Fiasco to Finished: Fiat X19 Saved by EV Conversion

Pure determination is the only path to success!
This poor little vintage Italian sports car was almost left for dead following a multi-year shop to shop tour which featured fist-handed mechanics and wanna be car builders. Flash forward, literally, by sending the car to Flash Drive Motors this car has been gifted a new lease on life.
Challenges abounded and were met and defeated by the determined crew at Flash Drive Motors. Things that a normal car owner would not even think about such as a working speedometer and window that actually roll up were just the tip of the iceberg for problems. Not to mention the crazy Sundance sourced 5-speed, pieced together vintage air air conditioning system.
The EV conversion was almost the easy part! With the proven hyper9 motor and 7 Tesla modules the drivetrain performs flawlessly. Batteries are nicely nestled in the front and back to provide an almost 50/50 weight balance. All while still leaving room for the targa top to stow away for those days in the Arizona sun.
This Fiat is finally back on the road and ready for many trouble free miles, if it an avoid the rust belt!
Motor: 144 Volt Hyper9
Charging and DC DC convertor: 6.6 KWH Elcon
Adapter: Flash Drive Motors
Transmission: Some silly Plymouth Sundance Transmission with custom everything
Batteries: 7 Tesla Modules
For more details or to do a conversion:
Flash Drive Motors
flashdrivemoto...
#tesla #evconversion #fiat

[@gdogrun]

Love the sound of that motor taking off. Looks like a hoot to drive around. Nice job!

[@dissrepair]

It is a fun car to drive

[@markbury1788]

The slow power windows can be lubed to go up and down faster, the regulator just needs oil in a few places.

[@ollieox4176]

Fiat x19 predates the fiero and mr2…

[@richardhcarter]

Toyota actually copied the X. They literally chopped an X in 4 and copied the suspension. But the raised the rear roll center thinking Fiat screwed up. That lead to oversteer issues with the 1st gen MR2. The MR2 however improved over generations where the X was left to sit and stagnate.

[@richardhcarter]

Only 2 cars met those proposed safety regulations. The X and a Volvo, I can't remember the model. Off the top X (it's been years so if I'm wrong... too bad!) The X1 is the body type, in this case Passenger. The 9 designating this model being the 9th chassis to bear the X1 prototype designation. So it is in fact NOT an X nineteen, it is an X1/9. Yes they had mechanical issues, engine and electrics specific, but the chassis itself is absolutely amazing to drive.

[@halcarter1426]

i loved my 78, and i thought it was easy to work on, i could pull the engine in an hour by myself. but it wasn't built for highspeed highways.

[@ivantuma7969]

I think there are high-performance 5-speeds and axles available from Fiat turbo cars that could handle an EV conversion's torque. An all-original car with a blown motor would probably have been a better starting place than one that had been previously chopped up. At least you could follow the factory wiring diagram for all the ancillary systems. I saw somebody do a motorcycle engine/quaife conversion on a fiat 850 spider. My question was WHY? Fiat had newer generation 2.0L 16v engines and 5-speed transmissions that would have just bolted in and given the same level of performance as the high-revving motorcycle engine.

[@danieldaniels7571]

Dave loves this car. Has me thinking about doing the same thing with my 1991 CRX.

[@apj341]

My Fiat back in the day (40 years ago / 1982) DID break down on the side of the road all the time 😮 !!

[@dissrepair]

They weren’t known for reliability. Cool little car though

[@xyredmax]

Great you accepted the challenge! I guess the question is how much to convert?

[@chargeheadsuk]

Great video cgaos. Great to see one of these converted 😉⚡️💯

[@dissrepair]

Appreciate it!

[@hglimshire8356]

I had a 75 X 1/9 ....Loved it when it wasn't in the shop. Which was often.

[@HARRYPOPPINS1]

Bertone designed Lamborghini and Ferrari as well. The X1/9 started the mid engine car war. It was the first. 1973. The one you got here was put over here by Bertone after Fiat stop importing them. The Mr2 was totally modeled after the X1/9.

[@HARRYPOPPINS1]

My first car was a 79 X1/9. No you just don't know how to drive it. That car drives so much better than a karman Ghia. I would love to show you how to drive that thing to appreciated it. The best car ever. I had a Ukrainian mechanic that kept mine running great.

[@apj341]

My first car, in 1982, was a 128 3p and my mechanic always had a handful of X1/9s in his shop while mine was in for repairs, often. He also told me that much of the internals of the two models were shared. Miss that little car.

[@ejford5083]

I had 5 X/9’s starting with a 74 and ending with a Bertone 1984. They were all reliable. 74 through 78 would go throughwheel bearings but they were a cheap repair. Hopefully they can reserve this car back to a combustible engine.

[@cueQu]

It would be interesting if you guys could pull off a series hybrid EV conversion. Like build your own Fisker. Have a gas engine generator charge your batteries that runs an electric motor and rear axle. I want to do this with my 06 trailblazer but I haven’t found anyone who’s done this.

[@vidznstuff1]

because it's a stupid idea

[@kedelbach]

love it. How much HP/Tq, and battery capacity? Can't find any more details on your website. I have an '82 X1/9 (stock) and a '21 BMW i3. Dream about having ~190hp and immediate torque of i3 in the low-slung X1/9....

[@jeffmorse645]

70s imports from Europe or Japan lived longer and survived better in a place like California or some other no-salt-on-the-road areas. Also, you really don't see cars from the 70s or 80s on the roads these days from any country or make. They just weren't made that well. There may be the odd European luxury car like a BMW or Mercedes, but that's about it.

[@danlaska1661]

why the transmission? Just go direct drive, how much range? And how much$$ aprox BTW Bugatti is a french

[@dissrepair]

It’s more fun to have gears and gives it a faster start and higher top speed and range

[@danieldaniels7571]

Funny… I asked the owner of this car exactly the same thing at the bar last night

[@eoinj3929]

Bugatti is actually French not Italian.

[@bosshat9821]

Max HP after conversion (stock would be about 75)? Is this for sale?

[@markbowden7238]

Yamaha R1 bike engine even on carbs makes 150 Kw, kerb weight installed in an X1/9 = 575kg. Please do another, essentially built it lighter build it safer build it stronger - add simplicity and lightness as Colin Chapman said. I can't remember the weight of the R1 engine and transmission, but various small capacity flatplane V8's exist based on a pair of R1's attached to a common crankcase. For example the PGM 2 litre dohc 4 cam 40 valve makes 435bhp, car would weigh around 625 kg with that engine installed. Currently the fastest X1/9's have about 385 bhp, weigh about 650 kg but they are modified production cars not swaps. They have to use the original Lampredi block and the D2 engines are full race and have a short lifespan. A small capacity V8 in an X1/9 would be very interesting, it wouldn't be eligible to race as a modified production car anyway, so it could be much more refined with normal service intervals and also be very fast, and to the best of my knowledge hasn't been done yet. In Europe the lightest FIA-approved seats that fit the X1/9 are Tillett carbon shell type developed for the Lotus Elise Cup. If you fabricate custom rails you can install those and gain 4" headroom, 5" reach, and 2" width each side. Puts the driver's head well within the rollover hoop, great especially if there is no cage. Revised height maximum is approx 6'2" without a helmet and approx 6' with a helmet, with those seats fitted. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5qmp4KqjrJjlcksi=HDAQnCfBJjvwJZTM kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHnclHSFbc5pg7Msi=yGkumjtxQVX1W6VC kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5mxhH97jpmJoLssi=UBm-n13TX-HlyiYL

[@frankhoward7645]

3:12. Taking into consideration the fact that you didn't use the Dodge engine, I don't understand why didn't you use the Fiat transaxle? Wouldn't have had to make custom axles and the speedometer wouldn't have required any modification. Am I missing something?

[@dissrepair]

The owner supplied the gearbox. Yeah, it is a different arrangement. For simplicity we’d suggest using the original or better yet…. Tesla small drive unit!!!

[@jamesonpace726]

Crazy lotta effort for such a goofy car....

[@dissrepair]

We didn't even capture the half of it. Thanks for watching.

[@2.3_44XD--]

A*Team van next please (lots of battery and 4wd etc)

[@danieldaniels7571]

Goofy is in the eye of the beholder

[@fiatx19_nl]

Love the X1/9 ❤ hate the EV 😢

[@billrouts8315]

perfect !!!!!!!!!!!!!! love fiat !!!!!!!!

[@stephen300o6]

Bugatti?

[@se7ensnakes]

Bugatti is French

[@robtyman4281]

Sorry, but converting it to an EV was the worst thing possible to have done. Just give it a petrol engine??!! 🤷 You restored the car, then ruined everything by making it electric. By doing so, you totally removed the car's personality. Can't believe you did this to this car. 🤦

[@89five3five]

Can you please get rid of that god awful bumper car bumpers

[@dissrepair]

Definitely would be better looking with a change in bumpers. Blame the 70s rules

[@marcoaverono6323]

Your comments are bullshit, these cars were very reliable. Don’t lie it doesn’t become you. And get your facts straight, the car is a 1498cc engine the earlier models were 1270

[@leolebarre35]

Volume leveling please. And for the love of God, please quit staring directly at the in-car camera. And wipe the lens. Otherwise, great work!

[@rodaniell]

FIAT stands for "Fix It At Tony's"

[@dissrepair]

I wish I had known that when we were working on it, we would have hired Tony

[@ejford5083]

Fix It Again Tony is the correct acronym

[@X19Doc]

A great EV update for the X1/9 ! Great Conversion. If you need some special Fiat Bertone X1/9 Parts - just get in Touch with me. X19Doc - Gerd