WayneC
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Posts posted by WayneC
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You don't say what year your Avanti is.... I'm going to assume pre-84
Not really sure what your issue is, but it may be worth checking whether your spring is correctly positioned. I'm no expert, but I was curious and read the shop manual. I don't remember exactly what the A-arm sockets look like, but I would think the sockets keep the springs securely positioned/centered without touching the vertical sides of the lip of the A-arms.
According to the shop manual, the lower coil of both front springs (they have the same part number) have a notch in them (to denote the lower coil) and they need to be positioned so that the end of the lower coil of the spring is toward the engine and the coil end is perfectly aligned with the centerline of the lower control arm. So its possible the springs were improperly installed.
Look for shiny wear spots that might indicate the spring is rubbing something, and lubricate (oil) the areas where the springs meet the A-arms.
You said your symptom is squeaks, so likely lube/oil will quiet it down.
Beyond that, inspect the bushings holding the pivot pins on the control arms (common issue of wear) to see that they are intact and not cracked badly from old age & wear. Common symptoms of bad bushings: clunking noises, a vibrating steering wheel, steering pulling to the left or right.
Bushings look like this:
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Here is some information I copied back in 2000, regrettably I didn't document who the author was... I apologize for that.
A short version of it appears in the Avanti Workshop Manual, gasoline section, page 4
Most fuel gauges work pretty much the same way: A sending unit in the tank has a float on an arm connected to a variable resistor. The Avanti gauge reads the resistance in a (red with white trailer) wire connecting the gauge to the sender. The gauge has 3 wires connected to it: 12v power from the ignition switch, a white ground wire, and the red w/ white trailer lead (sensing) wire to the tank sender. The sender, located atop the gas tank behind the rear seat and removable body panel, has attachment for a ground wire in addition to the sensing lead.
1) Check all the connections at the gauge and at the sender for loose or corroded connections.2) Use an ohmmeter to check the white grounding wires at the gauge and at the tank for continuity to frame ground.
3) Disconnect red w/white trailer wire at both the sending unit and the gauge and ensure the loose ends aren`t touching anything, then use your ohmmeter (in conjunction with a long test wire) to check the continuity from end to end; then check its continuity to frame ground: it should NOT have continuity to ground.
4) Disconnect the gauge to sender wire at the sending unit end; with ignition switch on, the gauge should now read `empty`; if not reading `empty` you will need to replace the gauge or have it repaired. If it reads `empty`, continue on.
5) Disconnect the gauge-to-sender wire at the sender; turn on the ignition, then connect the loose wire to the sending unit`s other (grounding) post: the gauge should now read `Full`; if it doesn`t read `full`, then the gauge is likely bad. If it does read full, then the gauge and the wiring appear to be OK and therefore the sending unit is likely bad.
6) You could verify that you have a bad sender by removing the sending unit from the tank and testing it with an ohmmeter to see if moving the arm smoothly through its travel alters the resistance smoothly between the two terminals. It may be possible to accomplish this arm movement in the tank using a long stiff insulated wire (to preclude any sparks) with a hook on one end to grab the arm... I haven`t tried it and frankly I doubt you can properly manipulate the arm this way .
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Sorry, I'm not able to follow your descriptions. I don't have an '83. Your old battery had side terminals that used a 5/16th inch bolt, and the new battery has 3/8" threaded holes atop the battery for older-style battery posts, and you want to use your old side-mount cables atop the battery rather than on the side of the battery?
I'm confused.
A picture is worth a thousand words (as are links), annotated pictures are worth even more.
Would this help? (probably not, it sounds like you need 5/16 threaded holes for your old cables)...
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Disclaimer: I am not a battery expert or an electrical engineer.
If you connect a charger to an Odyssey that is too far depleted, it will not take a charge. Dunno if that's always the case or if there are other circumstances that come into play. If you connect the Odyssey in parallel (plus-to-plus and negative-to-negative) with a lead acid battery using battery jumper cables (neither battery connected to the vehicle cables) and then connect the charger to one of the batteries, there's a good chance both batteries will charge (but it will take time, perhaps a day or more). I'm not sure, but I think if the Odyssey is not too far discharged, you can use a trickle charger normally to keep it fully charged ("topped off") in the car, like any other battery. I have no idea whether your slow precondition charge would work on a fully-discharged Odyssey.
Here are some links I found with a Google seearch:
http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/ODYSSEY_Battery_Reconditioning_Charge_Procedure.pdf
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-1009-how-to-charge-a-agm-battery/
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Kevin, if you haven't owned an Odyssey battery before, be aware that if you ever are in a situation where the Odyssey has run down (discharged) completely, it needs to be slow-charged while wired in parallel with a normal lead/acid battery (using a pair of battery jumper cables). I didn't know that when I purchased my first Odyssey, and had a dead-battery situation about 18 months later; when my attempts to recharge it failed, I traded it in as a core to purchase a lead-acid replacement. Dooohhh, expensive lesson!!!! Found out about the parallel charging trick a year or so later (and I've always wondered if the shop where I traded it in was well-aware of that trick).
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Sounds like Bubba was there... but then, I've been known to emulate Bubba myself, occasionally.
Here is a chart of battery sizes: http://www.batteryweb.com/bci.cfm
I am using size 24; 34 will fit , maybe even better (same as 24 except 1" shorter), as will any battery very close to those outside dimensions. The tricky part is the terminal type and location on the battery, which the chart does not address fully, and the battery hold-down clamp; you need one that spans the threaded hold-down posts and still clamps the battery body, so if you depart from the 24/34 battery width you are on your own to figure out a way to clamp the battery securely in place. Battery cables can, of course, be changed-out for cables with different (ie, side-mount) terminals, but then terminal clearances and cable lengths need to be determined.
The other issue is that the fiberglass battery box (part of the fender) is not well supported on the bottom side and that heavy battery eventually cracks the fender. Lord only knows why Avanti Motors never adequately addressed that issue (apparently they employed no engineers). I added some support shimming atop the frame beneath the battery on several of my Avanti's over the years. Others have gone so far as to fit a metal battery box from another vehicle into their Avanti, bolted to the frame. If you go Bubba, some car battery boxes are little more than trays that bolt to the frame and clamp the lower edges of the battery. There was a thread on that subject a couple of years ago, with a description of a battery box grafted-in by SBCA96 (Tom), but apparently that thread must have gotten lost when the forum changed a few years back, but it is also available here:
Here is the underside of my '80 Avanti battery box, truly inadequate to the task of supporting the battery, and does not even attempt to secure the threaded rods holding the battery clamp; frankly I'm not sure if that metal support is original:
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Do you know if you removed/dislodged the wire clip with the tool? It may be possible a previous owner installed the wire clip from the reverse direction and so the tool is not contacting the open ends of the clip.
Can you push the upholstery panel away from the handle enough to peek behind the handle to see if the wire clip is out/retracted or at least loose? Maybe a small and a flashlight mirror will help you to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvaQlh8If1s
Alternative methods:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIGVyGDuRdI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psYYqQhWY2o
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On 5/1/2018 at 4:25 PM, Cbitz233 said:
Gotta find the tool and then I'll have it off.
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I don't own an '83.
But, play with the unit... usually back then the bass/treble and left/right balance were adjusted via levers behind the knobs (knobs are normally used for on-off/volume and tuning); however, its possible the lever adjustments are for front/rear rather than left/right).
In some radios the outer knobs had 2 positions (in and out) and when out they make different adjustments when turned (than they do when in), so gently tug/push on them to see if the shaft they are on snaps out and in (it should not take much force).
I think some, if not many, radios had both levers behind the knobs and push/pull knobs.
This page in the Jegs website seems to indicate the levers under the knobs are commonly used for fader/balance (in other words front/rear volume and left/right volume), but those illustrations look more like 60's radios than late 70's and 80's radios.
https://www.jegs.com/p/RetroSound/RetroSound-Radio-Knob-Sets/3619371/10002/-1
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...or a sticky thermostat.
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It will be a wide range, depending on what quality you want, leather (and what leather grade) or vinyl or cloth, everything (rugs, seats, dash, side panels, headliner, etc) or just the seats, professionally or you do the labor, etc, etc. $10k would not be out of line for a thorough quality professional job using leather.
Visit a few upholstery shops for estimates, or better yet, ask around at car shows when you see an interior you like and ask who did the work.
I had a complete Avanti interior done in leather back in 1987 (included all upholstered panels and headliner, but I'm not sure if carpeting was redone) and it cost me a bit over $3500... that's nearly $9000 in today's money, and it was a good price at the time, although in retrospect I could have chosen a more rugged leather.
http://cars.costhelper.com/car-upholstery-repair-cost.html
These pics were taken 20 years later (but not much mileage put on in those 20 years); the back seat is askew and paper on the floor because I was working on the fuel tank when these were taken. If I were to do it over, I think I'd find some big Mercedes Recaro buckets to replace the originals.
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I don't have one out, but I can tell you that a common replacement for the stock radio back in the 70's was the Blaupunkt Frankfurt.
See illustration below for its dimensions (sorry, I goofed on the height, it should read 1.7 inches)
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I perused old photos of Avant II's that I've owned, but had no good closeups of the voltage regulator, nor do I know for certain whether those regulators were original; but for what its worth, here is photo I found of one in my '71... if it matches yours, then perhaps Avanti Motors didn't use a Delco unit.
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I generally place the jack under the frame beneath the firewall, or just in front of the frame kick-up for the rear wheels.
I prefer to use ramps if the car is mobile and I'm not removing a wheel.
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What in the world is " leathers due "?
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I assume you're sure the system is not charging, and that its not the dash gauge wiring that has an issue. Did you open the regulator box to see whether there is anything obviously wrong inside it?
Does your voltage regulator have 3 terminals, or 4, or ?
NAPA doesn't list a regulator for a 1966 Avanti, but they do list one (row of 3 terminals) for a 1964 Avanti:
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECHVR126
....Or does your old regulator look like this instead:
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECHVR32
I don't know for certain what Avanti Motors used in 1966, but if you have a row of 4 terminals on your regulator I'd guess one of these would work
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECHVR142
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Another add: IIRC, the lower coolant hose has a spring inside it to keep it from collapsing under suction, so when you change the hoses, check for that spring.
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Great diagram, thanks for posting it.
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I'm not an electrical guru, but I have chased a few shorts on my various cars over the years. Getting too old to do much of that anymore.
I assume everything was working before you took that panel apart? What was your first indication that you screwed something up? Did you see sparks or smoke? When you say you substituted the "a/c switch", did you really mean the heater switch? Actually, the headlight, instrument, and heater switches all have the same part number, so you probably eliminated the switch as the problem, assuming you (re)wired it correctly.
Does the horn work? Do the interior lights work? Do the instrument panel lights work? Does the heater work? Are the headlights dead on both low beam and high beam? Obviously some circuits (excepting headlights and parking lights) in the headlight/tailight circuits ARE working, and the issue is probably forward of the instrument panel. So, assuming the FRONT turn signals are working, you are looking for wiring components common to the headlights and parking lights, either positive or grounding circuits. I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if the headlight hi/low beam switch provides ground for both the headlights and the parking lights.
The Stude Avanti shop manual (hopefully you have one) has a fold-out electrical diagram and a list of the wires called out on that diagram. Some time ago I scanned the diagram (half at a time) in hi-res, then joined the scans. That way I can view the diagram on my 27" computer screen, enlarge parts of the diagram I need for a specific task and print those enlarged parts, then I use hi-liters to trace circuits related to the devices I'm troubleshooting. Using that method you can figure out what wires (and/or fuses and circuit breakers) are common to the headlights and parking lights (but not related to the turn signals and brake lights), see where they terminate, and try to test those paths for continuity.
I think the power for the headlights comes through the circuit breaker at the top of the fuse panel on the firewall, to the upper left of your left knee, but I can't recall if it automatically resets.
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Appreciate the link, Bob.... I assume you also need to add a 150 ohm resistor to change brightness on a panel? Also, how did you address the blinker issue where LED's don't have enough resistance to activate the stock blinker unit?
My interest is mostly academic, hopefully gleaning info for others who read your post... I converted my '71 backup lights to LED tail lights about 8 years back (using LED 1157 bulbs and sockets, and I may have added a resistor for the blinker... not certain because I think I retained the normal 1157 bulbs in the tail lights).
I wasn't satisfied with my conversion, particularly the klutzy wiring, and would like to have even brighter lighting. The backside of the decklid has an unfinished look that I never figured out how to cover. It may be possible to run the wiring through the raised ribbing of the decklid to make things neater.
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Thanks. Too bad SuperBrightLEDs.com has discontinued the 1156/1157 panels.
I was looking in eBay listings and noticed a number of LED panels configured for internal car lighting, which may lend themselves to tail light applications, except that (1) they are white LED's and (2) they would need to have 1156/1157 bases added (but I'm not certain that would work with LED's that aren't meant to be tail lights, nor do I know what resistance value needs to be added to dim them)
How do you install coil springs on an 83
in 1965-83 Avanti
Posted · Edited by WayneC
clarification
Its been too long since I did this operation, don't remember how I did it, I think I used a spring compressor that consisted of a threaded rod with hooks, not sure why the anti-roll bar (front stabilizer) would be an issue if the vehicle weight is sitting on the tires... but, dumb question: have you studied the procedure in the shop manual? (front suspension and steering, page 3)