Hi all,

I have a '81 north american (I'm from Canada) Fiat X1/9; I'd like to get rid of the ugly front and rear bumpers ... Is there a tutorial somewhere in line showing how to do it the right way ?

Thanks !

Fred

Hi fred
I have not seen a proper tutorial and there is not that much information online, aspecially regarding a more affordable approach...

It's down to opinion on what the 'right way' is. To do the best job the original holes in the later body need to be welded up. This obviously is difficult to reverse and makes the car technically non - original as well as requiring bodywork and paint.

The other approach is to temporarily remove the late bumpers and dress the car In a way which can be reversed...

The parts needed to do a full conversion add up and are quite expensive. However is say the parts availability seems just as good, even better in north America than it is In Europe...

From the online prices the steel front valence, plastic front grille, bumpers and overriders, brackets, lights, rear engine cover and side trims might add up to $1000+!

You might be lucky and find a car in a breakers...

Personally I run my x with no bumpers although I will eventually fit fibreglass 1300 items. I have a fibreglass front valence and generic mesh front grill...

I run my car without bumpers and love the look, even though the holes from the bumper mount screws are on show it actually looks good!

The rear are easy to unbolt and slide out and that's all there is to it, the front is a bit harder
I found the radiator tubes got in the way so I had to drop the radiator slightly (without disconnecting it) to get to the large bolts
Once the front bumper is off, you'll need a series 1 front grill and indicators. I tracked these down for not much $$ and it now looks great

You can then decide to try do a Series 1 bumper conversion, but for the cost, difficulty etc I rather the bumper-less look