warren55
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Posts posted by warren55
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Warren,
From what the pix show, the car looks to be in good shape. Have you been able to get the car on a lift and get a good look of the underside and frame? I think the color of the interior may grow on you. The only thing I didn't like is the black piping on the seats, but that's seemed to be a signature item on a lot of Avanti's interiors of the period. The car does look very clean. The paint and stress cracks are probably minor items that might get repaired with the sum you had mentioned. If you have driven the car, you'll get an idea of the shape and condition of the motor, trans and the suspension of the car. The car would be a good buy at $10 K, but as I found, that's the starting point for what you would want to do with the car. I wish you good luck with your plans.
I haven't yet, except for my first inspection of the car. What I could see on my hands and knees was clean as I've ever seen. The seller (who is the local club secretary and editor) said that it had a frame off restoration at some point. I tend to believe that, considering the condition of the car.
Having been down this path before, I'm well aware that I could easily drop another $5000 into the car without trying too hard! Sometimes I have to temper what I want with what the car warrants in terms of value. I'm not very good at that, I must admit..
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I haven't yet. The owner is out of town for the holiday. We just decided to get together when it was more convenient for both of us.
He isn't advertising the car, so I should have plenty of time. I want to have my painter look it over and perhaps get it on a lift before finalizing anything.
Did you decide to sell your car?
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Thanks!
I added a couple photos to the album to show the worst parts; near the left rear pop out window and the right front fender with some stress cracks. There's also a section on the hood that looks like it got banged by the alternator at some point.
I know it's going to cost me a couple thousand to fix it right, or just learn to live with it and drive it. Not in my DNA, but I might take my time!
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Actually, the owner gave me a copy of the build sheet. The original color was Rosewood Firemist, a Cadillac color.. It's more of a brown metallic, with a hint of red.
I agree with almost everything you said; I can see a 700R in my future, and the knock offs have to go! (It also has air shocks, but that's an easy fix...)
I think I can get the car for a little over $10K, by the way.
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After a lot of consideration and searching, I think I'm about ready to pull the trigger on this car. It's actually the first Avanti I looked at over a month ago, and it's a pretty solid car. It has the 327, automatic,and twin traction diff. with 3.73 gears, I believe. It has had a frame off restoration at some point, probably around 15 years ago, so some things are showing their age. The paint has a few flaws I would have to get fixed, and the interior (which I've found is as polarizing as the Avanti itself: White with black accents) is pretty nice, but has a couple burn marks from a previous smoker. The bumpers are getting a little thin on chrome, too.
Other than that, the car is well kept. Everything works, runs good, new tires, brakes and wheels.
The color is going to be a challenge to match, it's a non original metallic maroon. Well done, with no signs of any other color, but it's failing by the left rear pop out window and it looks like something hit the hood from the underside and cracked the paint.
Here's a link to some pictures I took last month: http://s3.photobucke...tesi/68 Avanti/
From what I've seen, it's the best value for my money!
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I just heard of a 64 R2 for sale near me. It is turquoise, but I don't believe it's a 4 speed. Low mileage, and near perfect but out of my price range. He's asking $30K.
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That would be my luck: I decide to buy a certain car and suddenly supply diminishes and prices go up.
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If done right, it could be an amazing vehicle. Done wrong it could be an amazing nightmare!
It would be hard to imagine what else would have to be re-engineered to make this thing road worthy.
I saw a special about how Jay Leno and his crew put a 66 Toronado body (another of my favorite cars...) on a vette frame. I think they probably did the job correctly!
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I apologize, my mistake. Still, an equally beautiful car!
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Oh, I just saw that on Facebook the other day. Silver Blue 83 Avanti II? Looks like a really nice job! That had to cost a few shekels! Beautiful car....
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A big THANKS to all of you who have responded to this thread. I've learned a lot more about the later Avanti's!
I'm pretty sure this car must have been sold, because I'm getting no response from the owner in the last week. I'm still very much in the market for anything from a 63 to an 83 if anybody knows where they are hiding. I'm not interested in doing a complete restoration on a car, but I'm pretty capable with the mechanical side of things.
And by all means, keep the conversation going!
(PLWindish: I'd like to see some pictures of your car at some point!)
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If Holley is doing better now, it's probably because they finally started producing fuel injection kits. I hadn't thought about it until I had problems with mine and researched it, but carburetors aren't exactly hot selling items anymore!
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I hope my comments weren't taken as putting Avant's of that era down, I might even end up with one.
I agree with everything you said; any American car from that era was anemic when compared to their pre-emmision brothers. (Most European cars had already adopted some sort of fuel injection, but were usually slightly de-tuned for the American market.)
Carburetors are fine, and an easier and cheaper alternative to EFI, but as you said, EFI is so much easier to live with. Especially when they sit for long periods of time, like my 67 Mustang did. I was having driveability problems with it and eventually found that the plating inside my Holley Street Avenger was delaminating and plugging up the jets and accelerator pump. It turns out that Holley had some casting problems in the 2005 to 2006 years and they replaced it for free. Still, it was a pain to have to ship it back to them before they would replace it and it took over a month.
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I haven't found a definitive answer, but it looks like from about 1980 to the late 80's. In 84 or 85 the h.p. was increased from 150 to 180-190 when the H.O. from the IROC Camaro was used.
I'm sure they drive fine for a car from that era, but it would feel like a bit of a "dog".
As Avanti 83 mentioned, removing the smog equipment and putting in a more aggressive cam would do a lot for driveability and probably increase the h.p. a bit. To really wake it up would require changing the heads, exhaust, intake manifold and carburetor or installing an EFI system as he did on his 350. At that point, I would think it would better to swap out the motor for something like a crate 350, or finding a decent used one and building it the way you want.
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Thanks for the info. Now I need to buy a car! If I were to buy the 82, are the wire wheels worth anything?
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Warren
The rims are 15 X 8" with the rear tires P245X60R15 and the fronts P215X60R15's. Back spacing is 4.5 on the rear and 3.5 on the front. Everything fits fine and it handles quite well for a 50's suspension. There is a full 8" of tread on the ground on the rear. It's set about 1 1/2" to high in front but I'll make the lowering mods on the 74 as I will need to rebush the front suspension before it gets on the road.
The wheels on the 74 will be 99-04 Mustang Bullits 17 X 8 and they seem to fit except I'll need to space them out about an inch on the front as they are 4.5" back space.
Bob
How did you arrive at your size and backspacing? I'd like to put Magnum 500's on if possible, but they don't seem to be available with 3.5" backspacing for the front. It looks like 15x7's are 4.25 backspacing. I assume that 15x8 with 4.5 backspace wouldn't work in the front?
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I would actually consider any of the pre 84 cars if the right deal came up.
I'm not sure if the 82 is still available since I haven't heard from the owner in a few days. If I got that one, I'd probably live with the 305 until the right deal came up on a motor. I might even learn to live with the 305, maybe....
I'm actually working on the possibility of getting a 63 R1. That would probably be my ideal car if it works out, but it comes down to what it will cost when it's done.
There's something about owning an "original", although I'd probably rather drive the later model!
One things certain: I would never look down at an Avanti II. I think that it's awesome the car survived in spite of all the turmoil behind the scenes!
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Nice! I bet it scoots down the road. Might surprise a few unsuspecting "fast" cars?
What size wheels and tires do you have on that? It looks like they fill up the wheel wells nicely. One of my biggest complaints with these cars is the limited tire and wheel size, from what I've read.
I wouldn't want anything silly, but something to help the stance.
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Well put, Bob. I couldn't have stated it any better myself!My experience with SBC's from this era and earlier is that GM had not got the computer control to the point where there was a good combination of performance and mileage. They were still using retarded cam timing and other mods to meet emissions requirements at the cost mileage and performance. They were starting to get closer in this time frame and were better than the 70's but a few more years were necessary to develop the computer controls to provide performance and mileage.
That's my intro to saying a well tuned 350 crate with the correct carb for the application and a new appropriate cam should give better mileage and preformance than the 305.
In my case, I decided to go the extra step and add a Holley Avenger HP ECM setup that controls all functions based on a wide band O2 sensor or other factors of your choice. It teaches it self as you drive to optimize the engine parameters.
It's $1600 from the lowest cost suppliers but controls timing as well to optimize parameters.
My 74 383 SBC will be getting another one.
Bob
Did you use a crate motor or build one yourself?
Did you do anything to your 200R transmission to handle more power?
I've heard that they weren't all that strong when they fist debuted.
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Nice looking car, Bob!
Unfortunately, this one has the trunk rack which I don't think helps the looks of the car. I'm not really a fan of the wire wheels either, but that's easy to change.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the price he's asking for the car? He tells me the paint is perfect, the seats have been redone but the door panels and the back shelf are showing some fading. I'm waiting for more pictures.
I don't think he's done much mechanically on it, but it only has 74000 miles on it, too. He says the hog troughs are great, and the sunroof doesn't leak and works fine.
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It's too bad I wasn't on this board at that time; I drive through Blaine just about every day! I'll be there in about 3 hours, in fact.
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Here in Washington anything over 25 years old is exempt from emissions, so I think I know what would happen to the computer controlled carb (and probably the whole 305 at some point!).
I just need somebody to have a look at it for me, because there is no way I'm making it to Montana anytime soon!
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Thanks guys, I appreciate the perspective. So I gather that the 82-83 went back to the old bumper style? I was wondering about that, I don't care for the cow catcher grill!
I have a possibility of getting a 63 R1 with about the same mileage that's in need of paint in the same color as this one, but there's a big difference in technology under the skin.
I'm kind of torn on that aspect of it. As a driver, I'm sure the 82 is far superior; but as a collector I'm drawn to the original car.
Avanti 83, you mentioned a computer control on the 82. I guess there were some rudimentary computers starting to appear in American cars at that time, but they were still carburated, correct?
It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of working on an early 80's car!
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I've been scouring the web for the last few weeks, and this one has come up before but I haven't considered it seriously for a couple reasons: It's an emission strangled 305, and it's probably 600 or more miles from me.
That being said, it seems like a pretty nice car for a reasonable price. Any thoughts on this car in particular, or these years in general? I know it has the sunroof, but if it's really had the frame off restoration that he claims it has, and it was done correctly it would never be a concern for me. It would never see rain again while I have it!
The upside would be a fairly modern transmission, brake system and interior appointments with the classic styling.
Anybody here live in Montana?
Considering this 68 Avanti II
in 1965-83 Avanti
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It appears this isn't going to work out, at least not in the near future. The owner has decided that he won't part with the car until he finds it's replacement (a 64 R-2). He's very active in the local club and doesn't want to be without a car for what could be an extended time looking for the right car.
I can't say as I blame him!