Restoration Inspiration

Wheels and Body Kit

This kit, while cool, is NOT for the faint at heart. Yes, it is a Greenwood sourced body kit, we have sold his product for years, but it is not advertised on the website.

Many others have installed this kit, and can attest to the time and effort it takes to get it right, and how easy it can be to foul it up.

It took 8 months to install the kit and paint. And we weren't goofing off. It requires epic patience to let bonding agents cure, thin layers of filler to set and fully cure before sanding and putting the next layer etc. If you get in a hurry, at best you'll see the work through the paint, and at worst you'll have popped out seams in a couple months of driving.

We cut the original fenders off the body as shown, rough trimmed the fiberglass kit, and fitted it up with plain old screws to start.

Then we measured and fabricated replacement metal inner fender liners that extended all the way out to the fiberglass flares.

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The flares were on and off a few times trimming the sheet metal and test fitting.

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Once the fender liners were welded into place, the car went to the body shop to begin the actual bonding of the fenders to the body.

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And the permanent bonding / fiberglass attachment of the steel liners to the backside of the fenders.

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Every application and curing event of bonding agent or resin stretches and twists the panels, so it was a back and forth kind of effort between underside work, and topside work.

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Like most kits, it has its flaws. I don't think the moulds are "first generation", so the fit is pretty good, but not perfect. It is not symmetric side-to side, you'll see some inconsistencies that have to be worked out during the process.

Regarding the wheels.

Front: 15x7 - 87mm backspacing. 195/45/15 or 195/50/15 tire.

Rear 15x9 - 100mm backspacing with 225/45/15, or 245/40/15

or

Rear 15x10 - 112mm backspacing.

In all cases, strut to tire clearances must be closely monitored, and typically resolved using coil-overs.

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Having the wheels and tires in-hand and hanging the suspension and wheels before going to paint is required. Trimming of the inner wheel arch spats and inner edges will need to be performed to ensure clearance under full suspension compression.
 
This kit, while cool, is NOT for the faint at heart. Yes, it is a Greenwood sourced body kit, we have sold his product for years, but it is not advertised on the website.

Thanks for the detailed response, Matt!
I'll save your post for further digestion :)

I had assumed custom inner fender work, based on those side view pics on the first post - I could see all the little tabs made of the old inner fender. Any pics of the air intake duct work rewired for the rear fender, I'm assuming the fiberglass panel has nothing on the back side besides the opening?

Were the inner fender sections fabricated out of same gauge steel as stock, or did you use something lighter? They are not required to be steel for structural reasons, correct?

Looks like a nice meaty project.
 
Accessories

This is another shot of George and I must say that he and his wing never looked better...



Oh... that's George wearing the light green "hoodie" in the background facing away from the camera. Like I said, he never looked better!

Hey Tony,

I looked that one up in the official Fiat accessories catalogue and couldn't find a listing? ...

:wink2:

Dom.
 
WOW... Talk about doing FIAT right! Thanks!

So... lets see, if the hourly rate is $60 bucks an hour, x 8 hours a day, x 5 days a week, x 4.3 weeks in a month, x 8 months would then equal $82,560 dollars!

And the Kit was about $1250 plus, lets say $150 shipping...

$82560 + $1400 = $83,960 and we haven't even bought Bondo yet...

Hopefully there wasn't actually 1,376 hours involved! I have always wanted something like this but I'm afraid my pockets don't go that deep. My congratulations to those that do... I am in envy!
 
I was thinking the same thing when it comes to you...

I remember your accelerated installation of the front end and I found the work to "appear" to be infallible from the photos.

I was thinking the exact same thing when Matt mentioned all the trouble they hadta go through to get the panels to look right... and especially building the inner liners. I could almost HEAR the rocks in YOUR head rolling around saying... "I could do that with no sweat!" HA!

What was going on in MY head was... "I wish I could do that!"
 
I remember your accelerated installation of the front end and I found the work to "appear" to be infallible from the photos.

I was thinking the exact same thing when Matt mentioned all the trouble they hadta go through to get the panels to look right... and especially building the inner liners. I could almost HEAR the rocks in YOUR head rolling around saying... "I could do that with no sweat!" HA!

What was going on in MY head was... "I wish I could do that!"

Well, thanks for the compliment, Tony :) - Indeed, the rocks in my head are rolling :cool:

I figure if I'm going to keep the X1/9 (which I am) I "need" to do this in the next couple years - a variety of health issues my wife & I are experiencing makes me realize there may not be that many more years where I can do this sort of work so easily...
 
Well, thanks for the compliment, Tony :) - Indeed, the rocks in my head are rolling :cool:

I figure if I'm going to keep the X1/9 (which I am) I "need" to do this in the next couple years - a variety of health issues my wife & I are experiencing makes me realize there may not be that many more years where I can do this sort of work so easily...

Life is too short that is for sure.

I personally, would love to see a X19 Dallara powered by Volvo ;)
 
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