Newbie researching before buying

[5705]

Hi all. Just joined to find out more about the Mk1. Have had X1/9s in the past so I'm more than familiar with rust issues. ;)

Would be nice to have a little more than 85bhp, too :D

[5705]

Simple question: do newbies like me have some post requirement before PMs work?

Trying to PM a member with a car for sale, and the PM I just sent does not appear in the Sent folder! Maybe it's moderated, too?

[Monkeymax]

Nope. PMs are available to you. Saving messages in your sent box is turned off by default (though you can turn it on per message) so that could be why it's not showing up.


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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jimi]

Which model X1-9 did you have ? many years ago I had an early 1300, loved it apart from the rust :D

PM will stay in your outbox until the person you sent it to reads it, then it will move to the sent box.

Read Nick Challoner's MK1 buyers guide http://www.challoner.com/mr2/tech/mk1bg.html, it's very good and will give you an idea of what to look out for ;)

[5705]

Ah - thanks for the heads-up on how the PMs works here. I'll adjust my patience setting. It's just that having a once in a lifetime tax refund, a freshly cleared garage and money burning a hole in my bank account, I want a Mk1 now. Not next week. Not tomorrow - but NOW! ;)

Will dig into that Buyers Guide tonight - thanks for the link.

jimi - I've had a 1500 with a 4-speed box (bitsa varioous cars in the '80s) and a 1500 with 5-speed (this year). Both a delight once on the move, a bit underpowered, and sometimes a bit challenging to stop. Especially in any amount of rain. The latest one had badly repaired panel rust, so I sold it on to an X club member for not much.

The 1300 is by far the best looking, and I'd still love an X with 1300 styling and a good V6 engine transplant. Maybe I could persuade Woodsport to do one?

[jimi]

A not very good picture of mine, unfortunately it's possibly the only picture I have of it :(

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[5705]

The 1300 in those period colours is getting rarer by the year. Definitely the purer Bertone design, too.

My last 1500 was debumpered and like many looked fantastic from 10 feet away! :D

228

[jimi]

That one was a 1977 1300, it had a little badge on the front passengers wing, with a crossed Union Jack / Italian flag with Bertone and a number which I believe indicated it's production number for the UK.
I was the 2nd owner, bought it when it was 3 years old, the original owner had toured Europe in it and in the service book was a stamp for fiat in Turin. Still had the original fitted luggage in the boot :D I thought they ruined the looks of the car when they fitted the big bumpers :(

[5705]

Yeah - the big bumpers are superbly effective, but as ugly as braces on the teeth of a supermodel!

Lots of 1500s are being converted to 1300-style and other cleaner looks. Love all the little tweaks that have gone into this baby Ferrari stunner:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2011/08/Dscf0037-1.jpg

I know there was some X1/9-MR2 rivalry, but I love them both. :D

[jimi]

That's a cracker :thumbup:
My Mk1 was used in a Classic & Sports car article on mid-engined sports cars, part of the article compared the MK1 to the X1-9 :D

229

More pictures here http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jlawson/MIDDIES/index.html

[5705]

Excellent set of photos. Wondering what the 'Jimi' logoed box or cover in the engine bay is?

[Monkeymax]

It's a Jimi bracket. :) I've got one too. Jimi made/makes these for members. It is for the throttle cable end instead of the standard 'spider' throttle cable mechanism. It's a sweet piece of kit - particularly given how simple it is in operation (though very nicely designed!). It gives better feel for the throttle cable in my opinion, and is slightly easier to modulate the throttle at different levels...

[5705]

Interesting - presumably the standard 'spider' introduces some unnecessary kinks or turns that the Jimi upgrade smooths out. Sounds like I could be a customer! :)

[superwhite90]

This is the ghastly item in question.

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2011/08/CIMG0815-1.jpg

You can see the difference it makes

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2011/08/Picture0041-1.jpg

[5705]

Well, I'm now a Mk1 owner. :) Ronnie's SE arrived on a transporter late last night. Quite late though - only had time to get it from the nearby layby to my house.

Will start a new project thread at some point. Thanks all - will doubtless be pestering for info/etc very soon.