[71 Avanti track test]

Not bad a'tall.... pardon my ignorance (or senior memory) if you posted that info before, but what's under the hood? Anything special you did to ready the car for the strip?

[New Shocks]

So, the brand is Auto Zone? And did they have a listing for Avanti in their system?

[front seat replacements]

I'd suggest the older large Recaros, like the ones used as an option in Avanti II's of the late 70's & early 80's. You just need to go to a salvage yard and look around, as those seats (I want to say Recaro "C" seats, but I'm not certain) were used on a wide range of cars, including Mercedes, BMW sedans, Cadillac Allante, etc. If I'm not mistaken, you can even still buy adapters for them new from Recaro for the Avanti.

Another possibility would be Jag XJ40 seats, which are very comfortable, not quite as firm as the Recaros.

Here's a link to an Avanti recently on eBay that had Recaros:

http://tinyurl.com/d6xqj

Here are some links to seats now on eBay(or recently sold) :

http://tinyurl.com/al4hc

http://tinyurl.com/9xb75

http://tinyurl.com/8zopl

http://tinyurl.com/9kd6g

http://tinyurl.com/bwqut

Tell us what you're looking for in terms of color and material. I have a very nice pair of Recaro (I think) seats in a very dark brown (almost black) soft woven material that I'm not sure I'll ever use, because I also have another tan leather set (from an Allante) I hope to make use of in a long-term project car.

One problem with seats is that they are expensive to ship (heavy and bulky) so it's probably best to find some within driving range. Recovering them can be very expensive, too, but may be necessary to complement your car, and new foam cushions may be hard to find.

['87 Sky Top leak]

Thanks for taking the time to share the technique.

[New Shocks]

here's a some numbers I had written down for the rears, but I've had the numbers quite a few years now so I'm not sure they're still valid:

Koni 8240 (F?) -1012 (502)

Koni 82-1425

Gabriel 26177

Monroe gas 5831

Sears Classic gas 91103

One owner reported using shocks for a 70's Camaro by inserting the crossbar from his old shocks into the upper mounting hole on the Camaro shocks.

[Horn ?]

Here is what an Avanti steering wheel normally looks like:

http://www.avantiparts.net/UCBlack698.jpg (on a 69 Avanti)

It uses the "blades" in the two spokes to operate the horn.

When an aftermarket steering wheel is installed, normally it comes with an adapter hub with a decorative plastic external round hub cover that has an emblem or name of some sort on it, and that center hub is depressed to sound the horn, ie, the hub is a horn button. The adapter bolts to the steering column, the wheel to the adapter, and the horn button/hub cover generally snaps into place on top.

Nardi Classico is an aftermarket wooden wheel commonly used on Avanti's, it looks like this:

http://www.190slgroup.com/tech/pics2/14-Nardi.JPG

One of the most common aftermarket wheel makers is Momo, who offers a wide variety of styles; they use the center hub as the horn button. See them at this site:

http://www.momo.it/momoeng/set1.html

(click on "Momo", then "steering wheels", then pick a style from the drop-down list)

Yet another maker is Grant:

http://www.grantproducts.com/default.html

You may have to remove the hub and the steering wheel to figure out what your car has in the way of horn provisions. If no attaching screws are present, generally the decorative hub cover either is pried up, or you press down on it and rotate it in relation to the wheel to free and remove it.