mrfeez

[mrfeez]

Avanti been sitting for a very long time,  Flat tires, rear window blown out, Driver side interior door rusted out, interior just to much damage to mention, Fuel tank and lines along with fuel pump shot, mice have made it their Hyatt, their food was a specialty, Seats and 16 gauge stranded with tw insullation, All fan belts need replacement, Battery belongs in the Studebaker museum, all exhaust system shot,  Engine area a disaster

Now the Bad News, 

The Turning lights work !!

After removing everything I could, then draining the old oil, I filled it with WD40, then let it set for a couple of weeks, drain the WD40, installed  new oil, made up a temporary gas can with a line going to the gas filter, Temporary Battery,  After a few modifications,    "It Started" Blows black smoke off the Port side exhaust, hoping thats a kind of leaking Carb problem, and not something Major, the license plate on back is rusted solid, but you can read "1973" (I was 31 then)

[1963r2]

It sounds like you're at the beginning of an adventure.

[sailingadventure]

An expensive one.

 

[RoyG]

OH MY, you didn't mention the hog troughs, frame, or potential body work issues.  A couple years ago I decided I wanted to restore an original '63 (round headlights) Avanti.  I also decided I wasn't going to make it 100% original, but I wanted it "NICE", so I figured I'd start off with one that needed everything (CHEAP) since I was going to want to redo everything anyway.  Also I wouldn't need to feel bad for destroying the "originality" of a low milage car that should be kept 100% original.  The body was rough, like every panel but the roof and trunk lid had damage.  One door couldn't be saved and I also had to replace the front clip and L/F fender.  The other damage was repairable.  Of course the hog troughs were toast, the rear cross member was rusted badly and the lower rear frame rails were in bad shape.  Two years into the project I sometimes question my decision, but the frame repairs came out fine, the body work is all finished, final paint should go on soon, and my R-3 clone engine should be ready to drop on the frame in a few weeks.  With a little luck the freshly painted body will get mounted back on the chassis and back in the garage before the snow flies and all the collected new parts (chrome, interior, dash pad, gauges, etc) will get installed before spring.  I wish you well with your "project" but if you don't plan to do most of the work yourself you'll end up "underwater" from an investment standpoint.  Best of luck.

[mrfeez]

Your right Roy,  the hog trough on driver side shot, passenger side good ,rear cross member also toast, Don't have any other place to work on it , no Garage etc. so i'm stuck working outside with it. I'm not a mechanic, I've done a lot of work on cars in the past, I'll try to keep you informed, sounds like your on the right side of life with your 63, also Best of Luck to You.

 

[RoyG]

@mrfeez I did all the body work outside in the driveway, including both hog troughs.  Then pulled the body off the frame (in the driveway) and striped the frame bare. cut out the rusted areas, welded in new sections, wire brushed/sand blasted everything and then painted the inside of the frame with spray in rust converter and painted the outside with POR-15.  Suspension going back on now, but frame is under a trap in the driveway.  The body is on a home made cart with wheels that is now in the garage going through the various stages of painting.  I sanded the body (after removing all paint) with 180 grit and block sanded to get things "straight".  This could have been done outside but I opted for inside to better control when I could work on it.  The next step was FeatherFill. which also could have been done outside.  Sanding, filling, and block sanding the FeatherFill could have been done outside.  Recently I got the body to the point where I felt good about spraying the sealer coat, which I am now finish sanding.  You could do all these steps outside, but you'd want to bring the body to an inside spray booth for the final paint once all the "prep" work is completed.  I'll paint mine in the garage with a jury rigger intake and exhaust fan set up.  It's a "process" but you can do it if you take your time.  Good luck. 

[mrfeez]

Since i have no garage or closed area to work on my 63 Avanti my time outside is limited to working in 50 degree weather plus, (it's an age thing), This past week I was able to remove my Brake Booster and send it off for a rebuild, after many unsuccessful tries at bleeding the brakes hopefully this will solve my problem. I've had the Avanti 6'' off the ground for a couple of years now, slowly replacing or repairing items with a long way to go, I have not replaced the rear window yet that I picked up from Nostalgic Motors a year and a half ago, I will have to replace the interior fabrics around were the window would be installed on inside, (warmer weather project). I had worked in Oklahoma around 35-40 years ago at a Pepsi plant, in the office of the Plant Manager there was a sign that read "Barbecue the Elephant, One piece at a time", after many many years of trying to do things the hard way, I am finally getting the message, "Whats the Rush"?

[mrfeez]

On my 63 Avanti , Having a difficult time trying to fix my drivers side door lock latch that's mounted on the frame, there are 3 screws holding it in place, ( bottom one missing), they are very loose and I cannot  tighten them, there is no way that I know of to remove this latch, I could not find any thing in the workshop manual addressing this issue, are there any pictures or videos that may help me,   Thank You

[1963r2]

You should be able to unwind the screws to take the latch off.

If not then the screws are stripped or frozen in place. From memory the 3 screws attach to a threaded plate behind the fiberglass. The plate has a little play in it so you can move the latch around for adjustment.

Pb

Edited February 10 by 1963r2

[mrfeez]

Thank You R1499,

I thought if I removed the 3 screws the back plate would fall off, Live and learn, I will have to retap the existing holes, and again, 

Thank You

[1963r2]

No problem.

R1499 signing off.

Edited February 16 by 1963r2

[mfg]

When dealing with a vehicle restoration needing 'everything'  as I'm presently doing on a 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk, I find that doing one small project at a time, even something as trivial as refinishing bumper back bars, is actually quite rewarding...and eventually these small daily projects add up, making the eventual complete reassembly of the vehicle  easier.

[mrfeez]

MFG,  I been doing many projects on my 63 avanti, it really is a mess, and your right, every time I start a new project it has it's problems, but I do get through some of them, others I have to put off for awhile. I just put in a rebuilt Master Brake Booster, Thinking this is the right think to do no matter how hard I tried to bleed the brakes at all wheels, no success, But with this new rebuilt MBB , that would solve my problems, so in my attempted to bleed the brakes by myself I used a brake bleeder with the bleeder opened a couple of turns and pumping bleeder to 15, I could see the needle was slowly coming down, I then pumped it up again and watched it slowly coming down, I checked the reservoir again and added a little more brake fluid, after many time of trying to get some air out of the system I decided to get in the car and pump the brakes, I could feel it getting harder to pump, then all of a sudden a loud noise and pedal went to floor, the reservoir was dry, I then looked under the car, right in the middle was a large puddle of oil, I had blown the brake line somewhere. That was yesterday in 50 degree weather, today it snowed. My Avanti is outside, I go as the weather goes. 

 

 

[RoyG]

My project is still moving forward... I haven't quit yet!  Final paint is all on and I'm about 1/3 finished with the "cut and buff" process.  All the suspension is back on the frame but the engine rebuild I was having done took longer than expected so the engine is not yet mounted on the frame, but that should happen very soon!  The dash is out, completely stripped and on a stand in the shop getting ready for the new dash pad.  Everything but the glove box hinges have been refinished and are waiting for the reassembly.  Been having fun doing small projects in between all the sanding.  Keep the faith we'll both get there eventually!

[mrfeez]

With a rebuild on my 63 Avanti Carburetor, car started up, no Black smoke at exhaust, let run for 10 minutes, then antifreeze coming out of radiator expansion tank tube, car over heating, possible radiator cap or thermostat, car has been sitting for long time 

[RoyG]

@mrfeez Thankfully spring is here and you should be able to make some serious progress over the next several months, keep us posted.