A Work in Progress 4.6: Serie Speciale Fiat X1/9

It took a little longer than anticipated but my 1978 Fiat X1/9 is back on the road.  In effect, I've had both my X1/9s rebodied - or re-componentised, depending on your point of view - swapping all the quick(ish) bits from my 1980 Series 1.5 into the '77 Serie Speciale shown here, using its unmodified parts to return the former back to a tidy, virtually bog-standard car.

The original idea was to just exchange the head, mild-cam and twin IDF Webers, maybe reusing the Mallory electronic ignition, and possibly the 15" Stilauto wheels.  Then one of my mechanics and I thought we may as well do the motor, holus bolus, which in turn made a full gearbox swap more feasible, ultimately leading to the "xxxx it, we may as well do the lot!" moment.  In the end, we went with all of the above, plus the newer car's coilovers, radiator and twin fans, and threw in a set of brand new stainless cooling pipes for good measure. 

Just why I would have my mechanics - Steve and Chris of Italian specialists Fogarty Auto - embark on such a task is a legitimate question and one that deserves an answer.  First, I've always preferred the Series 1 over the subsequent models, finding their minimalistic quarter bumpers, lower engine lids and sparser interiors more appealing.  As a corollary of this simpler design - no heavy aluminium bumpers with their inbuilt shock absorbers, power windows or other improvements - 1978 versions weigh in at approximately 890 kg versus later models reaching a mass of around 965 kg.  To my mind, shaving 75 kg off any car's weight is a worthwhile goal and one that, in this case, has resulted in a livelier driving experience.

There's also the fact that I bought the Series Speciale from my father, who had owned it since the early 2000s and, before that, it belonged to my former boss, Peter Prestage, the man who gave me my break in forensics and enrolled me in the three year photography course that set me up for my early career.  This consideration of provenance has an equal degree of pragmatism, though, given that I know the car's history over several decades and hold no fears for its structural integrity or crash history.  

The two cars were already running 1.5 litre Fiat 128 motors, rather than the 1.3 litre 128 units they came equipped with from new, but they have both retained their original four-speed gearboxes.  The 1300 / four speed 'box configuration was standard across the entire Series 1 / Serie Speciale run, as well as in a limited line of what's believed to be an Australia-only "Series 1.5" which featured Series 1 running gear in a Series 2 (normally 1.5 litre / five speed equipped) body, complete with energy absorbing bumpers, raised engine cover and the later edition's interior.  It has been suggested that this was so that Fiat could use up their stocks of Series 1 parts whilst still delivering an ostensibly new model Down-Under.

Of course, I could've simply modified the Serie Speciale up to the specs of my Series 1.5 but to do so would be reinventing an already well-sorted wheel (please excuse the bad pun!).  This might have ended up being quite expensive, too; like many cars, the saleable price of the Series 1.5 is likely to have been significantly less than the sum of its parts and I'd still have had to buy new components and have them fitted, so I reckon that I'm ahead on a cost-recovery basis.  (That's my official line and I'm sticking to it!)

So far, it looks like a good decision.  The car's been on three decent country runs and drives much like the Series 1.5 did but, as I said, it feels a little livelier.  It's also reassuring to know that the mechanical package has been refined and thoroughly tested over the last sixteen years, so I'm confident that there are no surprises in store - at least for the immediate future!

What I've got now is a well-tested, proven and quite peppy mechanical package in my preferred body-style that I know hasn't been pranged and is genuinely rust-free.  It also provides me with endless relatively simple but satisfying mini-projects like fixing the front bonnet so that it locks down, reinstalling the rear boot's back-up release cable and getting the speedometer going again.  The paint's not perfect but it's presentable enough until I can get it resprayed.  

The quality of the components swap has been excellent, with Chris overcoming several annoying issues like incompatible throttle linkages and choke cables, the need to relocate the electronic ignition and, most problematic, making room for the IDFs and their air filters beneath the lower UK-version engine lid that my car, being an ex-British import, was fitted with.  He did this by cleverly remounting the filters' base plates below their normal positions, reconnecting the breathers from the top of each unit and into their sides, and cutting the carbie stacks down so that there was sufficient air flow for them to work efficiently.       

As for the donor Series 1.5, I have become used to it in its new standard guise and am rather enjoying driving it around.  X1/9s were never about out and out speed, but it still handles beautifully and, as a 1500 cc equipped version, its performance is quite adequate.  I plan on selling it - more to make way for a second project than anything else - but am not in any great hurry to do so. 

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

iPhone images.