New member, advice sought!

Hi all. I am considering buying and restoring an X1/9.

Are the various Eurosport replacement panels a good fit and decent quality? Are there any other good sources for body panels? Is there a resource somewhere showing body-in-white or an assembly diagram of some kind?

With regards a purchase - are the restored cars actually selling at the 6-7K price point?

What would you hope to pay for a reasonable running example in today's market?

Many thanks for any advice offered.

Firstly I must congratulate you on choosing an X1/9 for your next project. Regarding the availability of body panels that is probably the most tricky bit with X1/9's as whole new )old stock) panels are very rare, panels are all welded into place and so second hand ones can be a mixed bag by the time they are hacked out of the bodywork. The repair panels I hear are good for the job they are intended to do. X1/9's as a basic design don't rust any more than other contemporary cars, however they do seem to fall into two camps depending on the steel used in their construction. If rust is bursting out all over a panel then I would suggest walk away from the car as you'll never stop it. If all it is is dodgy wheel arches and other extremities the wouldn't worry too much. As with most cars there are a couple of rust traps that if have not been looked after can be terminal. I would suggest trying to meet up with a club member who can point out what to look for, where abouts are you?
The best cars seem to be creeping up to the £6k mark, but you can easily pick up some really good cars for less than £2-3k, or less. Don't worry about anything mechanical as its all available and not that difficult to fix

Hi and thanks for that detailed reply. I must admit I had assumed that anything below the 2K mark would require extensive worm treatment. I thought that these were rusting when they left the factory! Its good to know this isn't necessarily the case. Can you give any more details on their secret rust trap locations? I must admit I owned a mk1 MR2 for a little while and that was a rust based deathtrap, front bulkhead, floor, rear inner arches all disaster area's

I`m currently in sunny Essex. Anyone reading this has a car they are considering selling or knows of someone that would also be good.

Thanks all.

Anything that is single skinned and/or simple construction and is easy to get at is not a major worry e.g door skins, boot, nose cones, wheel arches etc That's not to say that there is not the usual amount of work involved in rectifying these areas, but technically on the straight forward side. The bits to get concerned about are the areas of complicated pressings and multiple layers.
The following list I'm sure other club members will expand on if I've missed any. Look behind the carpet in the front boot where the suspension strengthening brackets are welded onto the inner wing , very common rot spot and a lot of work to fix properly. If its too far gone then its a safety issue, but many people are liberal waxoyl in and out to stop it getting worse and live with a degree of corrosion. The drain holes in the body work below the corners of the rear window can get blocked and by the time you see the rot showing on the outside its too late. The same goes to a lesser extent for the drain holes in the scuttle at the bottom of the front screen. Windscreen surrounds often rot and are tricky to fix neatly. Rear suspension turrets suffer the same as the front ones. Roll hoops apparently can rot and being triple skinned are very difficult to repair. Look behind the front lights (there is an inspection panel in the front boot) for corrosion as the pop up lights mechanisms hang off some complicated metal work which being at the front of the car gets the weather. Given the location and size of the bumpers they can hide corrosion behind, such as the mounting points. Metal coolant pipes run in a box section under the car from front to rear, any leaks are a pain to fix unless you can spin the car onto its side.
If that sounds a bit doom and gloom then consider my 1988 car that I bought for less than £1000 3yrs ago that has never been welded and doesn't need to be. I was told by an ex Fiat dealer that back in the 1980's it was an option, or factory policy I can't remember, to rust proof the cars from new as the Fiat group were suffering from the Lancia Beta fallout. Mine has copious amounts of black waxoyl type stuff coming out most of the box sections which I am sure has helped its condition.