warren55
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Posts posted by warren55
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You should submit this story to Lew Schucart for a magazine article if you haven't already.
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Wow, that's a great story! I'm worn out just reading it. Well done, and how did you manage to get such good pictures on this forum??
Sounds like things down under a little different than we are used to up here. That was quite the adventure.
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A good friend of mine built his own 4 post lift, but figured he had about $4000 into it when he was done if his time was worth anything, but at least he knows what he has. (It is a very nice lift. I envy his engineering skills...) By the sounds of your story, it sounds like it wasn't that bad of a deal for him!
Sorry to hear you had such an unpleasant experience!
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Hope you all have a good one and enjoy the turkey and long lost relatives!
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If this works, this should be a picture of the correct bracket.
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I found a reservoir for a 73 Nova 6 cylinder works well.
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I tore one of of a about a 72 Chevy Caprice and it was exactly like mine. I think I still have it somewhere!
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Could you elaborate on those statements, please.
1. What year Avanti's do those Jeep Cherokee motors interchange with? (if there's a substitute for the '63 through the 1970's PW motors, I'd like to kow that)
2. What did "went through my power windows in my 73" consist of doing?
Thanks,
Wayne
Wayne,
As for what years, I don't know for sure but I think they switched over in the early 80's? I know our club president just did his, but it was an 85 Touring Coupe. Although I seem to recall they switched before that. The only substitute for the early ones is one for an early T-Bird as I recall. I bought one from SI for about $200 and I think I would have saved about $20 going with the Ford reproduction and I didn't feel like gambling at the time!
When I got my 73 the right window would not go up all the way without help and about that time there was an excellent write up in the Avanti Magazine about working on the power windows, you might remember it. It gave me the courage to tear into mine, so I removed everything from the right door and got the regulator and motor on the bench. After cleaning it up and testing it, I realized that my motor was just about on it's last legs. That's when I bought the new one along with all the rollers and went about cleaning all the tracks and replacing the rollers as I put the regulator back in. I put it all back together and bolted it up as it was before. I luckily had no cracks in my door or any problems with my return spring.
After going through all the adjustments with Brad Bez coaching me, it still would not go up all the way. It took some time and detective work to find that one of the bolts that someone had substituted in the center pivot mount was too long and the regulator arm would run into it about 2" from the top. With help, it would slide around the end of it. After locating the proper length bolt, the only thing to was to adjust the upper stop so it wouldn't sail out the top of the door.
On the driver's door I just cleaned the regulator in the door and tried to get some lubrication where it needed to be along with the new rollers and went through the rather involved process to adjust the tracks. Other than that, I cleaned all the contacts in the door switches and everything has been great since then. Of course, that's about 2 years and 1500 miles, so hardly an acid test.
I had my old motor rebuilt for a spare, but that cost me $100. I think the Chrysler ones are about $60 new, plus the whole system is two wire instead of the 4 wire system the old ones used.
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Probably more of a supply decision, but the good thing is the motors and plastic gears are much cheaper and easier to get. 84 to 86 Jeep Cherokee interchange nicely as I recall. Probably most Chrysler cars of that era used the same thing.
I went through my power windows in my 73 and they've been working just fine since.
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Sweat, for sure. Equity is another subject....
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Thanks Paul. If I was smart I'd probably do the same, but for some reason I like doing detail work myself if I can. After about 8 hours of sanding with every grit I can come up with, I find I still have some work to do to get them perfect! If I ever have to do it again, I'll bet I can cut that time in half though.
I'm probably saving myself about $.25 an hour at the rate I'm working, but for some reason I find it more rewarding than doing my normal job for 11 hrs. a day!
I wish this forum was more photo friendly. Perhaps I'll upload some pictures to photobucket and post them later.
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...dollar bills appear to be a very effective window leak preventative....BILL
I have found that dollar bills are the only thing my Avanti responds to!
Gary has probably done more of these cars than anyone that i know of, so I'm confident he's leading me down the right path. Hopefully someday soon I can sweet talk him with a couple Wingman Brewers ACE IPA's into showing back over to help me set this window back in.
Of course, I need a little time to finish off the stainless trim, which is a painstaking process;
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Just an update; we got the window out last Friday, and as Gary suspected there was no sealant anywhere. In fact, there were no retainers to speak of either, just some sheet metal screws through the rubber for looks!
Right now I'm working on cleaning and straightening the stainless pieces so I can get them all buffed up and looking like they should. Looks like they tried to stuff those in when the window was already in the car and managed to kink some of them. Always fun trying to fix what somebody else messed up.
I guess I know why it leaked now. I'm just surprised it didn't pop out going down the freeway!
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When I changed out my gauges I went with an electric oil pressure gauge. It's a Stewart Warner 0-100 unit and I used a Sunpro sending unit, which always read low and somewhat erratic. I finally broke down and bought the correct SW sending unit for my gauge and installed it, only to find it now reads even lower! (Around 25 to 30 max.)
I hooked up an analog gauge just to check it and I'm getting around 50 at start up and about 35 at idle warmed up, which makes me feel better, but I'm not sure what to do about my gauge. I might go back to an analog gauge after all.
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Are you sure it's a serpentine belt? It's hard to imagine anyone would go to the trouble of including an air pump in a serpentine belt setup. Mine has two belts, one for the alternator and water pump and another for the PS and A/C.
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Off topic, but might be of interest to some:
Besides my weakness for old cars, I also have a soft spot for acoustic guitars. That doesn't mean I play them well, but I do appreciate a nice one. In the late 90's a small guitar company opened up in my hometown, Tacoma Guitars. They built a high quality solid wood guitar at half the price of a Martin or a Taylor. I was an instant fan and acquired about 5 of them over the years.
I even toured the factory and talked to some of the people behind these guitars, each of which was excited and proud of their product.
There was one fatal flaw in their product though, and that was the finish. Almost every one of them would eventually develop the dreaded "Tacoma Rash" and the finish would start to lift and bubble. They provided a lifetime warranty, and they refinished many guitars. Some thought it was the finish they were using, others thought it might be mosture or oil in the air lines. I don't know if anyone ever found out for sure.
The last time I talked to the managers there, they were very happy since Fender had just acquired them and they thougth they had the finish problem cured.
It wasn't long after that that Fender closed the doors and killed the brand. Part of the reason was their reputation was damaged, I'm sure, but like Blake the cost of refinishing all those guitars had the company bleeding money.
I still have 2 of the originals and they are unique and great guitars, and both have eventually developed the "rash"!
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"Those subsequent Avantis, produced until 2006, were merely a shadow of the real deal, and likely aren't undervalued -- however low that value may be -- but the original is a true American classic."
Wow, what a slap in the face!
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Thanks for the feedback guys. Sounds like there could be issues no matter which way I go! Another adventure in Avanti ownership. If I decide to do it myself (with expert help), I'll do my best to document the process.
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I have suspected and finally confirmed that my rear window leaks. The big reveal was at the Regional Meet in Kelso,WA a few weeks ago where we had a good bout of rain. The inside of my trunk need to be bailed out, literally. I did end up with a first place trophy while there, so that made up for some of the pain!
It appears that the "Bubba" who installed this after the paint job did it wrong and might have had an ill forming seal to start with. Luckily, Gary Johnson (AvantiNW) has become a pretty good friend and he said he would give me a hand with it. He may have been drinking at the time, though. He told me there was no hope for this seal and that I should just order a new one and we'll reset the window sometime this winter. I talked to Dan Booth today and he told me it was a real pain to do, so be sure you're ready. (I don't feel ready....)
He wanted me to confirm that the three retainers were intact on the back side of the glass since many just leave them out. I did a little checking and didn't see them, but I didn't try to pull the headliner back since I was afraid I'd damage it. I do know that all the screws on the top side spin freely in the retainers, which doesn't give me a good feeling!
The rubber does not filt well against the glass, and the stainless is not sitting flush on the seal in many places, which Dan said was a problem. It sounds like they struggled with this at the factory, too.
I just thought I'd throw this out there and see who else has gone down this particular rabbit hole and how did it turn out for you? I know I need a bedding compound between the body and the seal and a different sealant between the stainless and the glass.
Or I need to adjust to not driving in the rain, which I rarely do. Just seems to happen up here in Tacoma. -
Welcome aboard!
Always good to hear another opinion, especially a seasoned one!
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Yeah, I did a bunch of research on it a year or so ago. They are AMC mirrors like those used on Javelin's, but there are two different types. I think the base is bigger on one. I just about bought some on eBay last year, but they turned out to be the different base. Yes, the repops are expensive! Mine have some pitting in the chrome and the passenger's side mirror keeps dropping down every time the door is closed.
It's one of those things that's not a high priority but I'd like to get some better ones at some point.
Right now the biggest thing on my to do list is get the rear window sealed. I found out a couple weeks ago at the regional meet that it leaks like a chicken wire canoe. I'm hoping a glass shop can inject some sealant in there and avoid having to remove the rear window!
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Hey Ed, while you're at it I could use your mirrors and maybe the wiper switch, and,....
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I wrote an article for the Avanti magazine a couple years ago about this when I rebuilt mine. They are basically all the same inside, but I never checked much on overall length. I would think anything GM made from about 69 to 79 that had a floor shift would work, but I would look at overall length and the distance from the mount to the steering wheel to make sure it's going to line up. A Google search will give you more info than you want. The Saginaw was used in everything from Jeeps to Javelins.
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I checked with Gary Johnson and he confirmed that none left the factory with drum brakes in front. Now the mystery is how did it aquire this *upgrade*?
Tell me everything wrong with this R2 4 Spd!
in 1963-64 Avanti
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I'm with everybody else on this one. After looking at the pictures I think you might be upside down in it if they gave it to you. Run far away....