three/four times the price and don’t sound noticeably better. But yes, sadly, they are too big. But I’m toying with the idea of manufacturing a custom box that fits the shelf, and using the guts from 7’s. Only problem is the 8 ohms thing - power suck.
 
Got my 6" steelies back from powder coating. I am happy with the result and color is very close to original. The 35mm center caps are missing and seems to be impossible to find on the web 🙄.
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Replaced the frunk release cable, which snapped off at the lever the other day. I'll be honest: I don't think I've ever cursed the idiots who engineered this car more than while I was doing that job. I'm sure there was some easier way to do it, but I just couldn't figure how to get the cable out of the latch assembly without getting the latch assembly out from under that metal overhang thing it's mounted under.

So I pulled the whole dang assembly out, including the mount. But now I couldn't figure out how to get everything back in! I ended up disassembling the latch/spring mechanism from the mount, installing the cable in the far end (through the cube thing with a hole in it), then sliding the latch mount and the spring mechanism into place, then bolting them back together like a ship in a bottle. Quite the ordeal. All told, I think it took like 3 hours--for a job I'd estimated at 20 minutes. 🤣 Did the assembly-line workers install the mechanism first, then spot-weld that metal overhang piece on? I don't see how else they could've built the car.

At least it works like new! Really *snaps* into place. I lubricated everything with Blaster's sprayable dry lube that has Teflon in it. Seemed to do the trick.
 
Replaced the frunk release cable, which snapped off at the lever the other day. I'll be honest: I don't think I've ever cursed the idiots who engineered this car more than while I was doing that job. I'm sure there was some easier way to do it, but I just couldn't figure how to get the cable out of the latch assembly without getting the latch assembly out from under that metal overhang thing it's mounted under.

So I pulled the whole dang assembly out, including the mount. But now I couldn't figure out how to get everything back in! I ended up disassembling the latch/spring mechanism from the mount, installing the cable in the far end (through the cube thing with a hole in it), then sliding the latch mount and the spring mechanism into place, then bolting them back together like a ship in a bottle. Quite the ordeal. All told, I think it took like 3 hours--for a job I'd estimated at 20 minutes. 🤣 Did the assembly-line workers install the mechanism first, then spot-weld that metal overhang piece on? I don't see how else they could've built the car.

At least it works like new! Really *snaps* into place. I lubricated everything with Blaster's sprayable dry lube that has Teflon in it. Seemed to do the trick.

That particular activity is in my future, not looking forward to it. The last few times I drove mine the latch handle would lazily swing back and forth as I drove.

Given how often I use the latch on mine to put the top in and out, it lasted a decent time interval.

Around here if you don’t like the weather they suggest you wait ten minutes, this being actually true I rarely leave the top off unless I really know the weather forecast is likely to actually be good. A storm can brew up over Lake Michigan and be at my house or work within 15 minutes out of a clear blue sky...
 
Began manufacture of the 3.5”, rear shelf speaker boxes. Decided to go external, so they can just be removed and worked on easily. Also, the intention was NOT to have them firing up and directly into the rear glass, After some placement tests, I found the tiny speakers to be less shrill when pointed slightly into the cabin as opposed to reflecting directly off the glass. Hence my design. If it works out, I’ll try to remember to trace and measure the components so they can be copied. Adding a $10 contour gauge tool to my growing tool arsenal helped immensely in shaping the wood to the curved lip of the shelfs top edge. I’ll use Hussein’s super velcro to anchor them, so as not to drill holes into the shelf.

But what I need to know is: where’s the best place to buy small pieces of interior auto vinyl which would be close to the ‘74 X1/9 look and texture.

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All I've been doing is driving the X, too busy with work on it but am also building a big yard shed that will have a very small lawn tractor garage (9'x14') to house the X until I build the super cool garage.

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A few days ago "Brit" Tavelin sent me some old paperwork. My 86 was orignally sold by Ray Betts Imports in Fayetteville Pa. to a guy in Shippensburg Pa. on 10/3/87 with 113 miles. A guy in the Navy shipped it to Europe where it evidently spent most of it's life in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. I think Mike said the punch cards are lunch tickets from the factory when it was being built. Pretty cool.
 
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Finished the rear-shelf speaker box frames. Just need to add some wood glue for strength, and then some black vinyl to match the shelf. Well, in tone at least. They look imperfect, but as there isn’t a straight line in the shelf, they are fully custom down to what eight inches they’ll each occupy. I’ll probably add a little batten, but as they’re mainly for mids-highs, maybe not?
Theres just enough room for adding grills too.

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Finished the rear-shelf speaker box frames. Just need to add some wood glue for strength, and then some black vinyl to match the shelf. Well, in tone at least. They look imperfect, but as there isn’t a straight line in the shelf, they are fully custom down to what eight inches they’ll each occupy. I’ll probably add a little batten, but as they’re mainly for mids-highs, maybe not?
Theres just enough room for adding grills too.

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The size of the box looks like you have plenty of room for seperates - midrange and tweeter speakers, along with a crossover - if you wanted.
 
The size of the box looks like you have plenty of room for seperates - midrange and tweeter speakers, along with a crossover - if you wanted.
Width wise - yeah, I could even put in a 9” or 10”. But depth wise, 4” would have been a challenge. The 3.5” have loads of high end, and the mids aren’t bad either. With an eight inch sub, everything should balance out nicely. I also wanted to keep the boxes to just under the width of the seat-backs, so as to be invisible as possible :)
 
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I noticed a while back the bottoms of both doors are showing signs of the dreaded tim worm, so I took the drivers door card off for a look-see



The cause was easy to diagnose...the dipsticks who did the restoration 5 years ago for the previous owner failed to put in any bloody drain holes when they replaced the lower door panels, doh! For the sake of two holes I’ll have to pay out for some repair work in the future, grrrrrrr.

I‘ve put a couple of 1/4“ holes in and poured half a pint of diluted Waxoyl into the bottom of the door.



Guess they work! :D

 
I noticed a while back the bottoms of both doors are showing signs of the dreaded tim worm, so I took the drivers door card off for a look-see



The cause was easy to diagnose...the dipsticks who did the restoration 5 years ago for the previous owner failed to put in any bloody drain holes when they replaced the lower door panels, doh! For the sake of two holes I’ll have to pay out for some repair work in the future, grrrrrrr.

I‘ve put a couple of 1/4“ holes in and poured half a pint of diluted Waxoyl into the bottom of the door.



Guess they work! :D

Good find. PS - is Mike Brewer looked at as a God in the U.K.?
 
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