Hi..
I recently bought a x1/9 -80 what to at first looked like a really nice example. When I had bought the car (yeah I Know, I should have seen all this earlier) me and my brother noticed that it had been restored and repainted 9-10 years ago. It's even been painted underneath with some type of rustproofing treatment.
Although all this looks to have been nicely done, some water came inside the the car, in front of the seats when I was driving in the rain the other day. I cut up the fitted carpet on the floor (since it was all wet) and noticed something interesting... someone had drilled two identical holes down where you have your foots (dont know what this place is called) and corked'em with a plastic cork of course someone has done this because the car is taking in water somewhere, but where?? and why do you drill holes when it's much easier (and better) to just fix the damn leak?? I dont get it.

Despite this, the car looks to be in nice condition (expect some minor rust bubbles a litte bit here and there)

water often comes in through the windscreen seal

Hello swe,
I've got the same problem with my X1/9 just on the drivers side. The footwell has undergone a fair bit of welding so I guess it has been an ongoing problem. The seals around the windscreen look OK on mine, I suspect water may be getting in through the intake grill just behind the bonnet and leaking through somewhere in there. There is a bit of a crack at the front of this cavity which I have tried sealing up but I don't know how effective it is as I haven't dared drive it in the rain since. The other possibility I can see is the drain hole at the end of the same cavity.
I shall throw a bucket of water on it sometime to test where it leaks.
Hope you solve your problem,
David

The holes are meant to be there and are specifically for letting the water out - if you block them up you will get problems...

The holes are meant to have a plug with a porous mat insert in the middle, I'm guessing that the plugs were taken out for some reason and lost.

I've never had a water tight X1/9 (and I've had a few - and still own 5) so don't expect miracles.

well my guess is that the water is coming from below, since no water is coming in when it's raining. So only when Im driving in big pools of water, the car will take in.
Even though I have these drilled holes, the floor could get rusty if water comes in, right? So wouldnt it be better to find out where it's taking in...?

Jimbro: you realize that we are talking about holes that have been drilled by an amateur? not from the factory. I suppose... or maybe I'm wrong

None of my X1/9's have let in water...apart from the mirrors.The water gets into the rubber boot round the mirror stalk,then makes its way into the car..Cut a small hole on the outside in the bottom of the boot,and this lets the water drain out.

x1/9swe said:

Jimbro: you realize that we are talking about holes that have been drilled by an amateur? not from the factory. I suppose... or maybe I'm wrong

Click to expand...

There should be holes there already - I've seen allsorts though. The original holes are not surprisingly the origin of many a rusty floorpan so who knows what has happened in this instance.

Once of my cars had both footwells welded to introduce new metal instead of big holes but neither panel had the aforementioned hole in as they were just hand crafted from sheet steel...