grant mills

I am having a problem with the new front springs. They do not sit perfectly vertical.....At the top (the pocket of the frame) the spring is pushed to the side of the pocket resulting in major noise from metal on metal movement, whenever I hit a small bump. The opposite side of the pocket has about 1-1.5 inches of clearance. The shop that installed said that the top of the spring is centred in the pocket and then looked for solutions including rotating the springs, but indicated that it would only move the contact point to a different spot on the pocket. The base of the spring has a tangential end which may be causing it to slide to one side on the base support. Do I have the wrong base type for the application (should it be square)? Is there a base plate that could centre the base of the spring? Should I simply get a pair of springs from one of the vendors and replace these (new) ones? Would a new set of springs have the same problem? Enquiring minds and all that!

Solved (partially) It is part of the electrical control for the SkyTop power moonroof. When I put the new radio in, I found that my moonroof was dead. I finally traced it back to the above part. It seems that when I reconnected everything, I failed to fully connect that 7 pin connector. (Big hands, small opening, tight sockets) When I went back into the dash, I noticed that while the two connectors were joined, they were were only held in place by the friction of the plastic covers, but not seated. Fully seating the plugs restored the moonroof to operational.

I replaced the bushings on my car last year. On my '84, the rear sway bar is larger than the earlier ones (3/4" vs 1/2) . The square bushings I was originally sent (from Avanti Parts and Restoration) were too small and when I contacted the seller about this, they sent me larger replacements which they said were from the front sway bar but fit the rear properly.

I believe that the 305 used in the Avantis were all L69 engines putting out 190 H.P. I do not know if AMC ever used the corvette L83 engine in an Avanti.

In my previous query about radio upgrade, I asked about a part that sat on top of the old radio and was connected to an under dash harness (NOT to the radio amp output) I have not heard any explanation for the part. Its base is 4.25" square. There is a trim-able pot. as shown in the first picture and the connector to the under dash harness in the third. The only connection to the old radio itself was a ground wire connected to the rear support strap of the radio. Does anyone have any idea what the purpose is of this simple PCB. What might it control/support? (Aside: I have installed a "RetroSound" replacement and it fits like a glove in the old opening....I only have to memorise 18 pages of control options/settings)

Above the interior rear view mirror (front centre ceiling)

We may be talking about different items. I've attached a picture of the PCB that sits on the radio...apologies for the poor quality, but my cheap flip phone has a cheap camera.. Anyway, I did a continuity tests between 3 of the speaker wire connectors (Becker 2pin DIN) and the each of the 9 pins on the connector to the "amp". I got nothing. I would expect an external amp to be connected to the AUX output (round 7 pin connection plug) and that had no connection. So I am still curious as to what it is for (on my system)

While the door panels are easy to remove and put back on, repeated re-screwing can make the connection into the fibreglass loose. After much work on my doors (and some stripping of the fibreglass interior door panels) , I ended up enlarging the holes, squaring out the circle and placing plastic (locking) inserts that would accept the screws. This made the panel more secure against the door

The "amp" is out, as is the radio. I don't think that the "amp" has anything to do with the radio but sits on it as a place to rest. I have checked continuity from a couple of the speaker connections with the connector to that "amp" and find none. Does anyone know what that little PCB is used for? I assume that after fixing or replacing the radio I will have to reattach it.

Thanks. I just discovered last night that the amp was held down by two squares of velcro at opposite corners. I spent too much time agonising about how I was going to get the amp off and in the end it was a simple affair.

I've done the first of those steps. I can see the amp on top...a simple PCB somehow affixed to the top. I have not yet figured out how it is attached. I think I have found the source of my problems. There appears to be an L shaped bracket at the back..bolted to a base plate and the vertical portion has a bolt from the radio going through it and has a white wire held down by a (loose) nut on that bolt. Taking the nut and wire off does not appear that it will loosen the bracket so that the radio can be removed, but I will give it a try after I have photographed as much as I can in case I do a reassembly of the original radio connections. I have found an operating manual and schematic of the electrical for that particular radio and downloaded them....and looking at it just now, I see it has a "quick bolt" on the back for connection to a supporting strap. This may be all that I need to finish the removal

I've removed the coin collector on top (where the speaker originally went), as well as the front knobs and support nuts at the front. Does the support bracket for the top tray also need to be removed for better access? I can not see any side connections holding the radio in place. Is there a lower tray or some other mechanism holding it in place? Judging by the workshop manual description, I don't want to remove the dash to get to the back. I am willing to remove the front seats if necessary to get down on the floor and work from underneath. Any hints or pointers in the right direction would be appreciated. Yes the radio has failed (or faded to almost no sound) and the tape deck has eaten a tape. I will fix or replace as practical.

Thanks. While my horn still works, I will rebuild the connection. The wire is completely missing between the two connection points.

i just noticed that my 84 Avanti has 2 stubs of wires on either side of a rubber isolator that separates the shaft from the steering box. I am guessing that at one time there was a wire connection there but have no idea when/how it broke or even the importance of it. Anyone have any ideas/reasons comments?

The reservoir is attached by two bolts that drop down from the bottom of the reservoir and through the flat firewall that the reservoir sits on. From under the dash on the drivers side, you can reach up and feel the two nuts on the bolts that hold it in place. You can see the nuts if you are double jointed, lying on your back, with your head touching the brake pedal. Once the nuts are removed, the reservoir will pull straight up.....If you think that you may be needing to remove it many times (say to fix a leak that can't be easily fixed) When reinstalling, I used velcro adhesive strips (after covering the two holes in the firewall) and simply attached the tank in that manner. I will come off with not much effort and it will not come off from normal (aggressive) driving.

I had new front coil springs installed last summer and now the car has negative rake. The rear springs (5 leaf standard duty) are flat from front to back. I can get a local shop to make me a set, but I need all the specs. I have the workshop manual which gives all sizes except the height at the arch. The front tire has 1.25" greater clearance from tire top to fender opening than the rear tires. At one time I had 225-70 rear and 225-60 front, which gave me a nice rake, but that was before I replace the tires with the original factory size and added the new front coils. I should note that the locally produced ones will be about 1/2 the price of the "Eaton Detroit Spring" set after currency exchange, duty, and shipping costs are included.

In '96 I installed a "door w/s kit" from Nostalgic for my '84. You can try Dan Booth to see if he still has some.

mfg, Can I assume that my 84 has the same opening as the 83? My Bluapunkt has died and I am wanting to replace the cassette deck unit with something more modern.

The alternative to the spacers is: remove the (wider) flange/rubber from the base of the old shock and use it to replace in the flange in the new shock. I had already tossed the old shocks when I learned this.

Any front shock that you buy today will have an issue. That base flange is 3 inches side-to-side, while the mounting holes are 3.5 in. apart on centre. I jury rigged extensions for each side using flat stock of the correct width that enclosed the outer edges of the flanges and had a slot in the middle to extend the flange. I also made a spacer from the flat stock to cover both the original flange and the extension to keep everything in place....There is a description of all this in my posting in the 84-91 forum under the name "front coil springs"

mfg, could you give the part number of the specific radio you got? There appear to be numerous models of 630 receivers. My Blaupunkt has died and I am looking for alternatives to repairing, including an upgrade in capability. Also did it easily integrate with the power antennae?

I had moved to the 225/70 on the rear end to get my speedometer back to accurate. The tires on it when I bought it were so small that the speed read 10% higher than I was actually going. It took a 10 mile measured distance (provided by the highways dept.) to show me why I never got any speeding tickets. I liked the more aggressive look/width of the B.F. Goodrich tires, but had to put a smaller circumference on the front to keep from rubbing the inner fender well on sharp/fast corners. The newer suspension may have corrected that problem, but I really want to be able to need only one size of spare. I still need to fix the steering control valve to get the handling I remember from days of old.

It only took me about 5 minutes to put both flex hoses back on. But as I did it, I got to wondering why someone doesn't just make a short conversion piece that fits over the oval and then expands to a circle to accept the flex hose. I think a simple 3D printer could easily make one, given the dimensions of each end

My flex hose is off, as yesterday I replaced the fuel filter in the carb housing. (hoping to correct a very recent failure where the engine dies as I come to a stop). I well know about the problems with the flex hose and have considered getting replacements but fear the "fun" of installing them. As to the brake....there are no brands stamped on the housing. There are 2 sets of numbers, one for the master cyl. and the other for the fluid reservoir. The number on the master cyl is: 7K3 082A 10 02 (with the spacing as shown). The reservoir is: 306 FA 1379A. I may be wrong about the FA..it may be PA, but I could not get all the crude off the side of the housing

photo of my original brake master cylinder from an 84 Avanti. The label on the booster is to indicate DOT 5 only.