SCPO-PD

Well I have been busy.... All 4 rims have been scrubbed and prepped for Saturday's Iron Chariots Car Show (4 May 2024 @ Ivor Baptist Church in Ivor, VA) . Unfortunately I see another set of rims in my future unless I can find a to get them reworked - original spoke rims.... I also got her filled with some real / non-ethanol mixture gas. ANYWAY I have put about 125 miles on RQB 3616 over the last week with the longest legs being 25ish miles each way. She maintains 65+ on the highway w/ no problems, Engine temp rides @ 185ish, Suspension is 80's smooth, steering is 80's tight. OVERALL Ride - GREAT!!! The work put in it over since I brought it home last year shows in the interior looks and overall ride. Looking forward to the next steps / efforts in the restoration (sunroof & frame wielding / cleaning and painting.

Any Updates Pro / Con to the H-4 Hella LED Upgrades??

I am sincerely thinking about pulling my fallen and leaking Moon/Sun roof and simply making it a permanent sealed window. I have seen / read of some fellow Avanti owners doing the same but I am now unable to remember where.... Seeking assistance form anyone with knowledge. Also seeking information / directions on how to remove the current sun/moon roof. Thanks & Blessings, Don

I got the Passenger front seat installed today. I was able to beat the slider, that I quasi mangled during the removal, back into shape / submission and it works great!!! I then took her out on the road for another ride. Did well - even when I merged back onto the highway and had a lg dump truck come along side and I realized that his tires were as tall as my car.....

Well after finally loosing it while removing the seats of RQB-3616 some weeks ago I did some damage to the non-locking sliding rail that I am pretty sure I can't recover from. Anyway through my efforts I found out that the seat rails are the same one that were in use on the Porsche 944/924 in the early 80's..... NOT sure that I will go down that road. Used Set that look to have fought both Gulf Wars single highhandedly are looking like $150 post shipping.....

Well my seats are done and back from the shop!!!! i will not say how long or how many times it took me to get the driver's seat in and set so that I could crawl into the car but I will say that I do like the end results. I tried a new set of universal sliders but they were a NO-GO on the driver's seat. They were 1/8in two wide so they sat lower than the originals and caused the seat to sit higher. The results were my knees barely getting under the steering wheel. So original sliders it is. I will use the universal set on the passenger side. They will be going back for as there are some issues with the rear seat and the headrests. I will swing by the shop as soon as I get the passenger seat installed to show them my concerns and then let them have it after Iron Chariots on 4 May. I did get it out on the road and it ran well especially considering it hasn't been on the road since last summer....

While it may not seem like a big deal.... I found the proper finish washers and have replaced all of the screws and washers in the interior, They do Look Good!!!

I placed them on the right & left rails with the front contact points landing at front connections of the "X" frame. This helped to ensure that the quick jacks were relatively straight. I have the 7000TL and I used 1 LG + 1 SM rubber blocks at the contact points. At the 1st locking point on the Quick Jacks I had enough room to scoot under the car on my creeper to check out my power steering system in search for a leak that seems to have disappeared ....

Well I think that I a done on the interior work for a little while... until the seats come in from the upholstery shop. All Seat Belts have been installed (Yes the rear belts are Hot Pink for my oldest Grand Daughter - age 7 (She originally wanted pink stripes on the rear seat... I figured the belts were better)). Seat foundations have been installed. The original carpet has been scrubbed and vacuumed multiple times, and the interior leather has been cleaned and conditioned. I am looking forward to getting the seats in so that I can hit the road and put a few miles on it. I had to rework the rear seat belts as the originals mounted horizontally and the replacements were set to mount vertically (not a big issue as I simply needed to rotate the cover 90 degrees - after I popped it off, cut it, & taped it in place while covering any and all edges that may rub the new leather on the seats.) I also filled all of the "open" areas around the seat frame connection points that survived the rusted bolt removal w/ JB Wield and large fender washers between the fiberglass floorboard and seat foundations. For those points that didn't survive I also added large fender washers above and below the fiberglass along with the JB Wield around the holes to help close off the open areas that allow water to enter and rust out everything. The pictures below include backside pictures of the new hardware for the seat frames, backside of the rear armrests showing 2 spring pins that hold them in, seat belts w/ new hardware, etc...

I have the following items in need of a new home 2 sets of original seat rails. (both locking rails + 1 slider work fine - the other slider is slightly bent from the removal effort) Original Front Brake Calipers Driver Side Door mirror w/ mirror = minus remote guide wire. 1 Classic Enterprise Seat Anchor (w/ attaching hardware) I will post pictures of these items soon... More Parts to follow as I move forward wit RQB=3616's rework.

I want to take it out for a spin but don't think that I am up to doing so sitting on a 3 gallon bucket .... I haven't had it on the road since I put new tires on it last fall.... It will be ready for 4 May and Iron Chariots Car Show.

Additional Progress as the weekend comes to a close... After an awesome day at Church, a Great lunch, and a afternoon nap..... I was able to get up and go out to the shop and rework the front Seat Frames. The passenger side frame was a booger bear to strip down while the driver's side gave up the ghost at the sight of the wheel. Anyway they are done and hanging out to dry for the evening....

My 83 has the same setup as Zedman's above. I do have a new piece to replace the original with but I also have two more items that are a major question...... I will add them to the "extra parts" pile.

Well it have been a BUSY few days and I have gotten some work completed on RQB-3616. She now has... 1 - I repaired driver side seat base attachment point by installing the Classic Enterprises Seat Anchor. I really wasn't a fan of the rivets as they were a tad to small in length - in my opinion. So I drilled them back out and replaced them with stainless screws and lock nuts. I was going to do the same for the passenger side but soon decided against it as the passenger side front seat sits atop the catalytic converter and there is a heat shield blocking access to the area where the rivets/screws would go... 2 - I replaced the battery cables and installed a new battery. 3 - I vacuumed and attacked the carpet with the wife's steam cleaner. It does look MUCH better and I was able to clean/de-mat some problematic areas. I can actually run my fingers through the deep pile. I will probably scrub it again before I put the seats back in. 4 - I looked at the power steering lines & control valve again as it looked like they were leaking again... I noticed that the valve could twist in the bracket???? I attacked the control valve again with cleaner in order to get all of the grime cleared and started the engine and had the wife turn the steering wheel a little while as I watched for any leaks.... Needless to say I didn't see any and the valve didn't twist or roll during the effort... 5 - I pulled the front wheels off as my son happened to grab hold of one and let me know that I had lots of movement / slop in them. Boy am I glad that he did this and that I followed up with it as the mounting bolts attaching the caliper bracket on the Turner Brake Conversion kit had started to back out allowing the caliper to start to wobble... I also took the time to check the front wheel bearings (repacked them as i thought I went a little to light on the grease last year) and repacked them and put a few more turns on the wheel nut as I seemed to have some play in the disc. 6 - I replaced the broken mirror in the glove box with a replacement mirror that I got from avantiparts.biz 7 - I put the rear sway bar back into the bushing on the driver side. 8 - I attacked two of the original wire rims (True Spoke) that are FILTHY and RUSTY w/ Bar Keeper's Friend and a drill attached brush. WOW do those wire spoke rims come back to life!!! I need to find a wheel that can fit between the wire spokes and the lip behind them along the outside edge. I purposely did not take any picture of this as they need more work. I am sure that I did a few more things but it is late and the old rememberer is calling for bed time...

On my to do list!!!

Nostalgic Motor Cars has re-chroming service and re-chromed bumpers available.

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Electrical Mysteries in AOAI 205 is the complete answer!!!!! - You were correct pantera928, the Volt Meter does drain the battery over the course of a few days to a week.

Good Morning Pete - Checking to see if this bumper is still available and to see if the above price is your best price. I will be making my way through Woodridge the morning of 26 March and afternoon of 28 March. I am reworking RQB-3616 and would love to see if we can work something out. Thanks & Blessings - Don

Seeking some pictures / guidance for the installation of the Battery Tray Reinforcement that I purchased from Studebaker International. Their site says that that the "Bracket bolts to radiator support & front sway bar bolt. Standard on later models." I am just not seeing it on my 83....

Well I got RQB-3616 up in the air with the new Quick Jacks and found that while I do need to replace the hose, after I research the parts for the ram and control valve (replace or rebuild). The original hoses were just filthy and no cuts, frays, or leaks.... I did tighten up the two screws on on the back end of the control valve. I also took the time to clean the valve and hoses up to inspect... Not able to see any leaks. In other words think I can shelve the job for a while and get some other Must Haves knocked out like the new battery cables, battery, and box. WOW that is one long and heavy duty + line going to the starter.... 5ish foot long!

No pictures but I think that I figured out the best points for the lift. It is very NICE. The first locking point provides TONS of room while the last locking point give me enough room to dance - LOL, Well worth the investment!!!

Good Morning Zedman - The Rear Set Arm Rests are held down with two spring clips that feed through the top of the fiberglass frame. I found them by sheer accident as I was struggling to figure out how to remove the driver side arm rest cover. I was able to pop up the cushion by putting my fingers into the crevice of the arm rest and panel and popping it up. The second one (after failing to pop it up like the first one) I placed a long flathead screwdriver through the opening of the front seat seatbelt retractor and put it between the fiberglass frame and arm rest and was able to pop up the spring clips thus allowing the arm rest to tilt forward. The clips are very sturdy. If your hands and arms are small enough you can also access the clips through the access where the rear seatbelt retractors were but it is a interesting contortion act that I quickly gave up - LOL. Note that there might be a piece of rubber hose on the anchor bolt of the front seat belt helping to keep the armrest upholstery secure/attached at that bottom point..... admittedly I found that odd but quite effective.

Well all - This is where I currently stand... 1 - All seat belts removed and awaiting new ones to arrive. 2 - All seat frame bolts removed - only one casualty as I was working to get a front bolt out that I had to cut the head off earlier.... It FINALLY started to move some I quickly found out that the fiberglass and nut gave way... OH WELL I have ordered two of the "Avanti Seat Anchor Repair Devices" from Classic Enterprise and they will be in this week. 3 - I FINALLY pulled the Quick Jack 7000 out from last year's purchase and got it put together and filled & bleed. It is ready to go for the next task - replacing the power steering hoses. 4 - Interior has been thoroughly vacuumed. Thinking about dying it back to a shade closer to "Normal" after the scrubbing and steam cleaning. More to follow....

I am getting ready to replace the power steering hoses on the RQB-3616 and am wondering where the chassis lifting points are on the frame.... I have the Quick Jack 7000 that I finished setting up today.