Exhausts

Just found out today that the last manufacturer of aftermarket standard exhausts have now discontinued the X1/9 system.The largest tyre and exhaust chain in the UK have none in stock..... CSC or handmade for us all now!

Ewen,you were saying??!!

That's not great news, although it IS a good excuse to get a good quality stainless one made up when the time comes

In the meantime, this might sound like a daft question, but is it worth painting my exhaust with that special exhaust paint, to protect it, or do they rot from the inside-out ?

Waste of time,the exhaust gets so hot it'd probably burn off anyway,and to be honest the aftermarket exhausts are crap quality anyway..3 years is a good run.....

OK, may as well dive in at the deep end as we need to do something in the near future. Tiff and I have been having a few discussions over the last few weeks regarding the lack of parts available for the X1/9's. We have been talking about a parts department within the X1/9 club, not a new idea but something that has to be looked at in detail or our cars will end up high and dry.

There are those out there that say modifying existing parts is the way to go but Tiff and I both agree that reproductions are the way to go. Some of our members have the skills and tools to modify third party products but most of us would prefer the direct bolt on, perfect fit replacement.

I propose the formation of a sub group within the committee, its main purpose to find a solution to the dwindling parts available for the X1/9. Suspension, brakes, electrical and possibly even trim replacements will be looked at. There are many problems with such a venture but with the help of the tech officers, I hope a plan can be drawn up to replenish the parts we now see so scarce.

The one thing I don't want to see is the route taken when we decided to buy hundreds or was it a thousand seat belt covers which, of course could not be sold and lived out a life of comfort in someone's garage. If this project takes off it has to be done right and each step taken must be carefully thought out.

We might be starting too late, as Tiff points out there were voices trying to drum up support nearly ten years ago but I suppose better late than never. Many of the parts suppliers such as Alternative Autos see to be less than interested in the X1/9 now. Alternative Autos website promises everything for the X1/9 but the reality hits you when you ask Steve for this and that. Almost nothing for the 1300 exists and 1500 supplies apart from popular smallish items are not available. So, time for us to take the initiative and do something about it.

I'm not talking about selling merchandise on eBay and don't want us to go down the road of trying to make loads of dosh. Survival of the car is paramount therfore we need to bring into the country stocks of suspension struts, remanufactured springs, brake calipers and even alloys.

So there you have it Tiff, I said I wasn't going to say anything till the National but I believe the discussion needs to start now.

Ewen

Yup, agree with just about everything. I'm far more concerned with wear and tear items rather that upgrades,trim etc though..There are plenty of secondhand parts around,and alloys etc can be refurbished,the main thing that concerns me is good cars being scrapped because owners cant get rear balljoints (already unavaliable) or track rod ends/shocks/brake hoses etc. I was in this position many years ago with a Suzuki Whizzkid,where the rear suspension arms rotted out..They were unavailiable,but without one the car couldn't get an MOT,and they cannot be welded.I ended up having to scrap the car,so it does happen!

you folks must have seen the prices of parts on ebay rocketing (I always see ebay as a good guide to how rare things are!) Rare=expensive..If its gonna cost me £800 in parts to get a £500 car through its MOT,what do you think's going to happen

I have approached some aftermarket suppliers to find out their position on supplying parts for rarer cars,and of course its all down to cash.If there is a demand,they will supply.The specialists are probably the same,if there's money in it,they will supply,but no one is going to keep large stocks of parts they will never sell.

We have 2 main specialists left who many of the members (myself included) have used and have been very happy with their service.Their hands are tied however,as they can't sell you what they can't get.Maybe they should be our first port of call on establishing how bad or good the situation has become? Would Eurosport or Alternative like to comment? After all a large proportion of X1/9 owners will be in the club,and they need to sell parts,so we need each other!!

On a lighter note..

I heard a story a while back about a guy who needed a front valance for his Opel Manta 'A'. Probably a rarer car than the X in the UK..Anyway,he went to his dealer who found out there were 3 in the country.He decided as there were only 3 left he'd buy them all and pass the other 2 on to guys in the club.This order was tapped into Vauxhalls computer and on the monthly stock order to Germany,the computer there saw this as a fast moving item,as there had been 3 sold in 1 day.The computer then checked stocks and on finding there were none,automatically contacted the suppliers and ordered 100..

So if we all go out tomorrow and buy a track rod end,or a track control arm,we may ensure stocks for the next 50 years!!!

Maybe the answer is global. I know this sounds silly but when reading xweb you realise our friends over the "pond" have a good supply of many parts and 1300's are not so rare :idea:

Ewen - I already suggested something similar exactly a year ago!!
www.x1-9ownersclub.org.uk/members/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=83

Yes and before you there have been others. As you can read from my views to your views, I am very cautious when it comes to this idea. There was talk of sharing tools at one point which I still think is madness due to administration problems. I still see the main drawback being administration and storage. There were ideas of making stuff to order in batches but again that is problematic.

I see what has happened in the past in this club, highlighting the waste in club resources on things such as seat belt covers and the regional stands that don't fit in an X1/9.

Plenty more on the subject which I don't care to mention at this moment in time but I think Tiff knows where my concerns lie.

As for global.......the Italians wanted one Global club but that never got off the ground. The factor of trust echoes not only within this club but globaly. The sort of trust involved bringing in multinational clubs I couldn't even start to believe possible. Also sourcing parts from the US can be expensive s I have already been hit by import tax on a set of suspension struts. Sure it's ok if it's a gift but not everyone works that way and the size of this operation would be the limiting factor.

The main idea here is not for just anyone to look into this but a sub group on the committee. That way control is kept within the club.

So Jim, your views a year ago although well founded have been raised many times before. This time I feel is different as we see the effects of the lack of spares here and now. I also have more of an understanding of the cost of storage and a solution to that might be cheaper than I had thought. Last year, the year before that, the year before that etc nothing was done but I believe it will be the duty of the new committee to at least discuss the possibilities.

I agree that there's a problem, and I agree that something needs to be done, and I support you all the way Ewen.

My only sticking point is your talk about having a "sub-committee" to run this - that to me sounds like red tape for the sake of red tape.
I can see us having 3 or 4 "parts" people on the committee, then one will leave and we'll be advertising for a new person to take over, saying "the club will collapse if we don't fill this space" !!

Couldn't we just have a group of sanctioned people who can report to the committee but are not actually part of it ?

Maybe I'm missing something - the rest of the plan is a go-er as far as I'm concerned.

Hi Chris, I understand what you mean. Mmmmm, the sub-committee type thing would of course include the tech officers and one person to co-ordinate the sourcing of parts etc. This idea can't be solved overnight as it will include difficult procedures for storage and of course someone to pack and parcel anything we stock. That is why it isn't easy and nees lots of dicussion and a step by step attitude. We ca't go into this half cocked because we can't afford to make a mess of things. Lots to discuss and lots of ideas to play with but I hope the end result gives the club a strong reason for existing.

Thats assuming the tech officers are happy/willing to take on the extra work. Ewen - I think you are right in much of what you are saying here, my worry would be the actual workload could be huge, sourcing parts, agreeing price, shipment to a location, storage, receiving orders and payments from members, carriage to members. Also, would we be willing to sell to x1/9 owners who are not club members, does the fact that someone is not a club member make their car undeserving? should the club be charging the members/buyers a premium (i.e a profit) to help source future parts?, whats constitutes a good price per part, how many of each should we be ordering? 10, 50 or one for every club car? who will be the del monte man who says yes to ordering the parts? what qualifies this person/persons to make that decision? what checks are to be in place to ensure no repeat of the seatbelt cover senario?which parts should we be stocking? which parts should we not be stocking? I could go on here but we all know what I am trying to say here.

Please do not take the wrong way, as I stated above, I agree with the concept, I just think the reality will be very tricky, could be a huge drain on the club, and be a potential minefield. I suspect that manufacturers will be happy to make just about anything so long as they are making money - thats why they manufacture after all. To do small runs makes the unit price huge and therefore prohibitive to the prospective member/buyer. Long runs are much cheaper per unit, but the cost is then borne by the club in terms of outlay for its stock.

On the plus side, this could well help in keeping cars on the road, which is something dear to all our hearts. The thought of not being able to keep the car on the road due to something simple like not being able to source a trackrod end is not acceptable.

Ewen, I will be happy to help in any way possible on this one, and become actively involved if it helps, but please just be aware that I am not yet 100% convinced about the correct direction as yet.

This has gone in a completely different direction than I had expected...I want to ensure we have a voice as a group to let aftermarket manufacturers know that there is a market there for parts,and their thoughts on how long supply will carry on. To have a parts department within the club,in my opinion is unworkable,and would be a reciepe for disaster.

My plan would be to approach the likes of Quinton hazell (qh) Lucas,Mintex,Spax etc and see how they would look at doing a run of say 100 units if there were a demand-Surely we could organise getting 100 payments for parts,and people would buy to keep on the shelf.Wouldn't be much different to getting payments for a mega meet etc.?If they realise there are enough cars,they may keep the templates,dies etc.Also to get in contact with Fiat UK and get an idea of any stocks they have left.I've seen dealers in the past refurbishing premises,and new old stock being thrown in the skip.

I just re-read the classic and sportscar edition which features Jim's 1300, and under club listings.we are not mentioned,only the Fiat OC.....We must take every oppertunity to promote the cars and the club...and become the loudest voice in the UK for preservation of these cars

Now THAT sounds like a good direction to move in. People that have made parts in the past must (surely ?) still have the tooling available to make more so we (as a club) must convince them that we need their parts.

Let's get the X1/9 listed in their catalogues again. We will rise again !

Way to go !

Tiff,
this does sound promising although I am not sure that members will cough up to essentially have their own parts department in their garage/loft, some of which might not be required for years and years. On saying that, more consumable items, contacts, dizzie caps, brake parts etc might be more attractive propositions for club members to buy into. I am not sure the same could be said for say a front wing (really bad choice). The items that will keep the cars on the road in a safe, legal and reliable condition would surely be the ones to concentrate on particulary any that are already hard to find.

Is that realy the plan, to get members to buy big stocks of parts ? I thought this whole thing was about getting the manufacturers to start making the parts again (even if it is just the wear-and-tear items) so that they can storet hem in their big warehouses until WE'RE ready to buy them ?

Maybe we should start a list of items that we want to concentrate on .. or maybe we should get the "people" in place first .. what do you reckon Ewen / Tiff ?