A first date with my X (With pics)

She arrived by car dolly yesterday afternoon. We had to go to a wedding in about an hour so she was parked in the garage for our first get together the next day.



The first thing that I did this morning was remove her braces. She had been wearing them long enough!



A much nicer smile now!



Her back end needed a little help as well.



I was surprised at how the years had been so good to her. I was expecting more rust underneath to be honest. There was nothing punky under there at all. Good and strong from what I could tell.



There must have been at least one fender bender in her past and the patching up she received was not the greatest. This is the passenger front. The welding is absolutely hideous. My dog could weld better than that. This will need to be addressed but shouldn't be too difficult.



And it looks like maybe the gas tank is leaking a bit. I will check on that in more detail later. It seems to be a very slow drip.



The dash has a few cracks



What you notice first and foremost is the state of the nose area... That will require a bit of attention.





Looks like there was a bit of a fender bender there too. The bumper pushed back far enough to dent the front passenger clip.



The latch for the boot has snapped a cable....



The passenger side door handle is broken on the inside...



There is a bit of rubber requires a refresh





And there's a bit of surface rust around the front window screen.





There is a pinhole in the drivers side door entrance...



The floor of the boot was very wet and mostly rusted through above the exhaust. That's just about the extent of the rust though. Like I said before I am quite pleased that a 1976 car from Canada that hasn't been treated all that well would remain as good as this. Even the wheel wells look good. It shouldn't be too difficult to fix these up.



Have I mentioned how much I love the rims? Yeah - they are nice



The front and rear tires are the same size at 205 /60 R13. From what I understand this may not be the best for the front. It tends to sit a bit high in the front as it is so I think I may go smaller there in the future.



Now on to a few questions if I may.

1) I noticed that the front trunk area has a few holes in it. Are there supposed to be plugs in there?



2) Is there supposed to be some mechanism to stop the stick from flopping around? I can pull up on the stick and practically put it in my lap!!!



3) Does anyone have any idea what this power resistor (?) in the front trunk is for? Is this a previous owner disease?



4) How about this little doo-hickey in the engine bay that is attached to nothing at all?



5) I bought this car from Alberta Canada but there is a sticker on the engine that says California? What gives?



Of course no used car would be complete without a few extra toggle switches added for the users enjoyment.....



And why just have a fuse block when you can have some spaghetti along with it?



I need to find a new ignition switch and key thanks to the car haulers - now that they have snapped the only known key and threw the remaining bit who knows where!!!!!



All that being said, my new girl cleaned up pretty good by the end of our first date, and hopefully there will be many more to come. We have already been talking about getting together next week to buy her a new belt to keep her running on time. Every relationship needs its perks

Agreed, not bad. Plenty to do to keep you busy for a while.

Looks like it was imported from Cali in the past which likely answers why a car of this age in Canada is in such good shape overall.

I am sure as you dig into a few of those areas you will find a bit more to do unfortunately

Overall though a fine purchase. And you have already dug into a few of the little projects it seems so many want to do on these cars.

Congrats.

Looks Good!

I'm sure you realize all those rust areas will likely extend beyond what is visible once you start digging.... The caster rod support area is probably going to be nasty once you get in there - I think it's multiple layers.

Presumably the nose condition is due to prior bodywork? I can't imagine how else it would end up like that? How does it look from the inside of that area?

Will you be doing a complete respray once the windshield area is repaired (windshield replacement also?), or just area resprays to match the rest? Overall paint does look good in your pics.

Nice project.

lookforjoe said:

Presumably the nose condition is due to prior bodywork? I can't imagine how else it would end up like that? How does it look from the inside of that area?

Will you be doing a complete respray once the windshield area is repaired (windshield replacement also?), or just area resprays to match the rest? Overall paint does look good in your pics.

Nice project.

Click to expand...

Well the inside of the nose only has a dent or two. I'm not sure how deep the pain will be there. I'm probably going to do an engine swap next winter and upgrading suspension next year then the 2nd year will be the bodywork year. I will be stripping everything then and going all the way down to metal for a complete repaint. So I am expecting this to be a multi year project but hopefully be able to drive it in between.

Rust

Hi,

This is a nice project and you seems to understand what it involves. The rust below the windshield is probably the biggest concern. I'm sure it extend behind the windshield and you will have to remove it to do a thorough job. This is not a week-end project.

The welding underneath is important since it will affect the alignment. It worth the trouble to have somebody with a good knowledge do the job.

Everything else will need some TLC but most parts are easily available. Even the nose cone could be replace or repair. Finding a good dash could take some time.

The rust in the floor of the rear trunk is not really in the floor. This is a sheetmetal protection over the real floor. You may be Lucky if that other floor is not rusted.

The holes in the front trunk are for rubber grommets. They are easily available. As the weatherstrip, the window handle and the trunk cable.

The rubber at the top of the shocks is a regular replacement item, even if your's are really bad.

i guess the doo-hickey thing in the engine bay would be an aftermarket electric fuel pump. And not, the stick for the transmission souldn't be moving like that. It is probably not linked to the tranny.

The spaghetti wiring around the fuse block was a mandatory item.

The 205/60 13 in front are too large. But this is not unusual to have the front sitting higher, even with the proper tires.

You will need to replace the ignition switch. To remove it from the steering column you will need to separate the 2 parts. The bolts will require drilling them since they are not removeable.

The forum will be a great place to get tips on "How to do" things and also for finding replacements parts. People here are helpful and you may even get some free parts if you pay for shipping.

If you really have a lot of free time, it could be a winter project. I did something similar in the past... before I got kids!

Daniel Forest
Montréal
1987 Bertone X1/9
1980 Fiat X 1/9

Strange component

In picture #3, does that device have an external sweeping arm? It looks like a baby variac. I use them to control AC line voltage fron zero-max.

Well done....

She does look pretty good indeed for a 76. We'll have to connect over the spring, I've learned a lot from this forum and rebuilding mine. Happy to share whatever I can to help. As for the keys, try http://www.keys4classics.com. I ordered 2 sets from them. They can do it from a picture of the key or the code. I do like those wheels. Good luck....

WildWilly said:

She does look pretty good indeed for a 76. We'll have to connect over the spring, I've learned a lot from this forum and rebuilding mine. Happy to share whatever I can to help. As for the keys, try http://www.keys4classics.com. I ordered 2 sets from them. They can do it from a picture of the key or the code. I do like those wheels. Good luck....

Click to expand...

Hey Willy, is the code on the ignition or would it have been on the key itself? They threw away the long part of my key so all I have is the stub.

If you have the stub part of the key you 'might' be in luck....sometimes there will be a four digit code stamped on it...that's what you need.

If there's no number, then your best bet is to remove the ignition switch complete from the steering column and take it to a locksmith, they should be able to cut a key for you and it would be considerably cheaper than a replacement switch assembly, unless you know there is/was a problem with the assembly that caused the key to snap in the first place, and not just some clumsy truck driver...then your best option would just be to get a replacement switch assembly.

SteveC

fiatfactory said:

If you have the stub part of the key you 'might' be in luck....sometimes there will be a four digit code stamped on it...that's what you need.

If there's no number, then your best bet is to remove the ignition switch complete from the steering column and take it to a locksmith, they should be able to cut a key for you and it would be considerably cheaper than a replacement switch assembly, unless you know there is/was a problem with the assembly that caused the key to snap in the first place, and not just some clumsy truck driver...then your best option would just be to get a replacement switch assembly.

SteveC

Click to expand...

No luck - no numbers on the stub. But taking the ignition to the smith is a really good idea Steve. Thanks. I can do that for sure.

Coupefan said:

In picture #3, does that device have an external sweeping arm? It looks like a baby variac. I use them to control AC line voltage fron zero-max.

Click to expand...

It does have an external sweeping arm. It just looks so out of place in there. When I get more time I will have to trace the wires and see where they go.

Clark said:

I'm probably going to do an engine swap next winter and upgrading suspension next year then the 2nd year will be the bodywork year. So I am expecting this to be a multi year project but hopefully be able to drive it in between.

Click to expand...

Strut mounts should be job#1 - if the struts come up & out the top mount it will be a problem. Yours are already far above the normal position.

looking for a closeup - but you can see the normal height on my right one in this pic....

To address pic #4 also means to address #5, the car was originally sold in California with the resulting smog gear. The solenoid shown in pic #4 has to do with those emissions, you can pitch it, as well as the smog air pump and the catalytic convertor to bring it a little closer to EU spec.

lookforjoe said:

Strut mounts should be job#1 - if the struts come up & out the top mount it will be a problem. Yours are already far above the normal position.
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Click to expand...

Thanks - on the list now!

zonker said:

To address pic #4 also means to address #5, the car was originally sold in California with the resulting smog gear. The solenoid shown in pic #4 has to do with those emissions, you can pitch it, as well as the smog air pump and the catalytic convertor to bring it a little closer to EU spec.

Click to expand...

What does the "smog air pump" look like?

it's about the size of an alternator and bolts to the head near the camshaft, and 74-75 is driven by the camshaft timing gear, 76 I think to 1978 are driven off the water pump like in the pics.

zonker said:

it's about the size of an alternator and bolts to the head near the camshaft, and 74-75 is driven by the camshaft timing gear, 76 I think to 1978 are driven off the water pump like in the pics.

Click to expand...

So the smog air pump would be connected to the other end of this little air filter beside the timing belt? Just to be certain. Do I just plug the holes where they lead to?

Pardon the crappy pictures

Hi Clark,

Pardon the crappy pictures, I took them a couple years ago in an effort to help someone with the bracket and belt positioning for the air pump. They are not the best and they are from my 1978 X engine which is on a stand.

Just to give you an idea where it lives. This picture is taken as if you were looking into the engine bay from the RH side of the car. The air pump pulley is the top left pulley with part number 4400610 visible.


This is taken as if you were behind the car. You can see the air pump above the alternator.

Thanks Jim - that's very helpful. I take it that this smog air pump isn't horse power friendly?

Yes it robs you of about 5hp and makes for one congested engine compartment. If you do not have emissions laws governing this car, then do yourself a big favor and remove it with all the associated plumbing.