1987-1991 Virtual Car Show

[ronmanfredi]

Please "REPLY TO THIS TOPIC" below with photos of your 1987-1991 Avanti!  You can "drag and drop" or "select file" to add your photo(s)

[Lincv8]

My 89 Avanti

Removed old tired 305 and replaced with a mildly built 350

[Stacey]

Our 1991 Conv pretty much except the wheels and tires, stock. Now showing 50,200 miles.

[ronmanfredi]

[ronmanfredi]

[Richard]

[Bob G]

Robert Gordon

Claremont, Ca

1987 Avanti II Convertible 

[jwikstro]

1987 Covertible in Sweden

[ronmanfredi]

John Hulls 1987 Coupe.

[Richard]

What’s a car show unless you can dissect the car!  Here are some pictures of mine showing stages of how it evolved.  I bought my 4-door from Jim Baize in San Diego in IIRC 2001.  I drove it for years while only maintaining it.  When the original 305 started showing signs of wear, I decided to build a 383 SBC for it.  On the dyno, it showed a 405hp and about 440 Ft Lbs of torque.  As you could imagine, with that increase in HP bad things started happening - transmission needed rebuilt (which I did to Buick Grand National specs and same torque coverter and a HD crossover member).  Then the rear end weakened, so I installed a Eaton locker and had special HD axles made and a HD aluminum driveline.  One thing lead to another…HD Impala SS control arms up front with 5/8” ball joints, Global West rear Suspension with a hand fabricated lower control arm; Hotchkis Impala SS Springs front & rear with Hotchkis front & rear sway arms; Corvette Z06 brake kit, removed the hand emergency brake and installed a hydraulic push button E-brake; all new front wiring along either F.A.S.T. Ezi-2.0 self learning ECU; 4” cold air intake.  Removed the stock seat belts and fabricated upper & lower plates for new seat belts, rebuilt the power seat controls and used 6 specially dyed and tanned cow skins to recover new front seats (with much better bolsters), door skins, console; 4 layers of sound deadening inside and underneath, padding, new blue carpet; built a special woofer box under the rear package tray; installed the battery in the trunk, all new JBL speakers and two amps, new head unit with bluetooth, custom fabricated steering wheel (from a Cadillac CTS-V with matching wood grain and blue leather with an “Avanti” logo sewn in (and on the seats); removed the rear RV and hooked up the speakers in the rear console; ceramic coated inside & outside headers; custom dual exhaust with “x” crossover and mufflers hooked up the accelerator (past 1/2 throttle, a bypass is opened for direct exhaust).  Oh yeah, had the car sanded; wheel flares similar to the original clay model of Lowey”s design fabricated; painted with House of Kolors “Celestial White” with Blue Pearlesence and Crushed Glass in the clearcoat.  I installed Lorenza 20 inch 5-spoke wheels with the spokes painted in Celestial While with the Blue Pearlesence.

I guess when you get started trying to make the car you want, one can get carried away and spend way more than the car will ever be worth.  I remember taking the OEM car to the autocross track and embarrassing myself on the course.  I literally slid from one side to the other and tried to keep the rear end from coming around.  It was pathetic; but with the modifications, I found the car is now setup better for the Drifting Course than Autocross (although I did run it through the Autocross!).  The car currently has 200,000 miles.  I feel like I’ve touched every part on this car a time or two.

Cheers,

Rich