ronmanfredi

Screw on service valves are for R12. Most anyone who does a 134 conversion replaces those and the dryer at a minimum when doing a conversion. In a lot of cases the rubber lines need to be replaced as well. Now, that's not to say that some person came up with an adapter to charge 134 through those fittings but I sure wouldn't. R12 and R134 don't mix, you use different A/C gauges to prevent mixing the refrigerant, use the correct fittings and gauge pressures. There use to be some R12 replacement refrigerants available but I don't think those are available anymore. You'd have to call a local parts store and see what they have.

1-2) It could have been installed back at the factory after purchase, a recommended repair shop that they used at the time or a repair shop that did it for the owner. 3 & 5) Your concept is correct. Replace the dryer, replace the service valve "stems" on the 2 hose fittings, vacuum it down for 30+ minutes and then recharge. The service valves will require snap-on connectors if the system has been converted to R134A 4) There isn't one from the factory. 5) Leak check the system once recharged

The "window stop" for its maximum height is adjustable. Remove the door panel; towards the rear of the door (latch side) and close to the top, there is a bolt that holds the adjustable stop in place. Lower the window and look down into the cavity from the top of the door and you will see the "stop". It's just a flat piece of metal attached to a bracket that you move up and down. Loosen the bolt, lower the stop a little. tighten, raise the window and check the new maximum window height. Once you have it where you want it then tighten the bolt and install the door panel.

In disassembled condition, the value of it will only be what someone is willing to pay for it. I've seen them go for $2500+ depending on the condition of the partial restoration and how much of the car needs to be reassembled. It might be best to list it on Bring a Trailer along with a LOT of photos and see what an auction will bring. The more photos, the more receipts for work done that you have, the better your chances are.

The 2001-2007 Firebird and Mustang based cars are so unique and appealing until you get inside the car and then you see either a GM or Ford car. In 2006-2007 Avanti did make a custom dash that was reminiscent of the late 80’s cars, but that was about it. I had recently sold our 1982 Avanti II which had a fantastic instrument cluster in the dash and as I look at the dash of our 2006 S197 Mustang based Convertible, it was easy to see that there could be some improvement of the gauge area. In addition, I wanted to replace the Ford Shaker 500 radio with a more powerful and modern flat screen radio, move the A/C-Heater controls “up” in the dash and clean up the sides of the console. The 2006 had 107,000 miles when purchased from the original owner and while he did a great job on maintenance, there was some normal wear and scuffing on the inside of the car which I am cleaning or covering up with carbon fiber wrap in addition to covering up all of the tired woodgrain. First, I looked hard at radio options and selected the Kenwood DMX908S Touch Screen radio. It has all the bells and whistles that I want, plus it has more power than the Shaker 500 radio. Crutchfield Audio sells the Kenwood radio and a wiring kit that connects it to the Mustang stock wiring which allows the 4 car speakers and 2 door mounted subwoofers to work correctly. I had previously replaced the 4 car speakers with JL Audio speakers which was a good upgrade and let me tell you that this radio upgrade is a HUGE improvement over the radio. Next, I had to decide what to do with the gauge appearance. In doing research for options on the Mustang itself, I found US SPEEDO, a company that make gauge cluster panels for all cars. After checking out all of the options, I selected the Stainless-Steel Panel. I also felt that the dash panel that covers the dash was missing 3 trim rings that could go around the gauges. Now I’ll tell you this was not an easy thing to find since there was almost nothing available. But I finally found a company called GAFFRIG which makes gauge trim rings for all sorts of companies. They did have the 4” ID gauge rings for the speedo/tach and the 3 3/8” ID rings for the center cluster. They were polished aluminum with some kind of clear coating added. The ring edges are pretty wide and once the speedo/tach rings were set in place, the center ring wouldn’t fit flush since it overlapped the other two so I decide to modify the edges in 2 places so it would fit correctly. Lastly, the plastic coating on the rings looked dull next to the chrome A/C vents in the dash so I decide to sand off the coating, repolish the rings and then put on a heavy coat of car wax to seal them off. They look like chrome now. Attached are photos of the project and I hope you like it!

I'd take them and pay for the shipping if you'll get them boxed up for FexEx or UPS.

Fasten seatbelt light.

My 82 model looks just like that except the hole area was packed with dumdum (3m strip caulk). When I replaced the rag joint, and pulled the steering column loose from the firewall, all the old dumdum just fell off. It ended up looking like yours, so after I reinstalled the column, I bought some strip caulk and resealed the column. There are a few other firewall holes that they used dumdum on, plus the rear panel behind the back seat is sealed with that also.

Not at all, but one rarely does when doing a custom vehicle for their spouse/family. I usually do everything first class which is expensive but worth it in my eye. The buyer will end up with a really nice car and won't be saddled with tons of repairs like most usually do. It's time for me to realize that I need to slow down a bit too. (we will see about that :^D )

I bought this 1982 Avanti II for my wife 2 years ago and did a complete restoration to make it a solid car, we are the 3rd owner. We have now bought another Avanti and decided to sell this one. The car has spent its entire life in the south, so the main rust issues that many have is not a problem. The car has every option that was available at the time and here are the repairs/upgrades that have been done: EXTERIOR: Added front spoiler, replaced fog lights, replaced all bulbs with LEDs. TRUNK: Replaced all the carpet to match the interior, new spare tire and jack. INTERIOR: Replaced all the carpet, had some upholstery replaced and dyed to match interior. Replace front door window track guides. Replaced Sunroof weatherstripping. DASH/CONSOLE: Replaced all of the wood dash and console trim, installed all new gauges and installed new dash indicator lights with modern LED lights. New 2 spoke custom steering wheel. AUDIO: Replaced the radio with a modern style Kenwood, replaced all four speakers with JL Audio and installed an amplifier. AIR CONDITIONER: Replaced compressor, receiver dryer, and inside fan speed switch. ENGINE: 305 GM V-8, Replaced spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor. Replaced all hoses in engine compartment. Had radiator flushed, Installed electric fan with new high output alternator. Rebuilt carburetor, replaced intake manifold, replaced timing chain while replacing front seal and cover gasket, replaced water pump, replaced oil pan gasket and rear main seal. TRANSMISSION: 4 speed 200R4, Performed a full transmission service. EXHAUST: Complete new true dual exhaust system. BRAKES: New brake hoses, new rear wheel cylinders, flushed brake fluid, the master cylinder and brake pads had just been replaced by previous owner. SUSPENSION: Rebuilt the front suspension, new rubber arm bushings, new kingpins, new center pivot bushings, new front shocks, rebuilt power steering control valve, 2 new hoses. Rebuilt the rear end, new ring and pinion, all new bearings, new rear shocks. Installed new American Racing Aluminum Magnum 500 wheels and tires. This car is ready to be enjoyed by a new owner who doesn’t want to spend money and time repairing everything that these older cars need. It has been a 2-year project with over $10,000 in parts replaced, not including my labor time. (Note, front and rear seats match in color, image are off a little. Asking $25,995, cash or verified bank check only. 512-788-1136 cell.

I sat through a seminar last year and watched Dan Booth from Nostalgic do a dash pad installation on a dash. He had other dash pads from competitors and showed the differences, including how competitors' pads don't usually fit as they should. The ease of installation is about not spending a bunch of time trying to get the fitment right where it looks good. If you get a cheaper pad and it doesn't fit properly, they will tell you that you just need to make it work. One of the vendors won't take it back, another will, but you'll pay return shipping and a restock fee. With that being said, you have to decide if you just want something that will work $1000 or something that looks and feels like it came with the car when new $2200.

The sending unit provides a variable ground for the gauge action, but there is also a standard ground wire on the sending unit as well. The gauge also has a "white ground wire" on it which either connects to another gauge ground or to the dash frame. Since the car is fiberglass, the grounds are extremely important. An ohm meter can be used to check each of the grounds to see if that is the problem. Lastly, the gauge can also be failing if everything else tests good.

The sending unit is mounted from the top of the tank and the float points sideways, so starts and stops shouldn't affect the gauge reading much at all. It's possible the sender is bad, but the gauge or wiring may also be the problem. The only way to know for sure, is to remove the sending unit, hook up an ohm meter to it and move the float up and down through its range. It the readings are good, then the next place to go is the gauge and wiring connection. The wiring runs from the sending unit, under the back seat and up to the dash. The same ohm meter test could be run at the wiring where it connects to the gauge. (disconnected from the gauge). If it checks out there, then the gauge has gone bad.

The original owner had perimeter sensors installed front and back to warn him of getting too close to parked cars or when backing up. There's a warning display on the steering column just below the center gauge cluster on top of the steering column. It's about the size of a column mounted PRND21 display. It works really good too.

On the ford models, they raised that part of the hood in an attempt to look more like the original car. The 01-07's are no where near close to the original designed Avanti, so I don't see anything wrong with customizing ours. In fact, some of the changes look better and at the car shows I've attended with mine, the attendees really like what I've done. So go for it!