daveskid’s 1980 Fiat X1/9

We finally sold this car in 2014.  I really liked it but it was always intended to be a car for resale, and I had done pretty much all that could be done to it without customizing things.  The car went to a new home in Portland Oregon.  Unfortunately, it apparently wasn't treated nicely while with the shipper.  The buyer said when it arrived it had motor and transmission issues.  An unfortunate end to a great restoration.  Hopefully all is well again and the car is back on the road.

The latest aquisition.  A 1980 FIAT X1/9.  It has a 1.5 liter motor and 5 speed transaxle.The gold paint is a bit faded in places and the car has a small bit of bubble rust on the passenger door.  But it's actually in pretty nice condition, for the most part.  I'm in the process of locating parts to get it operational again.  Principal among these is that the transmission is out of the car and apparently busted.  So, I'm looking at trying to rebuild or replace the transmission.  I'd rather do the latter if I can find a decent used 5 spd in working condition.It also needs a side marker light and rear tail lamp.  Other than that, it mostly needs TLC and a good going through to sort everything out and get is roadworthy again.  The plan is to fix it and sell it.

Though this started as a simple fix and flip, it became a restoration project.  So far, we've had some minor dents and dings fixed, the car repainted and have set about fixing and cleaning up pretty much every part and system.Here's a fairly recent shot of the rear suspension after we repainted the calipers, backing plate, and spring, installed new flexi-hose, calipers and such:

The brick is just there for safety.  The handbrake actually works, but since there is no tranny in to help hold it in place and I park my MINI behind it, I figure it can't hurt to have a back-up.  Note the nice cromadora wheels.  The aluminium has surface oxidation.  The need to be cleaned and sealed.