A Work in Progress 4.5: 1978 Fiat X1/9 Serie Speciale (Fear of The Unknown)

I am genuinely in awe of the ingenuity, skill and time that many members of the X1/9, Italian and broader car communities put into their restorations. Seeing people refurbish, adapt and engineer parts and panels - often to a higher standard than factory items - blows me away.

As a man of lesser skills, I enjoy doing what I can, generally confining myself to cleaning things up, wire-brushing, rubbing back, painting, plus wrangling electro-spaghetti and fitting the occasional accessory. If it unbolts, I'll more than likely have a crack at it; anything much more complex than that, maybe not so much ... .

This is what was lurking beneath the fluid reservoirs.

As the owner of a 41 year old X1/9, I do experience the odd moment of fearful anticipation. Take, for example, the munted, bubbled sound deadener / weather sealant that greeted me when I went to explore the ominous seepage emanating from one or both of the X's fluid reservoirs. What horrors lurked beneath its surface? Was this going to be the rust-repair in waiting that derailed my plans for a relatively straight forward resto?

Surface still protected by original primer and with Sikaflex applied.

Fortunately not! The car's much-maligned, toxic-smelling shipping container home seems to have kept the water out of the area, meaning that the metal below was clean and rust-free. Phew! It was also a relief to discover that beyond the immediate brake fluid leakage, the sound deadener was still intact and therefore didn't need to be stripped from the entire width of the car.

Remediation came in the form of a tube of paintable Sikaflex Pro multi-purpose sealant which was spatulaed up to and over the nearest edge of the remaining intact sound deadener. Further Sikaflex was applied to any remaining areas that had the potential to trap moisture, before Rust-oleum etch primer and new sound deadener of the same brand were sprayed over all surfaces.

Etch primed, above and below.

Above and below: sound deadener applied.

I'll also be employing the same technique to replace and rejuvenate the sound deadener beneath all four mudguards (a start on this has already been made), as well any other under-body areas where the existing coating is past its 'best-by' date. After that, the car's off to local Italian specialist workshop Fogarty Automotive for a quick-bits transplant - the engine, gearbox and suspension from my Series 1.5 - with the latter being offered for sale as a standard car soon after to help finance a full respray for the Series 1.

That will only leave me with a bit of tinkering - rubbing back and repainting the bumpers, sourcing and fitting a new front spoiler and passenger's side engine grille, having the ladder stripes made and applied - and then the car's done. As done as a 41 year old can be, that is!

And it turns out that the fluid seepage was caused by an insecure clamp. Bonus!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

All iPhone images.

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question: Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van? The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification. Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ; the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away. However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other. No super obvious hints here. Or here ... . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front H O L D E N lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having their own . So what exactly are those diffe

Vick Auto Prima Fiat X1/9 Brakes: An Owner’s Assessment

At the end of 2022, I fitted a set of Vick Autosport Prima front brakes to my mildly worked 1.5 litre Series 1 Fiat X1/9 . I was fortunate, having picked them up at a very, very reasonable price, brand new but surplus to the needs of a fellow X1/9 Australia member who had imported them from the US. The kit included: New single pot callipers , new vented rotors (standard X1/9 front rotors are smaller, non-vented items), DOT approved stainless steel brake hoses, and all the necessary mounting hardware. They are a value proposition, being particularly well priced compared to other manufacturers’ packages - even at RRP - with everyone I’ve spoken to saying they’re made to a high standard, too. Here's a link to a piece that I wrote about them at that time, including some costings: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-x19-gets-prima-brake-upgrade.html . Initial Assessment: I was a little underwhelmed by the brakes' performance, finding that although they had a tiny

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart. It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard. Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. And a hubcap went missing. And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it. And a mudguard got dented. And rust set in. I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla. Somebody please save it before it's too late. Nanna needs you to do it. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

nealed104 November 2019 at 10:31
You've got to be happy with that result. I would be.
Alastair Watson4 November 2019 at 19:36
Thanks, Neale. I’m a bit relieved, too. I wasn’t keen on pulling everything out of the area forward if the screen and having to strip the sound deadened away. And the metal below wasn’t rotted away, which was my greatest worry.

Upper Middle Petrol Head:

Search This Blog