DobbM

Thanks for sharing Bill. Very interesting.

I was an infant in the late 60s, but here's a question: Did people not hydrate back then when they went on car rides? Let's document our various hacks for holding drinking vessels. I was recently at the Swap Meet in South Bend and took a couple of photos (I guess only one).

I have the Avanti White lacquer as well. What color is your inside? Mine is Royal Orange. One of my winter projects is to get the clock to work. I contacted Instrument Services (clocksandgauges.com) in Illinois about my 63 R1 clock, and he said he doesn't work on those nor does he sell parts for it. 🤷‍♂️ I'm going to convert it to a 12v A23 battery (https://amzn.to/4uU3SUV) that is wired closer to the fuse panel so that it's easy to replace, and it's not reliant on the 3EE, as I routinely disconnect it at the terminal (https://amzn.to/4vPf8Tf). I'll be sure to document my trials and tribulations. (My other winter project is to replace the rusty gas tank that is giving my 2 inline filters something to do and racking hell on the carb.)

I covered this hole with some foam (temporary) to see how it affects the heat. According to my passengers, they don't feel the warm air any longer. I also decided to see where else the heat could be entering the cabin from. There's the firewall with the engine and the exhaust system below (in fact, the mufflers are under each of the front seats). So, I added a ceramic and metal blanket over the top of each muffler to start. I may cover some of the exhaust tubing and see if that helps too. I can definitely tell a difference by covering the mufflers. And it didn't start a fire! This is the product: https://amzn.to/4v80Ywl Any words of warning?

Thanks @ronmanfredi . Just to clarify my markup, B is the space between the leather door panel and metal piece, and A is is the crevice between that metal piece and the rotating handle.

The passenger door on my 63R1 is sagging about a 1/4" and the kids are slamming it shut. To gently close it, I lift the handle as I close it. I understand how to adjust the hinges and striker. 1. Any words of wisdom? 2. When removing the window crank and door lever, do I separate at "A" or "B" in my attached photo? Thanks

My grandfather the original owner of my 63 R1, put an analog third break in the lower window. There was some type of palm-sized black box that would take the brake/blinker signal at the trunk and operate the third light. I converted it to an LED strip light at the top of the window, but couldn't get the black box to interface with the LED. I wanted to run some power to the trunk anyway so I just included an 16awg wire (purple/red) from the brake cylinder to the trunk where it hooks up to the LED power leads.

There where no gotchas once I realized that the "nose" could come off the case.

Oh, I thought that was pre blower. Should there be a flap there? It is the 'Heat'/'Defrost' diverter elsewhere? And since I don't drive the car in the Michigan winters, would it be safe to cover it?

Hello all. I'm trying to cool off the cabin. I checked the butterfly vents and they are fine. But as I was under the passenger side dash I was looking at the heater box/core area. To the left side is a hole, 2" x 1.25-ish inches and about 4 inches deep. The hole looks intensional, but not factory (super smooth edges, etc.). Was it the place for the filter?

I'm getting ready to take my starter apart to install a new starter drive (pinion gears). Anything I need to worry about or is it pretty straight forward? Thanks.

@ronmanfredi Now that I have squeezed my way even further underneath I do see a 2-inch-ish hole where they could fall out (can see the ring gear too).

Thanks Nelson. I didn't change anything except the internals of the Prestolite starter that the rebuild shop used. Everyone keeps saying the bolts, but I can't even remove the bolts that hold the starter on. So it's the exact same setup that's been used for 63 years. (The top bolt will spin, so I'll need to wrench both sides, but not for the bottom mounting bolt.) I can't locate any torque guide, so I just make sure they are nice and tight. Bob from Avantiparts.biz is sending me the starter drive to have a shop install, as I'm guessing that a hydraulic press will be needed?

I have '63 R1 3 speed automatic. What are the specs for the starter's pinion gear? I need to have a new one but want to be one-thousand percent sure. Thanks

How do these look to everyone? The grayish element tells me that it's not running too rich or lean. But what about the rest of the plug. Would you have guessed that they were new 13 months ago? Can't have more than 2k-3k miles on the car in that time frame. Thanks