Hi All
Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself.
I had a 1300 back in the early 80's reg HMS55S. Wonder where it is now.
It belonged to the Countess of Morayshire before I had it. Absolutely fantastic car, sublime handling, sounded and looked great, the girls quite liked it too.. Those 'girls' aren't too far from drawing a pension now so I doubt it'd have quite the same effect but hey I can dream!!
The reality is I'd like a good solid car I can use for trackdays, ideally a 1300 with a hot engine but a 1500 and small bumpers would do.
I don't fancy spending months in the garage with a welder so I was thinking about importing one from somewhere hot and dry and converting it to RHD. Anyone done that, is it easy, practicable?
Thanks all
Steve
Not done it but i would say its possible. Given the time and effort, shipping costs etc might be cheaper to buy a good uk one..
For a conversion u might need a uk steering rack. Uk dash. Pedal box maybe steering column too. Quite a time consuming job but technically possible, but some of the more tech guys on the forum might know that it might not be possible.
1983 1500 (currently restoring it)
1989 1500 GF - on the road
2003 Mazda RX8 - modern version of the X1/9
Aspires to a Lancia MonteCarlo (code number by Fiat and Lancia X1/8 then X1/20)
I've never seen an X19 with the dash all stripped out but I have seen a Montecarlo and the pedal box metalwork, holes for the steering, ventilation, etc are all pressed in the metalwork on both sides so it'd be relatively easy to do a Montecarlo if you had a rotten donor to remove the rack and ventilation pipework pedals etc etc.
Anyone got any pictures of an X19 front bulkhead from inside the cockpit with the dash and carpet out?
Hi and welcome Steve.
According to the DVLA your old orange 1300 was was last on the road in 1989 so unless its carefully stored in a barn it probably has been crushed...
Plenty of early models overseas, how about this
one?
However don't bother converting to RHD, it is so easy to drive a LHD car especially in a tiny car like an X1/9 with excellent visibility....
Jim.
1977 Serie speciale in green original spec
1977 Serie speciale in blue modified
I thought I had a stripped out interior pic but I don't. But you can see from this sorry scrapped X of mine that the bulkhead is different and it would be quite a major task to do a conversion looking at this.. This was a RHD car by the way and note the bracket that is used to bolt up the pedal box..
1983 1500 (currently restoring it)
1989 1500 GF - on the road
2003 Mazda RX8 - modern version of the X1/9
Aspires to a Lancia MonteCarlo (code number by Fiat and Lancia X1/8 then X1/20)
What a surprise.... Your 1300 (HMS 55S) was not crushed and is sitting in my garage right now. It is well known by a lot of the Scottish members who have been to the house, and is a source of much amusement as my restoration project which has not moved on for many years. I also get grief regularly from Judith saying that it will never get finished.
I bought it about 20 years ago and started by replacing the back end. It then went up on a spit and one side is mostly completed. One day I will get the motivation to put some real time into it.
Where abouts are you? Any information on its history (including any photos in its earlier life) would be much appreciated. If you are in the area then you are most welcome to come and have a look at how badly it deteriorated before I got it, or even come along to Scottish Area Xmas lunch this Sunday, if you are free.
The earliest X1/9s in the UK were LHD imports converted by Radborne, but as mentioned in other posts, it is not simply a matter of bolting in RHD parts as it is on many other classics.
Looks like it’d be a right PITA… oh well I’ll have to think again.
Thanks for letting me know about my old car Ian. I’m amazed it’s still around; it had started to bubble here and there when I had it in 1980-81!!
I was an avionics technician on my first posting from training and was sent to RAF Lossiemouth working on Jaguar ground attack aircraft at the time. I was just starting to earn decent money after qualifying as a Junior Technician and sold my Lancia Beta Spyder to a mate so I had a few quid in my pocket. I remember discussing the merits of a Montecarlo, X19 or Lotus Elan Sprint with a good friend at work. I had a go in an Elan which was fantastic but I was always worried about the engine and general reliability. My friend bought a Monte and I bought the Orange X19. The Monte was faster in a straight line of course but point to point he could never get away from me. I remember upsetting him once when I had a drive in it because I felt the damping was so much better on the X19. It could change direction over bumpy S bends roads and not be upset whereas you almost had to wait for the suspension to settle and then turn in with the Monte so I could always catch him up when the road started to get twisty. We had some great drives blatting around the North of Scotland when the roads were really quiet back then and before speed cameras of course. I sold the X19 to a dealer just before I was posted to Germany.
I don’t have any old pictures which is a real pity. The only thing I do have is a brochure with the green XE on the front but they’re quite easy to get hold of on Ebay these days I think.
I’d love to see a few pictures of it now if you have any to hand.
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