Modifying my original green 1300....

I cant believe I am even contemplating this... but I am just thinking where an acceptable line of modifying can be drawn when it comes to a completely original pristine 1300!

So far it already has braided brake/fuel pipes, Lumenition ignition which are mods that are important to reliability/safety.

I am going to replace the brakes with grooved ones and also remove the non inertia belts and replace with the later inertia type - these mods are for safety as well so are quite acceptable, I think?

However some cosmetic mods, would it be a step too far? I have a set of nice brand new Cromodora "Iron Cross" wheels that would look really nice that I am just itching to put on.... then if I do that I may as well go the whole hog and have the engine taken out and breathed on to give a few more horses, nice custom stainless tubular manifold/exhaust system and while I'm at it a pair of subtle 36 DCNF wouldn't got amiss... obviously where I replace OE parts I would replace them with uprated higher quality parts, expensive bespoke parts if need be! - I would invest all my energy into making this 1300 one of the best ones out there mechanically and in terms of speed/handling as well as being a show queen and I would gladly sell ALL my other x1/9s and x1/9 parts to help fund this path to perfection....

Can of worms now duly opened, discuss!

Hi Jim,

Its the 64000 one really isnt it!! My view is simply this..

Its a fab car, looks wonderful, handles really well, puts a smile on your face and is a piece of motoring history....

However, its a 30 year old italian budget sports car too.... riddled with corporate incompetance!! Designed to rust from the inside out and has typical italian temprement issues.

If you can correct some of the errors made in design/manufacture and make it safer, more enjoyable and more reliable. without taking away the fact that its a fab car, looks wonderful, handles really well and makes you smile.
Then bollox!! you should be proud of the changes you make... However keep in mind its retail sale value too and have everything you modify, ready to swap back just in case you need to sell it to a purist...

thats my view anyway.. hope it helps.. there will always be those who want it kept "original".. but believe me 30 year old tyres are no fun at all... and how long do brake pads last and exhaust systems?... museums are for thoroughbreads... x19's are just for driving and enjoying....

the thing is
just where do you draw the line?

Paul

Jim, If you had the original Mona Lisa on your living room wall, would you draw a moustache on her??

:

Mmmmmm this aint gonna be easy...

:twisted:

Worms are for eating by birds................

Birds are erratic.............

X19 owners well.....................

An exxy on the road is an exxy on the road.....think of it, you could be modifying a Corsa with bits from Halfords Ripspeed

Yeah baby....... go for it :!: :!:

Jim, for what my two penneth is worth, i am in the " keeping it as original as poss" camp. There must be a dearth of totally original 1300s, or even 1500s come to that. Keeping it how it came out of the factory means it will hold it's value better in the long term. The cars we see now in museums & collections are the original ones not the ones with mods & I'm sure these cars were still enjoyed in their day! I've thought long & hard about mods to my lowly GF, but have decided to keep her as original as i can, she drives well & is easy to maintain with the original points & settings etc. Anyway, haven't you got two 1500s you can pimp to your hearts content?

Cheers,

Nige

Jim, I agree with any safety mods you are doing. Your life, and any passenger's life, are much more important than the car, so doing the brakes up, fitting inertia seatbelts all make good sense and as stated earlier, could all be swapped back if you decide to sell.

With regards to the wheels, again it would be relatively easy to change them back if required and I personally think that so long as you prefer the look you are thinking of then go ahead, its your car, and you should be enjoying it any way you see fit.

Engines mods are probably the big one. Once done, much harder to undo without a good bit of effort. However, ultimately it is your car, you are the one driving it and you need to maximise your enjoyment from it. I suspect there would also be a good deal of enjoyment as the car gets transformed into a more potent beastie.

You do not have a responsability to Fiat, fellow x1/9 owners, society as a whole to keep the car original. If that were the case the car would not be yours but would be owned by a social collective. You should really only be guided by your own heart/head and be looking to extract as much personal enjoyment from the car as you desire - in whatever guise the car may be.

If anyone tells you different, e.g. not many left, responsability to keep original etc etc, then make them an offer to buy the car from you - if it is so important to the world they should be willing to dig deep to ensure the cars stays faithful.

It's definitely down to what you want, as Dave says, seeing as it's your car and no-one elses.

Personally my view is :

Cosmetic - change stuff, but only if it can be reverted to original.
Safety - just do it - life's too precious
Engine - again, just do it, and have fun with it.

If it was my car I'd not even consider, say, cutting a hole in the bodywork - that would just be wrong. But getting the head ported or switching the carbs or fitting alloys would be a no-brainer.

I'm a bit of a purist on this issue and no expert but, like some of the other respondents, it seems to me that the original 1300's are likely to increase in value because with time, classic car collectors who don't have a particular interest as such in X1/9's may become interested simply because they will be rare. Look at this, for example:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem...15&item=250013865099
I believe this is (at least in absolute terms) a higher asking price than what I understand was the original sticker price for an X1/9 at that time. As I think Tiff pointed out (maybe only in email correspondence I had with him about something else) this one - if the 1974 registration is correct - appears to pre-date the first right-hand drive release in the UK: i.e. it's an early import and LHD->RHD conversion? OK, it's been relisted a few times now at that price and no-one has bitten, but does anyone know its story? It would be nice to think that a model like this could somehow become property of the club, if it were really as pristine as described.

RichardRR

Hi Richard,
re 1974 X1/9. This belongs to our R.O. for the E.N.E. region. The car is a converted l.h.d. '74 1300 and is as good as it sounds, all it needs is a good enough offer & it could be yours.

Rob.

Hmmm. Very tempting. You makea-me the offer I (almost) can't-a refusa...and it's entering the going, going, gone phase of the auction. But my son got married earlier this week...bills, bills, bills...

RRR

Jim, stop at the alloys me boy........what's the point of modifying the engine etc when you have a nice 1500 for thrashing aboot in. My car will stay standard as much as possible. Alloys would be the furthest I would be tempted to change it.

Speaking of alloys, I just won a wee auction on eBay for a brand new set of CD 30's from Germany. Not cheap but the amount of money I spent over the years repraying and restoring the 3 spokes means they are a bargain.

Thanks each and every one of you for contributing to this thread - your views are MUCH appreciated! Sorry I'm a bit late getting back to y'all on this one, but I really had to think carefully as how to progress with this dilemma...

In the end a really nice blue 1300 Serie Speciale popped up at a good price and made the decision on what course of action to follow MUCH easier! so I just had to buy it there and then...

This blue 1300 is more or less original and has never been welded and is still wearing original paint but it does have a few niggles and rust spots etc and the interior is a bit shabby... but it is mechanically 100%! (better than the green one in fact!) so my plan now is to use the blue one and drive it how it was intended to and modify it along the way to my hearts content... I've already been busy the last couple of days slamming on a set of CD-30 alloys, sorting out the bodged wiring, putting on a nice MOMO steering wheel, abarth gear knob etc. and done a service so hopefully it will make the trip to Wales and back! Long-term plans for it will be a highly modified engine, roll cage and respray in yellow. As for my green one I will mothball it for the time being until my wallet recovers!

Without ado here is a picture of the newest addition to the stable:



My rather special twin carb 1500 REALLY must go now to make room for this new arrival so someone please take it off my hands!

Bl**dy Hell Jim,

Where do you find these great cars?
It looks amazing, looking oforward to seeing it on Friday!!

Paul

Paul,

A mixture of doggedness and sheer fortune!! The amazing thing was that this blue car came from the Hastings area and so did my green one! - in fact they were 3 miles apart!

Anyway look forwards to meeting you - will have your lamp in tow!

Cheers,
Jim.