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popeyesteve

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Posts posted by popeyesteve

  1. I took a chance on the Lseat covers. It took about 4 weeks to get them. The back seat was a good fit but the front covers were patterned for a different model of Recaro. That made for a bit of alteration to get them to fit. The bolsters for the bottoms are a different shape and needed some repadding to fit. The inserts for the backs and bottoms were completely different. The bottoms required tailoring of the front and rear attachments. The backs required tailoring to narrow the top front. And the back inserts were basically remade from the disassembled parts plus some extra leather material that I bought separately. The headrest covers are a completely different shape and will have to be remade. It was a lot of effort on my part and required a bunch of hand and machine sewing. I would say that unless you have the exact model Recaro seats that Lseat.com has the pattern for, don’t do it if it is your first rodeo.

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  2. Does anyone have a source and/or part number for the filler neck to fuel tank hose used for 1982 models? I decided to pull the fuel tank access panel to check and replace the rubber fuel and vent lines since I have the seats out to install new seat covers. I have everything but that pesky filler hose and I don’t want to put it back together without a new hose installed. The old one is cracked and dry...and seeps enough to smell up the interior if the tank is topped up too much. Thanks in advance.

    Steve

  3. I thought that this topic had been addressed earlier, but I can't seen to find it anywhere. Sorry if it is a duplicate.

    The leather on my seats is dry and cracking beyond all attempts to rejuvenate with saddle soap, mink oil, leather treatments, etc. Not horrible, but not up my standards. The door panels, dash and headliner are okay. A victim of the Florida sun before I bought the car, I'm afraid. That said, I have planned to contact Lseat.com for leather replacement covers for the Recaros up front and for the back bench. They show two different front seat cover styles. The one they call for 1980 looks closer to what I have than what they call for 1981-1982. I believe that Avanti only offered two different Recaro seat styles. The ones in mine have the adjustable under thigh bolster. Also they show back bench covers with head rests. My car has no rear seat head rests. I can post photos, but that is beside the point for this post.

    The two patterns that Lseat.com have were provided by Avanti owner customers in the past, so I am curious if either or all are members of this forum. There are both horrible and good reviews for Lseat.com online. At their price point, I am willing to take a chance but would like to hear from actual Avanti owners who have installed their covers, and what style Recaros they had to provide patterns to Lseat.com.

    Thanks,

    Steve    

  4. One more thing and this is important! Do not use SAE30R6 or SAE30R7 fuel lines as replacements. They sell them at your friendly local parts store but they are not compatible with the miserable ethanol blended gasoline that we are forced to endure nowadays. Use only SAE30R9 (high pressure) or SAE30R14 (low pressure) lines or you will be replacing them again soon. Gates calls theirs  “ Greenstripe” or “Barrier” hose. 

  5. Sorry, didn't mean to highjack your thread. I am just saying that the simplest things can lead to more complexity (and cost) than it seems like at first. And don't forget that eliminating the ECM means you have to come up with a new way to control your torque convertor clutch (TCC). Your car SHOULD have a 200R4 or 700R4 transmission (mine is a 200R4).

  6. My car does indeed have all that mess still installed. It ran fine...until it didn't. I have been chasing a rich running condition for a while, which has led to just parking it for a few years in disgust. I am no neophyte with these CCC things either. I have a 1987 El Camino with a GMPP 350HO (330HP) running an electronic Quadrajet, AIR headers and all CCC/ECM systems functional which has run perfectly since I set it up 18 years ago. Meanwhile, I am trying to get myself motivated to start over and quit pursuing the "fix" to the CCC/ECM system and just retrograde the whole Avanti system back to conventional old-school carburetor and distributor. I have a spare distributor and Quadrajet for my 1979 Barth motorhome I can use, except the choke is a hot stove type incompatible with the Avanti intake manifold. If I were to buy an electric choke Quadrajet (not cheap) and put on my stock intake (with the EGR plugged), it could still be used later on an upgraded 350-383 crate engine, but would then require a new spread bore intake manifold for the new engine. MOST aftermarket intake manifolds will present a hood clearance problem in the Avanti. See the problem? One thing leads to the next and the next. This is just to get it to the everyday driver reliability stage. If I were to go ahead and upgrade to a compatible low profile square bore dual plane intake manifold for the hood clearance now (Weiand 8120?)  I would need a new carburetor (square bore). Edelbrock (glorified Carter AVS), Holley 4150, Quick Fuel 600-680 or Demon 650? Would need to be forward compatible with a larger engine without being too big for the 305. and this is the EASY stuff. The problem is how best to make the upgrades now which you wouldn't have to do-over at a later date. 

  7. I do have a 1982, still with all the original stuff under the hood. The temperature sending unit for the gauge is impossible to see from above, since it is hidden by the exhaust manifold A/C compressor mounting bracket and the sheet metal spark plug heat shielding. The sensor is the standard one as you have shown.

  8. I did this update a few years ago. It is a board with several LED’s that you have to modify the housing and wiring to adapt. It works well but is not easily reversed. Since then, replacement bulbs are available to update without  housing modification. I would just replace the bulbs with LED units if I were to do it today.

  9. After reading all the negative comments about CustomAutoSound, I ended up installing a RetroSound unit. It is very compact and adjustable. I went through the options for faceplate and knobs and have a unit that looks much better than the Blaupunkt unit it replaces. Mine is just the AM/FM unit, but it has Bluetooth and inputs for USB and RCA jacks. If you want a CD controller or Satellite radio, they have that, too. Sounds okay (not high power) without separate amplifier. The only drawback is they are a little pricey, but for me it is worth it to keep the dash attractive. here are some pix...

     

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  10. After I cleaned up the under-dash wiring and under-hood wiring, I found a main hot connector through the firewall that worked intermittently. With that fixed, I have a charging system again. Still loads of black smoke, running rich, but making progress.

    I still don't know what that resistor is for and no one I have consulted (NAPA, Bumper to Bumper, O'Reilly's, Pep Boys, etc, etc) has found it in any catalog. The wires that connect to it are dead, key on or off, so I guess it an Avanti appendix. 

    Has anyone used the Custom AutoSound or RetroSound radios? 

    Comments...preferences?

  11. Okay, so I sent the booster off to Booster Dewey, put it back on and now I have better brake modulation. Unfortunately, I am disappointed to admit that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING has changed with the way the car runs. Still runs very rich with lots of black gas smoke. BUT, I ended up with a few new issues in the mean time.

    First, the passenger window went halfway down and the motor stopped. I took the door apart, removed the motor and scissors assembly. Things were pretty gummed up. I took everything apart, cleaned it all up re-lubed the tracks, scissors assembly. I disassembled the motor and screw drive and cleaned all the hardened grease and stuff, re-lubed everything and put the door back together. Done, the window works again.

    Second, I removed the intermittently functioning aftermarket security system and the rat's nest of wiring related to that when I replaced the carpeting last year. What I found during that process was quite a bit of fooling around behind the dash by either the installer of that system or some previous owner that I have been cleaning up to "factory" condition. There were some loose, unconnected or dead wires for the gages present, but I have straightened those out and fixed a couple of other issues I found during the process. The "choke" light in the dash had had the bulb removed. I put a bulb in it but it wouldn't go out after engine start. I replaced the choke heater relay and fixed that problem.

    Third, my battery was old so I bought a new one. After I put it in, I started the car and wonderful, the charging system is dead. I took the alternator off and had it tested. Its bearings screamed on the tester and it was not charging at all, kaput. I got a rebuilt alternator and put that on. The system is still dead. I put on the spare (new) alternator I carry in my motorhome. The system is still dead. I took that one off and had it tested. It checks fine off the car. I have chased every wire I can think to check and all check ok. The Chevrolet service manuals all have diagnosis charts, but every one I have relies in a "Charge" light to excite the alternator. My car does not have a "Charge" light, just an ammeter, so I am a little lost figuring out what is suppose to "excite" (turn on) the alternator. I am finding nothing in any of those circuits which appear altered from the factory installation.

    Suggestions???

    Fourth, during my many hours of Avanti yoga under the dashboard, I have had to remove and reinstall the tachometer and some other gages to get to some of the wiring just to access it for straightening up. I have that all completed and all the gages are functioning now. There is a mystery part under there that was partially broken and taped together and fragile. It is some kind of coiled wire contraption (resistor?)  that was mounted between the fuse box and dash on the steel brace along with the ALDL diagnosis plug. It plugs in with a spade connector on each end and is made of some fiber insulation board with a coiled wire between the plugs. It is now quite broken an requires a replacement. Does anyone know what it is, does and where to get a replacement?

    This car has sat for too long and I want to be driving it this summer, but it is fighting back mightily to keep its parking space.

     

  12. Backspacing is very important on these cars, especially if you install wider than original tires. You don't want a tire rub on fiberglass fenders. 15"X6" with at least 3-3/4" backspacing, preferably 4". Most custom wheels come in 3-1/4" to 3-3/8" , which will make tires too close, especially turning while hitting a bump.

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