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silverstude

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Posts posted by silverstude

  2. Gas tank venting

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted · Edited by silverstude

    The gas cap is vented.   Lately there's been a lot of speculation about what that escape hose is/was for.  I've owned Avantis since the late 60's and the only purpose I have observed is that hose serves as an overflow for the tank, not a vent for the tank.  ( the extended section over the axle certainly might create a draw at road speed to evacuate fumes, but certainly would not have been a mandated usage then because EPA wasn't born yet) .   The Avanti tank filler is somewhat high on the body and there's a ~6"  connector hose which has 2 clamps that can likely allow fuel to seep by if it were contained in that section.   Fuel escaping the filler in that area will drain into the rear seat alcove  and cause fumes in the car.    

    Automatic fuel nozzle shutoffs were few and far between when the Avanti was a new car, probably not even invented yet....   The only way you knew the tank was full was when  you watched and heard it come up in the filler tube.  Taking your mind off the task would often allow  it to slop out the filler  and ruined lacquer paint was a big issue then.   One owner came up with a rubberized bib that fit around the filler neck that stowed inside the gas filler door.  When you pulled into a station and proudly hopped out to fill your tank, opening the filler door would allow the bib to flop out like a large tongue and extend almost a foot down the fender.  It was certainly different, but helpful in  preventing paint problems.  So, the overflow tube allowed the excess fuel in the filler tube above the tank,  and probably a little more to exit out of the tank and flow out over the right rear axle tube.  

     The rubber should be replaced, since it's likely dry rotted.  Even if it isn't, todays ethanol fuel will do it in quickly.  Replacing the loop in the sail is not easy, but if you can thread a length of maleable wire ( rebar tie?) through the old one, you may be able to connect it to a length of new and pull it backwards through the sail, or even just push a decent length into the sail from one of the holes and allow it to naturally loop.  

     

  7. Let’s talk sway bar

    in 1965-83 Avanti

    Posted

    When I installed Koni's and  changed the rear sway bar to the 1" size, the first hard corner I made, ripped the bottom plate off the passenger side at the wheel arch.   I basically repaired it the same way but also drilled and installed four SAE grade 8, 3/8" X1.5" bolts on each side.

  12. Stance/rake

    in 1965-83 Avanti

    Posted

    I only wish I knew the secrets of Tommy Thompson, in New England many years ago. I heard from a very reliable source that he lowered the A II's to the original rake and it wasn't rocket science.   Alternatively, Jim Pearce, from Florida installed a 700R4 and a SBC in his R1 and didn't mess with the rake at all.  I have his notes and he did use undersize crank pulleys to get his way.  His car is as perfect as any original. 

    I tried many years ago to get my 70' RQA-0381 back down in front.  I had thought about using a Toronado intake manifold get some space, as they were as flat as a pancake.  Finding one tho, proved difficult.  I have a Paxton with an R3 airbox on a Jasper Class II 350 ( 330 HP)

    I did use the dum-dum putty on top of the Airbox and dropped the hood closed to see how much wiggle room there was.  Then,  removed as many of the body shims that were needless and did achieve a drop of about an inch or more.  Next was the most cost-UNeconomical exercise ever, when I took the airbox to a machinist and had 3/16" removed from both top and bottom at the mid point sealing joint.   That gave me another 3/8".     Then the Paxton and mounting hardware were removed and some additional home made mount parts dropped the Paxton another inch,  resulting in the shroud having to be notched for the belt travel.  Finally, the 350 is different in the exhaust area and we had to deal with those ram horn exhausts, so things stopped there.      

    Looking to lose more shims only proved out that you have to be very careful at the radiator support vs the firewall mounts, as this span has to be finely tuned when figuring out the number of shims.  It's a long span and too few at the radiator will produce that crack on the top of the fenders at the firewall.  With all the radiator shims  removed, you can carefully lift up on the nose of the car and see the arch of the fenders bow in and out.  So, be generous at the radiator to avoid that crack, as that span is important. 

    The last thing I did was to install a pair of CC655 springs in front, without any spacer on the bottom and it looks fairly good.  The height of the original spring and spacer was 14.675"  and without the spacer was 13.875".  The CC655's alone are 13.0"   The tires are 215/60R16 and the distance from the ground to the top of the wheel arch is 27.5".  There is a pleasing rake of sorts, so I decided to move on to other things.   Moving the chassis around  didn't appeal to me because of what Jack said, raising or arching the rear springs more would effect the caster, which is really should not be touched.    That said, I have to mention that when I purchased the car ( new) in 1971, the dealer was a shop in College Park, Md, who was in the business of manufacturing Formula race cars.  Mine was used as a demonstrator and never titled.  I had taken it to a shop to have it looked over and it was pointed out to me that the alignment was reworked using shims under the lower A-arm rear bolts and the upper A-arm forward bolts, in effect tilting the kingpin rearward at the top and  increasing the caster significantly.  The car drove very nicely, although the steering was just slightly firmer.  The front end was never taken apart until 140,000 miles later, in the late 90's when everything was renovated.  

  14. Sunroof drain lines

    in 1965-83 Avanti

    Posted

    I believe they drain from the rear of the roof track, down the B-pillar  and into the boxes.    You can see the drain entrance, so you can "test" the throughput by pouring some water down.   If you don't see anything underneath, the advice is to NOT push anything down the tube or to blow any compressed air from the top.  If there's a blockage, it might only make things worse.    If you find the outlet end, it's better to work from that end upward.  

  15. Compromised Avanti!

    in Avanti Trivia

    Posted

    On 2/12/2022 at 10:13 PM, Dwight FitzSimons said:

    I don't see shimming up the body as a major compromise, a minor one at most.  Besides, they could have simply used thinner engine insulators to lower the engine in order for the carb enclosure to clear the hood.  I don't know why they chose to shim up the body.

    --Dwight

    I thought they DID use smaller engine mounts on the R3.   Something like 3/4" in height vs the standard large bisquit type for the masses

  24. Avanti differential ratio

    in 1965-83 Avanti

    Posted

    44 minutes ago, pantera928 said:

    Thanks

    Any idea if it is positraction without me either doing a burnout or lifting it and spinning the rear wheels?

    Remove the filler plug and try to stick the tip of your finger inside/  if there is nothing in the way, the it's an open differential (not  positraction)

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