"cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44)
12/27/2014 at 16:11 • Filed to: None
9
24|
"cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44)
12/27/2014 at 16:11 • Filed to: None | 9
| 24 |
It's an X1/9! Her family bought the car new in the 70's and it's sat for decades un-driven. They wanted to know if I could fix it and return it to the road for them. How hard could it be?
Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:14 |
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Very.
Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:14 |
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fix it again cletus just doesn't have the same ring to it
wbizarre - OEM fetishist
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:19 |
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Did you offer to buy it off them? Presumably if it sat in a garage it's rust-free?
JGrabowMSt
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:20 |
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Famous last words.
On the other hand, it could easily be your ticket to being home alone many late nights together.
Always do whatever it takes to be on the parents good side, especially if it involves fixing an heirloom that could even turn into yours.
Makes for an awesome car for dates too.
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cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
> wbizarre - OEM fetishist
12/27/2014 at 16:21 |
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They won't sell. Sentimental value and such. And that's the only pic I was sent. i have no idea of the condition of the body.
Steve in Manhattan
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:24 |
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Two words:
Electrical
fire.
When you start it for the first time, make sure you're far away from any structure.
Birddog
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:28 |
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Ahh! You found one in it's natural state of perpetual rest.
"How hard could it be?"
That depends on why it was parked.
Years back I bought a TR7 from a guy for $200. I thought the guy said it had a missfire on cylinder 3. What I found he meant was it was missing the piston in cylinder 3.
Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
> Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
12/27/2014 at 16:29 |
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"Fix it again, Clayton." works so much better.
Anon
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:36 |
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"How hard can it be?" Dear heavenly father, forgive this man. He knows not the wrath he calls upon himself.
lone_liberal
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:36 |
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Could be easy, could be a disaster, you never know until you dig in to it but the digging might be fun by itself. Start by finding out why it was parked in the first place and then hope you can get parts.
Kamikazeswede
> wbizarre - OEM fetishist
12/27/2014 at 16:37 |
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A rust free old Fiat? That (almost) doesn't exist. Even in a garage it will rust if you breath near it... :D
The X1/9 is not a complicated car. It has the drive train from a front drive Fiat 128, placed in the mid position. Nothing fancy mechanically, but the engine bay is quite cramped. The electrics in any Fiat can drive you crazy. The X1/9 is an excellent car to drive, but I'm too tall for it.
DasWauto
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:40 |
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Sweet dude. Winter project to be ready for the road in spring? Any idea what's going on with the paint? It looks like the front fender, sills, hood, decklid and lips of the rear fenders are covered in a darker grey than the what I would guess to be original silver.
MysticStick
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 16:41 |
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Oh, that's interesting! It looks like one of the 75-78 USA cars with the 'ladder' rear bumper:
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MysticStick
> MysticStick
12/27/2014 at 16:43 |
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(note: part of bumper is missing)
aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 17:00 |
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Italian steel (well Russian in this case) is made of swiss cheese and paper
so expect to find tons of rust and filler
that is assuming its been driven enough to rust
claramag, Mustaco Master
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 17:03 |
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How hard could it be?
Them's famous last words right there son
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cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
> DasWauto
12/27/2014 at 17:05 |
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I would assume stalled rust repair but I have no idea
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DasWauto
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 17:24 |
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Would make sense, yeah, especially up here. Let us know what's going on with it if/when you end up having a go at it.
Frank Grimes
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/27/2014 at 19:59 |
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its time you start buying big spools of wiring...or so is my understanding.
gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/28/2014 at 01:08 |
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Pretty sure I saw one sitting at Wesman Salvage in Brandon, Manitoba, this summer. Cool looking car, but completely rotten interior... looks like it's been there a few years. This place doesn't seem to throw out any of the older stuff. They've got a Lada Samara, a Yugo, a LaForza, a LeCar, lots of cool unique stuff.
BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/28/2014 at 05:37 |
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Duuuude do it :) they're surprisingly easy to work on for a mid-engined car. You can get to most things in the engine bay without taking shit-tons of other things out of the way :)
I will get another one someday :)
ilostmypants
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/28/2014 at 15:21 |
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Any step is a step in the right direction! if Bill Murray has taught me anything its this.
Baby Steps
DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/30/2014 at 14:58 |
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They aren't actually that bad, and they're better electrically than the similar vintage 124 Spiders... Fix it, have fun, make sure the lug bolts are torqued properly.
Captain_Spadaro
> cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
12/30/2014 at 15:42 |
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YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!
But yeah, given the fact that it's an old Fiat that's been sitting for a while, you're probably looking at an uphill battle, but on the other hand, we need more X1/9s on the road.