Bumper conversion

Hi

I have recently purchased an F reg 1500 and keen to remove the front and rear bumpers and replace with the earlier 1300 option. The only supplier i can see is based in America (Midwest Bayless) and quoting over $700!! does anyone know any other options ideally in the uk?

Cheers

Pete

Hi Pete,

Welcome to X1/9 ownership! Please feel free to post pictures of your new pride and joy on the forum

Regarding de-bumpering your car; a lot of people have undertaken this mod over the years. if you search the forum you will find posts regarding people experiences with doing this mod.

Your best bet might be going for repro bumpers made from GRP and with the correct brackets moulded into them. You would need to retain the bracket that the current bumpers are mounted on for this though.
I think CASCU over in Norfolk still produce the bumpers in GRP, or a search on Ebay will probably come up with some for sale. They will be a lot less than $700!

The 130os have different brackets for mounting the bumpers which don't fit directly onto a 1500.

Cheers

Andy

To add to Andy's post; you'll also need the front indicator/sidelights, front grille, spoiler and the rear number plate light (some of which is pretty rare). There's also various holes for the 1500 plastic trim/numberplate etc that need to be filled/plugged.

Also to consider in my opinion is the colour of your car because many moons ago i did a conversion on my mica red finale and it just didn't look right so put the 1500 bumpers back on. Putting on a really snazzy set of alloys with a beefier stance makes a world of difference to a 1500s look.

Hi Pete,
I have a GRP 1300 bumper conversion kit I would be happy to sell to you. I bought it to do the conversion on my 1500 but I ended up just leaving the bumpers off altogether and modifying the bodywork, so the kit is brand new and unused.
PM me if you're interested

Andrew.

The original rear number plate lights were not very durable and so unless you really want authenticity then fit one of these using the existing wiring. You can also then keep you rectangular number plate. The front indicators are more of a problem, you can make up a plate to mount the 1500 indicators into the hole for the 1300 ones that lurks behind the 1500 bumper set up. 1300 indicators rarely come up second hand but you can buy them new from here . You can buy a packet of rubber grommets/plugs from ebay which you can paint to body colur to fill the holes left after removing the larger bumpers. Be aware that when you remove the 1500 bumpers the said holes might larger than original due to the tin worm.
To complete the look you'll need a 1300 front spoiler

Hi Andy

Yes i must get pics of my X19 sorted for the forum. The contact for CASCU is very useful too. May ask your advise again!

Cheers

Pete

Thanks for the advice and yes the 1300 light replacements are a little pricey so i may well make a plate for the 1500 lights as suggested. Once again thank you for the great advice

I've made a start on this, on my 1500.

CASCU are still in business, £100 plus VAT gets you a set of 4 GRP repro bumpers & 4 blocks. They are very much a race-weight set, and I suspect they will need work to get a good, tight fit.

The existing 1500 mounts won't work with the new blades, so you will need this web page to copy their brackets:-

www.midwest-bayless.com/Fiat-X19-0_p-334...one-x19-1975-88.aspx

or this one to make you own (about half way down)

xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/q...s.29599/#post-247983

xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/f...s.29712/#post-249095

xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/h...s.29325/#post-245362

I haven't thought about the sidelights yet, nor the grill or chin spoiler. My car is currently bumperless, gaping holes, indicators clamped on at a gash angles and with a ebay sheet of expanded mesh protecting the radiator

Cascu also sell the 1300 front spoiler which was originally rubber. This can be modified and using adhesive fixed in place of the original steel spoiler which was £180 from Midwest last time I looked.

To avoid drilling holes in the rear for the number plate lights you can use LED bolts fixed to the number plate which is then mounted on a plastic frame. I think some of the 1300's originally had a steel frame around the square plate.

LED number plate bolts

number plate frame





Good example of the holes that are exposed after removing the bumpers. There are some square holes for the fitment of the long number plate. I have used one of these with a land rover defender plastic captive plug and the original number plate light hole at the bottom to mount the plat in the photo. I've not fitted the 1300 style bumpers yet but run some rubber over riders to help protect the body work.

There is not a great deal of information about de-bumpering on a budget. Which is what I have done.

Given the fact X1/9s are getting more and more rare and prices are subsequently rising for good examples as close to original spec personally I would not bother about de-bumpering an X1/9 if it is in good original condition, one is just diminishing the originality of the car and also any potential resale value. Obviously if the car needs extensive restoration or has been saved from the crusher then I can see the point of de-bumpering.

jimx19 wrote: Given the fact X1/9s are getting more and more rare and prices are subsequently rising for good examples as close to original spec personally I would not bother about de-bumpering an X1/9 if it is in good original condition, one is just diminishing the originality of the car and also any potential resale value. Obviously if the car needs extensive restoration or has been saved from the crusher then I can see the point of de-bumpering.

At the end of the day they are never going to be worth enough to worry about modding them. I could understand this if it were a stratos or something but not an X. Do whatever makes you happy to drive the car and makes you smile when you get out and look at it.


I did this with a set of GRP bumpers from ebay. Doesn't look perfect but looks a damn lot better than the dumpy US bumpers that were never really intended for the car.