General my new/first x/19!!

[Raph406]

so today i just bought a 1979 fiat x19 its the 1500. I got it for $600 dollars. its been sitting for about 6 years. I live in montana. There is pretty much no rust on it. Its a very light blue with a little bit of oxidation in the paint. but the paint is in pretty good shape. it has 67k miles on it. The tires are pretty shot. and so is the rear struts. I'm going to tow it tomorow. the roads were too icy yesterday. Also the clutch petel does not have any pressure or come back up. He said he replaced the master cylinder, and it was fine when he parked it. The seats arn't in to great a shape. Also the drivers door needs a slight adjustment it doesnt open to easily. Ill post some pictures very soon.

 

[shaun]

Good luck with the project

Sounds a very good buy for the money

 

[Raph406]

well i got it today. had to tow it. It was dark to early to do much work today. but i took off the targa top, cleaned it inside, and armorall ed it. it looks alot better. I had to get the tire fixed, but the tires are pretty shot. i was thinking about getting pirellis. any recommendations?

 

[Raph406]

i need some more help. The owners manual isnt there. I am going to change all the fluids. I was wondering if someone recomends any oil. also what kind of gear lube. some other specs for the points and such would be a help too.
thanks

 

[jimbro1000]

Engine oil would normally be a 15w/50 but you need to consider how badly the engine is worn and what oils you can get. The latest engine oils have had all sorts of things removed from them for "anti-pollution" purposes but that includes some metallic components that helped to lubricate and protect in ways that oil alone cannot. Rather like taking lead out of the petrol caused old engines to wear out the new oils can have the same effect. Thankfully Fiats old SOHC engine is a hardy beast and doesn't suffer too much but if the engine *is* heavily worn already then you need to consider more expensive oils that haven't had the required components removed and that normally means racing-spec and they can get expensive.

Gearbox oil absolutely must *not* be an EP oil and should be 90 grade. A lot of people are using Redline MTL or MT90 which are superb and possibly the only exception to the first rule as they classify as EP oils but without the hazardous effect it can have on the gears.

Can't help with the points as I've long forgotten the part numbers but I strongly recommend upgrading to to something like the lumenition optronic system as it completely does away with the points and condenser and very rarely wears out. That said it is worth getting the car running under points and condenser first to make sure everything is in good working order.

 

[Raph406]

thanks for the help so far. Ill try to get some pictures up tomrow. i washed it, then used some buffing compound to get rid of the oxyidization of the paint. then i waxed it. it came out really well. i need to repaint the engine cover and do some touchup to the emblems. Also took off the air filter assembly and cleaned it. I was at the autoparts store buying new fuel filters, he said there was only one that was either plastic or metal. i took a look and it seems like there is two. was he mistaken?