Bertie the Bomber - 1983 X1/9

Got the speaker box done last night.

And then installed. It's very stable right here with no fasteners. And it almost fits lol.

I took the speakers out of the other grills and reinstalled the grills (for that finished look).

After some custom EQ tuning (needed to turn the bass down, the middle up a little and the high up a lot) this sounds OK and has plenty of volume. Not bad for junk I had laying around. And honestly, if I ever need to - or want the weight savings, it's just unplug and the whole thing lifts out.

In reply to dherr (Forum Supporter) :

I recently picked up an X1/9 project myself. I'll be following this thread.

My son (6) officially loves riding in Bertie now. I also have my high school CD collection in the foot well so he also really enjoys those CDs in the CD player we installed together. 

Unfortunately Bertie has developed a sort of 'click' from the right front when I apply the brakes. So I'll need to pull the wheel and take a look to see what might be going on. 

Also, I badly need to spend some time cleaning up. Dust and dirt need vacuumed out, but also I think the seatbelt reels and the window switches would all work a lot better with some cleaning. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

My son (6) officially loves riding in Bertie now. I also have my high school CD collection in the foot well so he also really enjoys those CDs in the CD player we installed together. 

Unfortunately Bertie has developed a sort of 'click' from the right front when I apply the brakes. So I'll need to pull the wheel and take a look to see what might be going on. 

Nice job, Dad! Sharing projects AND subjecting them to your crappy old CDs is a win on both fronts. 

The clicking: probably the calipers clunking around on the wedges? It wasn't the most elegant float/alignment solution and I've found they are a little finicky. Either way, you should be able to sort it out in short order. There's not a lot of mystery in there. 

Well I've been slowly working on an interior refresh.

Everything was dirty, seats didn't slide, trim missing, seatbelts sticky so you have to hold the inertia lever out in order to pull slack and put them on, carpet cut out, etc.

First step was fixing the unfortunate seat covers. These red ones are a special edition and look quite good in nice condition. These were not savable.

The driver side one is toast toast. So apart it comes!

Here I am prepping to install a new cover. Instead of hog rings these backs use cotton straps pulled through the seat to the bottom .

And then:

Next up, the bottom.

And finally,

Now that the driver seat is done I need to do the passenger one. And also stronger fingers would help.

On my X19 I always got a laugh at the tach and speedo needles swinging opposite directions. I dont know why it entertained me so much, but with all the shifting to keep it on a boil the tach always got a good workout.

Well, I got the interior refresh as done as it's gonna be for now. I also drove the car down to Rantoul (about 100 miles one way) Saturday where it temporarily donated its K&N air filter to help keep gravel from entering the throttle body on LMP360. 

The car is driving really well and it's great with the top off. But it also unfortunately is likely reaching the end of its time with me, as 3 x1/9s is too many and I have a different one I'd like to focus on. So I took some beauty pics today in preparation of listing it for sale. 

Air filter temporary donation:

Beauty shots:

Hanging with a Ferrari 

stafford1500 said:

On my X19 I always got a laugh at the tach and speedo needles swinging opposite directions. I dont know why it entertained me so much, but with all the shifting to keep it on a boil the tach always got a good workout.

oh and the tach is miserably useless. At idle it reads about 2000 rpm and at the limiter it reads like 6k. I 'think' that it is accurate around 4k rpms. 

Which is funny, because by contrast the speedo is within a gnats butt of my GPS speed. Even though it reads in KPH. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

stafford1500 said:

On my X19 I always got a laugh at the tach and speedo needles swinging opposite directions. I dont know why it entertained me so much, but with all the shifting to keep it on a boil the tach always got a good workout.

oh and the tach is miserably useless. At idle it reads about 2000 rpm and at the limiter it reads like 6k. I 'think' that it is accurate around 4k rpms. 

Which is funny, because by contrast the speedo is within a gnats butt of my GPS speed. Even though it reads in KPH. 

The needles are notorious for coming loose, especially if there is an issue that causes the needle to swing to the limits.  They also like to melt and bend.  Easiest thing to do is to reset it where it needs to be and then glue it in place.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

"So... how much you thinking of selling it for?" He asked, knowing his wife might stab him.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Am curious too...mostly because my girlfriend's cat is named Bertie and I think it would be fun to make that shiny happy person a little jealous. 

maschinenbau said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Am curious too...mostly because my girlfriend's cat is named Bertie and I think it would be fun to make that shiny happy person a little jealous. 

Add me to the interested party.

I'll be getting an ad together soon! Sorry all for the delay.

I've sat in these seats.  They are comfy.  The car runs good and looks straight/rust free.  I'm sure Robbie will provide more pictures confirming these attributes.  If I had space for a X19 I would be in line also.

Resurrecting this thread because Bertie is coming home with me next week. It fixes all of the serious problems with the car I have had for 17 years, and gives me a substantial spare parts supply as I cut up the previous one. And upgrades me to electric windows with the same issues the manual ones have.

And now it's bye bye Bertie.

It was wonderful meeting Bill and chatting while he patiently changed the freshly leaking master cylinder in the driveway before heading away headed east.

Also, happy birthday Bill!

Nobody asked me, yet I still approve of this outcome. Good to see you GRM x1/9ers keeping it in the family.

Also, happy birthday, Bill!

Now safely parked in Easton PA.

No new photos yet, but most of the remaining Plasti-Dip is off. Whoever did it was incredibly thorough. Every piece of trim was re-installed onto wet plasti dip. Had to remove the tail lamps with a knife....I should be into self etch primer by tomorrow evening. Then it is Kubota Orange.  

In reply to TurnerX19 :

I'm a fan of Kubota Orange.

Stampie said:

In reply to TurnerX19 :

I'm a fan of Kubota Orange.

Same, great to see this. Can't wait to see the results. Mine is a few cars back in the queue of cars to be worked on and painted, so meanwhile I'll just enjoy watching you all build yours!

In reply to dherr (Forum Supporter) :

Not a whole lot of building. The only real creativity will be the air dam. It badly needs one, and the one I built for my previous car has after 16 years testing proven a design fail. Worked perfect aerodynamically, but its crash reaction was injurious to the radiator the last time. Somewhat more injurious to the raccoon. Photo is from first completion.

Random ruminations regarding the whole car/experience so far.  Runs like a train, uses a little oil, but how wet was the oil with gas from start failures? Oil and filter change first thing. I held 4500 RPM for long stretches, and occasional 5000. Makes me realize why I built the long final drive trans for the first car.  Bertie's box 19MPH per 1K  RPM, long box 22 MPH per 1K.  Early in the trip before the high speed blast I pulled 34 MPG. Did not bother to record following tanks. This is the quietest transaxle I have ever heard in one of these cars. I doesn't have the harmonic rattle in neutral.

So we have some photos now. First most important a rear view outside around noon, followed by a few more, and then a couple at the dinner/watch Long Beach break point.

Note yellow and PA license tag.

There has been well executed crash repair on the LR quarter.

Removed glued on badge to reveal more plasti dip. 

inside later and it is gone. Plenty of primer depth in this spot too. Many areas are very thin over the factory prime. 

Targa hoop fully (well, as far as I am going) de-plasti'd. 80 grit dry gently. Lots of places need self etching primer before color. Break time.

I got self etching primer on all of the fixed body bare spots as well as 4 of the 5 hinged panels. The engine lid needs to be disassembled and primed/painted before assembly.