Saving the Avanti II

[Zedman]

Hi All-  I have been a bit of a 'lurker' for r a while on this forum as I have been waiting for progress to occur on my 1981 Avanti II for a long while (long story, somebody else is in care of it and the backstory isn't worth knowing).

At long last, some serious headway is being made !!

The car is in Australia (imported from US in 2015) and has a rusted out rear chassis.  It resides with my ex-neighbour, who up to 2018 ran his restoration business in Melbourne but lost his lease and decided to move his operations to his new home in rural Victoria.

The project is to replace the chassis with another one.  Torque boxes are shot but new ones are on hand and will be fitted soon. The rest of the car is in fantastic shape with low original miles. Defects in fibreglass will be sorted out and a repaint done. An interesting footnote  is that the original chassis will be cleaned up, modified and utilised by my mate in his 1942 Chevy truck Restomod- so it isn't going to the scrappers after all.

Time to get wrenching !!

Steve in Melbourne

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23 by Zedman
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[Avanti83]

The frame looks like an easy repair but as you have another one and the original will go to good use, good choice.

Welcome to the forum and please keep us in the loop as you make progress. Nothing better than seeing and learning from the progress of other members on these vehicles.

As you have the body off, it will make the "hog trough" repair straight forward and as easy as replacing them can get.

Could you also post a shot or two of the Chevy pickup roadster in the future. I like all kinds of neat vehicles.

[PackardV8]

Since your body is off the frame, consider spraying the entire underside and inside with LizardSkin Spray-on Heat and Noise Insulation, or the OZ equivalent.  The Avanti is incredibly noisy and hot inside by today's standards, so anything done to keep heat and noise out is a worthwhile investment.

https://lizardskin.com

jack vines

[mfg]

If the original frame WERE to be repaired, this sure would be the way to do it....with the body completely out of the way!

[Zedman]

On 12/26/2020 at 7:04 AM, PackardV8 said:

Since your body is off the frame, consider spraying the entire underside and inside with LizardSkin Spray-on Heat and Noise Insulation, or the OZ equivalent.  The Avanti is incredibly noisy and hot inside by today's standards, so anything done to keep heat and noise out is a worthwhile investment.

https://lizardskin.com

jack vines

Thanks Jack, I will look into this...  Also, I do need to replace the white insulation I found under the front footwell carpet- Do you know anything about this stuff? (pictured). I'm sure this has been installed in the factory.

 

Edited October 23 by Zedman
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[Desert Driver]

That looks nasty! But the heat coming off the exhaust pipes under the floorboards makes for a toasty ride! As long as you have it off the frame, spray Lizard Skin everywhere underneath. And don't neglect the transmission tunnel aft of the firewall. Not only will you cut down heat transfer, but you'll enjoy a much quieter ride. 

[Zedman]

On 12/26/2020 at 7:34 AM, mfg said:

If the original frame WERE to be repaired, this sure would be the way to do it....with the body completely out of the way!

Hi MFG-  Yep, absolutely.... Being able to just walk up, see what you are doing, and just 'place' components is huge boon.  I found that because the Torque boxes are pretty much non-existent, lifting the body took careful placement of wooden 'cribbing'. Neither of us had done this before and we were afraid of busting the floor (or worse  😨). . I imagine lifting and supporting on good solid HT's would have been much more straightforward.

[Zedman]

2 minutes ago, Desert Driver said:

That looks nasty! But the heat coming off the exhaust pipes under the floorboards makes for a toasty ride! As long as you have it off the frame, spray Lizard Skin everywhere underneath. And don't neglect the transmission tunnel aft of the firewall. Not only will you cut down heat transfer, but you'll enjoy a much quieter ride. 

Hi Desert Driver- Yeah its a mess and I chucked it all out despite wondering exactly what the stuff is. What really concerns me is a replacement for the fibreglass/ silverpaper insulation under the body where the engine exhaust pipes run around where the Cat-converter is. Any suggestions?

 

[Avanti83]

10 hours ago, Zedman said:

Hi Desert Driver- Yeah its a mess and I chucked it all out despite wondering exactly what the stuff is. What really concerns me is a replacement for the fibreglass/ silverpaper insulation under the body where the engine exhaust pipes run around where the Cat-converter is. Any suggestions?

 

I used Aluminum faced fatmat for sound and heat insulation inside the Avanti, DEI exhaust wrap on the head pipes and aluminum heat shields above the mufflers. You can see the heat shields above the mufflers and they are spaced away from the floor. I also put an aluminum shield under the 6-speed slave cylinder.

 

[mfg]

Beautiful workmanship!

[Zedman]

On 12/28/2020 at 12:42 AM, Avanti83 said:

I used Aluminum faced fatmat for sound and heat insulation inside the Avanti, DEI exhaust wrap on the head pipes and aluminum heat shields above the mufflers. You can see the heat shields above the mufflers and they are spaced away from the floor. I also put an aluminum shield under the 6-speed slave cylinder.

 

HI Avanti83- Thanks for this-. I like the idea of heat shields and was  considering something similar .  I will look for a similar material for insulating the floor as you have done. The exhaust pipe wrapping seems like a good idea also.