1979 Fiat

X 1/9 Convertible

4 - Cyl.

Manual

128AS10110865

Gasoline

I am offering for sale my 1979 Fiat X1/9. It has 140408 miles on the odometer, and I have no reason to believe that this is not the correct mileage. When I first purchased it, it ran well, but it has developed a fuel blockage of some sort that will not let it run for more than about 2-3 miles before bogging down. The body itself is in reasonable condition for a 31 year old vehicle and would make a good project car for someone with a little more time on their hands than I currently have. The tires on the vehicle have less than 1000 miles on them. The front calipers were replaced in January of 2008. Mechanical/electrical issues: --As mentioned, the engine needs a bit of work. Someone with a bit of a shade-tree mechanic's ability should be able to eliminate the above mentioned problem. After about 2 or 3 miles, the car will bog down and the only way to keep the car going is to tap the accelerator (like you would a bass drum, so to speak.) If you don't continuously pump it, the car will lurch to a stop and the engine will die. I'm guessing the fuel tank will need to be removed and cleaned out. The fuel lines would probably need replacing as well, but I can't say for certain. Just cleaning out the fuel tank and re-filling it with fresh gasoline would likely do wonders. --There is an electrical gremlin that keeps the passenger headlamp from opening and closing. I know that this is a common problem with these cars, and there is an diode that plugs into the headlamp motor (available from Radio Shack) that eliminates this. Replacing that may well fix the whole problem. As it is, the short is enough to completely drain the battery within about 2 days if the car is not started every so often in the meantime. --The clutch needs to be replaced. At the very least, the throwout bearing is in need of replacement, as you can hear a very discernable hissing sound when the clutch pedal is depressed. --The vehicle will not shift into 3rd gear. Driving around without it is not too much of a problem, as I was always able to overaccelerate in 2nd gear and shift straight to 4th. I don't know if this is due to a faulty sync ring or if there is something else preventing proper shifting. I wouldn't trust myself to work on the transmission, and I have never had the time and money (at the same time) to have the transmission properly looked at. I am hoping to sell this vehicle quickly, as I am in the process of moving and am not going to have any place to store it once I get to my new location. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I'll give you any information I have. Thanks for looking!On Apr-23-10 at 06:13:26 PDT, seller added the following information:Edit: In response to the question about the rust in the pan and the frame, I found the original set of photographs that were provided to me when I was considering the original purchase myself. As I've only got limited space here on this page, I've linked to them in a Picasa folder here: 1979 Fiat X 1/9 If, for some reason, that link doesn't work, you can access the page by pasting the following link code into your browser. http://picasaweb.google.com/seagis/1979FiatX19?feat=directlink