[Electric cooling fan]

Fan kit arrived today and I was really surprised in the high quality of this kit, its better than most OEM pieces. The shroud is very well made with two fan supports molded into its one piece design, a strong piece that shouldn't flex. It has a very good one piece rubber seal around the outside diameter of the shroud that should seal a gap of up to 3/4". Each of the four sides of the shoud have two nutserts installed for the mounting brackets. Comes with several well made brackets, thermostatic control module and all necessary wiring. Looks easy to install, thermostat module allows you to wire into A/C so that fan comes on anytime A/C is on. You can have the fan controlled by the ignition or it can continue to cool after car shut off. I plan on installing the kit this week.

[Electric cooling fan]

Sounds NICE! I am VERY interested in the results. Is it a single or a dual fan? I also want to

dump the mechanical power robbing ready to break off and fly into your radiator fan.

Tom

Single fan system, you can see it at http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.a...15&autoview=sku

I should have it by Monday, I will post pictures. My '87 didn't use the Chevrolet radiator so I "ASSUME" this may work on all Avantis.

Jim

[Electric cooling fan]

The first step for intalling the LT1 is going to be replacing the stock cooling fan with a electric system, also I'm tired of the noise from the stock fan. I found a new kit (part# FLX-180) from Flex-a-lite that should work fine. It includes a shroud, fan and controls. My radiator core measures 22x19 and this unit measures 21.5x17.5, I talked with a Tech Support guy at Flex-a-lite and he said that they have had this unit handle up to a 383 ci stroker. He also said that he used to work at a old Studebaker dealership so knows a little about the Avanti. Ordered from Summit for $250, should be here soon.

[Pictures from the archive - My 63 Avanti]

Its bad practice when restoring a car to paint first.

Agreed. Mechanics, paint then interior. I wonder if those '63 headlights would look good on my '87.....

Jim

[Front brake upgrade]

Its certainly better then one just rotting away in your garage, I didnt mean that in a negative or degrading way, I apologize if you took it that way.

Nope, just having fun with the smilies.

For me, its a reminder as to what chassis it has. I get confused as to when they switched to

the GM chassis. I think that its a great combo really, there are more options for your platform then mine.

In '89 they started using the Impala chassis, just imagine...

The only real "downside" I saw with the Avanti II was the higher front end - which you solved. The Avanti was designed with a "rake".

Mine looked like a speedboat going down the street, thats why I dropped the front end first, had to have the "rake".

I thought it flowed nicely .. "MonteeAvantee" ... wasnt meant to be mean. ALL the other cars I have are GM, and I totally support the install of an LT1!

I haven't decided what to replace the 5.0L with yet, I have the complete LT1 donor car in the back lot (totaled but driveline OK) and that would be my first choise. The big problem with any of the engine setups I want to install is EFI. How to modify the fuel tank to work, that's the hold up.

Jim

[Front brake upgrade]

In the pic at a glance, they didnt look aluminum ... my bad.

Tom

My fault, the ones in the picture were Raybestos rebuilds. I installed the SSBC's later.

I would love to own an original '63 Avanti, when I bought my '87 I decided that I didn't want something that would sit in my garage only to come out in great weather on weekends. I wanted an Avanti for a daily driver, with that in mind the late model Avanti's with their modern chassis seemed a better way to go because I put up to 1,000 miles a month on it. I didn't want another unknown name jelly bean for a car, and the stares and comments let me know that I'm showing people that there was a time when cars had style.

Jim

[Big car meet in July!]

So no bra allowed on my Avanti?

[Front brake upgrade]

Cool stuff, its nice to have options. There are no aluminum calipers available yet?

The SSBC calipers that I installed are aluminum.

How you like the drilled and slotted?

They work great and being a Raybestos part they're not that expensive and are available.

The Monteavanti came with rear drum right? That question came up in a phone call tonight.

Monteavanti! Yea they came with drum brakes, but there are disc conversion kits available from SSBC and Baer for about $750. They keep the stock master cylinder and include a parking brake. The guys on the Monte Carlo SS site have had great luck using them. Urs Tobler from Switzerland installed a set on his '88 but I haven't heard if their working yet.

Jim

[Exhaust]

Nice exhaust, looks like you might have a leaking front main seal, or the back of the

intake manifold. Sure is nice to order -off the shelf- items!

Tom

Front trans seal started leaking, soon as we have some free time in the shop I'm going to replace the front and rear seals, bushings and install a B&M shift kit. Nothing on this car is just - off the shelf. The exhaust was supposed to exit out the rear, but because of the differences behind the rear axle I had to cut and exit behind the wheel opening. Soon as the exhaust bender gets here I'll finish the job.

[Pictures from the archive - My 63 Avanti]

Graet car! The '63 round headlight has always been my favorite.

[Wheels and tires]

Problem is all width, if I go with a different offset it would make the tires stick to far out and I could have a problem with the fender lips. I used these rims to play around with sizes to see what will fit, they only cost about $45 each and don't look half bad.

I saw in the back off the latest AOAI magazine, the one with your Mustang brake acticle, a vendor offering heavy duty swaybar kits.

[Front brake upgrade]

Here are the parts that I used for my front brakes-

They made a difference over stock but I still wanted something better so I installed a set of SSB 2 piston calipers from Summit Racing.

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?...t=egnsearch.asp

The SSB calipers replace the stock calipers with no modifications needed, worked great with my drop spindles and stock 15" rims. These will stop the Avanti in a hurry. Now for the rear brakes.

Jim

[Exhaust]

Here are the photos of the new exhaust. I did have to wrap the pipes near the passenger floor pan, it was starting to melt the undercoating. I still need to finish running the exhaust out the back.

Jim

[Wheels and tires]

Here is a picture with the new 16x7 wheels and P225/60R16 Yokohama AVS db tires-

Here is the problem that I have with clearance -

I have put about 500 miles on this setup with no rubbing problems yet. The larger tires really make a difference!

Jim

[Posting pictures]

OK lets try again.....

Thanks Tom

Jim

[Posting pictures]

Need help in how to post pictures. I keep getting a "dynamic pages not allowed error". What does this mean and how do I properly post?

[1982 Interior Work Progress]

Very nice interior, looks as if you found someone that really knows their trade.

[Aftermarket wheels/tires for Avanti]

Hmmmm....I've tried that before, maybe a "too many fingers on keyboard error" on my part?

Nope... something about dynamic pages not allowed. Well I guess I'll start a topic on this, I hate reading directions if there isn't a pilot light involved.

[Tires]

I searched and couldn't find anything that I was happy with in that size, its and old tire size that the tire companies have moved away from, so finding all three could be hard. But like Meatloaf sang "Two out of three ain't bad."

[Aftermarket wheels/tires for Avanti]

Looks great!!! Not sure of the availablity of early Avanti performance suspension parts but have you considered air bags in place of the springs?

By the way, I am having trouble posting pictures, how are you doing it?

['87 Defogger switch]

The switch is fried. Have already contacted OEM company (Cutler Hammer, a division of Eaton Corp) and was told they are not available, but a new style switch may work if I know the specs. This is not a GM or Chrysler setup, all Avanti from what I can tell, soooo a wiring diagram is probably out of the question.

['87 Defogger switch]

I am looking for a rear window defogger switch for my '87 Kelly Avanti. A post from two years ago said to contact the factory or a Mr. Weldon Critcher in NC. Can anyone update this info?

[Mustang GT brakes on my Avanti?? Hummmm]

Avanti guys are weird!

Tom

And PROUD of it!!!!

[Upgrades - comments welcomed]

Would depend on the size of the front rotors. Did you increase the size of the front rotors when you

put the drilled and slotted rotors and 2 piston calipers on? Mustang GT uses 11 front and 11 rear.

The rear only does like 30% of stopping, so unless you plan on really doing a lot of repeated stops

I would just get the 11 inch rear. Thats what I will be staying with on my brake conversion, even

with the 13 inch front Cobra rotors and 2 piston calipers.

Front rotors are stock size. The big difference is the 11" is by SSBC Brakes and the others are from Baer Brakes, I'll probably go with best setup.

Worth while only for cleaning up the engine compartment, I dont think you are going to see any

performance increase. Arent you considering an LT1 upgrade? If so, forget this upgrade.

I'm not in a rush to junk the 5.0L yet, so the LT1 upgrade is on hold, also....Chevolet is offering my shop some good prices on NEW 5.7L engines. It looks as if I can drop a RAM JET 350 with a complete fuel injection system for less than the conversion to the LT1. The serpentine setup would bolt up to the 5.7L also.

Worth while, and a nice improvement, it will help your car warm up faster, and will only work when

its needed, not all the time. Other benefits include no big steel fan to fly through your hard to find

hood or radiator! Should also be good for a few extra Hp.

Right after buying my Avanti the water pump shaft broke. Been there and done that, and don't want the t-shirt.

There are simple upgrades to change to R134a, costing 1000s less. Also, if you go with the LT1,

you will have to do this all over again.

Already converted to R134a, the problem is the heater box and controls inside the car, looks like they took three different systems and put them together. A Frankenstein affair at best, with flaps bolted shut, etc. And it doesn't work on top of that.

Tom

[Upgrades - comments welcomed]

Some of the upgrades that I've already make to my '87 Avanti include; Performance Suspension Stage IV kit, front frame bracket, 16x7 wheels and tires, drilled and slotted front brakes with two piston calipers, 2" drop spindles and a Cat-back 2 1/2" exhaust system.

I could use any recommendations for some of my next upgrades -

1.) Rear disc brakes - have 2 different systems available in 11", 12" or 13" rotors.

2.) Serpentine belt drive - GM Performance offers a complete bolt on system, it would also switch the alternator with the A/C compressor moving it to the passenger side of the engine. Would really clean up the engine compartment.

3.) Remove belt driven fan and install electric fan system - Current system makes alot of noise, would love to get the noise down to the gentle wind blowing by the window seals.

4.) Vintage Air heating and cooling system - I have never seen a bigger mess then the cobbled up heating and cooling system in this car. Well... the wiring comes close.